TECHNICAL ENGLISH

PROFESSOR: HELEN MARTÍNEZ

SKILLS
• READING
• LISTENING
• SPEAKING
• WRITING
READING
READING
• The ability to understand and analyze written material
PREVIEW
• Look at the title and headings

• Read the first sentence of every paragraph

• Read the last sentence of the passage

READ FASTER
• Use peripheral vision

• Read for meaning

USE CONTEXT
• Learn basic vocabulary

• Learn new words in context

MAKE INFERENCES
• Locate the evidence

• Draw conclusions
SKIM AND SCAN
• Refer to arrows and shading

• Locate the details

• Check for exceptions

MAKE CONECTIONS
• Find references
SUMMARIZE
• State the main idea
• List the major points
Critical thinking
Imagine you are thinking of starting a restaurant in your
community. Answer the following questions:
• 1. Who will be the various stakeholders of your business?
• 2. What are some of the things you can do to benefit your
community other than providing jobs and tax revenue?
• 3. How will you establish good relationships with your suppliers?
With your employees?
• 4. Do you see any conflict between your desire to be as
profitable as possible and your desire to pay employees a living
wage?
LISTENING
LISTENING
• The ability to understand and analyze material that is presented
in audio (recordings, videos, etc)
• Conversations
• Dialogues
• Lectures
• Videos
Preview
• Pay attention to the introduction

• Glance to the visuals

Use visuals
• Glance at the photos
• Focus on content visuals
Understand context
• Learn vocabulary
• Learn phrases
SPEAKING
Oral Presentation
◦ It is a presentation that is given live before an audience.

◦ Oral presentations can cover a wide variety of different topics.

◦ The goal of the speech may be to educate,

entertain, or influence the listeners.

Types
• Informative
• Persuasive
THINGS TO CONSIDER
1. Preparation and planning.

2. Structure and signposting.

3. Visuals and how to make the best use of them.

4. How to create interest and establish and maintain a relationship with the
audience.

5. Body language

6. English pronunciation and the voice.

 I. PREPARATION AND PLANNING
1 PLANNING CHECKLIST

• What to achieve: Inform? Inspire? Convince the audience?

• The audience
• Research the topic and organize the content and material.
• Prepare visual aids
• Rehearse the presentation.
 II. ORGANIZING THE CONTENT

• A good oral presentation is well structured; structure makes it

easier for the listener to follow.

• A typical presentation has three parts: the beginning, the middle

and the end, also called the introduction, body and conclusion.
Effective introduction
• Get the audience atention and signal the beginning
• Great the audience
• Introduce yourself (name, position and company/institution)
• Give a title and introduce the subject
• Give your objectives (purposes, aims, goals)
• Announce your outline (agenda)
• Inform the audience during the introduction of your policy on asking
questions.
• Make transition between the introduction and the body.
2. Body
• Content

• Quantity

• Sequencing the content

3. Conclusion
Content: The end or the conclusion of a presentation should
include:

• A brief reminder of what you tried to show in your speech and

how you tried to do so, a short conclusion.

• Thanks to the audience for listening.

• An invitation to ask questions, make comments or open a

discussion.
Giving the conclusion
Example:
• In conclusion I would like to say that... My final comments
concern... I would like to finish by reminding everyone that...
Finally thank the audience for being there and invite questions and
comments or invite a discusión

• I'd be happy to answer any questions....

• If there are any questions please feel free to ask.

• Please feel free to make any suggestions or comments

IV. BODY LANGUAGE
• Eye contact
• Facial expresión
• Posture
• Gesture
V. PRONUNCIATION
VOICE
WRITING
Strategies
Writing requires a lot more processing of language in order to
produce a message.
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Read
• Sentence structure
• Use paraphrasing
• Cite sources
 The sentence

SUBJECT PREDICATE

VERB COMPLEMENT
Examples
1. Susan drives.
2. Susan drives to work.
3. Susan drives to work, she takes the expressway.
4. Jack and David are friends.
5. Jack and David are friends. They play basketball together

6. They are friends. Jack and David play basketball together

A paragraph

• A series of sentences that are organized and coherent, and are

all related to a single topic is called

• The lines that should include in a paragraph is at least three to

five, not more.
Types of paragraph
• 1. Descriptive Type of Paragraph: This paragraph type describes the
topic and displays the reader what’s the subject included in it. The
terms selected in the description type usually appeal to the five senses
of touch, smell, sight, sound, and taste. This type of paragraph can be
more artistic and may vary from grammatical standards.

• 2. Narrative Type of Paragraph: In simple words, this type of paragraph

narrates a story that includes a sequence of topic sentences like a
clear start, middle of the topic, an end to the paragraph
• 3. Expository Type of Paragraph: It defines something or gives
instruction. It may also explain a process and influence the reader
step by step via a form of the method. This Expository Para usually
needs research, but also it’s possible to rely on the writer’s own
knowledge and experience.

• 4. Persuasive Type of Paragraph: This kind of paragraph seeks to make

the audience to admit a writer’s point of view or know his/her position.
Persuasive paragraphs are often used by the teachers because it is
beneficial when building an argument. Also, it makes a writer to
research and collects some facts on the topic.
Parts of the paragraph
• Topic sentence
• Supporting sentences – details
• Concluding sentence
Topic sentence
• The Topic sentence is the first sentence of a paragraph. Also, we
can call an introduction sentence of a paragraph. It states the
main idea of each paragraph and displays how the idea
connects to the thesis or overall focus of the paper. All
consequent points presented in the paragraphs must support the
topic sentence.
Supporting details
• The supporting sentences explain more about the topic
sentence by showing some facts, stats, or examples regarding
the topic. It also includes the writer’s experience & own analysis
and used to develop the topic sentence.
• They come after the topic sentence, making up the body of the
paragraph

• They give details to develop and support the main idea of the
paragraph

• They give supporting facts, details and examples, expert

opinion, facts and statistics, personal experiences, brief stories,
research studies, interviews
Concluding sentence
• It is the end of the paragraph which is also known as final
statement about the topic. In the concluding sentence, the
writer usually restates their topic sentence or summarizes the
main points of the paragraph

• It is the last sentence in a paragraph

• It restates the main idea of your paragraph
• It restates the main idea of the paragraph using different words.
Transition words
• To show addition: again, and, also, besides, equally important,
first (second, etc.), further, furthermore, in addition, in the first
place, moreover, next, too
• To give examples: for example, for instance, in fact, specifically,
that is, to illustrate
• To compare: also, in the same manner, likewise, similarly
• To contrast: although, and yet, at the same time, but, despite,
even though, however, in contrast, in spite of, nevertheless, on
the contrary, on the other hand, still, though, yet
• To summarize or conclude: all in all, in conclusion, in other words, in
short, in summary, on the whole, that is, therefore, to sum up

• To show time: after, afterward, as, as long as, as soon as, at last,
before, during, earlier, finally, formerly, immediately, later, meanwhile,
next, since, shortly, subsequently, then, thereafter, until, when, while

• To show place or direction: above, below, beyond, close, elsewhere,

farther on, here, nearby, opposite, to the left (north, etc.)

• To indicate a logical relationship: accordingly, as a result, because,

consequently, for this reason, hence, if, otherwise, since, so, then,
therefore, thus
• Global warming is the rise of average global temperature on the
surface of the earth. It has been recognized as a severe threat
to the environment since the 1950s. The rate of increase in global
temperatures sees accelerated growth for the last 5 decades.
Climate change is real, and it holds the potential to wipe out the
human population from the surface of the earth.
WRITING ACTIVITIES
• Worksheets
• Forums
• Essays
• Reports
• Oral presentation (written document, visual aids)
ASSIGNMENTS
• FORMAT
• IMPERSONAL WRITING (Academic assignments)
• PERSONAL WRITING (opinion)
ESSAYS
• TYPES
• WRITING STRATEGIES
• ORGANIZATION - STRUCTURE
WRITING FOR ORAL PRESENTATIONS
Visual Aid - Slides
CONTENT:
First slide or on the bottom of each slide:
• Name of speaker
• Name of company with company logo
• Name of conference or event
• Name of the presentation and title
Slides
• Headings, parts of the presentation.

• Main points in short phrases or as key words.

• Technical information, statistics, lists, examples, definitions or

quotations (may be in full sentences).

• Six or seven lines of text and six or seven words per line.

• Try to use very little text, and to rely on images.

21/07/2022
 REFERENCES
• Harshbarger, T. G. (2012). The process of paraphrasing: excercises
to build paraphrasing skills.
• McKenna, J. (2015). English Result. Oxfor University Press.
• Saslow , J., & Ascher, A. (2015). Top Notch Fundamentals. USA:
Pearson Education.
• Sharpe, P. J. (2017). TOEFL iBT. Hauppauge, New York: Barron´s
Educational Series, Inc.

21/07/2022