Digesting Scientific English-E3
| Numbering Code | U-LAS51 10021 SE48 | Year/Term | 2022 ・ First semester | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Credits | 2 | Course Type | Seminar | |
| Target Year | 2nd year students or above | Target Student | For all majors | |
| Language | English | Day/Period | Fri.4 | |
| Instructor name | Duncan Wilson (Graduate School of Letters Senior Lecturer) | |||
| Outline and Purpose of the Course | Students will be tutored in how to improve their English reading skills, using a variety of texts and exercises. Passages or terms identified as difficult will be analyzed and explained in simpler language, and possible alternatives presented. The structure and content of scientific reports will be examined. Short texts on a range of scientific topics followed by multiple-choice questions will be used to build confidence and understanding. The overall aim is to foster students' abilities to extract the most important content from scientific texts, find specific information, and draw appropriate conclusions. | |||
| Course Goals | Students will gain experience in reading scientific texts and extracting the most important information from them. They will also learn to identify good and poor scientific writing. | |||
| Schedule and Contents |
1. Introduction. Basic grammar and punctuation games 2. Issues in spelling, including American vs. British style 3. Identifying grammatically correct and incorrect statements 4. How to ask, and how not to ask questions in writing 5. Comprehension: extracting important information from texts 6. Comprehension: further exercises in extracting information from texts 7. Comprehension: identifying and retaining facts and concepts 8. Resolving ambiguities in texts 9. Informal in-class exercises 10. Common errors in scientific writing 11. Detecting errors in texts 12. Comparing texts: poor writing and good writing 13. Getting the message across: English on signs and packaging 14. Overview of issues 15. Feedback Note: The contents of specific classes may change. |
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| Evaluation Methods and Policy | Evaluation will be based on class participation (20%) and a final, multi-component exam (80%). | |||
| Course Requirements | None | |||
| Study outside of Class (preparation and review) | No special preparations are required before or after classes, other than revising the material covered. | |||
| Textbooks | Textbooks/References | Lecture notes/slides will be distributed and posted on KULASIS. | ||
| References, etc. | Introduced during class. | |||
