Background

Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC) is one among the tertiary institutions in Cambodia, which trains students to be Technical experts in different field of technology for necessary developing the country.  There are seven main Technical departments and two Foreign Language sections French and English. The English Language course has begun from year2 to year 5 engineering students since 1995.  The rationale of the English language teaching at the Institute of Technology of Cambodia was that having English would help students to get job.

1. The current situation

The section has a Head of Section, Mr. CHOUM Tival who has taken as a whole responsibility for all functions of the English Section. The team teaching of English Language in English Section consists of three foundation teachers; fourteen part-time teachers and one Part-Time Secretary.

 Staff of English Section, academic 2014-15

2. Program and course book

The interchange series course book produced by Cambridge University Press has been used for the General English component of engineers’ courses from level2 (Pre-intermediate) to Passage1(Upper) level  of the English language teaching program include Course book (Advanced) level for year5 student designed by Project members of English Section of ITC. They come with the advantages of

availability, affordable, and familiarity. Their ready-made and graded progression of texts, structures, and exercises provided a safe and structured framework for teachers and students alike. Their content, however, are not completely relevant to the Cambodian or ITC situation, but the English Language section has built considerable resource of relevant supplementary material which they could further adapt themselves. The program is designed for students who have some English previously. The level of General English of ITC is improving with each intake between Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper, and Advanced levels.

3. Year2 learning hours/credit/level

The English course for year 2 of engineering student (I2) meets 2 hours per week for 16 weeks in semester1 and 4 hours per week for 16 weeks in semester2. At this level, student begins general English course of 32 hours (1 credit) in semester1 and 64 hours (2 credits) in semester2. The focus of the course is on improving student’s speaking, listening, reading, and writing. In other words, it mainly centers on both accuracy and fluency, and a multi-skills syllabus integrating themes, structures, functions, vocabulary, and pronunciations in “interchange” Level 2 Textbook by Jack C Richards with Jonathan Hull and Susan Proctor. Their English language level is Pre-Intermediate.

3. Year3 learning hours/credit/level

The English course for I3 of engineering students (I3) meets 2 hours a week for 16 weeks in semester1 and 4 hours per week for 16 weeks in semester2.  At this level, student continues general English course of 32 hours (1 credit) in semester1 and 64 hours (2 credits) in semester2. The focus of the course is on improving the four language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing). In other words, it mainly centers on both accuracy and fluency, and multi skills syllabus integrating themes, structures, functions, vocabulary, and pronunciations in “ interchange” level3 by Jack C Richards with Jonathan Hull and Susan Proctor. Their English language level is Intermediate.

4. Year4 learning hours/credit/level

The English course for year 4 of engineering student (I4) meets 2 hours a week for 16 weeks in semester1 and 2 hours per week for 16 weeks in semester2. At this level, student continues general English course of 32 hours (1 credit) in semester1 and 32 hours (1 credit) in semester2. The focus of the course is to cover the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  “Passage 1” textbook by Richards and Sandy is used in the course. The student also have developed other skills as well like writing an essay based on topics, simple descriptions, and give oral presentation the skills they have trained in their department to their classmates due to the learners’ need for their career prospects, further studies, and research purposes upon graduating from the ITC. Their English language level is Upper. 

5. Year5 learning hours/credit/level

The English course for year 5 engineering student (I5) meets 2 hours a week for 16 weeks of 32 hours (1credit) in semester1. At this level, students need to know how to write a summary, use diagrams, statistics and chart to interpret data and provide written analyses, business letters, fax, e-mail and memos, formal report, to be able to describe processes or interpret information and to analyze materials students have read or listened to, be able to develop their own CV and do a mock interview for a job in the real world. The “I5 course book” designed by project members of English section. Their English language level is advanced. 

Aims

By the end of the course engineering students will be able to:

- Develop communicative competence in in every life in English

- Acquire good reading strategy (for Literature Review)

- Develop the ability to express themselves confidently (presentation skill)

- Learn how to organize technical terms for further use 

Goals

By the end of the course engineering students will be able to:

- Develop communicate effectively with experts in the field of engineering in English.

- Present their report effectively to their lecturers (to defend the graduate project) in English

- Use technical terms (terminology) appropriately in order to write a report on their

   workplace, practicum  in English.

-Learn how to organize technical terms for further study or research in English.

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