English Course for Science and Engineering Majors. Volume 1

Author: Peng Yi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-10-01
Features: This textbook is designed to embody two principles:
1. Gradual Progression. The writing of this book emphasizes a connection with the basic stage of college English, facilitating a smooth transition for students to move from basic English to professional English learning. At the same time, the selection of materials, difficulty levels, and after-class exercises all reflect a gradual progression from easy to difficult, from simple to complex.
2. Focusing on Developing Practical English Application Skills. The writing of this book is not aimed at passing any English proficiency exams but rather at cultivating students' ability to use the learned English knowledge to engage in moderately challenging spoken and written communication. Through the use of English, students are encouraged to identify gaps in their foundational language knowledge and purposefully and specifically address these deficiencies, truly achieving the goal of learning by doing, promoting learning through application, and learning while applying.
This textbook consists of two main parts: the main text and appendices. The main text includes ten units, each containing one main reading passage and one to two supplementary readings, all centered around the same theme. This structure allows learners to gain more information on the same topic, thereby achieving the goal of active thinking and critical reading during reading.
The reading comprehension after the main passage aims to assess students' understanding of the text. The vocabulary exercises are designed to cultivate students' proficiency in using known vocabulary and expand their vocabulary through necessary knowledge of word formation. The cloze section provides a concise and summarized overview of the article, which not only helps deepen students' understanding of the learned text but also assists them in grasping the main information of the scientific and technical literature they read, laying a foundation for oral or written communication of the literature content. The translation section aims to cultivate students' ability to accurately express given information and translate English-Chinese scientific and technical literature. The oral practice section focuses on developing students' ability to express their thoughts coherently and continuously on a specific scientific and technical topic. The writing section of this book emphasizes cultivating students' ability to grasp the structure and characteristics of scientific and technical English articles, enabling them to organize complete articles according to logical guidance, even when faced with disorganized scientific and technical English sentences.
The teaching activities of this textbook should strive to embody the "student-centered" teaching philosophy. In classroom teaching, teachers are advised to play the role of "guidance" rather than "teaching," allowing students to maximize their ability to identify and grasp the content of the scientific and technical literature they read, especially in cultivating their ability to present the content of the literature and express their own opinions in English.