This course is centred on students’ individual postgraduate research projects and is designed to develop their academic communicative competence in English within their specific scientific disciplines. It supports students from fields such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer and network engineering, among others.

Throughout the course, students will develop essential English skills for a range of scientific and academic contexts, including research presentations, dissemination of findings, and peer interaction. English instruction is directly integrated with each student’s research project, ensuring that language development is relevant, practical, and discipline-specific. 

The objectives of this course are to:

• Help students communicate their research and study interests more effectively in English;

• Provide students with technical and science-based vocabulary relevant to their disciplines;

• Develop students’ control of linguistic structures commonly used in technical and scientific discourse;

• Strengthen students’ ability to understand and critically engage with academic work in English;

• Provide opportunities for students to share and present their research in English.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Articulate their research and study interests more effectively in English;

• Access and accurately use a comprehensive range of technical and scientific vocabulary;

• Employ a variety of linguistic structures commonly used in technical and scientific discourse;

• Demonstrate an enhanced ability to comprehend and critically engage with academic materials in English;

• Present and discuss their research with greater confidence and proficiency in English.

Students should be willing and interested in sharing their ongoing research with fellow class members, as well as be open to learning about their peers’ areas of study. Their ongoing research will serve as the central focus of learning in this course.

This course will be taught entirely in English, and students are expected to communicate with each other and with the teacher in English at all times. Therefore, students must have a solid working knowledge of English and be able to confidently apply the practical skills they already possess. Students are advised to have a TOEIC score between 550 and 780 in order to take this class comfortably, although this is not a requirement. It is also hoped that students will have a clear goal in mind regarding their use of English in their research, such as a conference they are working towards presenting at.

More information about course expectations, including attendance policies, will be shared in the first class of the semester.

• Class Participation = Up to 26 points;
• Overall Course Contribution = Up to 4 points; 
• Lesson Review and Preparation Assignments = Up to 25 points;
• Academic Communication Assessments = Up to 45 points.