A FRAMEWORK FOR SECOND LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND ENGINEERING LEARNING OUTCOMES

A FRAMEWORK FOR SECOND LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND ENGINEERING LEARNING OUTCOMES

A. Weerakoon, N. Dunbar (2018).  A FRAMEWORK FOR SECOND LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND ENGINEERING LEARNING OUTCOMES. 11.

Teaching and learning of engineering courses and programmes in a second language (L2) or for non-native speakers (NNS) has become increasingly common in recent years as international connections between institutions grow, industries globalise, and markets and the workforce become more fluid. The role that a L2 plays in engineering education varies depending on context, but there is no doubt that L2 and NNS involvement add an additional level of complexity to the teaching and learning environment. Study abroad students are tasked with developing technical engineering, communication and language skills simultaneously. Research suggests that providing additional instruction in the L2 aimed at the specific needs of a course, programme, or professional trade is beneficial. However, this instruction has seldom been taught in tandem with, much less integrated into a project-based engineering programme that focuses on both oral and written communication skills. To integrate second language, communication and engineering content outcomes into a project, we need to develop assessments that meet multiple learning outcomes across these areas, and to monitor the degree to which L2 impacts on the ability of NNS to perform engineering and communication outcomes. In this paper, we report on how a L2 (in our case English) is being integrated into projects, and how communication and language progress and learning outcomes can be assessed within the engineering project framework. Ultimately, we attempt to provide a new project framework that can help coordinate the engineering, communication and language learning outcomes with engineering graduate attributes in a project-based, study abroad programme. 

Authors (New): 
Avinda Weerakoon
Nathan Dunbar
Pages: 
11
Affiliations: 
Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand
Keywords: 
Second language learning outcomes
Communication and teamwork skills
Project-Based Learning
Integrated project framework for Language
Communication and Engineering
CDIO Standard 1
CDIO Standard 2
CDIO Standard 3
CDIO Standard 5
CDIO Standard 7
CDIO Standard 8
CDIO Standard 11
Year: 
2018
Reference: 
Armstrong, P. a. (2008). The CDIO Approach To The Development Of Student Skills And Attributues . 4th International CDIO Conference , (p. 33). Gent, Belgium.: 
Artemeva, N. (2005). A Time to Speak, a Time to Act: A Rhetorical Genre Analysis of a Novice Engineer's Calculated Risk Taking. Journal of Business and Technical Communication 19 (4), 389-416.: 
Beckett, G., & Slater, T. (2005). The Project Framework: a tool for language, content, and skills integration. ELT Journal 59 (2), 108-116.: 
Conrad, S. (2017). A Comparison of Practitioner and Student Writing in Civil Engineering. Journal of Engineering Education 106 (2), 191-217: 
Dannels, D. (2009). Features of Success in Engineering Design Presentations: A Call for Relational Genre Knowledge. Journal of Business and Technical Communication 23 (4), 399-427: 
Flowerdew, L. (2000). Using a genre-based framework to teach organizational structure in academic writing. ELT Journal 54 (4), 369-378.: 
Fox, J., & Artemeva, N. (2017). From diagnosis toward academic msupport: Developing a disciplinary ESP-based writing task and rubric to identify the needs of entering undergraduate engineering students. ESP Today 5 (2), 148-171.: 
Lucas, B., & Hanson, J. a. (2014). Thinking like an engineer : Implications for the education system. Royal Academic of Engineering, UK.: 
Mudraya, O. (2004). Need for Data-Driven instruction of Engineering English. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 47 (1), 65-70.: 
Neal, P., Ho, M., Fimbres-Weihs, G., Hussain, F., & Cinar, Y. (2011). Project-based learning for firstyear engineering students: Design of CO2 sequestration. Australiasian Journal of Engineering Education 17 (2), 101-117.: 
Nekrasova-Beker, T., & Beker, A. (2017). Integrating Project-based Learning into English for Specific Purposes Classrooms: A Ccase Study of Engineering. In M. Long, Language for Specific Purposes (pp. 101-125). Geaorgetown university Press. Retrieved 12 04, 2017, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1ps3169.12: 
Parkinson, J. (2017). The student laboratory report genre: A genre analysis. English for Specific Purposes 45, 1-13.: 
Tatzl, D., Hassler, W., Messnarz, B., & Fluhr, H. (2012). The development of a project-based collaborative technical writing model founded on learner feedback in a tertiary aeronautical engineering program. Technical Writing and Communication 42 (3), 279-304. : 
Ward, J. (1999). How large a Vocabulary do EAP Engineering Students need? Reading in a Foreign Language 12(2), 309-323.: 
Weerakoon, A., & Dunbar, N. (2017). Collecting Evidence of Learning in a Project Based Study Abroad Program. Proceedings of the 13th International CDIO Conference, (p. 14). Calgary, Canada.: 
Weerakoon, A., Dunbar, N., & Findlay, J. (2014). Integrating Multi-Disciplinary Enginering Projects with English on a Study-Abroad Program. Procedings of the 10th International CDIO Conference. Barcelona, Spain.: 
Go to top