Job Discussion Forums

[Kitegirl]

Hey all, I did a search and came up with a thread from 2003, before English for M & E Engineering was revised (in 2003).

I'm considering prescribing it for my ME and EE students at the vocational college/professional university where I teach English to budding Bachelors of Engineering. I would use it in combination with a reader (which is all I use now) to cover things I also feel are impt.

Has anyone experience with this book and would be willing to share that with me? On the surface it looks fine, but I liked to hear what others have to say (I've googled but to little avail).

Cheers, Y

[younggeorge]

I haven't seen the revised version but I used to use the old one a lot with sudents on BTEC Diploma courses. It worked OK with those not too far into their programmes but once they'd got a bit of the technology theory under their belts, they (a) found the texts un-challenging because they already knew most of the content and (b) wanted a break from Engineering anyway - they got tons of it in their content courses and wanted a cange in their English classes.

With degree-level students, you'd probably find the first problem - they should be ahead of the game on the content - but, depending how much teaching they get in their content courses, they might not be so bored with engineering in general.

[Kitegirl]

Thanks - although there's stacks of room for improvement - so far I (and the Ss) have been quite happy with the readers I prepare. I just felt that a textbook might offer a little more, I don't know, not structure, more motivation?

The students give me complements for my readers, but a book just looks more professional, more serious. There's a lot more focus on language too - I tend to focus on skills related to an engineers workday.

Anyway, thanks and I hope to hear from others too.