• familiarize themselves with different types of scientific reading texts in English so that they can recognize the organizational layout and linguistic structure of articles, reports and experiments.
• develop the appropriate reading skills and strategies necessary for the adequate comprehension of scientific texts of agricultural interest written in English
• understand the cohesive links of a particular scientific reading text in English and recognize the internal structure of text on a paragraph and text level
• be able to develop appropriate contextual lexical guessing strategies that allow them to effectively overcome the issue of unknown vocabulary while reading in English
• develop and enrich their scientific vocabulary in English that is necessary for reading and writing purposes while referring to agricultural issues.
• appreciate how agricultural issues are dealt with in on an international scale as viewed in scientific reports that originate from different parts of the world

The expansion of students’ academic and specific English vocabulary on scientific issues of Agriculture

The development of the ability to analyse the key features of scientific English texts and, subsequently produce academic written language in English by writing a scientific article or a report on Agricultural issues.

Research skills development that will allow students to search for relevant literature and use it in the writing of a critical review of a scientific article in English.

The development of critical thinking skills and abilities necessary for the preparation and writing of a dissertation in English.

The development of  students’  writing skills to avoid plagiarizing and to abide by the APA rules while writing research work in English,

The development of their oral skills in English and the adoption of useful presentation strategies that can be used in international conferences and seminars in their area.

Fundamentals of Plant Growth IV: Respiration & Transpiration

The Biology of Plant Growth

Vegetative Growth

Plant Propagation

Plant Pests, Weeds and Fertilizers

Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology

A Categorization of Major Agronomic Crops

Crop Profiles I: Cereal Grains, Forage Grasses and Oil Seeds

Crop Profiles II: Food Legumes and Forage Legumes

Crop Profiles III: Vegetables

Crop Profiles IV: Small Fruits

Crop Profiles V: Fruit and Nut Production

Flowers and Foliage

§  Instructor’s website

(25-hour workload per credit unit)

50

Beentje, H. (2010) The Kew Plant Glossary: An Illustrated Dictionary of Plant Identification Terms. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.

Bell, B. (2005) Farm Machinery. Old Pond Publishing Ltd.

Hickey, M. and King, C. (2000) The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms. Cambridge: CUP.

Parker, R. (2009) Plant & Soil Science. Delmare Cengage Learning.

Sheaffer, C. et al (2012) Introduction to Agronomy. Food, Crops and Environment. Cengage Learning

USDA-NRCS (2007). The Plants Database.

Vaughan,J. et al (2009) The New Oxford Book of Food Plants. OUP.