What is Civil Engineering - Faculty of Education | HKU - The

Department of Civil EngineeringThe University of Hong Kong

A Tale of Two Classes – Language Issues in Teaching Civil Engineering

Francis T.K. AuDepartment of Civil Engineering

The University of Hong Kong


• What is Civil Engineering?• What are the pre-requisites for the study?• How to learn Civil Engineering?• How is performance affected by

- English language capability?- prior experience in learning using English as the medium of instruction?

• What are the lessons learnt?

A List of Questions

What is Civil Engineering ?The art of directing the great sources of power in nature for the use and convenience of man …

The Institution of Civil Engineers, London, 1818

Transformation of Hong Kong from a Fishing Village to a Modern Society

Hong Kong in 19th century

Hong Kong in 21st century

Civil Engineering Projects in Hong Kong

High Island Reservoir Mass Transit Railway

Lantau LinkInternational Airport

TransportationEngineering

EnvironmentalEngineering

GeotechnicalEngineering

StructuralEngineering

ConstructionEngineering &Management

Disciplines in Civil Engineering


Pre-requisites for Studying Civil Engineering

• Languages: English (and Chinese)

• Mathematics• Physics• Computer literacy / Information

technology (IT)• Chemistry (to certain extent)


Types of Courses in Civil EngineeringMathematics / Science

Language

Mathematics;Structural mechanics;Fluid mechanics

Construction project management

Language courses

Theory & Design of Structures I


Programme Structure

Secondary 7 Year 0(PRC universities)

Year 3

Year 2

Year 1

Year 3

Year 2

Year 3

Year 2

Year 1

Year 0(Sun Yat-Sen U)


Mainstream “1+3 mode” “2+2 mode”

Theory & Design of Structures IT & D of

Structures I


Media of Instruction

Secondary 7 Year 0(PRC universities)

Year 3

Year 2

Year 1

Year 3

Year 2

Year 3

Year 2

Year 1



Mainstream “1+3 mode” “2+2 mode”

HKU: English except for Chinese language courses

PRC U’s: Chinese except for English language courses

SYSU: half Chinese and half English


Topics in Theory & Design of Structures IMathematics / Science

Language

Theory of structures



Language

Design of structural elements

Class 1: Plastic

Class 2: Compact

Class 3: Semi-compact

Class 4: Slender

Rotation M

omen

t

Me (elastic moment)

Figure 7. Typical moment-rotation characteristics of different classes of sections

Mp (plastic moment)

Symmetrical I-Section

t

d D

T

TY

Y

XX

B



Language Structural design; structural forms

Figure 3. A typical suspension bridge.

Main cables

Tower/ pylon

Deck

Anchorage

Hanger/ suspender

Anchorage

Pier

Figure 7. Suspension roof with parallel suspension cables, supported by crossed arches.

Figure 13. A typical arch bridge.


Coursework in Theory & Design of Structures IMathematics / Science

Language

Structural analysis



LanguageLaboratory

report



Language EssayReport on an existing structure


• Questionnaires- background- civil engineering education- teaching methods

• Results from test and examination- individual questions and overall

• Interviews with students

Data Collected from the Two Classes

The Questionnaire

Your background

Civil engineering education

Teaching methods

Miscellaneous


Background of the two classesEnglish capability

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Top 10% Next 20% Next 40% Next 20% Bottom10%

Self-assessment

Perc

enta

ge HKUSYSU

**


Background of the two classesFirst language

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Chinese(Putonghua)

Chinese(Cantonese)

English Others

Per

cent

age

HKUSYSU


Background of the two classesFormal English language education

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Up to 2 years 3-5 years Above 5 years

Perc

enta

ge

HKUSYSU


Background of the two classesExperience with English-medium teaching

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%

Up to 2 years 3-5 years Above 5 years

Perc

enta

ge

HKUSYSU

Self-assessment of capability in English-medium study of civil engineering

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Excellent Very good Good Fair

Perc

enta

ge HKUSYSU


Civil engineering education

**

Importance of English language capability:Theory of structures - conceptual topics

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Mostimportant

Veryimportant

Important Not important

Per

cent

age

HKUSYSU


Civil engineering education - topics

Importance of English language capability:Design of structures - conceptual topics

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%

Mostimportant

Veryimportant


Perc

enta

ge HKUSYSU



Importance of English language capability:Theory of structures - analytical topics

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Mostimportant

Veryimportant


Perc

enta

ge

HKUSYSU



Use of much more mathematics

Importance of English language capability:Design of structures - design calculations

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Mostimportant

Veryimportant


Perc

enta

ge HKUSYSU



Use of much more mathematics

Importance of English langugage capability: Tutorial assignments

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Mostimportant

Veryimportant


Perc

enta

ge

HKUSYSU


Civil engineering education - coursework

Much use of engineering theory


Civil engineering education - courseworkImportance of English langugage capability:

Experiments and reports

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Mostimportant

Veryimportant


Perc

enta

ge HKUSYSU

Importance of both language and engineering theory

Importance of English langugage capability: Essay on an existing structure

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Mostimportant

Veryimportant


Per

cent

age

HKUSYSU


Civil engineering education - coursework

Importance of various pre-requisitesImportance to study of civil engineering:

Language(s): English / Chinese

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%

Mostimportant

Veryimportant


Perc

enta

ge HKUSYSU

Importance to study of civil engineering: Mathematics

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%

Mostimportant

Veryimportant


Perc

enta

ge HKUSYSU

Importance to study of civil engineering: Physics

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%

Mostimportant

Veryimportant


Perc

enta

ge HKUSYSU


Importance to study of civil engineering: Computer literacy

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%

Mostimportant

Veryimportant


Perc

enta

ge HKUSYSU


Practice in Civil EngineeringMathematics / Science

Language With time and experience


Practice in Civil Engineering - ConfidenceSelf-assessment in civil engineering practice

in an English-speaking environment

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%


Per

cent

age

HKUSYSU

Self-assessment in civil engineering practice in an Chinese-speaking environment

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%


Perc

enta

ge HKUSYSU

Self-assessment in civil engineering practice in a mixed language (Chinese-English) environment

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%


Perc

enta

ge HKUSYSU


Usefulness of the course in enhancing English capability

Usefulness of the course in enhancing capability in the use of English

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%

Most useful Very useful Useful Not useful

Perc

enta

ge HKUSYSU

Related to experience in EMI learning

Report on an existing structure

79%75% 75% 75%

70% 70% 70% 74%73% 74% 73% 77%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

HKU HKU Local HKUMainland

SYSU

Class or group

Mar

ks

U. quartileL. quartileAverage


Coursework – Report on an existing structure

Variations too small to be taken as indicator!

Overall test results

72% 70% 77%

50% 50%58%60% 60% 65% 69%81%

63%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


SYSU

Class or group

Mar

ks



Test – Overall results

Difficult test!

Test results - theory

75% 75% 76% 80%

45% 47% 50%58%61% 61% 60%70%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


SYSU

Class or group

Mar

ks



Test results – Theory

More courses in related field?

Test results - essay type

80% 78%85% 90%

40% 40%

63%46%

59% 57%73% 69%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


SYSU

Class or group

Mar

ks



Test results – Essay type

Students with least experience in EMI learning!

Overall examination results

76% 76% 76%

51% 52%43%

62% 62% 62% 58%

79%

59%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


SYSU

Class or group

Mar

ks



Examination – Overall results

Papers of comparable difficulty and one identical essay-type question

Examination results - essay type

80% 80% 85%70%

35% 35% 30%

53%55% 55%64% 61%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


SYSU

Class or group

Mar

ks



Examination results – Essay type

Students with least experience in EMI learning!

Results of English course

71% 70% 71%68%

62% 62%

67% 67%65%65% 65%

66%

50%

55%

60%

65%

70%

75%

80%

HKU HKU Local HKU Mainland SYSU

Class or group

Mar

ks



Professional and technical written communication for engineers

Results are comparable!


Effect of language capability on learning

Correlation analysis is carried out on results of courses:

• Theory and design of structures I (by Department of Civil Engineering, HKU)

• Professional and technical written communication for engineers (by English Centre, HKU)


Effect of language capability on learningOverall results vs. performance in English course

y = 0.8037x + 0.0552R2 = 0.0643

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Performance in English course

Resu

lts in

T&D

of S

truct

ures

I

Results of theory questions vs. performance in English course

y = 0.4477x + 0.2343R2 = 0.0164

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

40% 50% 60% 70% 80%


Res

ults

of t

heor

y qu

estio

ns



Low sensitivity

Results of essay questions vs. performance in English course

y = 0.8516x - 0.0022R2 = 0.0487

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

40% 50% 60% 70% 80%


Res

ults

of e

ssay

que

stio

ns



Results of design questions vs. performance in English course

y = 1.0132x + 0.0136R2 = 0.0554

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

40% 50% 60% 70% 80%


Resu

lts o

f des

ign

ques

itons




A series of courses on T & D of Structures

• Theory and design of structures 1 • Theory and design of structures 2• Theory and design of structures 3

Basic course examined in this presentationIntermediate course with

much more contents in mathematics and science

Results of Theory & Design of Structures 2

69% 70% 71%

78% 80% 78%

64% 59% 63%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

HKU Local HKU Mainland HKU SYSU

Class or group

Mar

ks



Next course in the series: T&D of Structures 2

Comparable performance!

Results in T&DStr2 vs. performance in English course

y = 0.3529x + 0.454R2 = 0.0249

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

50% 55% 60% 65% 70% 75% 80%


Res

ults

in T

&D

of S

truc

ture

s 2



Not sensitive to language capability because of increasing contents in math / science

Results in T&DStr2 vs. results in T&DStr1

y = 0.3748x + 0.4642R2 = 0.2992

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Results of T&D of Structures 1

Res

ults

in T

&D

of S

truc

ture

s 2




Conclusions

Although the data collected are not yet conclusive, some conclusions can still be inferred:

• The two important factors in learning civil engineering are: (a) language(s); and (b) mathematics / science.

• Although the correlation of the data is not strong, language capability is still seen to enhance learning various topics in civil engineering.


Conclusions

• Language capability affects to various extent the study of different areas of civil engineering.

• The students examined in the study have different experience in learning in English, Chinese and a combination of the two. Provided that they have passed a certain threshold of language capability, the difference in subsequent performance is minimal.


Conclusions

• Using English as the medium of instruction in learning enhances the capability in the use of English, especially in the first few years.


Thank you!

What is Civil Engineering - Faculty of Education | HKU - The

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