Assessing proficiency in engineering English

摘要

The largest professional engineering organizations use English asntheir primary language; most of the world's engineering publications arenwritten in English; and nearly all cooperative ventures withnmultinational participation choose English for their common language ofncommunication. Unfortunately, most of the world's engineers are notnnative speakers of English. There are almost no reliable instruments fornmeasuring competence in engineering English. Applying Douglas's Languagenfor Specific Purposes test (2000) to engineering, gives not only anclearer overview of what kind of English and related content might bencovered in an engineering English program, but also a clearer view ofnthe knowledge that helps define what it means to be "professional" andnthis suggests what ought to be tested when evaluating an engineer'snability to use the English of his or her profession successfully