Exploring fundamental engineering word list for engineering students: a literature review

Abstract

Corpora have been proven to be useful in investigating language learning issues. It has also been influential in vocabulary learning. Through the years, data-driven vocabulary learning has been recognised as one of the effective means of learning specialised vocabulary. In the context of engineering students, they are required to read specialised textbooks which contain a substantial amount of technical vocabulary or terminology that are necessary in their field of study. Engineering dictionaries unfortunately may not carry all the terms found in engineering textbooks. There seems to be a need to develop a glossary of corpus-based engineering vocabulary or word list to meet the needs of these engineering students. This kind of word list may better assist them in their understanding of the engineering terms found in the textbooks. This paper reviews the literature which is related to corpora leading to the development of word lists and lexical syllabuses for courses meant for the teaching and learning of ESP at higher educational institutions. It then briefly discusses the relevance of developing a word list of engineering terms for beginner engineering students.