Need of Introducing English Proficiency Course into Engineering Education in Bangladesh: A Case Study

This paper attempts to consider the need of introducing English Proficiency (EP) course for the first year students of Islamic University of Technology (IUT), a subsidiary organ of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Students of IUT are mostly of different OIC member countries and that’s why their previous educational background (medium of instruction) is also different. As IUT is an international university, the medium of instruction here is English. The main objective of this study was to identify the necessity of introducing English Proficiency course for the first year students. This paper argues on the present condition of English proficiency of the first year students of IUT. It also searches for the possible ways to improve their proficiency. In order to achieve these objectives a study was conducted among all the first year students and teachers from different departments. Questionnaires were prepared for both teachers and students separately and data were collected through these questionnaires. Result shows that the first year students should improve their English proficiency through a course of one semester (4 months). Some important recommendations were proposed based on findings to help developing English proficiency of the students.