Uni. Tres primeras letras de “Universidad”. Uso popular muy nuestro; la Uni.

Universidad del latín “universitas” (personas dedicadas al ocio del saber),

se contextualiza para nosotros en nuestro anclaje territorial y en la concepción
de conocimientos y saberes construidos y compartidos socialmente.
El río. Celeste y Naranja. El agua y la arena de nuestro Río Cuarto
en constante confluencia y devenir.
La gota. El acento y el impacto visual: agua en un movimiento
de vuelo libre de un “nosotros”.
Conocimiento que circula y calma la sed.

Placci, Graciela
English for science and technology : a workbook for language and vocabulary practice / Graciela Placci ;
Andrea Garofolo. - 1a ed . - Río Cuarto : UniRío Editora, 2019.
Libro digital, PDF - (Pasatextos)

Archivo Digital: descarga y online

ISBN 978-987-688-343-6

1. Enseñanza de Lenguas Extranjeras. 2. Inglés. 3. Lingüística. I. Garofolo, Andrea II. Título

CDD 420.711

Este obra está bajo una Licencia Creative Commons Atribución 2.5 Argentina.

[Link]

2
To the reader

This workbook is addressed to undergraduate students in an advanced English course in the

English Teacher Training Program at the Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. It aims at
developing the students’ communicative competence of the English language from the perspective
of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), more specifically in the context of Science and
Technology. The teaching of ESP focuses mainly on the genres, registers and language appropriate
to the specific activities of the disciplines (Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998). In this view, genres
are described as communicative events that share purposes which are clearly recognized by the
members of the discourse community where they occur. These purposes constitute the basis of
each genre and determine its discourse structure, content and style (Bhatia, 2004; Swales, 1990).
In ESP teaching, therefore, the selection of materials is based not only on the specific topics of
Science and Technology but on the most frequent genres and the language, i.e., the lexico-
grammatical and discourse elements, which characterizes those genres.
One effective approach to teaching genres to undergraduate students is the one proposed by
Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) (Halliday, 1994). SFL recognizes language as a social
practice and highlights the social purpose of a text. It proposes that the text is contextual because
of the close relationship between the sociocultural context and the lexico-grammatical selections
used according to the purpose of the text. That is to say, the language user chooses different lexico-
grammatical elements to express meanings which, in turn, respond to the different types of texts
and genres, the audience they address and the context in which they are used. The pedagogy of
SFL proposes the teaching of genres through explicit instruction of the discourse and language
patterns that characterize them. In this way, students can become aware of the intrinsic relationship
between language and its social function.
This workbook approaches the teaching of ESP from the perspective of SFL. Each unit in the
workbook includes a sequence of activities which aim at the development of the communicative
abilities -reading, writing, listening, viewing and speaking- through the comprehension and
production of oral and written texts in English from a range of disciplines related to Science and
Technology (for example, Medicine, Biotechnology, Geology, Physical Sciences). Within the SFL
framework of analysis of the language, the activities proposed focus on the identification of the
social purpose of the most frequent academic genres in those disciplines and on the use of the
rhetorical and discourse patterns of those genres. Based on authentic oral and written texts, the
activities foster the development of language learning strategies for the recognition, analysis and
use of the lexico-grammatical resources and rhetorical functions appropriate to each type of text
and their specific purposes. The activities also encourage the study of both general academic
vocabulary and technical vocabulary related to the different disciplines. These activities ultimately
aim at raising students´ awareness of the uses of the language of ESP in real contexts.

How this workbook is organized

The workbook includes eight units. Unit 1 provides a sequence of activities which aim at the
identification of different genres, their purpose and the main language functions characteristic of
those genres. It serves as an introduction to the following units.

3
Units 2, 3, 5 and 6 focus on different language functions (for example, defining, describing,
classifying and reporting). Each of these units is organized into three main sections. The first
section presents a language function through a sequence of activities based on a written or oral
text related to different fields of Science and Technology (Biotechnology, Medicine, Physics,
Astronomy and Ecology, among others). The sequence includes the following:
▪ General comprehension of the text and identification of its purpose, audience and
macrostructure
▪ Study of the language function/s expressed in the text
▪ Analysis of the lexico-grammatical resources used to perform each language function
▪ Study of the main features related to the language of ESP
▪ Study of technical and semi-technical vocabulary
▪ Evaluation and self-reflection
These activities include tips and strategies for self-study such as the elaboration of glossaries, as
well as links and references to sources for further study. The second section, “Language and
vocabulary practice”, presents activities for extra practice on the language functions and
vocabulary studied in the unit. The keys to these activities are included in an Appendix. The third
section, “Consolidation”, proposes a sequence of activities which focus on the integration of skills:
video watching, reading, writing and speaking. Based on topics related to Science and Technology,
the activities aim at the comprehension and production of specific genres like conferences,
analytical and survey reports and oral presentations, which are frequently used in different
disciplines.
Units 4 and 7, both revision units, provide activities for the revision of the language functions and
the vocabulary studied in the previous units. Unit 8 includes a synthesis of the purposes and
functions of the language of ESP.

References
Bhatia, V. (2004). Worlds of written discourse: A genre-based view. Londres: Continuum.
Dudley-Evans, T., & St John, M.J. (1998). Developments in English for Specific Purposes. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold.
Martin, J. (1999). Mentoring semogenesis: 'genre-based' literacy pedagogy. En Christie, F. (Ed).Pedagogy
and the Shaping of Consciousness: linguistic and social processes. London: Cassell (Open Linguistics
Series), 123-155.
Swales, J. (1990). Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Glasgow: CUP.

4
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Unit 1: GENRE, TEXT TYPE AND PURPOSE 6

Unit 2: DEFINING AND DESCRIBING 9

Describing processes 15
Describing objects and functions 17
Language and vocabulary practice 21
Consolidation: Video watching 25

Unit 3: CATEGORIZING AND ESTABLISHING CAUSAL RELATIONS 28

Classifying, exemplifying and establishing cause-effect relations 29
Language and vocabulary practice 35
Consolidation: Video watching and summary writing 38

Unit 4: REVISION OF FUNCTIONS AND VOCABULARY PRACTICE 42

Consolidation: Video watching and writing an analytical report 46

Unit 5: REPORTING 49
Reporting past events 49
Reporting research results 54
Language and vocabulary practice 58
Consolidation; Video watching and writing a survey report 60

Unit 6: HYPOTHESIZING AND PROVIDING EVIDENCE 65

Hypotheses and supporting them with evidence 65
Language and vocabulary practice 68
Consolidation: Writing a survey report 70

Unit 7: REVISION OF FUNCTIONS AND VOCABULARY PRACTICE 72

Consolidation: Giving an oral presentation 76

Unit 8: PURPOSES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE LANGUAGE OF ESP 78

Appendix 83
Transcripts 85
Keys 91

References 93

5
 UNIT 1
GENRE, TEXT TYPE AND PURPOSE

Topic: Earthquakes
Objectives:
- To identify the purpose of the text
- To analyze different types of texts in order to identify text type, purpose and genre

Activity 1: Identifying text purpose

Scan through the various texts in the links suggested below in order to identify in each of them:
o the source (where was the text published?)
o the topic (field)
o the type of text, or genre, and the possible audience
o the purpose
o the mode (oral, written, both)

Sources:

Text 1: Earthquake
[Link]

Text 2: Earthquakes 101

[Link]
Text 3: The Science of Earthquakes
[Link]

Text 4: Earthquake detection: Future technology

[Link]

Text 5: How to prevent earthquake damage

[Link]

Text 6: Haiti earthquake: Day by day

[Link]

Text 7: Significant earthquakes

[Link]

Text 8: ANSS - Advanced National Seismic System

[Link]

Text 9: Recent earthquake activity is not unusual

[Link]

Text 10: What is an earthquake early warning?

[Link]
6
Activity 2: Analyzing text type

Read some of the texts more thoroughly and discuss with a partner the questions below

a) In which of the texts can you expect to find:

o formal / informal language/ colloquial?
o objective or subjective?
o general vocabulary/ technical vocabulary?
o factual information (descriptions, facts) / hypothetical or argumentative
information (opinions, claims, arguments)?

b) Which of the texts are mainly:

o Descriptive? ………………………………………….
o Expository?: ……………………………………………
o Argumentative?: ……………………………………………

c) In which of these texts are you more likely to find the following?:
- descriptions: …………………… - personal opinions: …………………
- definitions: …………………….. - comparison/contrast: ……………….
- cause/effect: ……………………. - problem/solution: …………………
- predictions: …………………….. - hypotheses: …………………………
- classifications: ………………….. - facts: ...…………………………….
- figures & statistics: …… ……….. - suggestions or instructions: ……….
- other? ……………………………

Activity 3: Analyzing variables of register

In 2 or 3 of the texts, analyze the variables of register using the guide below.

GENRE: Social context (text purpose)

REGISTER: Context of situation and language (lexico-grammar):

FIELD: everyday ↔ technical

(Experience) general ↔ specific

TENOR: general knowledge ↔ expert knowledge

(Interpersonality) familiarity ↔ formality/ specificity

MODE: oral medium ↔ written medium

(Textuality) informal ↔ formal

7
Example:

Text: _____
o Register: .…………………………………………………..………………
o Main purpose of the text: …………………………….…………..………..
o Topic: ……………………………………………………………………..
o Relationship of participants (familiarity/ expertise/ power): ……..……….
o Medium of communication: …………….…………………………………
o Type of language used: ………………………….………………………..
o Type of vocabulary used: …………………….……………………………

Activity 4: Studying the language of ESP

Source:
Dudley Evans and St. John (1998), Section “A definition of ESP”, pp. 3-5

a) Read the characteristic of ESP described by Dudley Evans and St. John, in the section “A
definition of ESP”, pp. 3-5.

b) Relate those characteristics with the features analyzed in the texts above

Reflecting on the activities above...

What did you learn in this unit in relation to the different types of texts?
Did you learn a new reading strategy to approach different types of texts? If so,
which one?
How can this awareness help you to teach English in different teaching contexts?

8
 UNIT 2
DEFINING AND DESCRIBING

Objectives:
- To study the language used for defining and describing
- To analyze and use the lexico-grammatical resources for describing objects,
functions and processes
- To read different texts related to the field of Sciences

Activity 1: Identifying definitions and types of descriptions

Sources:
Genetics Generation, Education is our Motivation (2015), [Link]
Laskey, R., Bernfield, M., Cuffe, M., Cooper, J., Lodish H. and Alberts, B. (2018). Cell. Encyclopædia
Britannica, inc. [Link]
William A. Check, The 1996 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia

Read the texts below and do the following:

1. Identify in each text:

a) the source and the type of text
b) the field and the specific topic

2. Identify the following functions in the texts:

- Definitions and extended definitions
- Descriptions

3. Where you found examples of definitions or extended definitions, identify what is defined.

4. Where you found examples of descriptions, identify what is described, i.e., a process, a
concept, an object, etc.

5. What types of descriptions are they: physical, chemical, functional. other?

TEXT 1: Cloning
A clone is a genetically identical copy of an organism, and it may be naturally
occurring or created in the lab. Through the process of asexual reproduction,
organisms such as bacteria (and some plants) create offspring that are genetically
identical to the parent. Modern genetic technology can also be used to create clones.
There are three types of cloning: gene cloning, reproductive cloning, and therapeutic
cloning. Gene cloning is essentially recombinant DNA technology, where a piece of
foreign DNA is inserted into a vector, which can be copied by a host cell. Therapeutic
cloning involves the production of patient-matched stem cells for disease treatment.
Here we focus on reproductive cloning of organisms.

Reproductive cloning is the process by which a whole organism is cloned. First, a cell
is taken from the organism that is being cloned. The DNA from this donor cell is then
transferred to an egg cell whose DNA has been removed. The egg cell is “activated”
9
and begins dividing as if it was fertilized. An embryo results, and this embryo is then
transferred to the uterus of a surrogate female. After gestation is complete, the
surrogate will give birth to the clone, which is a genetic copy of the animal from which
the original cell was taken.

Reproductive cloning can also be used to produce animals that are beneficial in a
number of ways. Cloned animals can be used to test drug responses; one of the main
benefits is that their reactions to the drugs should be uniform because they share all
the same genetic material. Reproductive cloning is still highly inefficient, and cloned
animals are not as healthy as animals born through sexual reproduction. While there
may be many potential benefits to cloning in the future, the technology has to be
refined and advanced before it is widespread.
Genetics Generation, Education is our Motivation (2015),
Retrieved from [Link]

TEXT 2: Cell

Cell, in biology, the basic membrane-bound unit that contains the fundamental
molecules of life and of which all living things are composed. A single cell is often a
complete organism in itself, such as a bacterium or yeast. Other cells acquire
specialized functions as they mature. These cells cooperate with other specialized
cells and become the building blocks of large multicellular organisms, such as animals
and humans. Although cells are much larger than atoms, they are still very small.
The smallest known cells are a group of tiny bacteria called mycoplasmas; some of
these single-celled organisms are spheres about 0.3 micrometre in diameter, with a
total mass of 10 gram—equal to that of 8,000,000,000 hydrogen atoms. Cells of
humans typically have a mass 400,000 times larger than the mass of a single
mycoplasma bacterium, but even human cells are only about 20 micrometres across.
It would require a sheet of about 10,000 human cells to cover the head of a pin, and
each human organism is composed of more than 75,000,000,000,000 cells.

The nature and function of cells

A cell is enclosed by a plasma membrane, which forms a selective barrier that allows
nutrients to enter and waste products to leave. The interior of the cell is organized
into many specialized compartments, or organelles, each surrounded by a separate
membrane. One major organelle, the nucleus, contains the genetic information
necessary for cell growth and reproduction. Each cell contains only one nucleus,
whereas other types of organelles are present in multiple copies in the cellular
contents, or cytoplasm. Organelles include mitochondria, which are responsible for
the energy transactions necessary for cell survival; lysosomes, which digest
unwanted materials within the cell; and the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi
apparatus, which play important roles in the internal organization of the cell by
synthesizing selected molecules and then processing, sorting, and directing them to
their proper locations. In addition, plant cells contain chloroplasts, which are
responsible for photosynthesis, whereby the energy of sunlight is used to convert
molecules of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) into carbohydrates. Between all
these organelles is the space in the cytoplasm called the cytosol. The cytosol contains
an organized framework of fibrous molecules that constitute the cytoskeleton, which
gives a cell its shape, enables organelles to move within the cell, and provides a
mechanism by which the cell itself can move. The cytosol also contains more than
10,000 different kinds of molecules that are involved in cellular biosynthesis, the
process of making large biological molecules from small ones.
Laskey, R., Bernfield, M., Cuffe, M., Cooper, J., Lodish H. and Alberts, B. (2018). Cell. Encyclopædia

10
 Britannica, inc. Retrieved from [Link]

TEXT 3: GENETICS

Genetics is the science that studies all aspects of inherited characteristics. Genetic
engineering is the application of the knowledge obtained from genetic investigations
to the solution of such problems as infertility, diseases, food production, waste
disposal, and improvement of a species. Included in genetic-engineering techniques
are a wide range of procedures that alter the reproductive and hereditary processes
of organisms. Depending on the problem, the procedures used may involve
ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION, CLONING, IN VITRO FERTILIZATION, species
hybridization, or molecular genetics. Recent discoveries in molecular genetics have
permitted the direct manipulation of the genetic material itself by the recombinant-
DNA technique.

Recombinant-DNA technique
Recombinant-DNA formation, also known as GENE splicing, is a procedure whereby
segments of genetic material from one organism are transferred to another. The basis
of the technique lies in the use of special enzymes (restriction enzymes) that split
DNA strands wherever certain sequences of nucleotides occur. This process results
in a series of donor DNA fragments that can combine with similarly formed DNA
fragments from other organisms. In most experimental situations the donor DNA
fragments are combined with viruses or with plasmids (small rings of self-replicating
DNA found within cells). The virus or plasmid vectors carry the donor DNA fragments
into cells. The combined vector and donor DNA fragment constitutes the
recombinant-DNA molecule. Once inside a cell, referred to as a host, this molecule is
replicated along with the host's DNA each time the host divides. These divisions
produce a clone of identical cells, each having a copy of the recombinant-DNA
molecule and the potential to translate the donor DNA fragment into the protein it
encodes. In 1985 a more efficient cloning procedure was developed, called
POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR), which produces two double helixes identical
in composition to the original DNA sample.
Louis Levine, The 1996 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia

TEXT 4: PLASTIC SURGERY

Plastic surgery is the branch of surgery concerned with the correction of physical
deformities and disfigurements caused by birth defects, injuries, or disease. It is also
known as reconstructive surgery. Examples of such operations include the rebuilding
of lost or deformed ears, noses, or jaws; the repair of cleft lip or cleft palate; the
reconstruction of a breast after mastectomy; the repair of damage after burns; the
correction of birthmarks or scars; and the implantation of material to give a normal
appearance to the body where a part was absent at birth--for example, a missing
chest muscle.

Transplantation, which includes the grafting of skin, bone, muscle, cartilage, tendons,
and nerves, is an important technique in plastic surgery (see also
TRANSPLANTATION, ORGAN). The tissue to be transplanted is obtained from the
patient whenever possible, or from a genetically compatible donor. Cartilage from a
rib is often used to reconstruct missing or damaged ears or noses. Bone from a rib
or the hip can be used to reconstruct the lower jaw. Transplanted tendons, nerves,
and muscles can restore function to a hand that has been damaged by injury.

Skin grafts are used to replace skin that has been destroyed by severe burns (see
11
BURN). The usual procedure, called the split- thickness graft, involves cutting a
section from the donor that is sufficiently thick to contain enough living cells to grow
on the damaged area. At the same time, enough live dermal tissue is left behind at
the donor site for healing to occur. Sometimes skin from a donor who is genetically
incompatible is used temporarily to cover a burned area that still has living cells.
Although these grafts, called xenografts, are eventually rejected, they protect the
damaged tissue until healing occurs. Another skin-grafting technique, called a skin
flap or pedicle flap, involves leaving one end of the donor skin attached to its original
site--such as a cheek, to cover a nose wound--so that the blood supply is maintained
until the area being repaired begins to heal and to establish its own supply of blood.
William A. Check, The 1996 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia

Activity 2: Studying the lexico-grammatical resources for defining and

describing
Sources:
Gillet, A. (2015). Using English For Academic Purposes.
[Link] (for definitions)
[Link] (for descriptions)
McCarthy, M., & O’Dell, F. (2008). Academic vocabulary in use. Cambridge. Cambridge. Units 46. 47
and 48.
Tunceren, L., & Cavusgil, S. (2006). College Writing. English for academic success. Boston: Thomson &
Heinle. Chapter 2, Section “Defining”, pp. 73-78.

1. In the texts above, analyze the lexico-grammatical resources used for defining and
describing.
2. Identify in the examples the patterns proposed by Gillet (2015) for definitions and
descriptions.
3. Highlight in the texts the lexico-grammatical realizations that signal the presence of those
functions.
4. Identify and highlight in the text content words, e.g. verbs and nouns, associated with the
functions.

Glossary of semi-technical vocabulary

for defining and describing
Tips:
✓ Elaborate a glossary of useful terms (nouns, verbs, etc.) for defining and
describing.
✓ Follow the example below and add more examples to the list.
Examples:

Definitions: described, is ,........................................................................

Descriptions of processes: technique, procedure, ...................................
Descriptions of composition: have, small, surface, ................................
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................................

12
Activity 3: Studying different types of descriptions
Sources:
Gillet, A. (2015). Using English For Academic Purposes.
McCarthy, M., & O’Dell, F. (2008). Academic vocabulary in use. Cambridge. CUP. Unit 47.

Study the language used in the texts above.

a) Complete the chart below.
b) Compare the types of descriptions.

Description Type of Lexico-grammatical realizations

What is description / Example/s from text
described? line(s)
Text 1: - Nouns (nominalizations): procedure, treatment, …
- a technique - Verbs in Simple present: is inserted, creates, …….
Cloning - a process - Passive voice: is transferred, is activated, ……….
- ………………...….

Text 2:

Text 3:

Text 4:

Activity 4: Studying other features of the language of ESP

Sources:
Dudley-Evans and St. Johns (1998), Section “The grammar of ESP”, pp. 74-78.
Gillet, A. (2015). Using English For Academic Purposes, Rhetorical functions in academic writing,
[Link]/writing

Study the following features of the language of ESP and do the activities below.
For more information and further examples, you can read the suggested sources of reference

13
Present tense

a) Which verb tense predominates in these texts? Why?

b) Find examples of this verb tense in the texts and highlight them.
c) Comment on the relevance of this verb tense in relation to the purpose of these texts.
d) Study the main uses of the Simple Present Tense in scientific/technical writing.

Passive voice

a) Notice the use of passive voice in the texts. Highlight examples.

b) In which text(s) does the use of passive voice predominate? For what purpose(s) has it
mainly been used?
c) Study the main uses of passive voice in scientific/technical texts.
See: Dudley-Evans and St. John, pp. 76.

Nominalizations

a) In the chart below, study the nominalizations (verbal nouns) from common verbs in
scientific/technical language. These examples have been taken from the texts.
b) Study the suffixes in those nouns. Which are the most common suffixes?
c) Find other examples in the texts and add them to the list below.
See: Dudley-Evans and St. John, pp. 77-78.

From the verb: Nominalization (Examples from Text 4):

to apply (knowledge) the application of (knowledge)

to solve (problems) the solution of (such problems)

to improve (a species) .................................................

to discover ................................................

to manipulate (the genetic material) .................................................

.................................. .................................................

14
 DESCRIBING PROCESSES

Topic: Earthquakes
Objectives:
- To understand descriptions of a phenomenon
- To study the lexico-grammatical resources for describing processes
- To study vocabulary related to natural phenomena

Source:
Video: Earthquakes 101
[Link]

Activity 1: Pre-Viewing
Discuss the following questions with the class

a) What do you know about earthquakes? What causes them? Which are the consequences?
How are they measured?
b) Can people make predictions about earthquakes? Can they prepare to deal with them? In
which ways?

Activity 2: Viewing

Watch the video and answer:

a) What is the purpose of the video?

b) Pay attention to the words listed in the box below, which the speaker mentions in the
video:
- What do they indicate in relation to earthquakes?
- What does the speaker describe about this phenomenon in the text?

quiver shift bump grind

strike ripple shove jut

Activity 3: Focusing on vocabulary

1) Watch the video again, more thoroughly, and answer the questions below:

- What is the earth's crust made up of?

- What type of description does the speaker provide here?
- With the information provided, complete the table:
Composition / characteristics

The earth's crust

15
2) Read the words related to earthquakes in the table and complete with adjectives and verbs
which collocate with them.

Adjectives: Verbs:

……………………….... ………………………....
……………………….... earthquake ………………………....
……………………….... ………………………....
……………………….... ………………………....

……………………….... ………………………....
……………………….... ground ………………………....
……………………….... ………………………....
……………………….... ………………………....

……………………….... ………………………....
……………………….... tectonic plate ………………………....
……………………….... ………………………....
……………………….... ………………………....

Activity 4: Focusing on meaning

Using information from the video, answer the questions below:

a) How do earthquakes occur? Complete the paragraph with the verbs which describe the
process. Consider tense and voice.

These huge slabs of land ………………………………… on super-heated

magma and constantly ………..…….…….., …………..…………., and
…………….……….. against one another. When friction between the plates is
violent enough, seismic shock waves …………………………..….. through the
ground, rattling everything that stands on it.

b) In which zone do the most violent earthquakes originate? How do they occur? In which
country did this type of earthquakes occur in 2015? Complete the text with the
corresponding information.

The most violent type of earthquake is born in a ………………………………

……………..…..………, where one tectonic plate ……..………..……………
beneath another. While one plate ……………………….…….. downward into the
mantle, the other ………………………….. upward, often violently. This is the type
of quake that rocked ……………………… in May 2015.

16
 c) What happens when subduction occurs under the ocean? Which is the main effect?
……………………………………………………………………………….

d) How is the magnitude of an earthquake measured?

……………………………………………………………………………….

e) Which are the main effects of earthquakes? Explain.

……………………………………………………………………………….

f) Can people prepare to deal with earthquakes? What are scientists and engineers doing to
minimize the effects of earthquakes?
……………………………………………………………………………….

✓ If necessary, see the transcript of the video in the Appendix.

Activity 5: Post-viewing
Writing a description
Context of situation: This text will be part of a written report on earthquakes to be published
in a magazine for teachers of geography.

Writing activity:
Write a paragraph describing how an earthquake occurs, what the main consequences are,
how it can be measured, and the main actions people can take to minimize its effects.
Use appropriate register and lexico-grammatical resources for describing. Refer to the
language used for describing studied in [Link]/writing

DESCRIBING OBJECTS

Topic: Tools and products

Objectives:
- To understand descriptions of objects
- To study the lexico-grammatical resources for describing objects and technological
devises
- To understand complex noun phrases

17
Activity 1: Understanding descriptions of objects
Source:
Grainger Catalog [Link]

1. Access the catalogue of Grainger products in the link

[Link] and choose 3
objects from different categories.

2. Read the descriptions of the objects and answer the following:

a) What is described in each example? What type of description is it?
b) Identify in each description:
- physical characteristics (shape, size, material, …)
- function (functional application; purpose)
c) Complete the chart below with relevant information from the texts selected.

Object Type of description Main characteristics

Activity 2: Studying the lexico-grammatical resources for describing objects

Source:
Gillet, A. (2015). Using English For Academic Purposes, Rhetorical functions in academic writing:
Writing descriptions. [Link]

a) Study the lexico-grammatical realizations used for describing technical objects and tools.
b) Provide more examples of each case.

Glossary of semi-technical vocabulary for describing objects

Tips:
✓ Elaborate a glossary of useful terms (adjectives, nouns, verbs, etc.) for describing
objects.
✓ Follow the example below and add more examples to the list.

18
 Examples:

Descriptions of physical characteristics:, titanium bonded staple remover, bag

sealing tape, .....................................................................................................
Descriptions of functions: ……….....................................................................
.Descriptions of uses and applications: ............................................................
...........................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................

Activity 3: Studying other features of the language of ESP

Sources:
Dudley-Evans and St. Johns, (1998), Section “The grammar of ESP”, pp. 76-79.
Gillet, A. (2015). Using English For Academic Purposes, Rhetorical functions in academic writing,
[Link]/writing

Study the following features of the language of ESP and do the activities below.
Look for more examples in the texts and add them in the activities below.
For more information and further examples, you can read the suggested sources of reference.

Use of –ing adjective (to indicate function):

Cleaning machine = an instrument (that is) used to clean (something)
Measuring equipment = ………………………………….
………………………. = ………………………………….
………………………. = ………………………………….
………………………. = ………………………………….

Use of –ed adjective (to describe a passive process or completed action):

Molded plastic = plastic that has been molded
fixed gas detector = ……………… …………………
………………………. = ………………………………….
………………………. = ………………………………….
………………………. = ………………………………….

Use of complex Noun Phrases (to describe features)

a) Study the use of pre-modification in the examples below.
b) Which characteristics of the object are described in each example?
c) Study the order of the elements in the NP. Circle the head of the NP.
d) Find more examples of complex NPs and add the in the list.
19
 portable lighting device
an abrasion-resistant nylon-coated blade
head protection accessories
adhesive dispensing equipment
rough molded plastic
......................................................................................................
......................................................................................................
......................................................................................................

Reflecting on the activities in this unit...

What did you learn in this unit that you found particularly useful? interesting?
What were the main difficulties you faced in this unit?
How can this awareness help you to teach English in different teaching contexts?

20
 LANGUAGE AND VOCABULARY PRACTICE

 Activity 1: Writing definitions

1. Think about the topic/s of your research for the oral presentations; select a few concepts
related to that topic that you may need to define when developing it (either when writing or
speaking about that topic).
2. Look for the appropriate sources (dictionaries, encyclopedias) and write the definitions.
Example:
Concept: Plastic surgery
Definition:“Plastic surgery is the branch of surgery concerned with the correction of
physical deformities and disfigurements caused by birth defects, injuries, or disease. It is
also known as reconstructive surgery”.
3. Practice writing definitions using a variety of linguistic choices, and highlight the specific
lexico-grammatical realizations you used to define.
4. Consider the audience and the writing purpose when choosing the appropriate language.

Concept Definition



 Activity 2: Writing descriptions
1. Consult an encyclopedia (or any other relevant source) and write a definition and
description of:
a- an instrument or machine (e.g., telescope, laptop, etc.)
b- an object (e.g. an animal, a planet, etc.)
c- a process (e.g. cloning, IVF, etc.)
d- a concept (e.g. stress, energy, phobia, etc.)

2. In which of the descriptions is it necessary to mention:

- physical descriptions (size, shape, colour, measures, etc.)?
- functional description (purpose)?
- chemical description (components)?

3. In each of the descriptions, highlight the linguistic realizations used for descriptions.

21
 Activity 3: Writing descriptions

Using the following information, write a paragraph describing Euglenophyta, a type of algae,
and highlight the specific language you used for descriptions.

Type of algae: Euglenophyta

- free-swimming one-celled organisms
- shape: wormlike
- no cell walls
- usually have one or two flagella and a red, light-sensitive eye-spot
- colour: most green
- subsistence: photosynthesis, or ingesting other organisms
- method of reproduction: diploid cell division following MITOSIS; in rare
instances: sexual means
- best known and most representative: EUGLENA
- habitat: ponds
Source: Algae. The 1996 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia

 Activity 4: Using adjectives to describe properties

Source:
Zimmerman, F. (1989). English for Science. Prentice Hall Regents. New Jersey, p. 161.

1. Complete the definition with the correct adjective; then, provide an example.

1) A substance that can be dissolved in a liquid is soluble .

Example: salt, ……………………………………

2) Material that can stretch and then go back to its usual length or size is elastic .
Example: ………………………………………

3) Material or an object which is easily broken or damaged is ______________.

Example: ………………………………………

4) Material or liquid which is difficult to see through, and is often thick is ___________.
Example: ………………………………………

5) A substance or liquid that changes easily into a gas is ______________.

Example: ………………………………………

6) Something (material, liquid) that burns easily is ______________.

Example: ………………………………………

7) A substance that contains poison which is harmful or can cause serious illnesses is
______________.
Example: ………………………………………

8) Something (usu. material or liquid) which you can see through is ______________.
Example: ………………………………………

22
 9) Material which does not bend is ______________.
Example: ………………………………………

10) A substance that can burn through things by chemical action is ______________.
Example: ………………………………………

11) A substance that can be eaten is ______________.

Example: ………………………………………

12) Material that is easy to press or pull into a new shape is ______________.
Example: ………………………………………

13) A substance (usu. liquid) that is thick and sticky and does not flow easily is
______________.
Example: ………………………………………

14) A substance that has no smell is ______________.

Example: ………………………………………

2. Complete the table below providing a synonym and the opposite when applicable

Adjective Synonym Opposite

Soluble # insoluble

Opaque # ___________

Transparent = clear / pristine

Flammable = inflammable # ___________

Toxic # ___________

Rigid = ___________ # ___________

Odorless (odourless) # ___________

Edible # ___________

Viscous = ___________

Volatile # ___________

 Activity 5: Using vocabulary for defining and describing

Rewrite each of the processes and complete the blank spaces in the texts below with the correct
nominalization.

Biotechnology, 1………………………………………………………………….. to make

products that benefit human beings. Biotechnology contributes to such diverse areas as
2………………………..………..………., 3……………..………………………………,
23
 mining, and medicine. Although biotechnology has existed since ancient times, some of its
most dramatic advances have come in more recent years. Modern achievements include
4………………………………………………………………………………….. (by means
of a set of genetic engineering techniques known as transgenics); 5…………
………….……………………………….……………., called clones; and 6…….…
………..……………………………………………. to produce beneficial medical products
such as monoclonal antibodies, which are designed to attack a specific type of foreign
substance.
([Link]
1. biological organisms are manipulated
2. food is produced
3. waste is disposed
4. a specific gene is transferred from one organism to another
5. genetically uniform plant- and animal-cell cultures are maintained and grown
6. different types of cells fuse

 Activity 6: Using vocabulary for defining and describing

Complete the blank spaces in the texts below with the correct noun phrase. Use pre-modification.

This Johnson Level pitch and slope locator features 1 ………..…………………….........

from 0-90° printed on 2 …………...…………………….…………... It is designed with
3 …………………………..………………………...… .for improved durability, and 4
…………………………………………….…………. reads pitch in inch rise per 12" run
without conversion tables. ([Link])

1. increments which are easy to read

2. lens that are made of acrylic which is durable
3. a body which has been molded and is of high impact
4. a scale that is printed and patented

 Activity 7: Using vocabulary for defining and describing

Read the following texts:
a) Complete the blanks 1 to 8. with the correct option.
b) Complete the blanks a to f with the correct article: a/an/the or Ɵ.

Global warming is related to a……….……….. more general phenomenon of climate

change, which 1-_______________________ changes in the totality of attributes that
define climate. In addition to changes in air temperature, climate change 2-
_______________________ changes to precipitation patterns, winds, ocean currents, and
other measures of Earth’s climate. Normally, climate change 3-
_______________________ the combination of various natural forces occurring over
diverse timescales. Since the advent of human civilization, climate change has involved
b………..…. “anthropogenic,” or exclusively human-caused, element, and this
anthropogenic element has become more important in c………..…. industrial period of

24
 the past two centuries. The term global warming is used specifically to 4-
_______________________ any warming of near-surface air during the past two
centuries that can be traced to d……..….…… anthropogenic causes.
([Link])

Oil, any greasy 5-_______________________ that is liquid at room temperature and

insoluble in water. It 6-_______________________ fixed, or nonvolatile, oil; essential
oil; or mineral oil (see petroleum).
e…………. fixed oils and fats 7-_______________________ the same chemical
composition: they 8-_______________________ (chiefly) glycerides, resulting from a
reaction between f…………… alcohol called glycerol and certain members of a group of
compounds known as fatty acids. ([Link])

CONSOLIDATION

Topic: Cleaning robots

Objectives:
- To revise the lexico-grammatical resources for describing objects
- To revise the lexico-grammatical resources for describing functions

Source:
Video: A Cleaning robot, [Link]

Activity 1: Silent viewing

Watch the video (without sound) in [Link] and take

notes on the following:
a) What is described?
b) What words would you use to describe the object?
c) What features of the object are shown?
d) Which are the most distinctive features of the object?
e) Would you like to have this object at home?

Activity 2: Viewing

Watch the video again (with sound) and confirm your predictions. Then answer:
a) What is the purpose of the video?
b) What is Braava Jet? What is it like? What are its parts or components?
c) What is the function of each part?
25
 d) Complete the table with information about the object:

Braava Jet Main parts/components Function of each part

o …………………………. ………………….…………….
………….
o ……………………......... ……………………….……….
………….
o ………………………… …………………………….….

o …………………………... ………………………………..

Activity 3: Focusing on meaning

Watch the video again, paying more attention to specific information, and answer the questions:
a) What are the advantages of using Braava Jet? Mention them.
b) Braava Jet features three cleaning modes using different elements. Complete the
following chart with information about these elements:

1. a ……..………………………………………..…. pad,
……………………………………………………..…,
and……………………… ……………………………

Braava Jet uses 2. a ………..………………………………….……. .pad,

………………… …………………………………..…,
and ………….……………… …………………………

3. a …………………………………………..................

c) How does the robot work in each mode? Complete the text with the verbs that describe
its main uses.

Attach a wet mopping pad and Braava jet ……….…………………. a triple pass cleaning
motion, precision jet spray and water activated cleaning agent to ……………………….
dirt and stains. Attach a damp sweeping pad and Braava jet ……………………….... a
double pass cleaning motion, reduced spray and water activated cleaning agent to gently
…………………………. everyday dust and dirt. With a dry sweeping pad, Braava jet
……………………. and ………………….. dust dirt and pet hair using a single pass
cleaning motion.

26
Activity 4: Post viewing

Writing a description

Context of situation: You have been assigned to write a description of a cleaning device for
an online catalogue which advertises and sells the latest technological devices in the market.

Writing activity: Write a paragraph describing the robot Braava Jet: its main features and
functions, its main uses and benefits. Use appropriate register and lexico-grammatical
resources for describing. Refer to the language used for describing studied in
[Link]/writing

✓ If necessary, see the transcript of the video script in the Appendix.

Optional activity: Listening to a radio program

If you need further practice on this unit, you can work with the guide based on the radio program
“Winarsky talks about Siri” in the Appendix.

27
 UNIT 3
CATEGORIZING AND ESTABLISHING
CAUSAL RELATIONS

Topic: Types of pollution

Objectives:
- To study the language used for categorizing and establishing causal relations
- To analyze and use the lexico-grammatical resources for classifying, exemplifying
and establishing cause-effect relations
- To study content vocabulary related to “pollution”

Source:
Richard D. Cadle. Environmental Pollution. The 1996 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia.

Activity 1: Identifying topic and general organization

Read the text Environmental Pollution and discuss with a partner the following tasks:

a) Identify the source and the type of text (genre).

b) Identify the field. Which discipline/s does this text belong to?
c) Which is the topic of the text? How do you know?
d) Identify and highlight in the text instances of definitions:
- What is defined in each case?
- Mark the component parts of the definitions.

Activity 2: Understanding text type and discourse patterns

Have a look at the whole text paying attention to the layout, the subtitles and the way the text is
organized. Discuss with a partner the following questions:

a) What do the different headings refer to?

b) Which do you think is the main purpose of this text?
c) Identify the main discourse pattern/s in this text. Of the four types of texts proposed by
Dudley-Evans & St. John, pp. 87-88 (listed below), which one do you think this text
follows? Why) Explain.
1- Problem-solution
2- Hypothetical-real
3- Claim-justification
4- General-particular

d) Which do you think is the relevance of the function cause/effect in this text? Which do
you think is the relevance of the function classification?

28
Activity 3: Studying content related vocabulary
Source:
Dudley-Evans & St. John, The language of ESP. Section Vocabulary in ESP, pp. 80-83.

a) Look for content-related vocabulary, i.e., words related to the topic.

b) Do these content words belong mainly to general English or specialized vocabulary?
c) Are they technical/ semi-technical words? Are these words cognates?
d) Do you find the vocabulary in this text difficult to understand? Why (not)? Explain.

CLASSIFYING, EXEMPLIFYING AND

ESTABLISHING CAUSE-EFFECT RELATIONS

Activity 4: Studying the lexico-grammatical resources for expressing cause-

effect relation
Sources:
UEFAP, Rhetorical functions in academic writing: Reasons and explanations,
[Link]
McCarthy, M., & O’Dell, F. (2008). Academic vocabulary in use. Cambridge. Units 30, 43.

Scan through the text identifying instances of cause/effect relationships and do the following
activities:
a) Highlight all the lexico-grammatical realizations that signal the presence of cause/effect
relationships.
b) Identify the sentences (or lines) that mainly describe causes, and mark them with a C in
the margin of the text. Identify the sentences (or lines) that mainly describe effects (or
consequences), and mark them with an E in the margin of the text.
c) Which are the most common lexico-grammatical realizations used to establish C-E
relationships? Analyze the content words (verbs and nouns), connectors and the discourse
patterns that signal the presence of this function and add them in the table below.

Glossary of semi-technical vocabulary for

showing cause-effect relations
Tips:
✓ Elaborate a glossary of useful terms (nouns, verbs, connectors, etc.) for showing
cause-effect connections.
✓ Follow the example below.
Add more examples to the list.

Examples:

Verbs: causes, may cause, ............................................................................................

Nouns: a result of, source of, ........................................................................................

29
 Prepositions/ connectors/ conjunctions: due to, ............................................................
Subordinate clauses: will experience .... when ....., ........................................................
Other: .........................................................................................................................

Activity 5: Studying the lexico-grammatical resources for classifying

Sources:
UEFAP, Rhetorical Functions in Academic Writing: Classifying and categorizing,
[Link]
McCarthy, M., & O’Dell, F. (2008). Academic vocabulary in use. Cambridge. Unit 42.

Skim through the text paying special attention to headings and subheadings and answer the
following questions:
a) What is classified in this text?
b) Identify the main components of a classification and complete below:

● the general class: →

● the specific items: →

● the basis (or criterion) →

for classification:

c) Is this text classifying from general to specific or from specific to general? Explain.
d) What lexico-grammatical realizations have been used to present this classification?
Highlight them in the text.

Activity 6: Studying the lexico-grammatical resources for exemplifying

Source:
UEFAP, Rhetorical Functions in Academic Writing: Giving examples,
[Link]

Scan through the text identifying instances of exemplification and do the following activities:
a) What is this function used in this text for?
b) Identify both the examples and the concepts or ideas they illustrate.
c) When applicable, highlight the lexico-grammatical realizations that signal the presence of
those examples.

30
Activity 7: Summarizing information

1. Draw a tree diagram showing the general class, the specific items of the classification and
specific examples (if provided), and the basis for classification. Use the following chart to
help you.

2. Write a summary of this text.

Activity 8: Studying semi-technical vocabulary

Source:
Dudley-Evans & St. John, Section Vocabulary in ESP, pp. 80-87.

1. Study the classification of semi-technical vocabulary, in Dudley-Evans & St. John, p. 83,
and find examples from the text for each of these types:

a) general vocabulary that has a higher frequency in a specific field: ………..................

………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
b) General English words that have a specific meaning in the discipline, e.g.,
“environmental sciences”:
………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………

2. Study the discipline-specific vocabulary in the text and complete the following sets with
examples from the text (Dudley-Evans & St. John, pp. 84-86):

31
Situation sets

Semantic sets (Chains of associations)

a) SYNONYMS: ANTONYMS:

………………. = ………………….. ………………… ≠ ………………..

………………. = ………………….. ………………… ≠ ………………

………………. = ………………….. ………………… ≠ ………………

b) SUPERORDINATE → SUBORDINATE → → →
(types of, parts of)
……………………… …………………………………………………………
……………………… …………………………………………………………
……………………… …………………………………………………………

c) CAUSE / EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS:

……………………… …………………………………………………………
……………………… …………………………………………………………

d) DERIVATIVE WORDS FROM “POLLUTE”:

……………………… …………………………………………………………
……………………… …………………………………………………………

Study the use of affixes in the examples

Lexical sets

a) COLLOCATIONS WITH “WASTE” (as noun or as verb)

…………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………..

32
 b) COLLOCATIONS WITH “_________________”
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Activity 9: Studying other features of the language of ESP

Sources:
Dudley-Evans and St. Johns, Section “The grammar of ESP”, pp. 74-79.
UEFAP, Rhetorical functions in academic writing, [Link]/writing

Study the following features of the language of ESP and do the activities below.
For more information and further examples, you can read the suggested sources of reference.

Modal verbs
Sources:
Dudley-Evans & St. John, pp. 76-77.
UEFAP, Rhetorical functions in academic writing: Expressing degrees of certainty, in
[Link]

a) Notice the use of modals in the text. Highlight examples.

b) For what purpose/s has modality mainly been used?
c) Study the use of modality in scientific/technical texts.

Tense and Voice

Source:
Dudley-Evans & St. John, pp. 75-76.

a) Study the use of verb tense in this text. Which tense or tenses predominate/s? Why?
b) Identify instances of passive voice and comment on its use in relation to the purpose of the
text.

Nominalizations
a) Look for nominalizations (verbal nouns) in the text following the pattern:
noun + post modification
b) Add more examples to the list and comment on the use of nominalization in scientific/
technical language.

Examples: - the industrialization of society

- the degradation of the Earth’s land surface
..........................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................

33
Pre-modification: -ed and -ing adjectives
Source:
Zimmerman, F. (1989), English for Science, p. 161-162.

a) Look for Noun Phrases in the text following the patterns:

–ed adjective + noun
–ing adjective + noun
adverb + -ed + noun

b) Study the uses of the –ed, and –ing adjectives in scientific/technical language, and compare
them.
c) Are they used to describe a process? a function? a specific property? other?
d) Add the examples you find to the list below.
e) How can these NPs be unpacked? Provide the paraphrase in the right-hand column.
f) Which examples imply a passive action (process) and which an active action?

Noun phrases Paraphrase

–ed adjective + noun

dissolved or suspended solids (solids that are / have been dissolved)

halogenated hydrocarbons .......................................................
motorized vehicles .......................................................
....................................................... .......................................................
....................................................... .......................................................
....................................................... .......................................................

adverb + –ed adjective + noun

newly developed chemicals chemicals that have been developed

recently
partially treated sewage .......................................................
environmentally untested chemicals .......................................................
....................................................... .......................................................
....................................................... .......................................................
....................................................... .......................................................

–ing adjective + noun

foraging insects .......................................................

consuming organism .......................................................
ionizing or non-ionizing radiation .......................................................
....................................................... .......................................................
....................................................... .......................................................
....................................................... .......................................................

34
 Reflecting on the activities in this unit...

What did you learn in this unit that you found particularly useful? interesting?
What were the main difficulties you faced in this unit?
How can this awareness help you to teach English in different teaching contexts?

LANGUAGE AND VOCABULARY PRACTICE

 Writing activity 1: Cause/effect

Paraphrasing
a) From the text “Environmental Pollution”, choose a few examples which show cause/effect
relationships.
b) Study the language and patterns used to express these relationships.
c) Re-write the sentences using a different pattern without changing the meaning.

 Writing activity 2: Cause/effect, exemplification

Turn this information into a paragraph describing the main consequences of obesity and
providing examples when possible.

Obesity. Main risks:

- Health risks: the more obese the person, the more likely to have health
problems (e.g., blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, sleep apnea, gout, etc.)
- Environmental factors: lifestyle behaviors (eating habits, sedentary
behavior, etc.)
- Psychological & social effects: physical appearance, lack of attractiveness,
prejudices or discrimination (at work, school, social situations), feelings of
rejections, shame or depression, job selection, stereotypes (emotional
impairment, handicap, negative personality traits.
Source: Students´ handouts

 Writing activity 3: Classification, exemplification, cause/effect

Use the following information to write a paragraph classifying the main types of noise pollution
according to what causes the noise, and providing examples when possible.

Topic: types of noise pollution

35
Basis for classification: what causes the noise (sources of noise pollution)
Types:
- traffic noise (busy roads, public transportation, motor-vehicle noise like car
horns, etc)
- factory noise
- entertainment noise (loud music from discos, clubs, concerts, etc.)
- aircraft noise (air traffic)
- rail traffic (the operation of trains, the maintenance and construction of rail
infrastructure)
- neighbour noise problems (barking dogs, loud music or TV, shouting, banging
doors, etc.)
Source: Students’ handouts

 Writing activity 4: Classification and exemplification

Turn the information from the following table into a paragraph which classifies the different
types of bacteria following an appropriate basis for classification and providing examples of
each type.

B According 1) rod-shaped bacilli (small whiplike structures known as FLAGELLA that

to shapes propel the organism, usually in a rolling or tumbling motion)
a 2) spherical cocci
c a) which may grow in chains (e.g. STREPTOCOCCUS)
b) which may clump together like a bunch of grapes (e.g.
t STAPHYLOCOCCUS)
e 3) comma- or spiral-shaped spirilla and spirochetes.
r
4) mycoplasmas (no rigid cell walls and consequently formless; the smallest
i bacteria, often called pleuropneumonialike organisms –PPLO- because
a they cause a contagious pneumonia in cows and human beings).
On the basis 1) aerobes (those requiring oxygen)
of their
requirements
for free 2) obligate anaerobes (those which cannot live in the presence of oxygen)
atmospheric
oxygen
3) facultative anaerobes (those which do well with oxygen but can survive
without it)

Source: The 1996 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia

 Writing activity 5: Nominalization

Use the following information to write a paragraph describing the main symptoms of panic
attack using nominalization for each of the processes.

Panic Attacks.
Symptoms include the following:
✓ The heartbeat races
✓ The person:
- breathes with difficulty
- is terrified, almost paralyzed
36
 - trembles, shakes and sweats
- has hot flashes or sudden chills
✓ The chest aches
✓ The fingers or toes tingle
✓ The person fears he/she is going crazy
Source: Students’ handouts

 Writing activity 6: Classification, exemplification, cause/effect

Read the following text. Using the information provided in the text, complete the table below
and answer the questions.

Vitamin Deficiency Diseases

The major vitamin-deficiency diseases include xerophthalmia, which is due to vitamin A
deficiency. It can result in ulceration of the cornea of the eye and increased susceptibility to
infection and sometimes blindness. Berriberi,a thiamine, or vitamin B-1, deficiency is commonly
found among rice-eating peoples and alcoholics. Pellagra results from a deficiency in niacin and
is associated with persons eating mainly a corn, or maize, diet. A riboflavin, or vitamin B-2,
deficiency causes ariboflavinosis, in which there may be cracks of the lips and red, scaly lesions
in the genital areas. The macrocytic anemias (involving abnormally large red blood cells) result
particularly from folic-acid deficiency during pregnancy and sometimes from B-12 deficiency.
Rickets and osteomalacia (softening of the bones) are due to vitamin D deficiency, and Scurvy is
due to vitamin C deficiency.
Source: Nutritional-Deficiency Diseases
The 1996 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia

1- Main Class: _______________

2- Basis for classification: _________________
3- Types (specific items): Complete this information in the table

Types of Disease Cause (type of deficiency) Effects (if applicable)

4- Is the basis for classification explicit in the text? _____________________________

37
 5- What lexico-grammatical resources in the text helped you identify the basis for
classification? Highlight them in the text. _________________________________

CONSOLIDATION

Topic: Neuroscience and learning disorders

Purpose:
- To describe treatments and to classify types of learning disorders
- To practise content-specific vocabulary related to: mental disorders, diagnosis and
treatment.

Sources: TED Talk:

[Link]
[Link]: [Link]

Activity 1: Group discussion

1. Discuss the following questions with the class:

a) What are some common learning disorders and how do they affect the lives of people
who suffer from them?
b) Read the list below. Do you know these disorders? What do they have in common? What
are their differences?
Disorders (or disabilities)
- dyslexia
- mental retardation
- mental impairment
- brain seizure
- attention deficit disorder (ADD)
- abnormality
- autism

c) Classify the different learning disorders by symptoms, diagnostic method, treatment,

and/or cause
(a list can be found in [Link]
d) How are learning disorders diagnosed?
e) What treatments are available for people who suffer from learning disorders?
f) Do you have friends or acquaintances with learning disorders?

38
Activity 2: Pre-viewing
Study the terms in the list provided below related to “Disorders” and “Tests and Equipment”.

Tests and Equipment Other terms/phrases used in medicine

· powerhouse
· ECG (electrocardiogram) · clinically significant
· chest x-ray · startling
· EEG (electroencephalogram) · perplex
· Brain Electrical Activity · analogous
Mapping · vital
· Triangulation · misleading
· assessment · to come across
· diagnosis · groundbreaking
· real time
· clinical arm
· naked eye
· mimic (symptoms mimic those of …)
· targeted treatment
· be “left to worsen”

Activity 3: Viewing
1. Watch the video and identify information about the context of situation:

a) The type of text and the targeted audience

b) The speaker, her role and her main intention in her lecture
c) The topic of the lecture and the main aspects of the topic developed

2. First segment. Watch the video again to obtain more information about the following:

a) How does the lecturer define “learning disorder”? How many children suffer from
this type of disorders?
b) What perplexed her in relation to diagnosing these disorders? Why?
c) What did she learn at Harvard University?
d) How does an EEG work? How do the programs Brain Electrical Activity Mapping
and Statistical Probability Mapping help provide a more accurate diagnosis?

3. Second segment. Describe the case study:

a) Who is Justin?
b) What was his diagnosis originally? Why was he misdiagnosed?
c) What did the use of EEG reveal about his real problem?
d) How was he treated after the second diagnosis and what were the results of the new
treatment?

4. Focus on Aditi’s final reflections and conclusions:

39
 a) What problems does Aditi see with current diagnostic methods?
b) What is her main message to specialists and neurologists in particular?
c) What do you think she means by the phrase “perhaps one more puzzle in one more brain
will be solved”.

Activity 4: Post-viewing

Discuss these questions with your peers

a) Did you like this video?
b) Do you find Aditi’s research to be interesting?
c) Why is her research important?

✓ If necessary, see the transcript of the video in the Appendix.

Activity 5: Studying content-specific vocabulary

Complete the blank spaces with vocabulary from the video.

The brain
▪ Two figurative ways to refer to the brain: ____________________________
▪ A doctor who specializes in the brain = _____________________________
▪ Research related to the brain = ____________________________________
▪ The brain _____________________ several functions

Mental disorders

▪ Collocations with the word “disorder”

(V+prep) To suffer ______ a mental disorder
(N+V) a mental disorder ____________ in the brain
(N+V) a disorder is _______________ on the basis of observable behavior
(adj+N) a disorder that is related to the person’s development = ____________
(adj+N) a disorder of the mind = ______________________
(adj+N) a disability or dysfunction related to the mind = ___________________

▪ Synonyms of “disorder”: ____________________________________________

Diagnosis and treatment

▪ A picture (of the problem) that is not complete or is not correct =

______________________________________________________
▪ A ____________________ of severe autism
▪ A diagnosis that is wrong = _____________________________
▪ (The real problems) have not been detected = they have gone __________
▪ The EEG scan allows doctors to provide a more _____________________ neurological
diagnosis and a more _____________________ treatment
40
 ▪ After treatment, social communication skills can improve ________________________
▪ (A problem that) cannot be detected with the _______________ eye
▪ To get/be given a wrong diagnosis or have no diagnosis = to be
_____________________ or ___________________________
▪ The EEG scan allows to look at the brain functions in real time with no ______________,
no _________________, non ____________________
▪ To find the origin of many disabilities = to find the _________________

Research and technology

▪ A group of people who do research collaboratively = ________________

▪ When doctors are worried because they cannot understand the sources of a problem, they
are ___________________ or ___________________ by the situation
▪ To belong to the clinical ______________ of the research team
▪ Facts and research results can be __________________
▪ Two adjectives that can describe the word “technology”:
▪ ___________________ technology
▪ ___________________ technology
▪ Advances __________ medical technology
▪ a ___________________ (diagnostic) approach is an approach that introduces a new
method or is original
▪ a new _____________ of neuroscience

✓ If necessary, see the keys and the transcript of the video in the Appendix.

Activity 6: Writing a summary

Source:
Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting. Harvard Guide to Using Sources. A Publication of the Harvard
College Writing Program. ©2016 President and Fellows of Harvard College
[Link]
Three types of summaries: A guide to writing summary. Nevada University. Bradley Bleck.

Writing task
Write a summary of this lecture. Use appropriate conventions for summarizing.

Tips for writing the summary

Make sure you include the following aspects:
• The context and purpose of the video, i.e.: Who is the lecturer, in which context she gives
the lecture, what audience she addresses
• The topic of the lecture
• Appropriate conventions for summarizing and paraphrasing

41
 UNIT 4
REVISION OF FUNCTIONS AND
VOCABULARY PRACTICE

Topic: Environmental and occupational diseases

Objectives:
- To revise the language studied in units 2 and 3
- To revise and use content vocabulary related to “diseases”

Source:
Environmental and Occupational Diseases, Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2009.
[Link]

Read the text “Environmental and Occupational Diseases” and do the following activities.

Activity 1: Getting a first glance at the text

1. Identify: the source, the discipline (field) and the topic of the text.
2. Write an annotation of the text.
3. Skim through the text reading the subtitles. Can you predict the purpose of each section? Can
you predict the topic to be developed in each one?

Activity 2: Section I. INTRODUCTION

Read the whole section and do the following:
a) Identify a definition:
b) What is defined?
c) Mark in the text the extension of the definition, including the extended definition.
d) Analyze the pattern/s used for defining.
e) Study the purpose of the expressions “as opposed to”, “is confined to” and “the latter
restriction eliminates” in the definition.

Activity 3: Section II. CAUSES

Read the whole section and do the following:

a) With one colour, highlight in the text all the instances you can find indicating
exemplification. In each case, what is illustrated or exemplified?
b) With a different color, highlight all the lexico-grammatical devices used to establish
relationships of cause/effect.
c) Study the expressions used for cause/effect: Are they mainly verbs, connectors, nouns,
other? Do they mainly introduce cause or effect? Why? Consider the main purpose and
function of this section.
d) Highlight verb phrases: What tense predominates? Why?
e) Read the whole section, and complete the following tree diagram showing the causes of
environmental diseases and their exposure routes:

42
 f) Now complete the following chart showing the types of diseases according to their
causes:

CAUSES EFFECT
Type of exposure (pollutant): Type of disease:
Exposure to chemical agent:
…………………………………..
…………………………………..
……………………………………
Exposure to radiation:
…………………………………..
…………………………………..
…………………………………..
Exposure to physical hazard:
…………………………………..
…………………………………..
…………………………………..

Activity 4: Revising the use of nominalizations

Read Section VI. CURRENT RESEARCH
a) Identify and highlight nominalizations. Analyze the NP.
b) Which are the major foci of research in this field? How many are mentioned?
c) Which aspects does research in the field emphasize?

43
 d) Explain the different foci of research using a different language pattern, e.g., to answer
the question “What do researchers do?”. Comment on the different focus of your new
version of the text.

Activity 5: Revising the use of NP for describing

Using content-related vocabulary, find and transcribe examples of descriptions in NP with the
following patterns:

-ed adjective + N:
e.g., job-related exposures, ………………………………..………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………..

-ing adjective + N:
e.g., disease-causing agents, …………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………..

N + N:
e.g., work settings, ………………………………….……………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………..

Nominalization + post-modification:
e.g., the use or abuse of medication, ……………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………..

Activity 6: Studying field-specific vocabulary

Elaborating semantic sets and vocabulary webs

a) Identify throughout the text vocabulary related to the concept “disease”.

b) Study this vocabulary in context. Identify semantic sets, for example, synonyms,
antonyms, collocations (V + N, N + V, adjective + N, compounds, and so forth).
c) Create a semantic web, using the following chart as a guide, and adding any other
relations that you can find

44
Activity 7: Studying other features of the language of ESP
a) Identify other features that you see in the text which are frequent in scientific/technical
language (e.g., tense and voice, modals, articles, use of adjectives, complex NP). Analyze at
least TWO of them.
b) Explain those features in relation to their function in this text and illustrate with examples or
highlight them in the text.

Activity 8: Summarizing
Write a clear, well-organized summary of the text “Environmental and Occupational Diseases”.

Reflecting on the activities in this unit...

What did you learn in this unit that you found particularly useful? interesting?
What were the main difficulties you faced in this unit?
How can this awareness help you to teach English in different teaching contexts?

45
 CONSOLIDATION

Topic: Alzheimer
Purpose:
- To describe symptoms and treatments of a disease
- To practise the use of lexico-grammatical resources for describing causes and
effects

Source:
TED Talk: [Link]

Activity 1: Pre viewing

Discuss the following questions with the class

1. What is Alzheimer? What are the most common symptoms?
2. How can it be treated?
3. Can people do anything to prevent this disease? What are some important ways of
preventing it?

Activity 2: Viewing for general understanding

Listen to the first part of Alanna’s presentation “How I'm preparing to get Alzheimer's” to get a
general picture of the context of situation; and answer the following:

1) What is her main purpose in this talk? …………………………

2) What are her father’s symptoms? .………………………………
3) Statistics about people with the disease globally:
- Current figures: ……………………….………..
- Projections for 2030: …………………………..
4) What scares people about the disease? .......……………………
5) The two most common reactions among people:
1- ..........................................................
2- ..........................................................

46
Activity 3: Viewing for specific information

Continue watching the video and complete the following information:

1) What does Alanna choose to do? ……………………………
2) Complete the phrase: “If the monster wants you, ________________”.
3) Which are the three main things Alanna is doing to get prepared for Alzheimer’s?
1- …………………………………………
2- …………………………………………
3- …………………………………………

Activity 4: Focusing on meaning

a) Alanna further explains these three steps. Complete the chart with information from her talk.

Getting prepared for Alzheimer’s

What to do Reason for doing it What can be the effect of doing
it

1-

2-

3-

b) Focus on Alanna’s final reflections: What´s her main hope? …......…………..

Activity 5: Post-viewing

Discussion: The phrases below are taken from Alanna´s talk. How do you interpret them?
“If the monster wants you, the monster’s gonna get you.”
▪ “when my brain is not running the show anymore”
▪ “When you take away everything that he ever learned in this world, his naked
heart still shines.”

✓ If necessary, see the transcript of the video in the Appendix.

47
Activity 6: Writing an informative/analytical report

Video:
Alanna Shaikh, How I'm preparing to get Alzheimer's. TED Talk,
[Link]

Topic: Alzheimer’s disease, treatment and awareness.

Preparation

Watch the video “How I'm preparing to get Alzheimer's” again and revise the notes you took
when you completed the activities based on the video. If necessary, search for more sources on
the same topic.

Writing purpose

Read the situation described below and the writing task thoroughly. Identify the topic and the
specific aspects that you need to develop in your report; identify the specific context of
situation, the audience and the purpose of the report (Who writes to whom about what and for
what purpose).

Situation:
You are a doctor who specializes in Alzheimer’s disease. You frequently give lectures on
how to get prepared physically and psychologically to people interested in and concerned
about the disease. The publisher of a medical website is interested in publishing the
information of your lectures and asked you to write a report to be published in this website.

Writing task

Write an informative/analytical report for the magazine considering the following aspects: The
main symptoms of Alzheimer’s, the main actions that can be taken to minimize risks of getting
the disease, what people can do to be physically and psychologically prepared to get the disease,
the reasons for doing so and the benefits.

Take into consideration the following aspects in your writing:

• Use appropriate format and layout;
• Include relevant and sufficient information; provide appropriate evidence and specific
examples when needed;
• Choose the appropriate discourse organization and clear subheadings, if necessary
• Use appropriate lexico-grammar and register;
• Include an appropriate heading on top of the report and the list of References at the end
using APA style

Suggested sources for writing reports:

• Tunceren, L., & Cavusgil, S. (2006). College Writing. English for academic success. P. Byrd, J.
Reid, & C. Schuemann (Series Eds.). Boston: Thomson & Heinle. Chapter 2: Writing
analytical reports (pp.46-93); Appendixes 1, 2, 3 & 4 (pp. 244-255).
• Evans, V. (1998). Successful Writing. Proficiency. Express Publishing.
Unit 8: Reports (pp. 120-133).
• McCarthy, M., & O’Dell, F. (2008). Academic vocabulary in use. Cambridge.
Cambridge University Press. Units 32, 33, 37, 39 & 50.

48
 UNIT 5
REPORTING

REPORTING PAST EVENTS

Topic: Biotechnology
Objectives:
- To study the language used for reporting
- To analyze and use the lexico-grammatical resources for reporting past events
- To study field-specific vocabulary related to “biotechnology, advances and
achievements”

Source:
Biotechnology, Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2009. [Link]

Activity 1: Getting a first glance at the text

Read the text “Biotechnology” and do the following activities:
a) Write an annotation of the text.
b) Identify the discipline (field) and the topic.
c) Read Section I. INTRODUCTION
- Identify a definition:
- What is defined?
- Mark in the text the extension of the definition and the extended definition.
- Analyze the pattern/s used for defining. What does the “to-infinitive” phrase indicate
in the definition?

Activity 2: Section II. HISTORY

Read the whole section and do the following:

a) With one colour, highlight in the text all the instances you can find indicating time
reference and place.
b) Using a different color, highlight all the verb phrases: What tense predominates? Why?
Consider the main purpose and function of this section.
c) Are the verb phrases mainly in the active voice or passive voice? Why?
d) In the cases where active voice is used, comment on whether the focus is on the event
(what happened?) or on the actor (who did it?).
e) What is reported in this section? Is the focus of the report on: dates, names, events, other?
f) With information from the whole section, complete the following chart on the
developments of Biotechnology:

49
 Developments of Biotechnology
When Who / where What Importance of the event and
(if provided) - main achievement main implications
- main development (Purpose)

Activity 3: Section III. APPLICATIONS

a) Read the whole section and do the following:
b) Identify the main fields of application mentioned in this section. Highlight the lexico-
grammatical resources that indicate this.
c) Identify descriptions of processes. Highlight the lexico-grammatical resources that
indicate this.
d) Identify in the text and circle all the verb phrases. What tense predominates? Why?
Consider the main purpose and function of this section.
e) With information from the whole section, complete the following chart on the
applications of Biotechnology:

Applications of Biotechnology

Field of Example Description of the Benefits

application process (purpose)

50
Activity 4: Studying the lexico-grammatical resources for describing
developments and achievements
Sources:
Gillet, A. (2015). Using English For Academic Purposes. Rhetorical functions in academic writing:
Narrating and reporting [Link]
McCarthy, M., & O’Dell, F. (2008). Academic vocabulary in use. Cambridge. CUP. Unit 32.

a) Identify in the text vocabulary (mainly verbs and nouns) used for talking about
developments and processes.

Glossary of semi-technical vocabulary

for referring to developments and processes
Tips:
✓ Elaborate a glossary of useful terms (nouns, verbs, etc.) for referring to developments
and processes.
✓ Follow the example below and add more examples to the list.

Examples:

Vocabulary related to the concept “development”, e.g.:

- Nouns: development, achievement, event, technology, ……………………………….

- Verb phrases: discover, ………………………………………………………………..

Vocabulary related to the concept “application”, e.g.:

- Nouns: application, technique, manipulation, .……………………………………….

- Verb phrases: …………………………………………………………………………

Vocabulary related to the concept “process”, e.g.:

- Nouns: process, cycle, ……………..…………….……………….………………….

- Verb phrases: produce, use, ……………………..………….………………………

b) Nominalizations
In the activity above, notice that most of the nouns are nominalized forms of the verb phrases:
Why? Comment on the use of nominalizations in this text.

51
Activity 5: Studying other features of the language of ESP

1. Noun phrases with post-modification used for describing

a) Read the 2nd paragraph in Section I, transcribed below.

Although biotechnology has existed since ancient times, some of its most dramatic advances
have come in more recent years. Modern achievements include the transferal of a specific
gene from one organism to another (by means of a set of genetic engineering techniques
known as transgenics); the maintenance and growth of genetically uniform plant- and
animal-cell cultures, called clones; and the fusing of different types of cells to produce
beneficial medical products such as monoclonal antibodies, which are designed to attack a
specific type of foreign substance.
"Biotechnology," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2009

b) How many “modern achievements” are mentioned?

c) Highlight in the text each of the achievements listed and mark the extension of text that
describes each of them. What type of descriptions are these?
d) Study the linguistic pattern of each NP: identify the head noun and the post-modification.

N (nominalization) + prepositional phrases + non-finite -ed clause

e.g.:
/ the transferal of a specific gene from one organism to another (by means of a
set of genetic engineering techniques known as transgenic) /

e) Can you describe each of the achievements listed using a different linguistic pattern?
Paraphrase them.

Example 1:
Describe the achievements by answering the question “What does the
scientist/biotechnologist do?”:

• The scientist transfers …………….., For this, he uses …………….……...

……………………………………………………………………….…………...
……………………………………………………………………….…………...

What changes did you make in the linguistic pattern?

Does the paraphrase have a different focus? Explain.

Example 2:
Mention the achievements by describing the processes and the purposes:

• A specific gene is transferred from …………….., ……………...………

52
 ………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………….……….

What changes did you make in the linguistic pattern?

Does the paraphrase have a different focus? Explain.

f) Identify other examples in the text following the pattern N + post-modification

2. Noun phrases with –ed / -ing adjectives

Re-write the following phrases describing the noun with an –ed or –ing pre-modification.
All the examples are taken from the text.

Cycles that are repeated ………………………………………………….

Programs for producing food ……...…………………………………………...
Stalks of corn that are discarded ………………………………………….
The industry related to mining / the industry of mines …………………………
The process related to mining ……………………………………………...……
Deposits that are mined conventionally ………………………………….…….…
A protein that clots blood …………………………...…….…….…
Forms that are altered genetically ………………………………….………
Species that exist ………………………………………………..…
Procedures of genetic engineering that are not regulated ………….…………

3. Noun phrases with compound nouns

Identify in the text and transcribe examples of noun phrases following the pattern N + N.
Provide examples of field-specific vocabulary.

E.g.: food production, waste disposal, …………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………...…

Activity 6: Summary writing

Write a clear, well-organized summary of the text “Biotechnology”.

53
 REPORTING RESEARCH RESULTS AND
MAKING GENERALIZATIONS

Topic: Medicine
Objectives:
• To study the language used for reporting research
• To analyze and use the lexico-grammatical resources for reporting research results and
making generalizations
• To study discipline-specific vocabulary related to “age-related diseases”

Source:
Cell Press. (2018). Calorie restriction trial in humans suggests benefits for age-related disease.

Read the text “Calorie restriction trial in humans suggests benefits for age-related disease”
and do the following activities.

Activity 1: Getting a first glance at the text

Observe the layout of the text and answer:
a) Which are the field and the topic? Who are the audience?
b) What is the purpose of the graphical abstract?

Activity 2: Reporting research results

a) Read the article and answer:
- What is the purpose of the text?
- What is reported: events, results of a study, generalizations?

b) Highlight the lexico-grammatical resources which indicate this. Highlight the verbs/verb
phrases in the text. What verb tense/s predominate? Why? Consider the main purpose of
the text.

Activity 3: Studying the lexico-grammatical resources used for reporting

research results
Sources:
Gillet, A. (2015). Using English For Academic Purposes. Rhetorical functions in academic writing:
Presenting findings from statistical analyses; Presenting findings from interviews.
[Link]
McCarthy, M., & O’Dell, F. (2008). Academic vocabulary in use. Cambridge. CUP. Units 33, 32, 33 and
35.
Tunceren, L., & Cavusgil, S. (2006). College Writing. English for academic success. Boston: Thomson &
Heinle. Appendix 2, pp. 248-250.

54
1) Observe the verbs used for reporting research results in the text and the words that collocate
with them:
- What is reported: results? generalizations?
- Who reports them?

Then complete the chart.

Noun/pronoun Reporting verb Result/generalization

...one of the first studies showed …………………….

2) When reporting results, the writer establishes cause/effect relationships. Highlight some
examples in the text. Then complete the chart with lexico-grammatical resources which
indicate them and the words they collocate with.

Nouns / Verbs Words that collocate with

be tied to … stress is tied to …conditions

3) Study the use of modality

a) Identify in the text instances of modality and highlight the lexico-grammatical resources
which indicate this. Then paraphrase these examples using different resources of
modality.
b) Why is modality used in each case? Explain the different uses.

55
 Glossary of semi-technical vocabulary
for reporting research results
Tips:
✓ Elaborate a glossary of useful terms (nouns, verbs, etc.) for reporting research results.
✓ Follow the example below and add more examples to the list.

Examples:

Nouns: study, findings, ……………………………………….……..………

………………………………………………………………………...

Verbs: show, demonstrate, …………………………………………..………

……..……………………………………………………………………

Other expressions: …………..………………………………………..………

……..……………………………………………………………………

Activity 4: Studying content-specific vocabulary

Study the vocabulary related to the topic “age-related diseases” used in the text and complete the
following sets with examples from the text.

Situation set
Complete the situation set with phrases related to the topic of the text: “age-related diseases”.
Pay attention to the use of pre-modification (-ed /-ing adjectives and use of affixes)

Semantic and lexical sets

Complete the chart with the words derived from “calorie” and “age”. Then identify the words
that collocate with each of them and provide some phrases in which they are used.

Calorie Age

56
 Derived Word Phrases Derived word Phrases

Caloric caloric intake

Activity 5: Summarizing
1) Reread the text and complete the chart with information about the study reported in the
text.

Study: Calorie restriction trial in humans

Purpose

Participants

Method/technique

Results

Importance of the study

and main implications

2) Write a clear, well-organized summary of the text.

Reflecting on the activities in this unit...

What did you learn in this unit that you found particularly useful? interesting?
What were the main difficulties you faced in this unit?
How can this awareness help you to teach English in different teaching contexts?

57
 LANGUAGE AND VOCABULARY PRACTICE

 Activity 1: Vocabulary for reporting research and making generalizations

Read the text below and complete the blanks with an appropriate verb or verb phrase related to
the language for reporting research results, making generalizations and drawing conclusions. Use
the verbs in the appropriate form and tense.

Scientists discover key driver of human aging: May lead to slowing or reversing aging process
Salk Institute researchers 1.…………………………. that a protein mutated in the premature aging disorder,
Werner syndrome, plays a key role in stabilizing heterochromatin, a tightly packaged form of DNA. More
generally, the findings 2………………………………. that heterochromatin disorganization 3………………………… a
key driver of aging. […]
In the study, scientists at the Salk Institute and the Chinese Academy of Science 4…………………….. that the
genetic mutations underlying Werner syndrome, a disorder that 5………………………….. premature aging and
death, 6………………………….. in the deterioration of bundles of DNA known as heterochromatin. […]
"Our findings 7………………………………….. that the gene mutation that causes Werner syndrome results in
the disorganization of heterochromatin, and that this disruption of normal DNA packaging
8……………………. a key driver of aging," says Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a senior author on the paper.
[…]. In their study, the Salk scientists 9………………………….. determine precisely how the mutated WRN
protein causes so much cellular mayhem. To do this, they 10………………………. a cellular model of Werner
syndrome by using a cutting-edge gene-editing technology to delete WRN gene in human stem cells. This
stem cell model of the disease gave the scientists the unprecedented ability to 11………………………….
rapidly aging cells in the laboratory. The resulting cells mimicked the genetic mutation seen in actual
Werner syndrome patients, so the cells began to age more rapidly than normal. On closer examination,
the scientists 12…………………………. that the deletion of the WRN gene also 13………………….. disruptions to
the structure of heterochromatin, the tightly packed DNA found in a cell's nucleus. […]
The main finding of the study 14……………………………. that accumulated alterations in the structure of
heterochromatin 15…………………………. a major underlying cause of cellular aging.
[Link]

 Activity 2: Paragraph writing based on figures and statistics

Source:
World Health Statistics: 2018. Monitoring Health For The Sustainable Development Goals (Sdgs).
[Link]

Read the information thoroughly and select the data that is of your interest. Using relevant
statistics from the chart, write one or two paragraphs reporting the main results in relation to the
information you selected. You may refer to the particular situation of one country or make a
comparison between countries. Based on the findings you report, make some generalizations or
draw some conclusions.

58
Tables of health-related SDG statistics by country
The statistics shown below represent official WHO statistics for selected health-related SDG indicators
based on evidence available in early 2018. In addition, summary measures of health such as (healthy) life
expectancy, and basic demographic and health-economic statistics, are included to provide a general
indication of the situation. These statistics have been compiled primarily from publications and databases
produced and maintained by WHO or United Nations groups of which WHO is a member. A number of
statistics have been derived from data produced and maintained by other international organizations.

59
 CONSOLIDATION

Topic: Money and happiness

Purpose:
- To identify the main parts of a research study
- To report a research study and findings
- To practise the use of lexico-grammatical resources for reporting research studies,
findings and the researcher´s interpretations

Source:
Michael Norton: How to buy happiness, TED Talk, [Link]

Activity 1: Warming-up
Read the excerpt in the box; reflect on the meaning and share your reactions with the class

If you want to feel happy for an hour – take a nap.

If you want to feel happy for a day – go fishing.
If you want to feel happy for a month – get married.
If you want to feel happy for a year – inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime – help someone else.

Anonymous

Discuss the following questions with the class:

- Can money buy happiness?
- What can make people really happy?

Activity 2: Viewing for general understanding of the context

Watch the video and identify information about the context of situation:
a) The type of text and the targeted audience
b) The speaker, his role and the main purpose of his lecture
c) The topic of the lecture

Activity 3: Focusing on meaning

Answer about the research conducted by Norton and his colleagues

60
CONTEXT OF THE STUDY:
- The problem that motivated their research
- General background; generalizations related to the topic
- Researchers’ main hypothesis
- Main purpose of the research

FIRST STUDY: Identify the information about the first study to complete the chart

FIRST STUDY
Method:
o Participants/ context

o Type of data used;

data collection

o Purpose for asking

different questions to
different participants

Findings:

Researchers’ main
conclusions: “It doesn’t matter how much ________________, but
_____________”

SECOND STUDY: Identify the information about the second study to complete the chart

SECOND STUDY
Main purpose:

Context and participants:

Findings:
o Similarities with
previous research
o Differences with
previous research
Researchers’ main
conclusions:

THIRD STUDY: Identify the information about the third study to complete the chart

61
 THIRD STUDY
Main purpose:

Context and participants:

Findings:
o Similarities with
previous research
o Differences with
previous research
Researchers’ main
conclusions:

RESEARCHERS’ GENERAL CONCLUSION OF THE RESEARCH:

……………………………………………………………..

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS: Summarize the 3 parts of the research study in the following
chart:

CONTEXT MAIN FINDINGS

· Personal
situation

· Work settings

· Social contexts

✓ If necessary, see the transcript of the video in the Appendix.

62
Activity 4: Post-viewing

Writing a report based on a research study

Source:
Video: Michael Norton, How to buy happiness. TED Talk:
[Link]

Topic: Money and happiness

Preparation

Watch the video “How to buy happiness” again and revise the notes you took when you
completed the activities based on the video. If necessary, search for more sources on the same
topic.

Writing purpose

Read the situations described below and select one of the options. In the selected option, read the
writing task thoroughly. Identify the topic and the specific aspects that you need to develop in
your report; identify the specific context of situation, the audience and the purpose of the
report (Who writes to whom about what and for what purpose).

Take into consideration the following aspects in your writing

• Use appropriate format and layout;

• Include relevant and sufficient information; provide appropriate evidence and specific
examples when needed;
• Choose the appropriate discourse organization and clear subheadings, if necessary
• Use appropriate lexico-grammar and register;
• Include an appropriate heading on top of the report and the list of references at the end
using apa style

OPTION A

Situation: As an undergraduate student in Business School you applied for a research grant to do a
research study. Your research is about the relationship between money and happiness as studied in
different contexts: university undergrads, general public in different countries, work settings and
social settings. As a requirement to obtain the grant, you have to write a report on your research and
main findings to be published in the university website.

Task: Write the report of your research study considering the following aspects: The main aim(s) /
objective(s) of the study, your initial hypothesis, the context of the research (participants, data
collection), your main findings, your interpretations of the findings and your conclusions

OPTION B

Situation: You are an undergraduate student in Business School and, as part of the course
requirements; you have to write a proposal to be implemented by a potential company or business
organization. Your proposal, based on your own research study, is about using a pro-social strategy as
an incentive for better work interaction among employees and better production.

63
 Task: Write the proposal report considering the following aspects: A description of the proposal,
important data and findings, based on your study, that support your proposal, and an evaluation of the
proposal highlighting its major benefits for the company.

Suggested sources for writing reports

Tunceren, L., & Cavusgil, S. (2006). College Writing. English for academic success. P. Byrd, J. Reid, &
C. Schuemann (Series Eds.). Boston: Thomson & Heinle. Chapter 2: Writing analytical reports
(pp.46-93); Appendixes 1, 2, 3 & 4 (pp. 244-255).
Evans, V. (1998). Successful Writing. Proficiency. Express Publishing.
Unit 8: Reports (pp. 120-133).
McCarthy, M., & O’Dell, F. (2008). Academic vocabulary in use. Cambridge. Cambridge
University Press. Units 24, 32, 33, 37, 39 & 50.

64
 UNIT 6:
HYPOTHESIZING AND
PROVIDING EVIDENCE

Topic: Astronomy; physical sciences

Objectives:
- To study the language used for hypothesizing and providing evidence
- To distinguish facts from hypotheses
- To analyze and use the lexico-grammatical resources for presenting hypotheses and
supporting them with evidence
- To study vocabulary related to “discoveries, hypotheses and theories”

Source:
On the Nature of Moonquakes, by Janelle Bailey, The Physics Teacher, Vol 38, Dec. 2000.

Read the text “On the Nature of Moonquakes” and do the following activities.

Activity 1: Getting a first glance at the text

Skim through the text to do the following

a) Identify: - the source and expected audience

- the discipline (field) and the topic
- the genre (type of text)

b) Read Paragraphs 1 and 2:

- Which question will the author attempt to answer in this article? (The problem)
- What is her hypothesis in relation to the question? (Her tentative answer)
- Which is the purpose of the writer in this article?

Activity 2: Identifying types of evidence

Read the rest of the article:

a) Skim through the text and look for evidence the writer uses to support her main hypothesis.
b) What type of evidence does she mostly use? (e.g., studies, research findings, observations,
opinions, claims, experts’ knowledge, other?). Highlight in the text the lexico-grammatical
resources used to indicate this.

✓ Tips:
Look for:
- nouns such as report, data, result, study, ……….
- verbs such as indicate, demonstrate, record, observe, …….

65
Activity 3: Understanding hypotheses and evidence

a) Where in the text does the writer present hypotheses? Identify them in the margin of the
text. Highlight the resources used to indicate this.
b) Where in the text does the writer present or describe facts? Indicate them in the margin
of the text. Highlight the resources used to show this.
c) What are those facts used for?

Activity 4: Focusing on content

Based on what you read, complete the following chart:

Question 1: Are there quakes on the Moon?

Hypothesis: _____________________________
Evidence: _____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________

Question 2: How do moonquakes occur?

Hypothesis 1: _____________________________
Evidence: _____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________

Hypothesis 2: _____________________________
Evidence: _____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________

Hypothesis 3: _____________________________
Evidence: _____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________

Question 3: __________________________________?

Hypothesis: _____________________________
Evidence: _____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
66
Activity 5: Studying the lexico-grammatical resources for hypothesizing and
giving evidence
Sources:
Dudley-Evans and St. Johns (1998), Section “The grammar of ESP”, pp. 74-78.
Gillet, A. (2015). Using English For Academic Purposes. [Link]/writing
• Rhetorical functions in academic writing: Expressing degrees of certainty
• Rhetorical functions in academic writing: Drawing conclusions
McCarthy, M., & O’Dell, F. (2008). Academic vocabulary in use. Cambridge. CUP. Units 24 and 37.

Study the following features of the language of ESP and do the activities below.
For more information and further examples, you can read the suggested sources of reference

a) How does the writer hypothesize and express possibility/probability?

Main lexico-grammatical resources for hypothesizing and expressing probability:

Specific lexis: _____________________________________
Tense: ___________________________________________
Modality: ________________________________________
Other?: __________________________________________

b) How does the writer present/ report facts?

Main lexico-grammatical resources for reporting facts:

Specific lexis: _____________________________________
Tense: ___________________________________________
Modality: _________________________________________
Other?: ___________________________________________

Activity 6: Evaluating evidence

Evaluate the evidence the writer uses in relation to the purpose of her writing. Consider the
following questions as a guide:
- Is the evidence she uses to support her hypotheses based primarily on facts or opinion
(generalizations)?
- Is it relevant (both in terms of quantity and quality) for her writing purpose?
- Does the evidence offer enough support and credibility to the writer’s main purpose?
- Add any other comment you consider relevant.

Activity 7: Summarizing
Write an annotation and a summary of the text.

67
 Reflecting on the activities in this unit...

What did you learn in this unit that you found particularly useful? interesting?
What were the main difficulties you faced in this unit?
How can this awareness help you to teach English in different teaching contexts?

LANGUAGE AND VOCABULARY PRACTICE

Topics: Search for life in Mars

Purpose:
- To revise the language and vocabulary used for reporting and hypothesizing

 Activity 1: Vocabulary for reporting and hypothesizing

Complete the blank spaces in the extracts below with a suitable word or phrase for reporting and/or
hypothesizing

March 15, 2006: NASA astronauts are going back to the moon and when they get there they
may need quake-proof housing.
That's the surprising 1_____________________ of Clive R. Neal, associate professor of civil
engineering and geological sciences at the University of Notre Dame after he and a team of
15 other planetary scientists 2_____________________ Apollo data from the 1970s. "The
moon is seismically active," he 3_____________________ a gathering of scientists at NASA's
Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) meeting in League City, Texas, last October. (NASA
science, Science news, [Link])

Until the first successful Mars flyby in 1965 by Mariner 4, many experts
4_____________________ about the presence of liquid water on the planet's surface. This
was based on observed periodic variations in light and dark patches,
5_____________________ in the polar latitudes, which appeared to be seas and continents;
long, dark striations were 6_____________________ by some as irrigation channels for
liquid water. These straight line features were later 7_____________________ as optical
illusions, though geological evidence 8_____________________ by unmanned missions
suggest that Mars once had large-scale water coverage on its surface. In 2005, radar data
9_____________________ the presence of large quantities of water ice at the poles and at
mid-latitudes. ([Link])

68
 A recent systematic analysis of studies 10_____________________ the effect of exercise on
academic achievement 11_____________________ that findings were almost exactly split
between no effect and positive effects86 with a distinct lack of negative effects. It has been
12_____________________ that the variation in outcomes may arise from differences in
research methods73, but Rasberry et al. 13_____________________ that the quality of
studies did not appear to influence this basic finding. The authors conclude that
14_____________________ evidence exists that physical activity can help improve academic
achievement. Rasberry et al. 15_____________________ the lack of theoretical foundation
for most studies, 16_____________________ that further interventions should be informed
by research across disciplines, including neurobiology.
[Link]

✓ If necessary, you can check the keys in the Appendix

 Activity 2: Vocabulary for expressing degrees of certainty

Identify different forms of expressing certainty in the following extracts. Then paraphrase them.

Mars - Search for life

Some recent evidence has suggested that any water on the Martian surface may have been
too salty and acidic to support regular terrestrial life.

Mars is also nearly, or perhaps totally, geologically dead; the end of volcanic activity has
apparently stopped the recycling of chemicals and minerals between the surface and interior
of the planet.

A re-analysis of the Viking data, in light of modern knowledge of extremophile forms of life,
has suggested that the Viking tests were not sophisticated enough to detect these forms of
life. The tests could even have killed a (hypothetical) life form.]Tests conducted by the
Phoenix Mars lander have shown that the soil has a very alkaline pH and it contains
magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride. The soil nutrients may be able to support life,
but life would still have to be shielded from the intense ultraviolet light. ([Link] )

Lower levels of education appear to be consistently associated with an increased incidence

of dementia…

[…] the results of the available studies seem to suggest that physical activity may be
associated with up to a 40% reduction in dementia or alzheimer risk…

[…] cognitive stimulation may be beneficial for cognitive function in old age in both people
with and without dementia.
From: Alzheimer’s Disease International: World Alzheimer Report 2014

69
 CONSOLIDATION

Writing a survey report

Writing activity

Read the situations described below and select one of the options. In the selected option, read the
writing task thoroughly. Identify the topic and the specific aspects that you need to develop in
your report; identify the specific context of situation, the audience and the purpose of the
report (Who writes to whom about what and for what purpose).

Take into consideration the following aspects in your writing

• Use appropriate format and layout;

• Include relevant and sufficient information; provide appropriate evidence and specific
examples when needed;
• Choose the appropriate discourse organization and clear subheadings, if necessary
• Use appropriate lexico-grammar and register;
• Include an appropriate heading on top of the report and the list of references at the end
using apa style

Suggested sources for writing reports

Tunceren, L., & Cavusgil, S. (2006). College Writing. English for academic success. P. Byrd, J. Reid, &
C. Schuemann (Series Eds.). Boston: Thomson & Heinle. Chapter 2: Writing analytical reports
(pp.46-93); Appendixes 1, 2, 3 & 4 (pp. 244-255).
Evans, V. (1998). Successful Writing. Proficiency. Express Publishing.
Unit 8: Reports (pp. 120-133).
McCarthy, M., & O’Dell, F. (2008). Academic vocabulary in use. Cambridge. Cambridge
University Press. Units 24, 32, 33, 37, 39 & 50.

OPTION A
Sources:
Breast Cancer Statistics, The Breast Cancer Organization,
[Link]
[Link]
World Health Rankings. [Link]

Topic: Breast cancer, risk factors and life expectancy.

Situation: You are a member of a research team working for the Breast Cancer
Organization. You were commissioned to write a report on the latest findings and statistics
about breast cancer to be published in the BCO official website.

Task: Write the report considering breast cancer statistics in relation to gender, race, life
expectancy and risk factors, and/or comparing figures with previous years.

70
 OPTION B
Source: Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, Síntesis Institucional,
2016 [Link]

Topic: Academic information about the National University of Rio Cuarto.

Situation: As a member of the Department of Languages at the National University of Rio

Cuarto, you were commissioned to write a report on different academic aspects of this
university to be published in an American educational magazine.

Task: Write the report considering the results of the survey “Síntesis Institucional:
Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, 2017”, which provides undergraduate and postgraduate
academic data related to students, graduates, teachers and academic courses, among other
aspects.

Consider the following aspects: The main aim(s) / objective(s) of the study, the context of
the research (participants, data collection), main findings, your interpretations of the findings
and your conclusions.

OPTION C
Sources:
The WHO Report, 50 Facts: Global health situation and trends 1955-2025. The World Health
Organization. [Link]
World Health Rankings. [Link]
A Glimpse into the future, Newsweek Magazine, Dec 27, 1999 – Jan 3, 2000, pp. 28B-28C.

Topic: World statistics related to world population and lifestyles.

Situation: As a member of a research team working for the World Health Organization, you
are doing some research about the world population and have collected some data from
important international sources about the population today and the projections for the year
2025. You were commissioned to write a report, to be published in the WHO website. The
report should include some main projections for the year 2025 in relation to some
outstanding aspects of the world population (e.g. population increase, health, education,
among others) and your personal conclusions based on the findings.

Writing task: Using the information provided in the text, write an informative/ survey report
in which you:
- state your purpose, and the main hypotheses related to the topic;
- develop your hypotheses and predictions based on relevant and clear evidence;
- present your own conclusions.

71
 UNIT 7
REVISION OF FUNCTIONS AND
VOCABULARY PRACTICE

HYPOTHESIZING, GIVING EVIDENCE, REPORTING,

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS AND MAKING GENERALIZATIONS

Topic: Big Bang Theory

Objectives:
- To revise the language studied in units 5 and 6
- To practise and use vocabulary related to “hypotheses and evidence”
- To use a concordance program to study vocabulary

Source:
Big Bang Theory, Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2009. [Link]

Read the text “Big Bang Theory” and do the following activities.

Activity 1: Getting a first glance at the text

1) Identify: the source, the discipline (field) and the topic of the text.
2) Write an annotation of the text.
3) Skim through the text reading the subtitles. Can you predict the purpose of each section?
Can you predict the topic to be developed in each one?

Activity 2: Section I: INTRODUCTION

Read the whole section and do the following:

1) Identify in this section the main claim or hypothesis. Highlight the lexico-grammatical
resources used for this.
2) Identify in this section further evidence used to support the main claim or
hypothesis. Highlight the lexico-grammatical resources used for this.
3) Identify information about what, when, where, who. Is the evidence mainly based on facts
or opinions/generalizations? Expilan.
4) What tense predominates in this section? Why?
5) What is the main function of this section?
6) VOCABULARY: Highlight in this section all the uses of the word “theory” and study
some collocations.

theory: ……………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………..

72
Activity 3: Section II: HISTORY

Read the whole section and do the following:

1) Identify in this section information about what, when, where, who. What is in general
reported in this section? Is the information mainly based on facts or opinions/
generalizations?

2) VOCABULARY:
- Highlight the different verbs for reporting and study them: What type of processes do
they refer to? Do you think they are used mainly to report what people say, think,
do? Other?

Reporting verbs:
What people say: ……………………………………………………….
What people think: ……………………………………………………
What people do: ……………………………………………………….

- Can you paraphrase these phrases using a different verb (synonyms) or another
construction (e.g., nominalizations)?

Activity 4: Section III: THE THEORY

Read the whole section and do the following:
1) In general, what tense predominates in this section? Why? What is the main purpose of
this section?

2) VOCABULARY:
- Highlight in this section all the uses of the word “theory”. Study some collocations
and compare them with the ones you identified in the previous section. Are they
similar? Different?

theory: ……………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………..

- Highlight the verbs/ verb phrases for reporting: Do they mainly report facts or
opinions (what people say, do, think)? Can you replace these verbs with synonyms,
or paraphrase the whole verb phrases?

Activity 5: Section IV: SUPPORTING EVIDENCE

Read Paragraphs 1 and 2:
a) In general, what tense predominates in these two paragraphs? Why? What is mainly
reported in them?
b) Is the information mainly based on facts or opinions/generalizations?
73
Read Paragraphs 3 to 6:
a) Scan through these paragraphs looking for verbs/ verb phrases for reporting and highlight
them in the text.
b) What type of processes do they refer to? Do you think they are used mainly to report
what people say, think, do? Other? (Compare these verbs with those in AVU, Unit 32).
c) List the verbs/ verb phrases in groups, e.g.:

Verbs used to report facts:

Verbs used to hypothesize:
Verbs used to present
claims/ generalizations:

d. PARAPHRASING: Select 2 – 3 sentences from this section and paraphrase them using a
different structure.

Activity 5: Studying vocabulary related to “hypotheses and evidence”

Source:
McCarthy, M., & O’Dell, F. (2008). Academic vocabulary in use. Cambridge. CUP. Units 23. 24, 32 and
37.

a) Use of tense for reporting: What tense is mainly used for:

- reporting facts?
- hypothesizing?
- making generalization or reporting opinions?

b) Reporting verbs: What verbs/ verb phrases are mainly used for reporting:
- what scientists do? …………………………………………………....
- what scientists think? ………………………………………………...
- what scientists say? …………………………………………………..

c) Study collocations with the following words and complete the chart following the
examples provided:
theory evidence results/ findings hypothesis

theory - a theory proposes

- an accepted theory
- to work out a theory
- ...…
- …...

evidence - Supporting evidence

- ...…
- ...…
- ...…
- …...

results/ findings - the findings suggest ….

- …….
- ...…
74
 - ...…

hypothesis - ...…
- ...…
- ...…
- …...

Activity 6: Revising the language for reporting and giving evidence through
the use of a concordance program
Source:
Antconc, [Link]

1) Make a word list of the text “Big Bang Theory” using the tool Word List of the AntConc
program

2) Answer the following questions based on the Word list:

a) How many types are there in the text? How many tokens?
b) What are the 20 most frequent words of the text? What is their grammatical function?
c) Observe the 10 most frequent content words of the list. Are they related to the topic of
the text?

3) Using the tool Concordance, observe the use of the word theory in the text and answer:
a) Which words collocate with theory to the left? Which predominate?
b) Which words collocate to the right? Which predominate?

4) Find verbs for reporting events or ideas, or their nominalizations ,on the Word list. Which
are the most frequent items in the text? Observe how they are used in context.

5) Find and observe the words derived from observ* and explain*. With the tool “Sort”, order
and study the findings. Analyze tense, voice, collocations and other features.

6) Find the words evidence and data on the word list. Which words collocate with them?
Compare your findings with the options provided in the AVU.

75
 CONSOLIDATION

Giving an oral presentation

Objetives:
• To improve your oral skills
• To develop a specific topic related to the area of science & technology
• To do bibliographic research on the topic
• To use vocabulary related to the instrumental uses of the language
• To study content-specific vocabulary and use it to talk about the topic of your
presentation

Preparation
o Select a topic to be developed in an oral presentation.
o Do some research about the topic using different sources of information.
o Prepare the presentation in pairs.

Steps to follow in the presentation

A brief, but clear introduction

o Statement of the main purpose of the presentation, and an overview of the aspects you
will develop, i.e., what you plan to do throughout the presentation.
o General introduction of the specific topic, explanation of important concepts relevant to
the topic (definitions, descriptions of important concepts, types, etc.).
o Contextualization of the topic to be developed, i. e., the scope of the topic, specific
aspect(s), purpose, context, limitations, etc.

The development of the topic. This will greatly depend on the nature of the topic, but you may
consider some of the following aspects:

o Further explanations of the main aspects to be developed.

o Presentation of evidence (i.e., important facts, relevant statistics, specific examples,
etc.)
o Advantages/disadvantages.
o A problematic situation; its possible causes and consequences; treatment of the
problem.
o Practical applications and uses.
o Importance or relevance to a particular situation or context.
o Different arguments (i.e., different points of view) in relation to the topic.
o Future perspectives, further developments, hypotheses and predictions (e.g., what is to
come; what may happen in the future in relation to this situation).
o Suggestions (e.g., what can/ should be done about this situation).
o Ethical and/or moral issues related to the topic.
o Other...?

76
Personal reaction

This may include personal comments, opinions, recommendations, criticism and/or

evaluation of the topic.

Conclusion. Round off all your concepts and attempt some concluding remarks.

Class discussion and group activity

o Create an environment for discussion and class participation: You may suggest topics
or issues for generating a debate among the class.
o Provide a class activity for further language/vocabulary practice (e.g. a listening/
viewing, reading, writing or speaking activity for students to practice specific
language/vocabulary related to the topic).

Sources for giving oral presentations

McCarthy, M., & O’Dell, F. (2008). Academic vocabulary in use. Cambridge. Cambridge
University Press. Units 32, 40
Oral presentations. The Writing Center. The University of Wisconsin. Madison. Writing
Center. Last updated: Monday, November 5, 2007

77
 UNIT 8
PURPOSES AND FUNCTIONS OF
INSTRUMENTAL LANGUAGE

1. Summary of functions. Complete the chart in the following page.

2. Purposes and text types

a) Read thoroughly the third column in the chart paying special attention to the different
purposes of the writer/scientist, and consider the different types of scientific/technical
writings.
b) Which is/are the main purpose/s of the writer/scientist in each of the following types of
writings?:

a descriptive text: .................................................................

a manual: ..............................................................................
a technical booklet: ..............................................................
a reference book: ..................................................................
a text from an encyclopedia: ................................................
a scientific/technical report: .................................................
a scientific/technical article: .................................................
a scientific/technical review: ................................................

3. Functions and text types

Which functions are you more likely to find in each of them?

4. Language – Functions and Purposes

a) Draw some general conclusions on the instrumental uses of the language in

scientific/technical writings, in relation to the language features listed below.

b) Which functions and purposes in scientific/technical writing do you mainly associate

with each of these language features?

- Use of verb tense and aspect: Simple Present; Simple Past; Imperative
- Choice of voice: active & passive
- Use of modals and modality
- Use of connectors and linking words: for contrast; for time reference; for
cause/effect, etc.
- Lexical choice: special nouns and verbs; verbs of reporting; adjectives and adverbs;
expressions
- Special constructions: If-clauses; Relative clauses; Comparative forms
- Fact vs. opinion

78
 PURPOSES AND FUNCTIONS OF INSTRUMENTAL LANGUAGE

Summary of functions
Source: Gillet, A. (2015). Using English For Academic Purposes. [Link]

In scientific/technical writing, In so doing, He/she does so because his/her He/she can achieve this purpose by means
the writer/scientist aims at the writer/ main purpose is to: of specific lexico-grammatical
Scientist
answering questions: realizations, such as:
presents:
a) Special constructions
b) linguistic markers & lexical choices (verbs,
nouns, phrases, adverbs, etc.)
c) connectors
d) verb tense & voice
e) modality

▪ What is X? Definition Define or clarify concepts, objects or a) - term + verb to be + class + characteristics
terms. - relative clauses
- infinitive /-ing clauses
b) Verbs: define, mean;
Nouns: definition, etc.
c)
d) - Present Simple
- Active or passive voice (X is /X is defined as)
e) can be/ may be/ is generally defined as
▪ What is X like? Describe objects, processes, concepts,
▪ What are the main characteristics conditions:
of X? Description - Physical appearance of objects or
▪ What is X made/ composed of? things;
▪ What is X used for? - Chemical composition of things or
▪ How does X work? substances;
- Functions or purposes of objects,
 - Processes
- Arrange or classify elements according
▪ How is X classified? Classification to specific criteria;
▪ How can X be ordered or - Establish relationships among those
arranged? elements

▪ How does X differ from Y? Comparison/ - Organize information by seeking

▪ How are X and Y similar? How Contrast relationships.
are they different? - Find similarities and/or differences
▪ What are the main similarities/ between elements, events,
differences between X and Y? circumstances or objects, following
certain criteria.
▪ Why does X happen?
▪ Which is the cause of X?/ What Cause/ effect - Explain causality of things, events, or
causes X? relationship, scientific facts.
▪ Which is the effect of X?/ What Causality - Explain reactions/ effects of things,
does X cause or produce? events, treatments, experiments.
▪ How can X be explained?

▪ How can you show X? Example - Clarify a point, idea, concept, by

▪ How can you explain X? presenting a concrete or graphic
representation of an abstract concept.
- Explain and give evidence to support an
idea or concept, and test its validity.

▪ How do you know this? - Validate a hypothesis, idea or concept.

80
▪ How can you prove this? Evidence - Explain and support a hypothesis, idea or
▪ How can you explain X? concept in order to test its validity.
- Provide facts, explanations, examples
that explain and give support to a
hypothesis, idea or concept.

▪ How can you prove X? Experiment/ - Provide evidence of something by

▪ How can you perform a certain Instruction means of observation.
process, or treatment? - Explain how a process, treatment,
▪ How does X work? experiment should be carried out, by
following a set of steps, instructions,
and/or recommendations.
- Give instructions and directions to
perform a process.

▪ What happened? Report - Report (provide records of) findings.

▪ Why/ How/ When/ Where did X - Detail experimental methods used in
happen? research.
▪ Which are the results of that - Document results of experiments
event? conducted to prove hypotheses.
- Record new knowledge, facts,
observations to prove things.

▪ Is there any possibility for X to - Draw conclusions on the basis of

occur? Prediction present or past evidence.
▪ Can X happen, or take place? - Hypothesize on possible future events,
▪ Which can be the effects of X? or possible effects of a certain method,
▪ What can X produce? treatment, invention, etc.
▪ Will X happen (if ....)? - Express probability of events or
effects of things or events.

81
▪ How much/ How many/ How - Provide exact measurements of things,
long/ How far/ How big/ How Calculation objects.
small/ How tall ............? - Describe research results.
▪ What percentage .........? - Explain physical quantities, such as
length, time, volume.

Any of the above questions can Hypothesis - Propose a possible or temporary

lead the scientist/researcher to explanation of something, or why
propose a ➔ something happens.
- Propose a tentative or temporary
solution to a problem.
- Look for or suggest possible
explanations or solutions that need to
be further validated or proved with
factual evidence.

82
 APPENDIX

GUIDE FOR VIDEO WATCHING

Source:
Radio Program: Winarsky Talks About Siri.
[Link]
DEMO [Link]
NPR Radio program [Link]
NPR Radio program [Link]

Listening activity (VIDEO)

Topic: Artificial intelligence
Purpose: To study the functions “Defining” and “Describing”

Tasks:

1. Watch the demo [Link] and answer:

a) What is the purpose of this text?
b) What does the ad describe?
c) What characteristics of the object are described? (e.g., physical aspects, function, process,
uses, applications? Other?).

2. Write down a few words that can describe the object advertised in the demo:

…………………………………………………………………………………...

3. Describe some of these characteristics.

4. Listen to the NPR radio program “Winarsky talks about Siri” and answer the questions below:
[Link]

a) What type of text is this?

b) Who are the speakers? What is their relationship?
c) What are the speakers talking about?
d) What features of the device are mentioned in their conversation? (e.g., physical aspects,
function, process, uses, applications? Other?).

5. Listen to the radio program again and answer the questions below[1]
a) What is Siri? How does it work?
b) What platform does Siri run on? (What technology?)
c) Who developed Siri? Where did it come from?
d) How is Siri a “game-changer?”
e) What can Siri do?
f) How does Robert phrase his request for Siri?
83
 6. Vocabulary. Complete the blanks with the missing term.

a) This company _____________ the virtual personal assistant _____________ for the new
iPhone.
b) The newest _____________ from Apple, the iPhone 4S, has all the things one now
expects of a cell phone …
c) … the _____________ in this phone is a voice.
d) [Siri] 's not exactly a _____________ program.
e) The greatest _____________ was to recognize the intent of the sentence.
f) That's real artificial intelligence being _____________.
g) DARPA…. is an _____________ of something that the Defense Department was once
doing.
h) DARPA _____________ a program called CALO, the cognitive _____________ that
learns and organizes.
i) We wanted to _____________ people in their everyday life…. to provide them a virtual
personal _____________ that could help them in their meetings…
j) Siri … it can be _____________ to you and learn from you.

7. Listen to the radio program “NPR- It’s a girl, and her name is Siri” and answer the questions
below [Link]

d) Why is Siri female?

e) What kind of voice does Siri have?
f) What are some examples of female AI voices?
g) Why do we have an affinity for female voices?
h) What does a female voice convey?
i) What about a male voice?
j) Historically, men’s voices sound more _____________, though Hillary Clinton does too.
k) Male voices have always played “the heavy.” What does this mean?
l) Who was HAL-9000? How did this lead to “typecasting” in female robotic voices?
m) How does the speaker interpret the prevalence of female voices?

Preference/Opinion:
n) Do you think this is sexist?
o) Would you prefer a male or female voice?

8. Writing task
Write a short text describing Siri: what it is, how it works and what its main characteristics
and applications are.

Context of situation: This text is part of a written report in a popularization magazine

describing a new technological device recently launched into the market.
Use appropriate register and lexico-grammatical resources for defining and describing.

If necessary, see the transcript of the video in the Appendix.

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 TRANSCRIPTS OF VIDEOS

Video: Earthquakes 101

[Link]
The ground starts to quiver…
Glasses rattle…
Soon walls shift and everything begins to collapse – telltale signs of what could be a devastating earthquake.
We’ve seen the destruction they unleash. Some of us may have even lived through one. And we know they can be
deadly.
But where does this mountain-moving force come from?
While we may think we’re standing on solid ground, the earth beneath us isn’t completely stable at all.
Our planet’s crust is made up of about 12 major tectonic plates that fit together like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
These huge slabs of land float on super-heated magma and constantly shift, bump, and grind against one another.
It’s there, along the seams, where earthquakes tend to happen.
When friction between the two plates is violent enough, seismic shock waves ripple through the ground, rattling
everything that stands on it.
The stronger and shallower the quake, the more violent the destruction.
The most violent type of earthquake is born in a subduction zone, where one tectonic plate is shoved beneath
another. While one plate is forced downward into the mantle, the other juts upward, often violently. This is the type
of quake that rocked Nepal in May 2015.
And when subduction happens under the ocean, it can create giant unstoppable waves, called tsunamis, like the ones
that killed hundreds of thousands in Japan and Indonesia…
On average, earthquakes kill about 10,000 people each year. Sometimes numbers are far higher.
The quake that hit Haiti in 2010 killed more than 300,000 by some counts — making it one of the deadliest on
record.
It is estimated that there are 500,000 detectable earthquakes in the world each year, 100,000 of these can be felt and
100, 000 of them cause damage. That´s about 0.1 percent.
The magnitude of an earthquake is measured using the Richter scale, which runs from 0 to 10 - 10 being the
strongest. Every whole number increase on the scale means 10 times more ground motion change - that’s a LOT!
In recorded history, the world has never experienced a 10 on the Richter scale, but scientists predict an average of at
least one major quake of magnitude 8 or higher every year.
The fact is, the earth’s crust is restless and always on the move. We can’t see earthquakes coming... but we can
prepare for them.
Engineers are now designing stronger buildings, resilient enough to survive a direct hit.
Scientists are crunching data to project the power of future quakes and anticipate when and where they could strike
next.
Right now, we can only estimate the probability an earthquake will occur. But perhaps one day, we will learn
to predict them... minimizing their destruction, and saving countless lives.

Video: Cleaning robot: Braava jet

[Link]
Say hello to the Braava jet mopping robot for my robot and say goodbye to everyday messes. Just press clean. Braava
jet automatically knows what to do. The precision jet spray loosens dirt while the vibrating cleaning head gently scrubs
stains. Braava jet uses AI robots advanced navigation software and a full suite of sensors to map and track where it's
been, helping it mop in an efficient systematic cleaning pattern. It keeps going until the whole room is clean.
Braava jet is great for kitchens and bathrooms. It's small enough to work its way into tight spots. It carefully cleans
around obstacles so it won't harm furniture rugs or walls. When it's done, simply eject the pad, your hands never touch
the dirt. Braava jet features three cleaning modes. It recognizes the type of cleaning pad and automatically adjusts the
way it cleans.
Attach a wet mopping pad and Braava jet uses a triple pass cleaning motion precision jet spray and water activated
cleaning agent to tackle dirt and stains. Attach a damp sweeping pad and Brava jet uses a double pass cleaning motion
reduced spray and water activated cleaning agent to gently clean everyday dust and dirt with a dry sweeping pad.
Braava jet traps and locks dust dirt and pet hair using a single pass cleaning motion. Braava jet is great for hard floors
like hardwood tile and stone so you can enjoy cleaner floors and a fresher home every day. You Braava jet and IRobot.
Better together.

Audio: Winarsky Talks About Siri

[Link]
Robert Siegel speaks with Norman Winarsky, vice president of SRI Ventures and co-founder and board member of
Siri. Siri was an SRI spin-off company acquired by Apple last year. This company developed the virtual personal
assistant technology for the new iPhone.

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ROBERT SIEGEL, host: Look around you at your early adopter friends this week and you may well see them deep
in conversation with their phones. Not on their phones, but with their phones. The newest offering from Apple, the
iPhone 4S, has all the things one now expects of a cell phone, a nice camera, a big bright screen. But according to
many tech enthusiasts, the game changer in this phone is a voice and some would say something close to a personality.
It's called Siri. It was developed at SRI International, which was originally the Stanford Research Institute.
And joining us now to talk about Siri is Norman Winarsky who's the vice president of ventures at SRI International.
Welcome to the program.
NORMAN WINARSKY: Thank you so much, Robert.
SIEGEL: I want you to explain what Siri is. It's not exactly a speech recognition program. It's something more than
that.
WINARSKY: No, it's much more than that. So, Siri does recognize speech, namely take your spoken words and put
that into textual form. But that's really only the beginning - in truth, not the breakthrough. The greatest breakthrough
was to recognize the intent of the sentence.
So you could be saying: I'd like a top-rated hotel in San Francisco for tomorrow night, with a pool and a fitness center.
And it understands and recognizes that.
SIEGEL: It does?
WINARSKY: That's real artificial intelligence being applied.
SIEGEL: Well, I happen to have a friend's new iPhone here. So, since you said that I'm going to say: I'd like a top-
rated hotel in San Francisco for tomorrow night, with a pool and a fitness center.
SIRI: Robert, I can't search near businesses. My apologies.
SIEGEL: Well, I have to try again. Maybe it didn't understand my diction.
WINARSKY: Try it again. It should work.
SIEGEL: I want a hotel room in San Francisco tomorrow night at a top-rated hotel with a swimming pool and a fitness
center.
SIRI: I found a number of hotels that have swimming pools and have fitness centers. Sixteen of them are in San
Francisco, California. I've sorted them by rating.
SIEGEL: And there they are. I think even on the second try, awfully impressive.
WINARSKY: And that's what makes Siri a game changer.
SIEGEL: Now, somewhere in Siri's genealogy here, there is DARPA. This is an outgrowth of something that the
Defense Department was once doing?
WINARSKY: Right. Right. So let me explain. DARPA created a program called CALO, the cognitive assistants that
learns and organizes. And this is a large program, perhaps the largest in the history of DARPA for an AI program.
SIEGEL: An artificial intelligence program?
WINARSKY: Artificial intelligence program and what was unique about the program was what they called learning
in the wild. They were inspired by "MASH." Do you remember "MASH"?
SIEGEL: You mean on television? Yeah.
WINARSKY: On television. Do you remember Radar O'Reilly in "MASH"?
SIEGEL: Of course.
WINARSKY: Well, Radar O'Reilly always knew what the captain wanted before the captain knew what the captain
wanted. That was the inspiration for CALO. We wanted to assist people in their everyday life. We wanted to provide
them a virtual personal assistant that could help them in their meetings, help them with what they want to accomplish,
help them look forward in making their reservations. This was inspired originally by that, in fact.
SIEGEL: So you think that if I had a virtual personal assistant for a few years, that my virtual personal assistant - by
virtue of what it knows and what questions of mine it's familiar with - would be significantly different from my friend's
virtual personal assistant who has another iPhone, and uses the same program?
WINARSKY: So there is that capacity that was always in the original vision of Siri that it can be personalized to you
and learn from you and your preferences and your favorites. And, yes, it does have some of that now, but you can be
absolutely sure that it will continue to do that in the future.
SIEGEL: Well, Norman Winarsky, thank you very much for talking with us about Siri.
WINARSKY: Thank you so much, Robert.
SIEGEL: Siri is, as we just heard, the virtual personal assistant that's available on the new iPhone. And Norman
Winarsky is vice president for ventures at SRI International, the company where Siri was developed.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MELISSA BLOCK, host: You're listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR news.

Audio: Scott Simon: It's A Girl! The New iPhone Speaks (script)
NPR Radio program [Link]
Why is Siri female?
Siri is the name of a new talking virtual assistant feature on the latest iPhone that can tell you when you have an
appointment, where to find a Thai restaurant and what the pollen count will be.
I have friends who have the phone and love to ask Siri, "What's the meaning of life?" She has an answer, which is
impressive. Maybe it takes a circuit board to recognize the special quality of life. But frankly, her answer sounds a
little robotic.
Siri, which is an acronym for the California company that developed her, speaks in an electronically warm, friendly,
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female voice. So do most on-board navigations systems, voicemail prompts, directory assistance greetings and Julie,
the voice of Amtrak's automated reservation system.
Why are the voices that emanate from our machines so often female?
Professor Clifford Nass of Stanford University told [Link] that humans develop an affinity for female voices that
begins when we overhear our mothers speaking while we wait in their wombs.
We hear our birth mothers coo, "I love you," over our heads, so a woman's voice conveys comfort and security. We
might hear a man's voice somewhere in the background asking, "Have you seen my shoes? Do we have any of that
peanut fudge ripple ice cream left? Hey, where are the spoons?"
Researchers say that while a man's voice can sound "authoritative" — although Margaret Thatcher, Hilary Clinton
and, for that matter, Nina Totenberg, sound pretty authoritative — a woman's voice may be taken as more congenial
and cooperative.
Rebecca Zorach, director of the Social Media Project at the University of Chicago's Center for the Study of Gender
and Sexuality, says, "I wouldn't automatically claim any sexism," and suggests that companies are probably only
choosing the voices that focus groups and market surveys like most. "It's casting," she says.
Professor Nass at Stanford also points out that male, mechanized voices have played the heavy ever since the HAL
9000 computer in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, which came out in 1968. HAL speaks soothingly, but
locks astronauts out of their spaceship. Professor Nass says, "A lot of tech companies stayed away from the male voice
because of HAL."
In other words: typecasting. Because of HAL, a whole generation of male mechanical voices lost out on work.
But I don't want to begin any inclusion campaigns for more male mechanical voices. I prefer to think that the
proliferation of female robotic voices reflects some of the progress actual women have won in the struggle for equality.
Women have achieved so much in so many ways, you can hear it everywhere.
By the way: You've got mail. I think. Maybe.

Video: Aditi Shankardass: A second opinion on learning disorders

[Link]
First segment
When I was 10 years old, a cousin of mine took me on a tour of his medical school. And as a special treat, he took me
to the pathology lab and took a real human brain out of the jar and placed it in my hands. And there it was, the seat of
human consciousness, the powerhouse of the human body, sitting in my hands. And that day I knew that when I grew
up, I was going to become a brain doctor, scientist, something or the other.
Years later, when I finally grew up, my dream came true. And it was while I was doing my Ph.D. on the neurological
causes of dyslexia in children that I encountered a startling fact that I'd like to share with you all today. It is estimated
that one in six children, that's one in six children, suffer from some developmental disorder. This is a disorder that
retards mental development in the child and causes permanent mental impairments. Which means that each and every
one of you here today knows at least one child that is suffering from a developmental disorder.
But here's what really perplexed me. Despite the fact that each and every one of these disorders originates in the brain,
most of these disorders are diagnosed solely on the basis of observable behavior. But diagnosing a brain disorder
without actually looking at the brain is analogous to treating a patient with a heart problem based on their physical
symptoms, without even doing an ECG or a chest X-ray to look at the heart. It seemed so intuitive to me. To diagnose
and treat a brain disorder accurately, it would be necessary to look at the brain directly. Looking at behavior alone can
miss a vital piece of the puzzle and provide an incomplete, or even a misleading, picture of the child's problems. Yet,
despite all the advances in medical technology, the diagnosis of brain disorders in one in six children still remained
so limited.
And then I came across a team at Harvard University that had taken one such advanced medical technology and finally
applied it, instead of in brain research, towards diagnosing brain disorders in children. Their groundbreaking
technology records the EEG, or the electrical activity of the brain, in real time, allowing us to watch the brain as it
performs various functions and then detect even the slightest abnormality in any of these functions: vision, attention,
language, audition. A program called Brain Electrical Activity Mapping then triangulates the source of that
abnormality in the brain. And another program called Statistical Probability Mapping then performs mathematical
calculations to determine whether any of these abnormalities are clinically significant, allowing us to provide a much
more accurate neurological diagnosis of the child's symptoms. And so I became the head of neurophysiology for the
clinical arm of this team, and we're finally able to use this technology towards actually helping children with brain
disorders. And I'm happy to say that I'm now in the process of setting up this technology here in India.
Second segment
I'd like to tell you about one such child, whose story was also covered by ABC News. Seven-year-old Justin Senigar
came to our clinic with this diagnosis of very severe autism. Like many autistic children, his mind was locked inside
his body. There were moments when he would actually space out for seconds at a time. And the doctors told his parent
she was never going to be able to communicate or interact socially, and he would probably never have too much
language.
When we used this groundbreaking EEG technology to actually look at Justin's brain, the results were startling. It
turned out that Justin was almost certainly not autistic. He was suffering from brain seizures that were impossible to
see with the naked eye, but that were actually causing symptoms that mimicked those of autism. After Justin was

87
given anti-seizure medication, the change in him was amazing. Within a period of 60 days, his vocabulary went from
two to three words to 300 words. And his communication and social interaction were improved so dramatically that
he was enrolled into a regular school and even became a karate super champ.
Research shows that 50 percent of children, almost 50 percent of children diagnosed with autism are actually suffering
from hidden brain seizures. These are the faces of the children that I have tested with stories just like Justin. All these
children came to our clinic with a diagnosis of autism, attention deficit disorder, mental retardation, language
problems. Instead, our EEG scans revealed very specific problems hidden within their brains that couldn't possibly
have been detected by their behavioral assessments. So these EEG scans enabled us to provide these children with a
much more accurate neurological diagnosis and much more targeted treatment.
For too long now, children with developmental disorders have suffered from misdiagnosis while their real problems
have gone undetected and left to worsen. And for too long, these children and their parents have suffered undue
frustration and desperation. But we are now in a new era of neuroscience, one in which we can finally look directly at
brain function in real time with no risks and no side effects, non-invasively, and find the true source of so many
disabilities in children.
So if I could inspire even a fraction of you in the audience today to share this pioneering diagnostic approach with
even one parent whose child is suffering from a developmental disorder, then perhaps one more puzzle in one more
brain will be solved. One more mind will be unlocked. And one more child who has been misdiagnosed or even
undiagnosed by the system will finally realize his or her true potential while there's still time for his or her brain to
recover. And all this by simply watching the child's brainwaves.
Thank you.

Vocabulary activity. KEY

The brain
o the powerhouse of the human body - the seat of human consciousness
o a brain doctor
o brain research
o The brain performs several functions
Mental disorders
o To suffer from a mental disorder
o A mental disorder originates in the brain
o A disorder is diagnosed on the basis of (observable behavior)
o A developmental disorder
o A mental disorder
o A mental impairment
o disability, dysfunction, abnormality, impairment
Diagnosis / diagnosing / treatment
o an incomplete and misleading picture of X
o A diagnosis of severe autism
o A misdiagnosis
o (The real problems) have gone undetected
o The EEG scan allows doctors to provide a more accurate neurological diagnosis and a more targeted
treatment
o After treatment, social communication skills can improve dramatically
o (A problem that) cannot be detected with the naked eye
o to be misdiagnosed or to be undiagnosed
o The EEG scan allows to look at the brain functions in real time with no risks, no side-effects, non-
invasively.
o To find the source of many disabilities
Research and technology
o A research team
o When doctors are worried because they cannot understand the sources of a problem, they are perplexed
or puzzled by the situation
o To belong to the clinical arm of the research team
o Facts and research results can be startling
o advanced technology - groundbreaking technology
o Advances in medical technology
o a pioneering (diagnostic) approach is an approach that introduces a new method or is original
o a new era of neuroscience

Video: Alanna Shaikh: How I'm preparing to get Alzheimer's

[Link]
I'd like to talk about my dad. My dad has Alzheimer's disease. He started showing the symptoms about 12 years ago,
and he was officially diagnosed in 2005. Now he's really pretty sick. He needs help eating, he needs help getting

88
dressed, he doesn't really know where he is or when it is, and it's been really, really hard. My dad was my hero and
my mentor for most of my life, and I've spent the last decade watching him disappear.
My dad's not alone. There's about 35 million people globally living with some kind of dementia, and by 2030 they're
expecting that to double to 70 million. That's a lot of people Dementia scares us. The confused faces and shaky hands
of people who have dementia, the big numbers of people who get it, they frighten us. And because of that fear, we
tend to do one of two things: We go into denial: "It's not me, it has nothing to do with me, it's never going to happen
to me." Or, we decide that we're going to prevent dementia, and it will never happen to us because we're going to do
everything right and it won't come and get us. I'm looking for a third way: I'm preparing to get Alzheimer's disease.
Prevention is good, and I'm doing the things that you can do to prevent Alzheimer's. I'm eating right, I'm exercising
every day, I'm keeping my mind active, that's what the research says you should do. But the research also shows that
there's nothing that will 100 percent protect you. If the monster wants you, the monster's gonna get you. That's what
happened with my dad. My dad was a bilingual college professor. His hobbies were chess, bridge and writing op-eds.
(Laughter) He got dementia anyway. If the monster wants you, the monster's gonna get you. Especially if you're me,
'cause Alzheimer's tends to run in families. So I'm preparing to get Alzheimer's disease.
Based on what I've learned from taking care of my father, and researching what it's like to live with dementia, I'm
focusing on three things in my preparation: I'm changing what I do for fun, I'm working to build my physical strength,
and -- this is the hard one -- I'm trying to become a better person. Let's start with the hobbies. When you get dementia,
it gets harder and harder to enjoy yourself. You can't sit and have long talks with your old friends, because you don't
know who they are. It's confusing to watch television, and often very frightening. And reading is just about impossible.
When you care for someone with dementia, and you get training, they train you to engage them in activities that are
familiar, hands-on, open-ended. With my dad, that turned out to be letting him fill out forms. He was a college
professor at a state school; he knows what paperwork looks like. He'll sign his name on every line, he'll check all the
boxes, he'll put numbers in where he thinks there should be numbers. But it got me thinking, what would my caregivers
do with me? I'm my father's daughter. I read, I write, I think about global health a lot. Would they give me academic
journals so I could scribble in the margins? Would they give me charts and graphs that I could color? So I've been
trying to learn to do things that are hands-on. I've always liked to draw, so I'm doing it more even though I'm really
very bad at it. I am learning some basic origami. I can make a really great box. (Laughter) And I'm teaching myself
to knit, which so far I can knit a blob.
But, you know, it doesn't matter if I'm actually good at it. What matters is that my hands know how to do it. Because
the more things that are familiar, the more things my hands know how to do, the more things that I can be happy and
busy doing when my brain's not running the show anymore. They say that people who are engaged in activities are
happier, easier for their caregivers to look after, and it may even slow the progress of the disease. That all seems like
win to me. I want to be as happy as I can for as long as I can. A lot of people don't know that Alzheimer's actually has
physical symptoms, as well as cognitive symptoms. You lose your sense of balance, you get muscle tremors, and that
tends to lead people to being less and less mobile. They get scared to walk around. They get scared to move. So I'm
doing activities that will build my sense of balance. I'm doing yoga and tai chi to improve my balance, so that when I
start to lose it, I'll still be able to be mobile. I'm doing weight-bearing exercise, so that I have the muscle strength so
that when I start to wither, I have more time that I can still move around.
Finally, the third thing. I'm trying to become a better person. My dad was kind and loving before he had Alzheimer's,
and he's kind and loving now. I've seen him lose his intellect, his sense of humor, his language skills, but I've also
seen this: He loves me, he loves my sons, he loves my brother and my mom and his caregivers. And that love makes
us want to be around him, even now, even when it's so hard. When you take away everything that he ever learned in
this world, his naked heart still shines. I was never as kind as my dad, and I was never as loving. And what I need now
is to learn to be like that. I need a heart so pure that if it's stripped bare by dementia, it will survive.
I don't want to get Alzheimer's disease. What I want is a cure in the next 20 years, soon enough to protect me. But if
it comes for me, I'm going to be ready. Thank you.

Video: Michael Norton: How to buy happiness.

TED Talk: [Link]
So I want to talk today about money and happiness, which are two things that a lot of us spend a lot of our time
thinking about, either trying to earn them or trying to increase them. And a lot of us resonate with this phrase. So we
see it in religions and self-help books, that money can't buy happiness. And I want to suggest today that, in fact, that's
wrong. (Laughter) I'm at a business school, so that's what we do. So that's wrong, and, in fact, if you think that, you're
actually just not spending it right. So that instead of spending it the way you usually spend it, maybe if you spent it
differently, that might work a little bit better. And before I tell you the ways that you can spend it that will make you
happier, let's think about the ways we usually spend it that don't, in fact, make us happier. We had a little natural
experiment. So CNN, a little while ago, wrote this interesting article on what happens to people when they win the
lottery. It turns out people think when they win the lottery their lives are going to be amazing. This article's about how
their lives get ruined. So what happens when people win the lottery is, number one, they spend all the money and go
into debt, and number two, all of their friends and everyone they've ever met find them and bug them for money. And
it ruins their social relationships, in fact. So they have more debt and worse friendships than they had before they won
the lottery. What was interesting about the article was people started commenting on the article, readers of the thing.
And instead of talking about how it had made them realize that money doesn't lead to happiness, everyone instantly

89
started saying, "You know what I would do if I won the lottery ... ?" and fantasizing about what they'd do. And here's
just two of the ones we saw that are just really interesting to think about. One person wrote in, "When I win, I'm going
to buy my own little mountain and have a little house on top." (Laughter) And another person wrote, "I would fill a
big bathtub with money and get in the tub while smoking a big fat cigar and sipping a glass of champagne." This is
even worse now: "Then I'd have a picture taken and dozens of glossies made. Anyone begging for money or trying to
extort from me would receive a copy of the picture and nothing else." (Laughter) And so many of the comments were
exactly of this type, where people got money and, in fact, it made them antisocial. So I told you that it ruins people's
lives and that their friends bug them. It also, money often makes us feel very selfish and we do things only for
ourselves. Well maybe the reason that money doesn't make us happy is that we're always spending it on the wrong
things, and in particular, that we're always spending it on ourselves. And we thought, I wonder what would happen if
we made people spend more of their money on other people. So instead of being antisocial with your money, what if
you were a little more prosocial with your money? And we thought, let's make people do it and see what happens. So
let's have some people do what they usually do and spend money on themselves, and let's make some people give
money away, and measure their happiness and see if, in fact, they get happier. So the first way that we did this.
First study
On one Vancouver morning, we went out on the campus at University of British Columbia and we approached people
and said, "Do you want to be in an experiment?" They said, "Yes." We asked them how happy they were, and then
we gave them an envelope. And one of the envelopes had things in it that said, "By 5:00 pm today, spend this money
on yourself." So we gave some examples of what you could spend it on. Other people, in the morning, got a slip of
paper that said, "By 5:00 pm today, spend this money on somebody else." Also inside the envelope was money. And
we manipulated how much money we gave them. So some people got this slip of paper and five dollars. Some people
got this slip of paper and 20 dollars. We let them go about their day. They did whatever they wanted to do. We found
out that they did in fact spend it in the way that we asked them to. We called them up at night and asked them, "What'd
you spend it on, and how happy do you feel now?" What did they spend it on? Well these are college undergrads, so
a lot of what they spent it on for themselves were things like earrings and makeup. One woman said she bought a
stuffed animal for her niece. People gave money to homeless people. Huge effect here of Starbucks. (Laughter) So if
you give undergraduates five dollars, it looks like coffee to them and they run over to Starbucks and spend it as fast
as they can. But some people bought a coffee for themselves, the way they usually would, but other people said that
they bought a coffee for somebody else. So the very same purchase, just targeted toward yourself or targeted toward
somebody else. What did we find when we called them back at the end of the day? People who spent money on other
people got happier. People who spent money on themselves, nothing happened. It didn't make them less happy, it just
didn't do much for them. And the other thing we saw is the amount of money doesn't matter that much. So people
thought that 20 dollars would be way better than five dollars. In fact, it doesn't matter how much money you spent.
What really matters is that you spent it on somebody else rather than on yourself. We see this again and again when
we give people money to spend on other people instead of on themselves. Of course, these are undergraduates in
Canada -- not the world's most representative population. They're also fairly wealthy and affluent and all these other
sorts of things.
Second study
We wanted to see if this holds true everywhere in the world or just among wealthy countries. So we went, in fact, to
Uganda and ran a very similar experiment. So imagine, instead of just people in Canada, we said, "Name the last time
you spent money on yourself or other people. Describe it. How happy did it make you?" Or in Uganda, "Name the
last time you spent money on yourself or other people and describe that." And then we asked them how happy they
are again. And what we see is sort of amazing because there's human universals on what you do with your money and
then real cultural differences on what you do as well. So for example, one guy from Uganda says this. He said, "I
called a girl I wished to love." They basically went out on a date, and he says at the end that he didn't "achieve" her
up till now. Here's a guy from Canada. Very similar thing. "I took my girlfriend out for dinner. We went to a movie,
we left early, and then went back to her room for ... " only cake -- just a piece of cake. Human universal -- so you
spend money on other people, you're being nice to them. Maybe you have something in mind, maybe not. But then
we see extraordinary differences. So look at these two. This is a woman from Canada. We say, "Name a time you
spent money on somebody else." She says, "I bought a present for my mom. I drove to the mall in my car, bought a
present, gave it to my mom." Perfectly nice thing to do. It's good to get gifts for people that you know. Compare that
to this woman from Uganda. "I was walking and met a long-time friend whose son was sick with malaria. They had
no money, they went to a clinic and I gave her this money." This isn't $10,000, it's the local currency. So it's a very
small amount of money, in fact. But enormously different motivations here. This is a real medical need, literally a
life-saving donation. Above, it's just kind of, I bought a gift for my mother. What we see again though is that the
specific way that you spend on other people isn't nearly as important as the fact that you spend on other people in
order to make yourself happy, which is really quite important. So you don't have to do amazing things with your
money to make yourself happy. You can do small, trivial things and yet still get these benefits from doing this. These
are only two countries.
Third study
We also wanted to go even broader and look at every country in the world if we could to see what the relationship is
between money and happiness. We got data from the Gallup Organization, which you know from all the political polls
that have been happening lately. They ask people, "Did you donate money to charity recently?" and they ask them,

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"How happy are you with your life in general?" And we can see what the relationship is between those two things.
Are they positively correlated? Giving money makes you happy. Or are they negatively correlated? On this map, green
will mean they're positively correlated and red means they're negatively correlated. And you can see, the world is
crazily green. So in almost every country in the world where we have this data, people who give money to charity are
happier people that people who don't give money to charity. I know you're all looking at that red country in the middle.
I would be a jerk and not tell you what it is, but in fact, it's Central African Republic. You can make up stories. Maybe
it's different there for some reason or another. Just below that to the right is Rwanda though, which is amazingly green.
So almost everywhere we look we see that giving money away makes you happier than keeping it for yourself.
A follow-up study
What about your work life, which is where we spend all the rest of our time when we're not with the people we know.
We decided to infiltrate some companies and do a very similar thing. So these are sales teams in Belgium. They work
in teams; they go out and sell to doctors and try to get them to buy drugs. So we can look and see how well they sell
things as a function of being a member of a team. Some teams, we give people on the team some money for themselves
and say, "Spend it however you want on yourself," just like we did with the undergrads in Canada. But other teams
we say, "Here's 15 euro. Spend it on one of your teammates this week. Buy them something as a gift or a present and
give it to them. And then we can see, well now we've got teams that spend on themselves and we've got these prosocial
teams who we give money to make the team a little bit better. The reason I have a ridiculous pinata there is one of the
teams pooled their money and bought a pinata, and they all got around and smashed the pinata and all the candy fell
out and things like that. A very silly, trivial thing to do, but think of the difference on a team that didn't do that at all,
that got 15 euro, put it in their pocket, maybe bought themselves a coffee, or teams that had this prosocial experience
where they all bonded together to buy something and do a group activity. What we see is that, in fact, the teams that
are prosocial sell more stuff than the teams that only got money for themselves. And one way to think about it is for
every 15 euro you give people for themselves, they put it in their pocket, they don't do anything different than they
did before. You don't get any money from that. You actually lose money because it doesn't motivate them to perform
any better. But when you give them 15 euro to spend on their teammates, they do so much better on their teams that
you actually get a huge win on investing this kind of money. And I realize that you're probably thinking to yourselves,
this is all fine, but there's a context that's incredibly important for public policy and I can't imagine it would work
there. And basically that if he doesn't show me that it works here, I don't believe anything he said. And I know what
you're all thinking about are dodgeball teams. (Laughter) This was a huge criticism that we got to say, if you can't
show it with dodgeball teams, this is all stupid. So we went out and found these dodgeball teams and infiltrated them.
And we did the exact same thing as before. So some teams, we give people on the team money, they spend it on
themselves. Other teams, we give them money to spend on their dodgeball teammates. The teams that spend money
on themselves are just the same winning percentages as they were before. The teams that we give the money to spend
on each other, they become different teams and, in fact, they dominate the league by the time they're done. Across all
of these different contexts -- your personal life, you work life, even silly things like intramural sports -- we see
spending on other people has a bigger return for you than spending on yourself. And so I'll just say, I think if you
think money can't buy happiness you're not spending it right. The implication is not you should buy this product
instead of that product and that's the way to make yourself happier. It's in fact, that you should stop thinking about
which product to buy for yourself and try giving some of it to other people instead. And we luckily have an opportunity
for you. [Link] is a non-profit for mainly public school teachers in low-income schools. They post
projects, so they say, "I want to teach Huckleberry Finn to my class and we don't have the books," or "I want a
microscope to teach my students science and we don't have a microscope." You and I can go on and buy it for them.
The teacher writes you a thank you note. The kids write you a thank you note. Sometimes they send you pictures of
them using the microscope. It's an extraordinary thing. Go to the website and start yourself on the process of thinking,
again, less about "How can I spend money on myself?" and more about "If I've got five dollars or 15 dollars, what can
I do to benefit other people?" Because ultimately when you do that, you'll find that you'll benefit yourself much more.
Thank you. (Applause)

KEYS TO VOCABULARY ACTIVITIES

Unit 2

Activity 2
Algae: Euglenophyta
The Euglenophyta are free-swimming one-celled organisms of a wormlike shape; they lack cell walls and usually
have one or two flagella and a red, light-sensitive eye-spot. Most species are green but contain other pigments besides
chlorophyll. Some subsist both by photosynthesis and by ingesting other organisms. Because of their ambiguous form,
they have been claimed as animals by some zoologists and as plants by some botanists. Reproduction is by diploid
cell division following MITOSIS, in rare instances by sexual means. The best known and the most representative of
the phylum is EUGLENA, found in ponds and frequently studied in classrooms and laboratories. (The 1996 Grolier
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Multimedia Encyclopedia)

Activtiy 5
Biotechnology
Biotechnology, the manipulation of biological organisms to make products that benefit human beings. Biotechnology
contributes to such diverse areas as food production, waste disposal, mining, and medicine. Although biotechnology
has existed since ancient times, some of its most dramatic advances have come in more recent years. Modern
achievements include the transferal of a specific gene from one organism to another (by means of a set of genetic
engineering techniques known as transgenics); the maintenance and growth of genetically uniform plant- and animal-
cell cultures, called clones; and the fusing of different types of cells to produce beneficial medical products such as
monoclonal antibodies, which are designed to attack a specific type of foreign substance. ([Link]

Activtiy 6
Johnson level
This Johnson Level pitch and slope locator features easy-to-read increments from 0-90° printed on durable acrylic
lens. It is designed with a high impact molded body for improved durability, and a patented printed scale reads pitch
in inch rise per 12" run without conversion tables. ([Link])

Activtiy 7:
Global warming
Global warming is related to the more general phenomenon of climate change, which refers to changes in the totality
of attributes that define climate. In addition to changes in air temperature, climate change involves changes
to precipitation patterns, winds, ocean currents, and other measures of Earth’s climate. Normally, climate change can
be viewed as the combination of various natural forces occurring over diverse timescales. Since the advent of human
civilization, climate change has involved an “anthropogenic,” or exclusively human-caused, element, and this
anthropogenic element has become more important in the industrial period of the past two centuries. The term global
warming is used specifically to refer to any warming of near-surface air during the past two centuries that can be
traced to anthropogenic causes. ([Link])
Oil
Oil, any greasy substance that is liquid at room temperature and insoluble in water. It may be fixed, or nonvolatile,
oil; essential oil; or mineral oil (see petroleum).
Fixed oils and fats have the same chemical composition: they consist chiefly of glycerides, resulting from a reaction
between an alcohol called glycerol and certain members of a group of compounds known as fatty
acids. ([Link])

Unit 5

Activtiy 1:
Scientists discover key driver of human aging: May lead to slowing or reversing aging process
Salk Institute researchers discovered that a protein mutated in the premature aging disorder, Werner syndrome, plays
a key role in stabilizing heterochromatin, a tightly packaged form of DNA. More generally, the findings suggest that
heterochromatin disorganization may be a key driver of aging. […]
In the study, scientists at the Salk Institute and the Chinese Academy of Science found that the genetic mutations
underlying Werner syndrome, a disorder that leads to premature aging and death, resulted in the deterioration of
bundles of DNA known as heterochromatin. […]

"Our findings show that the gene mutation that causes Werner syndrome results in the disorganization of
heterochromatin, and that this disruption of normal DNA packaging is a key driver of aging," says Juan Carlos Izpisua
Belmonte, a senior author on the paper. […]
In their study, the Salk scientists sought to determine precisely how the mutated WRN protein causes so much cellular
mayhem. To do this, they created a cellular model of Werner syndrome by using a cutting-edge gene-editing
technology to delete WRN gene in human stem cells. This stem cell model of the disease gave the scientists the
unprecedented ability to study rapidly aging cells in the laboratory. The resulting cells mimicked the genetic mutation
seen in actual Werner syndrome patients, so the cells began to age more rapidly than normal. On closer examination,
the scientists found that the deletion of the WRN gene also led to disruptions to the structure of heterochromatin, the
tightly packed DNA found in a cell's nucleus. […]
The main finding of the study suggests that accumulated alterations in the structure of heterochromatin may be a major
underlying cause of cellular aging. […]
[Link]

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Unit 6

Activity 1:
March 15, 2006: NASA astronauts are going back to the moon and when they get there they may need quake-proof
housing. That's the surprising conclusion of Clive R. Neal, associate professor of civil engineering and geological
sciences at the University of Notre Dame after he and a team of 15 other planetary scientists reexamined Apollo data
from the 1970s. "The moon is seismically active," he told a gathering of scientists at NASA's Lunar Exploration
Analysis Group (LEAG) meeting in League City, Texas, last October.

Until the first successful Mars flyby in 1965 by Mariner 4, many experts speculated about the presence of liquid water
on the planet's surface. This was based on observed periodic variations in light and dark patches, particularly in the
polar latitudes, which appeared to be seas and continents; long, dark striations were interpreted by some as irrigation
channels for liquid water. These straight line features were later explained as optical illusions, though geological
evidence gathered by unmanned missions suggest that Mars once had large-scale water coverage on its surface.[19] In
2005, radar data revealed the presence of large quantities of water ice at the poles[20] and at mid-latitudes.

A recent systematic analysis of studies examining the effect of exercise on academic achievement revealed that
findings were almost exactly split between no effect and positive effects 86 with a distinct lack of negative effects. It
has been suggested that the variation in outcomes may arise from differences in research methods 73, but Rasberry et
al. found that the quality of studies did not appear to influence this basic finding. The authors conclude that substantial
evidence exists that physical activity can help improve academic achievement. Rasberry et al. point out the lack of
theoretical foundation for most studies, suggesting that further interventions should be informed by research across
disciplines, including neurobiology. (NASA science, Science news, [Link])

References
Dudley-Evans, T., & St John, M.J. (1998). Developments in English for Specific Purposes. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. (Introduction, pp. 1-19; Chapter 5: “Language issues in ESP”, pp. 74-
94).
Gillet, A. (2015). Using English For Academic Purposes. [Link]
McCarthy, M., & O’Dell, F. (2008). Academic vocabulary in use. Cambridge. Cambridge University
Press.
Zimmerman, F. (1989). English for Science. Prentice Hall Regents. New Jersey.

Sources for the selection of texts

Bailey, J. (2000). On the Nature of Moonquakes. The Physics Teacher, 38, 522-523.
BBC News (2010). Haiti earthquake: Day by day [Link]
Cadle, R. (1996). Environmental Pollution. The 1996 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia.
Cell. Britannica Encyclopedia 2017. Retrieved 21/08/2017 at [Link]
biology
Earthquake detection: Future technology. Available at [Link]
Genetics Generation (2015). Cloning. Retrieved 21/08/2017 at [Link]
Grainger. (2018). Professional Equipment. Retrieved 15/08/2017 at [Link]
Hunker (nd). How to prevent earthquake damage [Link]
[Link]
Japan Meteorological Agency (nd). What is an earthquake early warning?
[Link]
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2009. Biotechnology. Retrieved 02/08/2009 at
[Link]
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2009. Big Bang Theory. Retrieved 02/08/2008 at
[Link]
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2009. Environmental and Occupational Diseases. Retrieved
02/08/2009 at [Link]

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Science for a changing world. Significant earthquake archives. (Page last modified April 10, 2014).
Available at [Link]
Science News (2010). Recent earthquake activity is not unusual. (Page last modified September, 2016).
Available at
[Link]
[Link]
The Breast Cancer Organization. What is Breast Cancer? Retrieved 02/08/2009 at
[Link] last modified November 25, 2008.
What is Breast Cancer? (2013). G. Slowik (reviewer). (online) At [Link]
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Earthquake. Available at (Page last modified August 2016, at 21:02).
[Link]

Videos and audio

Aditi, Shankardass. A Second Look at Learning Disorders. TED Talk: Aditi Shankardass-TED
Alanna Shaikh. How I'm preparing to get Alzheimers´. TED Talk:
[Link]
Braava Jet (nd). Mopping robot. [Link]
Norton. Michael. How to buy happiness. TED Talk: [Link]
National Geographic. Earthquakes 101. Available at [Link]
videos/earthquake-101?source=searchvideo
Winarsky Talks About Siri. [Link]

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