Technical English
for Mechanical Engineers
EN309
Instructor: Jay Hicks
Summer Semester 2014
Leibniz University of Hanover
Centre of Applied Linguistics and
Special Languages
Contents
Course Objectives
Requirements for the Successful
Completion of the Course
Oral Presentation
Course Content
Questions
Technical English for Mechanical Engineers
Summer Semester 2014
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Course Objectives
improve oral and written communication skills;
develop speaking and active listening skills in task-based
discussions;
develop helpful habits in dealing with scientific communications;
develop analytical and argumentative abilities;
understand different functions of the communication process and
how writers are successful in achieving these functions;
understand writing as a step-wise and ongoing process that involves
practice, feedback, and reflection;
prepare a presentation, thereby
 finding suitable materials;
 understanding, evaluating and interpreting them;
 documenting work processes;
 presenting the resulting material in new contexts.
and avoid common errors and verbal mannerisms.
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Summer Semester 2014
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Requirements for the Successful
Completion of the Course
A. “Certificate of Participation”

Not be absent more than two sessions*.
B. “Qualified Certificate” (2 ECTS points)

Not be absent more than two sessions*.

Give an oral presentation according to the description on
the following pages.
C. “Qualified Certificate” (4 ECTS points) for Masters Students

As in “B” above.

Complete the “Conceptual Design Project” and present the
results as described in the project description.
* The participation in another course or laboratory at the same
time will not be excused. If necessary, you must change the
English course or take it at a later date!
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Summer Semester 2014
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Oral Presentation I (content)
It must be
 15 to 20 minutes long;
 a general introduction into the topic; or
 a closer look at more specialized aspect of
topic directly relevant to your field of
study;
 technical in content;
 your own original work.
The topic of and the date for the presentation
must be agreed upon with the instructor in
advance.
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Summer Semester 2014
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Oral Presentation II (PowerPoint/Impress)
It must have
 a title slide with the following information:
Course, Instructor, Semester, Name of the Student,
and Title and Date of the Presentation;
 a table of contents;
 the sources of information, ideas, drawings,
pictures, diagrams cited on the slide;
 an alphabetical list of references of all the cited
information, ideas, drawings, pictures, diagrams (if
this is not present, the presentation will be
evaluated as “failed”).
The slides should have only key words, not the
complete text of your presentation.
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Summer Semester 2014
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Oral Presentation III (Printout)
At the time of presentation you must provide
 the instructor with a printout of the slides as
“Handout” in PowerPoint/Impress:
 three foils per page with lines for
comments;
 in black and white (not colored!).
If you don‘t, you may not give
your presentation until a later date, when
you have the “Handout”.
 the students with an outline or a summary of
the talk and a list of key terms and difficult
expressions.
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Summer Semester 2014
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Oral Presentation IV (presentation)
Your presentation must be given freely.
 If not, a copy of your script of the oral presentation
must also be handed in at the time of presentation.
 It must include a title page and a list of references
as given on page 5: “Oral Presentation II
(PowerPoint/Impress)”.
 Quotations must be clearly indicated and cited.
 Other ideas (not your own) must also be cited.
 The script will only be accepted in printed form
(computer printout or typewritten) with a spacing of
1½ lines, a font of 12 dpi and a border of 2½ cm.
on both sides.
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Summer Semester 2014
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Oral Presentation V (topic
suggestions)
 These can be found on the Stud.IP
site.
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Summer Semester 2014
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Course content
We will be using “Cambridge English for Engineering”. A
tentative selection topics can be found in the file
“Engineering Lesson Plan Table of Contents.” This will
depend on how much time we have.
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Summer Semester 2014
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Are there any questions?
Thank you and good luck!