English for Science and Technology
Lesson 1: Who needs communication?
Support (evidence)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Stage 1 200-300 words
Communication in Science and Technology
Stage 2 80-100
In the minds of many people, a typical scientist or technician looks something like this
Discuss and share:
Scientists /nerd
Celebrity/ social akward
What sort of person is s/he? Chat GPT / generative AI
Security/ privacy
(spying)
Does s/he need to communicate? In what ways? L.A 2008
Olympic
Smart city
Is this ‘stereotype’ realistic? Get money
Government
Traditional mindset 100M
Taxes individual SME
In reality, communication is an important skill for a science and Big
technology student or professional. He or she may be required to: Electronic document
a. Inform or warn the public
b. Defend their opinions or findings against the critique of others Ethnics forum
c. Persuade government or industry to choose them for a job, or to fund research
d. Communicate results of their work to supervisors, clients or to fellow workers/ students
Task 1: Discuss and describe with a partner an example of when each of these might be needed (from your
own studies? from the news?)
COVID, extreme weather ( climate change), new diseases, toxic chemicals
a. __________________________________________________________________________________
Experiment (thesis)/ debate
b. __________________________________________________________________________________
Medical / education systems
c. __________________________________________________________________________________
Always support (evidence)
Academic paper , lab reports (evidence)
d. __________________________________________________________________________________
News>> > academies
Whatever the form of communication (oral presentations, academic reports, websites etc.), a good
communicator:
1. Thinks objectively and thoroughly
2. Researches carefully
3. Keeps good records and notes
4. Writes clearly, concisely and correctly (the ‘three C’s)
5. Considers the background of the audience
6. Uses the appropriate format and tone for the type of writing involved
7. Presents the material neatly
8. Takes care to acknowledge all sources of information.
[adapted from http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/science/1.xml]
1
Task 2: Class Survey. Working with a partner, design and conduct a survey (which will be answered by 6
anonymous students) to determine how many of them are ‘smartphone addicts’. You will then report your
findings.
To do so, you will conduct the following steps (note, they are not yet in order!):
Record the respondents’ answers in the appropriate place
Begin your sentence with “Our group survey showed that…”, to acknowledge where the
information comes from
Think about and discuss how much phone usage constitutes ‘addiction’ (=?? hours per day?)
Avoid inappropriate language (such as “We think these guys are SOOOO…!”)
Prepare ONE survey question to research the information you need (asking “Are you an addict?”
will NOT get you useful results …avoid a yes/no question)
The sentence should be understandable to the class (who have a mixed technology background,
with pretty good English)
Write ONE sentence that clearly summarises your results (using a percentage, fraction, or phrase
‘most of…’ etc.)
Write your sentence neatly on the lines provided
PART A: Put the steps above in order, by writing next to each the numbers 1-8, corresponding to the ‘good
communicator’ criteria listed above (HINT: the underlined words will help you!). Confirm the order with the
class.
PART B: Do the first 2 steps, writing in the chart below:
SURVEY QUESTION:______________________________________ 1 2 3 4 5 6
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
PART C: When everyone is ready, conduct the survey amongst any six students and complete step 3.
PART D: Complete the final steps 4-8.
PART E: Share your sentence with the class.
2
English for Science and Technology
Lesson 1: Who needs communication?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Communication in Science and Technology
In the minds of many people, a typical scientist or technician looks something like this
Discuss and share:
What sort of person is s/he? male, nerdy, logic-loving, socially awkward etc
Does s/he need to communicate? In what ways? Records results/ data (only?)
Is this ‘stereotype’ realistic? Perhaps traditionally, but more well-rounded people,
including women, are now sought for these professions
In reality, communication is an important skill for a science and
technology student or professional. He or she may be required to:
a. Inform or warn the public
b. Defend their opinions or findings against the critique of others
c. Persuade government or industry to choose them for a job, or to fund research
d. Communicate results of their work to supervisors, clients or to fellow workers/ students
Task 1: Discuss and describe with a partner an example of when each of these might be needed (from your
own studies? from the news?)
a. ____About Ebola, SARS etc _________________________________________________
b. ____In a debate, or thesis defence etc__________________________________________________
c. ____Job seeking? __________________________________________________________
d. ____Writing an academic essay/ lab report_________________________________________
Whatever the form of communication (oral presentations, academic reports, websites etc.) a good
communicator:
1. Thinks objectively and thoroughly
2. Researches carefully
3. Keeps good records and notes
4. Writes clearly, concisely and correctly (the ‘three C’s)
5. Considers the background of the audience
6. Uses the appropriate format and tone for the type of writing involved
7. Presents the material neatly
8. Takes care to acknowledge all sources of information.
[adapted from http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/science/1.xml]
1
Task 2: Class Survey. Working with a partner, design and conduct a survey (which will be answered by 6
anonymous students) to determine how many of them are ‘smartphone addicts’. You will then report your
findings.
To do so, you will conduct the following steps (note, they are not yet in order!):
3 Record the respondents’ answers in the appropriate place
Begin your sentence with “Our group survey showed that…”, to acknowledge where the
8
information comes from
1 Think about and discuss how much phone usage constitutes ‘addiction’ (=?? hours per day?)
6 Avoid inappropriate language (such as “We think these guys are SOOOO…!”)
Prepare ONE survey question to research the information you need (asking “Are you an addict?”
2
will NOT get you useful results …avoid a yes/no question)
The sentence should be understandable to the class (who have a mixed technology background,
5
with pretty good English)
Write ONE sentence that clearly summarizes your results (using a percentage, fraction, or phrase
4
‘most of…’ etc.)
7 Write your sentence neatly on the lines provided
PART A: Put the steps above in order, by writing next to each the numbers 1-8, corresponding to the ‘good
communicator’ criteria listed above (HINT: the underlined words will help you!). Confirm the order with the
class.
PART B: Do the first 2 steps, writing in the chart below:
SURVEY QUESTION:___How many hours per day do you….? Etc. 1 2 3 4 5 6
PART C: When everyone is ready, conduct the survey amongst any six students and complete step 3.
PART D: Complete the final steps 4-8.
Using information from our group survey, we found that 66%/ two thirds/ a majority of the group were…
etc.
PART E: Share your sentence with the class.
