Learning Your Atomic ABCs
Nuclear English Courseware Supports Globalization of Nuclear Industry
Learning your "atomic ABCs" at the Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania. (Photo: A. Kosilov/IAEA)
- Story Resources
- INIS and Nuclear Knowledge Management Section
- Nuclear English - Language Skills for a Globalizing Industry
- IAEA Department of Technical Cooperation (TC)
- World Nuclear University (WNU)
- Nuclear English - Language Skills for a Globalizing Industry, WNU Press
- Kaunas University of Technology
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Story Resources
An IAEA workshop devoted to teaching English language methodology to nuclear professionals is bringing together nuclear educators and experts from across Europe this week. Making Knowledge Work – Nuclear English for University Teachers kicked off on 23 June and will last through the end of the week.
The purpose of the regional workshop is to provide a platform for exchange of best practices and new techniques among participating educators and professionals. As the nuclear industry is expected to expand into new countries in the coming decades, the importance of communication through a common working language is expected to increase.
"In the course, participants will be trained on methodology for training students in nuclear English. Strictly speaking, this is not an English course," says Andrey Kosilov, course leader for the workshop and consultant for the IAEA´s Knowledge Management Section. "The focus is on how to use nuclear terms, how to translate, and how to apply methods learned in the course to university training."
In recent years, a need for stronger English skills has arisen in central and eastern Europe, as older workers attended school at a time when English was not part of the curriculum. Younger staff in the nuclear industry may have a stronger command of English, but many have never had an opportunity to develop knowledge of the industry´s technical terminology. Additionally, IAEA Member States across Europe recently suggested that the IAEA continue to support and facilitate training in nuclear English.
The primary audience for the course is university teachers working in advanced sciences whose students have a good working knowledge of English but aim to boost their comprehension of nuclear terminology. Courseware is based on Language Skills for a Globalizing Industry, a textbook published in 2005 by the World Nuclear University.
The course is taking place at the Kaunas University of Technology in Kaunas, Lithuania, and will conclude on 27 June. It is organized in cooperation with the Government of Lithuania, the World Nuclear Association and the Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania. The workshop is held as part of an IAEA´s technical cooperation project entitled Strengthening Capabilities of Nuclear Knowledge Preservations.
See Story Resources for more information.
