M1 AS

Technical
English and
Terminology
By: Dr. A. SAOUD
Course Description:
Are you ready to bridge the gap between
technical expertise and effective English
communication in your specialized field?
Our Technical English and Terminology
course is designed to equip students with
the language skills and terminology
needed to excel in technical and scientific
contexts.
Contents
1. Reading comprehension: Reading and analysis of texts related to the
specialty.

2. Oral comprehension: Using authentic popular science videos, take notes,

summarize and present the document.

3. Oral expression: Presentation of a scientific or technical subject,

preparation and exchange of oral messages (ideas and data), telephone
communication, body language.

4. Written expression: extracting ideas from a scientific document, writing a

scientific message, exchanging information in writing, drafting CVs, letters
of application for internships or jobs.
01.
Reading
Scientific Paper
 Introduction
● A scientific article is a written document
that presents the results of original
research, experiments, studies, or
investigations conducted by scientists,
researchers, or scholars.

● These articles are typically published in

academic journals or conference
proceedings and serve as a mean of
sharing new knowledge, discoveries,
and insights with the scientific
community and the wider public.

● Reading a scientific paper effectively is a

skill that researchers and students must
develop. Scientific papers can be dense
and filled with technical jargon.
How to read effectively and
critically a scientific paper ?
Step-by-step guide on how to read an article
1. Understanding Scientific Papers

2. Reading as a Process

3. Step 1: Preview the Scientific Paper

4. Step 2: Read for Understanding and Analysis

• Introduction
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion

5. Step 3: Reflect and Take Notes

1. Understanding Scientific Papers
1. Understand the structure of the source you’re reading.

2. The scientific article contains the following four sections plus the abstract:
• Introduction
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion

3. This common structure helps scientists better communicate their research

with one another and the larger public.
2. Reading as a Process
 Multi-step process can make you a more efficient and critical reader.

1. Step 1: Preview the source to get a sense of what it will offer

2. Step 2: Read for understanding and analysis

3. Step 3: Reflect and takes notes on the reading

Step1: Preview the Scientific Paper
 Preview the article to determine its main goal, method, and findings.
 Your first step should be to read the abstract, which provides a brief
summary of the paper. As you read, ask

 WHAT did the authors want to find out?

 WHY did they want to know this?
 HOW did they answer the question?
 WHAT did they find out?
 SO WHAT? Why is this research important?
Step2: Read for Understanding and Analysis
 Use the following descriptions and guiding questions to navigate each
section as you read.

 Introduction
 Authors provide an overview of the general topic, summarizing
background information from the existing literature.
 The authors explain how their research adds to current knowledge and
convey its importance.
 The introduction is also where you’ll find the research question(s) and
expected answer(s)
 Introductions often conclude with a brief summary of how the authors
tested their hypotheses—a preview of the methods section.
Step2: Read for Understanding and Analysis
 Introduction

 Questions to Check Your Understanding

 What is the research question?
 Why should it be studied (what gap does this research fill)?
 How has it been studied before?
 What are the hypotheses and predictions?
 Questions to Guide Your Analysis & Evaluation
 Is the question clear?
 How does the work compare to other studies in the field?
 Will this research contribute to our knowledge in an important way?
 Is the hypothesis justified?
Step2: Read for Understanding and Analysis
 Methods

 The authors provide a detailed account of how they completed their

study or experiment, the materials and/or participants they used, how
they measured particular variables, and how they analyzed their data.

 You will want to pay careful attention to this section and determine the
strengths and weaknesses of the study’s design.
Step2: Read for Understanding and Analysis
 Methods
 Questions to Check Your Understanding
 How did the authors conduct the study or experiment?
 What materials and measures did they use?
 How did they sample the study area, subjects, or population?
 How did they analyze the collected data?
 Questions to Guide Your Analysis & Evaluation
 Are the measures appropriate and clearly related to the research
question? Do they adequately test the hypothesis?
 Does the sampling (e.g., study areas, subjects, participants) fairly
represent the larger population of the study?
 Is the analysis appropriate for the data?
 Are there noticeable flaws in the method?
Step2: Read for Understanding and Analysis
 Results
 The results section summarizes the data in text, figures, and tables.
 You should examine this section and consider not only what the
authors found but also what findings they chose to present and how
(for example, which results warranted display in a figure? which
didn’t?).
 Questions to Check Your Understanding
 What are the major findings?
 How are the findings presented/displayed?
 Questions to Guide Your Analysis & Evaluation
 Are enough data displayed to demonstrate the results?
 How do the findings relate to the hypotheses?
 Are the statistics appropriately presented?
 Did you note patterns that the author does not mention?
Step2: Read for Understanding and Analysis
 Discussion
 The authors analyze their findings and explain whether their results
support their hypotheses and predictions.
 The authors explain why (or why not) by comparing not only their
results but also their approach to those of other related studies,
providing essential context and grounding their work in the existing
literature.
 They also discuss the limitations, importance, and implications of their
results and detail possible applications, extensions, or revisions of their
study.
Step2: Read for Understanding and Analysis
 Discussion
 Questions to Check Your Understanding
 Did the data support the hypothesis?
 If not, does the author explain why?
 How do the results compare to those of other studies?
 Are the findings significant?
 What are the limitations and applications?
 Questions to Guide Your Analysis & Evaluation
 Did the authors interpret the results appropriately?
 Are you persuaded by the findings?
 How significant are the limitations of the study?
 Do the authors offer plausible applications for their research?
 Does the discussion reflect the major points from the introduction?
Step 3: Reflect and Take Notes
 Taking notes while you read is time consuming and can even distract you
from focusing on the ideas you are reading.

 Separate the acts of reading and notetaking by reading a section or a few

pages and then stopping to take notes.

 Make sure that your notes provide answers to the questions posed in each
of the sections above.

 After you have read and taken notes on the paper, be sure to reflect on it.
How does it compare to other papers you’ve read on this topic? How does it
relate to your experiment or research project? How might you use it in your
course work, lab report, or paper?