Scientific and professional communication in English

Teacher(s)

Meirlaen Sandrine; Page Melissa; Toubeau Anne-Julie;

Language

French

Main themes

Training in scientific presentation skills, focusing on biology issues (taught by an English language teacher of the Institut des Langues Vivantes, UCL) and a public presentation in English of the state of progress of the student's master thesis.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	After this module students should feel fairly confident when giving a scientific presentation in English, focusing mainly on the academic field of biology.

Content

The course consists of three parts:
 
1. Group sessions on effective oral presentation techniques in science: facts and figures (graphs, comparisons, likelihood etc.), visual aids, systematic pronunciation of recurrent terms in science and biology.
 
2. Students can rehearse their presentation individually with the help of the language teacher.
 
3. Final presentation at the end of term: public talk about the state of progress of the student's master thesis in presence of the thesis supervisor, followed by questions and discussion (in English).

Teaching methods

Students attend group sessions with the language teacher to learn the overall basics of scientific presentations. The students also have the ability to rehearse presentation individually with the help of the language teacher.

Evaluation methods

The assessment takes place in June and focuses on the quality of the talk and the ability to answer specific questions (in English).
As to the English language command, assessment will focus on the student's progress throughout the language sessions, with specific attention to the pronunciation of recurrent terms, overall fluency and the way the student actually applies the presentation techniques developed in class.

Online resources

website LBOE2113 on Moodle

Bibliography

English for Presentations at International Conferences. Adrian Wallwork, Springer, Second Edition, 2016
English for Academic Research: Grammar, Usage and Style. Adrian Wallwork, Springer, 2016
English for Academic Research: Vocabulary Exercises. Adrian Wallwork, Springer, 2016
Alley M., The Craft of Scientific Presentations: critical steps to succeed and critical errors to avoid. Springer, 2003
Powell M., Dynamic Presentations, Cambridge University Press, 2011
Powell M., Presenting in English How to Give Successful Presentations, Heinle Cengage Learning, 2011
Wallwork A., English for Presentations at International Conferences. – Springer, 2010
Харитонова О. В., Тервинская Ю. В. English for Effective Scientific Presentations, 2013

Teaching materials

• LBOE2113 Scientific and Professional Communication in English

Faculty or entity

BIOL