LAUSR

Abstract The scientific community is currently experiencing an unprecedented level of growth in research output, with increasing numbers of multilingual professionals reading and publishing papers in English-language journals. Thus, improving the understanding of papers published in English has become an important issue for nonnative speakers, especially with regard to technical reading and critical understanding. This article presents a novel strategy to enhance the reading aptitude of young petroleum-industry professionals for whom English is a secondary language. My “schedule, preview, question, realize” (SPQR) methodology introduces a four-step process to systematically build a solid foundation to help young professionals fully understand scientific papers and improve their own writing. Study examples are provided to aid readers in fully comprehending this process and building on these study examples to match their needs. The SPQR approach should benefit anyone reading outside his or her principal lan...