Written By
Magda Al Sebai
Textbooks 
Esteras, S.R, (2000). Infotech: English for computer users. Cambridge: Cambridge: University Press.
Azar, B. S. (2000).Understanding and using English English Grammar. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents.
-An anthology of writing materials prepared by the department.
-Infotech Cassette
The Infotech textbook is designed as intermediate-level English course for students of computer sciences and
technical English.
The course aims at helping students to develop a variety of language skills and acquire knowledge of
computers in English. It also helps students to use computers to understand a wide range of texts about
information technology.
The text book consists of :
Reading units organized into seven sections and each unit provides an average of two hours of work.
A Glossary of technical terms.
A list of acronym and abbreviations.
Technical Help Section is included in each unit to help students understand computer concepts and
terminology.
Students will link these concepts to their specialized computer courses.
The material is organized into thematic sections which cover a wide variety of topics and styles of
presentation.
The material is also based on skills development and communicates tasks.
Each section consists of three to six units based on the same theme.
Each section provides different learning objectives.
Each section has the following pattern:
Pre-tasks to prepare students for the main task and make the texts more accessible for students.
Pre-tasks involve students in the activities by asking them to predict vocabulary, exchange questions and
answers, and elicit answers about pictures on computer sciences.
Main tasks which focus on developing reading skills
Language and vocabulary tasks to enable students expand their understanding and language practice.
Follow-up tasks to provide students with more opportunities for speaking or writing.
These tasks can be tackled individually and collaboratively in class to encourage students interactions by
providing relevant additional materials.
Skills Development
The textbook lays particular emphasis on developing receptive skills supported by listening, reading , and
writing activities.
The reading texts are authentic and adapted from original sources such as specialist magazines, computer
programs, and reference manuals.
The tasks are designed to develop a great variety of reading strategies such as scanning and skimming.
Text analysis is a relevant feature of this textbook.
Students have to look for information, find reference signals, identify cohesion devices or distinguish facts
and opinions.
Listening
The listening passages include conversations, interviews, advertisements, descriptions of hardware and
software and information technology.
Pre-listening activities are designed to enhance students listening skills.
Students take notes while they listen to the activities and they get engaged in brainstorming sessions to
improve their listening comprehensions and speaking skill.
Speaking
The speaking tasks develop oral skills through quizzes, information-gap and problem-solving activities.
Writing
The approach to writing is based on two principles:
Writing is an interactive process where the writer tries to communicate something to a real or an imaginary
reader.
The organizations of the ideas are as important as grammar accuracy.
The students are encouraged to write to complete coherent texts.
The writing tasks include describing objects and diagrams, making advertisements, summarizing texts and
writing letters, emails, and resumes.
Grammar and Vocabulary
The language tasks revise the major language skills necessary at this level.
The Charts in each unit are designed as resources which will be used as part of classroom teaching
or outside the classroom.
The language work concentrates on grammatical constructions which are typical of technical English including
passive forms, imperatives, comparatives and superlatives, and discourse markers.
Grammar exercises are contextualized and arise from the linguistic forms that appear in the texts.
Vocabulary
The book places special emphasis on vocabulary acquisition.
The objectives of this section are as follows:
Explain the difference between active and passive vocabulary as some students are not conscious of this
distinction and are very anxious about their lack of active vocabulary.
Active vocabulary refers to lexical items that the students are able to use appropriately in oral and written
communication.
Passive vocabulary refers to those items that can be recognized and understood during the process of
listening and reading.
Passive vocabulary is much easier to acquire than active vocabulary at any stage in the learning process.
Students will use parts of speech to enhance vocabulary building.
Word building exercises and the study of word formation processes including suffixes, prefixes, and
conversion and compounding will help students to develop and extend their vocabulary.
The textbook Glossary will help students to acquire technical terms, synonyms, and acronyms.
Dictionary skills tasks will be practiced in class and outside classroom.
Students will use their dictionaries properly on a daily basis.
Students will work on pronunciation guidance, layout of entries, and abbreviations.
Dictionaries of technical terms will also be used.
Students will create their personal archives of vocabulary using their computers or college computer
laboratory.
Word processing programs include a spell checker that students will use daily.
The built-in thesaurus with synonyms and antonyms will also be used.
Coursework
Regular discussions in the classroom
Textbook tasks
Quizzes
Worksheets
Two interm exams
A collaborative presentation or project
Home assignment based on external reading
A workshop to present the projects
Final exam
Applications of technology
Online Resources
Students will use the Internet to acquire new language and computer skills.
