M.Phil./Ph.D.

English From October 2011 batch onwards Page 1 of 10

BHARATHIAR UNIVERSITY – COIMBATORE – 641 046

M.Phil. / Ph.D. – ENGLISH – PART I – SYLLABUS
(From October 2011 batch onwards)

PAPER I – RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Objectives

1. To initiate scientific approach to research

2. To develop historical perspectives on research
3. To enhance learners‟ understanding of the methods and mechanics of Research
Writing

Unit I Identification of a research problem and the choice of subject

Unit II Norms, conventions and format of Thesis
Unit III The Mechanics of Writing
Unit IV Documentation – works cited
Unit V Presentation of research

The Mechanics of Writing, Proof Reading, Citation Parenthetical Referencing, Title, aim,
objectives, e-resources quoting and in-text citations using standard research findings and style
sheet.
Prescribed Text
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for writers of Research Papers, New Delhi: EWP, 2009 (7th
edition).

Suggested Readings

1. Parsons C.J. Thesis and Project Work.

2. Anderson, Jonathan, B.H. Durston and M.Pcole. Thesis and Assignment Writing, New
Delhi: Wiley Eastern, 1970.
3. Thorpe, ed. Aims and Methods of Scholarship.
4. Watson, G. The Literary Thesis.
5. Bateson, F.W. The Scholar Critic.
6. Ananda Kumar Raju. ABC of Literature.
7. Kothari, C.R. Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques, Delhi: New Age
International Ltd.1985.
8. Rengachari, S. & Rengachari, Sulochna. Research Methodology for English Literature,
Bareilly: Prakash Book Depot,
9. Sinha, M.P. Research Methods in English.
10. Winkler, Anthony C. & Accuen, Jo Roy. Writing the Research Paper: Thomson Heinle,
2003.
M.Phil./Ph.D. English From October 2011 batch onwards Page 2 of 10

PAPER II – APPROACHES TO LITERATURE

Objectives

 To introduce the major principles of literary theory and criticism

 To enhance understanding of aims of literary criticism. To provide knowledge of
key terms and terminology
 To enhance the ability to generate and articulate personal responses to literary
and critical texts
 To enable scholars to form a historical perspective on the evolution of critical
approaches from Plato to Derrida
 To make students aware of the importance and main aspects of Indian aesthetics
 To make a comparative study of the critical perspective of East and West
Unit I
Classical Age, Middle Age and Renaissance (pp. 1-67)

Unit II
The Seventeenth Century I: Peacham, Drayton, Reynolds, Milton
(Blamires, pp. 68-216)
The Seventeenth Century II: Rymer to Dennis
The Eighteenth Century I: The Age of Addison and Pope
The Eighteenth Century II: Johnson and his Successors

Unit III
The Romantic Age (Blamires, pp 217-380)
The Victorian Age
The Twentieth Century I: The Early Decades
The Twentieth Century II: Post-war Developments

Unit IV

Sigmund Freud (Lodge, pp 36-77)

C.G.Jung (Lodge, pp 175-227)
Erich Auerbach (Lodge, pp 316-333)
Northrop Frye (Lodge, pp. 422-442)

Unit V
Feminist Literature
Elaine Showalter (Lodge & Wood, pp. 325 – 345)
Gayatri Chakravorti Spivak (Lodge & Wood, pp. 493 -509)
Indian Aesthetics
Main aspects of Indian Aesthetics
M.Phil./Ph.D. English From October 2011 batch onwards Page 3 of 10

Prescribed Texts

1. 20th Century Literary Criticism. A Reader, David Lodge: Longman publishers.

2. Modern Criticism and Theory. A Reader, David Lodge and Nigel Wood: Pearson
Publishers.
3. A History of Literary Criticism. Harry Blamires: Macmillan.

Suggested Reading

1. Wimsatt, William, Jr. and Cleanth Brooks. Literary criticism: A Short History, New
Delhi: Oxford & IBH, 1974.
2. Scott, Wilber. Five Approaches to Literature
3. Richards I.A. Practical Criticism, New Delhi: Allied, 1987.
4. Richards I.A. Principles of Literary Criticism, New Delhi: Allied

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M.Phil./Ph.D. English From October 2011 batch onwards Page 4 of 10

BHARATHIAR UNIVERSITY, COIMBATORE 46

M.Phil. DEGREE COURSE - ENGLISH
PART I – SYLLABUS – SPECIAL PAPER

1.TRANSLATION STUDIES

Objectives
Students are expected to

 Develop a historical perspective on translation studies from ancient to modern times

 Acquaint themselves with the concepts of „history‟ and „translation‟
 Develop an interest in identifying the social motivations for any translated work

Unit I
Central issues – Language and culture – Types of Translation (pp. 11-23)

Unit II
Problems of equivalence – Loss and Gain – Untranslatability – Science or „secondary activity‟?
(pp. 23-44)

Unit III
History of „period study‟ – The Romans – Bible translation – Education and the vernacular –
Early theorists (pp. 45-59)

Unit IV
The Renaissance – The seventeenth century – The eighteenth century – Romanticism – Post –
Romanticism – The Victorians – Archaizing – The Twentieth century (pp.60-78)

Unit V
Specific problems of literary translation – Structures – Poetry and translation – Translating prose
– Translating dramatic texts (pp.79-131)

Prescribed Text
Susan Bassnett, Third edition. Translation Studies, London and New York: Routledge.

Recommended Reading
1. Catford, John C. A Linguistic Theory of Translation, London: Oxford University Press,
1965.
2. Hatim, Basil. Teaching and Researching Translation, Harlow: Longman, 2001.
3. Newmark, Peter. A Textbook of Translation. London and New York: Prentice – Hall,
1988.
4. Steiner,G. After Babel : Aspects of Language and Translation. Oxford: The University
Press, 1975.
5. Bassnet, Susan, “Literary research and translation,” The Handbook To Literary Research.
Eds. Delia da Sousa Correa & W.R.Owens. London: Routledge, 1998. (2010 edition),pp
167-183.
M.Phil./Ph.D. English From October 2011 batch onwards Page 5 of 10

BHARATHIAR UNIVERSITY, COIMBATORE 46

M.Phil. DEGREE COURSE - ENGLISH
PART I – SYLLABUS – SPECIAL PAPER

2. DRAMA
Objectives

 To acquaint students with an overview of the great ages, and cultures

 To trace the growth and development of the genre
 To identify the common themes that run through the plays belonging to different
countries, ages
 To comprehend the employment of techniques, devices and strategies in dramatic works
 To develop a critical perspective on the intersections between drama and life
 To appreciate dramatic texts in their socio-politico – cultural contexts

Unit I
Sophocles - Oedipus Rex

Unit II
Henrik Ibsen - Hedda Gabler

Unit III
Luigi Pirandello - Six characters in search of an Author

Unit IV
Anton Chekov - Cherry Orchard

Unit V
Girish Karnad - Fire in the Rain

Suggested Reading

Bentley, Eric. The Playwright as Thinker: Study of Drama in Modern Times, New York:
Harcourt, 1967
Gassner, John. Theatre at the Cross Roads, New York: Holt, 1960
Bogard, Tracis, ed. Modern Drama: Essays in Criticism, New York: OUP, 1965
Steiner, George. The Death of Tragedy, New York: Knopf, 1967

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M.Phil./Ph.D. English From October 2011 batch onwards Page 6 of 10

BHARATHIAR UNIVERSITY, COIMBATORE 46

M.Phil. DEGREE COURSE - ENGLISH
PART I – SYLLABUS – SPECIAL PAPER

3. POETRY

Objectives

 To form a historical perspective on various types and schools of poetry

 To appreciate the metaphorical, symbolic and figurative nature of English language
 To relate a poet to his poetry and its relevance to society

Unit I
Spenser - „Faerie Queene Book I‟
Pope - „The Rape of the Lock‟

Unit II
T.S.Eliot - „The Wasteland‟
G.M.Hopkins -„The Wreck of Deutschland‟

Unit III
Edwin Arlington Robinson - „The Man Against the Sky‟
Robert Frost - „The Death of a Hired Man‟
Walt Whitman - „When Lilacs Last on the Dooryard Bloom‟d‟

Unit IV

Richard Ntiru - „The Shape of Fear‟

Gabriel Okara - „Once Upon a Time‟
A.D.Hope - „The Death of a Bird‟
Judith Wright - „The Harp and the King‟
Margaret Atwood - „Journey to the Interior‟
Taken from the Anthology of Commonwealth Poetry Ed by C.D. Narasimiah

Unit V
Rabindranath Tagore -„Gitanjali‟
A.K. Ramanujan - „Small Scale Reflections on a Great House‟
Toru Dutt - „Our Casuarina Tree‟
Nissim Ezekiel - „Enterprise‟
Kamala Das - „The Old Playhouse‟
M.Phil./Ph.D. English From October 2011 batch onwards Page 7 of 10

BHARATHIAR UNIVERSITY, COIMBATORE 46

M.Phil. DEGREE COURSE - ENGLISH
PART I – SYLLABUS – SPECIAL PAPER

4. FICTION
Objectives

 To acquaint students with a variety of narrative techniques and strategies

 To enable students to interpret texts using theoretical / background knowledge
 To enable students to do character analysis based on traits/characteristics and using
psychological theories

Lloyd C.Douglas - The Robe

Gabriel Garcia Marquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude
Ameen Merchant - Silent Raga
Khaled Husseini - A Thousand Splendid Suns
William Faulkner - As I Lay Dying

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M.Phil./Ph.D. English From October 2011 batch onwards Page 8 of 10

BHARATHIAR UNIVERSITY, COIMBATORE 46

M.Phil. DEGREE COURSE – ENGLISH
PART I – SYLLABUS – SPECIAL PAPER

5. NON-FICTION PROSE

 To enable students to develop critical thinking skills

 To enable students to identify and interpret features of good prose
 To enhance their understanding of the interface between prose works and issues in
society and life
 To enhance their interpretative abilities

Unit I

Boswell - „Life of Johnson‟

Cardinal Newman - „Idea of a University‟
Unit II
Emerson - „Self Reliance‟
Lionel Trilling - „Beyond Culture‟

Unit III

Betrand Russell – „Science & Society‟

Carl Sagan - „Broca‟s Brain‟
Unit IV

Thomas DeQuincy - „Literature‟

J.A.Symonds - „Personal Style‟
Cardinal Newman - „Knowledge Its own End‟
Unit V

Mahatma Gandhi - „My Experiments with Truth‟

Reference Books

A. Rees, Theodore. Writing Creative Non-fiction, Ten Seed Press, 2001

Cumberlege, G.F.J. Several Essays (Second edition), OUP

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M.Phil./Ph.D. English From October 2011 batch onwards Page 9 of 10

BHARATHIAR UNIVERSITY, COIMBATORE 46

M.Phil. DEGREE COURSE – ENGLISH
PART I – SYLLABUS – SPECIAL PAPER
6. ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
Objectives

 To enable students to internalize wide range of approaches, methods, techniques, and

critical research on English Language Learning and Teaching
 To enrich learners‟ performance on ICT enabled language learning
 To enable learners to critically analyze language theories and methods
 To orient learners in the practical applications of ELT
 To explore and develop the educational relationships both actual and potential between
evaluation and language testing
Unit I
Approaches and methods in language teaching
1. Major language trends in twentieth-century language teaching (Jack C. Richards &
Theodore S.Rodgers, 1-71)
2. Alternative approaches and methods (Jack C. Richards & Theodore S.Rodgers, 71-150)
3. Current communicative approach (Jack C. Richards & Theodore S.Rodgers, 151-256)

Unit II

Second language learning and language teaching

1. Background to second language acquisition research and language teaching (Vivian
Cook, 1-17)
2. The goals of language teaching (Vivian Cook, 194- 213)
3. Second language learning and language teaching styles (Vivian Cook, 235-272)

Unit III

Research methods in language learning

1. An introduction to research methods and tradition (David Nunan, 1-23)
2. The experimental method (David Nunan, 24-51)
3. Classroom observation and research (David Nunan, 91-114)
4. Elicitation techniques (David Nunan, 136-158)
5. Doing research (David Nunan, 211-228)

Unit IV- Teaching English language learners through technology

1. Writing and reading factilative e-tools: getting ECCS to improve and focus on their
literacy skills (Tony Erben, 131-140)
2. Managing teaching through virtual learning environment (Tony Erben,166-171)
3. The potential of technology for language learning (Carol A Chapelle, 35-67)
4. Evaluating language teaching (Carol A Chapelle, 69-96)
5. Investigating learner‟s use of technology (Carol A Chapelle, 97-125)
M.Phil./Ph.D. English From October 2011 batch onwards Page 10 of 10

Unit V

Practical English Language Teaching and Testing

1. Teaching listening, speaking, reading, writing and vocabulary(Caroline T.Linse, 21- 135)
2. Assessing (Caroline T.Linse, 137- 162)
3. Testing in Language classes (Desmond Allison, 61-94)
4. Evaluation procedures and instruments (Desmond Allison, 95-113)

Prescribed Text:

1. Approaches and methods in language teaching (Second edition ) by Jack C. Richards &
Theodore S.Rodgers, Cambridge University Press,2001
2. Second language learning and language teaching (Fourth Edition ) by Vivian Cook,
Hodder Education, London, 2008
3. Research methods in language learning by David Nunan, Cambridge University Press,
1992
4. Practical English language teaching: Young Learners by Caroline T.Linse, McGraw Hill
Companies Inc. New York, 2005
5. Teaching English language learners through technology by Tony Erben, Ruth Ban,
Martha Castaneda, Routledge publication, New York 2009
6. English language learning and technology by Carol A Chapelle, John Benjamins
Publishing Co, Philadelphia, 2003
7. Language testing and evaluation- an introductory course by Desmond Allison. Singapore
University Press 1999.

Suggested Reading:

1. A history of English Language Teaching (second edition) by A.P.R.Howatt and H.D.

Widdoson. Oxford University Press 2004
2. Innovations in English Language Teaching: A Reader by David R. Hall and Ann
Hewings. Routledge 2011
3. Approaches to ELT by Joseph C. Mukalel. Discovery publishing house. New Delhi 2007
4. Doing action research in ELT, a guide for practitioners by Anne Burns, Routledge 2010
5. Essentials for successful ELT by Thomas S.C. Farrell and George M. Jacobs. Continuum
International publishing groups 2011.
6. Fundamental considerations in Language Testing by Lyle F. Bachman. Oxford University
Press 2003
7. Language Testing in Practice by Lyle F. Bachman and Adrian S. Palmer. Oxford
University Press 2004.

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