Exercises and Speech Patterns

You may also ask a direct question and get a straightforward reply. Here are some examples:

(1)

A.: Did you examine the case of a single occupied subband?

В.: Yes, we did and it provides a good check on the theory.

(2)

A.: Are the rates affected by temperature?

В.: Certainly, they are. And this is evident from the temperature plot I showed.

(3)

A.: Did you notice any change in the mobility?

В.: No, no change was registered, although we made it a special point to measure the characteristic carefully.

Exercise. Role play. One of you plays the chairman, another Dr. Stone who presents a short communication, e.g. about the conditions of his recent experiment. The others play the discussion participants who ask the main speaker both direct and indirect questions. The replies should be informative and contain explanations, if necessary.

Pattern:                                                                     

Chairman: Now I'm giving the floor to Dr. Stone, who will speak on intersubband
scattering in two-dimensional heterojunctions.                                                                                       

Stone: My recent experiment was aimed at direct measurement of intersubband scattering in two-dimensional heterojunction structures. The experiment was made with a Hall bar fabricated from a conventional GaAs-GaAlAs heterojunction. The sample was grown when the p-type background contamination was relatively large, actually, larger than 10¹⁵ cm³ Ar. In the dark only one subband was occupied. To populate the second band the carrier density was increased using the photoconductivity effect.

Chairman: Thank you, Dr. Stone, for your interesting paper. Any questions to Dr. Stone? Yes, welcome (pointing to a man).

Jones: I'm Brian Jones of the National Research Center, Canada. Dr. Stone, how did you remove the residual radiation?

Stone: For that we used an unfrared light-emitting diode with an indium phosphide filter.

Chairman: Any other questions? Welcome.

Dingle: Robert Dingle, the Bell Laboratories. I wonder if you could detect any positive magnetoresistance at low fields.

Stone: No, when both subbands were occupied, the magnetoresistance was less than 0.1%. This is comparable with the negative magnetoresistance and is generally attributed to electron-electron interaction.

Chairman: Does anyone else have any questions? We still have a couple of minutes. I see there are no more questions to Dr. Stone. Thank you.

You can also ask the speaker for an opinion or point of view. The speaker's reply, however, may be ambiguous or equivocal, lacking certainty or confidence. Here are some short dialogues to illustrate this:

(1)

A.: How large do you think is the difference between the gap values?                                                            

В.: It's hard to say. I imagine, not very large.

(2)

A.: Do you think these curves would run smoothly in case of a single subband?

В.: I don't know. To my mind, it is possible.

(3)

A.: Dr. Rundle, what is your idea of the effect?

В.: I don't think I have a clear conception of this effect at the moment.

(4)

A.: I would like to ask about your opinion on the modulation data.

В.: There is still no direct evidence. So it's hard to offer an unambiguous interpretation of the results.

To give an equivocal reply one can also use the following phrases:

(1) - Well, I don't think I can reply to your question at the moment.

(2) - I'm afraid I can't give a definite answer. I think Dr. Altov could do it better than I.    

(3) - I don't think I'm qualified to speak about this matter.

(4) – Your question is difficult to answer. I hope further work may help to clarify it.

(5) – I expect this question must be directed to Dr. Appleton who examined several situations.

     Then the floor was given to young scientists who in turn spoke about their research.        

 

Anna Konina, from Rostov, Russia:

This year I graduated from Rostov University of Economics. I studied at the faculty of marketing and commerce.

When a student I was interested in the scientific research work. That’s why after the University I made up my mind to take up a postgraduate course in North-Caucasian Academy for Public Administration.

The approximate topic of my thesis (dissertation) will be “The Status of a Joint Venture in the economy of the transitional period”. Together with my scientific supervisor we are planning to deal with the following problems:

- socio-economic nature of a joint venture;

- peculiarities of functioning of a joint venture in the transitional period;

- classification of joint ventures in Russia, etc.

My scientific supervisor helps me a great deal. He is a highly-qualified economist having a great capacity for detailed scientific analysis. He is a born scholar who solves complicated problems with ease.

We try to use various methods of investigation and develop our own new method of analysis.

As for me, I do research because I believe that practically and effectively it benefits the world. Besides, I enjoy science greatly. I am full of ideas and very happy that at our Academy we have all the necessary facilities and techniques for scientific work.

I have already observed and analyzed the work of many joint ventures. So I have a lot of material to make generalization on.

Sergey Afanasyev from the Krasnodar region, Russia:

Let me say some words about my scientific work. I graduated from the economic faculty of Rostov University. My speciality is economic mathematics. Now I work as an assistant lecturer. I teach the following subjects: the theory of risk, insurance, the system of decision making in economics.

When I was a student of the university I began to carry out my research work. Later my scientific interests brought me to a postgraduate course in North-Caucasian Academy for Public Administration. Last year I became a postgraduate. The theme of my dissertation is “Insurance in the system of economic relations”.

I have already begun my research. I often work in the libraries of Rostov and Moscow, use Internet information. I have two articles published and I’m planning to publish a text-book for students of economics.

And though I am a hard-working researcher, there’s still much to de done, so I continue to work on my dissertation. I suppose it will consist of five chapters – two theoretical and three practical. It will also include many tables, diagrams, and schemes.

For me, science and business are ‘more exiting than any game’ and ‘more agreeable than pleasure’. I deeply believe in scientific values and I’m quite sure that economic research can benefit our nation.

Rochelle Karen Seide, a patent lawyer and researcher from the USA:

I was educated as a biologist, but now I enjoy a rewarding career as a patent attorney specializing in biotechnology. After beginning my studies in bacteriology and earning a Ph.D. in human genetics, I completed my schooling with a law degree. This seemingly radical career change came naturally enough as an extension of my inborn people skills.

Even when I was a scientist [at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine], I spent a lot of time with other people teaching and doing genetic counseling. I liked the interpersonal aspects of my work as well as the science. Patent practice lets me use them both.

I became an attorney in the New York firm of Brumbaugh, Graves, Donohue & Raymond. In my speciality of intellectual-property law, I spend much of my time in litigation and counseling: Does a new biotechnology process or product merit a patent? Can a client expect good protection for the life of the patent? To answer such questions, I must understand the cutting-edge research that my clients are doing. I could not do this without my expertise in—and love for—science.

On weekends I read lectures at a Law school and do my postdoctoral research in patent law. I also supervise some undergraduate law students.

I feel that it was important to focus on science for its own sake while working toward my Ph.D. Still, I encourage my students to understand that if you want to do science from another perspective, more avenues are open to you. I have found how exciting it is to learn from people in other disciplines and to look at science from other perspectives.

Russell Greig, an actuary from the USA:

Well, to begin with, I am a mathematics major who became an actuary. I was always very good at maths and never considered any other career. I excelled in mathematics as an undergraduate at Florida A&M University.

 My goals were to use mathematics in a practical way, to work in the "real world," and to earn a good income. So I was planning a career in civil engineering when my calculus professor took me aside.

"He said, ‘You are doing well enough in math; have you considered actuarial science?’ I hadn’t, so I checked it out in the Jobs Almanac, which said it was a growing field. After some reluctance—I was already pretty far along in engineering—I decided to give it a try.’”

Now, just 5 years later, I am one examination away from being a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, the rough equivalent of a Ph.D. in actuarial mathematics. I gained a head start by taking the first two actuarial examinations as an undergraduate; 10 are required for fellowship status. As a result, I was offered a job by the National Council on Compensation Insurance, in Boca Raton, FL, an insurance advisory company. My first assignment was to produce new data on workers’ compensation claims needed by insurance companies, actuaries, and legislatures. I am now calculating reserves for the workers’ compensation "residual" insurance market. At the same time, I am approaching the end of my studies.

Since I graduated, I’ve been spending close to 400 hours every 4 months studying for the exams. The company gives me 120 hours, the rest I do at night and on weekends. The competition is pretty steep, so you have to do well. If you do, job prospects are excellent and you gain high respect in the profession. At the fellowship level you’re at the top and you can pretty much decide where you want to work. I’ll probably stay in the South; I’m from the Virgin Islands and I can’t take the cold.

I encourage students who enjoy applied mathematics to look into the field. I recommend it to those who enjoy number-crunching, who want to see immediate, practical results from what they’re doing. You have to be prepared to pay your dues, but there’s plenty of opportunity. There are only about 2,500 casualty actuaries in the world, and the field is still growing.

Math majors have other good choices in applied fields. One is the financial area, where there is demand for people who can quantify financial-risk models and can present clearly what they’re doing to others who are not sophisticated in math. In fact, when I’m done with these exams I’m going to take the Chartered Financial Analyst exams, which are like a shortcut to an MBA in finance. This allows you to do more asset-related work.

Another growth area is computer science and programming. I often work with programmers who don’t understand the math involved. If you know the math to begin with, you’ll be able to write your own ticket. The math is where it begins.

Lena Stoyanova, a young education researcher from Bulgaria:

The subject of my thesis is “The technology of teachers’ professional activity in secondary school: psychological study”.

The research is based on the theory of Drs. Isayev and Slobodchikov.

The aim of my work is to investigate the theoretical and practical approaches to the process of teachers’ professional activity from the psychological point of view.

The practical importance of my work consists in working out methodological recommendations for secondary school teachers.

The subject of our research is connected with psychological technologies of teachers’ professional activity in secondary schools.

The object of investigation is the psychological basis of teachers’ professional activity.

Coming back to the main topic of my research I’d like to say that the aim of my investigation is to work out a new professiogram method.

My task is to work out the scientific principles of professiogram method improving the teachers’ activity.

In my work I’d like to systematize the information on teachers’ profession, psychological structure of activity, psychological purposes, conditions, and means necessary for it, important professional qualities of a person.

The structure of my thesis includes introduction, two chapters, conclusion, list of used literature and appendix.

The topic, the aims, the tasks, the subject, and the object of my investigation are presented in the introduction.

The first part contains background material and the analysis of existing theories.

The second part of my thesis presents a detailed account of the experimental results.

The list of used literature presents a wide variety of sources on the subject and related topics.

The appendix contains summaries and extracts of methodological recommendations for teachers of secondary schools.

In my investigation my scientific supervisor and I try to use modern methods and computing devices.

The methods of modelling technology, observation, generalization, experiment, etc., are used in our research.

 

Vasily Ponomar, a young researcher in education from Byelorussia:

I do postgraduate studies and at the same time I work at a collage combining my work with research.

The topic of my thesis is “Psychological-Pedagogical aspects of distance learning in the system of pre-University Education”.

The research is based on the theory of personality-centered education.

It is this system of education that provides real education and self-development of the student’s individuality based on revealing his/her individual features.

Also, it is based on the acceptance of a child’s right to choose his/her own way of development through the creation of alternative forms of learning.

It gives an opportunity to every student to realize his/her own interest and subjective experience in the learning behavior.

The system of criteria in this field is built not only on the analysis of gained knowledge and skills but also on the mental and intellectual qualities which have been formed in the educational process.

It is new informational technologies which promise the possibility of getting new knowledge.

The latter can be ensured by organizing a more effective cognitive activity of the student with the help of individualized learning, an important didactic property of computers and of the distance learning.

The object of my research is connected with distance learning in the system of pre-University Education.

The subject of the investigation is the process of applicants’ teaching for entry to Universities.

The aim of my work is to investigate the theoretical base of distance learning in the system of pre-University education, to prove the influence and importance of the effective methods of the distance learning.

In my work I’d like:

- to show the influence of distance learning based on the personality-centered education on the formation of the concrete personality;

- to work out a psychological complex of measures for finding out individual features;

- to create psychological conditions for mastering new knowledge.

The practical importance of my work consists in:

- working out methodological recommendations for teachers working in the system of distance education;

- creating objective valuation system of students knowledge and skills;

     - working out the scientific principles of electronic textbooks.

In my work I’d like to systematize the information on learning children, psychological structure of activity, psychological purposes, conditions, and means necessary for it, individual qualities of a person.

The structure of my thesis includes introduction, three chapters, list of used literature, and appendix.

The topic, the aims, the tasks, the subject, and the object of my investigation are presented in the introduction.

The first part contains background material and analysis of existing theories.

The theoretical analysis will be supported by experiments.

The second part is the description of the experimental work.

The third part of my thesis presents a detailed account of the experimental results.