Introduction
The English Language Department at PSU offers a mandatory pre-university course,
the Prep Year English Program (PYEP) and three separate undergraduate programs
within the University English Program (UEP): Composition 1, Composition II,
(Basic Report Writing) and Business Communication.
Objectives of the University English Programm
The University English Program is an accredited part of each major. A student may
not qualify for a degree without a passing grade in each of the following
courses:
ENGL-101 (English Composition I)
ENGL-103 (English Composition II – Report Writing)
COM-201 (Business Communication Skills)
COM-301 (Oral Communication of Technical Information)
Here is a brief description of each of the four courses:
English - 101 English Composition I Credit hours: 3.0 Prerequisite:
ENGL-002
Course books
An Introduction to Academic Discourse, UEP publication, 1999 (Second Edition)
The American Heritage Dictionary
This course is generally referred to as English 101. It is the bridge between
the reading and writing skills taught in the OEP and the research report skills
that are taught in Composition II and Technical Report Writing. The Coursework
focuses on three areas: composition, reading and dictionary use.
The composition element of this introduction to academic discourse is organized on
the basis of the principal methods of exposition (comparison, causal analysis,
etc.) at the level of the sentence, paragraph and composition. Attention is also
paid to such important aspects of text as coherence, unity, conciseness, and
sentence readability; and to problem areas of grammar and sentence structure
such as fragments, fused sentences, and subject-verb disagreement. The reading
element focuses on ways to improve student reading of technically oriented
textbooks, encyclopedias, and specialist periodicals. Finally, a significant
part of the course attempts to teach students how to make use of a large
monolingual dictionary, The American Heritage Dictionary.
English - 103 English Composition II Credit hours: 3.0 Prerequisite:
ENGL-101
Course books
Researching & Reporting, UEP publication, 1998 (Fourth Edition) Composition II is
generally referred to as English 103. The focus of the course is the production
of a 600-800 word term paper on an assigned topic. The general objective of the
course is to provide the students with the skills to write this paper. The
course starts with paraphrasing and the synthesis of ideas from several
different sources. Library skills follow. Students are familiarized with the
College library’s circulation and reference sections; they are taught how to
locate printed materials by using the library’s computer catalog. Other basic
research skills taught include the writing of bibliographies and the use of
documentation. Finally, students are instructed in narrowing a topic, taking
notes from sources and formatting a term paper.
COM - 201 Communication Skills Credit hours: 3.0 Prerequisite: ENGL-103
Communications Skills (Com 201) is a basic introductory course to communications
and is designed to familiarize students with the concept of communications as a
scientific discipline. The course is divided into two sections (Part-1 & Part-2)
and each part is further divided into subjects.
Part-1: This is the theoretical section of the course in which students will
look closely at the communications process. Topics will include: introduction to
the field of communications, the process of human communications and listening,
verbal and non-verbal communications, intrapersonal and interpersonal
communications, small group and organizational communications, public and mass
communications, and intercultural communications.
Part-2: This is the practical section of the course where students will learn to
build essential skills for effective communications. Topics will include:
interviewing, communication technology, making presentations, forms of business
communications, running meetings and leading discussions, conducting surveys,
negotiating, training and teamwork, and developing presentations.
Course Objectives
This course is intended to accomplish the following objectives:
Understanding - To assist students to understand: a broad range of communications
concepts, various communications contexts, and technological advances relating
to means of communications.
Critical Analysis - To increase students’ ability to analyze concepts and issues
in communications and provide them with an improved understanding of interaction
among people from different cultural backgrounds.
Building Skills - To provide students’ with opportunities to build new and better
communications skills in the following areas: interviewing, meeting, conducting
surveys, negotiating, and managing people. Also to assist students’ development
of presentation skills in the following business and management areas: designing
and presenting business plans, marketing plans, project overviews, or strategy
recommendations, selling an idea or product, and reporting progress.
COM-301 Oral Communication of Technical Information Credit hours: 3.0
Prerequisite: COM-201
Communications 301 is a practical communications skills course. Students will
learn how to construct (research, document and design) and deliver information
and speeches. They also will gain a deeper understanding of the uses of
technology in the oral communications process. During the course, the students
will make several presentations. Specific topics of study include: public
speaking, the speech communication process, working with others, oral
presentations, formal meetings, assertion and negotiation, using charts and
diagrams, user documentation, on-line manuals, varieties of public speaking, and
training users.
Course Objectives
- To deepen the student’s understanding of oral communications.
- To improve skills in other related areas of the communications process.
- To build skills on how to research and document sources of information and to
compose meaningful speeches.
- To develop skills in using presentation technology, including the integration
of visual aids and internet sites relating to topic content.
- To build skills on ways to command an audience’s attention and increase
self-confidence while communicating in public