Syllabus
(1) Course objectives (general)
To develop copy editing skills in a technical manuscript in terms of (a) translation errors made from Chinese to English and (b) general writing style errors.
To organize and write a research paper or work report in a time-efficient manner.
(2) Course objectives (specific)
How can I revise my own paper by eliminating general writing style and Chinese-English colloquial errors?
What is the relation between technical writing and project time?
How can I identify my reader's interests to make the paper more user friendly?
(3) Course texts
An Editing Workbook for Chinese
Technical Writers by Ted Knoy
Advanced Copyediting Practice for Chinese Technical
Writers by Ted Knoy
Writing Effective Work Proposals for Chinese Technical
Writers by Ted Knoy
(4) Course materials
- An English Style Approach for Chinese Technical Writers by Ted Knoy Revised edition
- Unit 1 summary
- Unit 2 summary
- Unit 3 summary
- Unit 4 summary
- Unit 5 summary
- Unit 6 summary
- Unit 7 summary
- Unit 8 summary
- Unit 9 summary
- Unit 10 summary
- Overcoming Chinese-English Habits in Writing" by Ted Knoy, The Internet TESL Journal (Japan), February 2000
- A Correspondence Manual for Chinese Technical Writers by Ted Knoy
- Technical
Correspondence: What Professionals Need to Learn by Ted Knoy,
The Internet TESL Journal (Japan), May 2000
- Editing for Conciseness and Clarity in an ESL Writing Class by Ted Knoy, The Chinese On-line Writing Lab, April 2000
- Increasing the Vocabulary Power of Chinese
Writers Through Contrastive Rhetoric by Ted Knoy, The Chinese
On-line Writing Lab, May 2000.
(4) Suggested readings
technical editing
- Substance&Style: Instruction and Practice in Copyediting by Mary Stoughton
- Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace by Joseph Williams
- Technical Editing by Lola Zook
curriculum text
- How to Write and Publish Engineering Papers and Reports by Herbert B. Michaelson Second Edition
- Technical Writing and Professional Communication for Nonnative Speakers of English by Thomas N. Huckin and Leslie A. Olsen International edition
- How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper by Robert A. Day Fourth edition
- The Scientist's Handbook for Writing Papers and Dissertations by Antoinette M. Wilkinson
- Handbook of Technical Writing by Charles T. Brusaw Fourth edition
- Technical Writing by John M. Lannon Sixth edition
- Effective Technical Communication by Anne Eisenberg
grammatical or style reference
- The Mc-Graw Hill Style Manual: A Concise Guide for Writers and Editors Edited by Marie M. Longyear
- A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate L. Turabin Fifth edition
for non-native speakers of English
- Writing Up Research: Experimental Research Report Writing for Students of English by Robert Weissberg and Suzanne Buker
- A Handbook for Technical Communication by Jacqueline K. Neufeld
- English Oral Presentations
for Chinese Technical Writers by Ted Knoy
- Principles and Techniques of English Oral Presentations: A Guidebook for Chinese Managerial and Technical Professionals by Chia-Jung Tsai
- Technical Contacts: Materials for developing listening and speaking skills for the student of technical English by Nick Brieger and Jeremy Comfort
- Learn to Listen; Listen to Learn: Advanced ESL/EFL Lecture Comprehension to Develop Note-taking Skills by Roni S. Lebauer
(5) Course homework
Written assignments will be sent for editing to the instructor via e-mail (tedaknoy@ms11.hinet.net) as an attached file in Microsoft Word format. The instructor will edit the files using the editing tool inside of the "Tools" box of Microsoft Word and, then, return the edited files to the student. During the final week of the course, the student will submit the final assignments on a 3.5 size diskette(Word format).
(6) Norms for class assignments
The instructor assesses the above assignments on the basis of the following norms:
| Structure | Each class assignment must be written according to the structure taught in class. |
| Style | Each class assignment must be written in clear and concise English, omitting any grammatical, general writing style, or Chinese colloquial errors. |
| Usability |
Each class assignment must not only have a particular audience in mind, but attempt to link the technical information with the particular reader's interest(s). |
(7) Attendance policy
出席率計算: 一次上課無故缺席扣二分, 三次上課無故缺席該科不及格
