Advanced Scientific English

Course code

DO405 (undergrad) / DO701 (postgrad), under the Department of Oceanography

Semesters taught

114-2 (offered every year in the second semester)

Course description

This course is designed for graduate students and students preparing to pursue graduate studies who wish to level up their scientific English skills. Students will learn to read and write with intent by adopting the perspectives of reviewers.

In the first part of the course, students will be trained to read research papers not only as readers, but also as reviewers. By learning what reviewers look for when preparing an evaluation report, students will learn to read more efficiently and critically.

In the second part of the course, students will apply this perspective to their own writing by developing a research proposal. They will revise their work through iterative, role-based feedback, alternating between the roles of author and reviewer to make their writing clear and easy to navigate for a potential reviewer.

Throughout the course, students will learn to use AI tools to support the processes of reading and writing, while maintaining control over their intent, rather than accepting everything from AI tools uncritically.

Prerequisite

This course is intended for students with at least upper-intermediate English proficiency.