NAVOTAS POLYTECHNIC COLLEGEBangus St., North Bay Boulevard South, Navotas City

ENGLISH DEPARTMENTTECHNICAL RESEARCH & REPORT WRITING

COURSE DESCRIPTIONPrinciples and procedure of technical research and report writing; attention to analyzing audience and purpose, organizing information, designing graphic aids, and writing such specialized forms as abstracts, instructions, and proposals.

OBJECTIVES

demonstrate knowledge of and familiarity with the nature of technical writing and the qualities of technical style;

apply the principles of letter writing to various types of technical communications demonstrate a knowledge of writing various types of short reports; gather, analyze, and organize needed data for writing a formal research report; use graphics effectively in required technical documents; analyze writing situations to understand your audiences and your purposes for writing create documents that fulfill your purposes and your audiences’ needs develop skills with technologies like email, computer graphics, and the web

COURSE OUTLINE

I. Overview of Technical Research and Report WritingA. Definition and Nature of Technical WritingB. Properties of Technical WritingC. Basic Principles of Technical WritingD. Styles in Technical WritingE. The Role of Technical WritingF. The Wholistic Guide of Technical WritingG. End-products of Technical Writing

II. Information Structure/Techniques in Technical WritingA. Distinction between Technical and Literary WritingB. Formal DefinitionC. Description MechanismD. Process DescriptionE. ClassificationF. Cause and EffectG. Comparison and ContrastH. Analogy

III. Types of Technical Report

A. Report Layout

B. Formal Report Format

C. Memorandum Report

D. Letter ReportE. BulletinsF. AbstractG. ProposalH. Research ReportI. Feasibility Study

IV. Business LetterA. Definition and Purpose

B. Elements and CharacteristicsC. Format and StylesD. Types of Business LettersE. Resume and Cover Letters

V. Process and Guidelines in Technical Writing

A. Writing process: from audience to rough draft B. Audience analysis C. Task analysis D. Power-revision techniques E. Libraries, documentation, cross-referencing F. Basic patterns and elements of the sentence G. Common grammar, usage, punctuation problems H. Common spelling problems

VI. Graphic AidsA. Bar ChartB. Line ChartC. TablesD. Circle or Pie ChartE. Surface or Strata ChartF. Map ChartsG. Flow ChartsH. Flow SheetsI. DiagramsJ. FiguresK. PhotographsL. DrawingsM. Important Points in Handling Graphics

VII. Contemporary CommunicationA. E-mailB. InternetC. Desktop PublishingD. Hypertext

COURSE REQUIREMENTSA. Written outputsB. AssignmentsC. PortfolioD. Quizzes/ExamsE. Class Participation and BehaviorF. Attendance/Punctuality

REFERENCES:

Manalo, E. & Fermin, V. (2007). Technical and Report Writing. ECC Graphics. Quezon City Vicente, C. et. Al. (2004). Technical Writing. Popular Bookstore. Quezon City, Philippines. Writing in English: A Practical Handbook for Scientific and Technical Writers.

© 2000. Lawrence, H. (2007). Technical Report Writing Workshop. Available Online:

http://www.eng.uwi.tt/engdocs/TechnicalReportWriting_2007.pdf