The Comparison between Vocabulary Prescribed in an English for Engineering Commercial Textbook and the Actual Use of English Engineering Vocabulary in Working Routines: The Perception from Thai Engineers

Abstract

English vocabulary is recognized as one of the most important elements in the professional life of engineering graduates. Teachers of English as Specific Purposes (ESP) need crucial information to develop students’ skills. The engineering graduates’ voice can be useful information for teachers to make the decision on materials in response to the real needs in real-life applications to develop better ESP materials based on the frequency of applying word lists in the real working environment. This study investigates the perception of engineering graduates towards commonly used engineering vocabulary prescribed in an ESP commercial textbook. There were 420 engineering graduates from six disciplines of engineering (i.e., chemical engineering, civil engineering, industrial engineering, electrical engineering, computer engineering, and mechanical engineering) participated in the study. The data was collected from the questionnaire on the perceptions of engineering graduates towards commonly used engineering vocabulary. Results indicate that the word lists from industrial engineering are the most widely used vocabularies in engineer professionals. © 2021. All Rights Reserved.