Interactional Skills in Engineering Education

Abstract

This chapter discusses how interaction can be encouraged in engineering courses. To many educators in Taiwan, EMI and non-EMI teachers alike, interactive tasks belong in the language classroom and are not suitable in content courses. In fact, teachers often complain about having to reduce content in an EMI classroom, leaving little or no time for activities. However, it is commonly acknowledged that EMI teachers often need to deal with a passive class, where students are unresponsive and avoid interaction with the teacher. This chapter will first review literature on engineering education to demonstrate that an interactive approach in teaching not only makes learning more interesting but also allows teachers to gain insights into student learning. The chapter will then present and discuss the findings from four EMI courses offered by an undergraduate mechanical engineering (ME) program in a comprehensive university in southern Taiwan. Finally, the chapter will suggest quick but effective activities that meet teachers’ needs for quality feedback and students’ desire for oral practice.

Appendices

Appendices

Appendix 1: Results of Student Survey (N = 95)

	Question (%)	Strongly disagree	Disagree	Agree	Strongly agree
		1 (%)	2 (%)	3 (%)	4 (%)
1.	I believe English should be the medium of instruction for discipline-specific courses	2	18	69	11
2.	I believe there is a need for EMI courses	1	6	75	18
3.	I can acquire core discipline-specific knowledge from EMI courses	4	34	57	5
4.	I believe English as the medium of instruction will lead to lower knowledge acquisition	4	31	59	6
5.	One of the reasons for enrolling in EMI courses is so I can improve my overall English ability	1	11	66	19
6.	Through EMI courses, I learned to use English to communicate professional terms, definitions, and basic concepts	2	27	59	12
7.	Because of EMI, I have gained confidence in using English	2	45	47	6
8.	My English proficiency is not good enough to actively participate in EMI classroom discussion	7	53	31	9
9.	EMI courses can help improve my English speaking abilities	4	50	37	9
10.	I believe that EMI courses reduce students’ willingness to speak out in class	3	35	49	13
11.	I agree that the university should offer EMI preparatory courses	3	19	62	16
12.	In an EMI course, the biggest challenge for me is understanding many discipline-specific terms	3	15	62	20
13.	I think it would be very helpful if teachers use charts and tables or give examples in English	0	1	77	22
14.	I think a teacher’s instructional methods are more important than how well they speak English	4	11	47	38
15.	I think a teacher’s communicative and presentation skills are more important than their English speaking skills	1	15	47	37

Appendix 2: Student Survey: Open-Ended Questions

• 1. After taking EMI courses, have you seen any changes in your English skills such as in listening, speaking, reading, and writing? What has caused the changes?

• 2. After taking EMI courses, what skills should you have gained that are different from courses delivered in Chinese?

• 3. Before enrolling in EMI courses, what skill training is needed for students?

• 4. What should be the learning outcome from an EMI course?

• 5. After taking EMI courses, what do you think are necessary skills or teaching techniques that will make EMI teaching more effective?

• 6. Do you have any other comments?

Appendix 3: Teacher Interview Questions

Part 1: Structural Questions

• 1. What do you think about EMI education?

• 2. What is the major obstacle in the promotion of EMI (e.g., too costly to operate, no comprehensive policies, different stakeholders, no qualified teachers, no guidelines, no standard level of English for EMI teachers)?

• 3. What is the main challenge in EMI teaching (e.g., no sufficient teaching resources, not enough qualified teachers, problems for exams and assessment)?

• 4. In what ways do you expect English teachers to support EMI education at NCKU?

• 5. Can Chinese help you in EMI classes? When would you switch to Chinese?

• 6. What are your views regarding English as the medium of instruction in Taiwan?

• 7. What are your suggestions or alternatives regarding English as the medium of instruction at NCKU?

• 8. How did students in EMI classes respond to the implementation of the classroom language policy?

Part 2: The Skills a Student Should Possess in an EMI Class

The seven skills are as follows: How to ask questions? How to increase T-S and S-S interactions? How to work in a group? How to be more confident in using English? How to explicitly and analytically express opinions? How to describe a scientific concept? How to read a mathematical formula or a chemical formula?

What other skills do you think students should possess in an EMI class?

Part 3: Specific Questions

Language and Interaction

• 1. Based on your teaching experience, how does classroom interaction change as the medium of instruction changes? Are EMI courses more interactive or less interactive?

• 2. Do you think making the classroom interactive is important? If yes, what skills do you use to make the classroom more interactive? If not, what are your reasons?

• 3. If you asked questions in English, and your students used Chinese to answer you, what would you think?

• 4. In the very first class of the semester, do you need to spend some time preparing students for the classroom language?

Skills

• 5. What skills might help to enhance students’ understanding (e.g., how to begin a sentence, how to draw a connection between one point and another, how to define technical terms, how to ask questions, how to lead a group discussion, etc.)?

• 6. In classroom observation, we noticed that teachers rarely read aloud the whole formulas you have written on board. Do you think engineering students need to know how to describe a formula? Is it an important ability for them?

Assessment

• 7. How do you assess your students? By exams, papers, projects, or another method?

• 8. Do you prepare bilingual exam papers?

• 9. Is language choice a factor that influences students’ grades?

• 10. Do you think the learning of academic subjects is improved by EMI? Does it lead to deeper understanding? If so, by which groups of students? (All students? Only international students? Only home students?)