Nucleus - General Science - Teacher's Manual [antikvár]

i Introduction to the Nucleus Series Aims Nucleus introduces the language learner to uses of English essential to scientific and technological communication. It is intended for students with some knowledge of general English, who need to reactivate this knowledge and apply it to the comprehension of written and spoken communication. Organisation The series consists of two parts, which deal with different levels of language skill and specialisation, and which follow parallel syllabuses so that they support each other: 1. Nucleus General Science is a core or foundation course which develops the language needed to express the basic concepts of science and technology. These include 'semi-technical' language which is shared by all disciplines. The emphasis is on motivating the learner, who is engaged actively in the uses of EngUsh relevant to his present or future studies or work. 2. Nucleus specific books deal both with semi-technical language and with the specialised language of the student's own subject. Each unit of a specific book uses the basic concepts and language of the equivalent unit in General Science as a starting-point. It develops these at a deeper, more specialised level, showing how the 'core' language is applied within the context of topics and language typical of the subject. The emphasis in the specific books is on reading and listening comprehension. Exercises in comprehension are preceded by active presentation exercises. Contents The language is organised under notional or conceptual headings - Properties, Location, Structure etc. These are aspects of the world which the scientist or technologist describes. They cover three main areas of thought and language as shown in the diagram. These basic ideas and the language which expresses them may be used by the scientist in a variety of different communicative ways : expressions of Structure, Function, Proportion etc are used both for straightforward description of objects and processes and for more specific language functions - generalising, exemplifying, qualifying observations, explaining, comparing, classifying, defining etc. General Science concentrates mainly on simple description but also applies the language to other uses. The specific books illustrate how the language and concepts are essential to the realisation of different language functions relevant to the subject.