COURSE OUTLINE

Functional English

(3 Credit Hours)

Course Description

Functional English is a comprehensive course designed to equip students with the skills to
comprehend written texts, compose diverse writing forms prevalent in both professional and
academic settings globally, and communicate coherently. It focuses on honing students’ abilities
to extract and summarize pertinent information from extensive texts, craft professional and
academic correspondence, and grasp the mechanics of sentences and the English Language. By
the course’s conclusion, students will have gained valuable insights into effective
communication and language proficiency, empowering them for success in various professional
and academic environments.

Required Textbook(s)

 High School English Grammar and Composition by Wren and Martin (Multicolor
Edition). Download link:
http://library.lol/main/D0963395196E2E9C85448E2ED716F761
 English Grammar in Use: A Self-study reference and practice book for Intermediate
Students of English by Raymond Murphy. Download link:
https://corsidilaurea.uniroma1.it/sites/default/files/english_grammar_in_use_intermediate
_2019_5th-ed.pdf
 Writing that Works: A Teacher’s Guide to Technical Writing by Dr. Steven M. Gerson.
 Handouts Related to Essay Writing, Academic Writing, Reading Comprehension,
Artificial Intelligence and English Language Learning, and Technical Writing
 Direct Hits Core Vocabulary of the SAT (4th Edition). https://51ingroup.com/wp-
content/uploads/2018/09/Direct-Hits-Core-Vocabulary-of-the-SAT-4th- Edition
%E2%80%9D%E7%9A%84%E5%89%AF%E6%9C%AC.pdf

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Course Objective (s)

In this course, students will be able to:

 Understand fundamental grammar rules for various writing styles, including paragraphs,
essays, academic papers, and technical documents.
 Apply basic grammar rules creatively and effectively in diverse writing contexts,
spanning paragraphs, essays, academic texts, emails, letters, and memorandums.
Demonstrate proficiency in using appropriate vocabulary in different scenarios.
 Synthesize and create well-structured written works, such as paragraphs, essays,
academic texts, emails, letters, and memorandums, showcasing coherent organization of
ideas.
 Demonstrate competent oral communication skills by delivering engaging and well-
structured presentations. Articulate complex ideas, analyze information, and present
innovative solutions clearly and confidently, catering to the audience’s needs.

Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)

Domain
S No CLO Statement PLO and
Level
1 Understand basic grammar rules, paragraph, essay,
academic, and technical writing. PLO-10 C2

Apply basic grammar rules to new contexts, paragraphs,

2 essays, academic, and technical writing, and use vocabulary PLO-10 C3
in new contexts.
Create/Synthesize paragraphs, essays, academic texts,
3 PLO-10 C5
emails, letters, and memorandums.

Demonstrate the ability to deliver well-structured and

engaging presentations, utilizing practical oral
4 communication skills to articulate complex ideas, analyze PLO-10 C6
information, and present innovative solutions with clarity
and confidence.

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Course Contents

Week
Topics Reference Class Activity
No.

Introductions
Getting to know each other
 Introduction to the questionnaire or Talk shows
course, discussion of
course outline, assessment https://www.teachingexpertise.
criteria Wren and
Martin com/classroom-ideas/parts-of-
Grammar speech-activities/
1  Introduction to Grammar
Book,
 The Eight Parts of Speech: Pages 12-
Types of Nouns, Verbs, 26 https://www.englishclub.com/g
Adjectives, Adverbs, rammar/parts-of-speech-
Pronouns, Articles, quiz.php
Conjunctions, and
Interjections
(Reinforcement exercises)

https://www.myenglishpages.c
Use of Tenses om/english/grammar-exercise-
Wren and tenses.php
 Activities for practicing
Martin
past, present and future
Grammar
tense
Book,
2 Sentence Structures
Pages 77- Class collaborative activity
 Difference between Phrase 84, 165, (https://quizlet.com/150262658
and Clause, Types of 170, 177- /language-activity-2-grammar-
Sentences: Simple, 179 practice-flash-cards/
Compound, and Complex

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 Listening Skills-I
https://learnenglish.britishcoun
 Note-taking: Students will
cil.org/general-english/audio-
take notes from the lectures
https://ielt series/podcasts
while listening using
Cornell Note taking style s.idp.com/
prepare/ar https://www.keele.ac.uk/media
 Watching YouTube Videos
3 ticle-ielts- /keeleuniversity/microsites/thel
or TED Talks
listening- isteningproject/Chinese%20W
Listening Skills-II
skills hispers%20Activity.pdf
 Listening to Podcasts
 Chinese Whisper Game
https://dailydictation.com/exer
 Listen to a story & type cises/short-stories

Paragraph Writing Wren & Exercise pg. 320

Martin Writing a well-structured
paragraph on the topic relevant to
4  Principles of Paragraph Grammar
the discipline where the course is
Structures Book, taught.
 Opening, body and Pages
concluding statements 317-320
 Writing a Paragraph

Writing
E-mail Writing that Works
 Why is E-mail important? (2nd Course
Book Exercises pg. 83-84
5  E-mail is similar to and Book to be Students to write an email on the
different from letters followed) topic relevant to the discipline
 Format of an email Pages 39- where the course is taught.
 E-mail benefits and 42
problems
Essay Writing
Reading of Essays and
 Components of an essay Wren and Identification of Components
and Academic Writing Martin of Essay
 Descriptive, Narrative, Grammar
6
Argumentative, Book,
Personal, Compare and Pages 379-
Contrast, Persuasive 388
Essay

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 Artificial Intelligence (AI) and
Essay Writing https://
www.scribb
 Practice of Thesis r.com/
Statements & category/
Class Discussion on ethical
academic-
Argumentative writing considerations for using AI,
essay/
(The instructor may Prompt engineering for better
#:~:text=Th
choose any essay given use of AI
e%20essay
above) Students to write their essays
%20writing
Using AI tools such as on any two of these genre:
%20process
Chat GPT for essay %20consist Descriptive Essay, narrative
writing Essay, Argumentative and
s,it%20up
persuasive Essay
%20with
%20a
%20conclus
ion.
Speaking Skills I
 1-minute speech
by students
https://ielt https://www.teachingexpertise.
 Class discussion
s.idp.com/ com/classroom-ideas/esl-
 Students performing prepare/ar speaking-activity/
roles in the class ticle-10-
7
according to the roles tips-ielts-
assigned by the instructor https://youtu.be/80UVjkcxGmA
speaking
for Dialogue delivery
 Debate on a specific topic
 Rubric for
evaluating
speaking skills

Letter Writing &

Applications
 General rules for writing
letters, the academic
Wren & https://www.toppr.com/guides/
format of letter writing
Martin english/writing/letter-writing/
 Letters of protest or
complaint or Letters of Grammar
8 Book, https://literacyideas.com/how-
job application
(pg.345), or Letters to Pages 327- to-write-a-great-letter/
349
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 a newspaper or journal
editor or
 Recommendation
Letter.
Job Applications
 Application for Course
Re-take assuming the
student fails in that
course

9 Mid-Term Examination

Reading Skills-I
 Reading Excerpts and other Wren and
familiar texts and Martin
10 summarizing the main Grammar Reading a passage and
points Book, Ch. answering the questions along
 Using skimming and 37, Page with Precis Writing
scanning techniques 349
 Precis Writing
Writing
Writing styles that
Students to write resume or
 Introduction to Technical Works: A
CV by using canva.com
Writing, the Difference Teacher’s
between Technical and Guide to
11
Academic Writing Technical
Writing,
 Resume /CV Writing
Pages 26-
45

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 Speaking Skills-II
 Presentation Skills:
Teaching students how to
Writing
make effective presentation
that
slides; Organization of
Works: A
data, use of appropriate
Teacher’s Analysis of sample PowerPoint
language, use of graphs,
Guide to Presentations, Presentations on
12 figures, and visual aids,
Technical course-related topics
involving the audience;
Writing,
making effective
Pages 63- Rubric for evaluating the
PowerPoint presentations
65 and presentation of students
 Body language for
Handouts
presentations

Reading Skills-II Feedback on the reading,

13  Reading a novel/play of ------- monitoring students for
student’s choice selecting dialogues, scenes
 Summarizing and creating a and creating their own
layout for their plays layouts on the selected plays
to be presented in groups
 Choosing and creating
dialogues for the scenes And
 Dialogue Writing Writing a dialogue as an
activity in the class
consulting the course book
14 & 15 Drama/Play as Project Presentation Project Presentations and
and Revision of Course evaluating the performances
Contents according to the rubrics
16 Final Semester Examination

Vocabulary Learning
In addition to the course contents, students will learn and practice 5-10 words from the
prescribed vocabulary book weekly throughout the semester.

Instructional Tools and Evaluation Methods

The instructor will use several instructional tools such as PowerPoint presentations, class
discussions, online audio, videos, etc. The instructor will assess students' performance through
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several evaluation methods, including class participation, quizzes, projects, assignments, and
mid- term and final examinations. Plagiarism of quizzes and assignments will be checked on
Turitin software as per HEC Policy of plagiarism.
Attendance
All students are expected to attend all classes. However, a minimum of 75 percent attendance is
mandatory for appearing in the final exam.

Course Assessment and Evaluation

Assessment Method Weightage in Overall Grade

Assignments 05
Quizzes 10
Presentations 5
Final Project 10
Mid-term Exam 25
Final Exam 45

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Final Grades
An overall grade will be assigned on the relative grading scale.

Prepared by:

Humera Faraz
Associate Incharge ESP Program

Verified by:
Prof. Salman Basit
Incharge ESP Program

Approved By
Dr. Farzana Masroor
HOD Department of English
Air University, Islamabad

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