Profile of English Department

Many students are drawn to English language and literature, but believe that their career prospects would be improved with a more technical or professional major. In fact, English is a versatile major that provides excellent preparation for careers in teaching, journalism, law, corporate communications -- in short, any area in which strong reading, writing, and critical thinking skills are vital and rewarded necessities.

The Department offers English composition at all levels and a flexible undergraduate major with various options, so if you are interested in traditional or modern literature, language and linguistics, or creative writing, you will certainly find a match in our major. Our interdisciplinary option allows you to include courses from other departments.

Additional Facilities

A well equipped language lab, audiovisual facilities and the library are integral components in the teaching programmes. These are used extensively as part of the regular teaching & learning process.

The language lab has been partly upgraded to the digital mode. There are 20 workstations where students can access good quality listening material, record their own speech, interact with the teacher who monitors their performance, have conferences with the teacher & classmates etc. Lab hours are assigned to all the students as part of the regular schedule. Thus, the students get to improve their spoken English through constant practice, continuous assessment by teacher and self, exposure to good listening material from the BBC, Cambridge University etc. as well as film dialogues, conversations etc.

Our library has a fairly good collection of books on linguistics, language acquisition, the English language, grammar etc. as well as fiction, books on social sciences, authoritative reference books etc. Our students are introduced to new topics and areas, and are encouraged to read extensively and intensively. The library is an integral part of the learning programme.

Various audiovisual facilities are regularly made use of. Students watch films (classics, popular ones, documentaries etc.) as part of language acquisition programmes and also of courses like Journalism, Media Studies etc. Students are also encouraged to produce e-material as part of their assignments and seminars.

Programmes (Academic & Co-curricular)

Seminars, workshops, film fests etc. are conducted often as part of the academic work. Some of the programs conducted in the recent past are listed below:

#	YEAR	DETAILS
1	2007	Journalism workshop “Inside the Newsroom” in collaboration with The New Indian Express (Resource persons: Manoj K Das (Resident Editor, Kochi), M P Prashanth (Bureau Chief, Kozhikode) et al.
2	2007	Film workshop-cum-discussion by Sajan Theruvappuzha, author and script writer.
3	2008	Seminar: “Animation – Introduction to  Possibilities”
4	2008-10	Many film shows/festivals were  conducted; scripting and technical aspects were  also focused on, in some instances.
5	2008-10	Daily classes in Communicative English for the students; UGC-assisted programme
6	2009	Workshop on theatre in collaboration with AIR, Kozhikode. A radio play was presented jointly.
7	2009	Five-day workshop “English Teaching at School” for school teachers.
8	2010	Some students were sent as interpreters to a team of high profile French journalists visiting Kerala to report on sustainable and eco-friendly farming .

New programmes will be designed and executed at the initiative of students and teachers as the academic work progresses.

Distinctions & Ranks

The Dept. has consistently had a very high pass percentage in the University exams. Many of our students have also secured ranks in University exams, won other accolades etc. Our rank holders are:

#	YEAR	DETAILS
1	1998	Ramachandran K – 2nd Rank, Rajesh Kumar B M – 3rd Rank (Our 1st batch)
2	1999	Sajila Saseendran N K – 1st , Appumon Joseph – 2nd
3	2005	Shameema Rahman K – 2nd
4	2006	Sankeerthana K – 1st, Deepika George – 3rd
5	2010	Neethulakshmi R – 3rd

Many of our alumni have gone on to study in premier institutions in India and abroad and then progressed to highly rewarding careers. Many are media persons, social workers, teachers, govt. officials, entrepreneurs etc.

A point to be highlighted in this context is that our students are given systematic career and higher education counseling. Courses which they can apply for, preparation for entrance/competitive exams, career prospects etc. are discussed regularly with them. They are also given facilities and expert assistance to prepare for competitive exams.

One of our alumni is teaching in an Australian university; one is working for Google; one is the Chief Editor of the magazine The Caravan….Some are working in the UK, the US, Canada, the Gulf countries etc. as teachers, media persons etc. The list goes on, and with every passing year the career profiles and success graphs of our boys and girls go up making us more motivated and encouraged in our work.