english for reading and presentationsrobertson/chemistry... · presentations will be...
TRANSCRIPT
DrAndrewRobertson
ReadingandPresentationsinEnglish
WhydoyouneedEnglish?� Scienceandengineeringisaninternationaleffort.
� Thelanguageofinternationalscience andengineeringisEnglish.
Ifyoucan’tunderstandwhatotherchemistsaredoing,andcan’ttellthemwhatyou’redoing,youcannotbeagoodchemistinthe21st century.
AllimportantacademicresearchispublishedinEnglish-languagejournalsandpresentedatEnglish-languageconferences.Ifyoucan’treadandpresentinEnglish,youcannotperformresearchataninternationallevel.
� Butdon’tworry…LearningtousereallifeEnglishisnotthesameaslearningEnglishforexams.Youcanmakemistakesinreallifewithoutgettingintotrouble.Aslongasyoucancommunicate,youwilldowell.
� Startingnextyear,youwillhavetomakepresentationsbasedonEnglish-language sciencejournals.
Howthiscoursewillbeassessed
� Presentationswillbe‘peer-assessed’.‘Peerassessment’meansyouwillassesseachother.Youwillformgroupsofaboutfourandgiveeachothermarksaccordingtoyourownassessment.Iwillcheckthemarkslatertobesuretheyarefair.
Therewillbeareadingtest(endofMay/beginningJune)andapresentationsfinalassessment(endJuly/beginningAugust).Yourfinalmarkwillbetheaverageofthosetwoassessments.Ifyoufollowthemethodsinthiscourse,youshouldnotfail.
Howdoesself-assessmentwork?� Youwillgiveeachothermarksfrom0–4foryourpresentations.0marks:Nopresentation.1mark:Verybadpresentation.Almostnoeffortmade.2marks:Effortmadebutfewobjectivesmet.3marks:Okaybutnotallobjectivesmet.4marks:Good.Allobjectivesmet.
� Whynotgiveeachotherall4s?Youwillsubmitvideosofyourpresentations.Iwillrandomlycheckpresentationsfromeachgroupandadjusteveryone’sscore(upordown)accordingtohowaccurateIfindyourassessment.Inaccurateassessmentswillaffectthewholegroupofeight.
TwoThingstoRemember
� There’snoshortcuttoreading/writingscientificEnglish.
� Don’tbescaredofscientificEnglish.
TheonlywaytoachieveproficiencyinscientificEnglishistopractiseasoftenaspossible.
Therewillbemany,manywordsyoudon’tunderstand.Thisisthesamefornativespeakerstoosodon’tbescared,justgetoutyourdictionaryandkeeppractising.Note:fromnowon,onlyuseanEnglish-English dictionary.
Goodnewsandbadnews
� SomegoodnewsFindingtherightarticlecansaveyoumonthsorevenyearsofresearchtime.Youcanfindlotsofinformationonhowtodoyourexperimentsbyfollowingtheexperimentsotherpeoplehaveperformedforoverahundredyears.Learningfrompreviousresearchcanalsoinspireyoutotrysomethingcompletelyneworpreventyoufromwastingtimeonprojectsthathavealreadybeendone.
� SomebadnewsMostsciencearticlesarebadlywritten,especiallyresearchpapers.Otherarticlescanbeverylong.Manyarticlesarelongand badlywritten.
� SomemoregoodnewsBylearninghowtoquicklylocatetheinformationyouneed,youcangreatlyreducetheamountoftimeyouspendtryingtoreadarticles.
ThreeLevelsofScientificJournalism� PopularScience(newspaperarticles,blogsetc)
� Journalsummaryarticles.
� Researcharticles/papers.
Usuallywrittenininformalorsemi-formalstyle.Oftenusesone-sentenceparagraphsandarelativelylimitedvocabulary.Easytoreadbuttherearefewtechnicaldetails.YoucanuseJapanesesitestofindstoriesbutEnglishsiteswillhelpyoupractiseyourEnglish.Examples:NewScientist (freeregistrationrequired),TheScientist,ChemistryWorld,Phys.org (Futurism).
Usuallyonlyfoundintopjournals.Theyareshorterthanthefullarticlesbutusesimilarvocabularytotheoriginalarticles.Theyarewrittenbyscientists,notjournalists,sotheyarenotalwayswellwritten.Examples:Science(clickoninterestingstoriesfromthetopbanner,also,clickonthe‘LatestNews’banner):http://www.sciencemag.org,Nature(morenewsfromNature):http://www.nature.com/news/index.html,NatureChemistry(NewsandViews):http://www.nature.com/nchem/journal/v8/n4/index.html#nv,JournaloftheAmericanChemicalSociety:http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jacs.6b02793
Thesearethearticlesthatwillbemostimportantforyourresearch.Youwillnotneedtounderstandeverydetailofthearticleuntilyoubeginproperresearch,butyoushouldbeabletomakeaquickestimationofthesubjectofthearticleandfindimportantinformation.
Whichkindofarticleisbest?� Whichkindofarticleisthebestdependsonwhatyouwant.
Newspapersandblogsareexcellentwaystofindinterestingresearchfrommanydifferentdisciplines.Theyaregoodforkeepingabreast ofgeneralsciencebutdonothavemanyspecificdetails.Theyareusefulforpractising yourEnglishreadingandoccasionallyfindinginterestingchemistry.
Sciencejournalnewsandsummaryarticlesaregoodforfindingthelatestinterestingresearchinchemistry.Theyhavemoredetailsthannewspapers/blogsbutarehardertoread.Theyareusefulforkeepingabreastofmodernchemistryandfindingarticlesforgrouppresentations.
Researcharticlescanbefurtherdividedintoreviews,fullpapers andcommunications.Reviews areusefulforresearchingawholefieldofchemistrybuttheyarelongandsometimesdifficulttoread.Theyareparticularlyusefulforfindingfullpapersrelatedtoyourresearch.Youwillusuallyneedtoreadafewreviewsbeforeyoustartanyproject.Fullpaperswillbenecessaryreadingwhentryingtolearnfromotherpeople’sresearch,whichwillhappenmanytimesoveraresearchproject.Communications areshortandhaveverylittleinformation.Theyaremostusefulforfindinginformationononespecificexperiment.
Questionsyoumustanswerfromanypieceofsciencewriting*
� Whatisitabout?� Whyshouldwecareaboutthis?/Howisitrelated tous?
� Whatdoweneedtounderstandfirst?
� Whatisnew?
� Whatisthemotivation?/Why wasn’tthisdonebefore?
� Whathasbeenachieved?Howsignificantisit?
� Howdidtheydoit/How doesitwork?
� Whataretheconclusions/future outlook?
Reviews� Ifyou’rereadingareview,you’llwanttoknow:
• ifitreallyisrelevanttoyou.• ifitisimportanttoyou.• whatarethemostimportantconceptsinthisfield.• whatarethemostsignificantachievementsinthisfield.• whicharethemostimportantresearcharticlesinthisfield(youwillwanttodownloadtheseandreadthemlater)(note:theauthorsarelikelytobebiasedonthispoint).• whohasperformed/isperformingthemostimportantresearchinthisfield(note:theauthorsarelikelytobebiasedonthispoint).• whatarelikelyfuturedevelopmentsinthisfield.
BasicArticleStructureAllsciencewritinghasthesamebasicstructure:
• Title• AbstractAbriefsummaryandwhyyoushouldreadthisarticle.• Introduction— GeneralOverviewWhythereisaneedforthisresearch.• Introduction— TopicSpecificBackgroundWhatyouneedtoknowtounderstandthisreport.• MaindiscussionThedetailsofthisreport• Conclusion(andfutureoutlook)Whatyouneedtorememberandwhatitmeansforthefuture.• (Experimental— researcharticlesonly)Exactdetailsofhowtheexperimentwasperformed.
Thismeanswealreadyknowroughlywheretofindtheinformationwearelookingfor.
AnsweringtheEightQuestionsNowweknowthebasicstructureofanysciencearticle,wecanestimatewheretheinformationwewantismostlikelytobe:
•Whatisitabout?— Title,abstract,Topicspecificbackground,(possiblytheendofthegeneraloverview).
•Whyshouldwecare?—Generaloverview(possiblytopicspecificbackground).
•Whatdoweneedtounderstandfirst?— Topicspecificbackground.
•Whatisnew?— (Title),Abstract,topicspecificbackground,(conclusions).
•Whatisthemotivation?/Whywasn’titdonebefore? (GeneralOverview),Topicspecificbackground.
•Howdidtheydoit?/Howdoesitwork?—Topicspecificbackground,maindiscussion,experimental.
•Whathasbeenachieved?/Howsignificantisit?— Abstract,Conclusions.(Pop.sci:maindiscussionalso).
•Whataretheconclusions?/Whatisthefutureoutlook?Conclusions.
Thestructureofsciencearticles� PopularsciencePopularsciencearticleswilloftenmixuptheorderpresentedabovetomakethearticlemoreinteresting.Thefirstsentencewilloftentaketheplaceofaformalabstractsothemainachievementwillappearthere.Therewilloftenbeanopinionfromanotherresearcherinthesamefieldtowardstheendofthearticle.Thefiguresareusuallyeasytofollow.
� Scientificjournals— newsThe‘news’articlesofscientificjournalswillmorecloselyfollowtheorderinthepreviousslides,i.e.introduction,resultsanddiscussion,conclusion,buttheywillbeverycondensedwhichmakesthemdifficulttoread.Theabstractisoftenasentencebyitselfatthetopofthearticle.� ReviewsReviewsusuallystartwithageneraloverviewintroductiontoexplaintheimportanceofthetopic.Theythenusuallymoveforwardinchronologicalorder,explainingthehistoryofdevelopmentofthetopic.Often,theydividethemaintopicintosubsections.Theconclusionusuallymakesastatementaboutthefutureofthetopic.
ResearchArticleStructureMostscientificarticleshavethesamebasicstructure.Knowingthestructurehelpsyoufindnecessaryinformationquickly.
� TheTitleAwellwrittentitlewillquicklytellyouthemainsubjectofthearticle.
� TheAbstractAwellwrittenabstractwilltellyouthemostimportantinformationofthepaperincondensedform.PopularscienceandJournalNewsarticleswilloftenhaveanabstractintheformofoneshortsentenceatthetopofthearticle.Popularsciencearticlesmightusethefirstsentenceasakindofcondensedabstract.Scientificarticleswillhavealongerparagraphwithan‘Abstract’subtitle.
� TheIntroductionAwellwrittenintroductionwillgiveyouallthebackgroundinformationyouneedtounderstandthemainfindingsofthearticle.Notethatthemainconclusionsareoftensummarised inthelastparagraphoftheintroduction.
Alongintroductionactuallycomesintwoparts:thegeneraloverview andthetopicspecificbackground.Thegeneraloverviewtellsreadershowthearticlefitsintothewiderworldofresearchandthetopicspecificbackgroundtellsreaderswhattheyneedtounderstandthatparticulararticle.
ResearchArticleStructure
� TheResultsandDiscussionThisisthemainbodyofthearticlewheretheauthorsdiscusstheresultsoftheirexperimentsandwhattheymean.Someparagraphswillbeofmoreusetoyouthanothers.
� TheConclusionAwellwrittenconclusionwillsummarisethemainfindingsofthearticle.Itisdifferenttotheabstractbecauseitiswrittenforpeoplethathavealreadyreadthepaper.
� TheExperimentalExperimentalsectionsonlyappearinresearcharticles.Theexperimentalsectiontellsyouexactlyhowtorepeattheexperiment.Itcontainsexactdetailsofthemethodandmaterialsused.Itisusuallyonlynecessarytoreadtheexperimentalsectionindetailifyouwanttorepeattheexperimentorifyouwanttounderstandtheexperimentalprocedureonaverydeeplevel.
ResearchArticlestructure
� FiguresanddiagramsFiguresanddiagrams(i.e.pictures)areaveryusefulwaytoassessthecontentofanarticlebeforeyoureadit.Thiswillhelpyoudecideifyoureallywanttoreadit.Youmaynotunderstandallofthembuttheyareveryuseful.Popularsciencediagramsareparticularlyuseful.
� ReferencesandFootnotesThereferencesandfootnotesarewhereyouwillfindreferencestootherarticlesthatarerelatedtotheoneyouarereading.Theyareextremelyusefulforfindingmoreinformationonthesubjectyouareinterestedin.Sometimesauthorsaddextrainformationhere.Theyareusefulwhenyouwanttofindtheoriginalresearchpaperfromapopularsciencearticleorjournalnewsarticle.
ThePoweroftheParagraph
• Onetopic• Atopicstatement(thefirstsentence)• (Aconcludingsentence.)
Ifanarticleiswell-written,youcanunderstandthebasicdiscussionbyreadingjustthefirstandlastsentencesofeachparagraphandquicklyscanningtheinsideoflongerparagraphs.
Readingawholearticletakesalotoftimesoweneedaquickwaytofind1)ifthearticleisrelevanttous,andthen2)wherethatinformationis.Wecandothisbyscanningthefirst(andsometimesthelast)sentenceofeachparagraph.Thisisbecauseawellwrittenparagraphhas:
ParsingSentencesAproblemwithreadingsentencesinscientificarticlesisthattheyareoftentoolongandcomplicated.Itcanbedifficulttounderstandsuchsentencesbutwecanmakeiteasierifweparse thesentenceproperly.Parsingmeanstosplitthesentenceintoitsbasicparts.Takethetimetoidentifythenounphrases andseparatetheclausestomakethesentencesmorereadable.Itisoftenhelpfultobreakthesentencewhereyouseeapreposition orconjunction.
Strategiesarebeingdevelopedtoconvertalgaeintohigh-valueproductsandfuelswithoutexpensivedryingofrawbiomass.
E.g.
Youwillneedyourdictionaryandpreferablyaninternetconnectionbuttrytogetthemeaningofthesentenceswithoutlookingupeveryword.
NotesonChoosingArticlesforPresentations� Makesureyouchoosesomethingyoucanunderstand(titleabstractsentence,diagrams)
� Thenanswereightquestions.
Why?
Whydowemakepresentationsandwritepublications?
RECOGNITION(Alsotoshareourresultsandreceiveusefulopinions)
Maximising Recognition
� Peoplemustrememberyourpresentations.
� Theymustreadyourpublications.
� Theymustunderstandthemostimportantpoints.
Ifpeopledonotrememberyourpresentationsorreadyourpublicationsyouarewastingyourtime.Iftheydonotunderstandthemostimportantpoints,yourworkwillnotbeappreciated.
MakingYourPresentationsWorkforYou
Remember:� Peoplemustrememberyourpresentations.
� Theymustunderstandthemostimportantpoints
=>Youmustmakeagoodimpression.
=>Youmustunderstandadvancedcommunication.
10RulesofPresentations1. Engageyouraudience.(Talktotheaudience,nottoyourslidesor
yourlaptop.)2. Engageyouraudience.(Talktothewholeroom,notjusttoone
friendlyperson.)3. Engageyouraudience.(Lookingatdesksisokayifyou’reshy.)4. Speakslowlyandclearly(Tapyourfootslowlyandquietlywhenyou
start).5. Takemini-breaks(stopandbreatheforoneortwoseconds,noone
willnotice)6. CommunicationbeforeEnglish(Practisewhatyouwanttotalkabout
butmakeupyourwordsonthespot).7. Usegooddelivery.(Projectyourvoicetothebackoftheroom.Be
enthusiasticandyouraudiencewillbeenthusiastic.)8. Watchyourtime.(Checkthetimefrequently.Leavetimefor
questions)9. Practise,practise,practise(standupinyourroom,pointapenatan
imaginaryscreen,fromtheverybeginningtotheveryend.10. Knowyouraudience(whoisthispresentationfor?Youwillhaveto
changeyourpresentationfordifferentaudiences).
Preparation1. Thinkaboutyouraudience. Whatistheirlevelof
understandingaboutyoursubject?
2. Choosethemainpointsofyourpresentation. Themainpointswillchangefordifferentaudiencesandfordifferentobjectives.
3. Makeasmoothstoryforyourpresentation. Thereisnosinglestructureforallpresentationsbutyouwillalwaysneedanintroductionthatleadsuptoyourmainbodyandendsupneatlyattheconclusion.
Preparation4. Slidelayout: Trytocommunicatewithpictures/diagrams
ratherthantext.Donotincludetextthatcannotbereadfromthebackoftheroom.Useaslittleanimationaspossible.
5. Numberofslides: Rememberthatyouhavetospeakslowlyandclearly.Plantouselessthanoneslideperminute.Sevenslidespertenminutesisoftenausefulguide.
6. Practiseyourpresentationexactlyasyouwillperformitontheday. Usuallyyouwilloverrunyourallottedtime.Thismeansthatyouhavetoremoveslidesorreduceyourdiscussionofcertainslides.Youcannotspeakfastertotrytokeeptothetime.Youwillusuallyneedaboutthreefullpractisesforanewpresentation.
ThePresentation
� Rememberthatwhenyou’remakingapresentation,peopleareinterestedinwhatyouhavetosay.Theydon’tcareifyoumakeafewmistakes.
� Forthedurationofyourpresentation,youarethemasteroftheroom.
� Makeadjustmentstothelayoutoftheroomifnecessary.
Questions� Itisalwaysagoodsigniftheaudiencehasquestions.Themorequestionsyouhave,themoresuccessfulyourpresentationwas.Alwaysleavetimeforquestionsafteryourpresentation.
� Don’tbescaredofquestions.Rememberthatyouareaworldauthorityonyourtopic.RememberthatnooneexpectsyoutospeakperfectEnglish.
� Thereareusuallythreekindsofquestions.1)Easyquestions(you’reanauthorityonyourtopic,theaudiencearenot)2)Impossiblequestions(usuallyfrompeopleoutsideyourdiscipline)and3)Questionsthatleadtogreatideasforyourfutureresearch.
SlideDesign� Whitebackgroundsaretoobright.� Donotleavelotsofopenspace.� Donotusetoomuchtext.� Donotusetextthatcannotbereadfromthebackoftheroom
� Donotusecoloursthatclash(e.g.yellowtextonawhitebackground.
� Beconsistent— usethesamestyleforeveryslide.� Putslidenumbersinoneofthecorners.� (Donotuseanimation— itpreventsyouraudiencefromscanningyourslidequicklyanditruinsthedesign.)
MarkingScheme
� Engagement4– Facesaudiencealmostallthetime.Looksleft,right,front,back.3– Facesaudiencemostofthetime.2– Facesaudiencesomeofthetime.1– Doesn’tfacetheaudience.
� Delivery4– Cleardiction,soundsenthusiasticaboutpresentation,slowspeaking.3– Cleardiction,slowspeaking.2– Understandablespeech.1– Hardtohear.
� Timing4– 9–11minutes3– 8–9or11–12minutes.2– 7–8or12–13minutes.1– <7,>13minutes.
� Slides4– Consistentdesign,slidenumbers,goodbalanceofpictures,spaceandalittletext,alltextandfiguresarereadablefromthebackoftheroom.3– Anythreeoftheabove.2– Anytwooftheabove.1– Poordesign.
Ratethepresentation1–4pointsoneachofthefollowingtopics.Taketheaverageofthescoresforthefinalmark(X.5marksisroundedup,e.g.2.5marksisroundedto3)
Uploadingyourvideos� GototheProself site(https://share.iii.kyushu-u.ac.jp/proself/list/public.go)
� Uploadyourvideoas.mov,.avi or.mp4.� Makesureitis‘webpublished’.� Youwillgetapubliclinkoftheform:https://share.iii.kyushu-u.ac.jp/public/Obq1_ezCMVQ3pH
(checkthat/public/comesimmediatelybeforethecodesequenceoflettersandnumbers.
� Inyouremail,usetheformatonthenextslide.
MynameisTaroYamaguchi/山口太郎Mystudentnumberis1TEXXXXXXX.
Mymarkis3points.
Theothermembersofmygroupare:
ShinichiYamazaki/山崎伸一KimHyunho/フューンホーキム
https://share.iii.kyushu-u.ac.jp/public/Obq1_ezCMVQ3pH
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