Job Discussion Forums

[Kitegirl]

Hello all, I've just gotten a phone call that I've been invited back for the second round of interviews for my dream job at the engineering dept. of a uni. I've got General English savvy, and even a splodge of Business English experience, but technical know-how?
It's the day after tomorrow, so I'm desperately trying to figure out in what ways I could teach engineering students better English.
It's in Holland too, so most of the students will probably speak better English than me (Kiwi that I am).
If they ask (and they will), what are practical activities (written, spoken) for Technology Management and Mechanical or Electrical Engineering students?
I've been googling for the last two days but I'm stumped. Thank you all.

[Ludwig]

This is EAP, a course I teach for final year undergraduate students of engineering here in HK.

I would suggest you simply take a look at some of the relevant literature in this regard. They will doubtless expect you to be aware of some of the salient differences between technical texts and non-technical texts (register, structure, etc.). Such differences are normally highlighted through a corpus approach.

As a former post-holder in the Netherlands, it sounds to me as if you are well out of your depth.

[moonraven]

I am afraid I have to agree. I have taught technical writing at the university level in the US, and technical English classes for engineers here in Mexico. It's not something you pick up from Internet overnight.

[Stephen Jones]

Nobody can give you any practical advice until we know the level of your students.
"Technical English" is a pretty meanngless phrase anyway., though not as meaningless as "English for Academic Purposes" which Ludwig refers to. There is really little point in teaching the finer vocabulary of polymer chemistry to geophysicists, and your students are likely to let you know that as soon as you try.
You also haven't stated whether you will be teaching the students Preparatory English or whether they will be finalizing their studies. Needs are different again.
The basics of English teaching is the same, whether Business English or Technical English. I've taught Technical English to factory trainees, college students and research scientists, and have never really thought of it as being a separate branch of English. Unfortunately, that piece of common sense may not go down well at the interview.

[Ludwig]

[Stephen Jones]

Dear Ludwig

It must be neat to have so much bile in you that if they cut you up you could poison half-Asia.

May I point out that as usual, apart from quoting some obscure buzz-words from one of your textbooks, you have added nothing useful to the discussion.

Has it ever ocurred to you Ludwig, that the fact that most people don't udnerstand you isn't because you know more than them; it's because the only thing you communicate is that you are a pompous 'arsehole with an overweening idea of his own importance.

[AsiaTraveller]

Kitegirl,

Unlike Herr Ludwig, I teach technical writing but I'm also willing to share ideas with you rather than humiliate you.

You haven't told us whether the course is a Technical English course or simply an English course for students who happen to be engineers. There's a big difference!

Let's assume it's a Technical English course. To plan your course goals, you could focus on strategies for teaching engineers how to write some of the documents that might be required of them on the job, including (but not limited to):

technical reports

feasibility studies

recommendation reports

requests for proposals (RFPs)

project proposals

presentations

user manuals

flowcharts and diagrams

articles (including abstracts) for professional and academic journals

Group writing projects are the norm in much technical writing, so you can have students work on these document types in small groups. They can use the engineering content that they already know to create (small) documents that exhibit the organisational and writing standards that you teach them. Preparation and delivery of presentations is another skill that engineers should have, and this too lends itself to group work. It's also fun!

Writing technical materials in English requires knowledge of some style and formatting guidelines that differ from Continental styles. This includes standards for numbers, equations, tables, charts and other figures. But the students at the college might already know much of this.

Learning to develop and follow standards for citations, cross-references and bibliographies is another topic that you could include.

Depending on the goals of the course you teach and on the level and goals of your students, you'll have no problem figuring out what to include in a half-year or full-year course.

If, on the other hand, the course simply focuses on traditional EFL grammar and writing, then perhaps your examples and writing assignments can come from technical materials. And don't forget to teach them how to create and update a curriculum vita, as well as how to prepare for and undertake a job interview. I doubt they will learn these skills in any other course at the university.

Feel free to PM me if you want additional information or clarification.

[Ludwig]

Sad, very sad. What a bunch of pathetic little crybabies! Tell you what! Why don't you run home and tell your Mummy about it? Tell her a bad boy was rude to you in the playground; that will make you feel better. Perhaps she will read you a story and tell you everything is alright - that there are no other points of view different to those of your own.

Each to their own.

It would, of course, be more than a tad interesting to know what training Jones has in linguistics, either generative or otherwise. I would aver none whatsoever.

[Hod]

The voice of reason?

Not that anyone cares, but I studied Mechanical Engineering at uni and worked in this field for five years before taking up teaching.

Ideally, Technical English teachers would also have a technical qualification, or at least a techy mind. The number of teachers I’ve met in this category could be counted on the thumbs of one hand, i.e. me. The fact that Kitegirl is being considered for this job backs this up.

I never had English teachers during my uni days, maybe I should, but what I did have were lecturers of Law, Management, etc. What they knew about engineering could’ve been written on a postage stamp. No one cared because they weren’t teaching engineering to us. Using some of your logic, I guess teachers shouldn’t teach English to doctors without spending years at medical school first.

Kitegirl, I’m not sure it’ll be a dream job, but as Asia Traveller says…

[Kitegirl]

Thank you (almost) everybody.
In six years of teaching I've only ever taught preparatory academic and IELTS, Business English, Hospitality trade English, taught English and Dutch to refugees, taught in a special ed school for autistics, ADHD etc kids, remedial for dyslexics, a very boring stint in a regular Dutch high school as well as freelance translating and editing over the years. I only have an MA in English (useless stuff like linguistics), a CELTA, and a years post-grad teacher training cert.
So gee, I guess I am well out of my depth.
I better go back to that uni and tell them that they made a really dumb decision choosing me out of the thirty plus people they interviewed.
Because....I GOT THE JOB!!!

Asia Traveller - cheers, something like that was what I meant. I just needed some idea of what tech students would need in their careers. I did find this great site which was good - I'll include it in case anyone ever does a search (like I did)

http://www.uefap.co.uk/index.htm

Hod and Stephen - thank you too for the encouragement (heck, I sound like I'm at the Oscars).

They told me they like my overseas experience but mostly just liked me. (Aw shucks!) So I may not have had the technical savvy they hoped for, but I'll bust a gut trying.

I miss China but I'm looking forward to this new challenge. (And it kind of nice to be living in the same country as my husband again...)

[dmb]

kitegirl, congrats on the new job

[moonraven]

Hmmm.

Kitegirl began this thread with the following:

"I've got General English savvy, and even a splodge of Business English experience, but technical know-how?"

Now that she has the job, she tells us she has a Master's, a teaching certificate, tons of experience and specialties, etc., and scolds us for doubting her level of ability.

If she had not presented herself as Little Miss Muffet at the beginning of this thread, she would have received very different responses from most of us. I, for example, would have taken her seriously.

I don't know what real your motive was for starting this SOS thread, kitegirl, but I would like to share something with you: No matter how many degrees and specialties and how much and how varied your teaching experience is, if you continue to play the Oh I'm Such a Helpless Girl game, you will have invested a lot of time and money and effort in becoming a professional without owning that identity. That's called shooting yourself in the foot, in the vernacular.

That said, I am sincerely glad that you got the job. Start owning that you didn't need anyone's help to get it, and best of luck!

[Glenski]

I'm with moonraven. Talk about misrepresenting yourself! Shame!!!

And, to think that ...

[kimo]

Let's have a little quiz to get you started. In the following piece from the internet, the writer is attempting to explain some of his code, called Documentation Writing by software writers.

I believe the writer has violated some basic rules of technical writing. What are they?

[AsiaTraveller]

Congrats, kitegirl! Let me know if you need any more info or suggestions. And don't worry: You didn't deceive anyone. The critics and scolds here just read into your original post what they wanted to read into it. They love to pounce upon innocent newbies.

And to kimo:

For starters, nobody calls this stuff 'Documentation Writing'. I've taught, written, edited and published it professionally, so I should know.

And �code� is also not �documentation writing�.

So if you�re clearly not in this field, what exactly are you trying to say and where did you get your �basic rules of technical writing�? Why would you (of all people) be giving kitegirl 'a little quiz'? And why would you want to? I think she can take care of herself.