Assessing proficiency in engineering English

Abstract

The largest professional engineering organizations use English as their primary language; most of the world's engineering publications are written in English; and nearly all cooperative ventures with multinational participation choose English for their common language of communication. Unfortunately, most of the world's engineers are not native speakers of English. There are almost no reliable instruments for measuring competence in engineering English. Applying Douglas's Language for Specific Purposes test (2000) to engineering, gives not only a clearer overview of what kind of English and related content might be covered in an engineering English program, but also a clearer view of the knowledge that helps define what it means to be "professional" and this suggests what ought to be tested when evaluating an engineer's ability to use the English of his or her profession successfully.