Language Communication skillsThe ability to convey information to another

effectively and efficiently. Business managers with good verbal, non verbal and written communication skills help facilitate the sharing of information between people within a company for its commercial benefit.

Four Type of Language Communication SkillsListening SkillsSpeaking SkillsWriting SkillsReading Skills

Listening SkillsListening is the ability to accurately receive

and interpret messages in the communication process. 

Listening is key to all effective communication, without the ability to listen effectively messages are easily misunderstood – communication breaks down and the sender of the message can easily become frustrated or irritated.

10 Principles of Listening

1. Stop Talking2. Prepare Yourself to Listen3. Put the Speaker at Ease4. Remove Distractions5. Empathise6. Be Patient7. Avoid Personal Prejudice8. Listen to the Tone9. Listen for Ideas – Not Just Words10. Wait and Watch for Non-Verbal

Communication

Barriers In Listening

Barriers to listening take many forms. It is inevitable that barriers will exist in

any interaction, but anything which stops concentration, allowing the mind to

wander off the topic, must be recognized and overcome if fully successful

communication is to take place.

Environmental Barriers The following, if encountered, can make us switch off from what is

being said, to allow our minds to temporarily concentrate on our surroundings:

1. The room too hot or too cold

2. The chair uncomfortable

3. The lighting too bright or too dim

4. Bad ventilation; stuffy/smoky atmosphere

7. Sights

5. Noise

6. Smells

Linguistic BarriersLinguistic barriers derive from the speaker and make it difficult for

them to be listened to. They can be summarized as follows :

 

1. Jargon or specialist language

6. Complex sentences 7. Complex vocabulary

4. Hesitant manner

2. Monotonous voice 3. Inappropriate tone

5. Badly organized material

8. Delivery too fast 9. Delivery too slow and ponderous 10. Delivery too loud 11. Delivery too quiet

Psychological Barriers

Emotional states which are brought to the communication or result from it can come between what is being said and effective

listening and understanding, for example :

 

2. Own anxiety 3. Frustration, inability

to put across ideas

4. Status difference

1. Anger

5. Prejudice

Content BarrierWhat the speaker is saying may also be a barrier to the listener:

1. Subject of the discussion does not interest us 2. Speaker goes on for too long 3. Speaker is saying what we don't want to hear 4. We have heard it all before 5. Content is too difficult/simplistic 6. Content is repetitious

Personal Barriers

The listener may put up personal barriers:

1.Preoccupied with own problems

2.Thinking about own response without hearing speaker 4.Monopolizing the conversation,

dominant speaking

3.Looking for every opportunity to interrupt

How can listening skills be improved?

We should practice concentrating. If we listen to a ten minute news broadcast how much of it can we remember?

We should use spare thinking time more effectively and we should think about what the speaker is saying and what the non verbal signals are telling us.

We must practice mentally summarizing what the speaker is saying.

We must listen analytically.

Without interrupting, we should join in the conversation by asking for clarification.

We should make encouraging noises to let the speaker know that you are still interested.

We must maintain good eye contact. We must show in your posture that we are interested in what is being said.

Speaking SkillsIntroduction:Speaking: Speaking is an act of making vocal sounds. We can say that

speaking means to converse, or expressing one's thoughts and feelings in spoken language. To speak often implies conveying information. It may be from an informal remark to a scholarly presentation to a formal address.

Speaking skills:Speaking skills are the skills that give us the ability to

communicate effectively.These skills allow the speaker, to convey his message in a

passionate, thoughtful, and convincing manner.Speaking skills also help to assure that one won't be

misunderstood by those who are listening

What to do before speaking? The first step to speaking is to think and the first step to perfect speaking is to thick positive. Good speakers have the ability to quickly analyze and absorb the information given to them, assess it fast and to make a decision and communicate that decision to other. Keep in mind to:

1. Be an active listener: The key ingredient towards making you a person who can think on the spot and respond

intelligently is to be an active listener. This means listening carefully and giving your full attention to the words, tone, emotion and logic behind what the other one is saying.

  2. Be a quick organiser of thoughts: All of us have the ability to think fast. The trick is to adopt some frameworks or models to

structure new information into something coherent that we can respond with. One can break down issues or ideas into past, present and future.

3. Structure your speech in your mind: These are useful frameworks to organise ideas and thoughts quickly. The basic structure of any speech involves: Opening Body Conclusion It is very useful in delivering speeches and especially for speaking in situations such as table

topics during meetings or other times when called upon to "say some words". Thinking before speaking is important for us to add value in terms of communicating our thoughts, ideas and feelings. We can touch lives through deeds and we can touch lives through speech.

Principal of Speaking skills1. Be prepared and practice.

The more you know what you want to say, the better you'll get at it. First, brainstorm the topic of your speech and research it, if you need to. Write down all the points you want to make and then organize them into an outline. Then, practice your speech out loud at least 3 to 5 times.

2. Know your audience.The better you know your audience or listeners, the easier it will be to connect to them as you speak. When you are able to make that connection, you'll hold their attention.

4. Interact with your audience.Lectures will rarely have the same impact on an audience that an open discussion will. Look for opportunities to involve your audience in what you are speaking about. Ask for validation of points you are making ("Am I right?" "Has that ever happened to you?") Or allow time for questions. Also, make sure to establish eye contact with your audience, and keep it throughout your speech.

  5. Speak with sincerity and passion.

When a person wants to leave a lasting impression with the audience about one’s topic then be sure that you are true to yourself and your topic as you speak .Don't be afraid to inject enthusiasm and passion into the speech as well.

6. Close your speech in a memorable way. Give your audience something to think about as you finish up your speech.

Certainly, it's a good idea to summarize your main points one more time, but then finish up with an inspiring story or quote, or leave them with a thought provoking question.

  7. Fluency The main goal is fluency. Remember that one don't have to know many

complex grammatical structures to achieve that goal! First of all try to speak as fluent as possible (even making some grammar mistakes). Then, after making one’s speaking fluent, one can focus on grammar aspects.

Micro-skills:

Here are some of the micro-skills involved in speaking. The speaker has to Pronounce the distinctive sounds of a

language clearly enough so that people can distinguish them. This includes making tonal distinctions.

Use the correct forms of words. This may mean, for example, changes in the tense, case, or gender.

Put words together in correct word order.Use vocabulary appropriately.Use the language that is appropriate to the situation and

the relationship to the conversation partner.Make the main ideas stand out from supporting ideas or

information.

Barriers while speaking:

1.Unclear messages.2. Lack of consistency in the communication

process.3. Incomplete sentences.4. Not understanding the receiver.5. Words can have different meanings to

different listener.6. Use of negative words.

How to improve speaking skills:

Practice where you can, when you can: Any practice is good whether you speak to someone who is a native English speaker or not.

It's important to build your confidence. If possible, use simple English sentence structure that you know is correct, so that you can concentrate on getting your message across.

Try to respond to what people say to you. You can often get clues to what people think by looking at their body language. Respond to them in a natural way.

Try NOT to translate into and from your own language. This takes too much time and will make you more hesitant.

If you forget a word do what native English speakers do all the time, and say things that 'fill' the conversation. This is better than keeping completely silent. Try using um, or err, if you forget the word.

Don't speak too fast! It's important to use a natural rhythm when speaking English, but if you speak too fast it will be difficult for people to understand you.

Remember, when speaking English Try to become less hesitant and more confident. Don’t be shy to speak the more you do it, the more confident you'll become. Remember to be polite use "please" and "thank you" if you ask someone to do something for you.

Writing SkilsWriting is a process where symbols have to be

arranged according to a certain conventions to form words and words have to be arranged to form sentences

Writing skills are an important part of communication.  Good writing skills allow you to communicate your message with clarity and ease to a far larger audience than through face-to-face or telephone conversations.

Why Writing is important Writing aims to capture a thought or idea, to

transfer it to a permanent format, making it tangible.

The responsibility for that transfer falling squarely on the writer’s shoulder.

If communication is the ultimate goal, write for your audience, not for personal style.

Writing has to be much clearer than spoken language because it lacks these assisting cues

Great care is required to ensure that your message is accurately interpreted by its audience.

Writing Process 1. Pre-writing: This is the planning phase of the writing process, when students

brainstorm, research, gather and outline ideas, often using diagrams for mapping out their thoughts. Audience and purpose should be considered at this point, and for the older students, a working thesis statement needs to be started.

2. Drafting: Students create their initial composition by writing down all their ideas in an organized way to convey a particular idea or present an argument. Audience and purpose need to be finalized.

3. Revising: Students review, modify, and reorganize their work by rearranging, adding, or deleting content, and by making the tone, style, and content appropriate for the intended audience. The goal of this phase of the writing process is to improve the draft.

4. Editing: At this point in the writing process, writers proofread and correct errors in grammar and mechanics, and edit to improve style and clarity. Having another writer’s feedback in this stage is helpful.

5. Publishing: In this last step of the writing process, the final writing is shared with the group. Sharing can be accomplished in a variety of ways, and with the help of computers, it can even be printed or published online.

Tips to Improve Your English Writing Skills:

1. Keep All of your Writing in One Place

Buy a notebook or journal or start an electronic journal. By keeping your writing all in the same place, you will be able to see how much you are improving and keep it organized.

2. Practice Writing in English Daily

The importance of writing daily is that you start to create a new habit. Writing every day in English will soon become natural and something you look forward to. You will not see a significant improvement if you are not dedicated to becoming a better writer in English. You cannot create awesome stories and papers if you never try.

3. Pick a Topic and WRITE!

Don’t get stuck on figuring out what to write about. You can write about anything. You can write about what you do, things you hear or see, news, or make up a story. If you do get stuck, use some of English Tonight’s writing prompts to help you get started.

4. Write More than One Draft

Draft means a preliminary version of piece of writing. Sometimes, your best writing becomes better after you take a break and work on a second or third draft. When you revise (or rewrite) your work you are often able to get your message across more clearly. You make think of things that you did not think to write in the first draft and you can add it in a later draft.

5. Use Online Resources to Correct your GrammarYes, grammar is a pain. You don’t need to know everything about English grammar. Use online resources, such as Grammarly, GrammarCheck or GrammarBook.com to help you answer a grammar question when it comes up. You could also switch the spell and grammar check on MS Word, your iPad or Google Doc to check your spelling and grammar in English.

6. Think Outside the Box (or Lines)Don’t write about the same thing every day or you will get bored. Try writing the same story from different perspectives or different tenses. If you are writing a story about a baby that won’t stop crying; first, it could be the mother telling the story; then from the perspective of the baby. Or you could write it in present moment…. ‘My baby hasn’t stopped crying in five days…’ and then write in the perspective of a pregnant woman that is thinking about having a baby that won’t stop crying. Don’t write about topics in the obvious way. Be creative!

7. Have a Friend Edit Your WritingHave a friend that knows English correct or edit your work. Having another person read your work helps generate more ideas to better your writing. You could have them edit everything or just a part that you are stuck on. Often having another set of eyes look at your writing helps find mistakes that you have overlooked.

Reading SkillReading:- It is a dynamic process in whioch

reader interact with th word to contruct the meaing in his mind.

1. Styles of reading

Scanning: for a specific focusThe technique you use when you're looking up a

name in the phone book: you move your eye quickly over the page to find particular words or phrases that are relevant to the task you're doing.

It's useful to scan parts of texts to see if they're going to be useful to you:

the introduction or preface of a book the first or last paragraphs of chapters the concluding chapter of a book.

Skimming: for getting the gist of something

The technique you use when you're going through a newspaper or magazine: you read quickly to get the main points, and skip over the detail. It's useful to skim:

to preview a passage before you read it in detail to refresh your understand of a passage after

you've read it in detail. Use skimming when you're trying to decide if a

book in the library or bookshop is right for you.

Detailed reading: for extracting information accurately

Where you read every word, and work to learn from the text.

In this careful reading, you may find it helpful to skim first, to get a general idea, but then go back to read in detail. Use a dictionary to make sure you understand all the words used.

3. A tip for speeding up your active readingSurveyGather the information you need to focus on the work and

set goals:Read the title to help prepare for the subject Read the introduction or summary to see what the author

thinks are the key points Notice the boldface headings to see what the structure is Notice any maps, graphs or charts. They are there for a

purpose Notice the reading aids, italics, bold face, questions at the

end of the chapter. They are all there to help you understand and remember.

QuestionHelp your mind to engage and concentrate.

Your mind is engaged in learning when it is actively looking for answers to questions.

Try turning the boldface headings into questions you think the section should answer.

ReadRead the first section with your questions in

mind. Look for the answers, and make up new questions if necessary.

RecallAfter each section, stop and think back to

your questions. See if you can answer them from memory. If not, take a look back at the text. Do this as often as you need to.

ReviewOnce you have finished the whole chapter, go

back over all the questions from all the headings. See you if can still answer them. If not, look back and refresh your memory.

THAN

K

YOU…