About

The Department, established in 1965, is the department which services all the five Schools of the University through the English for Academic Module which is compulsory for all first-year students. The module equips students with listening, speaking, reading and writing skills to enable them express themselves properly in pursuit of their academic endeavours. The Department also offers courses in Business Communication, and Social and Behaviour Change Communication to enable learners handle any emerging issues regarding communication that would impact the general behaviour of the community. Functionally, the department provides professional teaching, consultancy, and outreach in language and communication, business communication, social and behavioural change communication and public relations.

The Department has three (3) sections with the following functionalities: the Language Communication Section which is responsible for servicing programmes across Schools by imparting appropriate language and communication skills; the Business Communication Section which is responsible for producing professionals with skills in corporate communication and public relations; and the Social and  Behaviour Change Section which focuses on providing professional training and skills in health communication and behaviour change communication.

What We Offer

The Department continues to fulfil its mission of offering language modules to students under the various departments and schools of the university. It also certifies students for the English language proficiency as they seek to go for further studies outside the country. 

Since 2012, the Department also offers a Bachelor’s degree in Business Communication as a response to the market demand of the business, marketing and organisational communication industries and other stakeholders. The goal is to close the gap in communication specialists in both public and private sectors in the country by training well-qualified specialists in business communication.

At the Postgraduate level, the Department has a Master’s degree in Health and Behaviour Change Communication, offered since 2015, in response to the continued challenges of the HIV and AIDS pandemic among many health, social and environmental workers. The programme aims to fill the gap and the need for well-qualified and skilled professionals in health, social and behaviour change communication (HSBCC) by equipping skills, advanced knowledge, and expertise for designing, implementing and managing social and behaviour change interventions in Malawi. 

Other Ventures 

Besides carrying out their teaching duties, members of staff also conduct consultancies and research in areas such as language literacy, radio for development and media regulation.