The Effect of ESP Program on the Engineering Students' Proficiency at the University of Tabuk

Abstract

This study  aims to assess an ESP program  for engineering students in the University of  Tabuk  that caters for the needs in the second semester 1432/1433AH  and subsequently to assess its effect on students ' achievement in their field. More specifically, it   addressed the following question:

1) What is the effect of the engineering   ESP program on the students' achievement in English?

The sample of the study consists of 50   students of two sections from the engineering faculty in the University of Tabuk. An experimental group was taught the proposed engineering ESP program while the control group was taught the ordinary course in the University of Tabuk.

Compared to the control group, the students in the experimental group made significantly higher progress in general on all components of the English proficiency test. The differences between the mean scores of the two groups on the posttest were statistically significant for every component of English language.

Based on the findings of the study, the University of Tabuk is recommended to give priority to ESP courses to improve the student's level in English language and to allocate more funds for these programs.

Key words: ESP, EOP, EAP, EST.