Independent Learning Centre

Learning how to communicate research findings clearly and concisely is critical to all postgraduates and this reference is particularly useful for science and engineering students. Arranged in a modular format, written in an easy-to-understand way and supplemented by numerous relevant examples, this reference is a useful self-study guide for students who are serious about pursuing their research career.

This book begins with a detailed discussion on the essential elements of various technical documents (P.17-50). It proceeds to explain how to write an abstract, a summary, and an executive summary (P.53-62). Guidance and tips on how to write a literature review (P.63-74) and how to prepare a sound research proposal are also included (P.75-82).

Furthermore, useful examples on how to write a journal paper (P.83-110), a thesis (P.143-152), and a conference poster are provided (P.153-166).

This book helps students in improving their scientific writings by getting down to the basics. Beginning with a range of writing techniques useful in different science disciplines, the author discusses how to avoid misleading title (P.115-126), how to enhance the coherence between abstract and title (P.139), and how to distinguish the differences between an introduction and an abstract (P.181). The author also provides suggestions on how to write a conclusion effectively (P.242, P236-240).

Using his many years' experience and knowledge in the area, the author concisely summarizes seven important principles in scientific writings in 2 pages (P.186-187).

Good English writing skills are critical for researchers to disseminate their valuable research findings with a wider audience. Written in modular format, this book aims at helping professional researchers to publish their work.

The book begins with a detailed discussion on sentence patterns, word choice and paragraph structures (P.1-32). It then proceeds to present the technicalities required in good research, including how to provide readers with sufficient details about testing, experimental procedures, materials and methods (P.61-63), how to present results with illustrations and tables (P.63-68), and how to discuss significance of the research findings (P.93-96).

This book offers a range of IELTS preparation strategies and tips. It has a comprehensive review of the question types mostly found in the IELTS in listening, reading, writing and speaking modules. It also explains the best strategies for tackling different modules, and provides tips on how to answer test questions quickly and accurately. There are also practice tests for students to apply the recommended strategies and tips.

This book presents full-length practice exams with answers and explanations for IELTS test-takers. It covers both the academic and general modules. The selected passages are of high quality and the explanations are both clear and concise. Students are recommended to study Barron's IELTS Strategies and Tips before attempting practice tests in this reference.

This book is divided into three parts. The first three chapters describe the steps for writing a research paper, and introduce the method to make literature review with relevant examples (P. 5 - 16). The second part (Chapter 4 to 8) focuses on the presentation of the content, especially the interpretation of research result (P. 61 - 102). The third part (Chapter 9 to 12) indicates how to use figure, to submitting a paper (P. 149 - 173) and even to writing an article in English. After reading this book, you may master the skills to write a scientific paper.

This book is designed for native Putonghua speakers. In line with the practical needs of the learners, you can learn how to introduce yourself (P. 1 - 12) or to sharing how you feel about living in Hong Kong in Cantonese (P. 123 - 138) after reading corresponding chapters. In order to consolidate the learning outcomes, each chapter consists of text, dialogue examples and well-structured exercises. If you can also make use of learning resources prepared by ILC, you may learn how to communicate in Cantonese in everyday situations.

Although this book is primarily written for the reader who has basic knowledge in Chinese, it can still serve as a starter guide to learning Cantonese for English speakers. It is because all texts are translated into English (except for some exercises) and the topics included in this book cover common situations (from making new friends to walking around in Hong Kong) that you face in daily life. In addition, if you want to learn more about the Cantonese romanization system and phrases in Cantonese, you can read "About Cantonese" (P. iii - xiv) and "Useful Phrases" (P. 1 - 5) respectively.

Since this book is designed for native English speakers, it uses Hanyu Pinyin to represent Chinese characters in order to avoid creating barriers to learning and making the learners concentrate on oral skills training. If you wish to understand the Hanyu Pinyin system in an in-depth way, you can read “Pronunciation and Romanization” (P. 21 - 65) for detailed explanation. On the other hand, if you hope to handle basic conversations in Putonghua first, you may choose any suitable topics from the units in this book, for instance, greeting (P. 71 - 100) or introducing yourself (P. 101 - 135), to meet your need before it ever arises.