About Technical Writing in English.

I have tried to do technical writing in English on intend since 2022, when I made my mind of putting wheels on my shoulder for English study. Actually I have tried my English writing skill on intend by this way for make my language level better improved. And during these years I have experienced many challenges and troubles in conquering English.

The first one is vocabulary size. I allocated many of my vigors on expanding vocabularies and accumulated English expression particles in studying and reading. But soon I realized that reading technical text and literature text are two different realm logic.

The technical text are legible with perspicuous grammar syntax structure, and that's why I could read many of opensource project documents without any difficulties. The only challenge is reserve of terms and jargons. That's why do we need specialized professional English, for English has been contaminated by more loan words, and there are more amorphous word ideographic stemmer rules in each terms. To be honest I have complain about English more on this problem, it erects human-made thresholds among variable industries. The topic seems too be far-fetched. Let's go back to the technical writing. The another problem is English term are highly specialized, that is to say polysemy may lead to ambiguity if without any context details. For example, the word layer has distinguish meanings in software development and stratum geology. Also non-native speakers tend to confuse synonyms (e.g., "accuracy" vs. "precision") and need to rely on terminology databases or industry standards (e.g., IEEE Standard Glossary).

For special target portrayed, the passive voice in English is frequently used in technical writing (e.g. "The experiment was conducted..."). Non-native speakers may overuse the active voice, which affects objectivity. Complex sentences (e.g. conditional clauses, participle structures) are prone to grammatical errors. The concise principle of technical writing should be followed (e.g. IEEE recommends using short sentences).

Improper use of logical adjunction-connectors ("therefore", "however") between paragraphs can weaken the chain of reasoning. The English technical writing needs rigorousity suits for logical deduction chains. But for non-native speakers, the English adjunction connector words are too far exquisite to comprehend them easily.

Here, I found a pretty worth reading book titled Science Research Writing for Non-native speakers of English. Here is the download link. It's a practical guide designed to help researchers and students whose first language is not English master the conventions of scientific writing in English. Authored by Hilary Glasman-Deal, the book focuses on the structure, style, and clarity required in academic research papers. It systematically breaks down each section of a scientific manuscript—Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion (IMRaD), and Abstract—providing clear templates, annotated examples, and phrase-level guidance.

Here is the table of contents:

Based on problem mentioned above, I have made a plan for training technical writing in English. This 12-week plan is designed to systematically improve scientific writing skills for technical writing. Adjust intensity based on schedule.

Phase 1: Foundations (Weeks 1–3)
Goal: Master structure, grammar basics, and discipline-specific vocabulary.

1. Reverse-Engineer Papers

   • Select 3 high-impact papers in your field (e.g., from Nature or your target journal).
   • Annotate each IMRaD section: Highlight how hypotheses/results are framed, transitions between paragraphs, and verb tenses.
   • Create a "phrase bank" of recurring patterns (e.g., "Our data suggest..." in Discussions).

2. Grammar & Style Drills

   • Daily: Complete 1–2 exercises from Science Research Writing for Non-Native Speakers (e.g., tense consistency in Methods).
   • Use Academic Phrasebank (University of Manchester) to practice hedging/emphatic language.
   • Tools: Enable "Technical Writing" mode in Grammarly; analyze suggestions for passive voice/precision.

3. Vocabulary Building

   • Build a glossary of 50+ field-specific terms using Elsevier’s Dictionary of Technical Terms.
   • Practice synonym differentiation (e.g., "demonstrate" vs. "indicate") via quizzes on Quizlet.

Phase 2: Drafting & Precision (Weeks 4–6)
Goal: Write structured drafts with clear logic and technical accuracy.

1. Section-by-Section Practice

   • Abstract: Write 10 one-sentence summaries of existing papers, then expand to 250-word abstracts.
   • Methods: Describe a lab procedure twice: once in active voice (blog style), once in passive voice (journal style).
   • Results: Convert raw data (graphs/tables) into 3 versions: overly detailed, too vague, and Goldilocks-level.

2. Peer Simulation

   • Join r/AskAcademia or ResearchGate to share drafts for feedback.
   • Use the "Three Layers" editing technique:
     • Layer 1: Logic flow (Does each paragraph answer "So what?").
     • Layer 2: Technical accuracy (Verify units, abbreviations, citations).
     • Layer 3: Language (Prepositions/articles, conciseness).

3. Tools Deep Dive

   • Learn LaTeX basics (Overleaf tutorials) for equations/formatting.
   • Run drafts through Hemingway Editor to eliminate "Very Hard to Read" sentences.

Ongoing Habits:

• Weekly: Critique 1 poorly written paper (e.g., retracted papers on Retraction Watch) to recognize red flags.
• Monthly: Attend 1 virtual workshop (e.g., ACS Webinars on writing).
• Toolkit: Maintain a "Writing Swipe File" (YuQue/Notion) for brilliant sentences/structures you encounter.

Hope for good progress.