The department teaches a range of academic and professional communication courses to undergraduate students with the objective of improving their communication skills (oral and written) to prepare them for effective professional communication in their future roles as scientists and engineers. This is in fulfilment of BIUST’s mission to produce graduates who possess both technical and soft skills that makes them unique graduates who are employment-ready and can also engage in self-employment and provide employment for other youths.

In addition, the department also offers Chinese Language and Culture courses, which was introduced in 2015. The offering of the Chinese Language and Culture course further makes BIUST graduates a unique product. The ability to speak Chinese Language gives BIUST graduates a competitive edge especially in big international companies operating in Botswana and other countries. Chinese Language and Culture was given priority because China is a powerhouse in science and technology and, inevitably our graduates need to understand and speak Chinese so that they can interact and transact in it, be it at home or abroad.  The Chinese courses that BIUST students take enable them to write the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) Examinations up to level 6. Since its inception, the Chinese Unit has assisted more than 60 learners to take the HSK Examinations and the pass rate is over 95%. The HSK Examination is an international standardised test of Chinese language proficiency which assesses non-native Chinese speakers’ abilities to use the Chinese language in their daily, academic, and professional lives. The HSK examinations are set by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation in Beijing, China. 

The ALSS Department also has a Writing Centre which helps students and staff to develop their professional writing and editing skills. The Writing Centre is also open for business to the wider public. The introduction of this resource has positively contributed to the quality of dissertations and theses produced by BIUST students. It is required that every postgraduate student must submit his/her thesis to the University Writing Centre to check for plagiarism and to address other language and writing issues.