Teaching the Teachers
May 26, 2009 2:00 PM Subscribe
I'm in Spain and have been asked to give summer courses in English for academic purposes to university researchers and teachers of engineering. Apart from "English Academic Vocabulary in Use" (CUP), which I used last year - it's good - do any MeFites have any tried and tested recommendations for books and other materials that might be suitable? Amazon is great, but too often you can't get a feel for the book.
Is this for oral or written skills or a mixture of both?
posted by Busy Old Fool at 7:27 PM on May 26, 2009
posted by Busy Old Fool at 7:27 PM on May 26, 2009
Response by poster: Thanks, mattbucher: will check out both.
Thanks, Busy Old Fool: more oral than written. Looking at putting a package together from different sources.
posted by Holly at 1:02 AM on May 27, 2009
Thanks, Busy Old Fool: more oral than written. Looking at putting a package together from different sources.
posted by Holly at 1:02 AM on May 27, 2009
OK, so they want mostly oral academic English skills. I assume we're talking about giving lectures, leading discussions, that sort of thing?
Well, firstly a lot of those skills cross over with business English, so you might want to use business methodology (not the materials, obviously). e.g. rather than tracking down books on academic English (which won't have much on Engineering) or books on Engineering English (which will omit the academic side), use online lectures as models and sources of lexis. As always, a lot of the language they need is phrases and chunks rather than individual words.
Another great web resource is Andy Gillett's Using English for Academic Purposes site. It's aimed at students rather than teachers, but once you start digging, it's an absolute goldmine of language and ideas.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 2:47 AM on May 28, 2009
Well, firstly a lot of those skills cross over with business English, so you might want to use business methodology (not the materials, obviously). e.g. rather than tracking down books on academic English (which won't have much on Engineering) or books on Engineering English (which will omit the academic side), use online lectures as models and sources of lexis. As always, a lot of the language they need is phrases and chunks rather than individual words.
Another great web resource is Andy Gillett's Using English for Academic Purposes site. It's aimed at students rather than teachers, but once you start digging, it's an absolute goldmine of language and ideas.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 2:47 AM on May 28, 2009
Response by poster: Thanks, Busy Old Fool: good advice, and a great link. Muchas gracias...
posted by Holly at 2:16 PM on May 28, 2009
posted by Holly at 2:16 PM on May 28, 2009
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posted by mattbucher at 2:11 PM on May 26, 2009