Course:

English Comprehension and Composition

Objectives:
The primary objective of designing this course is to enhance the
students comprehension of English Language.
The students will be helped to implement techniques of improving
understanding of their studies in general and English in particular.
A secondary objective of this course is to help the students learn how
to compose various forms of messages in official document writing.
The students will acquire a good level of proficiency of English
language writing.
Course Outline:
Week no.

Week 1

Week 2

Detail

Enhancing Comprehension Skills-I

Previewing, Reading for main ideas, using context for
vocabulary, scanning for details, making inferences,
identifying exceptions and referring to the passage
Enhancing Comprehension Skills-II
1

Class room activities

Week 3

Basic Grammar Review-I

Definition of a sentence
Sentence structures
Punctuation marks
Modifiers (adjectives and adverbs)
Basic Grammar Review-II

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Verb tense
Subject-verb agreement
Articles/determiner
Word order
Prepositions

Advanced Sentence Structures-I

1. Misplaced modifiers
2. Dangling modifiers
Advanced Sentence Structures-II
3. Parallelism
4. Sentence fragments
5. Run-on sentences

Week 7

Pre-writing Techniques
Free-writing, note keeping, brain storming, mind mapping,
journalistic questions (5 ws), Exercises for students

Week 8

Paragraph Writing
Definition, unity, topical sentence and supporting details,
Relevant Exercises
Essay Writing
2

Week 9

Definition, Characteristics, Types, Organization, common

methods of beginning, cohesion, coherence, Practice
activities

Week 10

Prcis Writing
Definition, Need/Importance, Characteristics, dos and
don'ts in prcis writing, Practice Activities

Week 11

Message Composition-I
Memo writing
Email messages

Week 12

Message Composition-II
CV/Resume Writing
Cover Letter

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15
Week 16

Word Skills
Vocabulary building, synonyms, antonyms, effective use of
thesaurus, dictionary skills
Presentation Skills
Assessing the Reason and Receivers, Delivering the
presentation, Gathering material, Organization of data, Use
of appropriate language, Use of graphs, figures and visual
aids, Involving the audience
Students Presentations-I
&
Students Presentations-II
Problem Solving Session and Critique

Recommended Course Literature:

Barons SAT II Writing
High School English Grammar and Composition (Wren and Martin)
3

 Business Communication (Locker & Kaczmarek)

Recommended Course Requirements and Expectations:

3 Quizzes (10%)
3 Assignments (10%)
Individual Presentation (5%)