| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立高雄第一科技大學 === 應用英語所 === 96 === Textbooks are an indispensable part of any course of study. Undergraduate engineering students at technological universities are exposed to a variety of engineering textbooks: some that are written in English and others that are written in Chinese that were either written in Chinese in the first place or translated into Chinese. Given that many undergraduates are assigned to low level General English courses based on the English placement exam they take when they first enter the university, it seems reasonable to assume that they will struggle when reading English textbooks.
Four questions are posed in the current study to explore engineering undergraduates’ opinions of the textbooks they use: (1) What are the advantages of using English engineering textbooks and Chinese engineering textbooks? (2) What difficulties do students encounter when they study English engineering textbooks and Chinese engineering textbooks? (3) What learning strategies do engineering students employ when they read their English engineering textbooks and Chinese engineering textbooks? (4) Would students prefer to use English engineering textbooks or Chinese engineering textbooks if they had the right to select their own engineering textbooks?
A questionnaire designed to answer these questions was administered to 50 freshman, sophomore, and junior engineering majors enrolled in General English courses at four levels of language proficiency. After the questionnaire survey, interviews with ten respondents and two General English teachers were conducted to gather some in-depth information for data analysis. The major findings for the study are (1) Most students encountered more learning difficulties when reading English engineering textbooks than Chinese ones. (2) Most students would prefer English engineering textbooks if they had textbook selection right, though the vocabulary, the specialized terminology, and the content in them are difficult. They recognize that English is a universally employed international language in engineering fields and in the world and helpful for their future jobs and study.
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