Environmental Engineering

MICHELE CERCATO

The course is organized as a cycle of seminars related to different
topics of the Environmental Engineering, with the aim to both improve the
English language skills and to complete the environmental engineering
background.
The exam is organized as an oral presentation of a group work related to
one of the topics discussed in the seminars, with the aim to improve the
skills needed for giving a successful presentation of a technical work in
English language.

The course seeks to consolidate and improve the language abilities of the students using content which is exclusively technical and of an engineering nature( equivalent to level B 2 of the Common European Framework, CEFR). While the course shares some of the objectives of general English pre-intermediate to intermediate courses, it differentiates itself from such courses in the choice of special purpose reading and listening material and in the emphasis on the acquisition of language of particular relevance to the engineering student.
On completion of the course students should be capable of following Engineering courses taught through English, either in an Italian university where courses are taught in English, or on the Erasmus programme at a university abroad.

In particular, a critical awareness of Engineering genres and the linguistic features of these genres is emphasized. The exercise types chosen seek to heighten and develop this awareness, with particular attention given to how expositions are exemplified and ordered. The texts and audiovisual materials include a wide range of relevant and appropriate genres, including technical reports case studies, lectures and presentations. The source material is as published, with no editing or adjustment of the difficulty level. The course is designed to be interactive with a requirement for advance reading to enable students to participate more actively in classes.

Capacity to use the reading and listening skills acquired to understand and extract relevant information from technical texts and audio material.and the know-how to restae and present this information. An ability to understand the various genres of technical writing (product descriptions, technical expositions, technical instructions and their attendant linguistic characteristics.

Problem solving activitiess constitute an important part of the course. In particular there is a focus on describing products, processes, technical instructions with reference to diagrams, illustrations and video demonstrations with volume muted. Students compare and refine their solutions with other students or groups.

Students learn to summarise and describe the reading and listening materials they study in their own words, both orally and in writing. This entails interacting in pairs and in groups.

The course teaches students the specific linguistic characteristics of technical reading and listening materials. To this end it acquaints them with various Engineering genres, their distinctive structure, order, syntax and terminology. The skills acquired in doing the related exercises prepare students for independent self-study of Engineering course materials in English.

Not needed

This course, conducted entirely in English by Architect Tom Rankin (BA, Princeton, MArch
Harvard), introduces students to the problems of sustainable urban design and some of
the innovative (and traditional) opportunities and techniques to reduce the environmental
impact caused by urban development.

Not needed

Not needed

The course is organized as a cycle of seminars related to different topics of the Environmental Engineering, with the aim to both improve the English language skills and to complete the environmental engineering background.
The students will be divided into working groups, and each group will be assigned a topic, among those discussed during the seminars, to be further explored and discussed in a final oral presentation in English.

Not needed

The evaluation will be based on the degree of detail about the assigned topic and on the ability of arguing and discussing the topic in English.
According to the rules of the Study Programme, if an outstanding final mark is obtained, the student will be granted an additional mark that will be accounted for in the formulation of the graduation grade.

Drafting of a project proposal on the assigned topic, to be discussed with the working group