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English Language Teaching Unit

ENG1002 – English for Academic Purposes

This is a compulsory 2 credit course conducted during the first academic year. The course is aimed at developing and improving the English language skills needed to continue the academic work of the undergraduates satisfactorily. It is designed to achieve UTEL level 5 and 6.

Duration: 90 hours

Course Components:

Listening - Listening for comprehension, specific and general information and note taking based on texts dealing with general and academic contexts

Reading - Consolidated reading skills: Reading complex texts for gist and details, reading and note taking, presenting given information using illustrations, graphs, charts, symbols and abbreviations

Grammar and writing - Application of tenses in academic and scientific context, use of prepositions in scientific context, introduction to lab report writing and process writing, introduction to the passive voice and its application in science, relative clauses for definition writing and providing information, conditionals for expressing real and hypothetical situations and their application in science; expressing cause and effect relationship, comparing and contrasting, development of paragraphs using different techniques

Speech - Expressing opinions on topics guided by prompts, delivering a short speech on a given topic using limited range of cohesive devices, short dialogues and conversations on familiar topics

Mode of assessment - Quizzes (20%), Mid Semester Examination (20%), End Semester Examination (60%)

ENG2002 – Certificate Course in English for Professional Purposes

This is a compulsory certificate course conducted during the second academic year. The course is targeted at improving the English language proficiency of the science undergraduates to use the language efficiently in a professional context. The course is specially designed to achieve UTEL level 7 and assist students in IELTS examination.

Duration: 60 hours

Listening - Listening to authentic spoken texts from a range of contexts, including variety of accents, both academic and social and draw inferences, understanding opinions, extracting specific and general information/p>

Reading - Reading comprehension, scanning for specific information, deducing the contextual meaning, reading and summarizing/p>

Grammar and Writing - Direct speech and reported speech, structure and usage of perfect tenses, interpretation of graphs and charts and making inferences, writing formal letters, writing argumentative and discursive essays/p>

Speech - Individual PowerPoint presentations focusing on presentation skills, slide preparation, and functional language, responding to queries based on the presentation/p>

Mode of assessment – Quizzes (20%), Mid Semester Examination (20%), End Semester Examination (60 %)

ENG3002- Certificate Course in English for Special Purposes

This is a two-credit optional course for 3000L science undergraduates, which enables the students to become competent and independent users of English in professional environments, whether the communication is in correspondence, face to face meetings or other methods. Upon completion of the course, the students will be able to demonstrate communicative competence by leading and participating in problem-solving teams, make short impromptu speeches, prepared speeches and oral presentations in English effectively with confidence, engage in discussions actively on topics that are part of everyday professional life, face interviews confidently, professionally communicate via emails, letters and memos and write business reports.

Duration: 30 hours (100 notional hours)

Applied Science English Course

This is an exclusive speech course conducted during the final academic year of applied science undergraduates. The course is aimed at enhancing the confidence, creativity, personality and professionalism of the undergraduates to speak, communicate and present in English eloquently and expressively in academic and professional atmospheres.

Duration: 60 hours

Formal Presentations - Individual and group poster presentations on given topics, presentations utilizing presentation software/visual aids concentrating on presentation skills, creative presentations integrating various styles; constructing a story, utilizing provided motifs/characters, completing the story using the story prompt; presenting a TV programme; sales/business presentations focusing on marketing and persuasive aptitudes

Role plays – Formal telephone conversations based on given scenario cards; employing useful expressions to make or deal with complaints, apologies, requests and taking of action; checking-in and checking-out from a hotel, formal conversations with the hotel staff to receive services; marketing a product to the class; creating and acting out a parody; crime scene investigation using passive voice and reported speech

Debates - Students engage in debates under contemporary topics.

Interviews - How to face an interview successfully; dealing with commonly asked interview questions and impressive techniques to answer them, how to adapt and interpret nonverbal communication at an interview and a mock interview to assist the students in facing future interviews

Individual speaking tasks - Interpreting and analyzing given illustrations and expounding their surface meaning and symbolic, social and psychological significance; delivering impromptu speeches (basic and advanced topics); delivering a welcome speech and vote of thanks etc. following the relevant structure and vocabulary