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 the research paper in a time-efficient manner.

To prepare for publication by meeting the expectations of one of three audiences: journal editor or reviewer, academic committee, or industrial manager.

(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 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
  
• An Editing Workbook for Chinese Technical Writers by Ted Knoy
• 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.
• Advanced Copyediting Practice for Chinese Technical Writers by Ted Knoy
  　

(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:

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