December 2011 Volume 7 Issue 4
Spring Edition
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Title
The Ability of Taiwanese High-achieving University Freshmen to
Comprehend Fundamental English Science Vocabulary

Author
Tzung-yu Cheng
China Medical University, Taiwan

Biodata
Tzung-yu Cheng is an associate professor at China Medical University in Taiwan where he teaches courses in critical reading and academic reading. His current research interest includes content area reading, reading assessment, and the sociology of language learning and teaching.

Abstract
The study investigated the extent of knowledge of fundamental English science vocabulary of a group of high-achieving Taiwanese university students. The participants, 35 medical school freshmen, took three tests each comprised of 50 science words developed by using the words and concepts appearing in the science and health textbooks respectively for American third-grade, fourth-grade, and fifth-grade pupils. The respective means, computed from the total words known times 2 points, was found to be 43.14 for Grade 3, 24.68 for Grade 4, and 23.60 for Grade 5. Despite the fact that the sample groups represented academic high-achievers, the results showed that most of the participants do not know the English science words beyond the third-grade level. The findings reveal that preparing Taiwanese high school graduates for reading to learn from university texts in English is not a focal concern in EFL instruction. The study suggests that English for Specific Purposes (ESP) should be regarded as one of the potential solutions to maximize Taiwanese students’ ability to read science texts in English.

Keywords: ESP, science vocabulary, science reading, EFL