UNIVERSITY OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES, ACCRA

(MINISTRY OF EDUCATION)

COURSE OUTLINE FOR BGEC 101: COMMUNICATION SKILLS

PROGRAMME: DEGREE
LEVEL: 100
ACADEMIC YEAR: 2022/2023
SEMESTER: FIRST SEMESTER
CREDIT HOURS: THREE (3)

COURSE LECTURERS:
DR. MOHAMMED SADAT
DR. BRIAN S. AKRONG
MRS. CHARITY BOATENG
MR. NII AMARTEY
MRS. PATIENCE CALYS-TAGOE
MR. EMMANUEL DUNCAN
MR. NELSON KWASHIE

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COURSE SYNOPSIS
THE COURSE IS AIMED AT ENHANCING STUDENTS’ EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN
ENGLISH WITH REGARD TO GRAMMAR AND SPEECH PRODUCTION. STUDENTS WILL BE
EQUIPPED WITH SKILLS IN THE EFFECTIVE USE OF ENGLISH CLAUSES AND PHRASES,
SENTENCES, TENSES AND EFFECTIVE PUNCTUATION. STUDENTS ARE TAKEN THROUGH THE
MAJOR AND MINOR WORD CLASSES IN ENGLISH AND THEIR FUNCTIONS. BY THE END OF THE
COURSE, STUDENTS WOULD BE ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE APPRECIABLE COMPETENCE IN
GRAMMAR AND THEIR GRASP OF LANGUAGE IN PREPARATION FOR SCHOLARLY WRITING.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
BY THE END OF THIS COURSE, STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
a) DEMONSTRATE KNOWLEDGE OF WORD CLASSES AND THEIR COMBINATION WITH
PUNCTUATION MARKS
b) DEMONSTRATE A GOOD KNOWLEDGE IN THE USE OF ENGLISH TENSES BY WRITING
GOOD SENTENCES
c) DEMONSTRATE KNOWLEDGE IN THE CORRECT USE OF PHRASES, CLAUSES, AND
SENTENCES
d) DEMONSTRATE APPRECIABLE KNOWLEDGE IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR USAGE

COURSE OBLECTIVES
BY THE END OF THE SEMESTER, STUDENTS WOULD BE ABLE TO:
a) IDENTIFY AND USE THE MAJOR AND MINOR WORD CLASSES IN ENGLISH
b) CONSTRUCT, IDENTIFY AND USE THE VARIOUS TYPES OF PHRASES AND CLAUSES
c) AVOID COMMON SENTENCE ERRORS
d) USE THE CORRECT FORMS OF PUNCTUATIONS IN SENTENCES
e) CONVERT DIRECT SENTENCES TO THEIR INDIRECT FORMS AND VICE VERSA.
f) USE THE CORRECT FORMS OF TENSES IN SENTENCE CONSTRUCTIONS

COURSE CONTENT

WEEK A. COURSE INTRODUCTION

1 B. INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE SKILLS: RECEPTIVE AND PRODUCTIVE
SKILLS
LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS
BAILEY (2015, PAGES 3-8)

WEEK WORD CLASSES: MAJOR AND MINOR WORD CLASSES

2
BAILEY (2015, PAGES 117-128)

WEEK PHRASES AND CLAUSES:

3 DEFINITIONS
TYPES AND BASIC STRUCTURE OF A PHRASE AND A CLAUSE
WIREDU (1999, PAGES 30-113 ).

WEEK SENTENCE: DEFINITION; STRUCTURE; FUNCTIONS

4 WIREDU (1999, PAGES 6-28)

WEEK COMMON ERRORS IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH USAGE (GROUP WORK

5 ERRORS)
CONFUSING WORDS, FRAGMENTS, RUN-ONS, COMMA SPLICES

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 PUNCTUATION WIREDU (1999, PAGES 131-141)

WEEK COMMON ERRORS IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH USAGE

6 PARALLELISM
MODIFIERS (MISPLACED, SQUINTING, DANGLING)
BAILEY (2015, PAGES 117-128)
QUIRK AND GREENBAUM (2000, PAGES 114-142).

WEEK INTERIM ASSESSMENT

7
WEEK CONCORD IN ENGLISH (USING PEER REVIEW)
8 DEFINITION AND TYPES
WIREDU (1998, PAGES 43-69)

WEEK TENSE AND ASPECT

9 TYPES AND FUNCTIONS

BAILEY (2015, PAGES 156-158)

WEEK DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH:

10 TENSE CHANGE, TIME CHANGE, AND PRONOUN CHANGE
REPORTING VERBS
QUIRK AND GREENBAUM (2000, PAGES 166-200).

WEEK ACTIVE AND PASSIVE FORMATION

11 PROCESSES, USES AND CONSTRAINTS

WIREDU (1999, PAGES 143-154)

USE OFFICIAL LETTERS FROM OUR OWN ENVIRONMENT TO GIVE

STUDENTS REAL LANGUAGE SITUATIONS
WEEK SPEECH TAGS
12 STRUCTURE OF TAG QUESTIONS
INTONATION FOR TAG QUESTIONS
QUESTION PHRASES AND SPEECH TAGS
WIREDU (1999, PAGES 156-164)

LISTEN TO ROLE PLAYS TO DISTINGUISH THE VARIOUS FORMS OF TAGS

WEEK INFOGRAPHICS PROJECT PRESENTATION AND COURSE REVISION

13 THE LECTURER

ASSESSMENT
Assessment of the course will be based on 40% Interim Assessment (IA) score and 60% End-of-Semester
Examinations score. The IA marks will be distributed as follows:
Attendance 5 marks
Class Participation 5 marks
Group Presentation 10 marks
Sit-in IA 20 marks
40 marks

READING MATERIALS

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Bailey, S. 2015. The essentials of academic writing for international students. London & New York:
Routledge.
Crystal, D. (1991). Rediscover Grammar with David Crystal. Harlow: Longman
Jones-Mensah, I. (2019). The English Nouns in Paradigm.
Quagie, J.K. (2012). English: A Tool for Communication for Universities and Tertiary Institutions. Accra:
Hybrid Publishers.
Quirk R and Greenbaum, S (2000). University Grammar of English. London: Longman
Wiredu, J.F. (1999). Organized English Structure. Accra: Academic Publications (Gh) Ltd.

Wiredu, J.F. (1998). Organized English Grammar. Accra: Academic Publications (Gh) Ltd.

LECTURE, CLASS DISCUSSION, QUIZ AND PRESENTATION

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