2008 年 56 巻 1 号 p. 1_48-1_54
This paper discusses contents and results of a new graduate course “English for Engineers and Scientists” given at School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo. This course is a new attempt to develop English communication expertise for engineering graduate students: how to write technical papers and how to make technical presentations in English. For these purposes, differences in the writing styles and in the sentence structures of English and Japanese are stressed: conclusions come first in English versus conclusions come last in Japanese; the three-step style of introduction, body, and conclusion in English versus the four-step style of ki-sho-ten-ketsu in Japanese. In addition, proper styles of technical papers (rhetoric) and related grammatical points are discussed. Technical presentation course consists of four-week lecture and seven-week practice session. In the lecture, essential points of technical presentations in English are discussed in detail, and in the practice session students′ presentation skills are improved through guidance and instructions given by native-speaker moderators. The class evaluation results show that most students have obtained necessary skills of technical presentation, indicating that the combined course of lecture and practice session is essential for training students to make better technical presentations in English.
