Two groups of first-year undergraduates from the College of Science and the College of Engineering at CYCU in
the academic year of 2006 were selected for the study. Specifically, forty science students were assigned to the
experimental group (ESP class) and the same number of engineering students to the control group (general English
for freshman or EGP class). All of them registered in a required yearly course of freshman English. They were
administered the Michigan English Placement Test (MEPT-1) at the beginning of the first semester and the same
proficiency test at the end of the second semester (MEPT-2). The students were also given a questionnaire survey
measuring the perceived English needs for university freshman students at the end of the second semester. Not all
students took both tests or filled out the survey. As a result, we only collected a complete set of data from 28
students in the experimental group and 31 students in the control group at the end of the project. These students
were graduating seniors in June of 2010. In an attempt to determine if they had changed their opinions about ESP
education, a brief telephone interview was conducted in the beginning of June before their graduation.
Concerning the teaching approach, we elected to collaborate in the ESP teaching between an experienced English
teacher trained in language teaching and a physics professor specializing in physics. Both instructors chose the
teaching materials together and collaboratively taught the experimental group (ESP class). The language teacher
taught two hours and the physics professor taught one hour a week. The same English teacher alone instructed the
control group (EGP class) three hours a week for the whole academic year. The role of the ESP teaching is to
activate the learners’ science background knowledge in English. Special attention was given to science content,
paragraph organization, sentence structure and lexical analysis; while the role of general English teaching is to
enhance the foundation of general English skills. Building up vocabulary was an important component for both
classes.