BITM English I
bitmsemester 1
English I
Subject Code: ENG 103
Course Title: English I
Course No: ENG 103
Nature of Course: Theory & Practical
Full Marks: 60
Pass Marks: 30
Credit Hours: 3
Course Description
English I is a foundational course designed to enhance students' proficiency in academic reading, critical thinking, and effective writing within cross-cultural, ethical, and professional contexts. The course integrates literary and expository texts to cultivate analytical and reflective abilities while promoting clarity, coherence, and purpose in writing. It further emphasizes paragraph and essay development, unity and coherence, descriptive and reflective writing, and editing skills essential for academic and professional success. Students will learn to interpret texts critically, relate readings to personal and social experiences, and express their ideas effectively in organized short essays. By engaging with global and local issues through language and literature, the course aims to develop not only linguistic competence but also ethical awareness and cross-cultural sensitivity.
Course Objective
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
Develop coherent and well-structured academic essays using appropriate rhetorical patterns.
Demonstrate effective reading comprehension and critical response to academic and professional texts.
Apply the stages of the writing process — prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing — in producing essays.
Enhance vocabulary, cohesion, and grammatical precision for academic and workplace communication.
Foster reflective, analytical, and creative thinking across literary readings.
Critically examine moral and ethical issues reflected in contemporary readings and express informed personal viewpoints in written form.
Course Contents
| Course Contents | Teaching Methodology | Teaching Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1: Cross-cultural Communication (8 Hrs.) | ||
| American Values and Assumptions (Gary Althen) | Lecture | |
| Where Do We Stand? (Lisa David) | ||
| Time Talks with an Accent (Robert Levine) | ||
| The Teacher Who Changed My Life (Nicholas Gage) | ||
| Unit 2: Mass Media, Information, and Technology (8 Hrs.) | ||
| Computers and the Pursuit of Happiness (David Gelernter) | Lecture | |
| Propaganda Techniques in Today's Advertisement (Ann McClintock) | ||
| Students Shall Not Download. Yeah, Sure (Kate Zernike) | ||
| How the Web Destroys the Quality of Students' Research Papers (David Rothenberg) | ||
| Unit 3: Issues of Ethics (8 Hrs.) | ||
| A Gas Station Burns in the Forest (David A. Shapiro) | Lecture | |
| The Trumpet of Conscience (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) | ||
| Heart Speaks to Heart Across a Cultural Divide (Gail Saunders) | ||
| Born for Each Other (Pamela Withers) | ||
| Unit 4: Tradition, Progress, and Development (8 Hrs.) | ||
| Modern Society and the Quest for Human Happiness (Dalai Lama) | Lecture | |
| Development, democracy, and the Village Telephone (Sam Pitroda) | ||
| The Friendship Bond (Mary Brown Parlee) | ||
| Courtesy: Key to a Happier World (Dr. Norman Vincent Peale) | ||
| Unit 5: Self, Reflection, and Experience (8 Hrs.) | ||
| From Paragraph to Short Essay | Lecture | |
| A Memorable Day: Writing from Personal Experience | ||
| Lessons from Life: Turning Experience into Reflection | ||
| Editing for Personal Voice and Clarity | ||
| Unit 6: Observation, Change, and Description (8 Hrs.) | ||
| Describing People and Places: Sensory Language and Detail | Lecture | |
| Change over Time: Writing about Growth and Transformation | ||
| From Observation to Interpretation: The Art of Detail | ||
| Editing and Revising Descriptive Essays for Clarity and Precision |
Text Books
1. Gardner, P. (2005). New directions: Reading, writing, and critical thinking (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
2. Oshima, A., & Hogue, A. (2017). Academic writing (4th ed.). Pearson Education.
3. Savage, A., & Shafifi, M. (2007). Effective academic writing 1: The Paragraph. Oxford University Press.
4. Savage, A., & Mayer, P. (2005). Effective academic writing 2: The short essay. Oxford University Press.
5. Smalzer, W. R. (2022). Write to be read: Reading, reflection, and writing (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.