Nunung Suryati, Ardhi E. Fadilah
Reported in this article is research conducted in an Indonesian university to estimate the English vocabulary knowledge of a sample of engineering students. This is a significant topic, because the EFL (English as a foreign language) engineering students are expected to be able to read English language texts in their engineering course, and also create simple oral or written text in English. This is difficult for them to manage without an adequate knowledge of vocabulary. Through two of the instruments, the subjects were tested on their understanding of words that occur frequently in academic writing: the receptive vocabulary level test (RVLT), and the productive vocabulary level test (PVLT). The tests were used to measure not only whether the students knew the words, but also how well they knew them. The results showed that on average the EFL engineering students have sufficient receptive vocabulary sizes, but they struggled to cope with the productive vocabulary test. The implications of the results and suggestions of ways in which the engineering students' vocabulary knowledge could be improved are discussed. © 2019 WIETE.
State University of Malang, Malang, Indonesia; Politeknik Negeri Malang, Malang, Indonesia
