Abstract
Various measures have been recommended by different committees to improve the access, equity and quality status of higher education in Kerala. One of the major recommendations was initiated in the form of a pilot study with the commencement of honours course in English, Economics, Maths and Commerce subject at undergraduate level. This comparative study is an attempt to study the effectiveness of undergraduate English honours course, which commenced at Women’s College, Thiruvananthapuram in 2012. Comparison has been made between the learning outcomes of final year students from BA English (general) and BA English (honours) courses. The sample was tested on similar topics/sub-subjects taught in their course through an achievement test, oral test, extempore, tutorial observation and script play. An open discussion was also conducted with students and teachers to know their insight about the course. Findings of the study show positive impact of the honours course on the achievement of the learner. But, both the groups were found to be at the same platform in communication skill. Lastly, recommendations are made to bring improvement in the newly introduced English honours course to improve its quality in terms of learning outcomes.