INTRODUCTION

My class you will learn to think for yourself again. You will learn to savor
words and language. No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can
change the world.
Robin Williams as English Teacher John Keating
DEAD POETS SOCIETY, 1989

This issue/book includes a number of articles that address the teaching and learning of
technical vocabulary. Vocabulary learning goals should be integrated into speaking
activities, i.e., planned vocabulary learning should not compromise the communicative
nature of spoken activities. Therefore, each unit of these texts is an interdisciplinary
look at a topic which provides a focus for debate. My aim is to provide a good,
intellectually challenging language education. All areas including engineering,
engineering ethics, technology, language arts, social studies, mathematics, science and
business English are covered.
I suggest techniques involving all students as active participants in selecting topics and
materials.
Cooperative learning, put quite simply, is a type of instruction wherby students work
together in small groups to achieve a common goal. Cooperative learning has become
increasingly popular as a feature of Communicative language teaching (CLT) with
benefits that include increased student interest due to the quick pace of cooperative
tasks, improved critical thinking ability, and the opportunity to practice both the
productive and receptive skills in a natural context. The array of benefits extend beyond
increased language learning to include increased self-esteem and tolerance of diverse
points of view. (Johson and Johnson 1989; Kagan 1995; McCafferty, jacobs, and
iddings 2006; Slavin 1995).
Johnson and Johnson (1999) indicate five features of a successful cooperative learning
activity:
1 students learn that their success depend upon working together interdependently
2 students are individually accountable while achieving group goals
3 students support and assist one anothers success through face-to-face interactions
4 students develop social skills by cooperating and working together effectively
5 students as a group have the opportunity to reflect on the effectiveness of working
together.
When these principles are realized, cooperative learning creates a rich environment for
students to learn language and simultaneously develop their capacities for collaborative
twenty-first-century communication and problem solving.
English Teaching Forum, Volume 47, Number 4, 2009

I also suggest techniques as elicitation the process of drawing out something, of

provoking a response. Using elicitation as a questioning strategy in the language
classroom focuses discussion on the learners on their ideas, opinions, imagination,
and involment.

Classroom discussions that use elicitation as a technique allow students to draw on what
they know on existing schemata/scaffolding and provide for a rich sharing of ideas
within sociocultural context (Huong 2003).
Classroom discussions can so build on the experiences and language of learners by
inviting them to discuss their experiences. I would also like to use students as resources
by letting them share their knowledge and expertise with others in the class
emphasizing their experience and knowledge and taking the focus off of the text as the
source of authority. Therefore, elicitation helps learners become more self-reliant. The
student could help by sharing their ideas, interests, and aims and by being engaged
members in collaborative learning.
Through the strategies of elicitation, gapping extension or adaption, students interact
more, construct solutions together and with this e-mail book have the tools to
participate in and contribute to their education.
My students will also be systematically taught English grammar and creative writing.
My curriculum was thus developed to provide students of all the necessary support in
the form of the group work, i.e. roundtable discussion, which could give them
opportunities to speak in front of a small audience with confidence, enlarge their
vocabulary and give them chances to learn from classmates - their colleagues. Any
'general statement' whether such a statement is made on human behaviour, art, science
or history must be questioned.
Man's knowledge of his world could be built up by analytical observation and pieced
together rather like a jigsaw puzzle. Our history has taught us that objective observation
is impossible because of the various strata of human and individual consciousness.
Therefore, involving the science, technology and social studies, we not only lighten the
curriculum and ideas but also allow students to see natural ties across curriculum and
across cultures.
I would also like to stress the genius of students by having students engage in this
curriculum, dialogue with each other, sharing their attitudes and experiences with each
other. We emphasize communication, scientific outlook, and deep insight into various
phenomena by reassessing the common views and outlooks. Feature films are also
important because they capture the imagination of people and shake up new lexical
items so that they remain accessible to the student.
Therefore, various units that are presented emphasize more student-centred approach
that may fit their interests. Students shouldnt be afraid of holistic approach, an
approach from various standpoints and an approach including activities such as
listening, watching movies, reading, writing and discussing. So, they should not be
afraid of reassassing. Therefore, I offer you various texts, texts with various registers,
styles and standpoints.
In the end, you might also share with me how you go implementing your English.
I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous new academic year full of exciting
opportunities, high motivation, goodwill, good feelings, good intentions and good
communication
Your teacher of English
Ksenija Mance

SOME USEFUL PHRASES FOR YOUR DISCUSSION

Making a point/Stating an argument
Whats your opinion / point of view . ?
How do you feel about .?
What do you think of .?
In my opinion . . ..
From my point of view .
I reckon .
Personally, I think/ feel . . .
I believe (that). . .
The point is this: ...
If you ask me. I think. . .
I'd like to say this: .. .
As far as I'm concerned, ...
But speaking of it, could you tell me .
It seems to me that ..
As I see it, .
I strongly believe that .....
Clarifying
What I said/meant was: .. .
I did not say. . . . What I did say was. . .
I think you (must have) misunderstood me/what I said.
Let me repeat/rephrase what I said.
I'm not saying that. What I am saying is (that)...
Yes, but don't forget I was only referring to.. .
Disagreeing with an argument
(I'm afraid) I disagree.
On the other hand, of course, ...
That's not (entirely) true, . ..
I can't possibly agree with/accept that.
I hate to disagree with you, but. . .
Yes/All right, but don't you think.. .
Asking for an opinion
Well? What do you think?
Do/Don't you agree?
What's your view (then)?
How do you see it (then)?
Let's have your opinion.

Challenging an argument
That can't be (true/right). But what about. . . ?
What's your answer to that?
Do you mean to tell me that. . . ? If you don't. .,
then you should say what you mean.
Are you seriously suggesting that. .. ?
Agreeing with an argument
Quite. Exactly. That's (very) true.
So (do) I. Neither/Nor (do) I.
I entirely agree. I agree with you entirely.
You're absolutely right. That's a good point.
I couldn't agree with you more.
That's just what I think.
How interesting.
Interrupting an argument
Excuse me, did you say/do you mean (that). . .
Before you make your next point. ..
So what you're saying is (that)...
Qome to the point! What you really think k (that)...
Does this make sense to you?
Hoping to hear from you again before long.
I must go home immediately, give my apologies to Mister XY
Thats it. It was on the tip of my tongue.
I cant help thinking
I dont doubt that
You have Some Difficulties in Understanding
What Your British or American Friends Say

Did you understand what I said?

No, Im sorry but I didnt quite catch what you said.
I beg your pardon?
No, Im afraid I didnt understand.
No, Im sorry, but I missed what you said.
Would you say it again, please?
Summarizing a discussion
Then we agree.
(Basically), we're in agreement.
(I think) we'd better agree to differ.
Can you admit that you are wrong?

LECTURE 1
Section 1
An Introductory Lecture to the Course as a Whole

Section 2
Placement Tests
Listening Comprehension Test A talk about human brain

Section 3
Where Does English Come from?
Assignment - Additional Text

Every beginning is difficult.

Practice makes perfect.
As you sow, so you shall reap.

The English language has come a long way since it first

took shape in the island of Britain, sometime in the 5th
century AD. It took another 700 years of evolution
before it sounded anything like the English we
recognise today. And when Shakespeare was writing,
in what is often thought of as the golden age of the
language, only about four million people spoke it.
Now in the early 21st-century, English has become the
pre-eminent global language. Nearly a quarter of the
worlds population is estimated to have some
knowledge of English and 400 million people speak it
as their mother tongue.
If beings from outer space landed on Earth tomorrow
they would most likely assume that the human
language was English.
What is the future of the language?
Will it be more important than ever or could it be
supplanted as the global lingua franca by another
language German, Spanish or Chinese perhaps or
even by the artificial language Esperanto?

Assignment 1
Watch this video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPlpphT7n9s
BBC Documentary English Birth of a Language
English Goes Underground - History of English language 2

Assignment 2: Read and write notes!

Core Text
Where does English come from?
English is not the language that has always been spoken in the British Isles, nor indeed is it the only
language that is spoken there today. English was originally a foreign language, imported by foreign
invaders. These invaders were two Germanic tribes living in what is now Northern Germany, along the
North Sea coast. They were called the Angles and the Saxons, and they spoke different dialects of the
same language. It is from these dialects that the modern English has descended.
Anglo-Saxon, or Old English, as historians of the language prefer to call it, remained the language of
English from about A.D. 450 to about A.D. 1150. The reason why it is not still the language of England
is that there were two more foreign invasions of the Island by people speaking different tongues - first
the Northman or Vikings from Denmark, and then the Normans from Normandy in France.
The result of these further invasions, particularly the second by the French-speaking Normans in A.D.
1066, was to modify Old English very considerably, and turn it, in the course of the next three
centuries, into a compound language which is known as Middle English. Middle English is recognizably
the ancestor of the English spoken, today (which Old English is not, and it was the common language
of the inhabitants of England from about A.D. 1150 to about A.D. 1500.
As there were no more foreign conquests of the Island the language was from then on able to develop
under its own impetus. There were no more radical changes and so the Middle English merged
imperceptibly into the Early English of Shakespeare's age and then into the language spoken now.
Anglo-Saxon is now, of course, a dead language, but a good deal of its vocabulary has survived, in one
form or another, to the present day. Most of the very common words in modern English are AngloSaxon in origin: nouns like father, mother, food, drink, bed, hunger most of the propositions and
conjunctions, and nearly all of the strong verbs. When it was mixed with Norman French there were
three main results: the grammar was simplified, the pronunciation and spelling became -and still aremuch more complicated, and the vocabulary was enormously extended. French is a Latin language so
the major part of the English vocabulary is now Latin in origin. That is also one reason why there are

so many synonyms. In pairs of words like "wed" and "marry", fat and "corpulent", and "lively" and
"vivacious", the first word is derived from Anglo-Saxon, the second, from Latin.
A language never stands still. It is always changing and developing. These changes are rapid in
primitive societies, but slow in advanced ones, because the invention of printing and the spread of
education have fixed traditional usage.
D.H. Spencer and A.S. Hornby

Assignment 3: Cover up this passage, write down what you remember

and check your composition.
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....................................................................................................................................
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Assignment 4: Vocabulary practice

Find words or phrases in the text which mean the same as the following:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
l)
m)
n)

o)

from/in the beginning

have as ancestors, pass by inheritance, come from earlier times
during
language, one's mother language
much; a great deal
made up of two or more combined parts
forerunner
defeat or overcome enemies (vb.)
conquering a country (n.)
enlarge
since then
impulse
slightly, gradually and not perceivable
greater or more important part
words that that join other words, clauses, e.g. and, but, or.

Assignment 5: Explain the aspects of the underlined verbs.

English is not the language that has always been spoken in the British Isles, nor indeed is it the only
language that is spoken there today. English was originally a foreign language, imported by foreign
invaders. These invaders were two Germanic tribes living in what is now Northern Germany, along the
North Sea coast. They were called the Angles and the Saxons, and they spoke different dialects of the
same language. It is from these dialects that the modern English has descended.

Assignment 6: Put the articles where necessary.

........ English is not ....... language that has always been spoken in ......... British Isles, nor indeed is it
...... only language that is spoken there today. ....... English was originally ....... foreign language,
imported by ....... foreign invaders. These invaders were ....... two Germanic tribes living in what is now
....... Northern Germany, along ....... North Sea coast. They were called ....... Angles and........ Saxons,
and they spoke different dialects of ....... same language. It is from these dialects that ....... modern
English has descended.
....... Anglo-Saxon, or ........ Old English, as ....... historians of ....... language prefer to call it, remained
....... language of ....... English from about A.D. 450 to about A.D. 1150. The reason why it is not still
....... language of ....... England is that there were two more foreign invasions of ....... Island by people
speaking ....... different tongues - first ....... Northman or ....... Vikings from Denmark, and then .......
Normans from ....... Normandy in France.
The result of these further invasions, particularly ....... second by ....... French-speaking Normans in
A.D. 1066, was to modify ....... Old English very considerably, and turn it, in the course of ....... next
three centuries, into ....... compound language which is known as ....... Middle English. Middle English
is recognizably ........ ancestor of ....... English spoken, today (which Old English is not, and it was .......
common language of ....... inhabitants of England from about A.D. 1150 to about A.D. 1500.
........ language never stands still. It is always changing and developing. These changes are rapid in
....... primitive societies, but slow in ....... advanced ones, because ....... invention of ....... printing and
....... spread of ........ education have fixed ......... traditional usage.

Assignment 7 : Repeat plural of nouns.

What about the use of the article with the names of countries and languages?

Informative Text Additional Reading

Assignment 1.
Jot down the subtitles for the passages in question forms.

Where does English come from?

Up to now nobody has been able to count all the languages spoken in the world today. But there
must be about 3,000, two of which are far more common than any of the others: Northern Chinese,
which is spoken by almost six hundred million people, and English, which is spoken by three
hundred and sixty million people in Europe, India, Africa, America, Australia and New Zealand;
1,000 among American Indians, 750 in Sub-Sahara, 150 in India, 750 just on one island: New Guinea.
Though international conferences are often conducted simultaneously in three or four languages,
more often than not scientists and politicians from Russia, Japan, Germany, India, France and some
remote African state will speak English together.

............
However, English is not the language that has always been spoken in the British Isles, nor indeed is
it the only language that is spoken there today. So, where have all the English words come from?
Only very few have survived from the time when Britain was inhabited by the Ancient-Britons, a
Celtic tribe. They were masters of the island from the 6th century B.C. up to 55 B.C. when the island
was invaded by the Romans, who ruled the country for several centuries. During that time Britain,
was a province of the Empire, but very few Latin words from that period have remained: castra (a
camp) appears in Lancaster, Leicester, Gloucester and Worcester; strata (a paved way) in
Stratford, etc. By the fifth century the Roman Empire was falling to pieces, and the occupying
forces had left the country.

...........
English as a separate identifiable language is over 1,200 years old. As it was originally a foreign
laguage, imported by foreign invaders, English, like German, belongs to a group of related
languages which may ultimately be said to have descended from Common Germanic (or protoGermanic) as a distinct branch of the Indo-European group of languages. Ethnic and linguistic
differentiation within the Germanic language community sooner or later put an end to the original
unity.

...........
So, it all began with the biggest invasion of all, the invasion of the island of Britain by three
Germanic tribes from northern Europe the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, in the year 499 A.D.
Anno Domini. Although the Island had been inhabited since pre-historic times indeed
Stonehenge was built by ancient Britons some 3,500 years ago the beginning of English dates
from this invasion, when the pagan adventurers from Denmark and the lowlands of the Continent,
what is now Northern Germany, along the North Sea coast, drove the native Celts and Romans out
of what is now England, into the mountains and protective regions of Wales, and Scotland where
the Celtic languages have survived, as in Brittany (France). The languages that these invaders spoke
were three forms of Germanic; they spoke different dialects of the same language which had many
words in common. It is from these dialects that the modern English has descended.

From the tribe of Angles comes the name Englalond, Land of the Angles, and the name of the
language but it was primarily the dialect of the West Saxons which became the standard speech,
and developed into Old English. The first written records in English date from 700 A.D. and about
this time Britain was invaded yet again by Scandinavian adventurers the Vikings.

..
Anglo-Saxon, or Old English, as historians of the language prefer to call it, remained the
language of English from about A.D. 450 to about A.D. 1150.
The Germanic tribes took over very little from the Celtic or Latin apart from a few place
names. Different though it is from "Old English", modern English contains many words
from it. Indeed, most of the vital every day words are of Germanic origin:

and, bright, come, find, good, hand, in, Tuesday, through, two, under, was, we,
well, when,
all of which remind us of German words which we, too, use every day.
The reason why it is not still the language of England is that there were two more foreign
invasions of the Island by people speaking different tongues - first the Northman or
Vikings from Denmark, and then the Normans from Normandy in France.

Toward the end of the eighth century the Danish Vikings started invading the coast of
England and settled among the natives. This was quite natural since the languages
spoken by the Danes were not unlike the language spoken by the Angles and Saxons, all
these languages being of Germanic origin. However, a very large number of new words
were added:

call, fellow, get, hit, knife, leg, skin, sky, Thursday, happy, wrong, egg, bank.
After some 200 years of fighting with the Anglo-Saxons, the Vikings came to an
agreement with the Saxon King, Alfred the Great, to divide the island the Saxons in the
west the Scandinavians, who were Norse speaking, in the east. England was therefore
bi-lingual until the two groups, through intermarriage, became one people. The linguistic
blend of Saxon and Norse was also a marriage. In the verb to be, for example, the third
person singular he is is pure Saxon, but the plural, they are pure Norse. The word wife is
Saxon, but the word husband came from the Norse arm from the Saxon, but leg from
the Norse. Duru was the Saxon word for door, but vindu was the Norse word which gave
us window so from this marriage, we have one language which we call Old English. It
was a very complicated language compared to modern English: it was highly inflected
that is, had many different endings for all words as in Latin or modern German and
Russian. It also gave grammatical gender to nouns masculine, feminine and neuter
like modern German and not only did it have singular and plural, but a third form called
the dual form to indicate precisely two
no more and no less. For example, in addition to the pronouns I and we in the first
person, Old English had wit which means the two of us... both of us... you-and me but
not them.
Many words in Old English are still close enough to modern English for us to understand
them. See if you can guess what these Old English words mean:

Thencan

cild

wifmann

muth

nosu

god niht

Perhaps you could hear that thencan is the verb to think, cild in modern English is child,
wifmann became woman, muth mouth, nosu nose, god niht good night.

10

But most of Old English is unintelligible today without studying it as a separate language.
Anglo-Saxon is now, of course, a dead language, but a good deal of its vocabulary has
survived, in one form or another, to the present day. Most of the very common words in
modern English are Anglo-Saxon in origin: nouns like father, mother, food, drink, bed,
hunger most of the propositions and conjunctions, and nearly all of the strong verbs.

...........................
The next invasion of Britain and incidentally the last foreign invasion of the island in
English history was in the year 1066. This invasion was far-reaching in many ways: the
invading forces were again Scandinavians, but with a difference these Norsemen called
Normans came from the north coast of France and were French speaking. Their leader
William of Normandy, known as the Conqueror, conquered the Anglo-Saxons and had a
claim on the throne of England. As his forces were victorious, William established himself
as king and set about building London's two greatest tourist attractions: The Tower of
London and. Westminster Abbey. Norman French became the language of the court, the
aristocracy of England, and the country once again became bi-lingual. We often say
history repeats itself and this is just what happened to the language: in the course of
300 years, Old English absorbed Norman French and emerged as one language, much as
had happened with Saxon and Norse before. Linguistically, the Norman Conquest meant
the domination in England of a non-Germanic language, which over a period of almost
three and a half centuries was to play a significant (although progressively decreasing)
role as a means of communication among certain sections of the population. Unlike the
Germanic Conquest of the larger part of Britain in the fifth and following centuries and
the later Scandinavian invasions, the establishment of Norman rule in England did not
lead to large-scale immigration and mass settlements of compatriots of the conquerors.

............................
As a consequence of the Norman Conquest, political and economic power became
concentrated in the hands of a small group of great feudal landlords, which included the
king himself, the clergy and the vassals of the king (feudal aristocracy).
The Normans were descendants of the "Norsemen" who had come from Scandinavia and
settled in the north of France. They had adopted French as their language. William set up
a kingdom on the island, and for three hundred years all the kings and the nobility spoke
Norman-French. Thus two languages were spoken from 1066 till early in the fourteenth
century. The result of this invasion was to modify Old English very considerably, and turn
it, in the course of the next three centuries, gradually into a compound language which is
known as Middle English.

...........................

Middle English is recognizably the ancestor of the English spoken today (which Old
English is not), and it was the common language of the inhabitants of England from
about A.D. 1150 to about A.D. 1500.
When Anglo-Saxon was mixed with Norman French there were three main results: the
grammar was simplified, the pronunciation and spelling became - and still are - much
more complicated, and the vocabulary was enormously extended. French is a Latin
language so the major part of the English vocabulary is now Latin in origin.
That is also one reason why there are so many synonyms. In pairs of words like:

11

wed - marry, fat corpulent, lively vivacious, child infant, freedom

liberty, love charity, a hearty welcome a cordial reception, the first word is
derived from Anglo-Saxon, the second, from Latin.
Norman French enriched the language and gave English its unique blend of Germanic
and Latinate structures and vocabulary. This is why today we can say the world's
population or the population of the world and why only English has different
words to distinguish the names of animals from their flesh which we eat: from the cow,
we get beef; from the calf we get veal; from the sheep, mutton; from the pig, pork;
and from the deer, venison. The names of the animals are Saxon, and the words for the
meat are from French. This is not only interesting as a point of language, but as a point
of sociology, because it reflects that the animals were raised by farmers who spoke Old
English, but eaten by the aristocrats who spoke French.

...........................
Because England was bi-lingual, many phrases appeared in the language which
contained one word of Saxon origin coupled with a word of the same meaning, coming
from French such as law and order. This way everybody knew the meaning, whether
they only understood the Old English word law or they only understood the French
ordre order. Many of these set phrases dating from the Middle Ages are just as
common today in modern English. How many politicians in Britain and in the U.S.A.
call for more law and order at election time! In the U.S. Senate, as in the British
Parliament, there is a ways and means committee to find the methods of achieving a
goal. The word ways from the Saxon the word means from the French the phrase
ways and means still common after some seven or eight hundred years in the
language. This merger of Saxon and Norman French we call Middle English.
Bilingualism obviously remained a more or less widespread phenomenon in the ranks
of the lesser nobility throughout most of the thirteen century and could even be found
in the fourteenth century.
But on the whole, the importance of French in England was declining rapidly in the
course of the fourteenth century (especially the latter half) until it approached the
status of an ordinary foreign language in the early fifteenth century, which is about
three hundred and fifty years after the Battle of Hastings.

............................
The first great English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, wrote in Middle English in the 14th
century about the same time as Dante Alighieri and Boccaccio. His best known work,
The Canterbury Tales was written in 1386 and its vocabulary reflects the blend of the
two language sources. In the following century, the printing press arrived in England
and libraries were founded at Oxford, Cambridge and in London.
The first printer, William Caxton, began to stabilize the written language and its
spelling, when he set up his printing press in the precinct of Westminster Abbey. Even
by the 15th century, Old English seemed a foreign language to him. The language was
changing even in his lifetime, which is what he wrote in 1490. As there were no more
foreign conquests of the Island the language was from then on able to develop under
its own impetus. There were no more radical changes and so the Middle English
merged imperceptibly into the Early English of Shakespeare's age and then
into the language spoken now.

12

............................
The English language was destined to become still richer and more hybrid.
The Renaissance in 1500 brought about the rediscovery of the classics, and English was
greatly enriched by a profusion of words directly taken from Latin and ancient Greek.
Words of Greek and Latin origin were adopted in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, it
has been said that the greater part of the classical dictionaries was poured into the
English language at this time and even today when a new word is needed to name a new
thing, Latin or Greek words, or syllables may be used: cinema, telephone, bicycle,
television (which is a mixture of Greek tele = from a far and Latin visus = vision), from
Latin, words like accommodate, capable, persecute, investigate and from Greek,
words like apology, climax, physical, emphasis and so on.
The flood of words from Latin and Greek did not end with the Renaissance and
whenever we have needed a new word or name, we have tended to look to the classics
to provide it from Greek: aerodrome, telegraph and telephone; from Latin: escalator,
penicillin and the prefix mini for cars and skirts, for example.
There are words of Italian origin (concerto, pavement, and potato), Dutch origin (dock,
yacht) or words taken from the Indian languages, Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Russian,
Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish and various African languages.

..........................
But back to the 16th century now, for what could be one of the greatest influences on the
English language the birth of William Shakespeare in 1564 appropriately enough on
the 23rd of April, the day dedicated to St. George Patron Saint of England. Curiously
enough, Shakespeare also died on the 23rd of April, 52 years later. It will forever be a
mystery how this man, of modest education became the greatest poet of the English
language and the worlds most produced playwright. It has been said that in the nearly
400 years since his death there has never been a day when one or more of Shakespeares
plays has not been played somewhere in the world.
But even more important, perhaps, was his contribution to the language. However
poorly educated a native English speaker may be, he cannot help using the words and
phrases created by Shakespeare they are too much a part of English. Shakespeare
gave the language, through his inventive genius, so many words, phrases and
memorable sayings which simply didnt exist before.
Today English is the richest language in the world. There are about 800 000 words. But
don't worry: you needn't learn all of them. The average speaking vocabulary of a welleducated person is 5 000 words. And if you are able to use 2 000 common English words,
you can always make yourself understood and you will get along wonderfully.

..............................................................................................................................
A language never stands still. It is always changing and developing. It is also a very
variable social phenomenon in the sense that it varies through time. For language to
keep functioning as an efficient instrument of mutual communication among the
members of a continually changing society, it must constitute a system which is nonstatic, dynamic, flexible and open in character. It originates and develops in the process
of social interaction between the members of a community. These changes are rapid in
primitive societies, but slow in advanced ones, because the invention of printing and the
spread of education have fixed traditional usage.
Adapted from Speak Up, 1987

13

ASSIGNMENT 2
After listening/reading comprehension exercise answer the
following questions in pairs!
1. Where is English mainly spoken?
2. What was the biggest invasion of Britain?
3. Who were the first foreign invaders?
4. In which parts of Great Britain have the Celtic languages still survived?
5. How is Anglo-Saxon language called by the historians?
6. State why this language is not still the language of England?
7. State some words of Germanic origin.
8. What happened after the conquest by the Northman or Vikings from Denmark?
9. What was the name of the language spoken by the Vikings?
10. What do you know about bilingualism in Great Britain?
11. What happened after Williams conquest?
12. Why it is said that history repeats itself?
13. Why is language important from sociological standpoint?
14. What languages is the present-day vocabulary of English composed of?
15. Give some examples of two words of different origin for the same thing and for the
same concept.
16. When were words of Greek and Latin origin adopted?
17. We are not free to say just what we like. Ordinary everyday conversation is narrowly
determined. It is a sort of roughly prescribed social ritual in which you generally say
what your friends expect you to say.
18. So, the world is indeed a stage and society is the author of the play. The grown man in
a modern society has to play many parts, and unless he knows his roles and his lines he
is no use in the play. If you do not know your part, there are no clues for the other and
no place for his lines either. The play then just falls through.
This is a sort of paraphrasing and analogy of Shakespeares lines from As You Like It, II,
7, 139;
All the worlds a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts.

14

LECTURE 2
Section 1
CORE TEXTS:

American English
American English versus British English

Section 2
Articles (Grammar File I)
Plural of Nouns (Grammar File I)

England and America are two countries

separated by one language.
No news is good news.
Bad news travels fast.
Go abroad and you'll hear news from home.
My house is my castle.

15

ASSIGNMENT 1

Insert articles where necessary

Auto-corrective test page 27
Spreading of ... English throughout ... World
.. English language was carried around .. globe by . .
English merchants and .. explorers; its roots were firmly
fixed in many parts of .. new continents by .. permanent
settling there of .. whole communities of .. people from
.. British Isles who took with them their institutions, their
traditions and their way of life.
Though .. spreading of .. language through other countries
of .. vast British Empire of .. 19th century was of ..
completely different nature, linked as it was to ..
overwhelming power of .. Britain's economic, political and
military strength, its influence and utility have not been refused.
On .. contrary, language and .. concepts it conveys
form one of .. most important links in .. free association of
.. Commonwealth countries.
.. cause for .. English as .. international means of ..
communication seems, nowadays, to have been taken up by ..
England's most rebellious off-spring: .. United States. ..
US position as one of .. worlds superpowers, its wealth and
economic power, reaching world-wide through its international
companies, its advanced technology, political and military
power, have given .. English language .. good lead over
other national languages which are also competing for .. first
place as .. global tongue of communication.

16

CORE TEXT 1

THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE

America is a nation of immigrants a melting pot of English, French, German,
Italian, Spanish, Scandinavian, African and many other cultures. As the country
absorbed these various peoples and turned them into Americans, most lost their
native language and customs. But no ethnic group left the American language
untouched. American English grew in vitality and variety along with the nation
itself.
The first English settlers to reach America arrived in Virginia in 1607 and in Massachusetts in
1620. They all spoke the English of the early seventeenth century the language of Shakespeare
and Milton. Most of them came originally from the south and south east of England. Although
some of them had spent some years of exile in Holland they spoke with the accents of the
southern part of their home country. To a large extent they kept that form of speech, but they
soon learned to give old words new uses. They also took words from the local Indian languages
for plants and animals that were new to them.
Until the Declaration of Independence in 1776 over two thirds of the settlers in what later became
the U.S. came from England. After that date many other peoples came to make a new life for
themselves in the New World. These included Irish, French, Germans, Dutch. Italians, Slavs, and
Scandinavians. All these peoples gave new words to the language of North America. The French
gave such words as chowder and prairie. Sleigh came from the Dutch settlers. The AfroAmericans who had been taken from Africa as slaves to work on the rice and cotton plantations
added words and structures from their own native languages. Some people today think that the
very American expression O.K. comes from a similar African expression which was brought to
America by the Afro-Americans.
Although all these people contributed in various ways to the language which was to become
American English, there is one man who can be singled out as the person who did most to give
American English an identity of its own. He was Noah Webster (1758-1843) He worked as a
teacher, lawyer, journalist and essayist; he wrote on many subjects, but his two best-known works
were his Blue-Backed Speller (1783) (a book with a blue cover used to teach and improve
spelling) and his American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). He is largely
responsible for the differences which exist today between British and American spelling. So, the
famous shift was when Webster?s Dictionary decided that it was going to give up any idea that
certain uses of words were better than other uses, and it was simply going to record usage. That
is, once something is de facto the case, then it becomes de jure the case.
Webster had a practical approach to language and he simplified many of the traditional English
spellings. For example, he wrote favor, humor, and labor for the English favour, humour and
labour. Since Webster's time many of his spellings have become acceptable in England, such as
author, tailor and visitor. Public, jail and cider in their original English versions were publick,
gaol and cyder. But there are other differences apart from vocabulary between American and
British English. The idioms of American slang are often very different from those we have in
Britain. For example, Cool it!, which is a way of telling someone to calm down.
Also, like the early settlers, Americans today are constantly inventing new words and usages to
meet their needs. They have given us the verb to televise from the noun television and combined
the words sport and broadcast to give us sportcast.

17

From American English we have all learned that we park our cars. In fact the word park was
used in a slightly different way in Shakespeare's time, but the Americans have revived it and
given it a new meaning.
In terms of pronunciation, there are three main types in America. These are New England,
General American and Southern. General American is by far the most widely used. New England
is the pronunciation which was used by John F. Kennedy. President Carter, who comes from
Georgia, speaks with a Southern accent. If you listen to a recording of these two presidents you
will be able to hear the difference quite clearly. Some American pronunciations are related to
English ones. Americans say the words dance, fast and grass like people from the North of
England with a short a.
But in spite of many small variations the three American accents do not differ greatly from one
another. One reason for this is that an important fact of American life has always been travel.
People have moved to wherever work could be found and this has tended to level out differences
in pronunciation. There are more differences in pronunciation between the various areas of
Britain than there are in the whole of North America.
During the twentieth century the differences between American and British English seem to have
been getting smaller. The reasons for this include the interchange of books and newspapers and
the large numbers of American soldiers who came to Britain in the two World Wars, importing
many American expressions. But more important today are the films, television and radio
programmes which can bring the latest American slang to Britain instantly.
There are words from many different languages in English: from Latin, French and Danish as a
result of invasions throughout history, from colonized countries like India, but also from America
and many other countries.
No other language has been so quick or willing to let itself be influenced by other languages. If
the English stumble on to a new food or thing or concept, then the word for it is quickly and
wholly taken over.
From the Italians, we have piano, opera, soprano, umbrella, influenza, fresco etc.
Two Italian navigators have a special place of honor in the American language. The name of
Christopher Columbus lives on in the District of Columbia, Columbus Day and many other
towns and cities named Columbus. Amerigo Vespucci' the first navigator to recognize America as
a new continent, gave us our name from his first name. Later Italian immigrants brought us the
names of familiar foods like pizza, spaghetti, and tutti-frutti ice cream.
From Spain we have cigar, cigarette, cork, cargo and embargo.
Spanish has contributed more words to American English than any other language. The Spaniards
had an early start at it, since they were the first Europeans to explore much of the American
continent. They gave the names to many of the natural phenomena they saw such as alligators,
buffalo, and the mesa (a high, wide tableland).
In the Southwest, which borders on Mexico, Spanish words are used for food. Later immigrants
to the U.S. from Puerto Rico and Cuba also brought more Spanish words into the language.
From Portugal, we have our marmalade, verandah etc.
From Mexico come cocoa, chocolate and tomato.
The words hammock, hurricane and maize came to England from the Caribbean.

18

Pyjamas, shampoo, bungalow and punch all came from India.

The words caravan and bazaar came from Persia.
Bamboo and gong are Malaysian words.
Australia provided boomerang, kangaroo and cockatoo.
From the Dutch we have yacht, deck, skipper, and cruise, smuggle and sketch.
In the seventeenth century, New York City was known as New Amsterdam. The early Dutch
settlers on the East coast introduced into the language such words as boss, hunky (which has
become hunky-dory = fine, satisfactory), and Santa Claus from Sant Klaas , or Saint Nicholas.
Because American colonists appreciated Dutch baking, the language picked up words like cookie,
from the Dutchword for little cake and waffle, a crisp pancake baked in a waffle iron.
And we shouldn't forget that large numbers of Germans emigrated to the States during the
nineteenth century, bringing with them the food and customs of their homeland. Frankfurters and
hamburgers are two of the most popular American foods today. We also love to eat pretzels,
pumpernickel, sauerkraut and other treats purchased at a delicatessen.
frankfurter a small sausage also known as a wiener or hot dog
hamburger a ground beef sandwich, from Hamburg.
Also, from the German language
come Rucksack, Wanderlust, Weltanschauung,
Kindergarten and Schadenfreude.
There are still countless words alive from the old language of the British Isles, Celtic: ass, cairn,
clan, plaid, flannel, druid, bard, galore and, of course, whisky.
The English language has never stood still. It is still changing: it is shaped by those who speak it
all the time.
The Jewish immigrants loaned us schnozzle, bagel and nosh. The Scandinavians brought a
smorgasbord of foods and customs with them. Some of the words which survived the suppression
of the native African languages are gumbo and voodoo.
pretzel
a brittle, salted cracker in form of a loose knot
pumpernickel
rye bread
sauerkraut
sour cabbage
delicatessen
a store that sells food delicacies
schnozzle
a large nose
bagel
a hard, chewy bread
nosh
a snack between meals
smorgasbord
a buffet offering a wide variety of foods
gumbo
a thick soup
voodoo
magic or sorcery
District of Columbia the area of land on which the nation's capital, Washington, is situated.
tutti-frutti
all fruits
French explorers left an early mark on the American language as well. In Canada and the
northern part of the U.S., French trappers and fur traders known as voyageurs, or FrenchCanadian boatsmen and fur traders who explored much of the American continent for the first
time carried their language with their canoes from river to lake and across portages, i.e. land
between lakes over which boats have to be carried. These same adventurers gave the vast
grassland in the continental interior its name the prairie. Way down in New Orleans, the
French established their customs and language, e.g. Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday
before Lent has become a time when the city erupts into a festival of merrymaking and parades.
In the French Quarter of the city, residents-and tourists dine on excellent French cuisine.
Some passages are adapted from the text written by HUGH CORRIGAN in BBC English

19

Today, American English has a lot of influence on the development of the English language.
Are the American and English varieties of English very different? Are they becoming more
widely separated? The two languages have drifted apart in 200 years, and it is fairly obvious
that they will continue to drift apart. However, many linguist disagree with this statement.
Global communication is increasing, they say, and so the different varieties of English will
converge, rather than drift apart. Time will tell. What do you think?
Languages are changing all the time, of course, and the English language is no exception. Some
people welcome change as healthy; other people regard it as inevitable, but do not welcome it;
still other people welcome certain changes but not all; and still other people regard all change as
bad. Those of the last type would like to see the language as invariant. But language is not
like that luckily .
Constantly, in language, we are provided with a range of constructions and a range of words
which will enable us to be friendly at one moment, to be dignified, to be haughty, to be hurtful
even. A single form of language is not really able to do all those things. This is what human
language is about this adaptability.

Answer the following questions!

Should we try to stop languages changing?

Could we do it, even if we wanted to?
How do you decide what is correct and what is incorrect in a language?
Who can or should decide this?
Do you find it easy to understand different varieties of English British and
American, for example?

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20

CORE TEXT 2
BRITISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH
Listening to spoken English, can you tell American from British English?
Do you prefer the sound of British to American English? If so, why? And why not?

Jot down American equivalents for the British words in the text!
So which is correct - "theater", or "theatre", "center" or "centre", "labor" or "labour" color/colour,
fiber/fibre, neighbor/neighbour, sulfur/sulphur, favorite/favourite?
But this variety is not only confusing for the reader. For a copy editor, the differences between the two
versions of English can be a nightmare. Most people know that the Americans say "sidewalk" for the
British "pavement", or "subway" for "underground"; for example, in the past we've had "bond" (BE bail),
"dumpster" (BE rubbish container, skip) or "realtor" (BE estate agent), all words which are not used in
Britain. Besides, the word enjoin in British English means give an order for, urge, command, and in
American English to prohibit, especially by legal injunction, forbid; when the British say to table (a
motion) they mean to submit for discussion or consideration, whereas the Americans mean to
postpone indefinitely the discussion or consideration of (a legislative bill, motion, etc).
It can work the other way too - when listening to two English girls discussing a new rucksack one had
bought, an American bystander said: "Pardon me (American for excuse me), what's a rucksack?" She
only knew "backpack".
Often when a letter is doubled in British English, it appears singly in American English, for example:
traveling/travelling, instalment/installment. But just when you think you've understood the trick, they
then double a letter where the British only have one, as in enroll/ enrol. A word like program/me
presents the problem that even the British use the shortened version in the world of computers.
You'll read words like "percent", "defense", "check", "movie" in an article on New York, but "per cent",
"defence" "cheque" and "film" in one from London.
The United States and Britain are two countries divided by a common language. An American colleague
recalls a Canadian friend of his mother who tried to buy diapers in a store during a visit to the United
States. She asked the clerk for "nappies". The clerk gave her napkins. The woman said, no, she wanted
"nappies". The clerk kept handing her napkins. They did eventually straighten it out. Lucky for the
woman's baby.
Sometimes we run into trouble when we write our stories. We avoid the word "mad" because it means
"crazy" to a Briton but means "angry" to Americans. When writing about parliaments and their doings
Americans stay away from the verb "table", which means "introduce legislation or submit for discussion
or consideration" to the British colleagues but means "postpone action of a legislative bill" to the
Americans. Similarly, to enjoin in British English means to order someone or impose with authority,
enforce, by legal injunction, whereas in American English it means to prohibit, especially by legal
injunction.
Actually, it's a complete myth that American English is much richer and more varied than British
English. The British absorb all the Americanisms, and then add a medley of regional and slang variations
of their own.
"American English" (AE) and "British English" (BE) means that when I mention a truck, elevator,
streetcar, and apartment for my American clients, I must render that is a lorry, lift, tram and flat for my
British customers. Also to contact in B.E. is to get into touch with somwbody.
Similarly, an American "undershirt" is a British "vest", an American "buddy" is a British "mate". Then
there is the problem of spelling, with Britain's "labour" becoming America's "labor", as just one example.
We have to worry about group nouns, which in AE generally take a singular verb but in BE a plural verb.
Thus, in AE "the government has" but in BE, "the government have", although a change may be
forthcoming -I heard a BBC "news reader" (in AE, "news announcer") use the singular the other night.

21

2.1 Write American counterparts for the following grammatical

structures,
words, and spelling:

British English

American English

I've lost my umbrella. Have you seen it?

I've just had lunch.
She has already left.
She hasn't finished her work yet.
Have you ever ridden a donkey?
I have never seen it before.
British speakers have a bath, a shower, a holiday, a break American speakers
Which film shall we watch?
We needn't hurry.
She demanded that I should apologise.
They insisted that it should be well organised.
My friend was injured and taken to hospital.
I went to prison to visit him.
She often goes to church.
Dinamo/ the team /like government/ police/ family are doing well.
At the weekend/at weekends
At the front/at the back
Do you live in this street?
Do you get on well with your new colleague?
My bedroom looks great now that it has been done up.
It has got better, it was burnt, spelt etc.
Please write to me soon.
Please, fill in this form.
She turned (a)round.
Apologise, organise, specialise
travelling, cancelling
theater, centre, labour
colour, fibre, neighbourgh
sulphur, favourite
pavement, underground
Excuse me, what's a backpack?
installment
enroll
to program a computer
per cent, defence, cheque and film
mad
to table
mate

news reader
N. B.
kukuruzni kruh i palenta in B.E. mean maize-meal bread and maize-meal porridge and in A.E. cornpone and mush
or cornmeal mush.
In American English we say: It is a very good motion (= proposal to be discussed and voted on at a meeting), why
do you want to table it (put it ad acta) ? However, in British English it means introduce legislation.

22

ASSIGNMENT 2.2:Fill in the correct British equivalent from the list below
for each italicized American word. The following description is written in
American English.
articulated lorries, bonnet, diversion, petrol, lorry, dual carriage-way,
garage,
motorway, overtaking, windscreen,
roundabout,
traffic light,
wing mirror

We took the freeway .. out of New York but soon got onto a
smaller divided highway in New Jersey. The traffic was heavy and cars
and trailer trucks .. kept passing ...........
us. Soon, ahead of us, we saw a detour sign just before a
traffic circl . It was confusing, so we pulled off the road into a gas station
.. . We asked for some gas and directions. The attendant
washed our windshield opened the hood to check the
oil, and gave us directions. He pointed to a stop light . .... . where a truck
was turning left. He said that was the correct route. After carefully watching the
rear view mirror . we pulled back on the road.
WORD LIST
Freewayhighway with several lanes
articulated lorries
zglobom vezani kamion
trailer truck
transport vehicle hauled by a truck
bonnet
poklopac auto-motora, hauba
(dual) carriage way
BE cesta, trak na kolniku; divided highway
diversion
skretanje
traffic diversions
when traffic is directed by different routes because of road repairs
motorway
autostrada; road built especially for fast traffic, with dual
carriageways and going over or under other roads
roundabout
zaobilaznica; traffic circle
detour
a way used when the main road is blocked, diversion
traffic light
prometno svjetlo, semafor; stop light

ASSIGNMENT 2.3: CAR PARTS.

Connect the British word to its American equivalent.
BE
1. bonnet
2. windscreen
3. tyre
4. boot
5. wing
6. accelerator pedal
7. indicator light
8. indicator switch
9. gear lever
10. wing mirror
11. registration number
12. number plate
13. petrol tank
14. rear light
15. silencer

AE
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
o.

trunk
tire
gear shift
gas tank
license plate
hood
side-view mirror
windshield
taillight or rear light
fender
muffler
gas pedal
left/right-turn light
turn signal
license number

nswers: freeway motorway; divided highway dual carriageway; trailer trucks articulated lorries; passing
overtaking; detour diversion; traffic circle roundabout; gas station garage; gas petrol; windshield
windscreen; hood bonnet; stop light traffic light; truck lorry; rear view mirror wing mirror.

23

AUTO CORRECTION

The Spreading of English throughout the World

The English language was carried around the globe
by English merchants and explorers; its roots were firmly fixed in many
parts of the new continents by the permanent settling there of whole
communities of people from the British Isles who took with them their
institutions, their traditions and their way of life.
Though the spreading of the language through other countries of
the vast British Empire of the 19th century was of a completely
different nature, linked as it was to the overwhelming power of Britain's
economic, political and military strength, its influence and utility have
not been refused. On the contrary, the language and the concepts it
conveys form one of the most important links in the free association of
the Commonwealth countries.
The cause for English as an international means of
communication seems, nowadays, to have been taken up by England's
most rebellious off-spring: the United States. The US position as one of
the worlds superpowers, its wealth and economic power, reaching
world-wide through its international companies,
its advanced technology, political and military power, have given the
English language a good lead over other national languages which are
also competing for first place as a global tongue of communication.

FORUM QUESTIONS
Which variety of English should a foreign student choose
to learn, British English or American English?
The separate and divergent growth of the American and
British peoples have brought about differences mainly
of a lexical character but which have also affected the
grammatical structure, pronunciation and accents.

24

LECTURE 3
Section 1
OATH OF THE ENGINEER

Section 2
ENGINEERING ETHICS AND
TECHNICAL FAILURES
ALGORITHM FOR EFFICIENT READING

1st reading vertical for global information.

2nd reading pay attention to transparent words and make
predictions about the topic.
3rd reading analytic and linear for detailed information

The dress is not the man.

Honesty is the best policy.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking
it.
Empty sacks will never stand upright.

25

CORE TEXT 1

OATH/FAITH OF THE ENGINEER

I am an Engineer. In my profession I take deep pride, but without vainglory; to it I
owe solemn obligations that I am eager to fulfil.
As an Engineer, I will participate in none but honest enterprise. To him that has
engaged my services, as employer or client; I will give the utmost of performance and
fidelity.
When needed, my skill and knowledge shall be given without reservation for the
public good. From special capacity springs the obligation to use it well in the service
of humanity: and I accept the challenge that this implies.
Jealous of the high repute of my calling, I will strive to protect the interests and the
good name of any engineer that I know to be deserving; but I will not shrink, should
duty dictate, from disclosing the truth regarding anyone that, by unscrupulous act,
has shown himself unworthy of the profession.
Since the Age of Stone, human progress has been conditioned by the genius
of my professional forebears. By them have been rendered usable to mankind
Nature's vast resources of material and energy. By them have been vitalized and
turned to practical account the principles of science and the revelations
of technology. Except for this heritage of accumulated experience, my efforts would
be feeble. I dedicate myself to the dissemination of engineering knowledge, and.
especially, to the instruction of younger members of my profession in all its arts and
traditions.
To my fellows I pledge, in the same full measure I ask of them, integrity
and fair dealing, tolerance and respect, and devotion to the standards and
the dignity of our profession; with the consciousness, always, that our special
expertness carries with it the obligation to serve humanity with complete sincerity.
Note: The "Faith of the Engineer" was presented to the Eleventh Annual Meeting of Engineers Council for
Professional Development by the Committee on Principles of Engineering Ethics and received unanimous
approval.
N.B. Hippocratic Oath is the oath generally taken by students receiving a medical degree: it is attributed to
Hippocrates and sets forth an ethical code for the medical profession.

DICTATION

Engineers should now strive to comply with the principles of sustainable development and be
morally obliged to provide and maintain healthy environment for future generations. Also,
adverse consequences of technology can nowadays be regarded as ethically unacceptable
because technology is nothing more than an area of interaction between ourselves as
individuals and our environment. Thus, engineers need to be aware as to how their work will
affect society in the future.

26

Assignment 1.1
Translate and discuss this oath.
Study this WORDLIST
canon
ethics
uphold, upheld, upheld
impartial
strive, strove, striven
vainglory

jealous of
vigilant
solicitous
forebear
revelation
feeble
disseminate
pledge
solemn
obligation
enterprise
spring, sprang, sprung
shrink, shrank, shrunk
commitment

general standard or principle by which something

judged; the canons of conduct (norma, mjerila)
science of morals
support or approve
fair in giving judgments not favoring one more
than another (nepristran)
struggle
extreme vanity or pride in oneself; excessive
elation or pride over ones own achievements
and abilities; boastful vanity, empty pomp or
show; (pobjedonosnost, tatina, hvalisavost)
taking watchful care; solicitous or vigilant in
maintaining or guarding something;
keenly watchful to detect danger, awake and alert
careful
ancestor, forefather (predak)
revealing, making known of something secret or
hidden
weak, without energy
distribute or spread widely ideas, doctrines
promise
(uzvien, svean)
moral responsibility
a business firm
to make known or cause to appear suddenly,
unexpectedly
to draw back, withdraw, to move back and away
a pledge or promise to do something

Assignment 1.2 Justify the use of the PASSIVE in the

following paragraph
and turn the sentences into the ACTIVE:
Since the Age of Stone, human progress has been conditioned by the genius of my
professional forebears. By them have been rendered usable to mankind Nature's vast
resources of material and energy. By them have been vitalized and turned to practical
account the principles of science and the revelations of technology.
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
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27

Assignment 1.3
ENGINEERING ETHICS
1. INTRODUCTION
The Oath of the Engineer, was presented to the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Engineers'
Council for Professional Development by the Committee on Principles of Engineering Ethics
and received unanimous approval. The American Engineers' Council for Professional
Development or simply, the Engineers' Council for Professional Development, ECPD was
established in June 1932. Conversely, a formalized engineering oath of ethics does not exist
in Croatia. Besides, there are no professional oaths in Croatia except for the Hippocratic
Oath, also called the Genevas Oath, established in 1948.
2. ETHICS OF THE ENGINEERS OATH
Ethics, in accordance with Websters Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary, is that branch of
philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and
wrongness of certain actions and to the integrity and falsity of the motives and intentions of
such actions.
Engineering ethics is a type of professional ethics and, as such, must be distinguished from
personal ethics and ethical obligations, which one may have as a holder of other social roles.
Engineering ethics is concerned with the question of what the standards in engineering
ethics should be and how to apply these standards to particular situations. [1]
The Oath begins with the following sentence:
I AM AN ENGINEER.

In Croatian, engineer is both a job and a title whereas engineering, a very old activity and
trade, is a relatively young profession or academic discipline in Croatia.
In my profession I take deep pride, but without vainglory; to it I owe solemn obligations that
I am eager to fulfill.

The engineering profession is a prestigious vocation and calling, which is of paramount

importance for our society. However, engineers should neither show excessive elation and
pride over their own achievements in their profession, nor keep monopoly of the profession
as a status symbol. The moral responsibility and obligations toward society as a whole come
first. Most codes emphasize professional prestige rather than moral responsibility,
obligation, environmental stability and sustainability promotion. The termsustainable
development, first popularized by the World Commission on Environment and
Development, sponsored by the United Nations, is defined as development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs.[5]
As an Engineer, I will participate in none but honest enterprise.

Honesty is an essential component of trust in stating claims or assessments based on

attainable data. Some codes of ethics imply that, without trust, an organization cannot

28

function effectively. Both professional responsibility and autonomy of engineers versus

managers are to be addressed by the code of an oath.

To him that has engaged my services, as employer or client, I will give the utmost of
performance and fidelity.
.
.
Many engineers face, however, the dilemma of loyalty to their company and employer
versus their responsibility to society as a whole.
When needed, my skill and knowledge shall be given without reservation for the public
good.
...

The welfare of the public i.e. the public good (ope dobro) should be held paramount by the
engineers. What is implied by the public good? The semantic meaning of the public good
implies an ethical notion of the good and welfare in political decision-making and this
meaning should not be confused with the economic concept of public goods (javna dobra)
although these two concepts are very similar. The public good encompasses public health
and welfare programs, education, research and development, national and domestic
security, roads, and a clean environment.
One example of an irrational approach to the public good and irrational development of
public goods (pay attention to various meanings of these two phrases) is the Three Gorges
Dam in China, which spans the Yangtze River. With the reservoir over 600 km long, it is
known as the largest hydroelectric river dam and the largest hydro-electric power station in
the world. Although there are economic benefits of flood control and hydroelectric power, a
lot of ethical issues have been raised, because the impact of the dam on the environment is
irreversible; the region's wildlife, water quality, local residents valuable archeological and
cultural sites, as well as ecological damage like landslides, soil erosion, water pollution,
conflicts caused by land and water shortage have all been affected.
We wonder if our environment can be sacrificed in exchange for temporary economic
prosperity. Anyway, should this oath of the engineer be modified to include a reference to
the environment?
As an example, we can mention the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) Code,
which states that engineers should be committed to improving the environment to enhance
the quality of life and that engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of
the public and shall strive to comply with the principles of sustainable development in the
performance of their professional duties. The IEEE code of Ethics, (The IEEE Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) the world's leading professional association for the
advancement of technology, states that the members of the IEEE commit themselves to the
highest ethical and professional conduct and agree to accept responsibility in making
decisions consistent with the safety, health and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly
factors that might endanger the public or the environment; it was approved by the IEEE Board
of Directors in 2006.
So, the word environment is explicitly mentioned. The oath of the engineer has a short
linguistic form and, therefore, requires effective semantic and clear communication that
should not result in lack of communication or under-estimation of the canons of ethics.

29

When a new technology is introduced, its potential unintended consequences are unknown
until decades later.
That is why we have to improve the understanding of new technology, technical
competence, and its appropriate application.
When implementing new technologies, engineers must consider physical and environmental
safety. In this context, we have to keep in mind that Man and the environment significantly
influence one another. Everything is closely intertwined and the earths interconnected
ecosystems are under extreme pressure. That is why the responsibility of the engineering
profession is to sustain the balance in nature. Life and the environment evolve together as a
single system so that not only does the species that leaves the most progeny tend to inherit
the environment but also the environment that favors the most progeny is itself sustained.
[7] James Lovelock formulated the Gaia Hypothesis, which provides an interesting idea of
the interaction of physical, chemical, geological and biological processes on Earth.
From special capacity springs the obligation to use it well in the service of humanity: and I
accept the challenge that this implies.

The challenge mentioned in the faith or faith is nothing more than a compromise between
less health, safety and welfare and more health, safety and welfare for the money spent.
But how to make a compromise between progress and ecology, between reliability and
ecology, between technically practical, viable, safe and economic requirements, between
moral responsibility to people and the whole environment and obligations to future
generations.
However, we have challenged nature so far. Therefore, we could now supplement this code
with the word Nature and say that we shall use our knowledge in the service of humanity and
Nature:
Since there is a universal conception of nature, and since the universe is presumed to have a
nature, [8] the word nature conveys a lot of meanings which are related just as Nature in its
totality conveys relatedness. This is the most comprehensive word which can be applicable
always and everywhere.
Jealous of the high repute of my calling, I will strive to protect the interests and the good
name of any engineer that I know to be deserving; but I will not shrink, should duty dictate,
from disclosing the truth regarding anyone that, by unscrupulous act, has shown himself
unworthy of the profession.
..

Ethical standards are embodied in the oath of the engineer and it is implied that if ones
manager, employer or superior do not act to undo, curb or mitigate dangers of serious
personal or social damage, it is necessary to offer honest criticism or even blow the
whistle, so as to reduce the risk, to acknowledge and correct errors, violations or negative
consequences as much as possible. The ethical inner judgment should be the final decisive
guide in deciding whether or not to blow a whistle. Being a matter of integrity and
honesty, ethical principals should always take greater priority.

30

Engineering professionals must minimize malfunctions, any serious harm to others, any
environmental impact and if necessary, advice should be sought from other engineering
professions. To avoid causing harm to society, engineering professionals have enormous
responsibility to define appropriate and inappropriate use of engineering resources, systems
and technology.
Since the Age of Stone, human progress has been conditioned by the genius of my
professional forebears. By them have been rendered usable to mankind Nature's vast
resources of material and energy. By them have been vitalized and turned to practical
account the principles of science and the revelations of technology.
Except for this heritage of accumulated experience, my efforts would be feeble.

Does human progress represent conflicts of values? Technology was seen by our ancestors
as a force for controlling a hostile nature and not as a threat or harm that could be inflicted
upon nature. The oath focuses on our professional forefathers i.e. on the past. However,
engineers have obligations to future generations who could be harmed by irresponsible
engineering activities. It may take decades and generations for products and facilities to
have adverse effects; e.g. according to United Nations Environment Programme, (Ozone
Secretariat) air pollution and global warming are instances where the damage done today is
so irreparable that even if we begin to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and ozone
layer depletion now, the effects will be felt over the next 300 years. Definitely, humaninduced climate change has ethical dimensions.
I dedicate myself to the dissemination of engineering knowledge, and especially, to the
instruction of younger members of my profession in all its arts and traditions.

Engineering professionals have a responsibility to share technical knowledge and

professional development, not only with younger members, colleagues and co-workers but
also with the public.
To my fellows I pledge, in the same full measure I ask of them, integrity and fair dealing,
tolerance and respect, and devotion to the standards and the dignity of our profession; with
the consciousness, always, that our special expertness carries with it the obligation to serve
humanity with complete sincerity.

Professional competence, personal accountability for professional work, confidentiality of

information, honesty, integrity and fair dealing and the contributions of others must be
honored, properly credited and obligated not only by the oath of the engineer but also by
contract or by law. Bribery must be rejected and malicious action such as injuring others
avoided. All persons will be treated equally without regard to age, gender, race, religion,

31

disability, or national origin. Immoral and unethical rules and laws must be challenged by all
engineers.
In conclusion we can say that the existing oaths wording is inadequate in addressing many
engineers as guardians of the environment for future generations. The political expression
public good and the expression humanity neither place the ecological consciousness of the
engineers in the first place nor address the problem of maintaining environmental quality
properly.
Consequently, professional normative standards are not abstract moral philosophies. An
oath of the type that is discussed in this article, determines the ethical foundation of a
profession, in terms of the actual content or meaning of the words that are uttered. In this
case, one can see that it gives engineers an ethical grounding which they can rely upon, or
refer to, in terms of ethical decision making whilst carrying out their professional career.
Taken from Engineering
Review

Some additional information can be found on:

http://www.ieee.org/about/ethics/index.html
http://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/p7-8.html

1.4

Discuss the following questions:

1. What is the Faith of the Engineer? What does this oath determine?
2. The principle line of argument we offer is that the oath's wording does not pay enough
attention to the environment. Where are these gray areas of this oath?
3. Should the oath treat the ethical duty that engineers have towards the environment?
4. Is the code deficient in terms of the attention it pays to the environment?
5. How could you substantiate your argument?
6. Can the wording public good be misinterpeted?
7. Consider
the complexity of the tripartite relation between society, the
environment and the engineer, which can provide fuel for further discussion.
8. Do engineers need to be aware as to how their work will affect society in the future?
Consider the following arguments below and discuss!
When we take into consideration that engineers are often unable to predict with
certainty as to how their projects will affect the environment in the long term, one
becomes aware of how balancing the needs between society and the environment is an
extremly tricky one.
We are therefore compelled into thinking more about how engineers have to find the
difficult balance between attending to the needs of present society and the needs of
society in the future. This raises a number of moral/ethical questions about whose
interests engineers should primarily serve (present society or future generation).

32

1. Is the wording of this oath a thought-provoking because of our wider concern

about the place of ethics in the engineering profession?
2. What would you say about the actual practice of taking an oath?
3. Does an oath of the type presented in this article determine the ethical
foundation of a profession, in terms of the actual content or meaning of the
words that are uttered?
4. Does it give an ethical grounding which engineers can rely upon, or refer to, in
terms of ethical decission making whilst carrying out their profession?
It also highlights to those taking the oath that they have an ethical responsibility
in their professional career.
5. Would you feel more like engineers or would you feel the same if you were
required to take the oath? Compare it with other professions (such as medicine).
6. How far are competing institutions and countries really committed to the ideals of
ethical recruitment? In the increasing competition, the pressure is on almost every
one and in almost every field to sell (knowledge, products etc.). There could be a
risk of students and people being misled.

1.5

Discuss the questions below and think about your

own conclusions concerning the text Faith of the
Engineer. Jot them down.

1. Is engineering ethics important for society as a whole?

2. How could engineers responsibility for safe design be nurtured?
3. How could we manage risk better?
4. Can we protect ourselves from unscrupulous competitors by setting high product
standards?
5. Are engineers morally required to act on the basis of professional codes and
canons?
6. Are they required to assume ethical responsibility for their activity?
7. Do you agree that the best basis for ethical responsibility is regulation and law?
8. Do you think that the oath of the engineer is unnecessary because engineers, in
general, have an inner moral duty and conscience not to deceive?
9. If a product or structure is an enormous hazard, do we have a duty through our
individual consciousness to make the problem public or do we have to protect our
organization or company?

33

10. Should the Oath of the Engineer also embody the ethical commitments of
engineering professionals and reflect moral values and principles which are to be
put into practice.
11. Do you agree with the statement that the oath tells us what engineers stand for
when conducting business and that it enhances the sense of community among
members, of belonging to a group with common values and a common mission? [3]
12. Do you also agree with the fact that the oath of the engineer deserves our special
attention because there are increasingly important new issues in engineering
professions lately?
13. Do you agree with the following statements?
In answers to the question why engineering schools and organizations in Croatia
should draw up the oath of the engineer and codes of the engineer, we can say:

1.6

to show moral maturity and responsibilities;

to promote high standards of engineering practice and sustainable
development;
to show that the profession's ethical standards conform to common
regulations and law;
to show that the professions ethical standards can even transcend
commonly accepted morality because ethical issues in new technologies
must be resolved.

WRITE A SHORT CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH

Probably the shortest paragraph of an essay, the conclusion should be brief and
to the point. It's worth pointing out that a good writer avoids a blatant repetition
of the thesis statement. Repeating the thesis, word for word, in the conclusion
seems lazy and is not very interesting. The conclusion should provide a
restatement of the thesis, and perhaps a solution to the problem. It is best to
restate the ideas using different language, perhaps even to create a sort of
dramatic effect that comes from repetition.

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ASSIGNMENT 1.7
Ethical Issues in New Technologies Must Be Resolved.
Investigate with great thoroughness the article written in
Croatian
Jo se ne zna dovoljno o uincima nanoznanosti. to je nanotehnologija?
Podruje primijenjene znanosti i tehnologije kojoj je zajedniko kontroliranje ma-terije na
razini atoma i molekula, najee od 1 do 100 nanometara (milijunti dio milimetra), te
proizvodnja ureaja i strojeva ije su dimenzije unutar tih parametara.
Europska komisija predloila je zemljama lanicama da usvoje kodeks ponaanja u
istraivanju nanoznanosti i nanotehnologije, budui da ne postoji dovoljno informacija o
njihovom uincima na ljudsko zdravlje i okoli a postoje i neka etika pitanja o potivanju
temeljnih prava, istaknuto je u priopenju.
Komisija smatra da je Europa predvodnik u nanoznanosti i nanotehnologiji, znanstvenom
podruju koje je u punom zamahu i koje bi moglo imati velike negativne uinke u ekonomskom, socijalnom ili ekolokom smislu, te se stoga predlae kodeks ponaanja koji
bi se trebao primjenjivat i u tom podruju.
Naa snaga djelomino lei i u pozornosti koju pridajemo odgovornom razvoju i uporabi tih
tehnologija. Kodeks ponaanja je instrument koji je izradila Komisija nakon javne rasprave.
Kodeks e omoguiti da se lak odgovori na legitimnu zabrinutost koju nanotehnologije mogu
izazvati - izjavio je povjerenik za istraivanje i razvoj Janez Potonik. Prema prijedlogu
kodeksa, razvoj i uporaba nanotehnologija moraju bili razumljivi iroj javnosti i potovati
ljudska prava. Pri primjeni tehnologija mora se voditi rauna o interesima drutva i
pojedinaca. Zahtijeva se takoer i da te tehnologije budu sigurne, da potuju etika naela i
pridonose odrivom razvoju.

Comment on ETHICAL ISSUES IN NEW TECHNOLOGIES!

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ASSIGNMENT 1.8

Whistleblowing
When an employee discovers unethical, immoral or illegal actions at work, the employee
makes a decision about what to do with this information. Whistleblowing is the term used to
define an employees decision to disclose this information to an authority figure (boss, media
or government official).
The purpose of this chapter is to learn more about how employees make their decisions to
come forward with potentially damaging information and in turn, avoid potentially
unethical employers.

35

Is whistle blowing regarded as responsible behavior towards the public?

Should whistle blowers receive legal protection or should they be regardedas
obstructionists?
Can whistle-blowing be justified by arguments using a moral theory?
Are engineers whistle-blowing rights protected in Croatia?
When should an employee blow the whistle? When should he or she "keep
quiet"?

Experts have set guidelines for whistleblowing. Some of those are listed
below.
This list is a guideline that will help an employee to determine if a situation merits
whistleblowing. Discuss them by using your own explanation
1.
Magnitude of consequences
An employee considering whistleblowing must ask himself or herself these questions: How
much harm has been done or might be done to victims? Will the victims really be
"beneficiaries"? If one person is or will be harmed, it is unlikely to be a situation that warrants
whistleblowing.
2.
Probability of effect
The probability that the action will actually take place and will cause harm to many people
must be considered. An employee should be very sure that the action in question will actually
happen. If the employee does not know if the action will happen and if the action will harm
people (or the environment), the employee should reconsider his or her plan to blow the
whistle. In addition, the employee must have absolute proof that the event will occur and that
people (or the environment) will be harmed.
3.
Temporal immediacy
An employee must consider the length of time between the present and the possibly harmful
event. An employee must also consider the urgency of the problem in question. The more
immediate the consequences of the potentially unethical practice, the stronger the case for
whistleblowing.
4.
Proximity
The physical closeness of the potential victims must be considered. For example, a company
that is depriving workers of medical benefits in a nearby town has a higher proximity than one
1,000 miles away. The question arises about matters of emotional proximity or situations in
which the ethical question relates to a victim with some emotional attachment to the
whistleblower.
By Lizabeth England; English Teaching Forum Online

Background Information
Whistleblowing leads to good and bad results. First, the benefits of carefully considered
whistleblowing can lead to the end of unethical business practices. The lives of individuals and
whole communities have been saved by whistleblowers. Severe damage to the environment
has been stopped by the actions of one individual who blew the whistle on an unethical
employer. Here are some examples of serious ethical violations that have resulted in
whistleblowing.

36

These examples represent significant consequences to businesses:

Dumping of toxic waste

Padding an expense report
Violating laws about hiring and firing
Violating laws about workplace safety
Violating health laws which lead to documented illness and even death

The actions of whistleblowers are potentially beneficial to society. Businesses that engaged in
unethical practices have been shut down because of the actions of whistleblowers. Lives have
been saved, and severe damage to the environment has been averted because of the courage
and persistence of whistleblowers.
At the same time, an employee who witnesses unethical business practices at work may want
to think carefully before making the decision to inform an authority of the practice. The
consequences of whistleblowing are often extreme and include possible firing, civil action, or
even imprisonment. Furthermore, an employee may want to follow the rule of "chain of
command" that is, begin to discuss issues of whistleblowing with his or her immediate
supervisor first, before discussing the matter with anyone else.). Company loyalty is an
internationally held value. Employees want positive work environments. Most workers do not
like to have disagreements with their bosses. At the same time, bosses and managers do not
want employees to complain to others in the workplace about a problem that the manager
might be able to solve. Complaining to ones colleagues can be harmful to morale and should
not be confused with careful thinking and action on behalf of unethical business practices. One
companys unethical practices were uncovered by an employee who was later fired for
"blowing the whistle." No employee wants to be branded as having bad judgment.

ASSIGNMENT 1.9
CONCLUSION
Discuss the importance of the following arguments that
employees and employers should take into consideration:

foster the open communication;

be aware of and obey the laws and regulations;
manage their business in compliance with local and international laws and
regulations, and highstandards of morale and ethics;
respects and preserve the environment in accordance with the specific local
and international regulations;
employees should be encouraged to exercise their rights;
be committed to develop a professional relationship based on openness,
respect, confidentiality;
promote fair competition and legal behavior among competitors;
encourage diversity and respect the culture and business practices in every
country;
act in accordance with anti-corruption laws;
protect confidential and proprietary information and communicate it only
when it is necessary for conducting our business;
not use this information for personal advantage;

37

respect ethical code and adhere to the highest standards of ethical behavior
and business conduct ;
be cmmitted to meet all laws and regulations designed to promote fair
competition and legal behavior among competitors;
respect business relations with our dealers, resellers and other partners;
not restrain the free trade;
not obstruct competition;
develop our products and services in order to meet the expectations, needs
and requirements of our customers, partners and shareholders,
do our best for improving our portfolio of products and services;
protect our assets, including intellectual and physical property;
use all resources and assets in group's interest;
comply with all laws and regulations that govern and protect our own and
others' intellectual property rights;
be committed to avoid any conflict of interests in performing their activities,
inside the organization or outside of it;
develop a professional relationship with each other based on openness and
respect;
provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants as well as equal
treatment for all employees;
develop a professional relationship with each other based on openness and
respect.

ASSIGNMENT 10
Write a short conclusion paragraph using the above arguments
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38

Section 2
ENGINEERING ETHICS AND
TECHNICAL FAILURES
Discuss risk management and technical failures in
groups

Any technical disaster and failures could be classified

into the following groups with:
the role of the human operator, technical design,
organizational systems, and the role of sociocultural factors.
In recent years, numerous engineers have faced ethical
dilemmas in which engineering judgments ultimately led to
technological disasters. The various technical design flaws and
technical miscalculations are cases in point.
Some of the risks now confronting humanity are global in
nature and cannot be mitigated by individual countries or even
by regional communities. Unlike the risks of previous
civilizations, technological disasters are rooted in ecologically
destructive industrialization and are global, pervasive, longterm, incalculable, and often unknown.

Have a deep scrutiny and analyse radioactivity, chemical

contamination, and other risks

39

Presentation 1
Bhopal poison gas release
In 1984, a poisonous cloud of methyl isocyanate, a chemical compound used to make
pesticides, escaped and passed over the town of Bhopal, India, eventually causing the
deaths of an estimated 14,000 people. In addition, more than 30,000 permanent injuries
(including blindness), 20,000 temporary injuries, and 150,000 minor injuries were
reported.

The Bhopal disaster may not have happened

if the refrigeration unit had not been disconnected;

if all gauges had been properly working;
if the proper safety steps had been taken upon the immediate detection of the deadly methyl
isocyanate instead of waiting an hour or so to do anything about it;
if the vent scrubber had been in service;
if the water sprays had been designed to shoot high enough to douse the emissions;
if the flare tower had been of sufficient capacity.
Such obvious violations of basic safety procedures were the unintended consequences of the
decision to cut costs.

.
...

Presentation 2
Do you remember The Paris DC-10

case which raised a host of organizational,

professional, and ethical issues because top management, a subcontractor that designed the cargo
door, had known about the faulty design from memoranda circulated by a senior vice president of
engineering, warning of the likelihood of a crash?
Do you know that management at McDonnell Douglas, the company that designed and
manufactured the DC-10 jumbo jet, as well as managing directors knew of the potentially deadly
problems associated with the rear cargo doors of the DC-10?
Consequently, they all became aware of the problem after an incident in 1972 over Windsor,
Ontario, where a DC-10 had to make an emergency landing when its rear cargo door blew open.
Did you read the news that On May 25, 1979, an American Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10
jumbo jet crashed into a field shortly after taking off from Chicago-OHare International Airport,
killing 273 people on board.
What was the cause of the crash?

40

It was the result of a series of factors:

During take-off, the left engine broke loose, severing control and hydraulic cables housed in the
body of the wing.
The loss of those control cables made it impossible for the pilots to maneuver the wing slats extensions of the wing that provide additional lift during takeoff and landing.
Consequently, the left wing of the aircraft lost its ability to provide lift and it diped low; at the
same time, the right wing rose until the wings were perpendicular to the ground, causing the
plane to crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported that the engine broke loose of the
large pylon holding it to the wing as the result of cracks in the pylon.
According to the report, these cracks were overlooked because of an improper maintenance
procedure.
The NTSB report chastised the Federal Aviation Administrations maintenance policies.

Additional questions arose when it was learned that McDonnell Douglas knew about the
improper maintenance techniques that led to the pylon cracks.
Besides questions about the ethical adequacy of the FAAs maintenance policies, should
McDonnell Douglas have informed the FAA that airlines were using a nonstandard method
for removing the engine and pylon assembly?
A McDonnell Douglas DC-10 jumbo jet crash may not have happened if

...............

..........................

Presentation 3
Ford Pinto rear- end collisions
In 1978 the Ford Motor Company was charged with reckless homicide in the deaths of three
teenage women whose Ford Pinto burst into flames after it was struck from behind by another
vehicle on August 10, 1978. An eyewitness to the fiery crash testified during the trial that the car
exploded like a napalm bomb when struck from behind by a van. The three women died from
burns they suffered in the accident.
The charges held that Ford executives consciously allowed an unsafe car to be manufactured and
sold to unsuspecting consumers. The controversy surrounded the design and placement of the gas
tank. The Pinto gas tank was placed behind the rear axle of the car, where it was vulnerable to
puncture if the car were struck from behind. In prototype testing, it was discovered that the Pinto
had a propensity to burst into flames if struck in its rear end at speeds as low as 3035 mph.
Between 500 and 900 victims died as a result of rear-end Pinto collisions.
The three DC-10 crashes and the Ford Pinto rear-end collisions all involve technical design
failures.

41

Ford Pinto rear- end collisions may not have happened if

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Presentation 4
Read the text and complete the following sentences
DC-10 crashes
In 1974 a Turkish Airlines DC-10 crashed outside of Paris, killing all 346 on board. The cause of
the crash was traced to a defectively designed rear cargo door. It blew open at an altitude of 12,000
feet, triggering rapid cargo cabin depressurization. Cabin depressurization, in turn, caused the
floorboards, which separate the cargo cabin from the passenger cabin above, to tear apart.
Unfortunately, the plane was designed to have all of the hydraulic and electrical control wires run
along directly under the floorboard. Hence, when the floorboards ripped apart, so did the hydraulic
and electrical systems that control the aircraft. With the crucial control systems destroyed, the
pilots lost all control, and the plane crashed to earth with breakneck speed.

A Turkish Airlines DC-10 crash may not have happened if

Presentation 5

Manhattan Project
The World War II Manhattan Project is known as the U.S government research
project (1942- 45) that produced the first atomic bombs. Under Manhattan
Project, the U.S. government built, in a relatively short period, such facilities as
production reactors, chemical-reprocessing plants, test and research reactors, and
weapons production facilities.
Oppenheimer (in J. Robert Oppenheimer (American physicist) ) participated in the efforts of
British and U.S. physicists to seek a way to harness nuclear energy for military purposes, an effort
that became known as the Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer was instructed to establish and
administer a laboratory to carry out this assignment.

42

The first atomic bomb was built in Los Alamos, N.M., during World War II under a program called
the Manhattan Project. Los Alamos was approved as the site for the main atomic bomb scientific
laboratory on Nov. 25, 1942, by Brig. Gen. Leslie R. Groves and physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer
and was given the code name Project Y. One bomb, using plutonium, was successfully tested on
July 16, 1945.
American scientists, many of them refugees from fascist regimes in Europe, took steps in 1939 to
organize a project to exploit the newly recognized fission process for military purposes. The first
contact with the government was made by G.B. Pegram of Columbia University, who arranged a
conference between Enrico Fermi and the Navy Department in March 1939. In the summer of
1939, Albert Einstein was persuaded by his fellow scientists to use his influence and present the
military potential of an uncontrolled fission chain reaction to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In
February 1940, $6,000 was made available to start research under the supervision of a committee
headed by L.J. Briggs, director of the National Bureau of Standards. On December 6, 1941, the
project was put under the direction of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, headed
by Vannevar Bush.
From Encyclopedia Britannica on-line

Presentation 6
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant DISASTER
The disaster at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant in Japan on March 11, 2011, destroyed tens of
thousands of lives and had ripple effects around the world as nations reliant upon or considering
nuclear power rethought their plans.
The meltdown of three of the six nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, about 130 miles
north of Tokyo, was the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine in 1986.
The result of a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and associated tsunami waves that reached heights
exceeding 100 feet, the disaster demonstrated that nuclear power plant operators may not have
anticipated the full range of worst-case scenarios that could beset their facilities.
The tsunami's swift and massive waves crippled the power plant by taking out its power supply and
cooling system, with workers resorting to desperate measures to cool the reactors to prevent an
even more significant disaster.
The damage at the plant was so severe that more than 100,000 residents of the nearby Fukushima
Prefecture had to be relocated, and complex cleanup operations at the plant continue.

In the U.S., the disaster spurred the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is responsible
for overseeing the 100 nuclear power plants operating in the country, to re-assess safety
planning and issue some new requirements for plants that are of similar design as
Fukushima. Exelon, which is the country's largest nuclear-reactor operator, runs 17 of the
commercial reactors.
According to a New York Times report, the company expects to spend up to $500 million
upgrading its plants based on lessons learned from Fukushima.

43

Fukushima woke up the world nuclear industry, not just the U.S., the chairwoman of the NRC,
Allison M. Macfarlane, told the Times. It woke everybody up and said: Hey, you didnt even
think about these different issues happening. You never thought about an earthquake that could
create a tsunami that would swamp your emergency diesel generators and leave you without power
for an extended period. You never planned for more than one reactor going down at a site, you
have to think about that now.
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant disaster consequences might have been reduced if

Presentation 7
Read the text and research the most important strategies for
more sustainability that could also be implemented in Croatia; Jot
down these strategies in note form
Environmental and Resource Protection
Strategies for More Sustainability By Martin Orth
Which forms of energy will we use in the future?
How can everyone be assured access to enough water?
These important questions are closely linked to environmental and climate protection
What can Croats learn from Europes most populous country? Do we know how Germany saves
energy, lowers carbon dioxide emissions and generates power from renewable energy sources.
Germany cut its greenhouse-gas emissions by 18% between 1990 and 2005,the magazine writes,
while emissions in the USA rose by 16% in the same period.Time Magazine paints a picture of a
new Germany where wind farms, biogas plants and solar roofs have become a normal part of the
landscape. The main point is that the German Federal Government paved the way for change early
on. It introduced an eco-tax to reduce oil consumption. It built up a recycling system to conserve
resources and re-use raw materials. And above all, it passed the Renewable Energy Act (EEG).
Indeed, the EEG, which came into force in 2000, is at the heart of German energy and climate
policy. It encourages citizens, businesses and local authorities to generate electricity for themselves
from renewable sources and to sell any excess on to the power utilities. Some people have been
making a tidy profit out of this scheme. And the proportion of power consumption generated by
renewables has risen to 14% within a few years. The target is 25 to 30% by 2020. In the meantime,
47 countries have themselves passed legislation modelled on the German Renewable Energy Act.
After all, not only the climate benefits from the programme of market incentives, but also the
economy.

44

One in three solar cells and almost half the worlds wind turbines are made in Germany. The
German greentech industry is the technology leader. According to a recent study, by 2020 it
will have the potential to take over from the successful mechanical-engineering and automotive
industries as the biggest employer in Germany. Environmental protection and jobs are not a
contradiction.
On the contrary, the two are mutually dependent on a global scale,says Sigmar Gabriel,
Germanys Federal Minister for the Environment. People are already talking about the third
industrial revolution.
The idea is not as utopian as it may sound, because protecting the environment and climate is
one of the greatest global challenges of the 21st century and will require enormous efforts.
How can climate change be stopped?
How can an equitable and sufficient supply of water and food be assured for the worlds
growing population?
These are the most pressing issues of our time. Consequently, environmental protection has
become an important part of German foreign policy. Diplomats speak of foreign policy for
environmental protection, and mean a three-pronged approach consisting of future provision,
conflict prevention and active security policy. After all, environmental issues (e.g. unfair
distribution of water) can lead to considerable social and political tensions. The Federal Foreign
Office is therefore promoting international environmental protection on many levels, be it in
negotiations on international environmental agreements or by organizing conferences.
The Water Unites conference and meeting launched the Central Asia Water Initiative,
which comprises a wide range of collaborations and support measures to counteract the negative
consequences of water shortages in the region.
Germany was very close to delivering on the commitment it made in the Kyoto Protocol to
reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 21% by 2012. Furthermore, Germany is second only to
Sweden in the 2008 global Climate Protection Index, which rates the performance of 56
countries in climate protection. In its efforts Germany applies a dual strategy of improving
energy and resource efficiency and expanding the use of renewable energies and renewable
primary products. The country is also taking the lead within the European Union. If other
countries are prepared to follow suit, Germany has said it is prepared to aim for even higher
targets than some of those specified by the EU, which envisage a 20% reduction in greenhouse
gas emissions by 2020 compared to the figure for 1990, raising renewable energys share of the
energy mix to 20%, and reducing energy consumption by 20%. On Germanys initiative the
heads of state and government of the eight leading industrial nations (G8) have agreed to halve
CO2 emissions by 2050. The aim here is to limit the rise in the average global temperature to
two degrees.
The key issue will be reaching agreement on a new, comprehensive climate-protection regime to
avoid international climate protection efforts coming to a standstill after the 2012 Kyoto
Protocol has run out. The integration of economically advanced NICs (newly industrializing
countries) such as China, India, South Africa, Brazil and Mexico will be high of the agenda in
this context. After all, the global challenge of climate protection cannot be mastered without
these partner countries.
July 28, 2008 Deutschland Magazine www.magazine-deutschland.de
sustainable development = odrivi razvoj
sustainability = odrivost

45

NOTES

Assignment 7.1
Write a short composition on:

Strategies for more sustainability that are to

be implemented in Croatia

46

Presentation
HAZARDS
Hazards of navigation due to irregularities in depth of the shallow water close to the land are
rather common. Oil tankers are at hazards from groundings and explosions. The most likely
cause of sinking is a breaching of the hull envelope by collision. The consequenses of the
resulting flooding are minimized by subdividing the hull into compartments with watertight
bulkheads. Ships that must have a high probability of surviving a collision, are built to the
onecompartment standard, meaning that at least one compartment bounded by watertight
bulkheads must be floodable without sinking the ship. A twocompartment standard is common
for larger passengercarrying shipsa measure that presumably protects the ship against a
collision at the boundary between two compartments. However, the greatest ever disaster and
the victim of the most famous sinking in the North Atlantic the Titanic was built to the two
compartment standard, but its collision with an iceberg on its maiden voyage just before
midnight on April 14, 1912, ripped open at least five compartments. The Titanic could not
survive such damage, but its many watertight compartments did retard the flooding so that the
ship required two hours and forty minutes to sink. Aspects of this event are still being argued.
As with all great disasters, eyewitness accounts of the loss of the Titanic vary widely:
The lookout first sighted the iceberg onefourth of a mile dead ahead. Instinctively he gave
three rings on the bell above the crows nest. Iceberg right ahead! the lookout warned the
bridge. Ironically, his words doomed Titanic. In response to the warning her officerincharge
tried to reverse engines and turn hard to starboard. The reversal actually turned the ship slowly
to port, and she suffered the fatal gash in her starboard side. Had she rammed the berg headon,
she would likely have flooded only two or three compartments and remained afloat. Captain
Edward J Smith, who was not on the bridge at the time, went down with his command.
The great liner plunged to the bottom two hours and 40 minutes after the iceberg tore a gash
some 300 feet long in her starboard side near the bow. Six of her 16 watertight compartments
were flooded, and as the sea rose above the watertight bulkheads, adjoining compartments
flooded. Yet Titanic stayed afloat more than an hour longer than most experts on board
predicted.
Many of the 2, 227 passengers and crew had abandoned ship or been swept away when the
vessel briefly upended in the water, then settled back at an angle. All 20 lifeboats and rafts
less than half the number needed had been launched, many of them only partly filled. Nearly
all had pulled away from the ship for safety. That action doomed most survivors afloat, for the
temperature of the sea was 28 F and none could last more than an hour or so. The nearest ship
to respond was still two hours away.
With the movement of the ice southwards each year the perils of the Atlantic passages are
increased. Ships captains warn each other of the presence of these great, giant floating islands,
but they are often hidden by fog even in broad daylight there may be only a few feet of a
monster visible above the surface. Generally the portion of the berg visible above water is only
oneeighth or one ninth of its total depth. Many ships have been wrecked by these floating
monsters.
Collision, grounding, fire, explosion, contact or heavy weather damage can result in water
ingress or oil outflow. So, in an emergency, the best course of action to save your ship, crew and
cargo and protect the marine environment may not be quite obvious. How could consequences
of a casualty at sea be lessened? They can be even made worse if the wrong decision is taken. In
such a situation, a full appreciation of the vessels damage stability and damage longitudinal
strength is essential.
Many of the great ships met disaster on the rocks, sandbanks and reefs off the rugged coast.
Life does not get any better for seafarers. Unpaid wages, stranded and abandoned crews,
traumatised survivors of violent pirate attacks and assaults and shocked shipmates often left
high and dry in ports thousands of miles away from home, with little money and few supplies,
are just some of the problems the modern seafarer has to face.

47

9.1 Match the nouns with their descriptions or synonyms

1. .. ship in distress
2. .. shipwreck
3. .. wreckage
4. .. wrack
5. .. oil slick
6. .. gash
7. .. grounding
8. .. in peril
9. .. water ingress
10. oil outflow
11. ... mainstay

a) in danger, jeopardy
b) wreck, wreckage; ruin or destruction
c) flowing out of oil
d)remains or fragments of something that has been
wrecked
e) entering of water
f) causing a vessel to run aground, stranding
g) deep cut
h) the state of a ship requiring immediate assistance, because
it is in trouble or great difficulty
i) a smooth area on the surface of water caused by the
presence of oil
j) a ship lost at sea or (partly) destroyed
l) a chief part

9.2 Match the verbs with their synonyms

1. ripped open
2. exacerbated
3. wrecked
4. breached
5. grounded
6. plunge
7. retard
8. wreck
9. ram
10. .. doom
11. .. pull away from
12. .. upend

a) when the ship touches the bottom, stranded

b) ruined or destroyed
c) made worse, aggravated
d) broken through, ruptured
e) torn apart or split open
f) hinder or impede, make slow
g) dip
h) to strike with great force, dash violently against
i) devastate, destroy, become wrecked (a vessel)
j) escape to move off
k) condemn to death
l) rise or set up on its end

9.3 Fill in the appropriate prepositions:

to, at , in, against, on, off
ship .. distress
danger
the boundary between
its maiden voyage
casualty sea
protect the ship .. a collision

.. course
.. hazards
close the land
broad daylight
.. an emergency
built the onecompartment standard

9.4 Questions
1. What are the most common casualties?
2. What are oil tankers often at hazards from?
3. What is the most likely cause of sinking?
4. What is the one and what two compartment standard?
5. What is the best course of action to save a ship in distress?
6. What is free surface effect?

9.5 SOS
SOS is an internationally recognized signal of distress in radio code ... used
especially by ships calling for help but it is also a call or request for help or rescue.

48

9.6 What does the descriptive note SERS stand for?

Ship Emergency Response Service SERS

This service, offered by LR, provides a rapid computer assisted analysis of a damaged ship's
stability and damaged longitudinal strength and grounding in the event of a casualty to the ship. A
24 hour, 365 dayayear service provides subscribers to SERS with rapid, independent, naval
architectural information based on computer simulations to evaluate how the stricken vessel will
respond to rescue options. Standard ship emergency exercises and oil outflow calculations are also
available, helping clients to satisfy the demands of OPA 90, the ISM Code and IMO Marpol. To
prepare the data required for SERS, the ship will be numerically modelled on the extensive
computer systems. When a ship is live in SERS, simulations of a specific casualty can be
undertaken quickly and accurately to help find the best remedial action.
Where an Owner adopts this service, the descriptive note SERS, 'Ship is registered with LR's Ship
Emergency Response Service', will be entered in the Register Book.

Presentation
10
Oil recovery ships
In 1989 the super tanker Exxon Valdez went aground and spilled millions of gallons of oil on
Alaskas coast. This hazard had a devastating impact on the ecology of this area immediately
affected. The demand for a thorough cleanup united environmentalists, the fishing and tourist
industries, NativeAmerican organizations, many ordinary citizens, and scientists, who tried to
clean up oilslicks and oilspills (or oil spillages).
Oil recovery ships are indispensable in such situations. They are intended to separate the oil film
from the surface of the water by passing a film over a weir into a collection area (weir skimmers)
or by the use of moving belts, ropes or revolving disks which pass through the oil films and the oil
which then adheres to them is scraped or squeezed off and collected (Adhesion skimmer). Other
modes of operation may also be considered. The oil thus recovered will then be collected in the
ships tanks and subsequently disposed of ashore. Operation is assumed to take place at a safe
distance from the source of oil spill with respect to the risk of fire and explosion.
The arrangement for collection, handling and transfer of recovered oil is to be such that the risk of
oil spill on deck and overflow is minimized and the operation should be performed as far away
from the accommodation spaces as possible. Steps should be taken to minimize the risk of creation
of slippery areas, i.e. working areas should if possible be made on gratings or similar arrangements.

Vocabulary
oilrecovery ship ship for regaining the previous state of the sea
weir
an embankment built by passing a film over an oil spill to hold it in its place
skim
to take up or remove(floating oil) from the surface of the ocean, sea or river.
We skim cream from milk.
adhere (to) stick fast (to)
adhesion (Physics) the molecular force of attraction acting in the area of contact between
two or more dissimilar substances
scrape
to remove adhering substances or matter
squeeze to press forcibly together
grating
a fixed frame of bars covering slippery area

49

Presentation 12
SAFETY ON BOARD
Translate the words in bold form into Croatian.

What concentrates our minds is the thought of possible emergency scenarios where as many as
5000 people or more have to be safely and efficiently evacuated from a stricken ship, possibly into
hostile seas and darkness, perhaps with no other vessels in the immediate vicinity or in an ocean
area remote from search and rescue (SAR) resources. Many safety devices, systems and
procedures currently employed are based largely on principles developed for a different era, and
were invariably conceived for operation by accomplished seafarers. Ships may have never been
safer, but now may be the time to assume a more proactive role in simplifying matters of safety.
Safety products as a protection emergency control and evacuation system have to comply with
the latest international requirements on their lifesaving equipment. The specially designed safety
technology should ensure uncomplicated evacuation of passengers even in extreme weather
conditions.
The lifesaving outfit comprises a safety cabin that may be suspended from the rig or platform,
lifeboats, supported by one rescue boat and a further fast boat, but in addition the safety systems
can carry a pair (one each side) of a verticalchute marine escape system, each with a main raft
and four 25person dropoverboard life rafts.
A lifejacket is stowed beneath each individual passenger seat. Externally, there is a pickup boat
aft, four 50 person inflatable life rafts port and starboard on the upper deck alongside the
passenger saloon, and two emergency ladders stowed port and starboard either side of the life
rafts. Doors from the upper passenger saloon are provided amidships port and starboard, and
forward on the main deck there are exit hatches in the roofs of the two luggage rooms and the air
conditioning room.
The lifesaving outfit should allow the crew of a rig or platform to remain at a site during a fire
emergency. During an emergency, the crew retreats within. Fresh breathing air is supplied. Inside,
there is an emergency control centre consisting of a microcomputer with a keyboard and video
display unit. From the emergency control centre, communication can be maintained with the
computers onboard the rig or platform to operate the following systems: public alarm, processing
of oil and gas, sub sea and drilling, fire and gas, power generation and management, riser
disconnect, ballast etc., active and passive positioning, and meteorological monitoring.
If abandonment ultimately becomes necessary, the cabin is lowered by a passive launch system,
landing 10 m to 12 m from the structure. The safety system is equipped with an azimuth thruster
at its fore body for manoeuvrability. The diesel engine develops 195 kW. The propeller is
dimensioned for pull rather than speed. A present autopilot guides the cabin in the evacuation
direction.
Another safety issue that has to be brought into sharp focus is sea traffic control. Because of the
ever increasing speeds of vessels and congestion of the sea lanes, stricter traffic control rules must
be adopted. The faster we get, the more control we need. Consequently, radar and, more
importantly, satellite and land based radars and surveillance systems will have to become more
important. Data will be collected from vessels and a plot will be transmitted to each individual ship.
Electronic data interchange will bring interesting possibilities.
On board computers have already taken over some mundane tasks and freed personnel to deal with
more unusual situations.
Also, at the navigation workstation, the following facilities are to be available: radar/ARPA,
positionfixing systems displays, echo sounder display, speed and distance log display, wind
speed and direction indication, steering controls and indication, rate of turn indication,
course/track monitoring system, main propulsion and thruster controls and indication, watch
safety system acknowledge, watch safety system manual initiation, internal communications
system, VHF radiotelephone, time indication, window clear view controls, navigation lights
controls, whistle controls, Morse light keys, wheelhouse/equipment lighting controls. Where
automatic track following is provided, the positionfixing systems are to initiate an offtrack
alarm when the ships position is at a given distance from the planned track. Wire rope fairleads

50

are generally to have a minimum diameter of 20 times the wire rope diameter. Anchor line length
has to be sufficient to avoid uplift forces occurring at the anchors in the worst damaged survival
condition. That's just what we have to do in favour of safety.

More and more we read about fires aboard ship that are caused by gasoline
igniting or that gasoline caused a minor fire to become a catastrophe. If gas
were stowed properly, couldn't many of these fires be prevented?
The answer is that they certainly could. Gasoline is highly flammable and has been either the cause
or contributing factor to many serious fires, both at sea and ashore. Proper stowage and handling of
the volatile liquid could have prevented many of these catastrophes.
Shipboard gasoline, when carried in cans for the ship's own use, should be stowed in the paint and
flammable liquids storeroom. Where two such storerooms are available, the gasoline should be
equally divided and stowed in each. In ships not having flammable liquids store rooms, the
gasoline must be stowed on the weather deck and located so that the containers can be readily
released overboard directly into the sea. This weather deck stowage must not be located in the
vicinity of hatches, galleys, heat producing compartments, ventilation intakes or exhaust. Also,
wherever practical, weather deck stowage should be near the stern of the ship. Quick releasetype
racks should be inspected frequently to insure proper operation so if you have to jettison, it will
happen quickly and properly.
Air cushion catamarans e.g. have also watertight compartments, which are fitted with bilge systems
and each engine room has fire alarm and total gas flooding systems. There is also a fire pump in
each engine room plus hydrants and fire extinguishers located around the vessel.
For fire protection, all passenger areas are to be covered by sprinklers, while the vehicle decks are
fitted with drenchers, and the machinery spaces are protected by both CO2 and the soontobe
required auxiliary equipment (Hifog high pressure water mist).
Thats how we could prevent fires aboard ships.

Match words with their descriptions and synonyms

1. launch
a) a ship which experienced trouble or mishap
2. a stricken ship
b) a large motor driven boat used for carrying people.
3. slice
c) to get rid of by throwing
4. jettison
d) to cut off
5. rack
e) to act in accordance with the law, rule
6. to comply with
f) a framework on which life saving equipment is arranged
7. azimuth thruster
g) a propeller mounted in a transverse tunnel near the bow or
the stern to push the bow sideways without producing forward motion or even it can be rotated in
place, if the two thrusters act in opposite directions.

Study these patterns

The more advanced technology we use, the more necessary it is to implement stricter
laws and stricter safety requirements.
Ive never travelled by the hovercraft, which is why I cant tell anything about this vessel.
Thats just what.., where.., when.., why.., how.., we , too.
We have to install a tuned damper to reduce vibrationcausing cracking of a bulk carrier shaft.
Thats what we have to do, too.

We can detect surface flaws by carrying out an ultraviolet magnetic particle test.

51

Thats how we detect them, too.

I carry out this test because in this way I can detect surface flaws.
Thats why I carry them out, too.
We carry out completely independent structural analyses.
Thats what we do, too.
We can determine fatigue endurance of this component only at LRs research laboratory.
Thats where I can do it, too.
Insert the articles where necessary (autocorrective test, page 278 )

Safety simulations
. human behaviour is . key element in . evacuation simulation. Such . simulation has to
take into account . ship heeling and . movements, . blackout and . smokeincorridor
situations, . panicking passengers, . passengers returning to . cabins to collect their
luggage or carrying . luggage and thus blocking . corridors. Also, . passenger age, .
intoxication, and . mobility impairment has to be included. . simulation can include .
combinations of . human behaviour in several conditions, random location of . passengers,
all . passengers gathered into . same area, and . several whatif cases.
Some real situations have highlighted . critical significance of . human behaviour in .
distress situation: for example, 15% of . passengers will be unable to act at all and 60% will not
act without . instructions from . crew. With . evacuation simulation, it is also possible to
simulate . situations with . casualties.
. most valuable benefit of . evacuation simulation is more realistic results, . most
interesting being . total time required for . evacuation under . different conditions. With
. simulationcritical design, . behaviour and . environmental parameters can be found and
. bottlenecks detected, which makes it . excellent design tool for . safety improvements.
. evacuation simulation can also be used as . onboard training tool: . simulation can be run
before each departure, based on . actual number of . passengers and . correct occupancy of
. cabins, and in this way . possible evacuation situation can be practised to establish . most
critical areas in . distress situation.

Vocabulary
blackout
panicking passengers
intoxication
mobility impairment
highlighted
bottlenecks

darkness caused by an electrical power failure

panicstricken, terrified
drunkenness or intoxication with drugs, a gas
weakness of mobility
emphasized
narrow passageway

Study these Compounds

initial passenger evacuation simulations are initial simulations that simulate
passenger evacuation
crew safety training is training of the crew with the purpose of gaining safety
vessel's technical safety status is the status of the technical safety of the vessel
new class notations are notations indicating that a new class has been appended to
the ship.

52

LECTURE 4
Section 1

What are Engineering,

Technology and
Science Nowadays?
Section 2
How to write an abstract
A brain is an apparatus with which we think we think.
Thinking without learning is a dangerous thing.
A leopard cannot change his spots.
Birds of a feather flock together.
A man is known by the company he keeps.

53

Images of smoking chimneys and steamy factories seem out of place in the world
of 21st century, but this was public face of industry around the turn of the last
century, as six key sectors positioned themselves for take-off. The electronics,
aircraft, chemical, pharmaceutical, automotive and energy industries have
revolutionized life in the course of the 20th century, and the revolution within the
industries themselves are happening at an ever-faster rate.
We can start with electronics because it contributes so heavily to the other
five, and because it epitomizes the accelerating rate of change in industry as a
whole.
The first useful valve was developed in 1907, followed by the emergence of the
transistor after World War Two, the silicon chip in the 60s and since then a
succession of advances in computer technology. The whole term electronics is
getting out of date, because the industry is moving towards working with light.
Just about everything with which we come into contact in everyday life, from
headache tablets to jumbo jets, is a product of one of these six industries.
Industry and engineering collectively and at times individually are also likely to
reflect and influence global economics and politics.
The aircraft industry was in any case moving from a defence-based to a masstransit industry, developing more sophisticated civil aircraft for ever-growing lists
of customers.
The Wrright Brothers made the first flight in 1903. Not so long ago only fourengined aircraft were deemed safe enough to cross the Atlantic; now two engines
are considered sufficient. The fact is that you can pack an aircraft with
technology, but does it necessarily make it a better aircraft?
And can the industry ensure that people are trained to the necessary
sophisticated hardware?
The chemical industry has come a long way from the 1900s and the emergence
of viscose, rayon and Bakelite. The industry is fighting to keep pace with new
environmental demands by working on production of, say, bio-degradable
plastics or to cater for animal-free diets artificial fats.
Some large companies are moving away from bulk and towards the more
expensive fine chemicals, such as the raw materials needed for
pharmaceuticals.
The pharmaceutical industry has come a long way since the introduction of
aspirin in 1899, with companies using advances in biotechnology to control the
deseases of old age and to combat epidemics. It is spending ever-incresing sums
of money on developing the new drugs vital for its future.
Environmentalist have long lobbed the automotive industry to produce vehicles
able to run without burning fossil fuels. The race to produce a genuinely
competitive electric car goes on.
Industrial revolutions concern not only the products but the methods of
production.
So, Henry Ford launched the model T in 1907, and cars contain the same basic
elements today as they did then. What has hanged dramatically, however, is the
means of production. We now have robots replacing people and just-in-time
mass production.
Without energy none of the other industries can survive, let alone advance. No
other industry so affects governments social and economic policy. That the
planets natural energy resources are limited is a fact of life. It is not so much a
question any more of if our oil and coal supplies cease, but when? And, more
important, what are we going to do when they are gone?

54

Core Text 1
ASSIGNMENT 1
Write subtitles in question forms.

What are engineering, technology and science nowadays?

Human Ingenuity or A Step Gone Too Far?
Have Science and Technology Made Our World?
Have We really Gone A Step Too Far?
.......................
Once shaped only by the forces of nature, our world is being transformed by the products of human
ingenuity. Key inventions and technologies, which are grown from them, are changing not only our
environment but the way we live in it, our comfort, prosperity and even lifespan. Science and
technology have come to pervade every aspect of our lives and, as a result, society is changing at a
speed which is quite unprecedented. There is a great technological explosion around us, generated
by science.

.............
A simple watch-spring enabled navigators to set out across uncharted oceans. Today satellite timekeepers in space can pinpoint shipwrecks or track missiles to their target. Impurities in a crystal
brought about the computer revolution and the ubiquitous silicon chip. Stores of knowledge
ranging from libraries to laser discs, linked by strands of glass, are weaving a network of data
around our planet. Radio and television distribute news almost as it happens, and yet engines put
every nation within reach. Even our food and drink have been transformed by technology.

........................
The electronics, aircraft, chemical, pharmaceutical, automotive and energy industries have
revolutionized life in the course of the 20th century, and the revolutions within the industries
themselves are happening at an ever-faster rate. It is fascinating how electronics epitomizes the
accelerating rate of change in industry as a whole.
Modern engineering relies heavily on scientific principles because it has to deal with sophisticated
systems and to strive to produce and manufacture affordable and optimized products. We all know
that in 1781, James Watt invented a version of the steam engine, which gave an impetus to the
Industrial Revolution and that thermodynamics developed out of a desire to increase the efficiency
of steam engines. Undoubtedly, modern science emphasizes the importance of experiment over
trial-and-error approach. Therefore, engineering students are grounded solidly in mathematics,
physics, chemistry, biology and other calculus-based sciences before learning the art of
engineering. Engineering science studies are heavily dependent on calculus to express the laws of
nature, on the non-Aristotalian science inscribed in the work of Copernicus, Galileo, Newton,
Leibniz, Maxwell and others. The most complex engines and machines would not have been
possible without the powerful mathematical calculus given to humanity by those geniuses. Thus,
critical-thinking skills

55

acquired in engineering science classes are needed to tackle global warming, to provide new
sustainable energy forms, fresh water, to erect optimal living spaces, to create products from the
needle to the airplane. Students at the freshman level who called for an early hands-on experience
should be taught and told that creativity and art are only two parts of engineering. The third part,
science will be and should be taught in due time although, of course, students faced with mathheavy engineering science classes might howl that those classes are not what they signed for.
So, modern engineering as a human endeavor nowadays applies equal parts of creativity, art and
science to improve the quality of life. We have just presented the three faces of engineering.

However, the question is if all inventions and discoveries have made man happier and his life
easier? Has engineering really improved the quality of our lives?
Enormous knowledge, technology and engineering have brought great benefits but also grave perils
to mankind. Progress has always been double-edged. Thats why an array of philosophers have
stressed that progress must be directed by something more than just knowledge. Bertrand Russell
sets out to seek a means of balancing knowledge with an equivalent offsetting of wisdom. For, he
thinks that although our age far surpasses all previous ages in knowledge, there has been no
correlative increase in wisdom. There are several factors that contribute to wisdom. Of these I
should put first a sense of proportion: the capacity to take account of all the important factors in a
problem and to attach to each its due weight. This has become more difficult than it used to be
owing to the extent and complexity of the specialized knowledge required of various kinds of
technicians.

You study the composition of the atom from a disinterested desire for knowledge, and incidentally
place in the hands of powerful lunatics the means of destroying the human race.
In such ways the pursuit of knowledge may become harmful unless it is combined with wisdom,
and wisdom in the sense of COMPREHENSIVE VISION is not necessarily present in specialists in
the pursuit of knowledge. The semantic meanings of being comprehensive as well as
comprehensible come from the verb comprehend which means:
1.
understand fully and be comprehensible and
2.
include referring to be comprehensive
That means that if you have comprehensive vision you are able to comprehend fully because you
have a comprehensive mind and thus are capable of performing a comprehensive survey and seeing
a comprehensive and overall picture of the world. A researcher must be aware of all the
consequences his research might bring.

Knowledge must be directed by wisdom. Do we know what wisdom is?

The definition of wisdom might be as follows: power of judging rightly and following the
soundest course of action based on knowledge, experience, understanding, good judgment,
sagacity, erudition and comprehensive viewpoint.
Wisdom is inner knowledge, inner consciousness and inner conscience.
Engineering science and ethics must be directed by wisdom and comprehensive vision of the
world, i.e., that is by the fourth face of modern engineering.

Nowadays computer-based risk assessment models can provide rough estimates measuring the
probability and consequences of problems. These models might enable enineers to take systematic
approaches that can incorporate many variables that might otherwise be overlooked.

56

Moral responsibility is a characteristic that can only be assumed by individual human beings, not
by corporations or big companies. Engineers through their professional organizations or their
individual consciences have to assume ethical responsibility for the applications and results of their
achievements, in short they have to behave responsibly, and foster safety design. We might design
a code of ethics that all engineering societies could adopt.

The question how safe we should be may not always be answered by safer because risk
assessment is a social problem and requires social solutions that may even involve accepting or
rejecting technologies. Thus, no social technologies are immutable; as a matter of fact they change
beyond recognition and have been improving steadily.
1. Do you agree with the statement that pushing out the very frontiers of human achievements
can be very perilous and that engineers are not supposed to bridge the gap previously thought
unbridgeable but they should bridge conflicts between members who identify with the industries
and managements that employ them, conflicts that are thought to have been unbridgeable.
2. Engineering problems require multidisciplinarity, i.e., multidisciplinary efforts from engineers,
scientists, social scientists as well as thoughtful discussions between public and private sectors;
they require once again a comprehensive vision of the projects.
3.

How should the risks that are part of or by-products of the engineers work be managed?

4.

Do you think that engineers have special professional responsibilities?

5. Do you think that we should offer increased protection to those who blow the whistles? What
is your attitude towards whistle-blowing?
6.

Do most accidents occur in routine use or from design failures?

7.

What are the four faces of modern engineering?

As we live in a technological world, taking largely for granted the benefits that science and
technology have brought us, many advances have been made at immense cost both human and
financial. Technological achievements leave much room for mistakes and also modern science has
brought grave perils to mankind.
So, what happens when we try to go a step too far, when a desire to innovate and
improve leads to disaster?
Were the failures foreseeable, what lessons were learnt and how have thay
changed our lives?
Could you examine some major advances and the disasters which followed?
Read the texts (pages)

Is crossing the border important?

Jot down your attitudes:

........

57

Core Text 2
ASSIGNMENT 2: Write subtitles in question forms.
WHAT IS ENGINEERING and WHAT IS AN ENGINEER?
.
Whether building bridges, designing machines, developing new materials or constructing
complex electronic devices, the engineer is a central figure in the progress of a modern
industrial society.

.
Engineers produce most of Man's material wealth, change the face of the Earth, create every new
product of modern technology and increasingly make life easier and more convenient.

...........................................................................................................................................
According to one wit: "an engineer does for twenty-five pence what any fool could do for fifty."
In the same vein, an aeronautical engineer is described as "a man who designs a part weighing
eight ounces that any fool could design to weigh a pound." Clearly, engineers have to be cost
conscious, and some have to be weight conscious; but all have to be ecology and energy
conscious. Are they really energy minded? Do all of them think twice about all the energy they
use and waste?

Certainly, almost all of them are deeply concerned with how long things will last, what they will
accomplish and with what efficiency; their reliability, safety and a thousand other factors. An
engineer's whole life is spent balancing conflicting factors like these, weighing one against
another and coming up with the best possible answer. Each of his products is a compromise: it
could always be improved if it were made more expensive; it could always be made lighter, if
reliability was unimportant and much cheaper if it did not have to last long.
In a certain sense, the successful engineer is a malcontent; a person who is never satisfied with
what has been achieved, always trying to change things for the better.

Therefore, during product development many problems deal with complex, strategic, and
influential issues that require team resolution. A poor decision on these problems may not be
easily corrected later or noticed in time to correct it. Poor results may have.
significant impact on product quality, cost, and development time.

..
If the team had made a poor choice, they might have ended up making a product that did not
sell well, was overpriced, or was late to market.
Teams often dont know how well they have done until long after the decision is made, so
it is imperative that they make the best decisions possible. Thus, engineers are encouraged to
generate multiple alternatives. One manager said that his engineers always had at least three
alternatives. When asked why, he responded that he would not approve a new idea unless at
least two other solutions for the problem were presented at the same time.

58

.
Experience suggests that effective team situations generate multiple alternatives as the result of
normal communications. This is especially true in a collaborative environment, when team
members have established an atmosphere of trust. Team members can easily fulfill and
implement comprehensive vision of the project and comprehensive scientific principles.

..
Ship construction today is also not only a marvellous blend of art and science, and obviously, a
very complicated compound of various fields of science such as hydromechanics (the study of
fluids in motion), hydrostatics (the study of fluids at rest), the study of materials and structures
but also a team work.
..
The design of ships employs many technologies and branches of engineering that are also found
ashore, but the imperatives of an effective and safe operation at sea require oversight from a
unique discipline which is called naval architecture. The basis of the design includes the
statement of the problem and the assumptions, conditions, restrictions that underlie the design
work.
..
When a naval architect is required to design a vessel to carry 1, 000 tonnes deadweight at 42
knots, he is asked to draw a design which must include the values such as deadweight (weight of
cargo plus fuel and consumable stores, and lightweight as the weight of the hull, including
machinery and equipment). He must also choose tentative values of length, breadth, depth, draft
and displacement, so that the displacement of the vessel is equal to the sum of the deadweight and
the lightweight tonnages. Then he must decide upon the finest shape of the hull appropriate to the
speed. Freeboard rules, of course, determine the draft.
Consequently, the draft enables the depth to be defined to a first approximation. The designer
must achieve a weight balance. He must also select a moment balance because centres of gravity
in both longitudinal and vertical directions must provide satisfactory trim and stability.
Additionally, he must estimate the shaft horsepower required for the specified speed, which
determines the weight of machinery.

The strength of the hull is of course the overriding quality. This means that an adequate amount
of material has to be put into the structural elements in order to enable them to resist the loads
connected with the most adverse service conditions. Structural thickness of material is a very
important component of safety factors that has to be introduced. They must be reasonably high so
as to compensate for any irregularities, such as excessive working loads, impaired safe working
load capacity of parts due to their corrosion, wear and tear, pitfalls in shipyard practices, etc. But
in any case, structural elements should be of minimum weight consistent with the feasible design
adopted on a more or less sound basis. The strength of the hull must be adequate for the service
intended; detailed scantlings (frame dimensions and plate thicknesses) can be obtained from and
should comply with the rules of the classification society. These scantlings determine the
requisite weight of hull steel. The cost of a ship may increase far above average, unless the naval
architect gives due consideration to the tables and construction rules and tends to rely on standard
structural arrangements.
On the other hand, no standardization should preclude the design studies from creating new and
more advanced styles of construction. When this is the case, standardization provides for efficient
structural arrangements, leads to great economical gains and becomes thus a factor contributing to
progress in shipbuilding.

59

So, engineering as a career implies optimizing and efficiency. Efficiency costs money, safety ads
complexity, and performance increases weight. The engineering solution is the optimum solution,
the most desirable end result taking into account many factors, it may be the cheapest for a given
performance, the most reliable for a given weight, the simplest for a given safety, or the most
efficient for a given cost. Engineering is optimizing. It implies efficiency in engineering
operations.

.
What does efficiency mean? To the engineer, efficiency means output divided by input. His job is
to secure a maximum output for a given input or to secure a given output with a minimum input.
The ratio may be expressed in terms of energy, materials, money, time, or men. Most commonly
the denominator is money; in fact, most engineering problems are answered ultimately in dollars
and cents. Efficient conversion is accomplished by using efficient methods, devices, and personnel
organizations.
When great quantities must be produced at low cost, it becomes an engineering problem.
Since output equals input minus losses, the engineer must keep losses and waste to a minimum.
Losses due to friction occur in every machine and in every organization. Efficient functioning
depends on good design, careful attention to operating difficulties, and lubrication of rough spots,
whether they are mechanical or personal.
Engineering of the highest type is required to conceive, design, and achieve the conversion of the
energy of a turbulent mountain stream into the powerful torque of an electric motor a hundred
miles away.

...
The engineer's creations are of steel, aluminium, glass, glass fibre, plastics, concrete and
every other material used by Man. The engineer must have a deep knowledge of these
materials and may be skilled at fashioning them; His own tools are a drawing board and
notebook, pencils and pens, slide rules, typewriter, test equipment, computer, instruments
and dozens of volumes of reference books, catalogues and articles from the technical press.

..
More recently scientists and engineers have been seen in an a new light, as people who created
and influenced our lives by their sheer originality and breadth of vision. Therefore, it is said that
all engineers create something out of nothing. Sometimes, as with suitcases or even motor cars, the
engineering design is not really a dramatic step into the unknown; the new product is technically
very similar to what has been made before, and most of the effort is concerned with making it look
attractive while keeping down the production cost.

..
But other engineers spend their whole lives pushing out the very frontiers of human achievement.
Aircrafts are made to carry greater loads, trains to go faster, telephone systems to handle more traffic
with fewer breakdowns, newspaper presses to work faster at lower cost, home sewing machines to be
more versatile yet smaller and neater than before, life-support systems to enable an astronaut or
aquanaut to go where man could not go before, and a bridge to span a great river previously
thought unbridgeable.

Unlike the scientists, the engineer is not free to select the problem which interests him and he is not
reputed to have pushed out the very frontiers of human achievement; the engineering design is not
really a dramatic step into the unknown; Though some engineers do spend their whole lives

60

pushing out the very frontiers of human achievement they must also solve the problem as they
arise, and his solutions must satisfy conflicting requirements. The 19th century gave us the
Industrial revolution, the 20th century gave us a new Information revolution that triggered a
massive social upheaval and today we are at the dawn of the Quantum revolution.

.
Advocates of this Information Revolution have properly foreseen our future with digital
superhighways criss-crossing the globe. We are now able to shop, play, learn, and even make love
while sitting alone in our homes. The contents of the worlds best libraries are instantly accessible.
The race between computer and telecommunication companies to exploit the potential of this new
revolution is just taking place. Also, the revolution within the industries themselves are happening
at an ever-faster rate. We can give an example of electronics because it contributes so heavily to
the other fields, that it epitomizes the accelerating rate of change in technology as a whole.
Anyway, engineers will be required to solve an array of problems and to improve and develop:

Economically feasible energy sources

Transport methods
Reliable telecommunication
Waste disposal
Food manufacturing
Agricultural machinery
Monitoring and recording of peoples health
Improving the lives of the disabled

Engineering principles to reduce pollution

ASSIGNMENT 3 - SUMMARIZING
Write an abstract of the texts What is Engineering?
Essential ideas:

...................

The most important information.

...............................................
Conclusion:

...........................

61

CODE TRANSFER (English Croatian)

Logical interpretation.
computer-based risk assessment models .................................................................
cost conscious
..................................................................................
drawing board
.............................................................................. ................................
man's material wealth
. ...................................................... ................................
weight conscious
.............................................................................. ................................
production cost
.............................................................................. ................................
a massive social upheaval ............................... ...............................................
at an ever-faster rate
................................ ..............................................
reference book
.............................................................................. ................................

ROLE PLAY
1. If you were in somebody elses shoes how would you introduce engineering as a career to
beginning students of that discipline?
2. Any problem involving the low-cost production of large quantities of any item is an
engineering problem even if the item itself originated in the work of other disciplines.
3. Explain in detail why efficiency costs money, safety ads complexity, and performance
increases weight. Is this always true?
4. Can we state that the engineering solution to most problems is the most desirable end
result taking into account many factors?
5. How would you like a car you can leave to park itself? Would you be interested to know
how the experts see the hi-tech kitchen of the furniture? Could you find out about the latest
research on pollution control, space probes, high-energy physics and weather forecasting?
Is it true that much of the opposition to science and technology comes from those who have
gained little knowledge and education.
6. If you have a degree in German Literature, Naval Architecture or in any mental discipline,
this equips you to do the other. You could study the sciences because you have the
necessary analytical mind.
7. Is science regarded as the discipline which could save the world or the discipline we are
afraid of? Science links and divides people thanks to the environmental and other right
movements.
8. Is science essential if the developing world is to become the developed world?
9. Have we witnessed any sudden upsurge in interest in the sciences as a result of the
advances in technology?
10. Why is Establishment frightened of science? Is there something frightening about not
wanting to know things which are evident, and always true? Why are we not able to live
with the truth? Some people run away from science because it symbolises such terrifying
things: of getting to grips* with the huge, mysterious thing that is universe.
11. Should we all have an inkling* of what is going on right now in the area of science?

62

12. Why science as a discipline has not been brought out of the labs and research rooms into
the living-rooms?
13. Few people have the privilege to write about new discoveries in science. The world we live
in today is shaped and affected by the discoveries (but not inventions) of the pioneer
scientists.
_______________________________________________________________________
to be at grips
nositi se sa;
to come/get to grips
uhvatiti se u kotac
to have not the slightest inkling of nemati pojma o, ni ne slutiti OR
to get/have an inkling of
naslutiti neto

ASSIGNMENT 6
Should mechanical, electrical engineers and naval architects
have an icon to call their own? Answer this question and then
read the text.
You'll report back on your decision in your own composition.
Write your own ideas on this subject.

......
.......
......
..................................
..................................................................................................................................................
...
...
...
...........
....
.......
....
..
........................
....
..
.....................
......................................................................................

63

RETURN OF THE ICONS

Should mechanical engineers and naval architects have an icon to call their own? Some
engineers can convey to the general public the essence of what they do with a simple image
a bridge, an airplane, a computer.
It appears that other engineering disciplines do a much better job in defining their
disciplines for non-engineers with certain distinguishing icons, Satyandra K. Gupta wrote
in Mechanical Engineering Magazine. What should serve as an icon for mechanical
engineering?
We put that question to the readers of Mechanical Engineering Magazine Online and for the
past several months they have been answering with their ideas. While there was no
overwhelming favorite so far, a few solid proposals kept recurring. Since the majority of
those questioned agreed that mechanical engieers should have an icon of some sort, we
wanted to narrow the field down to five semi-finalists.
There were, of course, many more than five submitted suggestions. They ranged from the
Rubiks Cube to the aircraft carrier to a picture of Earth. But the five listed below seem to
capture the gist of what our readers were driving at in coming up with a mechanical
engineering icon.
Perhaps the most basic of the candidate icons is the wheel, which was suggested in a
number of comments. The development of the wheel by ancient people later on opened the
door to human development, wrote one person in the comments on our Web site. Another
reader pointed out that without the wheel, the work of the civil, aerospace, and electrical
engineers would be impossible.
Another suggested icon was the hexagonal nut and bolt. Fasteners like this are ubiquitous
in modern society, the argument in favour of this icon went, and the hexagoon already
conveys mechanical or industrial meaning to wide swath of the population.
A number of different engines or turbines received votes, though it wasn't always clear
what exact icon was being suggested. Engines and turbines exhibit how a few of our broad
fields harness and conserve energy, one commenter wrote.
Perhaps the most popular suggestion was to use the gear as the icon of mechanical
engineering. What seemed to appeal the most to those who suggested the gear was its basic
simplicity. Gears represent physical contact, wrote one person. The gear represents
motion, machines, and mechanics, wrote another.
The reason I suggest the gear, added another reader, is because most mechanical
eyuipment is in motion and the gear is the only mechanical component that is used
evrywhere, whether in automobiles, airplanes, or in much smaller devices.
A popular nominee is the icon that Gupta suggested in his original article: the robot. A
robot is a device that has unlimited possibilities for implementation, wrote one reader.
So, for the next Question of the Month, we pose this:Do any of the above objects rise to the
level of being an icon for mechanical engineering? If the goal is, to justify why mechanical
engineering fundamentals are critical pieces of knowledge that are needed to confront some
of the biggest challenges of the 21st century, does the weel, the gear, the blade of the
propeller or any other proposed icons actually accomplish that?

64

Section 2
Core Text

HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT OR OCOMPOSITION

STUDY THE FOLLOWING

2. 1 COMPOSITION PROFILE

Write a short essay/composition in your own

words focusing on or choosing one of the
following ideas:
What does engineering mean to me?
A good engineer must be able to have
comprehensive vision of the world and his design
Engineering is double edged
Engineering means pushing out the very frontiers of
human achievements
Engineering always means balancing conflicting factors
Engineering has gone a step too far
The world today is forced to keep pace with increasingly
difficult technologies
Bertrand Russell thinks that although our age far
surpasses all previous ages in knowledge, there has
been no correlative increase in wisdom.

65

Content and organization

EXCELLENT TO VERY GOOD
knowledgeable, substantive, thorough development of thesis relevant to assigned topic;
logical sequencing and fluent expression of ideas which are clearly stated and supported,
succinct, well-organized and cohesive
GOOD TO AVERAGE
Some knowledge or adequate range of subject, limited development of theses that are
mostly relevant to topic, but lacks detail; ideas are logical but loosely organized with
incomplete sequencing, somewhat choppy but main ideas stand out
FAIR TO POOR
limited knowledge of subject and inadequate development of topic showing little substance;
ideas are non-fluent, confused, disconnected and lack logical sequencing and development
VERY POOR
does not show knowledge of subject and it is non-substanctive, not pertinent, and as a whole
not enough to evaluate; this composition does not communicate, has no organization and it
is not enough to evaluate

Vocabulary, language use and mechanics (punctuation, spelling etc.

EXCELLENT TO VERY GOOD
sophisticated and effective range of word/idiom choice and usage, i.e., word form mastery,
and appropriate register; effective and complex constructions, few errors of agreement,
tense, number, word order/function, articles, pronouns and prepositions; demonstrates
mastery of conventions, few errors of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing
GOOD TO AVERAGE
adequate range of vocabulary showing occasional errors of word/idiom form, choice and
usage but meaning is not obscured; effective but simple constructions, minor problems
in complex constructions, several errors of agreement, tense, number, word order/function,
articles, pronouns, prepositions but meaning seldom obscured; occasional errors of spelling,
punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing but meaning not obscured
FAIR TO POOR
limited range of vocabulary showing frequent errors of word/idiom form and meaning
confused and obscured; major problems in simple/complex constructions, frequent errors
of negotiation, agreement, tense, number, word order/ organisation, articles, pronouns,
prepositions and/or fragments, run-ons, deletions, meaning confused or obscured; frequent
errors of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing, poor handwriting and meaning
confused or obscured
VERY POOR
little knowledge of English vocabulary, idiom, word form, essentially translation and as a
whole not enough to evaluate; virtually no mastery of sentence construction rules and
dominated by errors, briefly it does not communicate and is not enough to evaluate;this
composition shows no mastery of conventions, it is dominated by errors of spelling,
punctuation, capitalization and paragraphing, handwriting is illegible and in short it is not
enough to evaluate

66

2.2 SCHEME AND PROCEDURAL APPROACH

OF WRITING AN ABSTRACT

If students cannot write properly, they will never be able to express their
ideas in clear, persuasive and effective ways.

Some common grammatical errors may be acceptable in conversation but

not in writing.Therefore, check your drafts to catch awkward wording or
sentence structure.

Students have to distinguish between language used in conversation and

that used in writing. Clearly, clarity and simplicity are always preferable to
complexity. The academic tone in writing will be studied, identified and defined.
Also, students have to distinguish between central, essential, main points and
ideas and the most important supporting or peripheral ideas.

How to summarize in writing? Students can summarize an article in 80100 words. In this way, it is important to isolate primary, secondary, and
tertiary issues. Also, the right idiom for the type of writing must be learned.

Examine the roles played by sentences, paragraphs, parentheses,

footnotes, chapters, prefaces and conclusions. Students are encouraged to
think in terms of paragraphs. What function is served by particular paragraphs.
Do they explain, inform or persuade?

What is the logic behind footnoting and other conventions of academic

writing?

The first time students are given a writing assignment, they have to
examine the issues they need to consider, e.g. study the essentials of good
writing that are the same under all circumstances.

Common mistakes the students make are:

inconsistency in verb tense
confusion of singular and plural
common spelling mistakes, not to rely on computer spell checkers
eliminate intensifiers as very etc.
use the right idiom
the logic of the presentation
cohesion (povezanost) and coherence (suvislost)

coherent logically connected, consistent; clearly articulated

cohesive sticking together
coherence
cohesion

Reread your first draft

suvisao
koji povezuje
suvislost
povezanost

67

2.3 SCHEME AND PROCEDURAL APPROACH OF WRITING AN ABSTRACT

When writing an abstract of an engineering text, reduce the volume of the text
by keeping the following levels in mind:

1 Write the title, the topic in block letters;

If small letters are used all the initials of the words are written in capital letters
except the prepositions, conjunctions and articles; the title must be as short as
possible containing primarily the novelty of the information, a new piece of
information, the essence and the main idea of the article content that is further
elaborated in the body of the abstract;

2 Write key words, i.e. the basic engineering concepts;

Set up relations between the concepts so as to convey concise, clear and precise
information.

3 Select only the essential information of the article (cca 100 words);
4 Organize the form of the summary i.e. divide the text into:
a) the introduction, i.e. the relevant essential or core idea
b) the body which supports the basic information of the article
c) the conclusion
5 Coherence and cohesion of the summary must be ensured:
by keeping the order and logic of the article content so that one sentence must
be logically and semantically linked with another sentence; Cohesion may be
realized by reference, by the pronouns this and these, by inter sentential
links known as sentence linkers, by synonymous expressions, etc.;
6 Engineering concepts must be properly matched by the appropriate
language structures and the type of discourse used, e. g. descriptive,
expository,
informative, argumentative, chronological, experimentresult oriented, etc.
7 There are two types of abstract predominantly used in technical English:
a) the topic oriented abstract, used in the written form, where information
content is reported as given by the article;
b)
the author (paper, article) oriented abstract, used in the oral report, in
which the content is reported from the point of view of the author.

68

2.4

A LIST OF INTRODUCTORY PHRASES:

This paper deals with and considers discusses..

This paper is concerned with
The concern of the article is ...
The focus is on the following aspects
This paper sets out to examine
The most interesting aspects are
This paper discusses
The object of this article is
The subject of this article is
It is the chief aim of this paper to
The main aim of this article is .
This paper treats the problem ..
This article gives a survey of
The article presents an overview of
This article provides a short account of
The basic principles of text .
The only criterion in this article is .
In this paper it is shown how .
It is argued that there is
This report explains the method
A short description is given of .
A general survey is given of
The following can be singled out .
In this article some basic concepts are given and it is shown how
...
In this paper a new formula, a method for . is derived and
described.
The first part of this article offers an exhaustive analysis of
The only criterion elaborated in this text is .
The following can be singled out in this article
From the insight gained into discourse structures a synthesis may
be deduced.

69

2.5

Sentence Linkers

1. To show addition:
and, besides, again, additionally, in addition to this, furthermore, moreover, as well as, also,
apart from, except for, possibly, more surprising, another point is that,

2. To show contrast:
although, but, however, nevertheless, despite, yet, otherwise, in spite of, unlike, while,
whereas, whilst, instead, on the other hand, in contrast to, as contrasted to, by way of
contrast, by contrast, as opposed to, on the contrary, fortunately, alternatively, irrespective
of, notwithstanding, regardless of, except, conversely, it is very unlikely, rather,

3. To show comparison:
like, in like manner, similarly, unlike, in the same way, so, likewise, correspondingly,
in comparison with this, regarding, as regards, with reference to, regarding, concerning,
referring to, in/with relation to, without regard/respect to, regardless of, without reference
to, without referring/relation to,

4. To show emphasis:
in fact, actually, in fact, as a matter of fact, certainly, indeed, above all, clearly, obviously,
really, surely, significantly, rather (tovie, zapravo), more importantly, it is worth
remembering, it is worth pointing out, it is worth noting, naturally, of course, put otherwise,
undoubtedly, interestingly enough,

5. To show concession:
even though, although, though, despite this,

6. To introduce an example:
for example, e.g. (= exampli gratia), in particular, for instance, namely, i.e. (=id est., or that
is), in other words, viz. (= vide licet, that is to say); put another way, rather (bolje reeno,
bolje rei),

7. To introduce reason or result:

as, thus, as a result, therefore, so, hence, due to, consequently, accordingly, since,
because of this, on account of, for this reason, given (the fact), inasmuch as,
in so far as, owing to, then, it follows that, no doubt,

8. To introduce conclusion:
in summary, in conclusion, (taken) as a whole, taken together, finally, briefly, overall,
to sum up, to summarize, on the whole, in short, interestingly, we can conclude,

9. To show sequence:
in the beginning, at first, initially, first(ly), second(ly), subsequently, afterwards, eventually,
next, finally, later on, ultimately, at last, lastly, not suprisingly, then, in time,

10. To show a cause effect:

due to, owing to, because of, on account of, since, as

11. To show condition:

if, unless (if not), provided (providing) that, on condition, whether

12.To show doubt or hypothesis:

possibly, probably, maybe,

70

3 Assignments
Write the abstracts of the following
texts:
Text A
Fighting Noise with Antinoise
Text B
Keeping In Touch
Text C
Human Factors Engineering

71

72

DICTATION

The Science of SOUND

Sound plays a vital part in our lives, but how much do we really know
about it?
We could begin some investigation into the subject, from the
mysterious songs of the humpback whale to the stressful effects of
noise pollution in our cities. We can take a journey through the middle
ear and eavedrop on echo-locating bats; we could examine the way
animals and humans communicate through sound, we could hear a
range of singing styles from around the world, extremes of sound
could also be under investigation from the ultrasonic chatter of rats
and mice to the infrasonic calls of the elephant. There is the healing
power of sound and music on the one hand and its irritation factor on
the other.

3.1 The text you have just read has helped you understand a lot more
about sound/noise control. What could you tell about applications of
noise-cancelling headphones?

In short, modern active noise control is achieved through the use of a

computer, which analyzes the waveform of the background aural or
non-aural noise, then generates a polarisation reversed waveform to
cancel it out by destructive interference. This waveform has identical or
directly proportional amplitude to the waveform of the original noise,
but its polarity is reversed. This creates the destructive interference
that reduces the amplitude of the perceived noise.

3.2 Study the following wordlist of the text

Fighting Noise with Antinoise
din
a loud, continuous, deafening sound, painful to the ears
noise
loud shouting, a sound of any kind, (the noise ofthe rain)
uproar
loud, confused sound as of shouting, laughing
clamour
loud shouting as in protest
drumming engine noisea loud, reverberating sound and noise made by an engine
ANT. quiet
electronic mufflers any of various devices for silencing, suppressing noises; a larger section with
a baffler or baffles in the exhaust pipe of an internal-combustion engine.
muffle
Syn.to deaden, mute, soften, silence, weaken, reduce, suppress the sound
soften
reduce, weaken
baffle
to hinder, impede, interfere with

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midair

any point in space, not in contact with the ground or other surface do
not confuse with middle ear (see also external ear and inner ear)
matte
not shiny or glossy; dull
earmuffs
cloth or fur coverings worn over the ears to keep them warm in cold
weather
whine
whiz, hiss, whistle, whisper
rumble
to make a deep, heavy, continuous, rolling sound as thunder
deafen
to make deaf
deaf
unable to hear, deaf to her pleads
slinky
sinuous and graceful in movement
seesaw
a plank used by children at play to ride the ends so that when one goes
up, the other comes down; ljuljaka;
mute
unable to speak, deaf from infancy, deaf-mute
mute
soften or muffle the sound
blast
to make a loud, harsh sound
eavesdropping devices device for listening secretly to the private conversation of others;
eavesdropper
lit. one who stands on the eavesdrop to listen
muzzle
straps fastened over the mouth of an
animal to prevent its
biting; anything that prevents free speech or discussion

3.3 An example of abstract scheme:

At the beginning of the article the author gives the fundamental idea, essential relations
between and the . Moreover, fundamentals of are given in order to
Then he shows the close relationship which exists between and . Some data related
to are also offered.
Finally, the necessary steps for are defined in order to .
In the conclusion the author underlines the impact of on

3.4 Abstract of the TEXT A

An example of the abstract (109 words)
This article is concerned with reducing noise level by using
earphones, which generate sound waves 180 out of phase with the
noise that should be blocked. Thus, the noise wave and the
generated waves cancel each other out and no noise is heard. This
phenomenon is known as destructive interference.
The main use of these earphones is to block excessive noise in the
airplane and helicopter cockpits. However, this device is not
perfect, because it cannot block very high-pitched noise.
It is worth mentioning that there are many companies working on
the anti-noise systems, so that the first one to develop a perfect
system will make a fortune.

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TEXT B

Assignment 3.5

Keeping in touch
A product doesn't just disappear into the ether after design; it leaves tracks to
follow in the real world.
By Jean Thilmany, Associate Editor
Write subtitles for each paragraph

TECHNOLOGY THAT HELPS ENGINEERS pass design ideas back and forth and brainstorm
with others involved in a project can be harnessed down the line in a product's life to provide
much-needed information about those early days. Equally important, it can encourage engineers
involved at the beginning of a product during its designto think about how it will be used
during its entire life. It's sort of like making sure that children are inoculated against diseases they
might encounter later in life.
By using technology to forecast and plan for the uses of products such as computers and
automobiles before they're even created, engineers and manufacturers can minimize the
environmental impact the products will have at the end of their useful lives. And the same
technology used in product creation, called product lifecycle management, or PLM, software,
can be reactivated farther down a product's lifefor instance, when the owner of a Peugeot wants
to find out what's causing that billowing smoke from the exhaust.
PLM isn't always thought of as forward-thinking technology because it's used mainly at the front
end of product creation. But it leaves a rich trail of information about original design and
marketing intent that can be called upon later.

Some companies couple PLMwhich allows engineers and manufacturers to exchange design
files and communicate about product developmentwith a mix of other technologies to forecast a
product's life and to come up with more environmentally friendly products. Companies, such as
the French automaker Peugeot, use a blend of technologies, including PLM, to give them contact
with products long after they've been driven off the lot. Peugeot s technology, from IBM, uses a
vehicle's original engineering and bill of materials information to troubleshoot problems that crop
up for owners anywhere down the road.
PLM also comes into play in a method of environmentally friendly product design called design
for the environment. Government agencies and some manufacturers have found economic value in
designing and manufacturing products with parts that can be recycled after the product is at the
end of its service life. Recycled parts might take their place as material in a new product, rather
than be tossed into a landfill, according to the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance.

Ironically, it's the quickly changing technology landscape, in which new software applications and
computer upgrades are introduced at ever-faster rates, that takes a heavy toll on the
environment. It does so by introducing heavy and toxic metals into the waste stream, according to
several studies, which say that the need to design products made partly of reused material is crucial
to America's current technological state. Each computer or television display contains an average
of 4 to 8 pounds of lead. Cathode ray tubes used in computer monitors and TV sets are hazardous
waste, which is banned from California landfills, according to a March 2001 letter from the
California Department of Toxic Substances Control.

75

Computers are discarded fairly rapidly these days, what with constant innovation and greater
affordability. About 315 million computers will have become obsolete between 1997 and 2004,
and together they'll contain more than 1.2 billion pounds of lead, according to the letter.

The Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance urges manufacturers to harness product

lifecycle management technology to help reduce this technological waste. In design for
environment, PLM is helpful in the very early design stages by cuing engineers as they track
design changes and exchange information to consider the environmental impacts of a product
throughout its lifecycle.
Potential environmental impacts range from the release of toxic chemicals into the waste stream to
consumption of nonrenewable resources and excessive energy use, according to the Minnesota
OEA. So, product lifecycle management might be used to link engineers and manufacturers while
they design and produce a computer made with less lead, or one that runs on less energy than past
models. Used this way, a PLM software application ties together all stages of design and
manufacturing in determining the most environmentally sound method of production and the most
suitable materials, both for the product and for the environment.
Because mechanical and manufacturing engineers, designers, marketers, and many others are
involved in creating a product, a PLM system helps these people exchange plans and ideas via the
Internet, whatever their location, to brainstorm design and manufacturing.

ASSESSING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

The Minnesota environmental office defines five stages of a product's life. In each stage, the PLM
system can be used to consider the product's environmental impact.
During the design stage, for example, engineers determine the raw materials that will make up the
product. They can choose low-impact materials that can be more readily recycled than other
materials. At manufacture, engineers can find methods of making products that use less energy
than other production methods.
The packaging and distribution stage is the point at which the product can be minimally packaged
and sent on an efficiently planned delivery route.
The Minnesota OEA defines the use and maintenance stage as the time after the customer buys the
product until the customer is ready to dispose of it. Here, technologies tied to the PLM system,
like the one used at Peugeot, come into play.
At the end of its life, the product, of course, is recycled, remanufactured, or sent to a dump or
incinerator. If engineers chose to use easily recyclable products during product creation, fewer
materials wind up in a landfill.

Other nations have already passed laws that stipulate design for environment, such as
Japan's Electric Home Appliance Recycling Law that took effect last year. Under the law,
manufacturers must ensure that their product is recycled when it can't be used anymore. A
take-back scheme has to be in place, too, so the product can be easily dropped off for
recycling.
Since 1991, Germany, the first nation to pass packaging laws, has required
manufacturers to assume the costs of collecting and recycling used packaging.
The French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen has found a way to incorporate its PLM system
during the use and maintenance stage of its vehicles' lives. At that stage, when a
customer is using the product on a regular basis, it might become easy for the manufacturer to be
out of the loop.

76

But Peugeot is using a technology system called Tele-Assistance that ties together a blend of
software and hardware applications, including the PLM system, to remotely diagnose vehicles that
might have been sold years ago. The system, which is hooked up to the car while it's in the garage
for repair, uses the vehicle's original bill of materials and information about its current
operating state to help find and fix problems. In some particularly hard-to-diagnose cases, the
engineer who helped design the vehicle might even be consulted via the Internet.
"We give the service technician everything that he needs to do a particular repair job," said Alan
Chakra, the director of IBM's Service After Sales Solutions division, which provides the
technology to Peugeot. IBM's PLM team, which makes Enovia software, also helped to develop the
system.

Chakras division makes software that focuses on a product during what he calls its service
lifecycle; that is, during its use by consumers. Such technology helps cut warranty expenses for
manufacturers, reduces labor costs, increases parts and service business after the warranty
expires, and saves time needed to solve repair problems, he said.
"Let's say you have a Peugeot of some kind and you go into the dealership to get it fixed," Chakra
said. "The technician may not have seen a case like this, so he might try many things to see if they
work."
But using Tele-Assistance, in place at Peugeot since 1999, the technician enters into the computer
vehicle serial number and, like a doctor, also enters a list of symptoms (black smoke billows from
the exhaust pipe when the car is moving, for example). The system tells him of any part recalls that
might be affecting the vehicle.

If a recalled part isn't the problem, the technician then plugs what's called a diagnostic connector
under the dashboard and plugs the other end into a computer attached to the Tele-Assistance server.
The connector loads all the codes from the vehicle's many minicomputers into the system. This is
like taking an X-ray of the vehicle. All its internal workings are documented and displayed on a
screen viewed by an off-site expert who helps with diagnosis.
"If a sensor has failed, it says why it failed, what time it failed, and under what load it failed,"
Chakra said. "We know everything that's inside this particular vehicle, and we've got the BOM, so
we know how it's supposed to run. We know what software components are in the control unit.
Based on that, the server builds a profile for this particular vehicle."
The system houses information on thousands of other cars of the same make and model as the one
in the garage, Chakra said. It's a veritable database of past problems with similar cars, attendant
information on why those problems cropped up, and how they were successfully repaired.

"The reason Peugeot launched this technology in the first place is because its vehicles went from
one computer on board, to vehicles with a local area network on board, to what they call a
canbusa controller area network," Chakra said. "In these cars you can get
up to 30 computers connected on a network. One computer operates the security system, one the
dashboard, one the radio, another window, another engine.
"Peugeot needed some kind of software to support this copulation of highly complex vehicles," he
said.
Eight thousand Peugeot automobiles are made every lay, said Jean-Philippe Fournier, Peugeot's
technical director for parts and services. The system has allowed Peugeot technicians to diagnose
and repair 80 percent of its cars within one day, rather than the several days it might take without
the Tele-Assistance system, he said.

REPAIRING A CAR ONLINE

Let's say a vehicle fails in Sao Paolo," Chakra said. "If the technician can't fix it, he can call a
number and speak to someone who speaks his language."

77

The expert on the other end of the line is certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service
Excellence. He or she requests the dealership identification number, asks about the issue at hand,
and then consults a computer that showslives via the Internetall the data coming from the
vehicle.
"So the expert is doing diagnostics on the vehicle with the technician on the line with him,"
Chakra said. The expert has easy access to these 10,000 past cases in the system. He can tell the
technician, 'Okay, we've seen this before. This is what you do.' "
If the diagnostic expert can't fix the problem, the engineers who originally worked on the vehicle
can be consulted. The minute the vehicle is fixed, the system is automatically updated to include
the new solution in its database for future reference.

.
The Tele-Assistance system grew out of similar technology developed at IBM and used for the
computers it makes, Chakra said. IBM servers that use the technology send a messageusually via
a pager or cellular phone when one of their parts is about to go bad.
"When you have a server supporting a company that has 10,000 workstations attached to it, you
can't afford to have the server go down," Chakra said. "So the server is attached to a diagnostic
server. Before the server starts having problems, it can say, 'I'm getting ready to fail. I have a
component ready to fail.'
"IBM ships the necessary part to the customer before you have a failure. That's the whole idea that
spawned the automaker idea," he added.

.....................................................................................................................................
The remote monitoring component is the next step in the Tele-Assistance system, Chakra added.
IBM officials next envision a wireless link that connects the vehicle, via a cellular telephone, to a
customer support center. Computers at the center would monitor the vehicle to see if a part is
about to break or a sensor is ready to fail.
If something is about to go wrong, the driver would get a phone call that says, for example, the
engine is about ready to overheat or the clutch is starting to slip. Taking advantage of global
positioning technology, the system could also tell the driver where the nearest Peugeot service
center is and exactly how to get there.
Sales and marketing people are currently using the Tele-Assistance system at Peugeot to profile
vehicles. They can figure out how long, on average, a model will run until it needs servicing.
Chakra expects the system to be used for more marketing efforts in the future.
PLM technology, often thought of as a tool that's useful in the first stages of product design and
manufacture, is now being used to project a product's life, to follow a product even after it's sold,
and to ensure an environmentally sound product in the first place.
September 2002, Mechanical Engineering

Vocabulary List
brainstorm
a sudden inspiration, idea, or plan
harness
to control so as to use the power of (to harness ones energy)
inoculated
to introduce ideas
billowing
a large wave,
forecast
to plan in advance; foresee
the lot
a quantity of material processed or manufactured at the same time
troubleshot to detect and correct faults
troubleshooter
a person who locates and repairs mechanical breakdowns; a person
charged with locating and eliminating the source of trouble in any flow
of work
crop up
appear or arise unexpectedly
service life
life of the vehicle in service

78

in service
in use; functioning: said esp. of an appliance, vehicle, etc.
toss
to throw lightly or carelessly
computer upgrades improved computers
on the upgrade
improving, making progress
upgrade
raise to a higher grades
hazardous waste risky, dangerous, useless, superfluous or discarded material, as garbage
obsolete
no longer in general use; of a discarded or outmoded type; out of date
cue
to insert and direct engineers to come in a specific place
make up
form, compose, constitute
dispose of
get rid of
dump
heap of rubbish; place where rubbish, etc. may be unloaded and left
incinerator
furnace, enclosed fireplace for burning rubbish
wind up
come or bring to an end a landfill
landfill
the disposal of garbage or rubbish by burring it under a shallow layer of
ground
stipulate
put forward, insist upon
veritable
real, rightly named
hook up
any combination of created parts; a connection, the elements as set up
for operation
bill of material
written statement of charges for goods delivered or services rendered
warrantly
written or printed guarantee to repair or replace defective goods
expire
come to an end
When does your driving license expire?
recall
revoking something
attendant information
accompanying information
controller area network
spawn
produce in great numbers
envision
to picture mentally
slip

Translate into Croatian

forward-thinking technology
environmentally friendly

at ever-faster rates
......
It takes a heavy toll on the environment
environmental impact ...
throughout its lifecycle ..........
non-renewable resources
excessive energy use
..
low-impact materials can more readily be recycled than other materials
.......................................
pass the law
.........
take effect
.....
the product can be dropped off for recycling.
be tossed into a landfill

wind up in a landfill
............
current operating state

veritable database of past problems

79

environmentally sound project

service lifecycle

Translate the following sentence into Croatian:

The system, which is hooked up to the car while it's in the garage for repair, uses the vehicle's
original bill of materials and information about its current operating state
to help find and fix problems.

...........

WORD FORMATION
to afford
to sustain
to know

affordability
sustainability
knowledge

affordable
sustainable
knowledgable

Summarizing
Essential idea

..............................................
The most important supporting information

....................
....................
Conclusion
..........
.............................................................................................................................
.................................

80

TEXT C - Assignment 3.6

HUMAN FACTORS ENGINEERING
During most of the centuries of mans history, his technological progress was limited, to a
large extent, to the development of improved devices and methods of utilizing his own
manual energ.y, readily available natural sources of energy (for example, the wind in
sailing), and certain animals (for example, oxen and horses). Such progress slow
and faltering as it was may be viewed as embracing two separate but related
areas. In the first place there was the discovery of the technology as such the
physical principle or fact that made possible the development or improvement in
question, for example, the principle of the lever, which was basic to the development
of such devices as clubs, oars, axes and hoes. And in the second place, there was the
adaptation of the technology to better serve his own purposes. The oar, for example,
was adapted to human use in terms of the size and shape of the handle, to fit the
hands and of other physical characteristics (e.g., length, width and balance) that would
make it effective as a device for human use.
The process of developing tools and equipment for human use was essentially one of
evolution. Through the use of a particular device, it was possible to identify its
deficiencies and to modify the device accordingly, so that the next "generation" of the
device would better serve its purpose in actual use. Experience, then, was the primary
basis for improvement and further adaptation.
It was a combination of scientific discoveries and developments that made the
industrial revolution possible. The technological developments that have been
made in the past 1 1/2 centuries have also been accompanied by the adaptation of
tools, devices, equipment, and environments to human use. During this period,
also, the adaptation process was guided primarily by the experiences of people with
the many new types of devices that had been created.
The time during and since World War II probably will be recorded in history as a
period of scientific explosion. The epidemic of scientific breakthroughs has made
possible a wide assortment of technological developments, including entirely new types
of equipment for both military and civilian use. It has been found, often through
unhappy experiences, however, that some of these devices were not designed appropriately for human use. It was found, for example, that some items of equipment,
such as higher-speed aircraft, radar, and fire-control systems, could not be
managed effectively by their operators, that human errors were excessive, and that
many accidents occurred because of human mistakes which were attributed to design
deficiencies. Such deficiencies probably can be attributed, in part, to the fact that
such equipment, being more elaborate than that which people previously had used, created
greater "human factors" problems than were characteristic of earlier devices. Further,
since some equipment was designed and produced "from scratch", rather than through
gradual evolution, there was no opportunity to benefit from previous experience in
the
use of earlier models.
The current development of complex man-machine systems such as missiles, space ships,
surveillance systems, and automated production systems creates a similar type of situation.
Such systems must be designed and produced without much opportunity for evolution from
previous generations of somewhat related equipment. The time and cost involved in retrofit
processes frequently preclude major modifications once the basic design has been created
and production has been started. (Retrofitting is the process of modifying models that
already have been created.)

81

Such time and cost considerations therefore place a high premium on creating original
designs which, when actually produced, will be satisfactory both from the point of view of
strictly engineering considerations and from the point of view of human use
In connection with the human factors aspects of such systems therefore, it is important that,
in the initial design of systems, human factors considerations be taken fully into account.
The solutions should be based on the availability of pertinent information about human
capabilities and limitations. In the absence of information specifically pertinent to the
problem, one would usually wish to rely upon expert judgments on the part of individuals
who are knowledgeable about the human performance characteristics in question.
The development of a body of information and principles that would be applicable is
primarily dependent upon research.
In a practical design problem, if pertinent information is not available regarding some human
performance characteristic, there are two or three alternatives from which to choose. In
the first place one can pick answers out of thin air; this obviously is a pretty risky
business, although it is, unfortunately, a fairly common practice. In the second place, it
may be possible to carry out some research project to develop the
needed information;
such projects can of course range from those of a quick and dirty nature to those of a
fairly broad-scale, even basic-research nature. In the third place, it is possible to solicit the
judgments of experts in the particular area.

Write an Abstract
Key words: ............................................................................................
Essential Idea
..
..
.........

Supporting Information
..
..
.........
....
..
..........

Conclusion
....
......
....