Script Tec Bec FS14.pdf

8/13/2019 Script Tec Bec FS14.pdf

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ENGLISH MODULE

WHERE TECH MEETS BECTechnology in Society & How to Pass the BEC

ScriptFS14

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ENGLISH MODULE TecBEC

Engl ish Module WHERE TECHNOLOGY MEETS BEC

Table of Contents

Course Introduction and Organisation

1 The History of Technology

2 The Global Workplace International Projects

3 Technology and Society Across the Globe

4 Building BEC Skills

5 Language Work

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Student Information WHERE TECHNOLOGY MEETS BEC

Module description

As seen in the module description on the HSR website, the goal of the course is to prepareyou for your future professional career. Please note that this is nota general English languagecourse. Even a high level of General English will notenable you to pass this module withoutparticipating fully in the course. Whatever your level of general English is, you will now learn anew range of technical vocabulary, skills and know-how that are required to communicatesuccessfully in an English-speaking engineering environment.

Work load

Regular class attendance is required. The final test will be based on the script. Apart fromclass attendance, you are required to do 64 hours of self-study, according to the ECTSsystem. (30 hours work for an average student per credit, times 4, minus classroom hours(14X4=56) equalling 64 hours).

The following tasks are required in order to receive the testat:

One writing task to be done in class

One group presentation, including a feedback task on another team presentation.

Exam access will be denied to students who fail to fulfil any one of these tasks, as stated inthe exam regulations in the module description.

Self-study

You will be required to read and analyse the book Mindset by Carol Dweck.

Marks

The presentationand feedback task will carry 30%of the mark.The written examination after the end of term will carry 70%of the mark.

Exam content

The presentation will have to be held according to specific guidelines. Failure to comply withthese will result in a mark below 4. Your teacher will inform you in due course about the topiccontent and the guidelines.

The written examination will be based on the material in the script. You will be expected towrite a text from a range of text types taught in class. A significant part of the exam will bebased on your self-study reading of Mindset by Carol Dweck.

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English Module WHERE TECHNOLOGY MEETS BEC

Weekly Course Plan FS14

Week Topic Language Work Mindset1 Course Introduction

BEC overviewText History of Automation

Gerunds & InfinitivesBEC practice

2 Short History of Tall BuildingsPresentation input

Phrasal VerbsBEC Text Types

3 Taking Part in International ProjectsSteve Jobs Stanford SpeechIntercultural Issues

Phrasals with getBEC practice Chap. 1

4 International ProjectsBirds Nest Case Studies

Report writingBEC practice

Chap. 2

5 A Short History of Silicon ValleySecret History of Silicon Valley

Adverbial ClausesBEC practice

Chap. 3

6 Panel DiscussionsCyber Trash

Participle ClausesBEC practice

Chap. 4

7 Century of Resource Wars Sentence Conversion

BEC practice

Chap. 5

8 TED Talks Hans Rosling onStatistics & Poverty

Charts & GraphsBEC practice

Chap. 6

9 Petronas UniversitySchool in Rudrapur

Error CorrectionBEC practice

Chap. 7

10 Presentation group work BEC practice Chap. 8

11-13 Presentations

14 Mock Exam / Course Evaluation

Testat: Group presentation on an aspect of the history of technologyWriting task from BEC Higher (week 4)

Self Study: Mindset by Carol Dweck

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1 THE HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY

1.1 The Checkered History of Automation

ByKyle Sherer,2008

"If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker attributed to Albert Einstein afterthe bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. One law of science that has forever remainedunchanged is the law of unintended consequences. When an idea is born its full range ofrepercussions is completely unpredictable, and the history of technology is littered withfascinating examples of how one breakthrough can spawn something totally unexpected. Inthe hands of others, some do lead to tragedy, but more often than not we profit fromtechnology's unexpected boons. This article follows some of these strange tangents to

discover how an 18th century chess playing machine, a French duck, and a 1930 robot arelinked to the development of the computer, automobile, telephone and even space exploration.

Kempelens wager: From a magic trick to the PC

In 1769, Hungarian inventor Wolfgang von Kempelen saw a magic show in Vienna. Themagician relied on tricks involving magnetism, which held no mystique for the well-educatedKempelen. Kempelen proclaimed that he could create a more compelling spectacle andwithin six months, no less.

During its almost 100 year lifespan, Kempelens creation would come to be known as the Turk,but when he created it, Kempelen called it the Automaton Chess Player. It resembled a robed

Turkish man sitting at a table in front of a chessboard, smoking a pipe, one movable armextended over the board, ready to play. The display could be swivelled, and various panelscould be slid open to reveal impressive looking machinery. The device, like its creator, showeda sophisticated understanding of both science and showmanship, combining an intricatearrangement of clockwork and magnets with the age-old magicians principle of cramming asmall person into a box.

In crafting the machine, Kempelen also demonstrated a profound understanding of the publicmood. In the wake of the Renaissance, programmable clockwork contraptions, previouslyconsidered mainly as toys or distractions, had been infused with a new level of philosophicalsignificance. Rene Descartes popularized the notion that organisms were simply a highlysophisticated form of automata and therefore it was a short stretch for the public to imagine

that a highly sophisticated automaton could possess human qualities. When Kempelenannounced that his mechanical man could beat any person at chess, he was capitalizing onthe perceptions of an audience living at the cusp of the Industrial revolution, who fullyexpected a future filled with technological marvels beyond their understanding.

The Turk was celebrated in Vienna, and would go on to play Ben Franklin and Napoleon.While some believed Kempelens story, the consensus among the more educated was that itwas indeed a trickbut a damn clever one. In particular, it caught the imagination of CharlesBabbage, the English engineer who was, at the time, contemplating the possibility ofmechanical calculation. Babbage played two games against the Turk in 1821. The followingyear, Babbage began working on the Difference Engine, an eight-foot tall, fifteen-ton calculatorthat was never completed, but contained many of the core concepts of modern computing. He

followed it up with designs for an Analytical Engine, which used punch cards, and inspired AdaLovelace to write the first computer program. Charles Babbage died in 1871, roughly a century

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after the Turks first appearance, and more than a century before IBM's Deep Blue defeatedworld champion Garry Kasparov.

Canard Digrateur: from duck droppings to the camshafts

Over 200 years before the Internet, the citizens of Europe were transfixed by a very differentseries of tubes. In 1739, Jacques de Vaucanson, creator of automata, was exhibiting a see-through mechanical duck with feathers of gilded copper, which "copied from Nature" an entiredigestive system, made from intricately arranged miniature pipes. In addition to eating andexcreting food, the duck could play in the water with his bill, gurgle and quack, rise up andsit down, articulate its wings and feathers, and stretch its neck.

While Wolfgang von Kempelen used the Turk to deceive and delight audiences around theworld, Jacques de Vaucanson was using automata as educational aids. He, like other post-Renaissance engineers, was obsessed with manufacturing simulations of life that includedclockwork counterparts for every biological function. In addition to correctly proportionedmoving limbs, the devices would often include circulation systems constructed from rubber,and organs fashioned from leather, cork, and papier-mache.

Vaucansons duck was the first device to use India rubber, now used in tires, tubes, gloves,and countless other items. The duck also made use of a technology that had been pivotal tothe emergence of the first programmable automatons camshafts. A cam resembles a wheelwith a bump, which strikes a lever as it rotates, providing devices with precise and regularmotion. Contraptions like Vaucansons duck placed cams in the limelight, and they weresubsequently incorporated into designs for a wide variety of proposed machinery, includingearly internal combustion engines.

Mr. Televox

In 1926, Westinghouse Electric, a company eagerly pursuing a variety of emergingtechnologies, including the recently named field of robotics, created the first robot, Mr.Televox, a cardboard cut-out of a humanoid figure which was connected to various devices viaphone lines, and allowed users to turn equipment off and on using voice commands. Televoxwas followed by Rastus, who was described as a mechanical slave who could performvarious duties at the sound of his masters voice with a quiet, astonishing efficiency. The mostfamous robot Westinghouse created was Elektro. On debut at the 1939 New York Worlds Fairthe seven-foot, 265 pound golden giant walked, talked, and smoked cigarettes. Elektro wasbuilt in secrecy, and when it was unveiled it seemed to be an artefact from the future however the robot, and many other 20th century emerging tech, had links to the work of

Kempelen and Vaucanson.

While the Turk was von Kempelens most famous creation, the majority of his life was devotedto a far less glamorous project called Kempelens Speaking Machine. This machine was anattempt to artificially recreate the human vocal tract, using bellows to force air through a fakemouth, initially made from the bell of a clarinet and finally fashioned from India rubber.Kempelens idea was resurrected twice after his death, the second time by a young AlexanderGraham Bell, whose fixation on elocution would eventually lead him to contribute to theinvention of the telephone. Following the invention of the telephone, Edison was motivated tocreate a device that could play back sounds over the new system, and invented thephonograph, a more advanced version of which would eventually give Elektro its boomingvoice.

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Elektro was a publicity stunt for Westinghouse, and it worked, attracting people from all overthe world and generating big dollars. Like the Turk, it captured a surging public sentiment that

the future would contain technological marvels.

While Westinghouses promise that robots would assume housekeeping responsibilities andentertain children was not entirely sincere, it was eventually, partially, proven accurate. Over2.5 million models of Roomba, the robotic vacuum cleaner, have been sold since 2002 androbotics has exploded in the consumer and military markets. Even the probes NASA issending to explore other planets are, in many ways, descended from Elektro. Thesetechnologies are the kind of magic that Wolfgang von Kempelen would definitely appreciate.

Adapted fromhttp://www.gizmag.com/history-of-automation-the-turk/10331/

Read the text and answer the follow ing questions:

1. What is the background of the alleged Einstein quote?

2. How did the Turk work?

3. What was the public reaction to the Turk?

4. What was Jacques de Vaucansons main ambition concerning automata?

5. What was the difference between the Turk and Vaucansons duck?

6. What pivotal technology was used in the duck?

7. What connection was made between man and automata in the 18thcentury?

8. Von Kempelens contemporaries expected a future filled with technological marvelsbeyond their understanding and in 1939, Elektro captured a surging public sentimentthat the future would contain technological marvels. Is this sentiment still prevalent intodays society?

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1.2 A Short History of Tall Buildings BBC Alan Yentob

Short History of Tall Buildi ngs Part 1

As you watch, try to answer the questions below. After watching the documentary, try to fill inthe missing answers in pairs or small groups.

1. State what reasons there were in the past for making tall buildings

2. What was the tallest building for over 4,000 years?

3. What was the end of that?

4. What is the current fascination with tall buildings?

5. Where does the story of the skyscraper start?

6. How did PT Barnum attract crowds?

7. Who was his partner at the New York world fair of 1853?

8. What was it they did together?

9. How did this change the modern city?

10. Why were the twin towers chosen for the terrorist attack?

11. Where was the first home of the skyscraper?

12. How many towers were there originally?

13. What is it sometimes called?

14. Who built the towers and why?

15. What strategy did the families come up with to beat the councils planning laws?

16. What do towers symbolize?

17. Which other city can lay claim to being the birth place of the skyscraper?

18. What does a landmark do?

19. What was the skyscraper an expression of?

20. What else apart from the lift allowed the construction of high-rise buildings?

21. What did William Ellery Hale do with the Reliance Building?

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22. What does the flatiron building in New York (also built by the architect Burnham)

illustrate?

23. A skyscraper is a device to do what, according to Carol Willis?

24. What influenced New York skyscraper architecture?

When youve found all the answers, discuss your attitude to skyscrapers today. For instance,what do you think of the Prime Tower in Zrich?

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A Short His tory of Tall Bui ldings BBC Alan Yentob



1. How did Woolworth pay for his building? And how much?

2. In which style was it built, and what was it a cathedral of?

3. The gargoyles inside the building show what three images?

4. How long did it take to build?

5. What material were all the green areas at the top covered in?

6. What problem was caused by the skyscrapers and how did the city respond?

7. Who was the man who helped imagine the volumes of each plot of land?

8. How is the Wrigley building described?

9. And how is the Chicago Tribune Tower described?

10. Which influence does the critic find?

11. How many projects were handed in for the Tribune Tower competition?

12. What is architecture about, in these projects?

13. How was Le Corbusiers vision welcomed in the USA?

14. What was the idea behind the Chrysler building?

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15. What decorates the building?

16. What competition was there between the Chrysler and the Bank of Manhattanbuilding?

17. When was the climax reached for the race to be tallest?

18. What was the final height of the Chrysler building?

19. What happened 1 day after the Chrysler building was completed?

20. How long did the Chrysler building remain tallest?

21. How is the Empire State Building described?

22. Which car company was behind the investment for the Empire State?

23. How many floors a day did it grow by, and how long did it take to complete?

24. Which nickname was given to it?

When youve found all the answers, discuss advantages and disadvantages of skyscrapers

from the point of view of users and society. Discuss also possible usages of skyscrapers.

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1. What is special about the design of the Rockefeller Center?

2. What did Le Corbusier think about New York?

3. How did his vision of the perfect city differ?

4. Who funded Lever House?

5. What does its shape remind the presenter of?

6. What does the Lever House offer to the citizens of New York? How was that possible?

7. Who designed the Seagram House?

8. Seagram House is the first skyscraper to offer what?

9. Who was most influential for skyscraper design in the second half of the century?

10. What does the critic say about this influence?

11. Where is this architects work represented best?

12. What is the British experience of the high-rise building?

13. How was the high-rise building constructed in Britain?

14. Who was the inspiration behind the tower in the park?

15. Why was there space to build high-rise buildings in British cities?

16. How does the planner Peter Hall explain the willingness to build Le Corbusier stylehabitation?

17. How does he describe Le Corbusiers habitation?

18. What motivated the LCC (London County Council) architects?

19. Who inspired the LCC architects? Which example of their architecture is shown?

20. What was the next stage in providing more habitation? What changes were made?

21. Why was there such a rush to build more housing?

22. Who profited from this rush?

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23. Who had a bigger influence than Christopher Wren on the London Skyline?

24. What construction type was Ronan Point?

25. What do the construction workers say about how they put the prefab panels together?

26. What other flaws do the high-rise buildings have?

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1. How does Goldfingers Trellick high-rise building respond to the environment?

2. How does Peter Hall describe the style?

3. Which problems are caused by the building?

4. Which problems does the resident Lee Boland describe?

5. For what purpose was it designed?

6. Why did the structural engineer Freshman want to design the vertical city?

7. How tall was his tower?

8. What did the architect Frank Lloyd Wright propose?

9. How does the Hancock Tower in Chicago deal with wind forces?

10. What allowed the construction of higher buildings?

11. What sometimes happens in meetings at the top of Sears tower?

12. Why are there revolving doors at the entrance to tall buildings? What is the effect called?

13. Which design ideas are behind Norman Fosters Swiss Re/Gherkin tower in London?

14. Which two architectural types are combined?

15. How does the architect Renzo Piano defend The Shard? And how tall is it?

16. How does the architecture critic Jonathan Glancey describe Canary Wharf?

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Short History of Tall Buil dings Part 5 Hong Kong


1. What is the most expensive piece of real estate?

2. Where is the busiest border in the world?

3. Whats the size of Shenzhen? How fast was it built?

4. How has Hong Kong changed from the 19thcentury to today?

5. Why are there so many tall buildings in Hong Kong?

6. Where did the land for modern Hong Kong come from?

7. Who built the modern headquarter of the HSBC? What does HSBC stand for?

8. What principles did the architect want to express? What architectural features express this?

9. How did the Bank of China respond? Who built its headquarter? What is he famous for?

10. Why does the building have bad Feng Shui?

11. What does the building point at?

12. Where do most of the millionaires live?

13. How does the property developer describe his project?

14. How big will BelAir be?

15. How many people live in social housing?

16. Whats the density of people? (By comparison to Paris)

17. How did the living conditions change for the people from the 1920s to today?

18. What do the Filipino domestic workers do on Sunday?

19. Hong Kong is a city going halfway where?

20. What reason does the architect give for the external lighting?

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1.3 Steve Jobs: Stanford Commencement Speech, 2005

Listen to his speech and give short answers to the questions below:

What is his first story about?

What happened to Steve Jobs after his birth?

What kind of parents did his biological mother want for him?

What background did his (adopted) parents have?

Why did he drop out of college?

How did he feel about dropping out?

How did he choose his courses after dropping out?

What did he learn in calligraphy classes?

What does he mean when he talks about connecting dots?

Why can you not connect dots when you are young?

What is his second story about?

Why did he lose his job at Apple?

How did he react to being fired?

What did he learn in terms of work?

What is his third story about?

What is the core message of his third story?

What is the final lesson of The Whole Earth Catalog?

Acti vi ty

What do you think of Steve Jobs presenting skills? Do you agree with his speech? Are thereparts you dont find convincing?

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1.4 391 San Antonio Road: A Short History of Silicon Valley

Watch the documentary and answer the questions below:

1) What was Arnold Beckmans role in founding Shockley Labs?

2) Why was Shockley Labs located in 391 San Antonio Road, Palo Alto?

3) Why did these young, bright scientists move out to California?

4) What did they criticize in Shockleys management style?

5) What was the problem with Shockleys project of building a four-layer diode?

6) Why did Shockley hire detectives in his own company?

7) What happened at the meeting with Shockley and Beckman in 1957?

8) Why did Arnold Beckman support Shockley, and not the young scientists?

9) What did the young scientists decide to do?

10) Who was their leader, and which company did he found later?

11) Which venture capitalist invested in Fairchild?

12) Which world event helped the group make their semiconductors?

13) What do the scientists think about at the end?

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1. 5 Steve Blanks Secret History of Silicon Valley

After 21 years of working in 8 high technology companies, Steve Blank retired in 1999. Hethen wrote a book about building new companies calledFour Steps to the Epiphany.Hemoved from being an entrepreneur to teaching entrepreneurship to both undergraduate andgraduate students at U.C. Berkeley, Stanford University and the Columbia University/BerkeleyJoint Executive MBA program.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo

Watch the video and give short answers to the following questions:

1. What does he try to show in the introduction (1stslide)?

2. When and why did the United States join World War 2 (WW2)?

3. What were the three functions of the Kammhuber line (Germain air defence system)?

4. What did the Allied Forces do to find out more about the German systems?

5. How did the Allied Forces shut down the German air defence system in the raid onHamburg?

6. What does this talk about WW2 have to do with Silicon Valley?

7. What is Fredrick Termans public claim to fame?

8. How did the relationship between the army and universities change after WW2?

9. What was Termans intention for Stanford University after WW2?

10. What did he manage to do with Stanford by 1950?

11. What kind of a war was the cold war?

12. When did Silicon Valley start to blossom? And how?

13. What was the 1stengine of progress for Silicon Valley in the 50s and 60s?

14. What was William Shockleys background? What is he famous for?

15. What is William Shockleys legacy?

16. What is Silicon Valleys 2ndengine of progress?

17. How did the financing of Silicon Valley change over the years?

18. What does VC stand for?

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2 THE GLOBAL WORKPLACE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS

2.1 Project Management

From plan to product

Projects have three important characteristics : a clearly defined objective, uncertainty, andcomplexity. Large projects, such as building a long tunnel or launching a new product, requirea wide range of technical and administrative skills and a large number of people. However,even smaller-scaleprojects within companies require careful planning.

Project management skills are becoming increasingly important for managers at all levels whoneed to bring together teams of people to create new products or to improve existing systems.

With increasing globalisation, there are more cross-borderprojects, which often demand aknowledge of several languages and cultures.

Project management (PM) is the coordination of a number of activities within a specified timeperiod to reach an established objective. Good project management means that the projectfinishes on time and within budget, and that the results meet the required standard of quality.

Each project goes through a life cycle which generally has four phases. The first phase is theproject definition, in which the scopeof the project and the needs of the customer arediscussed and agreed upon. If this phase is forgotten or not completed correctly, it can causeproblems later in the cycle.

The second phase is the process of planning the project and developing a realistic schedule

with verifiablemilestones. This schedule should allow for any resource constraintsas wellas possible pitfallsand delays. Popular tools for this planning phase are Gantt charts andsoftware such as Microsoft Project.

Phase three is the executionphase, in which the actual work is done. This is often the longestphase and requires all the skills of the project manager. Finally, the fourth stage is the projectclosure, when everything is completed and handed over to the customer for approval. Then itis common to evaluate how well the project has been managed and to make changes in theprocess where necessary.

It is the job of project managers to make sure these phases are completed as planned and tokeep everyone informed. Project managers must also be flexible enough to react when

something unexpected happens.

A. Discuss the expressions in bold with a partner and translate them into your

mother tongue.

B. What are the three typical features of a project?

C. Why is globalisation mentioned in the context of project management?

D. What are the goals of successful project management?

E. What are the four stages of each project?

F. What potentially negative factors does a project plan have to take into account?

G. What is commonly done after a project is fin ished and handed over to the

customer?

Adapted from: Business Spotlight, 6/200620


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ENGLISH MODULE 4 / TecBEC

2.2 Cultural Awareness The World Is a Big Place

A. Read the fo llowing text.

Diversity and to leranceHere is a question: Do you think that Americans are more outgoing and informal while Brits aremore private and reserved?We feel instinctively that there is some truth in this. However, having made a generalization,our next reaction is usually: But wait, that's a stereotype, and anyway it depends on so manyother things: age, ethnic group, regional differences, not to mention the individual person.Everyone will have their own views. The point is simply this: to recognize that the way we thinkand behave is not the only way. When dealing with people from other cultures, and especiallywhen actually doing business in another country, we need to observe and listen and showrespect. That doesn't mean we have to abandon our normal way of doing things we are also

entitled to respect and tolerance from others, and we cannot just change our personalities. Butif we want to have successful friendships and business relationships in an internationalcontext, then we have to understand and accept the differences.

National dif ferencesWriters in the field of cross-cultural awareness look for opposing behaviours (or values) andthen place different cultures at different points along the scale. Here is a simplified version ofsome well-known cultural differences; many are closely related. Notice how the descriptionsare all neutral. There are no positive or negative connotations.

outgoing I informal (share feelings easily with a wide circle of acquaintances) vs privateI reserved(share feelings with care, and only with close friends and family)

live to work(status comes through professional achievement) vs work to live(living afull, rounded, stress-free life is more important than just having money)

order (the rules are the rules - society suffers if you break them) vs flexibility(sometimes we can ignore rules - the context, your conscience and friends are moreimportant)

hierarchical (we need clear direction from above to do our jobs properly) vs democratic(power should be distributed- everyone's opinion is important)

loose time (deadlines are guidelines) vs strict time (delay is failure)

formality in names (using Mr X, Doctor X, Professor X when speaking directly tosomeone) vs informality in names (moving quickly to first names, even for your boss)

expressive body language (people wave their arms, move chairs around freely inmeetings, look each other in the eye) vs restrained body language (small, subtle facial

expressions carry large meanings, physical contact in public or long eye contact isuncomfortable)

large personal space (people stand at a distance when talking) vs close personalspace (people stand near to each other)

self-determination (we make free choices and control our lives) vs fatalistic (our livesare determined by god or destiny or the government)

personal fulfilment (individual initiative and achievement are valued) vs group fulfilment(group harmony is valued- Who needs initiative when duties are fixed by tradition,leaders or team needs?)

merit (respect is given to those who have earned it) vs standing (respect is given tothose with the right age I social class/ rank)

relationship (if we can get along well, we can do a good job) vs task (if we can do agood job together, we might get closer as people)

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ENGLISH MODULE 4 / TecBEC

welcoming risk ('go for it!') vs avoiding risk ('better safe than sorry')

innovative (new is exciting and always best) vs traditional ('if it isn't broken, why fix it?')

open disagreement (competition between ideas is necessary to make the bestdecision) vs subtle disagreement (no-one must lose 'face' by being proved wrong inpublic, and consensus must be built slowly, so disagreement is signalled using codesuch as Really? Or I'm not sure about that.)

multi-tasking (people handle several things at the same time) vs linear tasking (peopledo one thing properly, and then move on)

lunch is a snack (business and food do not mix) vs lunch is a pleasure (and therestaurant is a place to consolidate a business relationship)

pride in your country (more than just football) vs foreign is best ('the grass is alwaysgreener on the other side of the fence')

B Activity:

Now pick a country you are familiar with and assess its culture. You can refer to the scalebelow. '1' means the culture is an extreme example of the behaviour/value mentioned first. '10'means it is an extreme example of the one mentioned second.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10_______________________________________________________

When youve assessed your country, team up with two other people with different countries,and present your analysis to them.

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2.3 Taking Part in International Projects Intercultural Aspects

If you ask international project managers what makes a project successful, they will normallymention three factors: getting agreement from everyone involved (the stakeholder) on thescope and objectives of the project; agreeing on roles, responsibilities, resources and risks;and effective communication to coordinate, to motivate and to solve problems quickly.

In this unit, the focus is on this third point communication.

Acti vi ty

With a partner, briefly discuss the following three questions:

a) What are the key communication challenges for project teams that work internationallyrather than in their country?

b) What sorts of rules should teams develop to make their communication effective?c) How can project leaders create a good communication culture in their teams?

A. The challenges

International project teams face a number of challenges that have an impact on effectivecommunication:

Communication is virtual

The distance between team members means that there are few opportunities for face-to-facecontact. This can lead to problems of understanding, both about content and also at anemotional level. E-mail is a poor substitute for face-to-face communication.

Communication is frustrating

Working internationally can create frustration. For example, many non-native speakersstruggle to express themselves in English and often feel left out when native speakersdominate international meetings. For managers, maintaining motivation and commitment canalso be a problem.

Communication is across cultures

Differences in personal and cultural styles of communication make misunderstandings likely.Agreeing on a system of speaking and listening behaviours is therefore essential.

Acti vi ty:

Discuss the following questions in a team of 3 4:Have you ever worked in a foreign culture environment or in a team with members fromdifferent cultures? What were your experiences and what where the differences to working in amonocultural team?

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B. Developing team rules

Some international project teams use the first meeting to create a rule book forcommunication.The following examples of rules concentrate on rules for the project-leaders and teammembers.

Project leader communication

Implement a kick-off that makes priorities of soft-skills training and trust building.

Allow enough time for tasks in order to avoid time pressure, which results in conflict. Define a clear conflict-management process.

Appoint promoters in teams whose responsibility it is to sell the project to stakeholdersoutside of the project team. One of the major failings of many international project teams isthat they lack any such promotion.

Be a positive role model. You get back from your team only what you give to it.

Motivate people with timely and constructive feed-back.

Review team communication regularly with the team.

Team communication

Be informed about your partners business cultures.

Speak and listen politely.

Develop a language strategy. First, create a list of key project terms that everyoneunderstands (do not assume that words have the same meaning across cultures). Second,establish a translation policy for those with lower competence levels of the working language.

Agree on communication rules for meetings. For example, should the style of the leader bedirective or facilitative? Is interrupting others tolerated? Does silence mean yes or no?

Acti vi ty:

In pairs, discuss the last three questions with respect to your own culture.

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C. Building a team culture

The critical international dimensions of business culture differences in attitudes about time,decision making, hierarchy, communication style, etc. are well known. Intercultural expertsnow believe that international teams can work best by creating a team culture based on anunderstanding of the perspectives of all team members. This means that sufficient time shouldbe spent developing shared understanding and trust. Teams need to get to know each othersways of thinking.

Acti vi ty:

Discuss the following in groups or pairs:

a) What is your cultures attitude about time (e.g. deadlines and punctuality) andhierarchy? Have you had experiences with other cultures which differ from yours in thisrespect?

b) If you were project leader, how would you build trust and understanding within yourteam? Suggest some concrete measures and activities.

D. Managing meetings

To develop an efficient and creative decision-making process in team meetings, it is useful todo the following:

Discuss and agree on the objectives, because people may see these differently.

Clarify the best way to discuss things, as some people want free discussion and others wantstructure. Talk about peoples expectations as regards respectful behaviour. Encourage alternative viewpoints, and maintain an open process. Challenge opinions. Playing devils advocate is a good way to encourage creative thinking. Ask questions about the process. Check that the team are happy with the discussion. Push the group to a decision. Remind people of the need for action.

Acti vi ty:

In pairs discuss the following questions:

a) Does your culture prefer free discussion or very structured meetings? What about yourpersonal preferences?

b) Define 8 rules for respectful behaviour within your cultural context.

To build good group dynamics, the project leader should make sure to manage turn-takingeffectively. All team members should feel valued and respected. It might be a good idea for theproject leader to reformulate what people say and summarize contributions to makeunderstanding explicit.

Adapted from: Business Spotlight. 3/06.

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2.4 International Projects Project Language

Project People

project leader

project manager

project sponsor

project user

Project Terms

concurrent project

ongoing project

project brief

scope of a project

specification

Project Budgets

agree a budget

amend a budget

fix a budget

revise a budget

set a budget

Project Timing

ahead of schedule

behind schedule

deadline

complete a project on time

completion date

cut-off date

on schedule

reschedule

update

Project Costs

actual costs

cost overrun

estimate

expenditure

Project Phases

initiation phase

planning phase

design phase

test phase

launch phase

go-live phase

execution phase

evaluation phase

end phase

Project Verbs

allocate resources

approve a project

define the scope

evaluate progress

get the green light

make contingency plans

plan milestones

run a feasibility study

run into problems

select team members

scrap a project

set up a schedule

subcontract non-core activities

Adapted from: Business Spotlight. 3/06.

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2.5 Project Language - Practice

A. Use expressions f rom the previous vocabulary list and texts in this uni t to f il l the gaps.

1. People taking part in a project are the . .

2. Another word for project description is project ..

3. The .is the dimension of a project.

4. Two projects going on at the same time are . projects.

5. If the budget limits of a project are exceeded, we can talk of a ..

6. Project outgoings can be called ..

7. To . a project means to abandon a project.

8. To .of a project means to define the timeline.

9. . means to let not project-related operators take over parts of the project.

10. An alternative course of action is called a .plan.

B. Match the speech intentions with their respective language elements.

1. Discuss and agree with objectives. I think we need to make up our minds

2. Clarify the best way to discuss things Jerome, what do you think about Maras idea?

3. Talk about expectations for behaviour Maybe we could also take another angle on this

4. Focus attention on key issues Lets concentrate on the main question.

5. Encourage alternative viewpoints I think we should clarify our goals today.

6. Challenge opinions Lets try to listen carefully and not interrupt.

7. Connect opinions What is the best way to proceed?

8. Push the group into making to a decision Feel free to express your thoughts

C. Match the speech intentions with their respective language elements.

1. Agree on participation rules And what is your opinion on this, Janet?

2. Manage turn-taking effectively Thats an excellent point, Michael

3. Handle negative individuals I suggest we all try to be on time.

4. Invite quieter speakers to participate Dan, lets try to keep things constructive

5. Keep a positive atmosphere Can everyone keep things short and simple andnot interrupt?

D. Fill the gaps with the following verbs: prov ide align write evaluate monitor

1. . project progress

2. . a project to corporate strategy

3. . customer satisfaction

4. . a project charter

5. . deliverables

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2.6 Working in Intercultural Teams Case Studies

Analyze the fo llowing dialogues and answer the questions below:

1. Where can you find misunderstandings caused by cultural differences?2. What is the cause of the misunderstandings?3. How could the people in charge have handled the situation had they been aware

of the cultural context?

Situation A: A Helping Hand

Carl: Hey, Juan. Is everything ok?

Juan: Yes, sir. I was just explaining to Raul here about the new drill press. Some of the menarent sure about it yet.

Carl: I know. Actually, I overheard you; what you were telling Raul isnt exactly right.

Juan: No?

Carl: No, You have to turn on the fan before you switch on the water jet, not after. Now try it,Raul. Yes. Thats it. Any more problems with this, Juan, just come and ask me.Thats what Im here for.

Juan: Thank you, sir.

Situation B: Explanations

Ms Wright: Miss Chung. What can I do for you?

Ms Chung: Excuse me. I need some help with this new machine.

Ms Wright: Of course. Let me explain again.

Ms Chung: I asked Li, but she couldnt help me.

Ms Wright: No, she hasnt tried yet.

Ms Chung: Its a bit complicated

Ms Wright: Yes, its very complicated, but after I explained it to you and asked you if youunderstood, you said yes.

Ms Chung: Yes. Please, excuse me.

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Situation C: A Call to Personnel

Harold: I was wondering if we could hire the two temporary people for the next month,to get through this peak period?

Ricardo: I think well have to.

Harold: I could speak to personnel today.

Ricardo: Did you mention this to Senor Ramos?

Harold: The chief? I didnt want to bother him. Hes got his hands full with those buyers

from Japan. Besides, its your division. Hell agree to anything you say.

Ricardo: Yes, Im sure hell approve.

Harold: Good. Then Ill call Miss Garcia.

Situation D: Tea

Mr Walker: I was wondering, Mr Singh, if the spare parts and the tools we ordered have

arrived yet?

Mr Singh: Yes, yes. The material has arrived at the storehouse.

Mr Walker: Oh, good. Maybe I can pick them up on my way home from the construction site.

Mr Singh: No, no. I will send someone to bring them to your office tomorrow, Sir.

Mr Walker: Thats very kind, but I wouldnt mind having a look at them and testing them out on site before the workers use them and I can easily transport them in my own car.

Mr Singh: No, no. You wait here in the office, Mr Walker. And we will drink tea.

Adapted from: Craig Storti: Cross-Cultural Dialogues. Intercultural Press, 1994.

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2.7 International Projects Listening Comprehension

A. Mike, Loreta and Hani f, engineers at a wind turbine constructor, are discussingperformance and suitability issues relating to offshore wind turbines. Listen to theconversation and answer the following questions:

1. Which wind turbine component are the engineers discussing?

2. What is the big problem with offshore installations?

3. Which two types of construction material are being compared?

4. Why are coastal defences mentioned?

5. What point does Hanif make about regular maintenance?

6. What comparison needs to be made with regards to lifespan?

7. What issues do Mike, Loreta and Hanif agree and disagree on?

B. Listen to their conversation again, fill in the gaps with expressions that help along thediscussion, and build the argumentation of the individual speakers.

Mike: .., a tubular steel tower only gives you sufficient structural strengthif you give it adequate protection from corrosion the big problem with offshore installations. So,technically, .. steel is inappropriate in that environment.

Loreta:They make ships out of it.

Mike: .., Loreta, but only because theres no cost-effective alternative.But were not talking about ships, were talking about fixed structures. .. ,I think we should look more seriously at alternatives to all-steel supports. And the obviousalternative is reinforced concrete.

Loreta:Weve already looked into it, , and it wasnt cost-effective.

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Mike: Not in the short term. But we didnt really look into it properly over the long term.

Loreta:But you .., Mike, that steel is completely ineffective if itscorroded. And one of the main constituents of reinforced concrete is steel.

Mike:Its protected, though, ..? Its embedded inside concrete. Thatsmuch more effective protection than paint.

Loreta: If we are talking about the long term, ,what happens to concrete when its exposed to the sea for a few years? It erodes. Which meansthe steel eventually gets exposed. You look at concrete coastal defences. How often do you seethe concrete all crumbling away, and all the steel exposed?

Mike:Thats due to inconsistent quality, though. You only get that problem if theres insufficientcover. .. theres appropriate cover at design level, and the constructionquality is consistent, ... there shouldnt be a problem.

Loreta:Isnt inadequate cover more of a problem in a slender structure, .?Youd probably have less cover, compared with the big lumps of concrete they use for coastaldefences.

Mike: Not if

Hanif: ..

Mike: Yes, Hanif?

Hanif: .. what .. here. The is, whats the most suitable long-term solution? And in .., were sayingsteel is necessary, either in an all-steel tubular structure or in the form of reinforcement insideconcrete. But obviously exposed steel is unsuitable because of the problem of corrosion. So.., whats the most reliable way of protecting steel over the long term?And .., just because something requires regular maintenance, such aspainting, that doesnt necessarily mean its unreliable. As long as the maintenance is consistent.The .. is, whats the most economical approach? So painting a steelstructure every couple of years is uneconomical only if the cost of painting is more expensive thanthe additional cost of using concrete at the time of construction.

Mike:So, to determine .., we need to assess the lifespan of a reinforcedconcrete structure. If we know that, we can determine now many times the equivalent steelstructure would need to be repainted over the same period, and what the cost of that would be.

Hanif:Yeah.

Mike:But .., Hanif. We cant categorically say that reinforced concrete isinefficient unless we look into it in detail.

Hanif: Look, ..

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2.8 International Projects Birds Nest - Herzog & De Meuron in China

Basel-based architects Herzog and de Meuron built the stadium for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.Working between two cultures, two architectural traditions, and two political systems proved to bean extremely challenging enterprise. On many occasions, the European way of thinking clashedwith Chinese traditions. In order to do justice to the situation, the architects studied andresearched local surroundings and culture. They explored the Chinese way of life and collaboratedwith local artists.

Watch the opening scene of the film about the project and answer the following questions.

1. How does Pierre de Meuron describe the Chinese?

2. What was Ai Weiweis role and why was such a person needed in the HdM team?

3. Where did find the architects find inspiration for their project?

4. What does Jacques Herzog say about the culture of affirmation and negation in China?

5. What are the origins of the project's title "bird's nest" and what are its culturalimplications in China?

6. Why was Jean Nouvel's project rejected?

7. HdM are known for "contextual architecture". Explain the concept.

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2.9 International Architectural Project

Watch the following programs and answer the questions

A. Petronas Universi ty of Technology

1. What aspects of the site do the architects consider before the intensive planningstage?

2. What cant you do, and why?

3. What did a survey carried out early recommend?

4. What is the focal point?

5. What is it composed of?

6. What does it accommodate?

7. Where is the auditorium?

8. How are they connected?

9. What is this responding to?

10. What do you talk about in Islamic architecture?

11. How did the architects use the walls?

12. How is the canopy supported, and what does it provide?

13. What is a likened to?

14. What is the perfect complement to academic life?

15. How are the academic buildings arranged?

16. What is the mosque often referred to?

B. School in Rudrapur

1. What prize did the school building win?

2. Where is the school located?

3. Who are the architects?

4. What is the school known as?

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5. What does it combine?

6. What problems do buildings have?

7. What was the challenge?

8. Why bamboo and mud?

9. What are the problems with traditional methods?

10. How did the designers overcome this?

11. What was important to maximise?

12. How is the ceiling and first floor made?

13. What are the advantages of this method?

14. What did the project achieve?

15. What were the bamboo supports vulnerable to?

16. How was this solved?

17. What attitude did people have to mud as construction material before this project?

18. What kinds of buildings are the architects planning in the near future?

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3 TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY ACROSS THE GLOBE

3.1 Global Issues Discussion

A. Read the fo llowing article and underline the main point the author is trying to make.

Will the World Ever See Fair Trade iPads?

By Keith Wagstaff, 2012

On weekend mornings, I have a routine. I wake up, shuffle down my street to pick up a bagelwith butter, and stop at my favorite coffee shop for a caffeine fix. Its one of those hip places

you know, with the local art on the walls and an abundance of bearded men in beanies.

Coffee there costs about 20-40% more than the coffee from the surrounding bodegas or achain like Starbucks. I drink it because I think it tastes better; the fact that its Fair Trade is abonus. Every time I step in there, its filled with people fiddling with electronics: freelancerstapping away on MacBooks, people in line checking their iPhones and baristas keeping acareful eye on the iPod. Their electronics are not Fair Trade. In fact, as we all know, thesegadgets are often made in pretty harsh working conditions.

According toa study by Oekom Research, a ratings agency with a focus on sustainableinvestment, 42% of consumer electronics manufacturers are guilty of violating labor rights far worse than the next two offenders: textiles (30%) and mining (24%). Apple has taken the

brunt of recent criticism, but dont think that by boycotting the iPhone youll be doing workers inChina any favors. Foxconn, the company under the most scrutiny for its labor practices, makesproducts for a huge swath of the consumer electronics industry including Nokia, Samsung andmany others.

The truth is that consumers dont really have a good option when it comes to buyingsmartphones and tablets. Why is that? Why is there Fair Trade coffee and Fair Trade clothingand Fair Trade bath products, but no Fair Trade electronics?

According to Heather Franzese, director of new businesses at Fair Trade USA, the idea of FairTrade electronics is not entirely unrealistic: Ive been working closely with the apparel industry

during the last five years. Ive spent a lot of time in factories in Asia and its a similarly complexsupply chain, she said. Ultimately, its possible to ensure decent working conditions. I thinkthat time has come for consumers to look in a little more detail at how their electronics aremade,

Fair Trade USAs research says that most people are willing to pay for an ethical andsustainable product is 10-20% more than for a conventionally made product. Ethical meansthat workers make enough to feed their families, send their kids to school and afford basichealthcare, plus they have the ability to report poor working conditions to managementanonymously. The cheapest iPad 2 costs $500. That means theoretically that Apple couldbuild a Fair Trade iPad 2 and some conscientious consumer would be willing to pay $600 forit.But would people really pay $600 for an item they could previously buy for $500? I highly

doubt it. Paying an extra 20 cents for coffee or $5 for a T-shirt is one thing; spending an extra$100 when you would already be stretching your budget with $500 is another.

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One of the requirements for Fair Trade to start a feasibility study on an industry a breakdownof labor problems and required solutions is that the organization has to either be approached

by a company that wants to produce an ethical and sustainable product or by a largeconsumer group that demands it.

Unlike my Fair Trade coffee, there isnt much clamoring for a Fair Trade iPad. In fact, itsconsumers insatiable demand for newer and better and cheaper products that incentivizesFoxconn to keep a massive workforce crowded together in dorms, ready to work 12-hour shiftsat a moments notice if Apple isnt satisfied with a product. The truth is Fair Trade and similarorganizations wont get involved unless consumers speak up en masse. When theorganization finally decided to look into the clothing industry, it took five years to get from thefeasibility study to the licensing and promotion of Fair Trade clothing.

Could we see a similar move in the consumer electronics industry; say, Fair Tradesmartphones and tablets by 2017? Maybe. One sure thing is that consumers will not becometechnological Luddites. We are used to our fancy new gadgets and were not going to stopbuying them. But if theres a big enough market of people fed-up with reading story after storylike theTimes recentApple expos and they make their voices heard, who knows: Maybesome company will jump in to fill the void.

Adapted from: http://techland.time.com/2012/01/27/will-the-world-ever-see-fair-trade-ipads/#ixzz1mm1J2a1t

B. In the speaking part of the BEC, you are given a topic which you should discuss witha partner. You are asked to exchange opinions, come to a conclusion and make arecommendation.

With a partner, write three questions on the topic on the article above. Then discussthem with another team and formulate a recommendation.

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3.2 Global Issues Panel Discussion (Role play)

A. Read the fo llowing article and underline the core arguments of the text.

Cyber-trashing the Third World

By Steven M. Schnell (adapted), 2007

In our age of increasing globalization, most media attention has gone to the export ofmanufacturing jobs overseas. A less visible export is waste disposal. Increasingly, thepoorest people in the world clean up after the richest. The economic forces that makeglobalization profitable for first world countries have increased the wide gap between theworlds rich and poor, while at the same time relegating the dirty workand its grave healthconsequencesto geographically remote areas that are all too easy to ignore.

Ironically, even something as green as recycling can get caught up in these currents. Forexample, what happens when you get rid of your computer? There are currently a billioncomputers globally, 200 million in the US alone. Thirty million computers are discarded inthe US each year, and its been estimated that by 2010, three billion computers will havebeen scrapped.

Ninety percent of discarded computers end up in landfills, where they release toxicchemicals into the environment. The obvious remedy is to recycle more computers. Butwhere do the ten percent of computers that are currently being recycled go? Increasingly,they go overseas. In fact, approximately eighty percent of all electronics collected forrecycling leaves the country. There is a growing global trade in e-waste that includes notonly computers, but also the outmoded or defective cell phones, iPods, and other electronicgadgets that have become an indispensable part of modern life. So far, so good. Butrecycling is a labor-intensive industry, and like other labor-intensive industries, electronicscompanies maximize their profits by going where labor is cheapest and environmentalregulations are lax or nonexistent. Currently, the most popular destinations for the moundsof cybertrash are China, India, and Nigeria. Many other, less-developed countries are alsowilling recipients. And the grim reality is that the story of a worker in electronic recycling is atleast as dangerous and exploitive as that of any sweatshop worker. Globalization hasallowed us to outsource our sweatshops with a vengeance.

Computer recycling can be done responsibly and safely, but this is unfortunately not the

case at most overseas facilities. The Basel Action Network has extensively documented theprocess that occurs in many overseas recycling operations. Workers roast circuit boards inpans to melt plastics and skim off valuable metalsin particular, gold. Typically, noprotective gear is worn. Workers will often bathe the circuitry in a mixture of hydrochloricand nitric acid in open vats, trying to extract gold from circuit boards. Workers breakmonitors apart with hammers to extract valuable parts, expelling lead and phosphor dustinto the airand their lungs. Wires are stripped out of electronic devices, sorted by type,and then burned in giant open fires to remove the outer coating from the valuable metalinside. The plastic components are burned as well, to enable easy extraction of the metals.Many of the workers live right in the burnyards, breathing in the dioxins, heavy metals, andother chemicals released by the burning process. Indeed, the air around Guiyu, China, theworlds largest site for electronics waste (despite a 2000 ban by the Chinese government on

e-waste imports), has the highest dioxin levels ever recorded.

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Given such practices, it is not surprising that leftover waste is often dumped into nearbyfields and streams. Birth defects, infant mortality, blood disease, and respiratory problems

are severe in areas where electronics recycling is prevalent. Some countries in Europe arebeginning to crack down on the waste trade; both the EU and Japan have worked towardscreating a system for dealing with electronic waste.

Fortunately, there are organizations working to solve the problem. Both the Basel ActionNetwork and theSilicon Valley Toxics Coalition campaign actively against the growing tideof e-waste. Their websites are valuable sources of information, and include lists ofenvironmentally and socially responsible electronic recyclers, and campaigns that you canget involved in to promote responsible electronic disposal.

One of these campaigns has been to pressure electronics manufacturers to participate intake-back programs. Most recently, Sony USA announced a plan to take back, free of

charge, any product with a Sony label on it for proper recycling; Dell, HP and Apple alsoparticipate. Such participation is encouraging, though there remains the need to ensure thatthese industrial giants are following through on their promise to recycle responsibly. Untilour government recognizes its responsibility to monitor abuses in the international recyclingtrade, its up to us to ensure that our well-intentioned efforts dont have toxic side effectshalfway around the world.

B. Role play

Work in groups of 4

Preparation:

Situation: During an international conference, you are participating in a panel discussion aboutthe global problem of electronic waste. Each of you takes one of the following roles:

- moderator- representative of the electronics industry- environmental activist- government representative from a developing country

Choose a position. Write down three arguments in order to defend your position. Themoderator should prepare one provocative question for each participant.

Performance:

Perform your roles in a simulated situation. At the beginning, the moderator opens the discussionby introducing the topic, then

each of you is required to give a short statementabout who you are, why you arethere and what your core believes are.

The moderator asks each of you a provocative question, the person addressedanswers and then the moderator invites the opinions of the other participants.

At the end the moderator very briefly summarisesthe viewpoints and closesthe discussion.

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3.3 Global Issues Reading Comprehension

A. Read the fo llowing article.

UK's Ex-science Chief Predicts Century of 'Resource' Wars

2003 Iraq conflic t was fi rst case Climate change will fuel scramble for commodi ties.

ByJames Randerson,The Guardian, 2009

TheIraq war was just the first of this century's "resource wars", in which powerful countriesuse force to secure valuable commodities, according to the UK government's former chiefscientific adviser. Sir David King predicts that withpopulation growth, natural resourcesdwindling, and seas rising due toclimate change,the squeeze on the planet will lead to more

conflict.

"Future historians might look back on our particular recent past and see the Iraq war as thefirst of the conflicts of this kind - the first of the resource wars," he told an audience of 400 inLondon as he delivered the British Humanist Association's Darwin Day lecture.

Implicitly rejecting the US and British governments' claim they went to war to remove SaddamHussein and search for weapons of mass destruction, he said the US had in reality been veryconcerned aboutenergy security and supply, because of its reliance on foreign oil fromunstable states. "Casting its eye around the world - there was Iraq," he said.

This strategy could also be used to find and keep supplies of other essentials, such asminerals,water and fertile land, he added. "Unless we get to grips with this problem globally,we potentially are going to lead ourselves into a situation where large, powerful nations willsecure resources for their own people at the expense of others."

King was the UK government's chief scientific adviser in the run-up to the start of Iraq war inMarch 2003, but said he did not express his view of its true motivation to Tony Blair. "It wascertainly the view that I held at the time, and I think it is fair to say a view that quite a fewpeople in government held," said King, who is now director of the Smith School of Enterpriseand the Environment at Oxford University.

However, before the war loomed he had made an effort to persuade the Bush administration

to adopt more climate-friendly policies. "I went into the White House in 2001 to persuade themthat de-carbonising their economy was the way forward. I didn't get much shrift at that time.What I can tell you is that, if I had managed to persuade the government of America thatinvesting (instead of going into Iraq) in de-carbonising their economy with roughly a tenth of[the estimated $3 trillion the US spent on the war], they would have managed it."

Commenting on the idea of "resource wars", Alex Evans, of the Centre for International Co-operation at New York University, who last month wrote a report on food security for theChatham House thinktank, said he believed King was right, but overly pessimistic. "Youalways get conflict over the allocation of scarce resources," he said. "The question is whetherit is violent conflict ... If the political system can't cope, that's when it gets violent."

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King's lecture - Can British Science Rise to the Challenges of the 21st Century? - also warnedpoliticians not to allow the financial crisis to distract them from tackling climate change. "I

would like to see [in] every speech Gordon Brown makes on the fiscal crisis, that he alsoincludes the global warming crisis," he said, but added: "It's fine for the prime minister to makea good speech on climate change, but you need all members of the cabinet, because reducingcarbon by 80% by 2050 will require every part of government to respond."

King summed up by saying that with growing population and dwindling resources, fundamentalchanges to the global economy and society were necessary. "Consumerism has been awonderful model for growing up economies in the 20th century. Is that model fit for purpose inthe 21st century, when resource shortage is our biggest challenge?"

Adapted from: 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

B. Answer the following questions in pairs:

1. What is a resource war?

2. Why will there be more conflict over resources?

3. What resources could cause conflicts in future?

4. According to Sir David King, what was the main reason for the Iraq war?

5. What should the US government have invested in instead of going into Iraq?

6. What changes have to be made to deal with resource problems and populationgrowth?

7. The author talks about a century of resource wars. Is this really a conflict scenariothat is new to history or can you think of older examples?

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3.4 TED TALKS

A. TED Talk 1: Hans Rosling, The Best Statistics Youve Ever Seen

In Hans Roslings hands, data sings. Global trends in health and economics come to vivid life.And the big picture of global developmentwith some surprisingly good newssnaps intosharp focus.http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html

Watch the video and answer the following questions:

1. How good were the answers of the Swedish students on child mortality?

2. And how good were the answers of the medical professors?

3. Why did they get their answers wrong?

4. What ideas do the Swedish students have about the two worlds?

5. What are the two axes about in Roslings statistics?

6. What does the comparison between the USA and Vietnam show?

7. What mistake do people in the West make about development in Asia?

8. Whats the difference in development between Uganda, South Korea and Brazil?

9. Whats the danger of using average data for countries?

10. What does Rosling criticise about the internet and available data?

11. Who could benefit from better access to statistical data about the world?

12. What do the statistics about China and the USA show?

13. What is the advantage of graphical data presentation?

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B. TED Talk 2: Hans Rosling, June 2009, US State Department

In his talk, Rosling mentions MDG 4. This refers to Millenium Development Goal 4: Reducechild mortality by two thirds, a goal set by the UN.

Content questions

1. Rosling talks about two sets at the beginning. One is the mindset of the audience.

What is the other?

2. What does the old mindset say about family size and length of life in the Wes and in

the developing world?

3. The worldview of Roslings students corresponds to which year?

4. What is the name of Roslings free internet utility?

5. What is the difference in development from 1800 to today between USA and China

(economic and health)?

6. What is the world like today?

7. Which two axes are used in the chart to show that the world is not divided (two-sided)?

8. What is the Demographic Health Survey, and who helped fund it?

9. Which two institutions does he compare in terms of free access to data?

10. Why does he compare periods in the history of Sweden with emerging-economy

countries?

11. What is the name of the new mind set which Rosling proposes?

12. Which two problems does the new mindset not address?

Acti vi ty

In small groups, discuss how you see world development. Do you agree with Hans Rosling?

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C. TED Talk 3: Hans Rosling, New Insights on Poverty

Researcher Hans Rosling uses his cool data tools to show how countries are pullingthemselves out of poverty. He demos Dollar Street, comparing households of varying incomelevels worldwide. Then he does something really amazing.

http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_reveals_new_insights_on_poverty.html


1. What did the UN do with their databases?

2. What happened to many children in the 19thcentury?

3. Whats happening in emerging economies today? And who are they?

4. What is the car race about?

5. What does Roslings family history show?

6. What are the issues that the global leaders discuss?

7. What does Dollar Street visualise?

8. How do you get information in Africa?

9. Whats the difference between means and goals of development?

10. What is the most important means?

11. What is the most important goal?

Activi ty

Compare your answers with a partner and discuss the means and goals of development. Doyou agree with his list or can you think of other means and goals?

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D. TED Talk 4: Hans Rosling, Global Population Growth

Researcher Hans Rosling discusses global population growth and projects futuredevelopments. The world's population will grow over the next 50 years, so what can be doneto check population growth? Hans Rosling unveils the answer at TED@Cannes using colorfulnew data display technology.

http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_on_global_population_growth.html


1. What has Rosling developed from (presentation technique)?

2. What was the world like in 1960?

3. What does Rosling think about the mindset of the West and the rest?

4. What is the size of the world population today?

5. How many people live in the emerging economies?

6. What is their family size? And what do they aspire to?

7. What will happen in the future?

8. Whats the difference in population growth between the poorest 2 billion and theothers?

9. How can population growth be stopped?

10. What leads to higher child survival?

11. What is Roslings hope for the future?

12. Rosling is neither an optimist nor a pessimist. What is he? And based on what is this?

13. What is the role of the old west in the new world?

Activi ty:Compare your answers with a partner and discuss Roslings outlook. Do you agreewith his views?

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4 BUILDING BEC SKILLS

4.1 BEC Writ ing Tasks

As part of your BEC writing you may choose to write a report, a piece of businesscorrespondence or a proposal. For written business communication to be effective there arethree important things to remember:

be organised be to the point be appropriate

Below you find three short extracts from those three text types. Each one succeeds in two ofthe important ways to be effective but fails in the other. Identify the weakness in each.

Adapted from: Dummet: Success with BEC. Summertown, 200845


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4.2 Business Reports

Read the example report below.

Writing Business Reports

1. Introduction

This short report summarises the topic of writing business reports. It discusses theimportance of organising the report into logical sections. It recommends some techniquesfor writing clearly and also considers some important grammatical areas. The reportemphasizes that planning and then rewriting several times is the key to successful reportwriting.

2. Structure of a report

The report you are now reading is typical of a short report: first, an introduction thatdescribes the purpose and structure of the report; then the body of the report; andfinally some recommendations or conclusions. Longer reports may have other sectionssuch as a summary, table of contents, or perhaps appendices with extra, non-essentialinformation. Many in-company reports have a standard format and so the writer does nothave to worry about the structure.

3. Sections and paragraphs

Reports are often about complex issues, so the writer has to organise the material veryclearly into logical sections and sub-sections with appropriate headings. Deciding how todo this is probably the most important step in report writing. Of course, as you write, youmay move information around and change your headings.

4. The techniques of report writ ing

Focus initially on the development and organisation of ideas, not the language andgrammar. Leave the language until the editing and rewriting stage.

Use short phrases. Keep sentences brief and use simple grammatical structures.

Use an impersonal style. Focus on facts and only name individuals when it is relevant.

Present your points in a balanced way that shows you have considered the argumentscarefully.

Keep the reader in mind. For example, a report written for a senior manager might bepolite and respectful - report for junior staff is more likely to use a direct style.

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5. The language of report writing

Linking words: Linkers are necessary to organize thoughts and structure anargument. For example: First Second . Moreover Therefore However Linking words can also be used to show a personal attitude. For example, if youbegin a sentence with clearly, what comes next will be obvious. But remember to becareful with personal opinion.

Register:Most business writing is neutral and direct rather than formal.But remember that the choice of register depends on the reader.In order to appear objective the passive may be used.Contractions like its, well, theresand other phrases typical of informal languagelike big, ok, nice, no way, amazingshould not appear in reports.

6. Conclusion

Reports can be about many things: an analysis of a problem, a summary of a completedjob, the progress of a project, the results of an investigation. There are few general rules,but remember that organising the material into logical sections is the key. Finally,remember also that the reader will be very busy, so be as brief and clear as possible.

Questions:

A. What are the three sections of a report and what is their respecti ve purpose?

B. How should personal opinion be handled in report writ ing?

C. How can the writer help the reader understand the structure of the report and thelogical connection between the thoughts and arguments?

D. What language level should be chosen for wri ting a report?

E. What language elements can be helpful when writing a report?

Adapted from: Emmerson: Business Builder. Macmillan; 1999.

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4.3 Proposals

A proposal has a similar layout to a report, but whereas a report describes past or presentevents, a proposal focuses on the future. It must be clearly structured, and must offerrecommendation for action.

A. In pairs , compare the two proposals below. What are the good points and the badpoints of each? Consider the following aspects: style tone layout

B. With your partner, draw the framework for a written proposal.


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4.4 Letter Writing

As one of your BEC writing tasks, you may choose to write a letter which can be sent by mailor post.

A. Read the list below containing letter wri ting conventions and set phrases typical ofthe English language. Complete the text by adding one word in each space.

Letter Writing Conventions:

Beginning and endingDear Sir / Madam Yours faithfullyDear Ms Johnson Yours ________ (1)Dear David Kind ________ (2)

Reason for writing I am writing to apologize for / enquire ________ (3) / thank ________ (4) I am writing ________ (5) answer to your letter ________ (6) our recent meeting / telephone conversation, I am writing to I was given your name by X, who suggested you might be able to help us

The background ________(7) you may know, the situation is As you will recall, three weeks ago Recently, we

The result As a result ________ (8) this, we have had to Consequently, we would like to The result of this is that

The next step What I propose is that In ________ (9) to resolve the matter, I suggest that We would appreciate ________ (10) if you could We would be ________ (11) if you could now

Further communication Please do not ________ (12) to contact me if you wish to discuss any of the above. I look ________ (13) to hearing from you / receiving

Signing off Thank you again for your interest / custom / understanding Once again, my ________ (14) for the delay / misunderstanding / error. I hope you find this solution satisfactory.

Note:When writing a letter for the BEC think carefully who the letter is for, what your relationship isto that person, and what the reason for writing is. This will determine your registerand tone.

Plan the letter carefully. You will probably need to include 5-6 paragraphs containing:introduct ion reason for writing background to the problem possible solutions next steps conclusion .



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4.5 Describing Graphs and Charts

A. How do charts help descr ibe and il lustrate the points we make in our presentations?What makes a chart/graph a successful chart / graph? How would you illust rate thetrends described in the text below with a chart?

The Microsoft share price began in 2000 at just over $110. Over the next three months it

fluctuated dramatically, falling as low as $90 before returning to its original level. However, in

March 2000 it suddenly plummeted, loosing over $40 by April. Although the speed of the fall

slowed slightly, it continued to drop to $60 by May. A brief recovery took the prices back to

$80, where it remained stable until July. It then started to decline steadily over the next three

months falling as low as $50 by November. The year 2000 ended more encouragingly for

Microsoft with shares back at $70. However, 2001 started badly with shares dropping to a two-

year low of $43 by the end of January. A reasonably quick recovery took shares back above

$60 in February and further steady progress saw them back above $70 by May. Unfortunately,

prices fell sharply again, back down to almost $50 by October. The shares recovered well over

the last two months to finish at the $70 mark.

1. Underline the words/phrases that helped you to do the graph? What are the otherpossible alternatives to express the same ideas?

B. Language elements to describe trends:

To indicate tendencies or vectors of movement you may use the following verbs:

Upward change

To rise;

To increase;

To go up;

To grow;

To climb;

To boom;

To show / see an upward trend;

To jump;

To rocket;

To recover;

To improve;

To surge;

To shoot up;

To soar;

To expand;

To take off;

To rally;

To put up;

To strengthen; To bounce back;

To double / triple;

To pick up;

To creep up;

To mountain up.

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Downward change

To fall; To decrease;

To decline;

To dip;

To drop;

To slump;

To deteriorate;

To go down;

To reduce;

To lower;

To slip back;

To cut;

To shrink;

To halve;

To show / see a downward trend;

To weaken;

To slide;

To hit a low;

To plunge;

To plummet;

To collapse;

To crash; To bottom out;

To have a trough;

Stability

To level out / off (at);

Do not change;

To

Script Tec Bec FS14.pdf

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Transcript of Script Tec Bec FS14.pdf