Methods of English Communication (MoEC) is a two-part, practical introduction to 'scientific English' for M1 students. Its principal aim is to develop your 'productive' language skills: writing (MoEC I, term III) and speaking (MoEC II, term IV). This is a two-credit course, and you must take both MoEC I and MoEC II to receive credits.
MoEC will be taught in English.
MoEC I: Writing
We will look at how sentences are constructed in English, and focus on common writing mistakes made by students. In each class we will look at one grammatical element (verb, article, pronoun, and so on), and examine its function and usage. We will use extracts from research papers and other sources as realistic 'models' of good scientific writing. You will be asked to produce your own original writing for homework each week.
MoEC II: Speaking
We will look at the differences between written and spoken English, and focus on clarity of speech and pronunciation. You will be asked to build, week by week, an illustrated presentation based on your own studies at NAIST. In each class we will look at various aspects of your presentation such as audibility, narrative progression or 'flow', and the relationship between images and spoken words.
