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 2 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. Technical English for Mechanical Engineers Summer Semester 2014 3 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! Technical English for Mechanical Engineers Summer Semester 2014 4 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. Technical English for Mechanical Engineers Summer Semester 2014 5 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. Technical English for Mechanical Engineers Summer Semester 2014 6 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. Technical English for Mechanical Engineers Summer Semester 2014 7 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. Technical English for Mechanical Engineers Summer Semester 2014 8 Oral Presentation V (topic suggestions) These can be found on the Stud.IP site. Technical English for Mechanical Engineers Summer Semester 2014 9 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. Technical English for Mechanical Engineers Summer Semester 2014 10 Are there any questions? Thank you and good luck!