EFL Tech - France a Site for Teachers of English ( as a Foreign Language) for  Engineering

 [Introduction]  [Part II : Syllabus]    [Part III : Class activities]
 

PART I - Teaching materials

In this part, you will find  some details about  the  books,   web sites,   software,   videos and media  and   technical magazines which have been mentioned by the contributors.
 

A - BOOKS

One book has been mentioned several times  and  seems to be  widely used :

 - English for Electrical and Mechanical Engineering by Eric H. Glendinning and Norman Glendinning (ISBN 0 19 457392 3) Answer book with teaching notes (ISBN 0 19 457393 1) -  Oxford University Press.
The level is intermediate. It is good for improving students' reading, writing, speaking and understanding skills. Strengths of the book are that it uses grammar to help students explain technical processes and that it is definitely relevant for those in the engineering fields. Weaknesses include a lack of interesting variety of activities and exercises.

Other books:

- English for electronics .
( Same series as the previous one). There exist other titles such as English for physical science, for biology, etc.

- Basic Technical English by Jeremy Comfort, Steve Hick and Allan Savage (Published by Oxford University Press - Also a Teacher's Book)
The level is lower intermediate or even lower but lots of diagrams and ta les to fill in and explain

-Engineering by Tony Dudley-Evans, Tim Smart and John Wall, published by Longman (Nucleus Series).
There's also a teacher's book and a cassette for listening comprehension.

- SCITECH  in the Tapestry series, by Heinle and Heinle.
A few chapters deal with technology.

- An Introduction to Technical English by Thorn & Badrick, from Prentice Hall Phoenix ELT(ISBN 0-13-497769-6).
This contains structures and vocabulary used for common technological products in passages accompanied by reading and writing exercises.

- Technical Writing and Professional Communication for Nonnative Speakers of English (Int'l edition, 2nd edition) Huckin & Olsen, McGraw-Hill, 1991.
An excellent book with 750 pages of good content.

- ESP Ideas: Recipes for Teaching Academic and Professional English  by Randall Holme, published by Longman (Pilgrims Longman Resource Books), 1996.
There are a lot of original ideas in this book.

 - ESL Resource Book for Engineers and Scientists
by Elaine Campbell. (No other reference provided)

- Writing Up Research, Experimental Research Report Writing for Students of English,  by Robert Weissberg and Suzanne Buker, Prentice Hall Regents. (ISBN 0-13-970831-6)
Recommended by a contributor.

- Academic Writing for Graduate Students, A Course for Nonnative Speakers of English,  by John M. Swales & Christine B. Feak, U. of Michigan Press (ISBN 0-472-08263-9)
 Recommended by a contributor.

- Technical English for Industry, by Yates and Fitzpatrick, Longman. More complicated and general, some interesting exercises, but a contributor warns to beware of mistakes.
 

OLDER BOOKS
which  may be useful to the novice teacher, if not to his or her students. Some of them may be out of print, but they could  be found in some libraries.

- Preparatory Technical English by G A Pittman (Longman) 1975.
(Intermediate) Very good as a source of syllabus materials and basic methodology. Really a teacher's reference book rather than a classroom text. (ISBN 0-582-526-9-1)

- The Language of Mechanical Engineering in English  by Eugene Hall  (Regents) 1977
(Intermediate to upper intermediate) Again a good book for the tyro to get their hands on as a source of inspiration. Not for class use as the pedagogical approach is hopeless but if you are looking for some ideas for lesson content or a syllabus, worth having.(ISBN 0-88345-303-7)

- English for Foreign Learners - Primary Technology by Rimmer and Scott (Bell and Hyman London) 1985.  (Intermediate) Designed for use in the Arab world or with Arab students specifically. Comes with a teacher's book and a cassette or recorded dialogues. (ISBN 0-7135-24286)

- Elementary Technical English by Martin Webber (Nelson) 1983.
An excellently illustrated basic introduction to the field with a good range and quality of exercises to teach and reinforce essential vocabulary and structures within a well constructed syllabus . Certainly a good supporting source for beginners in lexical terms, grammar practice
and oral skills,but the two books (volume I and II) are quite old-fashioned and ever more difficult to find.(ISBN 0-17-555352-1)

- Start English for Science  by Nogas and Bolitho (Longman, first published 1982 + later editions)
It's part of a three book series  (Start English for Science; Learn English for Science; Study English for Science).
Start English for Science provides a nicely graded elementary to intermediate course. The method is highly deductive and our students, who used to studying rules are usually perplexed by it. Teachers, used to the same, are sometimes uncertain of what they are supposed to do. There is a good, but very brief, teachers manual for each of the three books. Can be used as a secondary textbook.

- Working English by Suzi Wells (Heinemann) 1985
Useful if you want to want to start complete beginners in an engineering oriented genre. Profusely illustrated in a light-hearted sort of way. Comes with workbook, teacher's book and cassette.(ISBN 0-435-28931-4)

- Technical Contacts by Nick Brieger and Jeremy Comfort (Prentice Hall) 1987
(Intermediate and above) A series of listening modules which covers a wide gamut of Engineering fields. Based on the presentation format it would be good training materials for those who are going to need to present findings, etc.
(ISBN 0-13-898263-5)

 - General Engineering by CM and D Johnson, part of CASSELL's English for Academic Purposes Series.

- Engineering Information: Reading Practice for Engineers by Michael Kitto and Richard West. Published by Edward Arnold, 1984.
(I believe Edward Arnold was bought out by Heineman or Nelson quite a few years back, so I doubt that this book is still in print.) The articles are all short (1 page) from specialised engineering journals. The exercises are useful, although not terribly original.

- Interface: English for technical Communication, by Hutchinson and Waters, Longman. A lot of good listening tasks. Short exercises  but it has been said that this book is rather old-fashioned now!

Also  two very useful but (sadly) out of print works:
 -Evans Technical Dictionary Laurance Urdang Associates Ltd (1982)
published by Evans Brothers
 ISBN 0 237 50561 4 (hardback) - ISBN 0237 50498 7 (paperback)
- Evans Learner's Dictionary of Science and Technology  by Lacey, Mahood, Trench published by Evans Brothers (1983)  ISBN 0 237 50261 5 (paperback)
 

Please note that this is not a list of "recommended" books  but simply  a compilation of  information  provided  by various contributors.
 

BOOKS PUBLISHED IN FRANCE

A complete list, together with many other resources, is available  further in this site ( Espace BTSi)
 

B - WEB SITES

Plesae go to the links page of this site for hundreds of URLs : Authentic engineering  documents, Webquests, Technical Online Journals, Colleagues' Homepages, Online Courses, Mailing Lists and various other lists of resources, including  my latest discoveries!.
 

C - SOFTWARE

There does not seem to exist a wide choice of software directly aimed at EFL for engineering.

- English for Technical Pourposes ( by MEDIACONCEPT - 11,rue des Imprimeurs,  Z.I République - 86000 Poitiers - France). 2 CDs and 3 videos.  Based on the requirements of the "Certificate Examination in English for Technical Purposes" ( European Chambers of commerce). The main problem was (is?) a prohibitive cost (20,755F,  about £2,000 in January 1997)

- Multimedia CD ROM program Business Territory 1 - It consists of over 30 minutes of authentic interviews of people working in a Cambridge electronics company. Though it is mainly centred on business, this software may be used (??) with engineering classes. For more information and lesson plans for this CD visit http://www.linetti (or http://www.linetti.com/lessons.htm)

- LINK! Interactive
A self-study EST course (intermediate level) publishhed by the University of Zaragoza (Spain).
Info from http://wzar.unizar.es/link

- Some contributors remind us that some authoring software such as Gapmaster or Testmaster (produced by  Wida Software Ltd -  2 Nicholas Gardens, London W5 5 HY England, e-mail:  widasoft@lang.wida.co.uk)  were developed for teachers to prepare their own teaching materials so as to be  fit the interests and level of the students.

D - VIDEOS - MEDIA

- Machining Fixtures - C.R.D.P. de Rouen - 76000  Mont Saint Aignan - France

- Electrical Machines Teaching System and Electrical Machines Teaching Unit.
Free advertising stuff for products  manufactured by the firm (Manufacturers of teaching machines for electrical engineering and robotics).  For (upper) intermediate students.  Other videos also available  from
TecQuipment - Bonsall St, Long Eaton - Nottingham, NG10 2AN - Great Britain..

- For working on listening skills, you can use the BBC World Service's "Science in Action." CNN and the BBC satellite also have some science programmes. (However one colleague says that CNN's Technology Page - on Thursdays, 12h30 GMT-  is really mediocre.)

- Open University : Open University lectures are now broadcast  on BBC 2 and by satellite (and cable) on BBC Prime (note: not BBC World)  from 1 a.m.until 5 a.m. GMT on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The lectures are 25-30 minutes in length, so very manageable - For upper intermediate levels or higher. (See Part III: Oral Work)
Write to : The Learning Zone, BBC Education information, White City, London W12 7TJ 6 Email: edinfo@bbc.co.uk
You can also find the Open University progammes at   http://www.open2.net/ou-listings/index.htm
Each programme has got online complements ( just click on the links). You can also order a free guide from
http://www.open2.net/get-guide/index.htm
 

E - TECHNICAL MAGAZINES

Two useful publications you have certainly heard of :

- Popular Mechanics   PO Box 7168 - RED OAK IA 51591-216 USA

- Popular Science  PO BOX 5128 - Boulder, CO 80323-1282 USA

You could also subscribe  to  free magazines such as:
Design News, the International Magazine for European Product Design Engineers (Canners Publishing - Postbus 9000 - 2130DB HOOFDORP - The Netherlands  or also from the Website  http://www.globaldn.com)
I personally do recommend subscribing.
or Electronic Design (PO BOX 985024 - CLEVELAND OH 44198-5024 - USA)

WHEN YOU HAVE SOME MORE TIME...
just go to a library to find journals such as :

- the Transactions of the ASME (American. Society  of Mechanical Engineers),

- the Transactions of the IEEE (Electrical and Electronic)(http://www.ieee.org)

- and its British counterpart,  IEE,

- Journals of the ASCE (Civil Engineering)

- or other magazines such as Industrial Robots, The Sensor Review.

Moreover, some of the big engineering societies have their own transactions/journals on communication in their professions.