english language communication skills lab manual lab/english.pdf · english language communication...

ENGLISH LANGUAGE COMMUNICATION SKILLS

LAB MANUAL

Name

Roll No.

Branch

Section

ELCS Lab Manual Basic Sciences and Humanities

Page 2 BITS


OBJECTIVES

To facilitate computer-aided multi-media instruction enabling individualized and independent language learning

To sensitise the students to the nuances of English speech sounds, word accent, intonation and rhythm

To bring about a consistent accent and intelligibility in their pronunciation of English by providing an opportunity for practice in speaking

To improve the fluency in spoken English and neutralize mother tongue influence

To train students to use language appropriately for interviews, group discussion and public speaking


CONTENTS

Exercise – I

CALL Lab: Introduction to Phonetics – Speech Sounds – Vowels and Consonants

ICS Lab: Ice-Breaking activity and JAM session

Articles, Prepositions, Word formation- Prefixes & Suffixes, Synonyms & Antonyms

Exercise – II

CALL Lab: Structure of Syllables - Past Tense Marker and Plural Marker – Weak Forms

and Strong Forms - Consonant Clusters.

ICS Lab: Situational Dialogues – Role-Play- Expressions in Various Situations – Self-

introduction and Introducing Others – Greetings – Apologies – Requests – Social and

Professional Etiquette - Telephone Etiquette. Concord (Subject in agreement with verb) and

Words often mis spelt- confused/misused

Exercise - III

CALL Lab: Minimal Pairs- Word accent and Stress Shifts- Listening Comprehension.

ICS Lab: Descriptions- Narrations- Giving Directions and guidelines.

Sequence of Tenses, Question Tags and One word substitutes.

Exercise – IV

CALL Lab: Intonation and Common errors in Pronunciation.

ICS Lab: Extempore- Public Speaking

Active and Passive Voice, –Common Errors in English, Idioms and Phrases

Exercise – V

CALL Lab: Neutralization of Mother Tongue Influence and Conversation Practice

ICS Lab: Information Transfer- Oral Presentation Skills

Reading Comprehension and Job Application with Resume preparation.


Exercise – I

CALL Lab:

Phonetics:

Introduction to Phonetics:

Phonetics is a branch of Linguistics. It is a word derived from the Greek word, phone =

sound/voice. It is the study of sounds and the human voice. Phonology is the study of sound

patterns of a particular language.

Phonetics and its importance:

Phonetics is the scientific study of the speech sounds of a language. The knowledge of

phonetics enables one to acquire a correct pronunciation, to give a true description of the

sounds of English, to point out the mistakes in the pronunciation and to differentiate sounds

of English from those of the mother tongue. All pronunciations use the International

Phonetic Alphabets. Many phonetics symbols e.g. /P/, /S/, /K/ sound exactly like the most

common pronunciation of the letter they look like.

Speech Mechanism:

English uses pulmonic egressive air-stream mechanism for the production of speech sounds.

The pulmonic air coming from the lungs is changed into a sound by an organ called Larynx

present in the throat. Various organs of speech also participate in the production and the

transmission of different speech sounds. The vocal cords in the throat play a significant role

in the production of speech. The vocal cords have two main functions. They determine the

pitch of one’s voice and also give voice to our speech sounds i.e. they determine whether a

speech sound is voiced or voiceless.

The air-stream mechanism:

For the production of speech we need an air-stream mechanism. There are three types of

air-stream mechanisms.

a) Pulmonic (consisting of the lungs and the respiratory muscles which set the air-stream in

motion)

b) Glottalic(in which the larynx, with the glottis firmly closed, is moved up or down to

initiate the air-stream)

c) Velaric(in which the back of the tongue is in firm contact with the soft palate, and it is

pushed forward or pulled forward or pulled back to initiate the air-stream)


. For the sounds of English and most Indian languages, we generally make use of pulmonic

egressive air-stream mechanism, i.e. the air is pushed out of the lungs.

Organs of Speech:

The organs of the human body, which produce speech sounds, are together called organs of

speech. The organs of speech can be studied under three systems – articulatory, phonatory

and respiratory systems.

Articulatory system comprises of pharynx and oral and nasal cavities. The chief articulators

in this system are lips, teeth (upper and lower), hard palate, soft palate/velum, uvula and

tongue. Tongue has three parts - tip, blade/front and back.

Phonatory system consists of trachea and larynx. Vocal cords and glottis are situated in the

larynx.

Respiratory system comprises of lungs and bronchial tubes.

The vocal cords: The vocal cords are two elastic folds situated in the Adam’s apple. The

opening between the vocal cords is called the glottis. The air-stream travels upwards from

the lungs through the vocal cords. When the vocal cords vibrate, voiced sounds are

produced. Sounds produced without the vibration of the vocal cords are known as voiceless

sound.

The lips: Lips are important part of the articulatory system.

The tongue: Among the organs of speech, the tongue is the chief articulator. The tongue has

three parts: the tip, the blade and the back. Any one of these three may be used in the

production of a sound.

The teeth-ridge: The teeth-ridge is situated behind the upper row of teeth. Sounds

produced with the tongue touching the teeth-ridge are known as alveolar sounds.

The palate: The palate forms the roof of the mouth. The palate has two parts – the hard

palate and the soft palate, which is also called the velum. If you run the tongue along the

surface of the roof, you will find the first half of the palate hard and the second half soft.


ORG AN S OF SPEE CH

Received Pronunciation (R.P.)

R.P. is the pronunciation (English Accent) of Southern England. It is used by Oxford

University, B.B.C. and public schools in England; it is socially adopted by the British people

and widely accepted as a standard by rest of the world.

The difficulty with English language is that some letters stand for more than one sound.

Each symbol is always represented by the same sound. Each sound is always represented by

the same symbol.

As the spelling of a word in English is not the true guide to its pronunciation, we need the

help of other symbols to indicate pronunciation and such symbols are called Phonetic

Symbols, each symbol stands for one sound only. The phonetic symbols enable us to read

accurately the pronunciation of a word in the dictionary such as Oxford Advanced Learner’s

Dictionary of English and English Pronouncing Dictionary.

Sounds in English Phonetics:

The 44 sounds in English Phonetics are categorized into consonants and vowels. There are

24 consonants and 20 vowels. The 20 vowels are divided into two groups: pure vowels 12

and diphthongs 8. All the vowel sounds are voiced, and some consonants are voiced and soe

are voiceless.

Consonants and Vowels:

The distinction between consonants and vowels


If the air, once out of the glottis, is allowed to pass freely through the resonators, the

sound is a vowel;

If the air, once out of the glottis, is obstructed, partially or totally, in one or more

places, the sound is a consonant.

Consonant sounds are classified according to three features of articulation.

1. Vocal fold activity/Force of articulation

2. Place of articulation

3. Manner of articulation

1. Vocal fold activity/Force of articulation

Consonant sounds which are pronounced with vocal fold vibration are known as

voiced/voice sounds.

Consonant sounds which are pronounced without vocal fold vibration are known as

voiceless/unvoiced sounds.

Voice sounds: / , , , , , , , , , , , , , , /

Unvoiced sounds: / /

2. Place of Articulation

a. Bilabial: the lips come together, the lower lip is active. The tongue remains in the

rest position. Eg./ , , , /

b. Labio-dentals: The lower lip touches the upper front teeth, the tongue is in rest

position. Eg./ , /

c. Dental: the tip of the tongue touches the back of the upper teeth.eg. / , /

d. Alveolars: The tip/blade of the tongue touches alveolar(tooth) ridge. Eg. / , ,

, , , , /

e. Palato alveolar: The tip of the tongue touches the tooth ridge. The tongue is raised

towards the hard palate.eg. / , , , /

f. Palatals: The front of the tongue touches the hard palate. eg. / /


g. Velars: The back of the tongue is contact with soft palate.eg. / , , /

h. Glottal: the vocal cords come together completely or partially. Eg. / /

3. Manner of articulation

a. Plosives/Stops: Total closure during which air pressure builds up followed by a

sudden release of air. Eg./ , , , , , /

b. Fricatives: Breath is forsed through a narrow opening, resulting in a hissing sound.

Eg. / , , , , , , , , /

c. Affricates: sounds that begin as plosives and then became fricatives. eg. / , /

d. Nasals: Air is forced to pass through the nose only with the lowering of the soft

palate and total closure of the mouth. Eg. / , , /

e. Laterals: Air is allowed to escape around the sides of the tongue.eg. / /

f. Approxmints/Semi-vowels: Sounds having the qualities of both a vowel and a

consonant. Eg. / , , /

2. Vowels: a) Monophthongs

Fig : Tongue-position of

RP / I : (indicated by a

circle)

Half-close

e

Half-open æ

ɑː Open

Front Central

Back

Close i: u:

I

u

ɔː

ə

ɒ

з:


Symbol Description

A centralized front, half-close, unrounded vowel

A front, close, unrounded vowel

A centralized, back, rounded vowel

A back, close, rounded vowel

A front, unrounded vowel between half-close and half-open

A front, unrounded vowel just below the half-open position

A back, open, rounded vowel

A back, rounded vowel between half-open and half-close

A back, open, unrounded vowel

A central, half-open, unrounded vowel

A central, unrounded vowel between half-close and half-open

A central, unrounded vowel between open and half-open

b) Diphthongs (Vowel Glides)

Symbol Description

A glide from a front, unrounded vowel just half-close to centralized, front, unrounded vowel just above half-close. A glide from a front, open, unrounded vowel to a centralized, front, unrounded vowel just above half-close. A glide from a back, unrounded vowel between the open and half-open positions to a front, unrounded vowel just above the half-close position. A glide from a centralized front unrounded vowel just above half-close to a central, unrounded vowel between half-close and half-open. A glide from a front, half-open unrounded vowel to a central, unrounded vowel between half-close and half-open. A glide from a centralized, back, rounded vowel just above half-close to a central, unrounded vowel between half-close and half-open. A glide from central, unrounded vowel between half-close and half-open to a centralized, back, rounded vowel just above the half-close position. A glide from back, open, unrounded position to a centralized, back, rounded vowel just above the half-close position.

Example of Vowels: a) Pure Vowels:

Symbol Initial

Innocent

East

Oomph

Ooze

Any

At

Middle Final

Pitfall Simile

Teach Key

Hood You

Rule Blue

Friend ----

Bat ----


Often Hot ----

Autumn Hall Law

Art

Account

Earn

Up

Cart Star

Compare Bitter

Certain Sir

Bus ----

b) Diphthongs:

Symbol Initial

Aim

Item

Oil

Era

Air

----

Open

Out

Middle Final

Great Today

Time Cry

Join Enjoy

Beard Cheer

Careless Fair

Jury Poor

Road No

Round Row

ICS LAB:

JAM:

Jam is a game that uses extemporaneous speaking and careful listening to emphasize good

speaking and diction. It is held in a challenging environment where the listeners attempt to

identify a number of errors. The main emphasis is on straightforward approach. Each

participant speaks on a topic for a full minute without repetition, hesitation, or deviation.

Two players are required, along with a moderator.

Articles:

There are two articles in English language. They are: 1) The Definite Article 2) Indefinite

Articles. The definite article is used before the uncountable nouns and the indefinite article

is used before the countable singular nouns.

The Definite Article is “THE.”

The definite article can be used before the colours, departments, oceans, seas, designations,

professions, superlative degrees, particular events and incidents etc.,

Ex: He uses the bluecolour always.

The girl is very innocent. (Known to all)

My friend joined in the police department.


The pacific is the deepest ocean.

The weaver is a skilled worker.

The Indefinite Article is divided into two types. They are: A(One)and AN(One).

“A” is used before the .Consonant sounds not before all the consonants. But Sounds are

considered.

Ex: It is a dangerous idea.

She is a girl who is an extraordinary talent.

It is a university for all.

He is a man who smiles always.

A member of parliament represents the people in the parliament.

“AN” is used before the Vowel sounds not before all the vowels. But Sounds are considered.

Ex: He is an engineer.

It is an interactive communicate skills lab.

He has joined in an honourable post.

It is really an excavation. Cell phone is an invention for wasting time of the students in this century.

Prepositions: Preposition is a word which builds a relation between word to word or sentence to sentence. It is used before a noun as pre means before or advanced, position means placed. So preposition is placed before a noun or other parts of speech connecting a sentence.

List of Prepositions: of, for, since, beside, besides, from, at, in, with, by, off, on, into, upon, under, to, too etc., some examples are given below:

OF: (Belongs to) this preposition is used to show the relation between person to person and place to place. And it is also used to in the form of ‘in’.

Ex: Sachin is selected as the player of the decade.

Head phones of high quality.

FOR: (Reason, Price, Purpose etc.,) This is used to show the price reason and purpose etc., and it is also used to show the period of time in the present perfect continuous tense.

Ex: He has been waiting for three hours.

The lady has bought a car for two lakhs.

I am waiting for a right chance.


BESIDE: (By the side of) it is used in the sense of by the side of.

Ex: He parked the car beside my car.

She stays beside my home.

BESIDES: (In addition to) it is used in the sense of in addition to.

Ex: They have farms besides fields.

She has a bikebesides Car.

SINCE: This is used in the sense of from and it is also used to show the point of time in the present perfect continuous tense.

She has been working in this college since January.

We have been doing research since 2006.

AT: This is used to show the smaller place, time etc.,

Ex: He is at his native place.

He must attend the meeting at 10 ‘O’ clock.

Word Formation: Characteristics of word formation, based on Prefixes and Suffixes and compounding.

Prefixes: They do not alter the word class of the base. They are normally written together with the base as a single word. Main stress falls normally on the base. They can be grouped according to their meaning.

Ex: ‘un’ unfair, unadorned, unfortunately.

‘non’ non-detailed, non-existent

Suffixes:Suffixes rarely have a distinct meaning of their own. Suffix is fixed at the last of the word. They change the word into which they are included into other parts of speech. They can be classified according to the speech part they form.

Noun Suffixes:‘eer’ engineer, auctioneer etc.,

Adjective/Noun suffixes:‘ness’ goodness, happiness, selfishness etc.,

Verb suffix:‘ify’ certify, identify, qualify etc.,

Adjective Suffixes: ‘able’ readable, drinkable, eatable etc.,

Synonym: A word or phrase meaning the same as another in the same language. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greeksyn("with") and onoma ("name").

Ex: Cunning - Clever

Dangerous – Risky


Eatable - Edible

Antonym: A word opposite to another in meaning.

Ex: Absence – Presence

Accept - Refuse


Exercise: II

CALL Lab:A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds.

For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter.

Similarly tomato = to.ma.to (threee syllables) andwindow = win.dow(two syllable)

A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants).

Syllable Structure

Syllables have internal structure: they can be divided into parts. The parts are onset and rhyme; within the rhyme we find the nucleus and coda. Not all syllables have all parts; the smallest possible syllable contains a nucleus only. A syllable may or may not have an onset and a coda.

model for sing

Past Tense markers

In English, past tense verbs with an -ed ending are pronounced in three different ways:

[t] [d] or [Id].

For example, the past tense verb “walked“, as in, “I walked away,” what is the last sound that you hear in the verb?

“Walked” [wakt]

1) The -ed verb ending sounds like a [t], “Walked” [wakt], even though it ends in the letter “d”.

What do you hear when we say:


“smelled“, as in, “it smelled bad.”

2) The -ed verb ending sounds like a [d]: “smelled” [smeld]

And when we say, “visited”, as in “we visited New York City”, how did it pronounce that “-ed” ending?

[Id] [vizitid].

3) The -ed verb ending sounds like [ɪd], [vizitid].

There are three rules that explain the differences in past tense verb “-ed” pronunciation.

vow | fake (vvv | fff) zebra | snake (zzz | sss)

–> When we pronounce voiced sounds, our vocal chords vibrate when we say those sounds. [v] [z].

–> When we pronounce voiceless sounds, our vocal chords do not vibrate. [f] [s]. No vibration.

This vibration or lack of vibration then carries forward to the following sound in the word. Therefore, this vibration or lack of vibration explains why we pronounce the past tense of verbs in threevoiced or voiceless ways: [t], [d] or [Id].

1) [t] final sound

Verbs ending in voiceless sounds [p, k, θ, f, s, ʃ, tʃ] cause the “-ed” ending to be pronounced as the voiceless [t] (with no vocal chord vibration).

[p] “He popped a balloon.” [papt] [k] “They talked a lot” [takt] [θ] “th”: “She frothed a cup of milk” [frawθt] [f] “I laughed at the movie.” [læft] [s] “She kissed a frog.” [kIst] [ʃ] “sh”: “We brushed it off.” [bruʃt] [tʃ] “ch”: “I reached around for it.” [riytʃt]

2) [d] final sound

Verbs ending in the voiced sounds [b, g, ð, v, z, ʒ, dʒ, m, n, ŋ, r, l] cause the “-ed” ending to be pronounced as a voiced [d].

[b] “It bobbed up and down.” [babd] [g] “He begged her to stay.” [bɛgd] [ð] “She breathed loudly.” [briyðd] [v] “They loved it.” [luvd]


[z] “We raised her expectations.” [reyzd] [dʒ] “They bridged the gap.” [brIdʒd] [m] “I claimed it was mine.” [kleymd] [n] “They banned new members.” [bænd] [ŋ] “She banged into the chair.” [bæŋd] [r] “He cleared it up.” [kliyrd] [l] “I rolled up the paper.” [rowld]

3) [əd] or [ɪd] final sound

Verbs ending in the sounds [t] or [d] will cause the “-ed” ending of a verb to be pronounced as the syllable [əd] or [ɪd].

[t] “I visited the Empire State Building.” [vɪzɪtəd] [t] “She edited the research paper.” [ɛdɪtɪd] [d] “We ended the game early.” [ɛndɪd] [d] “He breaded the chicken.” [brɛdɪd]

These “-ed” pronunciation rules are particularly important, because in English we connect our speech when we have a word that:

ends in a consonant; and

is followed by a word that begins with a vowel.

In this case, the way you say the verb’s “-ed” ending will be heard loudly and clearly.

Example

“He walked away” [walkt] –> “He walk taway” [hiy WAWK təWEY]

Plural markers

If a word ends in the letter 's' (e.g. plural noun or verb in the third person), there are three ways to pronounce this 's' - /S/, /Z/ and /IZ/.

In type one words, the final 's' should be pronounced as /S/.

These sounds are all unvoiced, which means that your vocal chords must be silent when you make the sound.

Examples:

/p/ /P/ stops, ships

/t/ /T/ hits, pets

/k/ /K/ attacks, bricks


/f/ /F/ laughs, coughs

/θ/ /θ/ maths, moths

Type two sound /Z/

This sound is made with vocal chords vibration.

/b/ /B/ grabs, robs

/d/ /D/ lids, rods

/g/ /G/ pigs, dogs

/v/ /V/ loves, leaves

/D/ /DZ/ breathes, lathes

/l/ /L/ hills, fails

/m/ /M/ comes, trams

/n/ /N/ earns, burns

/N/ /Ñ/ songs, paintings

any vowel sound any vowel sound plays, employees, flees, goes, news

Type three sound /IZ/

This sound is the same as the verb 'to be' in its third person form (is). Type three sounds are the only ones which add an additional syllable to the word, for example 'miss' /MIS/ is one syllable, but 'misses' /MIS IZ/ is two syllables. The final /IZ/ syllable isn't usually stressed.

Standard

phonetic

Viv's

phonetic Example word

symbols

/s/

/z/

/∫/

/t∫/

/dƷ/

symbols

/S/

/Z/

/SH/

/TCH/

/DJ/

buses, places

chooses, sizes

washes, wishes

watches, matches

Judges, pages


Strong vs Weak Forms

Grammatical words are words that help us construct the sentence but they don't mean anything: articles, prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliary verbs, etc.

These words have no stress, and so they are weakened. That weakened form is called "weak form" as opposed to a "strong form", which is the full form of the word pronounced with stress. The strong form only happens when we pronounce the words alone, or when we emphasize them. Weak forms are very often pronounced with a schwa, and so are very weak and sometimes a bit difficult to hear properly.

Sometimes weak forms are easy to spot, because we use contractions in the spelling to show it:

I am French (strong form) I'm French (weak form)

But usually there is no change of spelling, only the pronunciation is different:

But strong form: /bʌt/ weak form: /bət/

example: I would like some fish and chips

strong forms /aɪwʊdlaɪksʌmfɪʃændtʃɪps/ it sounds unnatural.

weak forms /ɑwədlaɪksəmfɪʃəntʃɪps/ and we can use weaker forms sometimes:/ɑdlaɪksəmfɪʃəntʃɪps/ so we can see that the auxiliary verb "would" has two weak forms /wəd/ and /d/

Students who are learning English usually use only strong forms, and they sound very unnatural. English speakers use weak forms all the time, every single sentence is full of them, and students find it difficult to understand because they are not used to them, and very often they don't even know they exist.

Consonant clusters

A group of two or more consonant sounds that come before (onset), after (coda), or between (medial) vowels. Also known as cluster. A consonant cluster or consonant blend is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. "The combination /st/ is a consonant cluster (CC) used as onset in the word stop, and as coda in the word post. There are many CC onset combinations in English as in black, bread, trick, twin, flat,Please, pleasant, shrimp, thrills and throw . In English, for example, the groups /spl/ and /ts/ are consonant clusters in the word splits. the longest consonant clusters in the word extra would be /kstr/.


ICS Lab:

Situational Dialogues

Situational Dialogues and Role Play blend together. They are introduced to generating speech among the students. Taking one situation one has to write dialogues. Dialogue nothing other than writing a conversation between two persons or more than two persons on a particular situation. One person has to take a situation and create characters and feel as other characters himself and build a dialogue.

Role Play is also a speech generating activity. Here, the participants have to enact as other characters like doctor, actor, teacher, business man, journalist etc., Situational dialogues can be transformed into Role Plays some times.

Ex: A situation of a board meeting. (Includes Chairman, Auditor, HR Manager, Etc,)

Chairman: Good morning all!

All: Good morning sir!

Ch: I think all of you are surprised by this abrupt meeting?!

HR: Yes sir, what is the reason to conduct this sudden meeting sir?

Ch: Yeah, coming to the point, this year onwards our company is going to open some other

branches all over the nation to spread the business across the country.

Aud: Yes, it is a good idea sir, but it needs huge investment and we don’t have that much

investment at present. Better to wait for two more years sir.

Ch: Don’t worry, let us go for public issue and get more than 3000 billion rupees from the

public.

HR: Sir, we have to recruit thousands of employees to run the company well.

Ch: Yes, Mr! you take care of it take fresher and experienced. It will work out well.

The above situational dialogue can be also transformed as a role play.


Social and Professional Etiquette:As people say, “Be like a roman when you are in Rome” Etiquette is a convention of behavior accepted as polite. It has become popular in the global world. Especially, people who join in corporates require many kind of etiquettes. As the world is moving forward rapidly one has to learn social and professional etiquettes as per the employer requirements.

The following etiquettes may be considered as social and professional etiquette: 1. Table manners

2. Correspondence 3. Dress Code

4. Greetings/Salutations/Body Language

Telephone Etiquette: It is very important to be conscious at the time of talking on the phone.

One has to always identify oneself to at the beginning.

Must be sensitive to the tone of the voice.

Think through exactly what one plans to say and discuss before you place call.

Do not allow interruption to occur during the conversation.

Set a place to conversation properly and privately.

Speak clearly and slowly.

Do not allow one to be distracted by other activities while speaking on the telephone.

The above telephone etiquettes are very important especially for the professionals and business people in the global world.

Concord: (Subject Verb Agreement)

Concord in broad terms means agreement between the subject and the verbs as well as

other elements of the clause structure.

Subject Verb Agreement: This is the agreement between the subject and the predicator or

verb. For example

When the subject is singular, the verb should be singular Bongo is a lover of knowledge. (ii) When the subject is plural, the verb too is expected to be plural e.g. Nigerians are lovers of knowledge.

Rule of Proximity

The rule of proximity states that ‘when there is a list of nouns or pronouns acting as the subject in an ‘or’ a ‘nor’, in an ‘or’ a ‘nor’ it is the nearest noun or pronoun to the position of the verb that will determine the choice of the verb, e.g.


If the boy dies, the parents, his friends or the doctor is to blame. If the boy dies; the doctor, his friends or his parents are to blame.

Words often Misspelt: Words are commonly misspelt while writing a document or any other writings.

amateur - Amateurs need not be mature: this word ends on the French suffix -eur (the equivalent of English -er).

apparent - A parent need not be apparent but "apparent" must pay the rent, so remember this word always has the rent.

Words often Confused/Misused: Take a look at these two sentences – one of them contains a mistake:

I poured over book after book. We pored over the catalogues.

Are you uncertain which one is right? There are a lot of words in English that look or sound alike but have very different meanings, such as pore and pour or flaunt and flout. It’s easy to get them confused and most electronic spellcheckers won’t be much help in this type of situation: they can tell you if a word has been spelled wrongly but they can’t generally flag up the misuse of a correctly spelled word.

Word 1

accept

adverse

advice

Meaning Word 2

to agree to receive or do except

unfavourable, harmful averse

recommendations about advise

what to do

Meaning

not including

strongly disliking; opposed

to recommend something


Exercise – III: CALL Lab:

Minimal Pairs:

In phonology, minimal pairs are pairs of words or phrases in a particular language, which

differ in only one phonological element, such as a phoneme, toneme or chroneme and have

distinct meanings. They are used to demonstrate that two phones constitute two separate

phonemes in the language.

word 1 word 2 IPA 1 IPA 2 note

/pɪn/ /bɪn/

/rɒt/ /lɒt/ initial consonant

/θaj/ /ðaj/

pin Bin

rot Lot

thigh Thy

zeal Seal /ziːl/ /siːl/

Word Accent and Stress Shift:

The use or application of an accent is the relative prominence of syllables in a phrase or

utterance. Stress and accent blend together. Word, havingstressed or acute accent on the

antepenult, proparoxy tone is given to a syllable, stress. Musicalshift of accent in passage be

separated.

Stress:

Stress is an important feature of English language. Stress is the degree of force with which

we pronounce a sound. This degree of force is mainly pressure from the chest affecting the

air stream.

Listening Comprehension:

Comprehension means understanding; it is derived from the word ‘comprehend’ means

understanding.

Listening comprehension is more than just hearing what is said; rather, it is a child’s ability

to understand the meaning of the words he hears and to relate to them in some way. When

children hear a story, for instance, good listening comprehension enables them to

understand it, remember it, discuss it, and even retell it in their own words. This is an

important skill to develop even at an early age, because good listeners grow up to become

good communicators.

It is nothing but learning through media, understanding the content and giving answers through it. These kind of tests are conducted in the GRE and TOEFL tests.


ICS Lab

Describing People, Places, Objects, Events:

A description is a brief, impersonal vivid picture of words. The subject of a description can

people and places, objects or processes and mechanisms, to write a good description one

should know why it is written and who it is written for. Describing something involves

recreating ones experiences and impressions, it is important that one perceive accurately

the subject of ones description before one begin writing. Mostly, a description is in the

present tense form but when historical events taken, should be in the past.

Be as specific as you can and give as many details as possible.

Avoid using general, vague or abstract words in your description.

Depending on the situation and considering your personal safety, take a good look at the

suspect, so that you will be better able to describe the suspect later.

Ex:

Hyderabad is a beautiful city. People are very integrated and live amicably. Hyderabad is a

hub for IT industry and many cultures and religions. People from different places dwell in

Hyderabad and show their brotherhood towards one another. It has great historical

monuments like Golconda, Charminar, Salarjung Museum and also Hussainsagar lake has a

great history behind its construction. Likewise, there are many significant place to be turned

as tourism spots.

GIVING DIRECTIONS

Objectives:

To learn to use interrogative adverbs effectively.

Make one to learn to give information politely.

When giving directions to someone it is best to use short Basic English sentences. Speak slowly when talking to the other person and spell out words if they don't understand and if possible draw a map.

When speaking with someone, use your hands to demonstrate what you mean, left, right, or straight on.

Always try and use the word "please" when you are asking someone for directions. It's polite, and people are more likely to help you!

Questions you can ask about directions

Can you please tell me how do I can get to Nehru Street? Where is the nearest supermarket?


How can I get to the local market? I'm trying get to Downing Street. How do I get to the office?

What's the best way to get to your house next? Where isMc Donald’s can you tell me please?

Questions you may hear How do I get to Tilak Street? Where is the closest gas station?

Can you tell me where the community centre is? I’m looking for Rajaji road?

If you know the way…

The easiest way is to… The quickest way is to… The best way is to…

Go + direction (right, left, down, up, through) take + road name

turn + right/left stay on + road name for + distance or time

Examples:

The easiest way is to go right on Commercial Avenue. The quickest way is to take Road Number 1. The best way is to turn right on Main Street. Stay on Route 1 for about ten minutes.

Use landmarks

Tell the person what to watch for. You will see a large clock on the right. You will pass a gas station. It’s across from the blue church.

Offer warnings Stay in the right lane. It’s a very busy road. It’s a big hill. (if they are walking or on a bike) There might be construction. If you pass the … you went too far.


Clarify

Make sure that the other person understood your directions. Say: “Did you get all that?”

If you don’t know the way…

Don’t guess! Don’t just shake your head and walk away. Use one of these phrases: I’m sorry, I’m not from here. I’m afraid I can’t help you.

Sequence of Tenses: Tense is nothing other than time. They represent the action of the past, present and future.

Each tense is divided into four types: They are: The Simple, The Continuous, The Perfect and The Perfect Continuous respectively. The Present Tense: It tells about the action which occurs in the present time.

a) The Simple Present: Regular activities, daily routines, hobbies, habits, universal truths, etc., Ex: A week has seven days.

b) The Present Continuous: Continuous work at present. Ex: I am inculcating them now.

c) The Present Perfect: Action which has been done just now. Just now completed actions. Ex: She has achieved her goal.

d) The Present Perfect Continuous: Action starts in the past and continuous at present time. Ex: They have been neglecting the talented people since the inception.

The Past Tense:It is used to show the action which was completed in the past.

a) The Simple Past: It is used to show the action which was finished in the past. Ex: I did it yesterday.

b) The Past Continuous: The action which was continuing in the past. Ex: She was driving the car then..

c) The Past Perfect: The action which had been finished long back. Ex: When she came he had done the work.

d) The Past Perfect Continuous: The action starts in the past continuous for some time in the past and ends at certain time in the past itself. Ex: Freedom fighters had been struggling to get independence from 1856 to 1947.

The Future Tense: It is used to show the action will occur in the future.

a) The Simple Future: It is used to show the action which will occur in the future.


Ex: I shall take chance soon.

b) The Future Continuous: The action which will be continuing in the future. Ex: You will be getting thing positively.

c) The Future Perfect: The action which will have been completed by certain time in the future. Ex: I will have achieved the things by 2014.

d) The Future Perfect Continuous: This tense is mostly in no use. Ex: We will have been drawing the things in future (These kind of sentences are not in use)

Question Tags: Question tags are used to confirm one statement. If the statement is negative tag will be in positive and if the statement is in positive the tag will be in negative. The tag consists the subject and the helping verb mostly. Ex: Gopi broke the glass, didn’t he?


Exercise IV

CALL Lab

Intonation

Definition:

In linguistics, the use of changing vocal pitch to convey grammatical information or personal attitude.

(OR)

"Intonation is the melody or music of a language. It refers to the way the voice rises and

falls as we speak.

Functions of Intonation

All vocal languages use pitch pragmatically in intonation — for instance for emphasis, to

convey surprise or irony, or to pose a question.

attitudinal function (for expressing emotions and attitudes) example: a fall from a high pitch on the 'mor' syllable of "good morning" suggests more

excitement than a fall from a low pitch grammatical function (to identify grammatical structure) example: it is claimed that in English a falling pitch movement is associated with statements,

but a rising pitch turns a statement into a yes–no question Psychological function (to organize speech into units that are easy to perceive, memorize

and perform)

COMMON ERRORS IN PRONUNCIATION

There are spelling rules in English, even if they are difficult to understand, so

pronouncing a word correctly usually does help you spell it correctly. Several common

errors are the result of rapid speech, so take your time speaking, correctly enunciating each

word. Careful speech and avid reading are the best guides to correct spelling.

Don't say: athelete, atheletic | Do say: athlete, athletic Comment: Two syllables are enough for "athlete."

Don't say: diptheria | Do say: diphtheria

Comment: The ''ph'' in this word is pronounced [f], not [p]. Don't say: drownd | Do say: drown

Comment: You add the [d] only to the past tense and past participle. Don't say: jewlery | Do say: jewelry

Comment: The root of this word is "jewel" and that doesn't change for either "jeweler" or "jewelry." The British add a syllable: "jewellery"

Don't say: pronounciation | Do say: pronunciation

Comment: Just as "misspelling" is among the most commonly misspelled words,


"pronunciation" is among the most commonly mispronounced words.

ICS Lab:

PUBLIC SPEAKING

INTRODUCTION

Public speaking is a process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate

manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners.

Public speaking is commonly understood as a kind of face-to-face speaking between

individuals and audience for the purpose of communication.

In public speaking, as in any form of communication, there are five basic elements,

often expressed as "who is saying what to whom using what medium with what

effects?"

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of public speaking can range from simply transmitting information, to

motivating people to act, to simply telling a story.

Good orators should be able to change the emotions of their listeners, not just

inform them.

Public speaking can be a powerful tool to use for purposes such as motivation,

influence, persuasion, informing, translation, or simply ethos.

GUIDELINES

Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say.

Practice. Practice. Practice! Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; Practice, pause and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected.

Know the audience. Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.

Know the room. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.

Relax. Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.

Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping – it will boost your confidence.

Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They’re rooting for you.

Don’t apologize for any nervousness or problem – the audience probably never


noticed it. Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Focus your attention away from

your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience.

Active and Passive Voice

Active voice is used when the doer of the action is highlighted

Eg. Chetan Bhagath wrote Five Point Something

Passive voice is used when the action is highlighted

Eg: Five Point Something is written by Chetan Bhagath

Common Errors in English

She is my cousin sister X

She is my cousin.

She has been practicing since 10 hrs. X She has been practicing for 10 hrs.

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

An idiom is a combination of words that has a figurative meaning, due to its common usage. An idiom's figurative meaning is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made. Idioms are numerous and they occur frequently in all languages. There are estimated to be at least 25,000 idiomatic expressions in the English language.

Examples:

a. A Blessing In Disguise: Something good that isn't recognized at first. b. Pick up your ears: To listen very carefully. c. Drink like a fish: To drink very heavily. d. Know the Ropes: To understand the details. e. Cock and Bull Story: An unbelievable tale. f. Turn A Blind Eye: Refuse to acknowledge something you know is real or legit.

Phrasal verbs

A phrasal verb is a verb followed by a preposition or an adverb; the combination creates a meaning different from the original verb alone.

Phrasal verbs that include a preposition are known as prepositional verbs and phrasal verbs that include a particle are also known as particle verbs. Additional alternative terms for


phrasal verb are compound verb, verb-adverb combination.

Examples

There are three main types of phrasal verb constructions depending upon whether the verb combines with a preposition, a particle, or both. The words constituting the phrasal verb constructions in the following examples are in bold:

Verb + preposition (prepositional phrasal verbs)

a. Who is lookingafter the kids? – after is a preposition that introduces the prepositional phrase after the kids.

b. They pick on Billy. – on is a preposition that introduces the prepositional phrase on Billy.

c. I ran into an old friend. – into is a preposition that introduces the prepositional phrase into an old friend.

d. She takes after her mother. – after is a preposition that introduces the prepositional phrase after her mother.

e. Sam passes for a linguist. – for is a preposition that introduces the prepositional phrase for a linguist.

f. You should stand by your friend. – by is a preposition that introduces the prepositional phrase by your friend.

Verb + particle (particle phrasal verbs)

a. They brought that up twice. – up is a particle, not a preposition.

b. You should think it over. – over is a particle, not a preposition.

c. Why does he always dress down? – down is a particle, not a preposition.

d. You should not give in so quickly. – in is a particle, not a preposition.

e. Where do they want to hang out? – out is a particle, not a preposition.

f. She handed it in. – in is a particle, not a preposition.

Verb + particle + preposition (particle-prepositional phrasal verbs)

a. Who can put up with that? – up is a particle and with is a preposition.

b. She is looking forward to a rest. – forward is a particle and to is a preposition.

c. The other tanks were bearing down on my panther. – down is a particle and on is a preposition.

d. They were really teeing off on me. – off is a particle and on is a preposition.

e. We loaded up on Mountain Dew and chips. – up is a particle and on is a


preposition

f. Susan has been sitting in for me. – in is a particle and for is a preposition.


Exercise V

CALL Lab

NEUTRALIZATION OF MTI & CONVERSATION PRACTICE

INTRODUCTION

The basic criterion of communication or accent is that one should understand what the

other person is saying and vice versa. Communication is a crucial part of globalization. This

globalization has created revolution in entrepreneurship and outsourcing. The need for

speaking in a neutral accent has been growing today because the customers and the clients

have to interact in a universal language in a globally acceptable style and accent.

Today many countries including developing nations outsource their projects for the sake of

cost, quality and resource. People other than USA do not understand American accent. This

communication barrier is solved after the arrival of accent neutralization concept.

OBJECTIVE

To make ourselves understand better.

Neutral accent training helps the students to speak the language in a universally

accepted style and standard.

Neutral English training includes the following modules.

Spoken English 1. Phonetics

2. Jaw Exercises

3. Vowel & Consonants Sounds 4. Syllable and Word Stress

5. Sentence Formation

6. Working on Thought process

7. Voice modulation & Speech therapy 8. Articulation Exercises

Written English

1. Write in international style and standard.

2. Pay attention to grammar.

3. Refer World famous English literature, books & Novels

4. Punctuation, selection of words, narration and context are very important.

Steps to speak in neutral accent Neutral accent is a way of speaking a language without regionalism. Speaking with an accent affects our communication and sometimes at its worst spoils our image in public. To make ourselves understand better we should speak in neutral accent.


By speaking in neutral English, we can make people to understand us better.

We can speak well in our Job interviews, public forum and work places. We can interact with the society smoothly.

We can avoid frustration, inferiority complex and disappointments from people asking us to

repeat what we've said.

Steps to speak in neutral accent

1. Listen how native speakers speak the language.

2. Try to watch some good movies that can improve your overall communicative skills.

3. Do not speak too fast. Keep your rate of speech under control.

4. Read dictionary to learn the meaning of the word, spelling and pronunciation.

5. Listen to audio clips and videos to boost your confidence while speaking.

6. Increase your reading ability by going through newspapers and magazines.

7. Learn sounds of English. Familiarize with vowel and consonant sounds

ICS Lab: INFORMATION TRANSFER

Objectives

Learns to transfer the information in various forms. Learns to use appropriate form in any given context. Learns to carry visual appeal in communication.

Definition

Information Transfer activity “is an activity involving the reproduction of information either from a diagrammatic or semi-diagrammatic form into a fully linguistic form or vice verse (Palmer, 1991, p. 79)

A different definition is: “Information Transfer technique means translating data from one

form to another. From the Reading or Listening text to graphic stimuli, or visual like

Types of Pictorial Representation

Tables Charts Graphs Pictograms Diagrams Figures Flow charts Signposts


Advantages of Information Transfer

Information in a visual form is comprehensive whether a student is linguistically gifted or not; visual information is a kind of universal language.

Because the Information Transfer technique is applicable to all four skills, different learning styles are catered for.

Charts and diagrams lend themselves to information-gap activities in which language is used for a communicative purpose.

CHART

Pie Chart

SIGNPOST

English

Listening

Speaking

Reading

Writing


ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Presentations are brief discussions of a focused topic delivered to a group of listeners in

order to impart knowledge or to stimulate discussion. They are similar to short papers with

an introduction, main body and conclusion.

Preparation

Know your topic well. Learn as much about the topic as you can to boost your self-

confidence. Prepare an outline of topic. Bullet or number the main points

Visual aids

Visual aids (maps, photos, film clips, graphs, diagrams, and charts) can enhance a presentation.

Keep visual aids simple and organized. Use color and contrast for emphasis but use them in moderation. Use a font large enough to be seen from the back of the room. If using Power Point, strongly resist the temptation to use sound effects and

dramatic slide transitions, unless very needed.

Handouts

Handouts provide structure. They can provide supplemental material, references, a glossary

of terms, and serve as a record of the presentation.

A handout should be 1-2 pages long and consist of:

Your name

Title of course

Date of presentation

Title of your presentation

Brief abstract (50 word summary of your presentation) A brief outline of your presentation including the major points A bibliography of references used to inform the presentation

Practice

Practice giving your presentation to yourself. Speak out loud and time yourself. Practice

using your visual aids. It is absolutely important that you adhere to your time limit. Your

goal is to inform, not overwhelm.

Delivery tips

Begin your presentation by telling your audience what your topic is and what you will be covering.

Dress neatly and appropriately. Speak in a clear, audible voice. Never, ever mumble. Make frequent eye contact with the audience. Making eye contact says that you are in

charge of the room and for a presentation. If you use slides or PowerPoint avoid the tendency to speak to the screen instead of to the

audience. Be so familiar with your visual aids that the only reason you look at them is to


point something out. At the conclusion of your presentation ask for questions. Respond to questions politely,

good-humoredly, and briefly. At the end of your presentation, summarize your main points and give a strong concluding

remark that reinforces why your information is of value. Be enthusiastic.

Reading Comprehension

Definition : Reading comprehension is defined as the level of understanding of a

text/message. This understanding comes from the interaction between the words that are

written and how they trigger knowledge outside the text/message.

OBJECTIVES

To improve the ability to understand and remember reading material.

Improves the ability to recognize words quickly and effortlessly.

Helps to understand the many facets of what they are reading.

TIPS

Learn to understand the structure of Paragraphs Choose your Passages Carefully

Focus on Comprehension, instead of speed

Keep noting the main points of the passage on a sheet of paper

Job Application

An application for employment, job application, or application form is a form or collection

of forms that an individual seeking employment, called an applicant, must fill out as part of

the process of informing an employer of the applicant's availability and desire to be

employed, and persuading the employer to offer the applicant employment.

Job Application Form

PERSONAL INFORMATION: First Name _____________________________ Middle Name ___________________________ Last Name _____________________________ Street Addres City, State, Zip Code Phone Number EDUCATION: Name and Address Of School - Degree/Diploma - Graduation Date

Skills and Qualifications: Licenses, Skills, Training, Awards

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:


Present Or Last Position: Employer: _____________________________________________________ Address:______________________________________________________ Supervisor: ____________________________________________________ Phone: _______________________________ Email: ________________________________ Position Title: _________________________ From: ______________ To: ______________ Responsibilities: ____________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Salary: _______________ Previous Position: Employer: _____________________________________________________ Address:______________________________________________________ Supervisor: ____________________________________________________ Phone: _______________________________ Email: ________________________________ Position Title: _________________________ From: ______________ To: ______________ Responsibilities: ___________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Salary: _______________ Reason for Leaving: ________ References: Name/Title Address Phone _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ I certify that information contained in this application is true and complete. I understand that false information may be grounds for not hiring me or for immediate termination of employment at any point in the future if I am hired. I authorize the verification of any or all information listed above. Signature______________________________ Date__________________________________

RESUME

A résumé less frequently also spelled resumé or resume, is a document used by persons to present their backgrounds and skills. Résumés can be used for a variety of reasons, but most often they are used to secure new employment. A typical résumé contains a summary of relevant job experience and education. The résumé is usually one of the first items, along with a cover letter and sometimes an application for employment.

Preparing a Resume

The key to creating a high-impact resume is to look at the document from the employer’s point of view. From this point of view, the purpose of the resume review is to screen out applicants who don’t fit the job requirements. Your objective is not to include anything that will get your resume stacked on the "rejects" pile.

A resume typically has three main sections: Introduction, Background, and Supporting Information.


The following are the parts of a resume:

Heading Job Objective

Work experience Education

Projects/Publications/Presentations Awards References

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