Course Description
LANG 4031 is a three-credit course offered to students from ECE and CPEG students taking an ECE FYP. Over one semester, students will attend three hours of class, and will be expected to complete up to six hours of out-of-class work, per week.
The course focuses on two areas:
Communication in Professional Contexts
Students will research an ECE opportunity and issue, identify a trend and development of an ECE topic, analyze the impacts and potential of this development, and explain its commercial applications in an individual technology report and a group presentation. Students will read, view and discuss materials on ECE-related topics from a variety of genres. They will also analyze the audience and communicative purpose of different types of written texts.
Communication skills for ECE projects
Students will develop their ability to use appropriate language and organization to write their Final Year Project report and give an oral presentation of their work. Students will read and discuss materials on ECE-related topics from academic journal articles and conference papers. They will work through a range of tasks which prepare them for the various types of writing and speaking that are required for their FYP report and presentation.
Comparison of LANG 2030 and 2030(H) and LANG 4031
| LANG 2030 | discipline-based (all engineering students take the same course) | focuses on developing students’ academic speaking and writing | general topics that are important for all engineers (social responsibility & creativity) |
| LANG 4031 | subject-based (students following an ECE FYP take the course) | focuses on developing speaking and writing skills to meet both professional and academic needs | professional and academic topics drawn from ECE. |
Pre-requisites for LANG 4031
LANG 2030 or LANG 2030(H)
The course is open to ECE students and CPEG students undertaking an ECE FYP only.
Intended Learning Outcomes
| Knowledge and Content Related | 1. You can identify and address the needs and concerns of a variety of academic and professional audiences in speaking and writing 2. You can support claims with appropriate evidence, and properly acknowledge sources 3. You can critically analyze and discuss major issues and recent developments in your major and related professions |
| Academic Skills and Competencies | 4. You can recognize and use appropriate organizational structure, tone and formatting in written and spoken communication for different audiences and purposes 5. You can select, summarize and synthesize information from texts in your major subject 6. You can use accurate and fluent language (vocabulary, structures and style) relevant to engineering-related communication tasks |
| Ethical Standards | 7. You can demonstrate academic integrity in course assignments |
| Vision and Orientation to the Future | 8. You recognize the need to communicate courteously and appropriately in professional contexts |