1. Reflections on LSP for Engineers
Engineering Department
Reflections on LSP for Engineers
Alexander Bleistein and David Tual
CUED Language Unit

2. The Language Unit (LU) in figures
1993 16
5 + 1
600
150

3. LU specificities In-house to CUED STEM Free to students Open to all
LSP provision

4. LU provision English support LFA: 5 FL, CEFR A1-C1/2, mixed classes
3rd Year Project
4th Year Module
Students’ feedback: “I would also like to mention the Language Unit. Not only is the teaching itself excellent, but it's done in an engineering context, which in my opinion makes a big difference in terms of motivation to learn the language.”

5. LU Learners Survey 2017 February 2017 255 participants
mainly engineering students and students from related subjects

6. Students‘ Motivation Partner / Family background? Broaden my mind?
Fun?
Enhance employment prospects?
Cultural interest?
Holiday purposes?
Studying or working abroad?
To get credit for my degree?
Research purposes?

7. Students’ Motivation
“Chinese is a very fun language to learn despite being one of the hardest languages to learn.”
“German is a fun language.
You've got to love its melody.”

8. Students’ Motivation
“Aim to become fluent in at least one other language in order to have the option of working abroad in the future.“
“I was triggered by 'Brexit'. Thought for future employment potentially in Europe, I would need a language.”

9. Students’ Motivation: Different Languages

10. Students’ Expectations

11. Students’ Expectations

12. Companies’ Expectations
BMW
No defined group language
But expecting from employees to speak German in many fields
Lufthansa
Fluency in German and English is generally part of a vast majority of their job offers
Volkswagen
Announced in 2016 that the future group language will be English
However: continue to emphasise the importance of speaking the language of countries employees are working in (essential when dealing with clients and business partners)

13. Consequence: Balancing course contents
LSP-courses should not be limited to subject-specific contents
Richer (2008): “Providing a response [to students' language needs] limited to the professional sphere does not necessarily constitute a suitable solution.” (translated from French)
Language learners must be proficient both within and outside the professional context
Promoting cultural understanding

14. Example: The German Parliament Building
Subject-related dimension:
dealing with the dome from a civil engineer‘s point of view
Cultural dimension:
getting to know the eventful history of the building
Everyday life dimension:
booking a guided tour through the building;
thinking about questions to be asked during a tour
Grammatical / lexical dimension:
depending on level and materials used

15. Other Challenges Identifying the smallest common denominator
Subject knowledge (including latest developments)
LSP for beginners

16. Solutions and future plans
Working together: GELS network
GELS project: CEFR based grid
Reflections on intercultural communication as integral part of Global Engineer profile