English in Computer Science and Mathematics

This book has been specially designed for students of Computer Science and Mathematics who require reading skills in English and a good knowledge of linguistic structures to enable them to follow their chosen course of studies and to work with the many authentic texts (text books, instruction manuals, magazines, publicity, material on the Internet etc.) which they will encounter daily. The book is divided into three sections. The first consists of essential grammar units to be used for the revision and consolidation of the basic grammar points necessary for the comprehension of the texts in the following sections. The second section consists of specific texts dealing with various aspects of Computer Science and the third contains specific texts regarding different fields of Mathematics. Each lesson in sections 2 and 3 consists of a text with a series of exercises, which assist the learner in both a global and detailed understanding of its contents, leading to a final accurate translation. The skills practised within the exercises are skimming and scanning with both written and oral consolidation. The student is encouraged to imitate certain skills already acquired in his/her mother tongue and to apply them when deciphering a text in English. In fact the exercises often draw on the many parallels between Italian and English. There are also indications of "false friends" and phrasal verbs in each text. A grammar review is included in the earlier lessons, based on the essential grammar points in the text, linked with the grammar units in section 1. Pronunciation is reinforced throuh reading in class and the laboratory and the final translation is facilitated by the exercises.