WRITING FOR ENGINEERING

SUMMARY
Week 7 - session 20
Learning Outcomes - Session 19

By the end of this session, students will be able to:

 identify and use relative clauses to give essential or non essential
information
 write the METHODOLOGY section of their report.
Professional learning outcome: Relative clauses can help you define in a clearer way concepts
which are necessary in your report. You will use them to practice how to describe the
methodology in your project. The language presented in this section will help you achieve this.

Virtual Campus Further Practice Material: Power Point Presentation summary + weblinks for
language use + worksheet and key

References:
Bailey, S. (2011) Academic Writing, A Handbook for International Students. Third Edition.
London & New York. Routledge.
C. Jacques (2011) Technical English 3. Workbook. UK. Pearson.
R. Day, N. Sakaduski (2011) Scientific English. A Guide for Scientists and Other Professionals.
USA. Greenwood.
Last retrieved august 16th, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do8iykQKMfU
PK task: Last Session…….

The METHODOLOGY section of a report.

Discuss with a partner:

1. What do you include in this section?
In this section we include………
2. What language do you use for ….
ROUTINES, FINISHED ACTIONS, ACTIONS THAT STARTED IN THE PAST BUT
CONTINUE NOW, AN ACTION THAT HAPPENED BEFORE ANOTHER ACTION,
METHOD, PURPOSE, ABILITY, INABILITY?
 Activating prior knowledge

Can you join these two independent sentences in order to have

one clear sentence?

Logistics is the business function. Logistics controls the movement of

physical materials in a factory.
Logistics is the business function which controls the movement of
physical materials in a factory.

A mine is a place. Ores, coal, and precious stones may be obtained in a

mine.
A mine is a place where ores, coal, and precious stones may be obtained.

Source: Brieger, N & Pohl, A. (2007) Technical English Vocabulary

and Grammar . Summertown Publishing
1.

2.

Source: Brieger, N & Pohl, A. (2007) Technical English Vocabulary

and Grammar . Summertown Publishing
Exercise

Source: Brieger, N & Pohl, A. (2007) Technical English Vocabulary

and Grammar . Summertown Publishing
Decide if the clauses in these sentences are: Defining (D) or Non-defining (ND)

1. This is the man who I was talking about.

2. That man over there is Martin who works in my department.
3. Peter who is our new manager will be introducing the project.
4. We chose the cooker which would go best with our kitchen.
5. We bought a new sofa which looks really good in the sitting room.
6. Have you seen the report which Mr. Bernuy sent me?
7. There were thirty students most of whom had come from Japan.
8. He told us this silly joke which I'd heard lots of times before.
9. That's our new English teacher who flew in yesterday from Korea0
10. That is the woman who is going to teach us English.
Complete these sentences using defining or non-
defining relative clauses.

1. We are visiting the site (defining).

2. Thomas James collected the samples (non-defining).
3. The job was offered to Manuel (defining).
4. August is the month (defining).
5. The results were found by the senior engineers. (non defining).
6. The road was opened to traffic early this morning (non defining).
7. The drafts were uploaded to TURNITIN (defining)
 Assignment week 7: Writing the Methodology
1. Take out the corrected version of your outline and below write the methodology section of your
report.
2. Remember to consider the following format:
 Font: Times New Roman 12 (title and headings) and Times New Roman 11 (content)
 Alignment: Justified
 Spacing: (1.5 cm)
 Underline academic phrases.
3. When you finish, these are the documents you need to upload:
a. In canvas: The corrected outline and the introduction in only one document.
b. In Turnitin: Only the text of your introduction (Plagiarism check).
4. Assessment criteria:
Content: All elements are included 6 pts = 2 pts per paragraph)  
Correct use of language (8 pts)  
Use of academic phrases and linking words. Underline them. (4 pts)  
Punctuation, spelling, capital letters (2 pts)  
TOTAL  
WRITING FOR ENGINEERING
Week 7 - session 21
 Learning Outcomes - Session 21

By the end of this session, students will be able to:

• Revise some key content to be considered in the INTRODUCTION &
METHODOLOGY section of a research project using appropriate tenses and
vocabulary.
• Revise some language points which will be included in the Mid-term exam.
 Parts of the INTRODUCTION
1.Establish the importance of the research topic
2.Provide general background facts
3.Provide specific/detailed facts and define terminology
4.Present problem in a general way.

5. Previous and or current research and

contribution
6. Locate the gap in the research
7. Describe the problem you will address

8. Describe the aim of the present

paper
9. Present a prediction to be
tested
 Put the parts of the METHODOLOGY SECTION in
the correct order.

a) Indicate where problems ocurred.

b) Provide specific and precise details about materials and methods (i.e.
quantities, temperatures, duration, sequence, conditions, locations, sizes).
• Justify choices made.
• Indicate that appropriate care was taken.

c) Relate materials / methods to other studies.

d) Provide a general introduction and overview of the material / methods.

• Restate the purpose of the work.
• Give the source of materials / equipment used.
• Supply essential background information.
 MID-TERM EXAM REVISION

It will have the following parts:

a) Use of English
b) Course content
c) Writing
Fill in the gaps with the right tense
repair – cause – involve – be – supervise – study - identify
work – have – develop – investigate - use - attend - write

1. Everybody who ……………… in the new project ……………………….… the conference yesterday.
2. Usually, I ……………………… as a technician at ABT, but this summer I ………………………… Foundations
French at institute in Paris. That is why I am in Paris.
3. She …………………..… the causes of landslides in Costa Verde for almost two years.
4. Last year they …………………..… a new system to improve processes in the company.
5. A Gantt chart …………………..… to organise the activities for the new project.
6. While the workers …………………..… the cracks, they …………………….… a failure in the beams.
7. The intense heat from the fire …………………..… the factory roof to buckle.
8. Before they …………………..… the report, they …………………..… the construction site.
9. We …………..… a vacancy for a Project Engineer, with experience in the design of vehicles: rail, bus
and/or automotive.
10. A new mall …………………..… built in this avenue next month.
 Change these sentences into the passive voice

1. Poisonous chemicals have polluted the river.

2. Someone is going to repair the roof next week.
3. We use this room only on special occasions.
4. They are building a new ring-road round the city.
5. They will build a new bridge next year.
6. We consider the regenerator system obsolete.
7. The European company chose the design team yesterday.
8. The company hired Joseph to design and test manufacturing processes.
9. We aren’t using any technological equipment in this research.
10. We will build the mall by the end of the year.
Look at these key phrases . What do they
refer to? What do they do in the report?
1. A major current focus in population management is how to ensure
sustainability of resources.
2. However, these techniques have been largely unsuccessful to clean
the lakes.
3. This study investigates modern ways to measure the resistance of
materials.
4. The impact tests used in this work were a modified version
of Sanders (1998)
5. It is generally accepted that joints in steel frames operate in semi-
rigid fashion.
6. The samples were slowly and carefully sheared to failure.
Complete these sentences
1. A new investigation was carried out to ...
2. They hired a new systems engineer in order to …
3. We tested the road by ...
4. Floods in the town were stopped using …
5. It is recognised that …
6. In this study, ...
7. As described by ...
8. It is generally accepted that ...
9. There is a need for ...
10. Steel is capable ...