HS8151 TECHNICAL ENGLISH I syllabus and lecturer notes

HS8151 TECHNICAL ENGLISH I L T P C

OBJECTIVES
(For all branches of B.E / B.Tech programmes) 3 1 0 4
 To enable all students of engineering and technology develop their basic communication
skills in English.
 To give special emphasis to the development of speaking skills amongst the students of
engineering and technology students.
 To ensure that students use the electronic media such as interne and supplement the
learning materials used in the classroom.
 To inculcate the habit of reading for pleasure.

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UNIT I

Listening - Introducing learners to GIE - Types of listening - Listening to audio (verbal &

sounds); Speaking - Speaking about one‟s place, important festivals etc. – Introducing oneself,

one‟s family / friend; Reading - Skimming a reading passage – Scanning for specific information

- Note-making; Writing - Free writing on any given topic (My favourite place / Hobbies / School

life, etc.) - Sentence completion - Autobiographical writing (writing about one‟s leisure time

activities, hometown, etc.); Grammar - Prepositions - Reference words - Wh-questions -

Tenses (Simple); Vocabulary - Word formation - Word expansion (root words / etymology); Ematerials

- Interactive exercises for Grammar & Vocabulary - Reading comprehension

exercises - Listening to audio files and answering questions.

UNIT II

Listening - Listening and responding to video lectures / talks; Speaking - Describing a simple

process (filling a form, etc.) - Asking & answering questions - Telephone skills – Telephone

etiquette; Reading – Critical reading - Finding key information in a given text - Sifting facts

from opinions; Writing - Biographical writing (place, people) - Lab descriptions (general/specific

description of laboratory experiments) - Definitions - Recommendations; Grammar - Use of

imperatives - Subject-verb agreement; Vocabulary - Compound words - Word Association; Ematerials

- Interactive exercises for Grammar and Vocabulary - Listening exercises with

sample telephone conversations / lectures – Picture-based activities.

UNIT III

Listening - Listening to specific task - focused audio tracks; Speaking - Role-play – Simulation

- Group interaction - Speaking in formal situations (teachers, officials, foreigners); Reading -

Reading and interpreting visual material; Writing - Jumbled sentences - Coherence and

cohesion in writing - Channel conversion (flowchart into process) - Types of paragraph (cause

& effect / compare & contrast / narrative / analytical) - Informal writing (letter/e-mail/blogs) -

Paraphrasing; Grammar - Tenses (Past) - Use of sequence words - Adjectives; Vocabulary -

Different forms and uses of words, Cause and effect words; E-materials - Interactive exercises

for Grammar and Vocabulary - Excerpts from films related to the theme and follow up exercises

- Pictures of flow charts and tables for interpretations.

UNIT IV

Listening - Watching videos / documentaries and responding to questions based on them;

Speaking - Responding to questions - Different forms of interviews - Speaking at different

types of interviews; Reading - Making inference from the reading passage - Predicting the

content of a reading passage; Writing - Interpreting visual materials (line graphs, pie charts

etc.) - Essay writing – Different types of essays; Grammar - Adverbs – Tenses – future time

reference; Vocabulary - Single word substitutes - Use of abbreviations & acronyms; Ematerials

- Interactive exercises for Grammar and Vocabulary - Sample interviews - film

scenes - dialogue writing.

UNIT V

Listening - Listening to different accents, Listening to Speeches / Presentations, Listening to

broadcast & telecast from Radio & TV; Speaking - Giving impromptu talks, Making

presentations on given topics; Reading - Email communication - Reading the attachment files

having a poem/joke/proverb - Sending their responses through email Writing - Creative writing,

Poster making; Grammar - Direct and indirect speech; Vocabulary - Lexical items (fixed / semi

fixed expressions); E-materials - Interactive exercises for Grammar & Vocabulary - Sending

emails with attachment – Audio / video excerpts of different accents, - Interpreting posters

TEXT BOOKS:

1. Mindscapes: English for Technologists and Engineers, Department of English, Anna

University, Chennai, 2012 .

2. S.P.Dhanavel, English and Communication skills for students of science and Engineering,

Orient Black Swan, Chennai, 2011.

REFERENCE BOOKS:

1. Pickett, Nell Ann, Ann A.Laster and Katherine E.Staples. Technical English: Writing,

Reading and Speaking. New York: Longman, 2001.

2. Bailey, Stephen. Academic Writing: A practical guide for students. New York: Rutledge,

2011.

3. Morgan, David and Nicholas Regan. Take-Off: Technical English for Engineering.

Reading: Garnet Publishing Limited, 2008.

4. Thorn, Michael and Alan Badrick. An Introduction to Technical English. Harlow:

Prentice Hall Europe, 1993.

5. Rizvi, M.Ashraf. Effective Technical Communication. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill

PublishingCompany, 2007.

EXTENSIVE READERS

1. Murthy, Sudha. Wise & Otherwise. New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2006.

2. Gates, Bill and Collins Hemingway. Business @ the Speed of Thought: Succeeding in

the Digital Economy. New York: Warner Business Books, 2000.

WEBSITE RESOURCES

1. www.uefap.com

2. www.eslcafe.com

3. www.listen-to-english.com

4. www.owl.english.purdue.edu

5. www.chompchomp.com