Abstract:

In modern higher education systems many institutions are promoting the use of the English among the students, who are required to graduate with a B2 level. In this sense, the EMI (English as Medium of Instruction) methodology plays an essential role in the frame of the European Higher Education Space. The work presented in this paper is an experiment to encourage students to use the English language in the context of technical courses. The activity has been carried out with three-year course students enrolled in the Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design Engineering and Product Development. A particular topic has been introduced to the students in English. Firstly, the terminology used is translated from Spanish into English, secondly the activity is explained and finally, the students have to develop an exercise related to the unit, which will be presented to the classmates in another session. This is a starting point of a multidisciplinary education project, in which one teacher from the Mechanical Department explains the topic in the English course. One of the objectives is to involve technical areas in the English classes. The experiment has contributed to enhance the students communicative skills in English and according to the results obtained from the questionnaire, the activity has resulted meaningful and the students appreciate the inclusion of technical English in the syllabus.

Keywords:

English as Medium of Instruction (EMI), Technical English, Statics, Industrial Design.