English for Scientists I, II Syllabus
科学英語口頭演習 I, II シラバス

Course objectives:
Students will aim to improve the following skills:

1. Promote interest in one's own research and provide easy-to-understand explanations to researchers from a variety of fields.
   
2. Reveal the true motivation behind questions during the Q&A session and provide answers to satisfy not only the questioner but the entire audience.
   
3. Purposefully listen to other researchers' explanations and interpretations and provide them with logical critique, suggestions, and new ideas to improve the scientific integrity of their research.

To achieve this goal, students will first learn the principles and key strategies of scientific presentation by taking English for Scientists I . In the following years they will put the strategies into practice by taking English for Scientists II.

Prerequisites:
No prerequisites for English for Scientists I . Note, however, that this course is not a English conversation class. It is engineered specifically to help researchers explain their own research to their peers with a higher degree of efficiency and comprehensibility.
To take English for Scientists II, you must have successfully completed English for Scientists I .

To apply, send an E-mail to the course instructor, Todd Gorman at <gsteven(at).nig.ac.jp>.

Contents:
Students will receive advice and guidance from a native speaker of English and have ample opportunity to practice various skills necesssary for various aspects of scientific presentation and discussion.

Schedule: See the following web sites for the general schedule.

English for Scientists I (科学英語口頭演習 I)

English for Scientists II (科学英語口頭演習 II)

Class assignments will be based on individual interview and will be determined by student availability .

Place: National Institute of Genetics, Rm. A124

Credit:
Two credits each, for a year-long (May-February) course. Four credits can be obtained by taking Eglish for Scientists I and II.

Grades:
Grades will be determined by a point system. Students will receive one point for attending each scheduled two-hour class. If arriving late or leaving early results in the student missing important information for that week (eg, 45 minutes late) the student will receive only half a point for that week’s attendance. On weeks when homework is assigned, completion of homework will also be rewarded with one point. To determine each student’s grade, the total number of points earned by that student will be divided by the total number of points possible and converted to a percentage. Students who fail to reach 60% will receive a grade of “D” − not passing. 60% - 70% becomes a “C” (passing). 71% - 83% becomes a “B” (good). 84% - 100% becomes an “A” (excellent).