Academic & Technical Writing Training

Program outline

Table of Contents
Academic & Technical Writing Training ............................................................................................................... 1
Notes ................................................................................................................................................................. 2
General document structure......................................................................................................................... 2
Writing an abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 3
Revising & proofreading ............................................................................................................................... 4
Style conventions & referencing ................................................................................................................... 5
Vocabulary & grammar ................................................................................................................................ 6
Research proposals ...................................................................................................................................... 7
Journal & conference papers ........................................................................................................................ 8
Exercises ............................................................................................................................................................ 9
Writing an abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 9
Research proposal ........................................................................................................................................ 9
Journal article .............................................................................................................................................. 9

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Academic & Technical Writing Training

The objective of this training is to improve general technical writing skill, as well as specific technical
writing document types. This program is suitable for intermediate English skill level trainees, and is
academically and technically oriented. Each session is two hours long, for a total program length of 20 hours.
Training Program Schedule
Session 1

Topic

Details

Hour 1

Foundation writing principles

Hour 2

Academic writing principles

Hour 3
Session 2

Document types 1
Topic

Document types 2

Hour 2

Document types 3

Hour 3

Document types 4

Style conventions & referencing

Vocabulary & grammar
Technical object & process description
Research proposals
Journal & conference papers

Details

Hour 1

General document structure & terms

Writing an academic abstract
Revising & proofreading

Experimental papers
Progress reports
Requests for proposals
Consulting/management reports
Literature reviews
Engineering design reports
Software technical writing manuals

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Notes
Use this section to take notes during the workshop.

General document structure

Use this table to take notes about document structure.
Document structure
Section
Title; acknowledgments

Abstract; summary

Glossary

Introduction

Context

Data

Analysis

Conclusion

Recommendations

Bibliography

Your notes

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Writing an abstract
Use this table to take notes about writing an abstract.
Writing an abstract
Topic

Purpose

Structure

Form & content

Common errors

Your notes

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Revising & proofreading

Use this table to take notes about revising and proofreading.
Revising & proofreading
Topic

How to read

Modifying your content

Modifying your style

Proofreading checklist

Your notes

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Style conventions & referencing

Use this table to take notes about style conventions and referencing.
Style conventions & referencing
Topic

Style conventions

Referencing conventions

SI units & abbreviations

Editorial conventions

Your notes

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Vocabulary & grammar

Use this table to take notes about vocabulary and grammar.
Vocabulary & grammar
Topic

Tense, voice, & mood

Efficient structures

Grammatical person

Common errors

Your notes

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Research proposals
Use this table to take notes about research proposals.
Research proposals
Topic

Type & subject

Structure

Content

Assessment criteria

Your notes

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Journal & conference papers

Use this table to take notes about journal and conference papers.
Journal & conference papers
Topic

Distinctive features

Structure

Content

Review process

Responding to rejection

Your notes

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Exercises
Use this section to complete exercises for homework; return them to Jon by email
(fortigurn@gmail.com).

Writing an abstract
Re-write the following abstract, and explain what is wrong with it.
Title of document: On-road monitoring of ambient carbon monoxide levels
Abstract
This study aims to measure the on-road spatial distribution of levels of carbon monoxide, a health
hazard known to be increasing in Middletown. Methods of measurement are discussed and the
difference between on-road and fixed-site data is analysed. The influence of temperature, wind speed
and humidity is considered. Conclusions as to the effectiveness of this method of carbon monoxide
monitoring are given, together with suggested recommendations for future air quality sampling
programmes.

Research proposal
Write a research proposal, using the information in the following table.
Research Proposal
Research topic

Funding body

Research duration

Funding required

Effects of passive smoking

A commercial company

Twelve months

NT$10,000/month

Journal article
Write a draft outline of a journal article (including an abstract). You do not have to write the entire
article, just the title, abstract and an outline of the articles structure and content.