What comes in your mind when you hear English? Shakespeare! Keats! English language is heading very fast at becoming a universal language and it has seen a growth in the number of speakers than any other language in the world. What is the first thought that strikes your mind when you hear English? Shakespeare! Keats! Maximum of the world’s population speaks English and in most of the colleges, universities and workplaces across the globe, English has become an official language. In the upcoming blog, we will walk through the central aspects of building a career in Functional English as well as the major courses offered across the world.
Career in Functional English
Students will gain proficiency in English and will get fluent in conversing with others, on completion of the course. They will become extremely confident and will be able to articulate his/her thoughts efficiently. It will greatly help in influencing the clients and sharing ideas. By the end of the course, students will have the ability to speak, listen, read and write in English with the utmost fluency.
What do you mean by Functional English?
Literature includes a larger portion of the academic discipline of English. Engaging in a deep study of classic and contemporary literature, English Literature can take you years to excel in this field. Whether you are giving a presentation or teaching a class in a university, or simply writing an email, Functional English helps you go through the attempts to communicate in an English speaking society.
What are the uses of Functional English
We will focus on the important communication skills in English, Functional English comprises of the study of how this language is used practically in terms of speaking, writing, listening and reading. It is often taken up as English we all speak in our everyday lives whereas on the other hand it is included in degree and diploma programs in English to impart students with a theoretically comprehensive as well as practical understanding of this language. Functional English can be used for various purposes like:
- Technical English like Aviation English
- Everyday communication in English
- English for Specific Purposes (ESP)
- For academic purposes in School curriculums
- For English Proficiency Assessments like IELTS, TOEFL, etc.
Benefits Of Functional English
Here is a quick view to some of the benefits of pursuing a course in this Functional English:
- Gives you the strength to speak efficiently and effortlessly in English.
- Helps you to simplify the English jargon of texts, documents and instructions and thus boosts your productivity.
- Increasing your efficiency in communication as it can prove to be a very efficient tool in influencing your clients and nicely disseminating your ideas.
Major Courses in Functional English
Based on the level of Education, there are bundles of courses offered in Functional English that you can choose from. Some of them are listed beneith:
- BA in Functional English
A BA in Functional English Course is a three-year degree designed to give you bucket full of knowledge about the daily usage of the English language. So many universities around the globe are offering undergraduate courses in this field.
- MA in Functional English
MA in Functional English degree is a more specialized postgraduate degree program.
Certificate Courses
If you are not willing to studying a full-fledged degree in Functional English, there are plentiful certificate courses you can opt for. This course is of a period of 6 months to 2 years.
Diploma Courses
Apart from certificate courses, there are more detailed diploma courses in Functional English offered by various universities as an alternative to lengthy degree programs.
Admission Process
- Access the college or institute through their official website. The admission application form will be available on the website.
- Download the admission application form and fill in all the required details. Double-check to see there are no mistakes.
- After you have successfully filled in the application form, you will be called for a written test. The written test may be taken subjective or objective manner. The test paper has questions from different fields like media issues, language writing, creative writing, functional writing, etc.
- If you qualify the written test, you will then be called for a personal interview. It is compulsory to get your class 12 mark sheet along with your cumulative percentage of the same academic year.
Entrance Tests
The names of entrance tests conducted by some colleges/ institutes for admission in BA Functional English are listed as following:
- Government College For Girls Entrance Exam
- K.T.H.M College Entrance Exam
- Patna University Entrance Exam
- Queen Mary’s College Entrance Exam
- Ashutosh College Entrance Exam
Top Institutes For Functional English
Mentioned underneath are colleges in India who offer courses in Functional English. You can have a look over them here:
- Lady Shri Ram College For Women – New Delhi
- Loyola College – Chennai
- Presidency College – Chennai
- Ramjas College – New Delhi
- Hans Raj College – New Delhi
- Miranda House College – New Delhi
- Madras Christian College – Chennai
- Jai Hind College – Mumbai
- Presidency College – Kolkata
Subjects Covered
Functional English is offered at different academic levels ranging from undergraduate to certificate programmes. Given below are those:
- Critical Reasoning, Writing and Presentation
- Translation and Communication in Other Languages
- Methodology Functional Language
- Methodology – Humanities
- Oral Communication Practice
- Communicative Grammar
- Electronic Media
- Applied Phonetics
- Advertising – Theory and Practice
- English Language Teaching
- Creative Writing
- Translation Studies
- Communicative English (open) & Project
- Advertising – Theory and Practice
- Business English
- Communication Skills in English
Careers in Functional English
After completing a course in Functional English, you are open to a variety of options as a profession :
- Associate Community Manager – Incharge of all the communications in an organisation. Proficiency in Social Media, Content Creation & PR is needed.
- Translator & Interpreter – Major work of these personnel is to convert the writer, verbal or audio of one language into other.
- Teacher – English is widely spoken in all sectors of society. Thus, a person with a firm command over functional English can become an English teacher.
- Cross Functional Marketing Manager – These professionals build marketing strategies for the services their host organisation offers. Also coordinates with sales and other counterparts.
- Technical Account Managers – Manages the technical aspects of a company. Also looks into the department of public relation of the organisation at times.
Job Opportunities
Students who complete their Education in Functional English have an open hand over opportunities they can go for. Some of the key areas for employment in Functional English for students are listed below:
- Embassies
- Universities
- Consultancies
- Advertising Agencies
- Hotels
- Aviation
- Publishers
- Translation departments
Salary Prospects
After completing a course in Functional English, you will have number of opportunities to explore immense career options in this versatile field. After the completion of degree in Functional English, you can expect a staring pay of around 4-6 lacs a year.
functional english books:
Functional English Grammar by Graham Lock
Functional English for Communication by Tanu Gupta and Ujjwala Kakarala
New Approach to Functional English Grammar and Composition by S.K. Khandelwal
Comprehensive Functional Grammar and Composition by S.K. Khandelwal
Learn English: A Fun Book of Functional Language, Grammar and Vocabulary by Santanu Sinha Chaudhary
FAQs
- What do you mean by functional English in BA?
Just like any other BA course, BA Functional English is one different course offered by universities. In India, the duration of this course is 3 years divided into 6 semesters, whereas, in international universities the course carries over a duration of 4 years or 8 semesters.
- Why is functional English is important?
Functional English helps the learners to perform well in different situations. It engages specific use of the language as per the platform like academic study, hospitality, communication skills, etc.
- How can one learn functional English?
Mentioned underneath are some tips and tricks to make functional English an easy process for you:
-Improve general writing and listening abilities.
-Concentrate on improving your grammar.
-Watch English shows
-Read books and newspaper
-Communicate in English
Ultimately, the career field of Functional English is rapidly increasing at a speedy momentum as English is becoming a commonly spoken language across the globe. Our site completely understands that choosing a course is as important and difficult as selecting an ideal career. As it is said that the right decisions are always the hardest to make it, but they must be made in order to live the life you worked hard for.