Literature on teaching Science and Technology through English

This page is dedicated to articles on teaching Science and technology through the medium of English.

I started by listing things I'd read myself, but as before the invitation goes out to any of you who would like to contribute with links and comments about pieces you read and think should be shared. Send them in and I'll publish them here.

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Minimum competence in scientific English

Sue Blattes, Veronique Jans, Jonathan Upjohn

EDP, Collection Grenoble Sciences

2003

(pdf samples pages here)

Who is aimed at?

University students of science and technology who want to go ‘from learners to users’ of the English language. It is suggested that the book can be used as part of a course, partly autonomously, or completely autonomously. I can see all three possibilities but it also acts as a template of sorts for teachers to create their own similar tasks which may be more suited to their own specific student needs.

What you do you get?

It’s a book which presents the language of science in 12 units based on ‘functions, structures and lexis’ for:

measurement

frequency

comparison

modification

link words

time – present and past

cause and consequence

hypothesis

modality

purpose and process

impresonal forms

compound nouns and adjectives

For each unit there is an entry and exit test and sub sections dealing with:

functions and grammar

exercises

checkpoints (consolidating what is being learnt with paraphrasing, contextualisation and relating it to what is known)

web search – word search tasks

There is a key of answers to the questions and tasks.

There are grammar notes.

There is a lexical index linked to relevant pages in the body of the book.

My opinion and comments

It’s a gem. Why? Because if you’re a student of science or technology what you have here is a collection of organised functions of the English language based on a detailed analysis of your subject accompanied by contextualised exercises to practice scientific ‘functions, structures and lexis’ through the medium of English.

The book comes from a programme at the University of Grenoble supporting innovative publications. Good for them, I say. I just wish we could get someone to write something like this for primary and secondary English-medium science too. Having said that, the book as it is will serve secondary English-medium science to some extent even though it’s targeted at University students.

Conclusions?

It’s worth every penny, or rather Euro cent. If you teach Science or technology through the medium of English as a foreign language, buy it! You won’t regret it.