Graduate Technical English (Advanced Course)
大学院技術英語（アドバンスドコース）
電気通信大学 — University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo
2011 Spring Semester 前学期
Course Summary
The goal is to prepare students for the international research environment by helping them improve their written and spoken technical English. The course covers writing, 80% and conference presentations, 20%.
In the written English part, students are taught to write journal manuscripts which are clear and easily understood by the scientific community. The emphasis is on the structure of a paper, explaining the significance and novelty of the students' research, as well as appropriate vocabulary and sentence structures. The main written project is a 1000-word paper similar in style to a conference paper. The journal submission and peer-review process is discussed, so students understand aspects of a successful paper.
In the oral presentation part, techniques for giving effective technical presentations are taught. Slide design, the forms of spoken English, effective graphs are discussed. If time allows, students will give a final oral presentation.
Lectures and Schedule
Lecture 1 (April 13, 2011) Course introduction and overview. Syllabus explained.
- Slides
- Homework 1 (Optional) (see slides for more details) Choose one: 1. Think about the goal of your research. What would be a nice result for your dissertation? In about 100 words, write concretely about a research goal you want to achieve. 2. Write about your research field. You can submit by WebClass (select the class name "H23大学院技術英語…" then "Submit Homework 1"). Or print out and bring to class.
Lecture 2 (April 20) Research web page. Also distributed the Reader.
- Lecture notes
- Homework 2 Make a research web page. See Homework problem 1 in the Lecture notes for details. Please submit on WebClass. (You do not need to do problem 2, the job cover letter.)
Lecture 3 (April 27) Written vs. spoken English.
May 4 no lecture — Midori no hi
Lecture 4 (May 11)
“Your paper is an argument for the significance, novelty and correctness of your results” and classical rhetoric.
May 18 Lecture 5
- Slides
- Lecture: Be Specific
- Lecture: Be Specific. In-class peer review of Paper Version 2 Peer Review Form
- Homework: Modify Paper according to peer review comments, submit on WebClass
May 25 Lecture 6
- Slides
- Lecture: A puzzle, three types of publication, continue with "Be Specific"
June 1 Lecture 7
- Lecture notes - Writing “Background - Previous Research”
- Homework:
- Revise your paper according to my comments
- Add “Background - Previous Research”
- Total 400-500 words
- Include 1-5 references
- Submit on WebClass by March 8.
June 8 Lecture 8
- Phrasal adjectives and capitalization Lecture notes
- Making graphs Slides
- Homework Make a chart using some of the ideas in class. Use either GDP/life expectancy data or your own research data
- Per Capita GDP by country: XLS format. (taken from World Bank)
- Life expectancy by country: XLS format. (taken from World Bank)
- Write a short description of the data in the chart. It should express some concrete, interesting idea (see example in slides).
- Tools to use: Matlab, Excel, gnuplot, R (statistical programming language), Many Eyes, Google Public Data Visualization
- Please submit by paper (not WebClass), in class next week, June 15.
June 15 Lecture 9
- Showed Hans Rosling visualizing population data
- Writing the "thesis" Lecture Notes
- In-class peer review
- Homework 8 Revise your abstract according to my/peer-review comments. Add your research results in a new section called “thesis.” Cover 3 points:
- Include “Problem at Hand” - state weaknesses of previous research
- Fiction: State the results you WANT to obtain
- Fiction: State how you WOULD measure your results
- The length should be 600-800 words. Submit on WebClass by Wednesday, June 22, 9 am.
June 22 Lecture 10 : Presentation Slide Design
- Lecture Notes
- Two papers on making presentations
- “Giving a Talk: Guidelines for Preparation and Presentation of Technical Seminars,” Frank R. Kschischang, University of Toronto. pdf.
- “Hints on Writing Technical Papes and Making Presentations,” Victor O. K. Li, IEEE Transactions on Education, May 1999. pdf
- Homework 9 Make 4 slides for a 5-minute presentation:
- exactly 4 slides (1 title plus 3 content slides)
- print full size (4 pieces of paper), do not submit on WebClass
- Do in-class peer review
- see Lecture Notes for additional comments
June 29 Lecture 11 : Paragraphs and Organization
- Overview of "Virtual Conference" slides
- Paragraphs and Organization lecture notes
- In-class peer review of presentation
- Homework 10 Revise your paper according to my comments.
- 600-800 words (you do not need to increase the number of words)
- Be sure to include your name and title
- Submit in PDF form on the Virtual Conference web site
- Deadline July 6 at 9 am
- Homework 11 Revise your presentation slides according to in-class peer review
- 4 pages only!
- Submit in PDF form on WebClass
- Deadline July 6 at 9 am
July 6 Lecture 12
- Peer-review process for journals and conferences. Slides and lecture notes
- Homework 12 You will receive 2 review requests by email
- Download 2 papers and read them
- For each one, write a peer review
- 150 words x 2 reviews = 300 words total
- Deadline: Extended to Wednesday July 20
July 13 Lecture 13
- Presentation scripts and practicing your presentation. Slides and lecture notes
- Homework 13 Practice your presentation on-line
- Submit on the "Presentation Recorder" web site:
- You need a computer with a microphone and an internet connection
- I will listen and give you feedback by email
- Deadlines:
- July 18 at 18:00 (Group A)
- July 25 at 18:00 (Group B)
July 20 Final Presentations
July 27 Final Presentations
Previous Semesters