HS6251 TECHNICAL ENGLISH II

HS6251 TECHNICAL ENGLISH II

HS6251	HS6251 TECHNICAL ENGLISH II	L	T P C
		3	1 0	4
OBJECTIVES:

·         To make learners acquire listening and speaking skills in both formal and informal contexts.

·         To help them develop their reading skills by familiarizing them with different types of reading strategies.

·         To equip them with writing skills needed for academic as well as workplace contexts.

·         To make them acquire language skills at their own pace by using e-materials and language lab

components.

UNIT I

9+3

Listening - Listening to informal conversations and participating; Speaking - Opening a conversation (greetings, comments on topics like weather) - Turn taking - Closing a conversation (excuses, general wish, positive comment, thanks); Reading - Developing analytical skills, Deductive and inductive reasoning - Extensive reading; Writing - Effective use of SMS for sending short notes and messages - Using „emoticons‟ as symbols in email messages; Grammar - Regular and irregular verbs - Active and passive voice; Vocabulary - Homonyms (e.g. „can‟) - Homophones (e.g. „some‟, „sum‟); E-materials - Interactive exercise on Grammar and vocabulary – blogging; Language Lab - Listening to different types of conversation and answering questions.

UNIT II

9+3

Listening - Listening to situation based dialogues; Speaking - Conversation practice in real life situations, asking for directions (using polite expressions), giving directions (using imperative sentences), Purchasing goods from a shop, Discussing various aspects of a film (they have already seen) or a book (they have already read); Reading - Reading a short story or an article from newspaper, Critical reading, Comprehension skills; Writing - Writing a review / summary of a story / article, Personal letter (Inviting your friend to a function, congratulating someone for his / her success,

21

thanking one‟s friends / relatives); Grammar - modal verbs, Purpose expressions; Vocabulary - Phrasal verbs and their meanings, Using phrasal verbs in sentences; E-materials - Interactive exercises on Grammar and vocabulary, Extensive reading activity (reading stories / novels), Posting reviews in blogs - Language Lab - Dialogues (Fill up exercises), Recording students‟ dialogues.

UNIT III

9+3

Listening - Listening to the conversation - Understanding the structure of conversations; Speaking - Conversation skills with a sense of stress, intonation, pronunciation and meaning - Seeking information – expressing feelings (affection, anger, regret, etc.); Reading - Speed reading – reading passages with time limit - Skimming; Writing - Minutes of meeting – format and practice in the preparation of minutes - Writing summary after reading articles from journals - Format for journal articles – elements of technical articles (abstract, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, appendices, references) - Writing strategies; Grammar - Conditional clauses - Cause and effect expressions; Vocabulary - Words used as nouns and verbs without any change in the spelling (e.g. „rock‟, „train‟, „ring‟); E-materials - Interactive exercise on Grammar and vocabulary - Speed Reading practice exercises; Language Lab - Intonation practice using EFLU and RIE materials

– Attending a meeting and writing minutes.

UNIT IV

9+3

Listening - Listening to a telephone conversation, Viewing model interviews (face-to-face, telephonic and video conferencing); Speaking - Role play practice in telephone skills - listening and responding, -asking questions, -note taking – passing on messages, Role play and mock interview for grasping interview skills; Reading - Reading the job advertisements and the profile of the company concerned – scanning; Writing - Applying for a job – cover letter - résumé preparation – vision, mission and goals of the candidate; Grammar - Numerical expressions - Connectives (discourse markers); Vocabulary - Idioms and their meanings – using idioms in sentences; E-materials - Interactive exercises on Grammar and Vocabulary - Different forms of résumés- Filling up a résumé / cover letter; Language Lab - Telephonic interview – recording the responses - e-résumé writing.

UNIT V

9+3

Listening - Viewing a model group discussion and reviewing the performance of each participant - Identifying the characteristics of a good listener; Speaking - Group discussion skills – initiating the discussion – exchanging suggestions and proposals – expressing dissent/agreement – assertiveness in expressing opinions – mind mapping technique; Reading - Note making skills – making notes from books, or any form of written materials - Intensive reading; Writing – Checklist - Types of reports – Feasibility / Project report – report format – recommendations / suggestions – interpretation of data (using charts for effective presentation); Grammar - Use of clauses; Vocabulary – Collocation; E-materials - Interactive grammar and vocabulary exercises - Sample GD - Pictures for discussion, Interactive grammar and vocabulary exercises; Language Lab - Different models of group discussion.

TOTAL (L:45+T:15): 60 PERIODS

OUTCOMES:

Learners should be able to

·         speak convincingly, express their opinions clearly, initiate a discussion, negotiate, argue using appropriate communicative strategies.

·         write effectively and persuasively and produce different types of writing such as narration, description, exposition and argument as well as creative, critical, analytical and evaluative writing.

·         read different genres of texts, infer implied meanings and critically analyse and evaluate them for ideas as well as for method of presentation.

·         listen/view and comprehend different spoken excerpts critically and infer unspoken and implied meanings.

22

TEXTBOOKS

1.     Department of English, Anna University. Mindscapes: English for Technologists and Engineers. Orient Blackswan, Chennai. 2012

2.     Dhanavel, S.P. English and Communication Skills for Students of Science and Engineering. Orient Blackswan, Chennai. 2011

REFERENCES

1.     Anderson, Paul V. Technical Communication: A Reader-Centered Approach. Cengage. New Delhi. 2008

2.     Muralikrishna, & Sunita Mishra. Communication Skills for Engineers. Pearson, New Delhi. 2011

3.     Riordan, Daniel. G. Technical Communication. Cengage Learning, New Delhi. 2005

4.     Sharma, Sangeetha & Binod Mishra. Communication Skills for Engineers and Scientists. PHI Learning, New Delhi. 2009

5.     Smith-Worthington, Darlene & Sue Jefferson. Technical Writing for Success. Cengage, Mason USA. 2007

EXTENSIVE Reading (Not for Examination)

1.  Khera, Shiv. You can Win. Macmillan, Delhi. 1998.

Websites

1.     http://www.englishclub.com

2.     http://owl.english.purdue.edu

TEACHING METHODS:

·         Lectures

·         Activities conducted individually, in pairs and in groups like individual writing and presentations, group discussions, interviews, reporting, etc

·         Long presentations using visual aids

·         Listening and viewing activities with follow up activities like discussions, filling up worksheets, writing exercises (using language lab wherever necessary/possible) etc

·         Projects like group reports, mock interviews etc using a combination of two or more of the language skills

EVALUATION PATTERN: Internal assessment: 20%

3 tests of which two are pen and paper tests and the other is a combination of different modes of assessment like

·         Project

·         Assignment

·         Report

·         Creative writing, etc.

All the four skills are to be tested with equal weightage given to each.

^ü    Speaking assessment: Individual presentations, Group discussions

^ü    Reading assessment: Reading passages with comprehension questions graded following

Bloom‟s taxonomy

^ü   Writing assessment: Writing essays, CVs, reports etc. Writing should include grammar and vocabulary.

^ü   Listening/Viewing assessment: Lectures, dialogues, film clippings with questions on verbal as well as audio/visual content graded following Bloom‟s taxonomy.

End Semester Examination: 80%