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Writing in English

A Practical Guide for Scientific and Technical Writers

A Pilot Project funded by the European Commission's Leonardo da Vinci programme

Introduction

The project addresses the need of scientists and technical staff at research institutes or in industry to write scientific reports and papers in English more effectively. The primary focus is on regions of Central and Eastern Europe, although the materials developed will be valuable for scientific writers in other countries too.

Writing skills are essential for the accurate dissemination of ideas, procedures and results and are therefore important for the efficient operation of industry. At present scientific researchers who are the target group of the project have had basic education in English but have received little or no training in the writing of technical and scientific English, yet their professional careers depend on their skills in this area.

The project aims to bridge this gap by developing training materials in scientific writing skills so as to improve researchers' career prospects and their effectiveness in the organisations for which they work. The materials are primarily intended for self-study and will be produced in handbook form (with a CD-ROM to be published later). They could also form the basis for constructing programmes for continuous education for technical and scientific personnel in institutes and in industry (R & D).

Participating organisations

The project group consists of professionals with linguistic and / or scientific training and skills from these institutions:

  • Technical University, Brno, Czech Republic
  • EFL Unit, University of Essex, England
  • Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
  • Technische Universität, Chemnitz, Germany

Method of operation

The project lasts for 2 years, ending in April 2001, and consists of these phases:

Needs analysis

This has involved the collection of data about the writing communication problems of scientific and technical researchers employed at research institutes and industry in the participating countries so as to identify areas of writing difficulty that are common to all.

Materials development

The team has collected a core of samples of good and bad technical writing on which the training materials will be based, including extracts from published articles, research students. writing, etc. The materials are being designed to focus on:

  • stylistic features of technical writing (objectivity, conciseness, clarity, etc)
  • the components of a technical paper (introduction, results, discussion, references, abstract, etc.)
  • the functions of writing ( paraphrasing, comparing, contrasting, cause and effect, etc)
  • language difficulties (e.g. verb tenses, use of the passive, articles, linking, punctuation)

Piloting

Some of the materials will be tried out during the autumn of 2000 with selected researchers in the participating countries.

Final draft and production of handbook (and CD-ROM)

Results from the piloting will be fed into the writing of the final draft. Decisions will be made about the best method of disseminating the materials.

Widening the Project

The group would welcome the active involvement of other institutions within the European Union, particularly in the piloting and subsequent stages. If you are interested in taking part, or would like further information, please contact one of the team members:

  • Zuzana Svobodova
    Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
    Technical University Brno
    61669 Brno
    Technicka 2
    Czech Republic
    email: zsvobodo@kinf4.fme.vutbr.cz

  • Peter Treacher
    EFL Unit
    University of Essex
    Wivenhoe Park
    Colchester CO4 3SQ
    England
    email: petre@essex.ac.uk

  • Stefania Dugovicova
    Faculty of Natural Sciences
    Language Department
    Comenius University
    Bratislava
    Slovakia
    email: dugovicova@fns.uniba.sk

  • Heidrun Katzorke
    Technische Universität Chemnitz
    Zentrum für Fremdsprachen und interkulturelle Kommunikation
    09107 Chemnitz
    Germany
    email