UNIVERSITY OF KERALA - Marian Engineering College

B.Tech Comp. Sc. & Engg., University of Kerala 64
08.704 (3) COMMUNICATIVE ENGLISH AND TECHNICAL WRITING
(ELECTIVE I) 3 – 1 – 0
(Common with F 08.705D)
Module I (20 hours)
Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing skills.
Listening Skills: Listening for general content- Intensive listening-Listening for specific information.
Speaking Skills: Oral practice-Describing objects/situations/people-Role play-Just A Minute/Group
Discussion- informal letters-essentials of telephonic conversation-invitations-minutes of a meeting.
Reading Skills: Skimming the text- exposure to a variety of technical articles, essays, graphic representation,
and journalistic articles.
Writing Skills: Skills to express ideas in sentences, use of appropriate vocabulary -sentence constructionparagraphs
development-note making-editing a passage and essay writing.
Basics of Technical Communication.
Technical communication- features, Distinction between general and technical communication- language as a
tool of communication- levels of communication-interpersonal, organizational, mass communication-the flow
of communication: upward, downward and lateral-importance of technical communication- barriers to
communication.
Module II (20 hours)
Forms of Technical communication.
Business letters-sales and credit letters, letter of enquiry, letter of quotation, placing order. Job application and
resume. Official letters-govt. letters, letter to authorities. Reports-types, significance, structure and style,
writing reports, condensing .Technical proposals-writing a proposal –the steps involved.Technical papersprojects-
dissertation- thesis writing. Preparing audio-visual aids.
Module III (12 hours)
A non-detailed study of the autobiography: “Wings of Fire-an autobiography by APJ Abdul Kalam”.
Students should read the book on their own and selected topics may be discussed in the class.
Reference Books:
1. Basic Communication Skills for Technology – Andrea J Rutherford, Pearson Education.
2. Business Correspondence and Report Writing – Mohan K and Sharma R C, TMH.
3. Effective Technical Communication – Barun K Mitra, Oxford University Press.
4. Everyday Dialogues in English – Robert J Dixson, PHI.
5. English For Technical Communication, Vol. I &II – K R Lakshmi Narayanan-Sci Tech Publications.
6. Wings of Fire-an autobiography – APJ Abdul Kalam, Universities Press
Internal Continuous Assessment (Maximum Marks-50)
25 Marks - Tests (minimum 2)
15 Marks - Assignments (minimum 3) such as home work, problem solving, literature survey, seminar,
term-project, software exercises, etc.
10 Marks - Regularity in the class
University Examination Pattern
Module I Short answer questions 6 x 5 marks=30 marks
Six questions to be answered out of eight questions. Questions to be
limited to the topics Writing Skills and Basics of Technical
Communication.
Module II Descriptive questions 2 x 15 marks=30 marks
Two questions to be answered out of four questions.
Module III Essay Questions 2 x 20 marks=40 marks
Two questions to be answered out of four questions
Maximum Total Marks: 100