How to Write (Science) Better. Simplified English Principles in a Skill-Oriented ESP Course

Monika Śleszyńska

doi:10.2478/slgr-2021-0008

Abstract

Abstract Teaching writing to doctoral students or academics at a technical university is a challenging task. Because they need to publish their research findings in English to pursue academic careers, they are usually highly motivated and expect a lot of the class. Their language competences, however, very often lack enough proficiency and may contribute to manuscript rejection. The paper focuses on language issues based on the rules of controlled natural languages (CNLs) and guidelines of Plain English. It shows how employing these issues improves grammatical quality and readability of science-oriented written texts. The paper describes four principles: removing nominalisation and using the so-called strong verbs to make the message simpler and more direct; combining nouns in strings to express complex ideas economically; applying grammatical consistency for coordinate elements in sentences to make them less chaotic; and reducing wordiness to obtain a more precise and comprehensible piece of writing. Sample phrases and sentences from authentic student writing as well as their improved versions are provided to each of the guidelines so that a reader has a deeper insight into how the principles work in a specialist context. Because problems with, for example, research papers, grant proposals or reports are common to various disciplines and at various levels, the Author of the paper draws conclusions that these principles should be implemented not only in a technical but also legal, medical and business writing course offered by English teachers to both young researchers and experienced scientists.

Highlights

Both doctoral students and academics need to report their findings at international conferences and publish them in post conference or peerreviewed journals, for it helps build their reputation and benefit scientific careers
The syllabus of the writing course designed by the Author for the doctoral students and academia at the Bialystok University of Technology encompasses principles based on controlled natural languages (CNLs) rules and Plain English guidelines
Because less and less writing goes on in school, university students and graduates may display a certain lack of competence in writing. Their stylistic clumsiness or syntax faults in the native language indirectly lead to poor performance in the written second/foreign language

Summary

Introduction

Both doctoral students and academics need to report their findings at international conferences and publish them in post conference or peerreviewed journals, for it helps build their reputation and benefit scientific careers. The 21st century, teaching how to write effectively in the scientific/technical fields should be an essential component of an English course in tertiary education. Simpler English may facilitate comprehension of a scientific text by anybody interested in the subject matter. Both general public and researchers who read English as a second/foreign language can take advantage of specialist publications if plain words and sentence structures are employed. His/her students do not know, for example, how grammatical consistency contributes to the text’s clarity, and they see no difference between using nominal phrases and strong verbs They have never been instructed how to reduce verbosity in their written production or combine nouns to form understandable strings. Their manuscripts may be rejected due to ‘poor English’ and they are often unaware that the problem may lie in ignoring these language aspects

Meeting a need

Components of the writing course

Findings

Conclusion