Technical Vocabulary Proficiencies and Vocabulary Learning Strategies of Engineering Students

With the growth of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in the professional and technical areas of study, vocabulary learning strategies are considered to be one of the most important factors for student success in learning technical English. And when it comes to technical English, the other important factor could be students’ background knowledge in the area. The current study aimed to 1) investigate technical vocabulary learning strategies use of engineering students; and 2) determine the differences in technical vocabulary learning strategies used by engineering students whose education backgrounds were on different streams. The questionnaire on technical vocabulary learning strategies was administered to 47 undergraduate engineering students from Udon Thani Rajabhat University selected as samples in the study. The subjects were also asked to complete the technical vocabulary test, and some agreed to participate in semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that students with the educational backgrounds in vocational stream had higher technical vocabulary proficiencies than students whose educational backgrounds were in the general education stream. Differences in the use of learning strategies were found between students who employed different streams of educational backgrounds (general education stream and vocational stream) at the significant level of .05 in determination, memory, and cognitive strategies.