BA Honors in English

CIS 101: Computer Fundamentals

Introduction to basic concepts, Nature of computer & its evolution, History & generations of computer, Capabilities & limitations of computer, Impact of computer on society, Types of software, Operating System, Introduction to Windows & LINUX, Algorithms & Flowcharts, Internet, Issues & objective of Computer security.

 Word Processing: Creating a new document, Document alignment, Font selection, Character Spacing, Super Script, Subscript, Paragraph Indentation, Line Spacing, Editing using cut, copy and paste, Inserting Symbol, Bullet & Numbering, Header & Footer, Border and shading, Tab Setting, Page setup, Printing a document, Working with picture and drawing, Auto correction, Find & Replace, Using a spell checker, Using Bengali font, Tables and Columns, Envelops, Labels, Mail Merge

Spread-sheet analysis: Row and column numbering, Inserting and deleting row and column, Changing row height and column width; Freezing & Unfreezing pane; Paste Special; Auto fill; Working with  formulas; Conditional formatting; Cell formatting; Page setup; Sorting; Data Filtering; Chart and graphs

Presentation software: Creating slide; Inserting new slides; Viewing slides; Applying design; Slide transaction; Animation; Slide Show.

	Introduction to Sociology
SOC 101:	Definition, Scope and Nature of Sociology Emergence of Sociology: Renaissance, Enlightenment, Industrial Revolution, emergence of new economic order and new society. Factors affecting social life: Geography, Heredity, Culture Group Primary Concepts: Society, Community, Association, Organisation, Institution, Norms and Values Culture: Material and Non-Material Culture, Cultural Lag, Cultural Traits and Cultural Complex, Cultural Variation, Acculturation, Culture and Civilisation Social Processes: Adaptation, Assimilation, Accommodation, Conflict, Co-Operation and Competition
PSY 101:	Introduction to Psychology   Definition, nature and scope of psychology; Methods used in Psychology: observation, Experimental, Introspection. Sensations and perceptions, memory and imagination, attention, learning, intelligence, personality, emotion and feeling, illusion and hallucination Language: Definition, Characteristics and Criteria of language; Theories of language development Modern schools of psychology, behaviorism, psychoanalysis, mental disorder.

 

HIS 202:  History of Western Thought

• Platonism
• Neo-Platonism
• Scholasticism
• The Renaissance
• Rationalism and Empiricism
• Marxism
• Evolutionism
• Pragmatism and Logical Positivism
• Existentialism

BAG 101:  Bengali Culture and History

This course includes the intensive study of Bengali culture and History from its very beginning to the present time.

• Old Period (1000 B C-1350 A D)
• The settlement of Vaddic race, from the age of Buddhist to the reign of Sen Dynasty.
• The Invasion by the Muslims (1001 A D- 1357)
• From the invasion of India by Mahmood to the establishment of Dhaka as a capital.
• The Reign of Mughal Emperors and the reign of the British. The pre-liberation and post-liberation history of Bangladesh and the history of Bangladesh up to the present time.

BAG 201:  Bengali literature

HIS 203:  History of Eastern Thoughts and Religions

Indian:The Vedas, the Upanishad, Jainism, Carvaka, the Six Orthodox Schools, Sankhya-Yoga,   Mimansa-Vendata, Nyaya-Vaisesikha, Bhakti, Indian Aesthetics

Chinese/Japanese:

Taoism, Confucianism, Zen Buddhism.

Islamic:

Schools of Muslim Philosophy, Muslim Contribution to Western Thought, Sufism

HIS 201: European History

Greco-Roman Civilizations, The Renaissance, The Reformation ,Industrial Revolution, The Enlightenment, The American Revolution and The French Revolution

B.  English Foundation Courses

3 courses of 3.00 credit hours each. Total credit hours: 9.

ENG 102 :  Reading

This course aims to help students develop their reading skills in English so that they can understand appreciate and enjoy Literature better. The purpose of this course is to refresh and reactivate students’ previously acquired knowledge of the language leading to better reading skills and comprehension through intensive reading of prose and poetry.

In this course students will be taught how:

• To understand words in context and to select the meaning that fits the context;
• To interpret connotations and denotations of words;
• To understand and interpret figurative expressions;
• To react to sensory images suggested by words;
• To give meanings to units of increasing size : phrase, clause, sentence,  paragraph, and the whole section;
• To understand sentence structures;
• To recognize and understand the main idea and supporting details of the  passages of text;
• To perceive the organization of sentences in paragraph and of the passages of text;
• To perceive relationship : (i) part-whole, cause-effect, general-specific, (ii) Place, time

• To make inferences, draw conclusions and supply implied details;
• To identify antecedents and pronoun references;
• To apply ideas from one’s past experience to those of the text;
• To identify formal / informal language;
• To comment on the style of writing;
• To identify the tone, mood and intent or purpose of the writer.

ENG 103:  Writing

This course will mainly concentrate on different types of composition.

Students will learn the use of:

a)       unity, order, coherence,

b)       the topic sentence and thesis statement

c)       techniques of paragraph and essay development

d)       all forms of letter

e)       techniques of précis / summary / amplification

The teacher in the composition classes will explain essential points of grammar, structure and punctuation, like the following:

• Word classes and their structures
• Word functions
• Synonyms and antonyms
• Use of articles and prepositions
• Phrases and their structures
• Clauses and their structures
• Simple, complex and compound sentences
• Effective sentences
• Agreement
• Tense
• Punctuation

ENG 101:  Listening and Speaking

This course aims at helping students develop their listening and speaking skills of English by providing extensive practice in the following sub-skills:

A.     Listening :

• Sound recognition
• Recognising minimal pairs with the help of sentence context
• Dictation
• Dictocomp
• Listening for specific information, e.g., answering specific questions, listening and filling in gaps
• Listening for general comprehension, e.g., giving the gist or summary after listening to a text
• Listening and note taking
• Varieties of English

B.     Speaking:

• Speaking with acceptable (mutually intelligible level of) pronunciation
• Speaking with natural speed (fluency)
• Speaking with an acceptable level of grammar (accuracy)
• Common notions, functions and situational expressions
• Group/pair discussions on popular/familiar topics
• Giving and taking interviews
• Presentation skills
• Extempore speech

At the same time the course gives primary knowledge of Phonetics and phonology

C.    Free Electives

5 courses of 3.00 credit hours each. Total credit hours: 15

ENG 201:  Academic Writing

The course will focus on the following sub-skills:

• Focusing
• Writing a good introduction
• Writing a good conclusion
• Structure and Organisation
• Techniques of Development
• Language and style
• Writing for an Audience
• Taking a position
• Writer’s voice, tone, mood and attitude
• Contextualisation
• Referencing skills
• Academic Writing
• Topics will include writing term papers, assignments, and research papers, writing reviews and features.

ENG  202 : Professional Communication

This course will try to help students develop their awareness about the general characteristics, format and style of different types of technical, business, and professional writings. The course will cover different types of technical, business and professional writing.  It will include writing:

• Notes and memos
• Emails
• Notices for and minutes of meetings
• Tenders
• Advertisements
• Miscellaneous correspondence
• Official letters: Office order, Circular, Call for interviews, Job application, Cover letter,
• Appointment letter, Joining letter, Reference letter, Letters of recommendation,
• Resignation letter
• Writing project proposals
• Writing Project reports
• Writing Press release

The course will also focus on Speaking in formal situation considering the socio-cultural context and age groups.

ELT 401: English for the Media

Section-A

This section will introduce some basic theories of media and communication. It will specially focus on the students’ understanding of the policies and politics in the use of English language in media communication in Bangladesh. This section will cover:

• Theories of communication
• Nature, purpose and special features of media communication
• Language as communication
• Politics of media communication and communication ethics
• English in media in Bangladesh: ‘an imported world’

Section B- Practice                                                                                        

This section will be an application of the theoretical knowledge students acquire in ‘real-life’ situations. It will familiarise students with and train them in media writings such as

• News reports with catching captions/headings
• Subtitling
• Translating reports
• Writing special features for the press or electronic media
• Issuing press releases
• Editing

Focus will also be (if possible) on:

• Press briefing (oral and written)/conferences and preparing reports on the briefings
• Interviewing
• Conducting surveys and preparing reports for the media
• News casting with emphasis on pronunciation, stress, intonation, confidence and naturalness

ENGL 402:  Translation Studies

A.     Theory:                                                                                                          

B.     Evaluation of Translated Texts:                                                                                     

b) Assignment on Translation:

 

Translation assignments will be from English into Bangla and from Bangla into English

ENGL 403:  Cultural Studies: An Introduction

This course introduces students to the terms, analytical techniques, and interpretive strategies commonly employed in cultural studies. Emphasis is on interdisciplinary approaches to exploring how cultural processes and artifacts are produced, shaped, distributed, consumed, and responded to in diverse ways. Through discussion, research, and writing, class members investigate these varied dimensions of culture; learn to understand them in their broader social, aesthetic, ethical, and political contexts.

This course will also discuss the basic elements of culture with special focus on:

• Social organizations
• Religion
• Customs and Traditions
• Language
• Arts and Literature
• Economic System
• Forms of Government

MGT 401: Fundamentals of Management

Management theory & practice, Influence of environment in management, Nature & purpose of planning, Objectives, strategies, policies, planning premises, Decision making in management, Organizing, Organizational structure: Departmentation line/stuff authority, decentralization, Human resource management & selection, Performance appraisal, Managing change through manager and organization development, Human factors and motivation in organization, Leadership, Group decision & making committees, Communication in management, Controlling in management

HRM 301: Manpower Planning and Personnel Policy

This course is designed to equip students with the techniques of developing personal policy and implementation. It includes a detailed study of environmental trend analysis, manpower planning models, manpower needs and personal information system to forecast manpower needs and considerations of some indicators of manpower effectiveness. Policy issues considered include work force composition, wage and salary administration in the context of developing countries.

FIN 201: Principles of Business Finance

This course covers basic concepts in finance and analytical tools used in business finance. Topics include: functions, principles, sources of fund- short-term, intermediate and long-term finance; basic principles of corporate finance; analysis of risk and return; analysis of time value of money; elementary capital budgeting; lease financing; financial market of Bangladesh.

F. SPECIALIZATION/MAJOR

6 Courses of 3.00 credit hours each will have to be chosen from any of the following areas:

3.ELT (English Language Teaching)

ELT 402:      History of English Language Teaching

The course will introduce the students with the history of English Language Teaching. How the quest for a plausible basis of language teaching moved through different phases and experimented with different teaching methods and approaches over ages. And it will also focus on what need and what goal have inspired these investigations.

ELT 403:  Fundamental Concepts of ELT

This course will introduce with a few fundamental concepts of English Language Teaching. It will focus on Historical Perspectives, Concepts of Language, Concepts of Society, Concepts of Language Learning, and Concepts of Language Teaching.

ELT 404: Psycho Linguistics and Socio Linguistics

This course will introduce with language variation and change, language and gender, language and culture, language policy, planning; Perception, production and comprehension of speech in language acquisition, along with the key terms and approaches- relationship between language and society

ELT 405:    Discourse Analysis

The aim of this course is to promote critical thinking through critical analysis of actual discourse/texts.

There will be two major components of the course:

(1)   Critical discourse analysis:

A) What does it involve?

From Critical reading to Critical discourse analysis

Language and ideology

Language and power

Power of encoders and decoders

Language and Power in cross gender discourse

Language and power in inter-class discourse

Race and Class in discourse

(B) Different Approaches to CDA (CriticalDiscourse Analysis):

Fairclough’s approach of CDA

Vandijk’s approach to CDA

Woodak’s approachto CDA

Role of Historicism and intertextuality in CDA

(2)   Practical Analysis:

(i)Analysis of the power of encoders and decoders with reference to advertising discourse

(ii) Analysis of political discourse ( Some famous political speeches from home and abroad, e.g. Gettysburg Address of Abraham Lincoln, President Bush’s speech declaring Iraq war, Presidential address of South African President in the VIII Non-Alignment Movement), and speeches by political leaders of Bangladesh and the sub-continent)

(iii) Analysis of literary discourse

(iv) Analysis of media discourse

  ELT 406: Practice Teaching

The purpose of this course is to prepare students as effective ESL/EFL teachers. Students will be required to operate in actual classroom situations. The course incorporates different teaching methods and their pedagogical implications.  Students will be required to implement theoretical insights they received about approaches and methods of language and literature teaching in real teaching. They will plan lessons and teach lessons for teaching the different skills and their sub-skills, and will teach 2 or three lessons each in their own class where the other students of the class will be the learners. Each student will also teach two lessons in first year honours class. Special classes will be arranged with first year students throughout the year to facilitate real and authentic practice of teaching. The practice teaching classes will also be observed by two concerned teachers who will continually assess the students’ performance (which will be part of final assessment) and will keep record. Teachers and other students in the classroom will comment on the teaching performance of each lesson. Teachers will also provide constructive feedback on the performance of each lesson.  Of the two lessons with first year students, the last lesson will be evaluated by the course teachers. Students will also submit their lesson plans for each lesson.

 ELT 407:  Research Methods in ELT

This is an advanced course that aims at introducing students to the approaches and methods of ELT research so that they can understand the problems of English language teaching in Bangladesh and recommend some solutions to those problems.  The areas for this course will include:

A. Idea about ELT Research

• Steps in research: Selecting a topic, defining the research question/research problem, doing primary literature survey, finalizing focus, Extensive literature survey, deciding about methods of data collection, analysis of data, presenting results.
• Important concepts in ELT research: Reliability, validity, Triangulation etc.
• Types of Research: Qualitative and quantitative research, Inductive and Deductive research, Experimental and empirical research
• Methods of Data collection: Questionnaire Survey, Interviews, Document analysis, Diary Studies, ethnography, case study, Observation etc.
• Designing tools for investigation
• Administering the study
• Process of Data Collection and data analysis:  tabulating data, planning an analysis in keeping with the objectives, Frequency counts, central tendency and some other types of data analysis
• Presenting Results
• Referencing Style: APA and MLA styles of referencing

B. Doing a mini research project/ Writing a research proposal

VU follows the following Letter Grade and Grade Point system introduced by the UGC as a uniform grading system for all public and private universities:

Numerical Grade	Letter Grade	Grade Point
80% and above	A+	4.00
75% to less than 80%	A	3.75
70% to less than 75%	A-	3.50
65% to less than 70%	B+	3.25
60% to less than 65%	B	3.00
55% to less than 60%	B-	2.75
50% to less than 55%	C+	2.50
45% to less than 50%	C	2.25
40% to less than 45%	D	2.00
Less than 40%	F	0.00

a. The Letter Grade A+, A, A-, B+, B-, B, C+, C and D are considered as pass grades.

b. An f grade is considered as ‘FAIL’ and in such cases students must go for a retake.

c. After completion of the program, the final transcript will be issued mentioning Letter Grade, Corresponding Grade Points, Attempted Credit, Earned Credit and CGPA.

d. Numerical marks in the Grade Sheet/Transcript will not be shown.

 

Final Result Preparation:

The Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) will be computed according to the following formula:

CGPA =  Sum of ( Earned Credit X Corresponding GradePoints) / Total Credits