Pilot test: analysis of technical vocabulary size among engineering students at Universiti Malaysia Pahang

• Main Authors: Amri Muaz, Azmimurad, Najah, Osman
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: PE English
• Online Access: http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/20839/1/Pilot%20test%20analysis%20of%20technical%20vocabulary%20size%20among%20engineering-cmlhs-2017.pdf; http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/20839/; https://www.worldconferences.net/proceedings/gse2017/Fullpaper%20(Disember)/Amri%20Muaz.pdf

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is designed to appeal learners learning languages in specific disciplines. ESP deals with words that are designed precisely or has their own meaning in specific fields. As engineering students read texts with technical terms that have specific meaning in the engineering field, the vocabulary knowledge of technical terms is important for them to comprehend the texts. However, engineering students were found to face problems whenever they encounter texts containing technical terms. Hence, this study aims to investigate the vocabulary size on technical vocabulary among engineering students at Universiti Malaysia Pahang. This study employs a quantitative analysis which seeks to measure the size of engineering students’ technical vocabulary. A vocabulary test which is a word meaning test adapted from Schmitt (1994) is used in this research. The technical terms are taken from Engineering English Word List (EEWL) developed by Hsu (2016). The test was administered to 41 students majoring in engineering from five engineering faculties in their fourth year at Universiti Malaysia Pahang. The current research recommends further research be done in helping the students to improve their vocabulary size on technical terms