English, being a compulsory subject at all levels of study under G.U., has been there in Biswanath College as a full-fledged department since the establishment of the college on the 7th of September, 1960. initially it was a two-man department imparting lesions in pass course only, but later with the increase of number of students and faculties and introduction of Honours course (now termed as Major Courses), the department has become a strong six-man department with efficient and hard working set of teachers as detailed hereunder.

Teaching staff

• Brajagopal Goswami, M.A., M.Phil. (1967 - ) Head of the Department.
• Purna Hazarika, M.A. (1970- )
• Naresh Thakur, M.A. (1998- )
• Nipam Kumar Saikia, M.A. (1998 - )
• Mita Hazarika, M.A., PGDTE (2000 - )
• Dipankar Saikia, M.A. (2001- )

To its credit, the department has been able to introduce the vocational course, the first of its kind in the college, entitled ‘Functional English’ under the patronage of the UGC to meet the challenges of the changing scenario of the Social need. Functional English offers opportunity to the students to pursue studies in the line of running after professional education. It facilitates the students to aspire for the jobs related to Tourism, Air Service, Telecommunications, Radio, Television, Hotel Management, etc. through the intensive training imparted to them in Spoken English. Added to this, the students are carefully trained to opt for entrepreneurship so as to enable them to do something of their own. In other words, it teaches the students how to grow self-sustaining in the life-struggle under the changing social context.

GOAL, MISSION AND VISION OF THE DEPARTMENT:

• To explore new avenues to the students so as to assimilate themselves with the dynamic aspect of socio-economic-political-cultural way of life.
• To inculcate the feeling of integrity among the students with the ideal ‘Live and let live’.
• To prepare the students to acquire for themselves the communicative skill so as to maintain rapport with all section of people.
• To encourage the students to make an in-depth study of English Literature and Language through effective classroom teaching, seminars symposia, debates and discourses etc.
• To generate academic excellences to the maximum extent so as t enable the students to earn for them the capacity of having prominent positions in different fields of the society.
• To inculcate the feeling of safety and security among the members of the weaker sections of people, like tribal – both hill and plains, tea-tribes, char-area people, linguistic and religious minorities and others surrounding the locality by imparting effective training in communicative skills.

• A language laboratory is being set up with financial assistance from the UGC.
• A departmental Library in its full form is designed to be setup on the strength of the books purchased and being purchased with assistance from the UGC (Op.cit.) to facilitate the students to get some books and journals of importance in addition to those available in the central library of the college.
• An intensive course on Spoken English for all the intending students of various disciplines of the college in addition to the existing course in English is being designed. The Intending students will have to pay additional fees for the purpose to strengthen the self-financing scheme of the department. The department will award certificates t the successful students on behalf of the college.
• Since the college has not been able to open P.G. courses in English in absence of the requisite permission from the University, the department has utilized the maximum benefit available from the University by opening Correspondence Course for pursuing M.A. in English as per G.U. rules and norms. In view of the encouraging enrolment, the department has taken a scheme to start with the process of regular coaching to the students. Such students will have to pay additional fees both to meet expenses and to generate funds.