Modern English for Aeronautics and Space Technology

"Preface (S. 5-6)

This book started as a collection of exercises and texts that I had developed for two of my English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses in the English Department at the University of Stuttgart’s Language Centre – English for Aeronautics and English for Space Engineering. The texts that formed the foundation of my readers had been drawn from various sources, such as scientific magazines, academic journals, textbooks and the Internet, and served as authentic material, through which my students could hone their English language skills. Given the lack of teaching materials for these highly technical ESP courses, I decided to compile the material I had already developed and hence the genesis of this textbook.

This book is intended as a textbook to accompany ESP courses at post-secondary institutions across the German-speaking world, but, if one disregards the translation exercises involving German, it could easily be used for English for Aerospace classes anywhere. Additionally, this textbook could be used by engineers already working in the field of aerospace engineering as part of a structured course or a self-study module. While there is no pre-requisite per se for the course in which this book is meant to be used, students are generally required to have a firm grasp of the English language. The level that has been aimed for is C1 (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) or UNIcert Level III.

As the material has been taken from a number of sources in its original context, the variety of English might vary from text to text. Consequently, the British English “centre”, for example, might figure next to its American equivalent “center”. Given that I hail from Canada, where I grew up recognizing that English cannot be straitjacketed into one form, the debate over British and American English has taken a back seat during the development of this book. To that end, I have striven to provide examples of texts representative of “international English”, as most native speakers of English would understand it.

In some cases, where there are competing variants, generally British and American, these have been provided. This book is a combination of reader and workbook. Space has generally been provided for students to enter their answers into the book as they work through the exercises under the guidance of an instructor or on their own as part of a self-study module. Although there is a large focus on reading comprehension, the expansion of specialized and academic vocabulary as well writing skills, there are exercises throughout the textbook that provide practice in listening comprehension and speaking.

A few task-oriented exercises have also been provided to allow the students to employ all of their Englishlanguage resources in authentic, real-life situations. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information provided in the material that I have gathered, but I have endeavoured to ensure that the material has been drawn from reputable sources. 6  Thanks goes to a number of individuals who provided me with help and advice along the way. In particular, I would like to thank Paula Cilinghir, who was of enormous assistance with the layout and graphics. I am also indebted to my aerospace students, without whose enthusiasm for English and for their field of study this book would never have come about. Lastly, I would like to thank the Carl Hanser Verlag for agreeing to publish this manuscript as well as for their ideas regarding formatting, graphics and illustrations. Stuttgart, May 2011 John D. Nixon"