A survey and analysis of English use in oversea manufacturing factories from ESP aspects

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A survey of English communication among Japanese and foreign engineers working at manufacturing factories was conducted. Engineers at three factories in U. S. and two in Australia were interviewed and given a questionnaire in 2004 and 2005. A web-based questionnaire with the same questions was answered by engineers in U. S., England and Australia. The results showed that engineers regarded "technical instruction" as the most important followed by "in-house informal meeting" and "interview with the boss or a subordinate" among job communication tasks. They viewed "presentation" as less important than these tasks. Also, Japanese engineers felt that they did not communicate well enough in complaining and praising at workplace, compared to instructing and explaining situations. These results indicate that not only straightforward expressions but also indirect expressions are needed at manufacturing factories, and Japanese engineers feel that they are not good at the latter.English communic … More ation needs in Asian countries were investigated in 2006. Japanese Engineers working at seven manufacturing factories in Vietnam, six in Thailand and one in Malaysia were interviewed and given a questionnaire. The results showed that English needs differed according to whether their business partners were Japanese companies only, and to whether their production processes were labor-intensive or technology-intensive. In Thailand and Vietnam, communication among local workers and Japanese engineers were conducted in Japanese, local languages with some English words at manufacturing sectors. However, English communication was regarded important at administration and business sectors of the factories.The survey at companies in Japan reviled that engineers with little experience of working abroad showed a great awareness of English needs at workplace, even though they did not use English much in their jobs. Also, in interviews with personnel managers, they pointed out the importance of English course based on real discourse at manufacturing factories abroad. Less