English Language Curriculum Design for the Underprivileged University Students
Abstract
This research implemented a specially designed English language curriculum for underprivileged undergraduate university students at business schools in Pakistan and compared the objectives to the end result. The objective of this course was to train underprivileged business students coming from an uneducated background to become successful members of the corporate society where English has more value as compared to the national language Urdu. The career focus of this course was to build a combination of verbal, non-verbal skills and interpersonal skills essential for business students to work independently, to lead teams effectively, and consequently, to become customer focused and result oriented. This was achieved by upgrading their spoken and written English and by grooming them and helping them to overcome their fear of public speech. A survey was also conducted to study the significance of English language for business students who had recently joined the corporate sector. To gauge the effectiveness of the course the final assessment of the students was recorded and compared to their entry test, thus deducing whether the objectives of the course are achieved adequately or not. Consequently, the target of providing adequate language and grooming skills to these business students to make them successful members of the business world was achieved.