SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

KANNUR UNIVERSITY

A Self Instructional Course Material on

COMMON COURSE I

SDE 1 A 01 ENG

CRITICAL REASONING AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Prepared by

Rafseena M Assistant Professor

Department of English Sir Syed College

Taliparamba

SDE-SYLLABI FOR COMMON COURSES: 2011 ADMISSION ONWARDS

COMMON COURSE I: CRITICAL REASONING AND COMMUNICATION

SKILLS

AIM OF THE COURSE

To develop analytical and critical thinking skills in students in order to prepare

them to logically analyze and critically evaluate a variety of texts and to speak

and write and make presentations effectively

General improvement of the student’s ability in vocal and written modes of

expression and reading.

OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE: On completion of this course, student will be able:

To differentiate between facts and opinions and to identify fallacies in

arguments

To appreciate the value of looking at an issue from various points of view and

to develop the habit of questioning one’s own views and possible biases

To successfully manage academic writing and presentation.

COURSE CODE SDE 1 A 01 ENG

TITLE OF THE COURSE CRITICAL REASONING AND COMMUNICATION

SKILLS

YEAR 1

CREDITS

7

CORE TEXT Critical Reasoning & Academic Presentation

Skills by Marilyn Anderson, Pramod K Nayar

et al, Pearson 2009

To communicate better vocally as well in writing in formal, semi-formal and

informal situations.

To speak, listen and read better

COURSE OUTLINE

PART A: CRITICAL REASONING AND PRESENTATION SKILLS

MODULE – 1 - INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL THINKING

A. Introduction to Critical Thinking: Benefits of Critical Thinking - Barriers to

Critical Thinking

B. Arguments: What is and what is not of argument - Recognizing Argument –

Evaluation of Arguments - Deductive and Inductive argument -

C. What are fallacies: Fallacies of relevance – appeal to emotion – the appeal to

pity – the appeal to force – the argument against the person – irrelevant

conclusion

D. Critical thinking and evaluation of sources – social influence and critical

thinking – Persuasion, conformity and Critical Thinking – Critical thinking and

Prejudices.

MODULE – 2: THINKING AND WRITING CRITICALLY

Characteristics of Critical and Analytical Thinking – language of critical

thinking – strategies and steps for critical thinking – Sense of audience –

Precision and Clarity, Selection of Relevance – Sequencing of arguments -

Sign posting, Conventions in Critical Thinking - Evaluating Critical Writing

Note: Lectures should be complemented by appropriate activities mentioned in

the core text.

MODULE - III: THE PROCESS OF WRITING:

A. Researching Resources for writing: collection of Data – Print resources -

Library, Net sources, Individuals

B. Reading for writing: Strategies for active writing – Dictionary use –

Annotate

C. Mechanics of Writing: Develop a plan from title – Evaluating a text - note-

making and Note taking, paraphrasing, summary-writing – Planning a text:

organizing

D. paragraphs, main body, introduction, conclusion, rewriting, proof reading –

Elements of writing: cause and effect, cohesion, comparison, definition,

discussion, examples, generalization, statistical data, references, quotations,

style-synonyms, visual information: Charts, tables etc

E. Accuracy in writing: Abbreviation, Articles: singular and Plural,

determiners and nouns, Irregular plurals - propositions – phrasal verbs –

Modal verbs – Conveying ability, necessity, advisability, possibility,

probability etc - Tenses – Voice – adverbs and adjectives, conjunctions,

formality in verbs, - nationality-language, time words nouns and adjectives,

prefixes, suffixes.

MODULE IV: Writing models: formal letters, Curriculum Vitae, Job

application, Reports - Designing and Reporting Surveys, Seminar Reports -

Project reports, Documentation

MODULE – V: Presentation Skills

A. Soft Skills for Academic Presentations: Theory - The audience - primary

and secondary and their knowledge and expectations - the objective of the

presentation - choosing the appropriate medium for presentation -

techniques of effective presentation - Structuring the presentation - visual

presentation aids, handouts, Power point presentation, L.C.D - Clarity and

persuasion - Non verbal communication - Opening and Closing – Time

Management.

READING LIST:

A. CORE READING: CRITICAL REASONING & Academic Presentation Skills by Marilyn

Anderson, Pramod K Nayar et al. Pearson Longman, 2009.

B. REFERENCE TEXTS

Sl.No

Title Author Publisher & Year

1 Critical Reasoning &

Academic Presentation

Skills (CORE TEXT)

Marilyn Anderson, Pramod

K Nayar et al.

Pearson Longman, 2009

2 Critical Thinking: A

Student’s Introduction,

2nd Edition

Gregory Bassham, William

Irwin, Henry Nardone,

James M.Wallace

McGraw-Hill, 2006

3 Critical Thinking Skills Stella Cottrell Palgrave Macmillan,

2005

4 Critical Thinking:

Learn the Tools the

Best Thinkers Use

Richard Paul and Linda

Elder

Pearson Education,

2006

5 Thinking Skills John Butterworth & Geoff

Thwaites

Cambridge University

Press, 2006

6 Keys to Successful

Writing

Marilyn Anderson Pearson Longman

7 Guide to Presentations Mary and Russell Lynn. Pearson education Ltd.,

London, 2007)

8 Study Writing: A Liz-Hamp-Lyons & Ben Cambridge University

WEB RESOURCES

www.criticalthinking.org

http://www.ou.edu/ouphil/faculty/chris/crmscreen.pdf

www.thinkersway.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking

http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/olib.html

http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/advise.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_writing

http://www.uni-magdeburg.de/sprz/migalk/academic_writing.htm

PART B: Communication Skills

MODULE – I: Pronunciation and Naturalization of Language: Phonemic

Notations: Vowels, Diphthongs, Triphthongs – Consonants - Stress: Syllables –

Word Stress: in Monosyllables, Polysyllables, Stress in words used as both

nouns and verbs - Stress in compound words – Sentence Stress - Strong, Weak

and Contracted forms - Intonation: Falling and Rising Intonation – Different

accents – influence of Mother Tongue .

Course in Writing Skills

for Academic Purposes

Heasly Press, 2007

9 Presentation Skills for

Students

Joan Van Emden &

Lucinda Becker

Palgrave Macmillan,

2004

10 Academic Writing Stephen Bailey Routledge, London,

2004.

MODULE – II: Listening Skills: Barriers to Listening: Listening and hearing,

active listening, barriers – Academic Listening: Listening and note-taking –

Listening to announcements – Listening to News on the Radio and Television:

Listening for specific information, overall information.

MODULE- III: Speaking Skills: Theory and Practice: Recall the

foundational phonetic insights provided Module 1.1 – Rules of word stress,

stress and rhythm, pauses and sense groups – falling and rising tones – fluency

and pace of delivery – Small talk – Conversations – Formal speech –

Descriptions – Group Discussions – Telephone Communication –

Appointments.

IV: Reading Skills: Reading with a purpose – Scanning – Surveying a text

with index – Making predictions in reading – Text Structure – Inferences –

Reading Graphics – Reading Critically - Reading for Research.

Note: Speaking and listening skill to be promoted using the CD provided with the text

CORE TEXT: COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN ENGLISH, Sasikumar V.,Kiranmai Dutt and

Geetha Rajeevan, Cambridge University Press. New Delhi. 2009.

B) TEXTS FOR CORE READING AND REFERENCE:

Sl.

No Title Author Publication details

1 COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN

ENGLISH

Sasikumar

V.,Kiranmai Dutt

and Geetha

Rajeevan

Cambridge University

Press. New Delhi. 2009

2 Study Listening: A Course Tony Lynch Cambridge University

in Listening to Lectures and

Note-taking

Press (2008)

3 Study Speaking: A Course

in Spoken English for

Academic Purposes

Anderson,

Kenneth, Joan

Maclean and Tony

Lynch

Cambridge University

Press, 2008

4

Study Reading: A Course in

Reading Skills for Academic

Purposes

Glendinning, Eric

H. and Beverly

Holmstrom

Cambridge University

Press. 2008

5 Spoken English Part I & II:

A Foundation Course for

Speakers of Malayalam

Kamlesh

Sadanand, &

Susheela Punitha

Orient Longman Pvt Ltd

(2008)

6 Oxford Guide to Effective

Writing and Speaking

John Sealy OUP, New Delhi, 2007

7 Communication Studies Sky Massan Palgrave, Macmillan

8

Effective Communication

for Arts & Humanities

Students

Joan Van Emden

and Lucinda

Becker

Palgrave, Macmillan

5. Web Resources: A significant number of sites can be accessed on search with

keywords like: Reading Skill, Writing Skill, speaking Skill and Communication Skill.

Module 1

Introduction to Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally. It makes one a

good philosopher. In other words, it makes one a wise person. Critical thinking makes

a person an intellectually responsible adult- a person who is able to think through

things to come up with a judicious evaluation of circumstances. Critical thinking

includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking.

The critical thinker may face many circumstances in his or her life. For

instance, it might be a circumstance where one has to decide which course to be

pursued, or which political ideology to be followed, or it might be a circumstance

where one has to find a convincing solution from detaining one’s friends from using

drugs. Whatever be the circumstances, what is required is a kind of intellectual

integrity. Critical thinking helps us in achieving this intellectual integrity.

Any student who asks the question ‘Why should I think critically?’ or to be

specific- ‘Why am I required to do a course on critical thinking?’- is a critical thinker

already. Whenever we demand for an answer, we are thinking critically. But this

doesn’t mean that one has to be intelligent or gifted or a logician or argumentative

lawyers. Whenever someone tries to find out answers to the questions raised by others

towards them or by oneself, the person who is asking these questions is also

demanding justifications- justifications for doing something or not doing something,

justifications for believing something or not believing something.

Like every human action, thought is also a human action. So we should take

responsibility for our thought process also. One may be praised when he or she thinks

in a way which reflects sense and intellectual responsibility or may be blamed when

he or she is wrong in his or her judgment. One must always remember that as

intellectually responsible adult, one must think things through for ourselves and think

them well. One cannot escape from the responsibilities.

Benefits of Critical Thinking

Critical thinking makes a person an intellectually responsible adult. When a

person becomes a critical thinker, one is able to

Reflect (become rational), that is, become sensible or be able to give a reason;

Follow certain standards of critical thinking (learn to exercise good rational

judgment);

Think through things for ourselves (develop a sense of rational responsibility);

Focus (learn to select relevant and important matters);

Come to believe or do things on the basis of reason rather than emotion or

prejudices (become reasonable and open-minded).

Critical thinking process can be developed by adopting certain practices and

measures. First and foremost, one should develop a questioning attitude. This

questioning attitude may be either self-directed or directed towards others. When we

are self-critical, each belief is tested on the basis of evidence and makes a judgment

whether what we believe follows rationally from the evidence we have. In this

manner, one forms a belief which one is ready to defend with the help of reason.

Some guidelines are set which must be followed if one has to examine a

problem. The guidelines are as follows:

S: State it

E: Elaborate (explain it more fully, preferably in one’s own words)

E: Exemplify (give a good example)

I: Illustrate (give an illustration such as a metaphor, a simile, an analogy,

a diagram, a concept map etc.)

The above guidelines will help one to become clear, accurate, precise and

enables one to come up with a view that is relevant, adequately deep and broad, and

also logical. In addition to this, it provides a special strength of mind which is free

from bias and prejudices. It also helps in developing a mind which is liberal and which

cannot be easily be fooled or over-powered by cunning cajoling.

A person with good critical thinking skills will also make a good decision

maker. The people who are trained in critical thinking skills have the rare quality of

being intellectually responsible. In addition to this, they are fair, reasonable, rationally

and intellectually self-sufficient, not easily corrupted, not easily brain-washed, more

or less free from biases and prejudices, and are able to take right decision by

themselves by making the right kind of evaluation of a circumstance. Critical thinking

can be applied not only in the evaluation of certain circumstances, but also in

academic matters where students get the benefit by applying the skills in learning their

subject effectively.

Barriers to Critical Thinking

Though critical thinking is a good enriching process for any person, sometimes

some serious barriers arise which becomes a problem to critical thinking. Some of

these barriers when identified are sociological as well as psychological in nature.

Though many such barriers can be traced out, for the time being a few may be

discussed in detail. The barriers to critical thinking are as follows:

1. Social brainwashing and our view of the world

A critical thinker is a person who works his or her way through the world in a

reflective way. But for this, one needs to have a clear idea about the world around him

or her. One usually forms a view about the world around him or her from his or her

surroundings which in turn is influenced by the views of their parents. This view may

not be always unbiased. There are may be many influences upon the lives of people at

different stages of their life. But, the strongest of all influences turns out to be that of

electronic and print media. We believe we live in a world that the newspapers and

news channels make us believe we live in. This hidden and indirect control of the

various media upon our lives and thought process hinders a free and reflective thought

process. This sort of control can be considered to be the greatest barrier to critical

thinking.

2. Tendencies to think in binaries

Every human being, whether male or female, always has the tendency to think

in binaries, like bad or good, just or unjust, we or they, liberal or conservative, black

or white, absolute or relative, objective or subjective etc. This thought process of

thinking in binaries is common to the common man. But the world and worldly

phenomena that we face are not to be judged in terms of binaries. The tendency to

think in terms of binaries often leads to bad philosophy and often results in the

breakdown of personal relations. For a critical thinker, the tendency to think in

binaries may create problem in their judicious evaluation of circumstances.

3. Fears regarding free thinking

Yet another important barrier to critical thinking is the fear regarding free

thinking. It often happens that one often follows the path of others in expressing their

ideas, in spite of realizing that they are wrong. One often follows the path of others

mainly because one is scared to be the first to make a new opinion. This fear has its

roots in the fear of making mistakes, or the fear of making oneself a fool before

others. This is a result of a kind of intellectual diffidence. The reason behind this

intellectual diffidence may be traced to a sociological one where the societies often

discourage free thinking. Ironically, we may also find our educational system to be a

victim of a patronizing spirit which discourages free thinking. Therefore, a free

thinker finds himself or herself at odds to come up with new ideas as he or she feels

cornered and they require enough courage and self-will to come out and express what

he or she thinks is right.

4. Egocentrism

Egocentrism is another barrier which produces a serious threat to critical

thinking. All of us think that we are the centre of the universe. Some are

megalomaniacs and some are not. Yet, everything is viewed from our own

perspective. But for a critical thinker, one has to overcome such attitude and be able to

appreciate other ways of looking at things.

5. Personal interests and personal experience

In every person’s life, there are certain commitments that determine the path

we take in our life. The past experience of an individual determines the allegiances,

emotional and social commitment. So, one often finds it difficult to come up with

reasonable views and opinions in situations where there is tremendous pressure

exercised by our past experiences and commitments.

What is and what is not an argument?

Critical thinking is a process where one applies logic and reasoning especially

when one is concerned with inferences and arguments. A critical thinker recognizes an

argument and evaluates it. We are making arguments daily to our parents, siblings,

friends, teachers, peers and work-mates in support of what we believe, why we do and

what we think. Many arguments are raised often during sessions like debates where

contenders often try to resolve or dissolve the debate. But, one has to remember that

arguments are always backed by reason or evidence. It is in this respect that an

argument differs from an opinion.

The difference between an argument and an opinion can be shown using the

example given below.

The BJP was doing a better job in running the country than the Congress Party

is doing now.

Logicians are humourless people.

The above given examples are instances of opinions and not of arguments.

The BJP was doing a better job in running the country than the Congress Party

is doing now because during their tenure there was less unemployment and the

inflation was lesser.

Logicians are constantly engaged in exercise of reason, which has no place for

emotions. An emotionless person is incapable of humour. So, all logicians are

humourless people.

The above given examples are instances of bad arguments but they are arguments and

cannot be considered as mere opinions. In some cases, we form opinions by following

rational deliberation, which in turn is based on arguments and these again are based

upon reason or evidence. But we must also remember that not all opinions are based

on arguments. At different levels of analysis, be it the political level or the personal

level, one comes to form opinion which may not be at par. Critical thinking helps one

in forming opinions on the basis of evidence and arguments because opinions on

serious and controversial matters have to be defended by rational arguments.

Let us now study what is an argument and how can we recognize an argument

in detail.

Recognizing an argument

An argument is a string of connected statements of which some are premises on

the basis of which one of them, i.e., the conclusion is established. In other words, an

argument consists of two parts, viz., the premise and the conclusion. The principal

claim that an argument is trying to persuade us to accept is the conclusion. The claim

used to support the principal claim is called the premise. The premise can be more

than one. For instance,

All Kathakali dancers are from Kerala. Raghu is a Kathakali dancer. So Raghu

is from Kerala.

In this example, the following points have to be noted:

The principal claim is that Raghu is from Kerala.

So the conclusion is ‘Raghu is from Kerala’.

In order to support this principal claim, two supporting claims are made from which

the conclusion follows. These are premises. The premises are:

All Kathakali dancers are from Kerala

Raghu is a Kathakali dancer.

In an argument, we can have just one premise also. Not all arguments need more than

that.

Let us now try how to recognize an argument. To recognize an argument, there

should be the following features:

1. Find a string of statements.

2. These statements have to be related.

3. The relation should be such that some of the statements give support to one of

the statements.

4. The supporting statements are premises.

5. The supported statement is the conclusion, which usually follows words like

‘therefore’ or ‘so’.

In order to recognize the premises and conclusion of an argument in a better

manner, there are certain words that may be regarded as indicator words for premises

and conclusion respectively. These indicator words not only point out that an

argument is being made, but it also helps to identify premises and conclusion of an

argument effectively. The indicator words for premises and conclusion are given

below.

Indicator words for premises

since

because

for

it follows from

as is indicated by

given that

is established by the fact that

is implied by

Indicator words for conclusions

therefore

thus

so

hence

it follows that

then

in conclusion

accordingly

consequently

as a result

implies

shows

establishes

Premises are also known as supporting statements .Conclusion is also known as

the principal claim and the supported statement.

Evaluating an Argument

When we are trying to understand what an argument is, we realize that it is an

attempt at establishing a claim on the basis of other claims. If I give an argument for

the claim A by giving it a support by claim B and claim C, then what I am saying is

that if you accept claim B and claim C, then you also have to accept claim A. I say

this because claim A follows from claim B and claim C. It is as if claim A is hidden

inside claim B and claim C and we have to bring out that claim. But, one thing to be

kept in mind is that at no point do I suggest or accept that the claims A, B and C are

true. Let us now try to understand and evaluate an argument through an example.

Argument 1:

Mahatma Gandhi is the father of Rajiv Gandhi.

Rajiv Gandhi is the father of Varun Gandhi.

So, Mahatma Gandhi is the grandfather of Varun Gandhi.

The argument discussed above is an extremely good one though its premises and

conclusion are false. The falsity of premises and conclusion does not make this

argument a bad one.

What we have to keep in mind when analyzing and evaluating an argument is

the truth content of a statement and the logical content of a statement. In the above

example, let us try to apply the truth content and logical content of the statement.

Consider the statement ‘Mahatma Gandhi is the father of Rajiv Gandhi’. In this

statement, we may ask whether it is true or not. Here we are trying to find out the truth

content of the statement. If both the premises are true then we can conclude that the

conclusion is also true applying the logical content of the statement. If there is any

error with the logical content of the statement, then the argument made is an invalid

one. So the most important point to be remembered is that validity is an important

concept in logic.

Argument 2:

Firoze Gandhi is the father of Rajiv Gandhi.

Rajiv Gandhi is the father of Rahul Gandhi.

So, Firoze Gandhi is the grandfather of Rahul Gandhi.

Here, all the statements in the argument (both the premises and the conclusion) are

true. So the argument is a valid one.

Argument 3:

Mahatma Gandhi is the father of Rajiv Gandhi.

Rajiv Gandhi is the father of Gopal Gandhi.

So, Mahatma Gandhi is the grandfather of Gopal Gandhi.

This argument contains two false premises but there is a true conclusion.

Argument 4:

Mahatma Gandhi is the father of Rajiv Gandhi.

Rajiv Gandhi is the father of Rahul Gandhi.

So, Mahatma Gandhi is the grandfather of Rahul Gandhi.

In this argument there is one false premise and a false conclusion.

So, the main point to be noted is that one cannot find out an argument which

has two true premises and a false conclusion.

Deductive and Inductive Arguments

Normally we classify all arguments into one of two types: deductive and

inductive. A deductive argument is an argument in which it is thought that the

premises provide a guarantee of the truth of the conclusion. In a deductive argument,

the premises are intended to provide support for the conclusion that is so strong that, if

the premises are true, it would be impossible for the conclusion to be false.

An inductive argument is an argument in which it is thought that the premises provide

reasons supporting the probable truth of the conclusion. In an inductive argument, the

premises are intended only to be so strong that, if they are true, then it is unlikely that

the conclusion is false.

Deductive Arguments

A deductive argument is ‘an inference in which it is claimed that the

conclusion is guaranteed to be true if the premises are true’. However, two important

things about deductive arguments need to be understood.

1. There is a strict relation between the premises and the conclusion. It is

impossible for the conclusion to be false if the premises are true. This happens

so because the conclusion is contained within the premises. The premises make

the conclusion certain rather than probable.

2. The very pattern of a deductive argument ensures its validity.

Let us take a few examples to study the nature of a deductive argument in detail.

Example1:

Firoze Gandhi is the father of Rajiv Gandhi.

Rajiv Gandhi is the father of Rahul Gandhi.

So, Firoze Gandhi is the grandfather of Rahul Gandhi.

Here, the premises strictly guarantee the truth of the conclusion.

Example 2:

If Kolkata Knight Riders win the IPL, then Shah Rukh Kan will be happy

Kolkata Knight Riders win the IPL.

So, Shah Rukh Kan is happy.

The pattern or form of the argument is ‘If X, then Y’ or

X.

So Y.

Some other examples which are deductive in nature are cited below.

Example 3:

There are 32 books on the top-shelf of the bookcase, and 12 on the lower shelf

of the bookcase. There are no books anywhere else in my bookcase. Therefore,

there are 44 books in the bookcase.

Example 4:

Bergen is either in Norway or Sweden. If Bergen is in Norway, then Bergen is

in Scandinavia. If Bergen is in Sweden, the Bergen is in Scandinavia.

Therefore, Bergen is in Scandinavia.

Example 5:

Smith owns only blue pants and brown pants. Smith is wearing a pair of his

pants today. So Smith is wearing either blue or brown pants today.

Example 6:

The soccer game is on either Thursday or Friday. I just found out that the game

is not on Thursday, so the game must be on Friday.

This is an instance of a deductive argument. We can tell that the argument is deductive

because the two premises (that is, the first two sentences) guarantee the truth of the

conclusion. If the two premises really are true, then there is no possible way that the

conclusion could be false.

Inductive Arguments

An inductive argument is an argument where it is claimed that the conclusion

has a high probability of being true given that the premises are true. Sometimes we

need to assess one argument against another and the best way of doing it is by

determining which of the conclusions are more probable.

Example 1:

Premise 1: Most American cats are domestic house cats.

Premise 2: Bill is an American cat.

Conclusion: Bill is domestic house cat.

Example 2:

January has always been cold here in Siberia. Today is January 14, so it is

going to be another cold day in Siberia.

Example 3:

It has snowed in Massachusetts every December in recorded history.

Therefore, it will snow in Massachusetts this coming December.

Example 4:

Most Indians are fond of Cricket.

Preity Zinta is an Indian.

So, Preity Zinta is fond of Cricket.

These arguments are inductive. The premises make the conclusion likely, but they do

not guarantee that the conclusion is true. To put the point in another manner, it is

possible that the premises of this argument could be true and the conclusion could still

be false.

Fallacies

Fallacies are defects that weaken arguments. By learning to look for them in

your own and others' writing, you can strengthen your ability to evaluate the

arguments you make, read, and hear. It is important to realize two things about

fallacies: First, fallacious arguments are very, very common and can be quite

persuasive, at least to the casual reader or listener. You can find dozens of examples

of fallacious reasoning in newspapers, advertisements, and other sources. Second, it is

sometimes hard to evaluate whether an argument is fallacious. An argument might be

very weak, somewhat weak, somewhat strong, or very strong. An argument that has

several stages or parts might have some strong sections and some weak ones. In short,

fallacies are those elements that show how we may go wrong in our arguments. In

other words, they are mistaken beliefs or arguments.

But logical fallacy is different from factual errors. A fallacious argument is

made when a set of premises fails to support its conclusion logically. Sometimes it is

hard to evaluate whether an argument is fallacious or not.

Formal fallacies are those fallacies in the form of the arguments. Informal

fallacies are not generated due to some strangeness in the form of an argument. They

may be produced due to linguistic reasons. Informal fallacies can be divided into the

following kinds; Fallacy of Ambiguity, Fallacy of Unwarranted Assumption and

Fallacy of Relevance. Since we need to study only the fallacy of relevance in detail let

us discuss it in the next section.

The Fallacy of Relevance

When an argument is made, a critical thinker must be extremely careful in

considering whether relevant details are included or not. A critical thinker cannot

afford irrelevance. When we fail to provide adequate reason for believing in the truth

of the conclusions we want to make, then fallacy of relevance occurs. Many of the

fallacy of relevance were identified by medieval and renaissance logicians and so

many of them have Latin names. Let us look at the different types of fallacy relevance

in detail one by one.

(a) Appeal to emotion (argumentum ad populum)

Example 1:

Suppose an advertisement for diamond jewellery says:’ if you do not give your

wife a diamond ring for your wedding, you don’t love her’.

This advertisement is appealing to one’s emotional weakness to make one buy a

diamond ring. But it is neither necessary nor a sufficient condition that one has to

show his love through presenting a diamond ring to the lover.

Example 2:

Mother’s often say: ‘Eat another chapatti; otherwise I will be very angry’.

(b) Appeal to pity (argumentum ad misericordiam)

If while persuading, one appeals to his or her sense of pity, then the fallacy of

appeal to pity is committed. Suppose an applicant for a job who gives a bad interview

says to the experts in the interview that ‘I am the poorest and the neediest of all the

applicants and if I don’t get this job my entire family will starve to death; so you

ought to give me this job’.

Sometimes such an appeal may lead one to make wrong judgments. A critical thinker

has to keep emotions and thoughts apart from each other.

(c) Appeal to force (argumentum ad baculum)

The appeal to force is just the opposite of appeal to pity. Suppose in interview

the candidate says to the experts.

Example:

You better give me this job or else you will get into trouble because I am the

son of the local MLA.

Here, the candidate is trying to force the experts to accept what he wants them to

accept.

(d) Irrelevant Conclusion (ignoratio elenchi)

Sometimes in an argument we give evidence that is not exactly relevant for the

particular conclusion under consideration.

Example:

All children should get ample attention from their parents.

Parents who work full-time cannot give ample attention to their children.

Therefore, mothers should not work full-time.

Here, the premises do not support the conclusion.

(d) Argument against the person

The ad hominem and tu qouque fallacies focus the attention on people rather

than on arguments or evidence. In both of these arguments, the conclusion is usually

"You shouldn't believe So-and-So's argument." The reason for not believing So-and-

So is that So-and-So is either a bad person (ad hominem) or a hypocrite (tu quoque).

(1) Ad hominem

Ad hominem is the exact mirror image of the fallacy of inappropriate authority.

While judging the truth of a person’s words and if you are biased and think that their

words cannot be taken as true because they have some sort of character flaws, then

one would be committing the ad hominem fallacy.

Example:

Suppose someone says: ‘why should we accept what Max Muller said about

Indian Philosophy? He was not even an Indian’. This would be inappropriate

because there is absolutely no reason to think only Indians can be experts in

Indian Philosophy.

(2) tu quoque

Tu quoque literally means ‘look who’s talking’ fallacy. Suppose your father

who has been a smoker all his life tells you: ‘Don’t smoke because smoking is bad for

your health and you say, ‘look who’s talking’ and continue smoking, then you commit

the fallacy of tu quoque. In spite of the fact that a smoker does not have the right to

give advice to others about smoking, what he says might be true. So by saying ‘look

who’s talking’ you cannot escape from the wrong you are doing.

Critical thinking and evaluation of sources

Critical thinking is learning to think for yourself and to develop your own

independent opinions, backed by sound reasoning and support. One has to take up the

role of an active participant and become a self-reliant thinker and researcher. Critical

thinking is an idea which describes the deliberate thinking that helps you to decide on

what to believe and how to act. It helps you examine a problem or issue from many

angles to arrive at the best possible solution.

When we face certain problems in academic matters, critical thinking comes to

our help. For instance, when doing research for college courses, one can apply critical

thinking techniques to design the search and evaluate the materials that have been

collected related to the research undertaken. But, students are often taught where and

how to find the information, but they are not taught how the materials collected can be

utilized effectively. Students must learn how to evaluate the various sources of

information and organize it into a research paper which is a balanced in terms of

scholarly articles and general interest articles. Scholarly articles are those articles

which focus on particular subject matter and can include such titles as the Economic

and Political Weekly, Journal of the Indian Medical Association, Social Theory, etc.

General interest titles might include Newsweek, Time, Outlook and Economist, etc.

Scholarly articles are written by those authors who are experts in a particular

field of study and generally write articles in one subject area. General interest article

writers are those writers who write on various topic but they need not be experts in a

particular field. Whenever one is reading a book or an article, several points have to

be focused.

1) Is the article or book biased? This mean does the article try to influence the

reader in thinking one way or another.

2) Does the background of the author lead to conclusions concerning the article?

3) What is the authority of the author? Is the author an expert in this particular

field of study? Does the article or book give any background information on

the author? Does the author a PhD in a subject; is she or he a physician or

researcher?

4) Is the article or of general interest? A scholarly article should include research

findings, statistics, a bibliography or references. It should be written by experts

in a particular subject. General interest titles are usually not written by subject

experts.

5) How are articles accepted for publication? Most scholarly journals have an

editorial board that comprises experts in different subject areas who determine

which articles to accept for publication.

6) Is there an abstract at the beginning of the article? An abstract is a summary of

the article. Most scholarly articles have an abstract at the beginning.

7) When looking at books, keep in mind the following questions:

Do you need books that cover new technologies; for example, in

computers or nursing?

Do you need a book with up-to-date statistics?

Do you need sources that cover new trends in a particular area?

If your answer to any of the above questions is ‘yes’, pay particular attention to the

publication date of the books.

8) When reading books, you may want to look for book reviews or a critical

analysis. Also, you could look for background information on the author that

may give you insight into what inspired that person to write the book.

Another benefit of critical thinking is the ability to narrow a research topic into

smaller pieces. For example, if an assignment is given on the topic ‘partition of India’,

it would be a very wide and big topic. So, in order to make the research focused a little

bit, one will have to narrow the topic to something like ‘the role freedom fighters and

the role partition’.

Sequencing of arguments

The step which comes after the recognition of an argument is its organization.

Judicious arrangement of the arguments is as necessary as the arguments themselves.

So, according to the opinion of critical thinking experts, there are five parts of

discourse: introduction, statement of fact, confirmation, refutation, and conclusion.

Let us discuss these five parts separately.

Introduction

The introductory part has two functions to be fulfilled. The two functions are it

informs the audience of the subject of the discourse and it renders the audience

amenable to the speaker’s argument one more important point to be remembered here

is the speaker’s ethos. Various types of introduction can be found. They are:

1. Introduction inquisitive: ‘Does history repeat itself?’(Arnold Toynbee)

2. Introduction paradoxical: ‘As I type this, highly civilized men are flying above,

trying to kill me.’(George Orwell)

3. Introduction corrective: ‘The peanut is, in fact, a fruit.’

4. Introduction preparatory: ‘Beginnings are apt to be shadowy, and so it is with

the beginnings of that great mother of life, the sea.’(Rachel Carson)

5. Introduction narrative: This also means reciting an anecdote. ‘Long, long time

ago there lived a king and there lived a beggar.’ The sky was blue and the land

green….’

Statement of fact

The audience is informed of the circumstances that must be known before the

formal argument is presented.

Confirmation

This is the most important section of discourse in which the argument is

presented and proven. The proper sequencing of arguments is necessary and it

depends on the particular nature of the audience, the subject, the occasion and the

subjective tastes of the speaker.

Refutation

Refutation can be achieved in various ways, including logical appeal,

emotional appeal, ethical appeal, wit, etc. sometimes it is best to present a refutation

before one’s confirmation. For example, if an opposing speaker is well received, it

will be valuable to refute his arguments before offering one’s own.

Conclusion

According to Aristotle, conclusion ought to do four things:

1) Restate the facts and arguments

2) Amplify the force of one’s points and diminish that of one’s opponent’s

3) Inspire through one’s character(ethos)

4) Rouse appropriate emotions(pathos)

Selection or Relevance in Critical Thinking

A person, who thinks about things that are irrelevant to the issue under

consideration or speaks such irrelevant things, cannot move forward in the process of

critical thinking. When one is trying to find a solution to a problem, one must try to

find out what is relevant or important for that problem. We must find out the relevant

information. For example, if we are trying to find out the causes of global warming,

one must analyze all the possible solutions for the problem. For this, we must look

into all the environmental changes and their causes that lead to global warming. There

may be economic issues that are relevant to this problem. But if we think that some

very technical micro-economic formula is equally relevant for it, we may be wrong.

Even if we consider that the fashion trends of 1980s or1990s are relevant for the

problem of global warming, then we may be wrong in analyzing the problem. So what

is important is the selection of relevant matters for the solution of an issue.

When we are trying to find out what is relevant for a particular question under

consideration, try to keep away those issues which may be personally very important

but not at all relevant for the problem under discussion. We must be able to set aside

what is important for us and concentrate on those issues which are directly or

indirectly related to the question at hand. Suppose your ancestors were displaced from

their homeland and you have inherited strong feeling about it. When you examine the

issue of refugee problem in Eastern European countries if you bring in your personal

feelings then that would be absolutely irrelevant for the issue at hand. This is so

because the socio-political situation of Eastern Europe is quite different from the one

that resulted in your ancestors’ migration.

Let us look into the measures that we may take in order to find out what is

relevant to the problem or question under consideration with respect to our own

thinking and also with respect to others.

In our own case, we must reflect on the following issues:

In order to find out which are the relevant issues to the problem at hand we

need to be thorough about the problem and in considering each possible related

issue we need to question, ‘How is this connected with my main problem?’

At no point of the enquiry should we lose sight of the main problem under

scrutiny.

In order to achieve all this, we must always review our course of thinking.

We must write down all the important points and sub-points.

We must summarize and outline.

We must try to figure out what relations the concepts that are involved in the

enquiry have with each other. For this we may take help of what is known as

‘concept maps’.

We must sift out (separate) the relevant issue out of all the peripheral ones,

even if the peripheral issues are more interesting to us.

In the case of others, we will have to remember the following points:

We must consider seriously what the audience takes to be relevant to the

enquiry.

We must clearly indicate what we consider as important and also make it clear

what the audience takes as important by asking questions and summarizing and

analyzing.

Difficulties often arise when one is trying to solve a problem because we are

often unable to point out what is relevant. This happens because we consider a

problem in isolation whereas it should be always put in its actual context.

Language of critical thinking

Signposting

In arguments, there are certain words that may be regarded as indicator words

or signposts for premises and conclusions. These indicator words not only indicate

that an argument is being given, but also indicate which of the statements in the

argument are premises and which are conclusions.

Let us try to use the indicator words to identify the premises and conclusion of

an argument through an example.

If Susan is leaving for New Delhi early tomorrow morning then she will be

back home by 8 p.m. she is back home by 8 p.m. So she must be leaving for

New Delhi early tomorrow morning.

If we analyze this argument carefully using the indicator words for premises and

conclusion then we can identify that

The conclusion indicator in the argument is the word so.

The conclusion is: Susan must be leaving for New Delhi early tomorrow

morning.

The rest of the statements of the argument are premises.

The premises are as follows:

1. If Susan is leaving for New Delhi early tomorrow morning then she will be

back home by 8 p.m.

2. Susan is back home by 8 p.m.

Now the argument may be rewritten as follows:

Premise 1: If Susan is leaving for New Delhi early tomorrow morning then she will be

back home by 8 p.m.

Premise 2: Susan is back home by 8 p.m.

Conclusion: Therefore, Susan must be leaving for New Delhi early tomorrow

morning.

Strategies for critical thinking

Critical thinking skill development involves the following steps:

Step1: Restraining emotions

Emotions play an important role in our lives. They help us feel comparison,

help others and reach out in times of need and they help us relate to others. On the

other hand, emotions can also cause some problems in critical thinking process. For

example: consider the question ‘Should mobile phones be banned in campus?’ did you

immediately form an opinion? If the answer is yes then it shows that your emotions

are not under your control. If you cannot control your emotions and you fail to use

logic, research and evidence then you are unable to examine the issue critically.

The following tips can be considered when you are faced with an emotional

decision.

Listen to all sides of argument or statement before you make your decision.

Try to understand which emotions are causing you to lose objectivity.

Don’t allow your emotions to withdraw you or turn off from the situation.

Do not allow yourself to get engaged in I’m right you are wrong situations.

Try to understand why others feel their side is the correct one.

Physiological reactions to emotions such as increased heart rate and blood

pressure and an increase in adrenaline flow should be recognized as an

emotional checklist. If you begin to experience these reactions, relax, take a

deep breath and concentrate on being open minded.

Control your negative self talk towards other persons or situations.

Determine whether your emotions are essential.

Step 2: Looking at things differently

Critical thinking involves looking at an issue from many different angles. It

encourages you to understand the issue in a deeper way.

Step 3: Analyzing information

Critical thinking also involves analyzing information. To analyze, break a

topic, statement or problem into parts to understand it clearly. To do this in a better

way, you can create a chart of information using right and left hand columns which

represents good/right and bad/wrong sides of an issue or problem. After analyzing an

issue the next level is to synthesize your information which you got after analysis.

Step 4: Asking questions

Questioning is not a new thing but it may be a new technique for acquiring new

knowledge. Questioning helps to promote knowledge, solve problems, create strong

relationships and critically analyze difficult situations.

Step 5: Solving problems

One faces many types of problems in one’s life. To solve a problem by

reaching at the correct conclusion is sometimes very difficult. But to make it easier

first put the problem in writing. Chalk (write) down all the aspects of the problem like

why it is a problem. Once you have identified and narrowed the problem, you can start

to find out the solution.

Another method to solve problem is by brainstorming where you can gather

ideas, formulate questions and solve problems. Brainstorming is a session where

people are gathered into a group and are asked to tell their ideas. For effective

brainstorming session, there are certain guidelines.

Identify the topic, problem or statement to be discussed.

Set a time limit for the session.

Write all ideas on a board or a chart.

Let everyone speak.

Don’t criticize people for their remarks.

Concentrate on the issue, let ideas flow.

Suspend judgment till all have given their ideas.

If the session is used for generating questions rather than solutions, each

participant should ask questions rather than make statements. Then the final

stage of this step comes where you analyze the different opinions of different

people. You are able to distinguish the strong point from the weak point.

Eliminate the weaker arguments so that you are left with only the stronger

arguments. Then you can come to a good conclusion.

Step 6: Distinguishing fact from opinion

Out of the different views of different people some may be facts and some may

be opinions. Try to make a distinction between them.

Step 7: Seeking truth in arguments and persuasion

Daily you are persuaded or forced by many methods such as the T.V,

newspaper editorials, news commentaries, political statements and religious sermons

and so on. So in this condition where you are being forced through advice or argument

to accept a view, a critical thinker should try to find out the truth in the arguments and

persuasion.

Persuasion, Conformity and Critical Thinking

Human action is grounded in human motives which in turn is grounded in

human desire and perceived interest. We daily categorize, make certain assumptions,

interpret and infer from within a viewpoint. In other words, we are naturally

prejudiced. We ponder on those things which justify and satisfy our desires. It is not

enough that one is taught to be ethical, honest, kind, generous, thoughtful, concerned

with others and respectful of human rights. The human mind creates certain situations

so that it can understand selfish desire as self-defense, cruelty as discipline,

domination as love, intolerance as conviction, evil as good.

In order to overcome or remove prejudices, one must develop critical thinking

in a special direction. For this, one requires intellectual skills as well as intellectual

character. Indeed, one must develop and refine their intellectual skills as one develops

and refines their intellectual character, to embed the skills in their character and shape

their character through the skills.

Persuasion

Persuasive discourse has the following types:

Deliberative: that which seeks to persuade someone to do something he

otherwise would not do or to accept a point of view he otherwise would not

hold. It is concerned with the future.

Example: if you do not support the Zionist party, the minorities are going to

overtake the nation.

It is a threat based on the presumption that if the minorities do take over the

nation it is going to be bad for the Zionists. In other words, this persuasive

discourse is rooted in Xenophobia- the fear of the foreign community.

Forensic: that which seeks to defend or condemn one’s actions. It is concerned

with the past.

Example: Caesar was not ambitious because he had refused the crown thrice.

Ceremonial: that which celebrates or denounces. It is usually associated with

the present.

Example: Oxford is the Mecca of learning; it has the most stringent admission

policies.

Conformity

People often do create an illusion of moral character in a variety of ways. For

instance, we systematically confuse group mores with universal moral standards.

When people act in accordance with the orders and taboos of their groups, they

naturally feel right. They receive much praise in moral terms. They may be even

treated as moral leaders. Sometimes, people often cannot distinguish between moral

and religious conformity.

Prejudices

Prejudice is one of the most important problems one often encounters in

applying the tenets of critical thinking effectively. The best way to avoid prejudice is

to identify it and point it out. In a sense, people are animals whose minds are tailor-

made for close-mindedness and hence for bias. When we are brought up naturally

based on the circumstances and situations around us, we have many experiences,

fears, friendships, relationships and develop some sort of prejudice slowly and

steadily. Another factor which contributes to the creation of prejudices and bias is the

emotional turmoil one undergoes. But, this sort of bias and prejudice may create

hindrance in effective thinking process.

Social Influence on Critical Thinking

Society and the different social classes have a strong influence on critical

thinking. Critical belief may include consciousness of social inequality, of a dominant

ideology and of discrimination. Though there have been many opinions and views

being given by many philosophers and ideologists, critical thinking is often class and

community driven. Modern thinking lead by many modern thinkers like Althusser,

Foucault, Freud and Habermas tends to question any singular claim to being logical.

According to Habermas, three things must be kept in mind:

1) First, the logical level of presupposition concerns the production of cogent,

consistent arguments. It requires that speakers avoid contradicting themselves

and employ the meanings of expressions consistently.

2) Second, the procedural level of presupposition requires that people engaged in

discussion about a problematic claim adopt a hypothetical attitude through

which they consider the validity of claims regardless of their immediate needs

in the situation. This hypothetical attitude requires that the participants in the

argument step back from their personal perspective and consider the relevant

issues critically.

3) Finally, the rhetorical or process level of presupposition requires that the

‘structures of the speech situation [be] immune to repression and inequality’.

Hence, in such a condition where repression and hegemony persists, one cannot have

rational argument.

Standards of critical thinking

The criteria by which we evaluate whether or not one’s thinking process or

reasoning process is critical are the standards of critical thinking. These help us to

write, think and evaluate issues in a way that shows our intellectual responsibility. The

major criteria of critical thinking are as follows:

Clarity

In thinking critically, the first and foremost standard that one needs to achieve

is clarity. To any exercise that requires critical thinking, one should be able to speak

and write clearly. If one is not clear in stating his or her view clearly, others will not

be able to evaluate your view in a correct way.

For effective communication also, clarity is essential. If one wants clarity in

expression, he or she should remember the audience (to whom you are talking to or

writing to). For example, the political leaders use different words and different

examples when they address the daily workers and the businessmen based on the

context of the audience. So, clarity is context sensitive.

Conceptual clarity is also another factor essential to a critical thinker. For

example, the concept of ‘secularism’ in Indian context. When someone is asked about

the meaning of ‘secular’ that one becomes aware of the concept ‘secular’ and tries to

analyze what it means.

Teachers are people who must be good at being clear. Experts on critical

thinking say that your thinking is clear only if one is able to state his or her meaning

clearly, elaborate it, explain it and try to give good examples and illustrations of it.

Good orators, speakers and teachers try to do this. To be clear, there are two ways: the

first way is that one should be clear about what one thinks, believes or means. The

second way is that one should find a clear way of expressing what one has in mind so

that the audience is able to understand the meaning of what one wants to convey. So

clarity should be exercised both for oneself and for others. Both these aspects are

related because if one wants to express one’s thoughts clearly to others, one need to be

clear in one’s mind.

There are certain methods to make it sure how one can be clear in one’s own

mind and how one can express his ideas clearly to others.

In one’s own case

One must be able to clearly say what one exactly means.

If asked, one must be able to elaborate any point he or she makes.

One must be able to come up with illustrations if needed.

One must re-evaluate the words and modes of explanation one uses to clarify

things further in our mind.

One must think about his or her audience and accordingly face the difficulties

that the audience may have in understanding things that one says.

One must be able to analyze any concept that one uses.

One must be able to rephrase whatever one says.

One must be able to judge hypothetical cases.

In case of others

One must say things that s\he or him\ herself have understood clearly.

One must always encourage questions from the audience and try to answer

them.

One must ask the audience from time to time what they have understood from

his or her speech; this will indicate whether one has succeeded in

communicating what one wants to communicate.

One must ask the audience to reflect on the issue in their own way and be open

to new ways of looking at any issue.

Problems or Impediments to Clarity

There are many problems in being clear. One of the greatest problems is the

lack of clarity of thought, which is the cause of the lack of clarity in articulation. This

is why when one is asked for clarifications, one is unable to make others understand

his or her idea. This is because one did not think about that thing in a deeper way.

Another reason for the unclearness in the mind is the lack of sense of intellectual

responsibility and casual approach to issues. Another important problem to clarity in

thought is the prejudices that blocks one’s thought process so that one’s thoughts and

speech becomes vague and obscure. If one is overcome by emotions then one is

unable to think or talk clearly.

Accuracy

To be accurate means to be true to facts. When we are making quantitative

judgments in science, accuracy is important.

Clarity and accuracy are not the same. One can be clear without being accurate.

For instance, we may say ‘Dogs generally live up to the age of fifteen. This is a clear

statement but not an accurate one. A statement is accurate if it is true, confirmed by

evidence, defended by justifications, supported by facts, authenticated by testimony

and is guaranteed and established.

There are statements that can be declared as true or false whereas there are

some statements for which we cannot make straightforward claims of truth. In such

cases, we speak of accuracy. For example, the statement ‘London is the capital of UK’

is a factual statement which is true. Consider another example ‘7+5=12’. This is not a

factual statement but it is true and it can be proved by reason. But consider another

example, ‘Globalization is destroying regional cultures’. This is not a factual

statement nor can we prove it to be true or false. In such cases where we cannot decide

whether it is true or not, the point of accuracy comes.

In the case of accuracy, certain measures have to be taken by ourselves to be

accurate in our thinking and also when we speak it to others.

In our own case

We must be critical before taking any information. We must judge the

credibility of the source of the information before taking it to be true or

accurate.

We must review all our beliefs with the eye of a sceptic (a person who doubts

the truth of a particular belief). We must not take the beliefs as to be true right

from the beginning, rather consider them as working hypothesis, which is open

to doubt and which is waiting for confirmation.

We may, sometimes, begin to believe what we wish for as something true.

We must examine the accuracy of what we believe, of what we read, of what

we hear and also of what is usually accepted by all. For this, we have to

continuously question the source of particular information, try to judge the

reliability of the source, and try not to accept anything without checking or

evaluating it. Try to find goods of evaluation and always try to find out counter

examples.

In case of others

We must be open to the doubts of the audience.

We must ask our audience to point out which parts of our explanation they

think is inaccurate or doubtful.

We must find out which of our statements was not understood by the audience

and try to support the statements.

Impediments to Thinking Accurately

There are many problems in thinking accurately. The first one is the lack of

enough resources which results in the difficulty to scrutinize or evaluate our resources.

Due to the lack of resources, we are unable to compare the resources with other

resources. Moreover, there are certain areas of knowledge where we have to depend

on just a single expert or resource. In such cases, it is very difficult to judge whether

the statement is accurate or not.

Another problem is caused due to our long-held beliefs which we dare not

question. This often leads us to believe what we wish to be true and we are made blind

to other alternatives.

Due to some earlier experience that we had in our life we are often tempted to

do hasty generalization. For example, if you had a very bad experience in a foreign

country, you are tempted to believe that all the people of that country are bad, which

may not be true. You are forced to do this because of xenophobia (the fear of a foreign

country).

Sometimes we believe in certain folk beliefs. Even though there may be new

facts we are not ready to think in another way though there may be facts to support the

new idea. But we dare not question our old beliefs and thereby we find it hard to judge

the accuracy of such beliefs. The same is of the influence of media. Media has

displaced old beliefs and it has taken its position. Media has an influencing power

over us, which we are not able to overcome. Media presents only those news or facts

that we wish to hear or see by which we are unable to judge its accuracy. All these

factors make it difficult for one to become an accurate thinker.

Precision

Precision is a standard of critical thinking closely connected with clarity and

accuracy. Precision means to become more specific and not to omit any details which

are relevant to the topic. If you want to convince people about your idea, you have to

be precise (specific) so that you can communicate your exact message.

The need for precision is very important. To be precise you have to take certain

measures with respect to your own thinking and also with respect to how precisely

you can communicate your thoughts to others.

In our own case

We must be able to see if our statements are supported by details or not. If not,

try to find way to gather those details.

Try to provide as much information on a particular issue as possible.

Gather detailed information from resourceful persons, from texts, from any

credible source. But you have to do cautious scrutiny.

Be comfortable in moving from the general to the specific idea as we are in

moving from the specific to the general.

In case of others

We must be open to suggestions regarding the lack of details in our own

statement.

Take help of fellow enquirers and audience to find out the area/ place which

requires further details.

Impediments to Precision

There are many problems to think and speak precisely. First of all, we are

unaware and often untrained to speak and think precisely. Often, the case that we are

discussing is so complicated that it is very difficult to think and speak precisely.

Relevance

A person who thinks about things that are irrelevant to the issue under enquiry

or speaks about such irrelevant things cannot go far in the business of thinking

critically. While thinking through some problem, we must find out what is relevant or

important for that problem. We must find and enquire into all and only those things

that are relevant to the problem.

Suppose, you are trying to find out the causes of global warming, then it would

be better if you look into the causes for environmental changes and the issues that lead

to global warming. But if you think that some very technical micro-economic formula

is equally relevant for it, you may be wrong.

So, whenever you are trying to find out what is relevant or irrelevant for an

issue, one has to keep in mind that there may be many personal issues but those issues

must not be considered as a relevant issue for the problem under consideration. We

must be able to set aside what is important for us, and concentrate only on issues that

are directly or indirectly related to the question at hand. Suppose your ancestors were

displaced from their homeland and you have inherited strong feeling about it. When

you examine the issue of refugee problem in Eastern European countries if you bring

in your personal feelings then that would be absolutely irrelevant for the issue at hand.

This is so because the socio-political situation of Eastern Europe is quite different

from the one that resulted in your ancestors’ migration.

Let us look into the measures that we may take in order to find out what is

relevant to the problem or question under consideration with respect to our own

thinking and also with respect to others.

In our own case, we must reflect on the following issues:

In order to find out which are the relevant issues to the problem at hand we

need to be thorough about the problem and in considering each possible related

issue we need to question, ‘How is this connected with my main problem?’

At no point of the enquiry should we lose sight of the main problem under

scrutiny.

In order to achieve all this, we must always review our course of thinking.

We must write down all the important points and sub-points.

We must summarize and outline.

We must try to figure out what relations the concepts that are involved in the

enquiry have with each other. For this we may take help of what is known as

‘concept maps’.

We must sift out (separate) the relevant issue out of all the peripheral ones,

even if the peripheral issues are more interesting to us.

In the case of others, we will have to remember the following points:

We must consider seriously what the audience takes to be relevant to the

enquiry.

We must clearly indicate what we consider as important and also make it clear

what the audience takes as important by asking questions and summarizing and

analyzing.

Impediments to Focusing on the Relevant

The greatest impediment to thinking in a relevant way is that we feel that the

more we say or the more we write, the better is our handling of the problem. However,

this is a misunderstanding. We often lose sight of the main problem when we focus on

the length of the material we produce and the result is that we forget the more critical

issue. We must not attach importance to all the details indiscriminately, which

happens because we state whatever comes to hand without reflecting on it properly.

Our emotional attachment also proves to be a problem in missing the relevant points.

We are often unable to point out relevant details because we discuss a problem in

isolation from its actual context. In spite of all these problems, we are often able to

solve any problem.

Depth

When we follow the standards of critical thinking like clarity, accuracy,

precision and relevance in critical thinking, we achieve a certain amount of depth in

handling a problem. For this we have to go to the core of the problem and make a

threadbare analysis of it.

In order to achieve depth in our approach to a problem, we need to get to the

centre of the problem. For example, we commonly believe that floods and famines are

natural calamities. But with the help of economists and sociologists, we find that some

floods and famines are man-made. Every problem has its complexities but only a

critical mind can analyze those and such a mind has achieved the desired depth.

In our own case

We must look into the underlying structures of a thing.

We must not ignore any lead as irrelevant without making a thorough

examination of it.

We must be prepared for complexities that may arise during our investigation

into the phenomenon under scrutiny.

We must employ our analytical ability to master the complex concepts that are

involved in the case.

In case of others

We must always give a detailed analysis of the problem to our audience before

coming up with our own solution.

We must also explain the other points or those opposing our points with the

same amount of depth and clarity.

We must take the opinion of our audience about the lack of details in our own

exposition.

The human mind gets comfort in simplicity. This is why we are hasty and

superficial in dealing with problems. In addition to being lazy, we are afraid of

complexities related to the problem and have a fear of losing control over it. This

makes us shut our eyes to such complexities. But a critical thinker can face any

problem however challenging it may be.

Breadth

A problem must be investigated not only in a deeper way but also in a broader

way. If you consider all the relevant aspects of a problem without leaving any detail

unattended then you will achieve the desired breadth. Looking into different aspects of

the issue and taking alternative approaches to it also helps us achieve the desired

broadness. Having the ability to see a problem from different perspectives is the virtue

of a critical mind.

In our own case

We must at each point ask ourselves the question whether we have considered

all the aspects of the problem.

We must at each point try to think of alternative standpoints that may be taken

on the same point that we are discussing.

We must be as exhaustive as possible.

In case of others

We must encourage our audience to offer an alternative approach on the issue

that we are discussing.

We must give all the details to the audience and be ready to give as many

illustrations and come up with as many examples as we can.

We must also be open to counter-examples that the audience might come up

with.

Module III

The Process of Writing

Academic writing is a process where one has to do a lot of research work in

order to present information, data’s and facts. So basically it is thesis driven, where

thesis is the main idea or the perspective of the chosen topic. Essay writing

assignments are in away a form of academic writing where if not extensive but enough

research work has to be done on a particular topic under study. It is through the essay

that one shares his or her understanding, perception and standpoint regarding that

topic.

A. Researching resources for writing

Before one begins with the process of writing, one must be having a clear idea

about the topic on which he or she is going to write and the audience you are

targeting. First ask a question to yourself what is it that you would like to prove or

disprove, and based on that, the thesis can be developed. Select the material after

becoming certain for whom you are writing. The information can be collected after

doing a thorough research on any or all of the following sources: people, books,

magazines, indexes, newspapers, surveys and electronic sources. Once the information

is collected, sift through the data and organize it into a comprehensive matter so that

your standpoint or recommendation is articulated clearly.

Collect data from appropriate sources

Once you have found out the question to be investigated and identified the

audience, the next step is to collect the necessary information related to your topic of

research. Source based materials can be found in interviews, print sources and

electronic sources.

Interviews

A good way to gather first hand information is to conduct personal interviews

which are prearranged meeting with a person in which particular questions are asked.

Print sources

Printed sources can be found in college libraries or common reading rooms and

libraries of your locality. The printed sources include books, magazines, newspaper

articles, articles in scholarly journals, book reviews, pamphlets, encyclopaedias,

special interest encyclopaedias and various kinds of dictionaries and reference books.

Electronic sources

The articles which are published in magazines, newspapers and journals can be

found in computerized indexes. Information can also be availed through the internet

using various search engines. But, when the internet sources are used, one must be

very cautious about the authenticity of the source and it must be a reliable source. This

is because, unlike printed books which are error free to an extent and which are proof

read, the reliability of the sources from the internet cannot be assessed easily. One

more flaw in the internet sources is it is seldom been edited or reviewed by

knowledgeable readers.

B. Reading for writing

The process after the selection of materials is the reading process which is an

important stage in academic writing. A thorough reading of all the materials collected

has to be done. Though it is time consuming one must take the pains to go through all

the materials so that one will have relevant knowledge about the selected topic. This

will help in forming an idea about the topic under consideration. It is active and alert

readers who make better writers.

Strategies for Active Reading

In order to make reading an extremely enriching exercise, there are some strategies

which may be followed. The strategies are:

Preview the reading.

Use a dictionary and contextual definitions.

Annotate your text.

Summarize what you have read.

Use critical thinking to evaluate what you have read.

Preview the reading

A quick look into the various parts of the book, or any piece of writing, you are

about to read will give you a rough idea about the content and its extent. It will help

one in understanding the text better.

Use dictionary definitions and contextual definitions

In order to understand the material you are reading clearly a good dictionary

will become useful as the meaning of difficult words can be found out using

dictionary.

Annotate

When you are reading a material, you can annotate or highlight what you are

reading in many ways, thereby making notes on the margins of the textbook or the

material under study. Annotation can be done in many ways. It can be done either by

asking a number of questions or underlining important points, inserting definitions, or

indicating your agreement or disagreement through your notes.

Summarize

Summarizing what one has read is another way to read actively. A summary is

a statement of the main points or the most important ideas of the text. One point to be

kept in mind is that summarizing should be done in one’s own words so that a

condensed version of the original can be created. Summarizing also tests whether one

has been able to understand the text clearly.

C. Mechanics of Writing

Once you have read enough and collected the relevant materials on the topic

you are going to write, you can start with the process of writing. Writing is a process

because it involves distinct steps beginning from developing a concept to expanding

on the basic idea to revising and polishing the final piece. There are some key points

like purpose, focus, material, structure and style.

Purpose

The writer must be clear about the purpose of writing and should do the

following things.

Express

Inform

Persuade

Focus

It refers to the main point one is wishing to make about the subject.

Material

This is the content of your writing and may include details, facts and

supporting evidence. The sources that one can use to collect the information can be:

personal experience, observation, imagination, interviews, outside readings or

research.

Structure

The order in which you arrange the material to support the main point clearly

and completely is the structure of the writing.

Style

Style involves three separate parts:

First, style refers to the way a writer puts words together to form sentences and

then groups of sentences to form longer passages.

Second, style refers to the ‘correctness’ of a piece of writing.

Third, style involves conforming to format, or the proper appearance of a piece

of finished writing.

Create a captivating title

A title is a very important part of an essay. Some writers like to give a title

right from the beginning stages itself while some prefer to finish the essay, polish it

and then create a suitable title. Titles cannot function as thesis statements, but try to

create a title from one to several words long.

Check for correct manuscript format

Manuscript format refers to the general layout of a final draft, including name

and title placement, margins and page numbers. The most common format can be

followed: double space the essay on 8.5 by 11-inch white bond paper, set 1-inch

margins on the top, bottom and sides of the page, indent paragraphs, centre-align the

title, and put your name, class name and your assignment number or description in the

upper-right corner.

Develop a plan from a title

In every academic essay, there is a plan that needs to be developed from the

title. It is called the thesis statement and the purpose of the thesis. It contains the main

point, idea or opinion the writer wants to convey about a subject. It also enables the

audience to identify what a writer is going to focus on, usually before the end of the

first paragraph of the essay. An effective thesis or essay has four characteristics:

1. It states the subject of the essay clearly.

2. It includes a controlling idea about the subject.

3. It uses specific language rather than vague words.

4. It establishes a tone that is appropriate for the subject and the intended

audience.

If any of these four qualities is missing, the essay will not provide the needed focus

and the essay will not have a strong foundation.

Evaluating a text

The materials that have been collected have to be evaluated so that the relevant

points may be used effectively. Once the basic information for each source is

recorded, one can proceed with taking notes from those sources. There are three ways

in which this can be done.

1. Summary

2. Paraphrase

3. Direct quotes

1. Summary

A summary is a statement in your own words of the most important points of a

piece of writing. A summary note can be used when it is important to get only the

main ideas of the source.

Strategies for summary note taking:

After mentioning the source by title and name of the author, write the author’s

complete thesis in your own words.

Proceed by writing, in your own words, the main points in the order in which

they are developed in the source. Delete less important ideas or examples.

Remain objective; do not pass judgment on any of the author’s ideas or

opinions. A summary is not an evaluation or critique.

Keep the summary short- it should be substantially shorter than the source you

are using.

Do not plagiarize by using the exact words in the source. Examine an original

source and then contrast an unacceptable summary with an acceptable one.

2. Paraphrase

Paraphrasing is a method of note taking where you take the information from a

source and put it in your own words without condensing it. Paraphrasing can be used

when all the data, specific facts and details have to be communicated to the readers.

Although you are communicating the facts in your own words, you must still credit

the source of information.

3. Direct quote

In some cases, the exact words of the source are dramatic, or the language is as

important as the source’s ideas. In such cases, you’ll want to use a direct quote- the

exact words of a source without omissions, changes or additions, and set them off

from the rest of the text by quotation marks or indentation. If you want to omit words

because they are not important, you must signal this to your reader using ellipsis

points; if you add words, you must enclose them in brackets. Never use quotation as

the thesis statement or as a topic sentence in a body paragraph- these main points

should be in your own words.

Planning a text

An essay has three distinct parts: introduction, body paragraph and a

conclusion. First introduce your topic by stating what you are going to talk about.

Thus, the first paragraph has the thesis and some preliminary information about the

topic. Then you move on to the body paragraphs, which can be any number,

depending on the number and extent of aspects that you wish to discuss to support

your thesis. Finally, you come to the conclusion of your essay.

Characteristics of Body Paragraphs

Body paragraphs vary in purpose, length, style and subject matter. But effective

body paragraph contains the following characteristics.

It makes one main point.

It contains sufficient support, using from one to many kinds of evidence to

develop its main point.

It proceeds according to a clear organizational plan.

It contains no material that does not relate to its point.

It employs precise language.

In addition, the separate body paragraphs work effectively together within an essay if

they possess the following traits:

Each moves clearly and smoothly from one main point to the next.

Each makes use of the organizational plan that suits the writer’s purpose,

logically follows the previous paragraph, and clearly leads to the next

paragraph.

Strategies for writing body paragraphs

Use Topic Sentence

Every body paragraph should have a topic sentence stating the point that one

wants to make in that paragraph. The topic sentence should contain the controlling

idea and also reveal your attitude or view regarding that idea.

Signal Shifts in Thought

Cue words or transitions are words that allow readers to anticipate (guess) what

is to come in the body paragraphs of an essay. If you use cue words effectively, the

audience will be able follow your thought process more easily from one detail or main

point to the next. Cue words are useful not only within the body paragraphs but

throughout the entire essay.

Avoid the unclear ‘this’ and ‘it’

Even though we use the word this to substitute for a noun, one has to remember

that this usage of pronoun may lead to reader confusion. Try to use this with a noun to

show clearly what you mean.

Example:

Problem:

She placed her notebook on the desk. It toppled to the ground moments later.

Solution:

She placed her notebook on the desk. Her notebook toppled to the ground

moments later.

Repeat important words

You can keep your body paragraphs focused on the main point by using

appropriate repetition of important words and phrases. To avoid becoming

monotonous in your writing and to make your repetitions more interesting, use

synonyms- substitute words that have the same or almost the same meaning as the

original word.

Use parallel sentence structures

Similar ideas can be effectively, and sometimes quite dramatically, linked by

using parallel sentence structures. Parallel sentence structures repeat a sentence

pattern for dramatic effect.

Characteristics of introduction

A catchy introduction is crucial to the success of an essay. Therefore the essay

should begin in such a manner that it captures the attention of the readers and guides

them smoothly into the subject. An effective introduction has the following

characteristics:

It captures the attention of the reading audience through the use of a particular

strategy.

It guides the audience smoothly into the subject.

It sets the tone for the entire essay.

It either states or moves towards the thesis.

Strategies for writing introductions

Some of the strategies which will be helpful in writing good introductions are

as follows:

1. Hook your audience

The first sentence of the introductory paragraph should hook the attention of

the audience. It should attract them to the subject. There should be reasons for the

audience to read your essay and for that there are many introductory strategies which

can be used. There are in total seven introductory strategies as discussed below.

Background information

Almost all college level essays benefit from a brief historical overview or some

concise background information on the topic to be discussed. The strategy here is to

explain background information so that the readers can learn more about the subject.

Example:

Up until the 1960s, African- Americans, Latinos and other people of color

as well as women were blatantly discriminated against in the American

workplace and college admissions for no other reason than their gender or

the color of their skin. When affirmative action was implemented, it was

designed to help minorities and women gain greater representation in jobs,

promotions, college admissions and business contracts. Today, however,

because affirmative action has resulted in misunderstanding, bitterness and

verbal warfare, the program should be reviewed and revised.

Question

Asking the readers a provocative question or a series of questions is another

introductory strategy.

Example:

Are you one of many people who dream of becoming a recording artist?

Are you stymied because you have the talent but not the first idea of how to

get started in the recording business?

Story or incident

The essay can be opened with a story or anecdote that directly illustrates the

main idea. But, one point to be kept in mind is that the length of the story must be

under control as the purpose of the essay is to heighten the interest and curiosity of the

audience in the topic and not to divert their attention through a lengthy narration.

Example:

I was eight years old when my parents moved to a new apartment located in

Bourj-Hamoud, Lebanon, a beautiful city that used to be called ‘Little

Paris.’ When I first saw this big building, I thought we were going to live on

a boat, so much did the building resemble a boat. What I remember most

was our two- hundred-foot-long balcony, wrapping all around our

apartment. The first few days after we moved in, I was afraid to venture out

on this balcony because it was so large. As the days passed by, the

balcony became the place where I spent all my time and where I learned

about the outside world.

Statistic, fact, or statement

The speaker can often begin with a startling statistic or fact and then gain the

attention of the readers.

Example:

Last year over half of the nation’s computer users spent 50 dollars or

more on phone calls and books for technical support related to problems

installing or running computer programs. This money could have been

saved if computer users had a better knowledge of how to install a

program. And, program installation is not as complicated as many people

believe. Most programs require three fairly simple steps, each

accompanied by a few precautions.

Quotation

One can also use the technique of beginning an essay using quotation. But

when one is using this technique, one has to be very careful in identifying the source

of the quotation unless it is a known proverb or saying. If you are writing an essay

about a particular book, story, or article, you may choose to begin your introductory

paragraph with a quotation from the source you are discussing, just as in the following

example.

‘A stranger blocked her path, but she passed him blindly. He had to touch

her arm before she would look up.’ The woman was Mrs Ardavi, arriving

from Iran, and the stranger was Hassan, her son, whom she had not son in

over ten years. Both Ardavi and Hassan are characters in the short story

‘Your Place Is Empty’ by Anne Tyler. Both Mrs Ardavi and her son

Hassan must come to terms with differences in culture, personality,

religion and age.

Definition

If some difficult and confusing terms or ideas are used in the essay, it would be

better if the audience is given a complete and clear definition of those terms and ideas

in order to make them understand them in n easier manner. But try to avoid frequent

references like ‘according to Webster’s Dictionary’ or ‘the dictionary defines’ usages.

Example:

Look how an author tries to define artificial bait which is an uncommon

term to the readers.

If you enjoy prime fishing, you should know that the northern states have

excellent fishing lakes. And if you do plan a visit, it will help you to be

familiar with Rapalas and their use in game fishing. What exactly is a

Rapala? It is an artificial bait that is tied to the end of a fishing line in

place of a basic fishing hook. It is handcrafted of either cedar or balsa

wood with two sets of hooks attached to its cigar-shaped body. If you

want to take home a freezer-full of the best largemouth bass, northern

pike, walleye, or the highly valued muskellunge, you should learn how

and when to use Rapalas.

Examples or details

You can also rouse the interest of the audience in your subject by giving a

series of examples or details associated with that subject.

Example:

Unless you have felt like an outsider, been singled out by resident

advisors, stayed up for hours studying for finals, been denied financial

loans, failed a test, sat in the wrong class by mistake, read the wrong

pages for homework, become sick from cafeteria food on campus,

experienced writer’s block, paid over three hundred dollars for books,

bought the wrong books and could not return them- unless you have

experienced at least some of these situations, you have not known the

‘joys’ of being a college student. But though college may be one big pain

and one of the greatest challenges you’ll ever face, without a college

education you are dead.

2. Introduce the subject

The essay’s introduction should also introduce the subject.

3. Establish a voice and tone

Every effective introductory paragraph sets up the voice and tone for the rest of

the essay. Voice refers to the writer’s personality and the way this personality comes

through in the essay. Tone refers to the writer’s attitude toward a subject and to the

writer’s perception of an audience and relationship with them.

4. State the thesis

After capturing the attention of the audience and indicating the subject, the

introduction should either state the thesis for the essay or move toward a more focused

subject. The thesis is most often found within the introductory paragraph.

Characteristics of Conclusions

If the introduction to an essay is important because it determines whether the

reader will read further, the conclusion is also important as it is the final and most

important part of the essay. It conveys a feeling of completion. Do not bring up any

new steps, but try signaling the reader that you have communicated all necessary

information. A conclusion frames the essay by tying together all the main points and

wrapping up any loose ends for the reader.

Strategies for Writing Conclusions

Some strategies are there for good conclusions. They are as follows:

1. Offer Closure

The essay should not end abruptly. One must conclude the essay with a few

sentences that signal the reader that the essay is ending.

2. Frame the Essay

Just like a frame forms a finite border for a painting, an effective conclusion

brings together the contents of an essay for the audience. A number of concluding

strategies are there for the successful framing of an essay. The concluding strategies

are five in number and are as follows:

Summary

This is the most common strategy which is useful for essays which are longer

than three typewritten pages. If the essay is shorter, summarizing is unnecessary as the

audience may feel insulted about their ability to remember the amount of material. On

the other hand, if the essay deals with complex or technical material, or if the essay is

a longer one, then it would be appreciative if the summary of the essay is given.

Recommendation

Another effective way to end the essay is by making a recommendation to the

audience.

Prediction or warning

A memorable way to end the essay would be by using a prediction or issuing a

warning.

Call to action

This strategy challenges the audience to become involved by doing something

about a situation or problem.

Reference to introductory strategy

An interesting and satisfying concluding strategy involves referring back to the

introductory example, story, statistic, quote, or other device and elaborating or

connecting the information, tying the end to the beginning of the essay.

3. Avoid Pitfalls

Whatever concluding strategy you apply, the three potential pitfalls have to be

avoided.

New material

Do not have an urge to introduce a new material, such as another main point or

another detail, in your conclusion. It is not the time of discussion but summing up your

ideas that you have to concentrate on.

Apology

Never weaken your position by apologizing.

Moralizing

Try to avoid preaching in the concluding paragraph. It is the readers or the

audience who have to moralize.

Revising and Polishing the Essay

The composing process does not end with the process of drafting but it extends

beyond that. In the revising stage of the composing process, you re-evaluate your

essay draft in order to make both major and minor adjustments.

Strategies for revising

Try to be objective and detached. The following strategies will help you in

creating a good essay.

1. Allow time for reflection

Once you finish the final draft of your essay, don’t be hasty to come to a

conclusion that the essay looks pretty good. Provide sufficient time for reflection so

that you can come up with a better draft of the essay.

2. Use audience response: peer and instructing editing

An important and helpful tool in the revising stage is that of peer or instructor

editing and response. Sometimes you may feel that the points in the essay are well

coordinated and presented according to the degree of importance. But, it is advisable

that you consult a peer editor, who is an unbiased reading audience, so that you can get

a true and effective feedback from an objective view. Based on the feedback, you can

make the necessary changes for your essay.

3. Rethink the draft

Rethinking the draft is the next strategy that can be applied by anyone for

making their essay a fairly good one. After the peer or instructor response, the strategy

of rethinking the draft helps one in making a threadbare revising process of the essay

so that the final draft would be better than the initial copy. Rethinking involves

significant adjustments done from the part of the writer. The adjustments during the

rethinking process include procedures like adding, cutting, substituting and

rearranging.

4. Add to the draft

You must be ready to make alterations in your essay if the peer or instructor

reader feels that some vital points have been left by you or if any part of the essay

needs clarification.

5. Cut what is not working

In some cases, you may find that some parts of the essay needs to be cut, that is,

to delete words, sentences, or even large sections because they do not suit to the

purpose of the essay or they repeat what has been already stated. Irrelevant details

should be cut whatever be the level of effort you had put in the generation of the essay.

6. Make substitutions

When you delete certain words or sentences or even large sections of an essay,

the space which was occupied earlier by these materials has to be filled in through

replacement or substitution. Sometimes, you will have to introduce words, sentences

or even paragraphs in order to make up the blank space.

7. Rearrange material

After rethinking your draft, sometimes the peer editor or the instructor may feel

that your material has to be rearranged so that the final draft of the essay appears

logically coordinated for the free flow of ideas.

Strategies for polishing

Revising the essay should always be followed by another round of reading,

when you actually clean and polish the essay. The following strategies will help you in

achieving the desired amount of perfection in your essay.

1. Re-read your revised draft

Even after you have finished revising you essay once or twice, read out the

essay again loudly so that you may be able find out the minute mistakes which has not

been identified by you.

2. Use your tools to improve weak spots

If you have a recognized weakness, be on the look-out for this weakness and

take the precautionary measures to avoid it. You can also make use of the computer

spell checker to correct any spelling mistake in the essay. Computer spell checkers can

be used only to identify spelling errors and not misspellings caused by word confusion.

3. Use peer editing and instructor response

For polishing the essay also, peer editing and instructor response can be made

use of effectively.

4. Trim and clarify

One important method used to polish your essay is that of making certain every

word used is necessary, specific and clearly understood by the reader.

5. Eliminate wordiness

Wordiness occurs when we insert lots of unnecessary and sometimes

meaningless words or phrases into the essay. The passages including such wordiness

has to be reread and necessary changes be made.

6. Insert cue words

When the right ‘cue’ word is used in an essay, it shows the transition of ideas

clearly and smoothly from one passage to the other.

7. Proofreading

Proofreading is the process where the material is read once more for any sort of

mistakes and the necessary corrections being made before it is presented to the

intended audience. Proofreading involves the ability to solve various kinds of

punctuation and mechanic problems.

Elements of Writing

To develop an essay, a suitable pattern must be chosen to fit the purpose of the

written essay. A few formats are useful which shall be discussed one by one in the

following sections.

Definition

This is a writing pattern that relies on the ability of the writer to observe

something- notice it carefully- and then clearly communicate that observation to an

audience. This pattern is invaluable in developing sentences, paragraphs, and entire

essays. Definition is a statement of the exact nature of a subject, including what the

subject is and what is not. Defining involves detailing the distinguishing characteristics

clearly. Definitions can be longer, but they include only the essential features required

to help the reader understand what it is you are talking about.

Cause and Effect

Suppose you are asked to write about how you propose to accomplish a

particular project. This will require you to describe the process (how) you intend to

adopt and explain the reason (why) for selecting the concerned process. You would

also want to mention what you hope to achieve. This will involve a process and cause

and effect pattern of writing. When you describe how something is done or happens,

you describe a process; when you describe why something is done or happens, you

describe the cause; and when you describe what happens as a result of that, you

describe the effect. Process and cause and effect allow us to understand, analyze,

investigate and make connections.

As these patterns involve closely related patterns of thought, they are often used

together to develop an essay. However, they can be used independently too, when the

subject of the essay involves only one of these aspects. The process pattern have to be

chosen when the subject of the essay requires the description of how a procedure is

performed or how a phenomenon works. The cause and effect pattern has to be chosen

if the purpose in the essay is to show connections- why something happens or what

results from a situation, occurrence, or even an attitude. The cause and effect form of

writing shows the relationship between two situations. An example of cause and effect

pattern is given below:

Causes Effects

Too much rain leads to flooding

Flooding leads to destruction of crops

Loss of crops leads to shortage of product

Shortage of product leads to rise in market price

Comparison

Sometimes, one may want to compare or contrast two characters in a short

story, two lifestyles, two sports, two movies, or two opinions. When the comparison/

contrast pattern is used, the essay’s purpose is to organize information

For clear understanding,

To make choices, and

To highlight qualities of a subject in more detail.

Discussion or Argument

This pattern of writing involves persuading an audience to agree with the

speaker on a controversial issue. To persuade the readers, use evidence to support the

opinion. Try to keep the speaker’s expressions controlled and be reasonable in order to

be effective. When this pattern is selected to develop an essay, make sure that the

subject has the following features:

The subject is debatable

The thesis makes a reasonable claim, a statement that can be supported by

evidence

The opposition can be acknowledged and refuted

The argument can be developed with reliable, audience- appropriate and up-to-

date evidence

You can put forward some logical appeals in favor of your argument.

The evidence used to support the argument can be any or all of the following:

Facts information held to be true

Statistics a group or list of numerical facts

Expert testimony statement by experts in a relevant field

Charts, graphs, tables, surveys numerical information about a subject

Detailed, documented examples illustrations or models from life

Personal interviews meetings with people who know about the

subject

First-hand experience what the writer knows about the subject

Observation what the writer has observed about the

subject

One or more of the following patterns can be employed when a discussion is written.

Definition

Comparison and contrast

Cause and effect

When the subject for an essay is selected, certain subjects are not appropriate for it

like:

1. Facts

The main purpose of the essay is to persuade the audience to agree with the

speaker: therefore facts- data that are regarded as true, rather than controversial – do

not make appropriate subjects. However, although facts are not appropriate as subjects,

they provide excellent supporting evidence to convince the readers to agree with the

speaker on a controversial topic.

2. Preferences

Personal likes and dislikes- preferences- that are shaped not only by reason but

by background and emotions do not make appropriate subjects for argumentative

essays. Personal preferences usually can’t be changed.

3. Beliefs

Beliefs are ideas that are held to be true for each individual but can’t be proved

to others. So, usually they don’t make good subjects for argument.

4. Impossibilities

Impossibilities are proposals that are not possible in the real world. Trying to

convince an audience of an unrealistic position would be futile.

Cohesion

A good understanding of the syntax and the use of visuals as a powerful tool of

communication are also essential to make academic writing more effective. The

primary requisite of a good writing is clear, unambiguous, readable and

comprehensible sentences. The writing is cohesive when the sentences link logically

and form a unified whole as a paragraph. Certain issues have to be solved to make the

writing cohesive.

Fragmentation

A fragment is an incomplete sentence. To solve a fragment problem, either

rewrite the sentence or connect the fragment to a complete sentence.

Example:

Fragment: Picked up a virus last week. (Subject is missing)

Corrected: John’s computer picked up a virus last week.

Run-ons and comma splices

A run-on is two or more sentences running together without any punctuation

between them. A comma splice is two or more sentences linked by commas instead of

being separated by periods. There are five ways to solve this problem.

1. Use a period to separate the sentences. Start the second sentence with a capital

letter. Example:

Run-on: Kepler’s law explains the motion of the planets around the sun most

astronomy students master the concepts early in their studies.

Comma splice: Kepler’s law explains the motion of the planets around the sun,

most astronomy students master the concepts early in their studies.

Corrected: Kepler’s law explains the motion of the planets around the sun. Most

astronomy students master the concepts early in their studies.

2. Use a semicolon to break one long sentence into two parts. Begin with a

lowercase letter after the semicolon. Example:

Run-on: A float rolled slowly toward the middle of the field it was circled by

cheerleaders and a marching band.

Comma splice: A float rolled slowly toward the middle of the field, it was

circled by cheerleaders and a marching band.

Corrected: A float rolled slowly toward the middle of the field; it was circled by

cheerleaders and a marching band.

3. Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.

Example:

Run-on: The tenants sent many letters to the landlord about the lack of heat he

did not reply.

Comma splice: The tenants sent many letters to the landlord about the lack of

heat, he did not reply.

Corrected: The tenants sent many letters to the landlord about the lack of heat,

but he did not reply.

4. Use a subordinating conjunction, such as after, although, because, before, if,

since, when, where, while. The subordinating conjunction turns one of the

sentences into a dependent clause. Example:

Run-on: I returned home from work last night someone had already made

dinner.

Comma splice: I returned home from work last night, someone had already

made dinner.

Corrected: When I returned home from work last night, someone had already

made dinner.

5. Use a relative pronoun, such as that, which, who, whose. Example:

Run-on: Computer experts refer to Moore’s Law it says that the speed of

personal computers doubles every 18 months.

Comma splice: Computer experts refer to Moore’s Law, it says that the speed of

personal computers doubles every 18 months.

Corrected: Computer experts refer to Moore’s Law, which says that the speed

of personal computers doubles every 18 months.

Faulty Parallelism

When similar thoughts are expressed in dissimilar ways, it results in faulty

parallelism. To make the sentences flow smoothly, use parallel constructions whenever

possible.

Example: The marathon went along the avenue, over the suspension bridge, and then it

turned into the park.

Corrected: The marathon went along the avenue, over the suspension bridge, and into

the park.

Mixed Construction

When the writing process and thinking process don’t quite match, it results in

mixed constructions. To solve this problem, rethink and then rephrase the sentence for

clarity.

Example:

Mixed construction: I wondered was she the right girl for me.

Corrected: I wondered if she was the right girl for me.

Was she the right girl for me?

Synonyms

A synonym is a word which has the same (or almost the same) meaning as

another word. In order to avoid monotony in academic writing one might use

synonyms. Example:

The government introduced the policy in 1992.

The authorities initiated the plan more than ten years ago.

The administration implemented the scheme in the early 1990s.

The Education Department adopted the strategy over a decade ago.

The Director of Education launched the initiative on 12 January 1992.

Writing with Visuals

Visuals provide the audience with snapshots that convey information more

quickly and effectively than a series of sentences would. Pictures, tables, maps,

graphs, pie-charts, flowcharts and diagrams are the various kinds of visuals that can be

used to show large amount data in an easy-to-understand format. They help illustrate

and explain the key points of concepts and processes more efficiently.

Figures and tables summarize information. A pie-chart shows relative

percentage or proportions, whereas graphs reveal a pattern or a relationship between

two variables, example, inflation and salaries, or income and female literacy. A bar

diagram reveals and summarizes comparative data and maps show locations. All forms

of visual description of information, except tables are referred to as figures. In an

academic essay, the figures and tables must be suitably numbered and captions also

must be provided.

Example of a bar chart, with 'Country' as the discrete data set.

A bar chart or bar graph is a chart with rectangular bars with lengths proportional to

the values that they represent. The bars can be plotted vertically or horizontally.

Pie chart of populations of English native speakers

A pie chart (or a circle graph) is a circular chart divided into sectors, illustrating

proportion.

A line chart or line graph is a type of graph, which displays information as a series of

data points connected by straight line segments. It is a basic type of chart common in

many fields. It is an extension of a scatter graph, and is created by connecting a series

of points that represent individual measurements with line segments. A line chart is

often used to visualize a trend in data over intervals of time – a time series – thus the

line is often drawn chronologically.

Accuracy in writing

Abbreviation

English language makes considerable and good use of abbreviation. They

increase convenience and save time. Some of the main types of abbreviations are:

a) Shortened words

b) Acronyms

c) Others

Shortened words

Shortening is a form of abbreviation where the abbreviated form has become

common vocabulary. Examples are bus for omnibus, taxi for taximeter-cabriolet, fax

for facsimile etc.

Acronyms

Acronym means the word that is formed from the first letters of the words that

make up the name of organization. Example, NABARD is an acronym for National

bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. In most cases, these words are used for

convenience and seldom replace the original form. But, there are some exceptions like

yuppie, which is an acronym for young upwardly mobile individual, which has

replaced the vocabulary –existence of the original form. However, most dictionaries

tend to provide a list of commonly used acronyms. In academic writing it is advisable

to use the full form on the occasion of first mention with the acronym in parentheses.

In some cases, the letters do not sound like an individual word and we

pronounce each letter separately. Examples are IBM (International Business

Machines), the USA (United States of America), or NDTV (New Delhi Television).

Others

The third common category of abbreviation is shortened Latin phrases, for

example, N.B. (nota bene, ‘note well’ or simply ‘note’), i.e. (id est, ‘that is’) and etc.

(et cetera, ‘and the rest’ or ‘and others’). These are used frequently in academic

writing.

Common business abbreviations

CEO – Chief Executive Officer

GDP - Gross Domestic Product

VP – Vice President

MNC – Multi-national Corporations

WTO – World Trade Organization

IMF – International Monetary Fund

BPO – Business Process Outsourcing

CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility

Abbreviations common to academic writing

cf. compare

e.g. for example

et al. and others (used in giving names of multiple authors)

fig. figure ( for labeling charts and multiple authors)

ibid. in the same place (to refer to source mentioned immediately before)

i.e. that is

op.cit. short for ‘opus citatum’ / ‘opera citato’ meaning ‘the work cited/

from the cited work’

p.a. yearly

pp. pages

re with reference to

Ph.D Doctor of Philosophy, generally the highest qualification in a certain

discipline

M.Phil. Master of Philosophy, the research degree that leads to a Ph.D

ff. the referred page number and a few pages ahead

Abbreviations should be used carefully. Some acronyms can be expanded into

two or three forms. Example, STD stands for Subscriber Trunk Dialing, also for

Sexually Transmitted Disease and also as the shortened form of the word standard.

When unfamiliar abbreviations and acronyms are used, write the words in full for the

first time. Example, NREGA for National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

Articles

In English, there are three articles, the indefinite article ‘a’ or ‘an’ and the

indefinite article ‘the’. The indefinite article ‘a’ is used before a consonant sound and

‘an’ is used before a vowel sound. Example: - the blue sky, the Himalayas, a table, a

boy, a university, an apple, an umbrella, an elephant etc.

1. The is called the definite article because it is used with a specific noun.

Example: - the stars, the lion, the sea etc.

2. A and An are the indefinite articles. A is used before nouns that start with a

consonant sound. An is used with nouns that begin with a vowel sound.

Example: - a cat, a mountain, an ice-cream, an hour etc.

3. The non-native speakers of English makes a mistake when they use the

indefinite articles a and an with plural or uncountable nouns (a papers and a

research). The correct usage will be to use one before such nouns.

Determiners

Nouns are often preceded by the words the, a, or an. These words are called

determiners. They indicate the kind of reference which the noun has. The determiner

the is known as the definite article. It is used before both singular and plural nouns.

Singular Plural

the taxi the taxis

the paper the papers

the apple the apples

The determiner (a or an, when the following noun begins with a vowel) is the

indefinite article. It is used when the noun is singular.

Example:- a taxi

a paper

an apple

The articles the and a/an are the most common determiners, but there are many

others.

Example: -

any taxi

that question

those apples

this paper

some apple

whatever taxi

whichever taxi

Many determiners express quantity.

Example:-

all examples

both parents

many people

each person

every night

several computers

few excuses

enough water

no escape

Perhaps the most common way to express quantity is to use a numeral. We

look at numerals as determiners in the next section.

Numerals and Determiners

Numerals are determiners when they appear before a noun. In this position,

cardinal numerals express quantity.

Example:-

one book

two books

twenty books

In the same position, ordinal numerals express sequence.

Example:-

first impressions

second chance

third prize

The subclass of ordinals includes a set of words which are not directly related

to numbers (as first is related to one, second is related to two, etc). These are called

general ordinals, and they include last, latter, next, previous, and subsequent. These

words also function as determiners.

Example:-

next week

last orders

previous engagement

subsequent developments

When they do not come before a noun, as we've already seen, numerals are a

subclass of nouns. And like nouns, they can take determiners.

Example:-

the two of us

the first of many

They can even have numerals as determiners before them.

Example:-

five twos are ten

In this example, twos is a plural noun and it has the determiner five before it.

Nouns

A noun is a word used to refer to people, animals, objects, substances, states,

events and feelings. Nouns can be a subject or an object of a verb, can be modified by

an adjective and can take an article or determiner.

For example:

Table, Pencil, the dog, a white house

Nouns also denote abstract and intangible concepts.

For example:

Birth, happiness, evolution, technology, etc.

Noun: - Plurals.

The general rule to form the plural forms of the nouns is to add "-s" to the noun in

singular.

For example:

Book - Books

House - Houses

Chair - Chairs

When the singular noun ends in: -sh, -ch, -s, -ss, -x, -o we form their plural form by

adding "-es".

For example:

sandwich - sandwiches

brush - brushes

bus - buses

box - boxes

potato - potatoes

When the singular noun ends in "y", we change the "y" for "i" and then add "-es" to

form the plural form. But do not change the "y" for "ies" to form the plural when the

singular noun ends in "y" preceded by a vowel.

For example:

nappy - nappies

day - days

toy - toys

However, there are many Irregular Nouns which do not form the plural in this way:

For example:

Woman - Women

Child - Children

Sheep - Sheep

Nouns may take an “‘s " ("apostrophe s") or "Genitive marker" to indicate possession.

If the noun already has an -s ending to mark the plural, then the genitive marker

appears only as an apostrophe after the plural form.

For example:

My girlfriend's brother

John's house

The Browns' house

The boys' pens

The genitive marker should not be confused with the “‘s " form of contracted verbs, as

in John's a good student = John is a good student.

Gender in Nouns

Many common nouns, like "engineer" or "teacher", can refer to men or women.

Once, many English nouns would change form depending on their gender. For

example: A man was called an "author" while a woman was called an "authoress".

For example:

Masculine Feminine Boy

Father Hero Husband Monk Prince

Girl

Mother

Heroine

Wife

Nun

Princess

Types of Nouns

Proper nouns are the names of specific things, people, or places, such as John,

France. They usually begin with a capital letter.

Common nouns are general names such as person, mansion, and book. They

can be either concrete or abstract.

Concrete nouns refer to things which you can sense such as clock and

telephone.

Abstract nouns refer to ideas or qualities such as liberty and truth.

Countable nouns refer to things which can be counted (can be singular or

plural).

Uncountable nouns refer to some groups of countable nouns, substances,

feelings and types of activity (can only be singular).

Irregular Plurals

Although most nouns have plurals formed according to regular rules, some

nouns have unusual or irregular plurals.

Types of irregular plural

There are many types of irregular plural, but these are the most common.

Noun type Forming the plural Example

Ends with -fe

Change f to v

then

Add -s

knife knives

life lives

wife wives

Ends with -f

Change f to v

then

Add -es

half halves

wolf wolves

loaf loaves

Ends with -o Add -es potato potatoes

Noun type Forming the plural Example

tomato tomatoes

volcano volcanoes

ends with -us Change -us to -i

cactus cacti

nucleus nuclei

focus foci

ends with -is Change -is to -es

analysis analyses

crisis crises

thesis theses

ends with -on Change -on to -a phenomenon phenomena

criterion criteria

ALL KINDS

Change the vowel

or

Change the word

or

Add a different ending

man men

foot feet

child children

person people

tooth teeth

mouse mice

Unchanging Singular and plural

are the same

sheep

deer

fish (sometimes)

Prepositions

Prepositions are a class of words that indicate relationships between nouns,

pronouns and other words in a sentence. Most often they come before a noun. They

never change their form, regardless of the case, gender etc. of the word they are

referring to.

Some common prepositions are

about

above

across

after

against

along

among

around

at

before

behind

below

beneath

beside

between

beyond

but

by

despite

down

during

except

for

from

in

inside

into

like

near

of

off

on

onto

out

outside

over

past

since

through

throughout

till

to

toward

under

underneath

until

up

upon

with

within

without.

Prepositions typically come before a noun.

For example,

after class , at home , before Tuesday , in London , on fire , with pleasure etc.

Prepositions are classified as simple or compound.

Simple prepositions

Simple prepositions are single word prepositions. These are all showed above.

For example,

The book is on the table.

Compound prepositions

Compound prepositions are more than one word. in between and because of

are prepositions made up of two words - in front of, on behalf of are prepositions

made up of three words.

For example,

The book is in between War and Peace and The Lord of the Rings.

The book is in front of the clock.

The children climbed the mountain without fear.

There was rejoicing throughout the land when the government was defeated.

The spider crawled slowly along the banister.

The following table contains rules for some of the most frequently used prepositions

in English

Prepositions of Time

English Usage Example on days of the week on Monday

in

months / seasons time of day year after a certain period of

time (when?)

in August / in winter in the morning in 2006 in an hour

at

for night for weekend a certain point of time

(when?)

at night at the weekend at half past nine

since from a certain point of time (past till now) since 1980

English Usage Example

for over a certain period of time (past till now) for 2 years

ago a certain time in the past 2 years ago

before earlier than a certain point of time before 2004

to telling the time ten to six (5:50)

past telling the time ten past six (6:10)

to / till / until

marking the beginning and end of a period of time

from Monday to/till Friday

till / until in the sense of how long

something is going to last

He is on holiday until Friday.

by in the sense of at the

latest up to a certain time

I will be back by 6 o’clock.

By 11 o'clock, I had read five pages.

Prepositions of Place

English Usage Example

in

room, building, street, town, country

book, paper etc. car, taxi picture, world

in the kitchen, in London

in the book in the car, in a taxi in the picture, in the

world

at meaning next to, by an

object for table for events

at the door, at the station

at the table at a concert, at the party

English Usage Example place where you are to

do something typical (watch a film, study, work)

at the cinema, at school, at work

on

attached for a place with a river being on a surface for a certain side (left,

right) for a floor in a house for public transport for television, radio

the picture on the wall London lies on the

Thames. on the table on the left on the first floor on the bus, on a plane on TV, on the radio

by, next to, beside

left or right of somebody or something

Jane is standing by / next to / beside the car.

under on the ground, lower

than (or covered by) something else

the bag is under the table

below lower than something else but above ground

the fish are below the surface

over

covered by something else

meaning more than getting to the other side

(also across) overcoming an obstacle

put a jacket over your shirt

over 16 years of age walk over the bridge climb over the wall

above higher than something

else, but not directly over it

a path above the lake

across getting to the other side

(also over) getting to the other side

walk across the bridge swim across the lake

through something with limits

on top, bottom and the sides

drive through the tunnel

English Usage Example

to

movement to person or building

movement to a place or country

for bed

go to the cinema go to London / Ireland go to bed

into enter a room / a building

go into the kitchen / the house

The relations that prepositions express can be

(i) time relation,

(ii) place relation,

(iii) position relation,

(iv) state relation,

(v) cause relation,

(vi) purpose relation, etc.

Phrasal Verbs

A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and preposition, a verb and an

adverb, or a verb with both an adverb and a preposition. A phrasal verb has a meaning

which is different from the original verb. The adverb or preposition that follows the

verb is sometimes called a particle. The particle changes the meaning of the phrasal

verb in idiomatic ways. Phrasal verbs are usually used informally in everyday speech

as opposed to the more formal Latinate verbs, such as “to get together” rather than “to

congregate”, “to put off” rather than “to postpone”, or “to get out” rather than “to

exit”. They should be avoided in academic writing.

Phrasal verbs are of two kinds:

(a) Those combinations of verbs and particles keeping their own basic meanings:

Example: - go in, walk away, come out etc.

The boy went in.

The man walked away.

(b) Those combinations of verbs and particles which give an idiomatic meaning:

Example:-bring up, give in, take off, blow up etc.

The mother brought up the child.

The plane took off.

A preposition is closely tied to the noun or pronoun it controls.

Example: -

He looked at the boys.

He spoke to them.

An adverbial particle is closely tied up to its verb:

Example:-

Put out the light.

He blew up the bridge.

An adverbial particle is always placed after the pronoun object. It is usually placed

after the object even when this is a noun, unless the object is a long one.

Look the word up.

He couldn’t get across the river.

A few phrasal verbs are given below.

ask for = request, demand

The workers asked for more wages.

blow up = explode

The terrorists blew up the bridge.

come off = succeed

The experiment came off well.

get away = distribute

The minister gave away the prizes.

Hold off = keep at a distance

I hope the rain is held off till the end of the match.

look forward to = expect with pleasure

I am looking forward to your arrival.

put up with = tolerate

It is very difficult to put up with an eccentric.

run out = to be finished, exhausted

Tina told her husband that their provisions had run out.

run after = pursue

The police ran after the thief in vain.

work out = find, calculate

The minister asked his secretary to work out the details of the project.

Modal Verbs

Modal verbs are also called auxiliary verbs, helping verbs and modal

auxiliaries. Modal verbs are not complete verbs, and they can only be used with a

verb.

The usage of modal verbs:

Modal verbs stay in the base form - bare infinitive - the bare infinitive is the infinitive

without "to" before the verb.

The following modal verbs are used to with the present tense:

I, can, will, shall, ought to, must, need, may

The following modal verbs are used in the past tense:

would, should, could, might

Modal verbs are used to answer questions in the short form

Yes, I do.

Yes, we can.

No, I don't.

Modal verbs can be used as part of the grammar structure of the sentence, such as

when used with the perfect tenses.

Modals help conveying ability, necessity, advisability, possibility and probability.

Conveying ability

The modal can conveys ability now (in the present) and could conveys ability before

(in the past). These words deliver the meaning able to.

Example:

We can work late tonight. [Can conveys present ability]

I could work late last night. [Could conveys past ability]

Exception

When not is added between the modal and the main verb makes the clause

negative.

Example:

We cannot work late tonight.

Conveying necessity

Modals convey necessity. Must and have to convey a need to do something. These

modals are followed by a simple form of the main verb.

Example:

You must leave before midnight.

She has to leave when I leave.

Exception

Never use must to express necessity if the past tense is used. Instead, use had to.

Present Tense We must study today

Past Tense We had to take a test yesterday.

Conveying advisability

The modal should and ought to convey regret. The modal had gives the meaning of

warning or threat. Need to is often used to express strong advice. Its past tense form is

needed to.

Example:

Good advice

You should go to class tomorrow morning.

You should have gone to class yesterday.

You ought to have come to class yesterday.

Warning

You had better see the doctor before your clod gets worse.

Strong advice

You need to take better care of yourself.

Conveying possibility

The modals may, might and could convey an idea of possibility or likelihood.

Example:

We may become hungry before long.

We could eat at the restaurant next door.

The modals may, might and could are followed by have and the past participle of the

main verb is used in the past tense form.

Example:

I could have studied Sanskrit in high school, but I studied Hindi instead.

Conveying probability

The modal must also convey probability or likelihood.

Example:

John must be a talented actor. He has won many awards.

Tenses

The verb forms which show differences in time are called tenses. There are

three basic verb tenses.

Present: Sasha enjoys tennis.

Past: Sasha enjoyed tennis.

Future: Sasha will enjoy tennis.

Present Tense

In the present tense, most verbs take –s endings (third person singular) or no

endings (first and second person singular; all plural forms).

Singular Plural

First person I succeed We succeed

Second person You succeed You succeed

Third person He, she, it succeeds They succeed

Forms of Be, Have and Do

The irregular verbs be, have and do have more forms than other verbs. Instead

of just adding an –s ending, be have these forms in the present tense:

Singular Plural

First person I am We are

Second person You are You are

Third person He, she, it is They are

Have has two forms in the present: has for third person singular and have for

all other subjects.

Do has two forms: does for third person singular and do for all others. In the

past tense, verb fall into two categories: regular verbs, which take –d endings and

irregular verbs, which change their spelling and do not take –d endings.

Past Tense

Regular verbs

A verb that forms its past tense and past participle by adding -d or -ed (or in

some cases -t) to the base form. The majority of English verbs are regular. They have

four different forms:

1. base form: the form found in a dictionary

2. -s form: used in the singular third person, present tense

3. -ed form: used for the past tense and past participle

4. -ing form: used for the present participle

Irregular verbs

A verb in which the past tense is not formed by adding the usual -ed ending.

Examples of irregular verbs are sing (past tense sang); feel (felt); and go (went).

Future Tense

All verbs form the future tense by adding the helping verb will to the main verb

with no ending. Will be, will register, will deliver, will spend etc are examples.

Voice

Voice is a particular form of the verb. There are Active and Passive voice.

Passive voice means that the subject of the sentence does not perform the action of the

sentence. Active voice means that the subject carries out the action.

Example:

Active Passive

The cat chases the rat. The rat is chased by the cat.

The cat is chasing the rat. The rat is being chased by the rat.

The cat has chased the rat. The rat has been chased by the art.

The cat chased the rat. The rat was chased by the rat.

The cat was chasing the rat. The rat was being chased by the rat.

The cat will chase the rat. The rat will be chased by the rat.

Active voice is normally used for strong writing.

Example:

1. Loud rock music was heard on the bus. (weak)

2. Everyone on the bus heard the loud rock music. (stronger)

3. Much dissatisfaction is being felt over the new city tax. (weak)

4. Citizens feel much dissatisfaction over the new city tax. (stronger)

Sometimes, the person(s) or thing(s) performing the action is not as important as the

person(s) or thing(s) acted upon. In such a case, the passive voice is used for

emphasis.

1. Weaker (active voice): the police took three suspects to police headquarters for

questioning.

2. Stronger (passive voice): three suspects were taken to police headquarters for

questioning.

Adverbs

Adverbs are words which modify a verb, an adjective or another adverb. They

also modify a whole sentence.

Examples: played well, fought bravely, performed satisfactorily (here the adverbs

modify the verbs)

Very good, extremely happy, immediately preceding (here the adverbs very,

extremely and immediately modify the adjectives good, happy and preceding)

Luckily, he passed the examination. (Here the adverb ‘luckily’ modifies the whole

sentence)

Consider the following two sentences:

1. The fielder picked up the ball.

2. The fielder picked up the ball quickly.

In the second sentence, the word ‘quickly’ is an adverb as it affects the verb ‘picked’.

It points out the way the action is performed. In the same way, an adverb modifies an

adjective and even another adverb.

1. Raj is a highly skilled painter. (skilled= adjective)

2. Very slowly, he opened the door. (very=adverb, slowly=adverb)

Normally, an adverb is formed by adding the suffix –ly to an adjective. Example:

Quick- quickly

High –highly

Slow- slowly

But some adverbs do not take the suffix –ly. Examples:

Very, fast, too, up, down, late etc.

Adverbs provide some significant details about

1. The manner in which something is done/ takes place (‘ she spoke clearly’)

2. The time when an action takes place (‘father had warned him previously’)

3. The degree to which an effect is felt/ exhibited (‘the rates fell considerably’)

Adjectives

An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing,

identifying, or quantifying words. An adjective usually precedes the noun or the

pronoun which it modifies.

In the following examples, the highlighted words are adjectives:

The truck-shaped balloon floated over the treetops.

Mrs. Morrison papered her kitchen walls with hideous wall paper.

The small boat foundered on the wine dark sea.

The coal mines are dark and dank.

Many stores have already begun to play irritating Christmas music.

A battered music box sat on the mahogany sideboard.

The back room was filled with large, yellow rain boots.

Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word that "joins". A conjunction joins two parts of a

sentence.

Here are some examples of conjunctions:

Coordinating Conjunctions Subordinating Conjunctions

and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so although, because, since, unless

We can consider conjunctions from three aspects.

Form

Conjunctions have three basic forms:

Single Word

for example: and, but, because, although

Compound (often ending with as or that)

for example: provided that, as long as, in order that

Correlative (surrounding an adverb or adjective)

for example: so...that

Function

Conjunctions have two basic functions or "jobs":

Coordinating conjunctions are used to join two parts of a sentence that are

grammatically equal. The two parts may be single words or clauses, for

example:

- Jack and Jill went up the hill.

- The water was warm, but I didn't go swimming.

Subordinating conjunctions are used to join a subordinate dependent clause

to a main clause, for example:

- I went swimming although it was cold.

Position

Coordinating conjunctions always come between the words or clauses that

they join.

Subordinating conjunctions usually come at the beginning of the subordinate

clause.

Formality in Verbs

A feature of most academic writing is a tendency to use rather formal verbs to

express the writer’s meaning accurately:

… supply of energy required to accelerate the growth …

… the development that is envisaged here needs to be not only sustainable …

In spoken English we would be more likely to use speed up and imagined.

to adapt the health system has been adapted from France

to arise a similar situation arises when we look at younger children

to carry out the largest study was carried out in Finland

to characterise developing countries are characterised by ….

to clarify the project was designed to clarify these contradictions

to concentrate on that study concentrated on older children

to be concerned with the programme is concerned primarily with …

to demonstrate further research has demonstrated that few factors …

to determine the water content was experimentally determined

to discriminate a failure to discriminate between the two species

to emphasise the 1987 report emphasised energy efficiency

to establish the northern boundary was established first

to exhibit half of the patients exhibited signs of improvement

to focus on her work focused on female managers

to generate a question which has generated a range of responses

to hold Newton’s second Law, F=ma, holds everywhere

to identify three main areas have been identified

to imply previous research implies that size is a good predictor

to indicate all the surveys indicate that employees prefer pay rises

to interact understand how the two systems interact

to interpret the conclusion can be interpreted as a limited success

to manifest as manifested in anti-social behaviour

to overcome both difficulties were overcome in the first week

to predict the study predicts that productivity will decline next year

to propose they propose that social class is the main factor

to prove the use of solar power is proving successful

to recognise he is now recognised as a leading expert

to relate to the pattern was related to both social and physical factors

to supplement the diet was supplemented with calcium and iodine

to undergo the system underwent major changes in the 1980s

to yield both surveys yielded mixed results

Nationality- Language

The word 'Nationality' is not often used in spoken English. It is a formal and

official word and it appears more frequently in written English.

Country Language Nationality People

Italy Italian Italian Italians

Hungary Hungarian Hungarian Hungarians

Korea Korean Korean Koreans

Russia Russian Russian Russians

China Chinese Chinese Chinese

Japan Japanese Japanese Japanese

Portugal Portuguese Portuguese Portuguese

France French French French

Greece Greek Greek Greek

Britain English British British

Denmark Danish Danish Danes

Finland Finnish Finnish Finns

Poland Polish Polish Poles

Spain Spanish Spanish Spaniards

Sweden Swedish Swedish Swedes

Turkey Turkish Turkish Turks

Germany German German Germans

Mexico Spanish Mexican Mexicans

The United States English American Americans

Australia English Australian Australians

Brazil Portuguese Brazilian Brazilians

Egypt Arabic Egyptian Egyptians

Holland/The

Netherlands

Dutch Dutch Dutch

New Zealand New Zealand English New Zealanders

Time Words and Phrases

Study the use of the following:

1. Sam has been on leave for three weeks.(number)

2. The board must select the players before 30 May. (on or before)

3. He has been president since 1998. (usually with present perfect)

4. They are studying in Delhi till July. (end of a period)

5. The library was opened two years ago. (usually with past)

6. The hotel is closed during the winter. (with noun)

Tenses are also time words. Consider the following examples:

Recently, there has been a sharp fall in the price of shares. (Present perfect)

Currently, there is a vigorous debate about the right to information. (Present)

Prefixes and Suffixes

A prefix is a letter or a group of letters attached to the beginning of a word that

partly indicates its meaning. For example, the word prefix itself begins with a prefix--

pre-, which generally means "before."

The table below defines and illustrates 35 common prefixes.

Common Prefixes

Prefix Meaning Example

a-, an- without amoral

ante- before antecedent

anti- against anticlimax

auto- self autopilot

circum- around circumvent

co- with copilot

com-, con- with companion, contact

contra- against contradict

de- off, away

from devalue

dis- not disappear

en- put into enclose

ex- out of, former extract, ex-president

extra- beyond, more

than extracurricular

hetero- different heterosexual

homo- same homonym

hyper- over, more hyperactive

il-, im-, in-,

ir- not, without

illegal, immoral, inconsiderate,

irresponsible

in- into insert

inter- between intersect

intra- between intravenous

macro- large macroeconomics

micro- small microscope

mono- one monocle

non- not, without nonentity

omni- all, every omniscient

post- after postmortem

pre-, pro- before,

forward precede, project

sub- under submarine

syn- same time synchronize

trans- across transmit

tri- three tricycle

un- not unfinished

uni- one unicorn

Suffixes

A suffix is a letter or a group of letters attached to the end of a word to form a

new word or to alter the grammatical function of the original word. For example, the

verb read can be made into the noun reader by adding the suffix -er; read can be

made into the adjective readable by adding the suffix -able.

The table below defines and illustrates 26 common suffixes.

Common Suffixes

Noun Suffixes

Suffix Meaning Example

-acy state or quality privacy

-al act or process of refusal

-ance, -ence state or quality of maintenance, eminence

-dom place or state of being freedom, kingdom

-er, -or one who trainer, protector

-ism doctrine, belief communism

-ist one who chemist

-ity, -ty quality of veracity

-ment condition of argument

-ness state of being heaviness

-ship position held fellowship

-sion, -tion state of being concession, transition

Verb Suffixes

-ate become eradicate

-en become enlighten

-ify, -fy make or become terrify

-ize, -ise become civilize

Adjective Suffixes

-able, -ible capable of being edible, presentable

-al pertaining to regional

-esque reminiscent of picturesque

-ful notable for fanciful

-ic, -ical pertaining to musical, mythic

-ious, -ous characterized by nutritious, portentous

-ish having the quality of fiendish

-ive having the nature of creative

-less without endless

-y characterized by sleazy

Module IV

Writing Models

Formal Letters

Formal letters are letters that you write to people other than your friends and

family. Through formal letters you communicate with professional organizations,

educational institutions and other such public bodies. Since these letters are written for

specific purposes and to people in specific positions, you should be able to identify

that govern formal written communication. Most formal letters have the following

parts:

1. Sender’s Address/ Letterhead

The address must be added at the top left of the letter. Institutions will use their

official letterheads, which include their name, address and contact details such

as telephone and fax numbers, e-mail or web site address.

2. Date

This will be followed by the date on which the letter is being written or sent. It

is better to use one date format consistently in all your correspondence. For the

sake of simplicity and clarity it is recommended to use the alphanumeric format

as in 1 January 2011.

3. Reference Number (if any)

Companies and institutions use this alphanumeric notation to file the letter. It is

advisable to quote it in continuing correspondence. In the letter it will be

usually labeled as ‘Ref:’ which is followed by actual reference number.

4. Receiver’s Address

The name and address of the receiver or the addressee of the letter is included.

If the addressee is a specific individual, you must include the name and

designation of the person.

5. Subject Line

Labeled usually as ‘Sub:’ the subject line is a short description, not more than

one line that highlights the purpose of your letter.

6. Salutation

Use ‘Dear’ followed by the title9Dr, Professor, Mr., Ms) and the surname of

the person you are writing to; for example, Dear Dr Bhatt, or Dear Ms Verma.

In case you do not know the name of the addressee, you can write Dear

Director or Dear Manager.

7. Body

The text constitutes the body.

8. Closing

Normally you close your letter with ‘Your truly’ or ‘Yours sincerely’. It is

wrong to use Your’s. Try to avoid it.

9. Signature Area

After the complementary close, you have to sign the letter followed by your

name either written or printed in upper case.

10. Enclosure Notation

Next to the label ‘Encl.’ you will list the additional documents being sent with

the letter.

Centre for South Asian Studies 25, Lodhi Road

New Delhi 110 003

Tel. +91-11-27634564 Fax +91-11-27634565

E-mail: csas@mail.org

2) 16 June 2009

3) Ref: CSAS/DEL/09/221

4) Mr Raj Kumar

Plot No. 40, Neetikhand I

Indirapuram

Ghaziabad 201 012

5) Sub: Publishing a paper in CSAS journal

6) Dear Mr Kumar,

7) Your request to contribute a paper in the Centre’s quarterly journal has been

accepted. You are required to submit an abstract by 26 June and the complete paper

by 15 August 2009, so that it may be considered for publication in the September

issue of the journal. The writing guidelines are enclosed.

Please let me know if you will be able to meet the deadlines.

8) Yours sincerely,

9) Chitra Menon

(CHITRA MENON)

Communication Secretary, CSAS

10) Encl: Writing Guidelines

Curriculum Vitae and Covering Letter

Curriculum Vitae

CV stands for curriculum vitae. It is also known as résumé, personal profile,

bio data, personal data sheet, qualification sheet, and summary. A CV or résumé is a

self introduction to promote yourself. To be able to sell yourself successfully, you

need to know how to prepare a good résumé. A résumé is usually attached to an

application letter. It is therefore read only after the application letter, but it is

something you should prepare first.

A CV should be written specifically in terms of the job’s requirements. The

basic question you should consider while preparing your résumé is what qualification

or experience or achievement you should highlight for a particular position. The

whole idea underlying the arrangement of CV is to emphasise your strengths.

However, there is no set order in which a résumé is written. All résumés, whether

short or long, cover the same points regarding an individual’s background,

achievements, and experience. In long résumés, the details regarding each point

increase significantly. But basic points remain the same.

Before dealing with the technique of writing a résumé, we should understand

the relation between a résumé and an application letter (also known as covering letter).

Categories of information

1. Personal details

2. Education

3. Experience

4. References

Conventional style

The conventional method is to begin with personal details and end with

references. But a more practical method followed these days is to begin with the

category which needs to be emphasised most. Suppose, you have little work

experience but a good education profile then you should begin with education which

is your strong point that needs to be emphasised. Personal details will then appear as

the last category, to be placed before references. This presentation of information

meets the employer’s requirements. Your employer will be more interested in your

qualifications and experience than in your biographical details. The category of

references includes names of at least two persons with their full contact addresses.

They are expected to honestly speak about you to the employer confidentially.

To begin with work experience

If you have a strong work experience, then you should begin your résumé with

work experience. Then, highlight your educational qualifications.

In work experience, you should include your total experience, part-time as well

as full-time, if your experience is not very long. But, in case you have been working

for long, you should not include part-time work experience. Never write ‘no

experience’.

As a fresh graduate, you may have little opportunity to acquire professional

work experience. But every graduate student can gain some experience by organizing

functions, running clubs, associations, societies, or managing events, undertaking

visits to industries, and so on. Graduates at management or technological institutes

undertake some projects or some industrial training. All such exposures form a fresh

graduate’s experience. So, instead of writing ‘no experience’, it would be better if the

student mentions those activities.

In mentioning your experience as a student, you should emphasize what

qualifies you best for the job you are applying for.

The highest qualification is the most important qualification. It should be

therefore given more prominence than the others and so it should be placed at the top.

Then the other qualifications can be mentioned.

The résumé written by a new graduate

The new graduate’s résumé is generally one page long. It includes his or her

career objective, education, work experience and school or college activities. It is

attached with the application letter. Because it is a fresh graduate’s résumé, education

is placed first, a position of prominence. You should give information under bold and

clear headings, so that a reader can easily go to the desired point.

The sequence

There are several styles for writing a student résumé. The one given here is a

generally used chronological format.

Length

The CV of a fresh graduate should be neither too brief nor too long. One page

would be sufficient. Since experienced candidates have more details to be added in

their CV, their CV can be 2 to 3 pages.

AKSHITA MEHRA

21/A, AMRITA SHERGIL MARG•NEW DELHI - 110 003

Phone (011) 24620980/ 24692993, 9810455654•

E-mail: akshita81@yahoo.com

JOB OBJECTIVE

Initially I want to work as a management trainee in an industry where my education in

management, with a major in marketing, may be developed. My ultimate goal is to be

a senior executive in marketing.

PERSONAL PROFILE

Date of Birth 7 June 1981

Marital Status Single

SPECIALIZATION

Marketing and Sales

Human Resource Management

EDUCATION

Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management from XLRI, Jamshedpur –

2004

Bachelor of Arts – Sociology Honors, Lady Shri Ram College (LSR), New

Delhi – 1999

Senior Secondary (XII) CBSE – Humanities, Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, New

Delhi – 1999

Higher Secondary (X) CBSE, Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, New Delhi – 1997

SCHOLARSHIPS/AWARDS

Shri Ram Swaroop Ahuja Award for Outstanding Performance in Sports –

1998

Shri Jaswant S Pandaya Award for Outstanding Performance in Athletics –

1996

Govt. of India Sports Talent Search Scholarship Scheme – 1994-95.

INTERESTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

President of National Sports Organization 2001-02 at Lady Shri Ram

College

Awarded certificate of merit for Contribution to Sports

First Degree International Black Belt in Tae-Kwon-Do (Korean Martial Art)

Won 62 Gold Medals in Domestic Championships and 4 Bronze Medals as an

International Player

Held Merit Positions in Basketball, Volleyball, Badminton, Table Tennis and

Judo

Organized sponsorships worth Rs 1 Lakh for LSR Sports Festival – 2001

Organized a Cross-Country run for ‘Green & Clean Delhi’ on 24 August

2001, LSR and other events in Capacity as the President

Participant and Member of Organizing committee of Sangthan 2003 (Amity

Inter- Institute Annual Sports Meet

Won 9 medals including 7 Golds

Master of Ceremony for the following events organized by Amity Business

School

Alumni Meet

Mentor Meet

Corporate Meet

Acumen 2003, Organized by Business Today

PERSONAL OBJECTIVE

My desire is to create a truly competitive arena whenever I work. I want to bring my

enthusiasm and sense of confidence to the organization and to the people I work with.

My involvement in various areas of activities at college has taught me crucial lessons

on leadership and teamwork.

STRENGTHS

Team Player

Self Confident and Goal Oriented

Fast Learner with an ability to excel

WORK EXPERIENCE

Worked as a Trainee in Enterprise Nexus, Ad Agency in the Research and

Planning Department

Conducted research for General Motors undertaken by Enterprise Nexus

REFERENCES

Available on request

Application letter

An application letter is planned like a sales letter to gain attention and interest

and ask for action. It shows your communication skills to your potential employer. It

functions as an interview request by impressing the potential employer with your

abilities and education. It needs to be written very skillfully.

Planning an application letter

First paragraph:

Identify your objective or goal exactly. Say specifically the job you are

applying for and how you came to know it- through an advertisement or someone

known to you. Sometimes you may apply without knowing that a position exists or is

available. Use the opening paragraph to show what kind of position you are qualified

for. Also state the reasons for your interest to work in that particular company.

Second paragraph:

Give enough evidence of your ability or qualifications for the position. Explain

why you are qualified for the position or job. Do not repeat what you have written in

the résumé. But mention briefly your education or work experience and indicate the

particular points relevant to the position applied for. As a pass-out graduate, mention

in your education important courses or special projects that have enriched your

preparation and enhanced your suitability for the position you are seeking for. Give

here your extra-curricular activities, if any, that show your qualities of leadership or

abilities to organize and co-ordinate. Show how your project work or industrial visit or

work experience is related to the position you want.

Third paragraph:

Ask for an interview opportunity. At the end, suggest that you would like to

come for an interview at the employer’s convenience. The purpose of your letter is to

make the prospective employer decide to meet you.

In writing an application letter, we should remember that we are selling out

those merits which the employer needs. We shall be able to write the application letter

effectively if we remember the important principles of writing such as

Coherence

Concreteness

Simplicity

Emphasis

Originality

Sincerity

Empathy

Convention

Try to keep your letter brief. Like the résumé, it should be spotless, nicely

typed and centred on a white page of about 21cm by 29.5cm. Address your letter to a

specific person by name, if possible. If the advertisement does not give the name of

the concerned person and mentions only post box number or e-mail ID, then mail it

according to the address given in the advertisement. Sign your letter properly.

Some don’ts for you as a writer of application letter

Don’t use your present employer’s stationery.

Don’t beg or ask for a favor.

Don’t be unduly humble.

Don’t write too many ‘I’, ‘me’, ‘my’.

Don’t sound casual.

Don’t boast about yourself.

Don’t criticize your present employer.

Don’t repeat résumé information.

Don’t use vague or general terms.

Don’t say you are qualified for the job/ position; instead give evidence.

Don’t use hackneyed and worn out expressions.

Don’t copy a letter written by any other applicant.

On the positive side, show confidence.

6/102 East End Aptts

Mayur Vihar Phase I

Delhi – 110096

6 April 2004

Shri N.K.Varma

Sales and Marketing

LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd

Surajpur, Kasna Road

Greater Noida (UP)

Sub: Application for the post of Assistant Marketing Manager

Dear Shri Varma,

Please consider me as a candidate for the position of Assistant Marketing Manager,

advertised in Times of India, 1 April 2004. The position is especially attractive to me

for I know that LG offers a wide variety of household durables for which my

education and work experience have prepared me.

As my résumé shows, I received my MBA, with a major in marketing, from Bombay

university, last year. During my summer term and end term I have performed various

duties in the marketing department of Samsung including consumer research work for

the new products.

In June 2003, I joined Samsung as a management trainee.

While at Samsung, I gained a lot of experience in marketing/research and product

designing under excellent supervision.

I am a hardworking person who enjoys the challenges of marketing. I love travelling.

Enclosed is my résumé for your consideration. I do hope that I shall have an

opportunity of an interview for the position of Assistant Marketing Manager at LG

Electronics India Pvt. Ltd.

Yours truly,

Abhinav Chaturvedi

ABHINAV CHATURVEDI

Encl.

Designing and Reporting Surveys

The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE) defines survey as

a ‘set of questions that you ask a large number of people in order to find out about

their opinions and behaviour.’ In social science, especially in psychology, sociology,

political science, surveys are indispensable. It is through the surveys that researchers

often obtain the facts and the data they need for their studies. Research conducted in

scientific manner involves the following process of investigations:

1. Defining the problem

2. Formulating hypothesis

3. Selecting or proposing a method

4. Collecting, organizing and analysing data

5. Making deductions and arriving at conclusions

Survey method is used to know the actual status of the thing at the time of our

study. It uses survey tools: questionnaires, interviews, checklists and opinionnaires to

obtain information that may add to information already collected through secondary

sources or validate the finding obtained from the library research.

The limitations of this method is that the findings through such surveys are to

be considered valid only for the present and not for the future, because the state of

mind, attitude, or situation of.

For example, suppose we want to conduct a study of the attitude of

employments towards the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) in a company. The only

way to do this is to conduct a survey (through personal interviews or questionnaires)

of all those employees, who, at the time of study, fall within the age group indicated

for VRS eligibility.

Instruments of survey

The survey is usually done with the instruments of written questionnaire or

personal interview.

Questionnaire

A questionnaire is a set of questions that are written in order to collect

maximum factual information from the respondents about their habits, attitudes,

views, rating, liking, and so on of the object under study. The questions may be

grouped and sequenced according to the nature of the data. For example, if personal

data is important for the analysis of the information gathered, then questions an age,

sex, family, size, number of earning members, and number of dependents may be

grouped together for easy analysis of the data. A questionnaire is generally treated as

anonymous.

Questions should be worded in simple, clear and exact language. Enough space

should be left between the questions if we ask open-ended questions. The questions

can be objective type with a number of options given in which case the respondent has

just to write ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or just put marks as directed. For example, a question can be

put in the following form-

Your company should have a five-day week for all its

employees to motivate them for better production.

Yes No No opinion

Guidelines for creating an effective questionnaire

Ask objective and factual information. Opinions, likes, and so on cannot be

avoided, but they should be inferred from the objective information. Do not base your

conclusions on opinions, because they often change from time to time. Rely on facts,

not opinions.

1. Do not ask questions that would embarrass or bother the respondent either to

answer or to recall.

2. Do not ask contradictory questions.

3. Avoid loaded questions which suggest built-in answers. For example, would

you like your wages to be increased? Obviously, the answer cannot be ‘No’.

4. Keep the number of questions which suggest to a reasonable limit. Normally,

10-15 questions should be set. Long questionnaires are usually ignored as they

take the respondent’s time.

5. Assure the respondent that the information given by him or her will be treated

confidential if you are asking questions on secretive matters.

6. Sequence the questions from simple to difficult. Put easy-to-answer questions

before the difficult ones.

7. Write a brief letter to be sent with the questionnaire. The respondent should

know why he or she is selected to answer the questionnaire. Also he or she

should be persuaded to answer each question freely. Instructions for answering

the questions may also be given in the covering letter itself. Otherwise, the

instructions may be briefly written on top of the questionnaire.

8. If the questionnaire is mailed, it should be accompanied with a self-addressed

duly stamped envelope. This would communicate your serious desire to receive

the filled-up questionnaire.

9. Promise the respondents that the findings of the survey research will be shared

with them.

10. Mention the probable date by which you have to submit your study report or

indicate the date by which the questionnaire may be returned. Remember that

normally it takes time to respond and often the questionnaire remains

unanswered. Hence, choose your respondents carefully and wisely.

Sample questionnaire and letter

1 2 3 4

Definitely would Probably would Probably would Definitely would

Order order not order not order

1. Great Music Greatest Hits

2. Indian Film Song Collection

3. Melodies, Moods, and Memories

4. The World’s Greatest love Songs

About You and Your Family

For purpose of tabulation, kindly indicate the following –

Q1. The following is a list of types of Music available. Please indicate which types of

Music you are interested in buying in the next 12 months. (Please tick as many boxes

as apply)

Broadway Shows/Movie Soundtracks (13.1) Jazz (13.11)

Seminar Paper

A seminar, according to LDOCE, is a ‘class at a university or a college for a

small group of students and a teacher to study or discuss a particular topic’. In most

cases, a seminar paper is the first time a student attempts academic writing. A typical

seminar paper will have the following components:

1. Title

2. Your name

3. Abstract

4. Text

5. References

Title:

The title of your paper should be brief and exact.

Your name:

Below the title, you should write your full name, your roll number, academic

session and the name of your department and / or university/ college.

Abstract:

An abstract is a short written statement containing only the most important

ideas in a speech, article etc.’ (LDOCE). An abstract is a summary given and hence in

a brief manner includes the following:

1. The statement of purpose/ problem

2. Methodology/ theoretical base

3. Results

4. Conclusion

An abstract should ideally be about 200 words-long. It is recommended that you write

the abstract after you have finished writing the paper, so that you have all the

information to be included in the abstract.

Text:

Just like any good essay, your seminar paper will also have a beginning,

middle, and an end. For better organisation, you may want to divide your essay in

sections and subsections, each of which may have a distinct heading. A seminar paper

is a well-researched document, which simply means that you are required to use your

library to do a background reading while preparing the paper. You must acknowledge

the sources that you use while writing your paper. Do not just copy, but comment on

the material that you are quoting. Be careful about unacknowledged citations, as that

amounts to plagiarism. Always revise your paper before the final presentation.

References:

You must document all the sources you have used in your paper. Use a

consistent format. Make sure every reference is also used in the introduction/ main

text. Avoid citing from Wikipedia.

Project Reports

A project report is an academic requirement and is written on a project

completed in an industry/ business company under the joint supervision of an industry

expert and faculty of the concerned institute. It is submitted for evaluation under the

guidance of the project supervisor (from the industry) and the faculty (from the

concerned institution). The project report is generally written at the end of the

academic term during which a live project is done and successfully completed. For

supervising and guiding the summer project, you would be consulting two guides-one

from your faculty and the other from the sponsoring organization. You have to

develop the project from the proposal stage onwards to the final report writing in

regular consultation with the faculty. You should initially discuss the nature of the

project, as far as possible, before leaving for placement.

The purpose of the project proposal is to allow the student to place the

proposed study within a coherent, organized framework, which is also standardized.

The proposal should be based on the topic/ scope of work assigned by the

organization. Project proposal will enhance the student’s understanding, grasp and

clarity of the subject matter, the context of the problem and the research problem. This

is necessary for the direction and procedure of the study to be brought within the

required scope, coverage and rigour, and also for enhancing the quality of the research

effort, with the inputs of the expert panel to identify and suggest rectification of

possible problems in the proposal.

The project report should appear in the following order:

Page i: Cover page

Page ii: Second title page

Page iii: Certificate of approval

Page iv: Approval of organizational and faculty guides

Page v-vi: Abstract

Page vii: Acknowledgement

Page viii: Table of contents

Page ix: List of figures

Page x: List of tables

Page xi: List of appendices

Page xii: Abbreviations

Page 1: Chapter I

Page ...: Last chapter

Page ...: References

Page ...: Appendices

Cover page: The format for the cover page of a project report is given below.

Project Title A Project Proposal for

Course Title

by

Your name

under the guidance of

Shri [Name of the industry supervisor] Dr/Prof. [Name of the faculty]

Designation Designation

Organization Institution

Second title page: See the format below

Project Title

by

Your name

under the guidance of

Shri [Name of the industry supervisor] Dr/Prof. [Name of the faculty]

Designation Designation

Organization Institution

Certificate of approval: See the format below

Certificate of Approval

The following project report titled ‘ABC…” is hereby approved as a certified study in [discipline: Languages, sociology, management studies etc.] carried out and presented in a manner satisfactory to warrant its acceptance as a prerequisite for the award of [Course Title: Post-graduate Programme in Management] for which it has been submitted. It is understood that by this approval the undersigned do not necessarily endorse or approve any statement made, opinion expressed or conclusion drawn therein but approve the Project Report only for the purpose it is submitted.

Project Report Examination Committee for evaluation of Project Report

Name Signature

1. Faculty Examiner _______________ _____________ 2. Project Co-ordinator _______________ _____________

Approval of organizational and faculty guides: See the format below

Certificate from Summer Project Guides

This is to certify that Mr/Ms [Student’s Name], a student of the [Course Title], has worked under our guidance and supervision. This project report has the requisite standard and to the best of our knowledge no part of it has been reproduced from any other summer project, monograph, report or book.

Institute Faculty Guide Organizational Faculty Guide

Designation Designation

MDI Gurgaon Organization

Address

Date Date

Documentation

Documentation or citing sources is a writer’s indication in an accepted format

that he or she has used the words, ideas or information from another source or sources.

It is an exercise that must be carefully carried out and requires the writer to be patient

and focused. Documentation establishes the credibility of the writer. The reader also

tends to respect the writer’s opinions and consider his or her findings seriously.

Since source- based essays are written for English and other humanities classes,

the MLA format is the recommended one.

In-text citation

To cite a source in text using MLA style, you will have to insert the last name of the

author from whose writing you are quoting or reporting followed by the page

number(s). This information will appear in parentheses immediately after the citation.

As the author tells readers, her father was a writer, and she became a

voracious reader as a result of watching her parents read (Lamott 22).

Here, in this citation, the author mentioned is Lamott and the reference is to the

information on page22 of her book. If the author’s name has already been mentioned

in the text, the parentheses will only have the page number.

As Anne Lamott tells readers, her father was a writer, and she became a

voracious reader as a result of watching her parents read (22).

This citation shows that the reference comes from the page 22 of Lamott’s book. The

reader can get additional information about the book in the reference list, which is

arranged alphabetically at the end of the report.

List of Works Cited

Further information will be found in the list of the works cited or the references

at the end of the report/paper. For example, the work that as cited in the above

example will appear in the ‘References’ as given below:

Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird. New York: Doubleday, 1994.

Some rule are there which should be kept in mind during documentation of

your research paper/ report. The rules are as follows:

1. Reference list is alphabetically arranged.

2. The author’s name appears in reverse order, that is, last name first followed by

a comma and then the first name. Name of additional authors appear in normal

order, that is, first name first.

3. Use hanging indents for the entries.

4. Names of the books, newspapers, journals are italicized. Main words in the

names are capitalized.

5. Titles of articles from newspapers, journals and magazines are involved within

quotation marks. Main words in the titles are capitalized.

6. If the reference is to a journal, the volume and issue number are included. Year

of publication appears in parentheses and is followed by a colon and the page

range of the article.

7. Electronic sources require more comprehensive details in the reference list,

since they may not remain online, or readily available. The date assigned in the

source and the date of last access by the writer/ researcher should be included.

Referencing Style

Book with multiple authors (two or three)

In-text:

According to Nicolas Bentley, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis, ‘Dickens was

always observant of detail’ (82)

Or

According to three critics, ‘Dickens was always observant of detail’ (Bentley,

Slator, and Burgis 82)

End-text:

Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. New

York: OUP, 2002.

More than three authors

Use either the first author’s last name followed by the term et al. (standing in Latin for

‘and others’) or all of the author’s last names:

In-text:

As Jones et al. Contend... (142).

Or

As several journalists contend... (Jones et al. 142).

End-text:

Jones, William et al. The Psychology of Love. New York: Penguin, 2003.

Article in a magazine

In-text:

John Ellis conveys to his readers that Franklin was unpredictable (89).

Or

One expert conveys to his readers that Franklin was unpredictable (Ellis 89).

End-text:

Ellis, John. ‘Franklin’s Cop-Out.’ Time 15 June 1997: 89-93.

Unknown author

In-text:

According to the essay ‘Pros and Cons of Lethal Injection,’... (58).

Or

According to one source,... (‘Pros and Cons’58).

End-text:

‘Pros and Cons of Lethal Injection.’ Newsweek. 12 January 1999: 54-61.

Work within an analogy

In-text:

As Ernest Gaines asserts,’...’ (213).

Or

As one famous African-American writer tells us, ‘_____’ (Gaines 213).

End-text:

Gaines, Ernest. ‘Why I Write.’ Gaines, Angelou, and other African-American

Writers. Ed. Charles Winston. San Francisco: Riverdale Press, 1996. 213-23.

Indirect sources

In-text:

According to Reseka (qtd. In Bray 21) ‘...’.

Or

According to one controversial leader, ‘...’ (Reseka qtd. In Bray 21).

End-text:

Bray, Marcus. ‘The Global Warming Crisis.’ Sierra. 18 May 2003: 47-58.

Electronic and non-print sources

In-text:

As stated in the site ‘Planning Trips through the Net,’ major deals can be made

if one ‘logs on early and often.’

End-text:

‘Planning Trips through the Net.’ Los Angeles Times. 23 Apr. 200. 12 May

2002 <http://www.latimestravel.com>.

E-mail

in-text:

As Doctor Jamison discussed,...

Or

As one prominent doctor discussed, ‘______’ (Jamison).

End-text:

Jamison, Dr.Anne. ‘Answers to Back Pain.’ E-mail to John Sweetzer. 1 July

2003.

Material from a CD-ROM database

In-text:

Clarissa Netherland admits in ‘Union Issues’ that these problems have been

magnified.

End-text:

Netherland, Clarissa. ‘Union Issues on 23 Campuses.’ EPSCO Host. CD-ROM.

Los Angeles: University of Californis Press, 2003.

Personal interview

In-text:

As Hironi Saigusa indicates, ‘...’

End-text:

Saigusa, Hironi. Personal interview. 3 February 2003.

Film or Video in-text:

As one can see in the courtroom scene from Mr Smith Goes to Washington....

Or

As one can see in the film, ‘______’ (Mr Smith).

End-text:

Mr Smith Goes to Washington. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart, Claude

Raines. MGM, 1946.

Module-V

Presentation Skills

Soft Skills for Academic Presentations

Presentations are made daily to someone for some purpose. But often it is

found that one is at a loss when effective presentation comes into the forefront. What

happens normally is that we end up arguing over something, becoming emotional,

instead of becoming logical and reasonable. We also fail to identify the reality that we

need to have different kinds of attitude for different kinds of presentations. According

to the context, we may vary our presentation using the visual aids like Power Point,

OHP slides etc. The mere acquisition of these visual aids will not be sufficient. One

has to develop effective presentation skills.

The Audience

The audience is the key part for the beginning of your presentation. When you

are preparing yourself to do a presentation, make it sure who is your audience? If you

are presenting yourself before an audience who have studied English as a second

language, then they expect you to be fluent but not fast, and will prefer an English

vocabulary which is not loaded with jargons. However, if you are making a

presentation to a group of business managers, then you will prefer to make your

speech sound with a lot of business jargons so that you may be able to make a good

impression upon the audience as well as to gain their confidence. It is important that

you need to develop a rapport with the audience effectively. They should feel and treat

you as being one of them.

Primary Audience

Primary audience are the formal audience who participate in the room where

you are presenting. They listen to you actively. These are the people whose age,

education, culture and economics become vital for you. But be careful to avoid any

such usage which may be sensitive at various levels like caste, race, gender etc.

Secondary Audience

The people who listen to you are not always the decision makers. In a political

or business presentation, they are the ones who carry your message to a larger group.

So before you begin your presentation, try to find out who the opinion leaders are and

who are the decision makers. Opinion leaders are those people who are responsible for

the political, cultural or religious opinion that your primary audience ahs. Similarly,

decision makers are those people to whom your presentation is going to travel. They

can be the directors of a company who will use your product or service, or they can be

people who decide if you deserve a scholarship or not.

The Objective of Presentation

One must be clear about the objective of presentation. It would be appropriate

if the following questions are viewed:

o Are you speaking to persuade?

o Are you speaking to inform?

An academic presentation is generally a mix of informative and persuasive

speaking. Decide upon the following areas before you begin delivering your

presentation.

Language

The presenter should try to avoid sensitive words and usage. The language you

use in your presentation must clearly reveal what you want your audience to

know because of your presentation.

Trimming your presentation

Delete unnecessary information.

Ice breaking

A good way to identify the objective of your presentation is to begin with an

ice breaking session where you gather information about your audience by

asking them to participate in a group activity. Presenters often circulate

handouts and questionnaires to gather information. Once you know who your

audience is, you can define your desired outcome better.

Choosing the Appropriate Medium

The choice of medium of presentation will depend on the outcome you expect.

The following table will help you decide what the most appropriate medium for your

presentation is.

Medium Outcome

Handouts They clarify complex theoretical issues,

provide source materials on which the

presenter elucidates (if you are talking of

Gandhi’s Satyagraha then, quotes from The

Harijan and The Hind Swaraj could come in

the handouts, and activity instructions (very

popular in workshops).

Workshop Activities The saying goes that ‘You tell me and I

remember; you show me and I shall learn.’

Instead of preparing pulpit presentations, it

is often a good idea to become interactive

and trying out your ideas live!

Video Presentation If you are trying to address a global audience

spread across different geographical regions,

a good option is to use video conferencing

technology. Remember, that your voice and

gait will change during such presentations.

Hence, you need not depend on personal

charisma as much on slides, visual aids, and

video clips. Listening to one person speak,

on an audio-visual screen; can be boring

because it is a very passive exercise.

Techniques of Effective Presentation

An effective technique used for effective presentation is to surprise and grab

the attention of the audience. Look at how William Shakespeare makes use of this

technique in one of his famous play.

Friends, Romans, countrymen lend me your ears

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him

Note how Shakespeare begins the speech. The Romans had formal training in

speaking well-balanced rhythmic lines, making rhetorical questions and in being

persuasive. Antony speaks after Brutus had presented a balanced speech justifying the

murder of Caesar and had won over the Romans. Faced with the uphill task of

winning over a hostile crowd, jeering and rowdy, Antony employs rhetorical strategies

that are exemplary. The opening line with its heavy stresses on words like friends,

Romans, lend, countrymen and ears makes a heavy impact and cuts across the

audience (the unruly Romans and Shakespeare’s own audience at the Globe were a lot

similar; they were often drunk and fresh from bear- baiting carnivals). While Brutus

had begun ‘Romans, countrymen and lovers’, Antony’s speech begins with ‘friends’.

He is trying to be familiar by addressing them as ‘friends’. His call is direct and sharp.

It is by far the best way to gain attention when nobody is offering you any.

The point is to grab attention with a fantastic opener. A rhetorical question is

an excellent idea. You can also be anecdotal.

Beginning

You can begin your presentation either by asking a question or with a quote.

Stating a surprising fact can also be a good strategy for devising an opening line. This

is also called the ‘Von Restorff effect’.

Repetition

Repetition is a good idea for making the audience sit up and take notes. Keep

reminding the audience of your central claim.

Summarizing

Summarizing and flagging are also effective presentation strategies.

Summarize each part of the presentation and use it as a linkage with the following

part. Just as we flag pages of our diaries and books, with colour ‘post-its’ to be able to

locate important sections, we need to draw the attention of the audience to our

presentation by using attention-drawing expressions like the main idea is …. Or this is

to suggest that …., or in other words, etc.

Here is an effective presentation diagram:

Open- surprise, narrate, quote

Repeat your main ideas in the presentation

Effective conclusions- quote, ask rhetorical questions, summarize

Transition by summarizing and flagging

Structuring the Presentation

A significant aspect is to know how to start your presentation. It does not

include how you greet the audience. It means with what point you should begin your

delivery. The normal order of exposition is to first list the main ideas and then

elaborate your points. This is the pattern that all reports follow. This sequence would

form the order of your presentation and timing of each part too.

Introduction 3 minutes

Main body 15 minutes

Conclusion 2 minutes

Questions and Answers 10 minutes

Logical Ordering of your Presentation

The structure of the presentation can be designed in such a way that it is

logical, clear and complete in 30 minutes.

Introduction 3 minutes

In your academic presentation, you may begin immediately with the main idea

of presentation. It does only that, without giving details of what is to follow. This

helps the audience to know the subject and the focus of presentation.

Main Body 15 minutes

This part is mainly set for informing the audience about the topic of your

presentation. This part will also include findings of your survey and analysis of your

data to convince your audience. This section can be divided into sub-sections, but it

should not exceed more than three sub-sections under the main point.

Conclusion 2 minutes

Your presentation needs to be concluded effectively. You may use the

technique of giving an overall analysis of your presentation supporting your main

topic.

Questions and Answers 10 minutes

This is an important opportunity for audience interaction. Encourage questions.

Answer each question seriously and with honesty. Do not try to bluff. If you do not

know, be frank.

Prepare a logical sequence of your presentation. This will make the flow of

arguments clear. It will also help keep to the main argument, as you deliver the

presentation to your audience, in the form of face-to-face communication. While

speaking to the audience, do not drift. Keep the presentation simple so as to make the

presentation effective.

Visual Presentation Aids

A presentation of statistical data, figures, and diagrams and so on is made vivid

by the use of visual aids. Through visual display of our ideas, we make see what they

hear. It helps the listeners receive the message effortlessly. This also helps in keeping

the audience absorbed fully in the presentation.

The visual aids should be used to

Present numerical and statistical data.

Present topics related to art, design, or any subject which involves display of

material.

Present new data or plan of which the audience is not aware. The new

information will be better understood when seen.

Present comparative statements of facts and figures, specifically graphic and

diagrammatic forms. Visual presentation of comparisons always helps

comprehension. Suppose you want to compare two structures, the point of

comparison can be better appreciated when shown rather than described.

Present new interpretations of old data. If you have discovered or enunciated

something new as a fresh interpretation of an existing phenomenon, showing it

makes the information look concrete. By projecting the old information side-

by-side how you have gone beyond it.

Advantages of Visual Aids

We respond easily to what we see. A good amount of information can be

communicated with the aid of visual projections of facts, statistical data,

figures, diagrams, pictures, numerical data, objects, and handouts within the

given time.

Visual image of message heard is an attention getter. It promotes interest and

arrests attention of the audience.

Visual presentation saves time spent in discussing various ideas.

It increases the effectiveness of communicating information by an analytical

presentation of main points and sub-points in a visible form.

How to Use Visual Aids

Do not use too many visuals. That will lessen their impact.

Plan the use of visuals by determining the main points. Make one visual for the

main points.

Prepare the visuals in bold, clear letters that can be seen even by the person

sitting at the other end of the room.

Do not fill a slide with too many words. As far as possible, write single words

or short phrases to summarize concepts.

Use different colours to distinguish different points.

Use the technique of revealing only one point at a time. You can do so by

progressively exposing the hidden portion of the slide.

Number the sequence of your slides and rehearse the presentation with them, to

ensure that the slides change in accordance with what you speak. Your

speaking and slide projection must be correctly related to each other.

Explain the purpose and content of the slide when you show it. Keep it

displayed for sufficient time to allow the audience to read it and if required,

note it down.

Different Kinds of Visual Aids

Board – Black/ White

Flipcharts

Overhead projectors

Power point

Board

The board can be black/ white. A board is a primary aid used in classrooms.

The use of a Board helps listeners attend with concentration. It can be used for noting

important words and concepts, or for doing calculations.

The board should be skilfully used. It is better to divide the board into parts for

noting down points and doing calculations and drawing figures. The writing should be

in bold and clear letters. Words should be written in white chalk on a black board in

such a way that they are visible at a distance too. Rubbing the board is like changing

the slide or transparency. On a white board, use dark marker to make the writing clear

and visible. Do not leave the board written over, when the talk or lecture comes to an

end.

Flip Chart

A flip chart is a large pad of paper on a stand used as a visual aid for presenting

information to a small group of 15 to 20 persons. It is used for many purposes

advantages of using flip charts are in terms of their being readily generated and added

during the talk. They can be prepared in advance for presenting well-drawn diagrams,

bar charts and all kinds of graphs. You can faintly sketch outlines of a diagram in the

presence of your audience. You can also use them for prompting you by writing

faintly in pencil points which will be visible only to you, not to your listeners. Flip

charts are of great use for creating and presenting audience’s feedback, suggestions,

comments, or any other kind of observation, at the end of the talk. Flip charts , which

can be written over in water soluble ink, are of perpetual use.

Overhead projectors

The most often used visual aid in presentation is an overhead projector (OHP).

By using it, the presenter is able to speak while looking at the audience and have a

prepared transparency projected on the screen. The image projected is bright, large

and colourful. It holds the audience’s attention.

An OHP can be used for typed or hand-written matter. The best impact is made

when the content is neatly and clearly typed.

How to prepare transparencies

Make the transparencies clear and visible.

Try to prepare the best possible transparencies whether they are handwritten or

typed.

Put only one main point on one transparency.

Do not crowd the visual with too much information packed in a single

transparency.

Write not more than eight lines of the message on one transparency. Use only

six words in each line. Thus, there can be a maximum of 48 words neatly

written or typed on a transparency.

Use a variety of bullets to mark sub-points.

Place information at the centre.

Points for using OHP

Check that the projector’s switches are working.

See if the projector lens and projection surface are clean.

Adjust the focus for obtaining the brightest and the largest image on the screen

by adjusting the position of the projector.

Place transparency on the projection surface properly.

Switch off the projector between the visuals.

Keep the fan inside the projector on when you are showing the visuals.

Locate the switches on the OHP using it.

The projection screen should be clean. If the projection is made on the white

board or wall, see that there is nothing written on the board or wall.

Use a pointer to emphasise a certain point. Use a pen or pencil to point to the

transparency.

Unfold the points one by one. You may hide the rest of the matter with the

tracing paper that is usually there with each new transparency.

Finally, remember that the visuals are your aids to communicate with your

audience. So, look at the audience for the most part. Avoid turning again and

again towards the OHP projection. Do so only to ensure that your speech

relates to the slides.

Power point Projection

In making impressive professional or academic presentations, the computer-

based Power Point presentation can be used as a tool. This is projected with the help

of multimedia projector.

Usually an enlarged computer screen displays the information to a large

audience. Pictures, photographs are all displayed as part of the presentation with

cinematic effect. The entire presentation is fed into a floppy disk or computed directly

in a laptop. The LCD projector is switched on. The presenter or someone else operates

the laptop by pressing a button or sliding the mouse to move the presentation slides in

the pre-set order. The whole operation is automatic and simple. The visual impact is

impressive and absorbing.

Place of Presentation

Before presenting, check the size, ventilation, and seating arrangement of the

room for the audience. You may not set the place of your presentation yourself, still,

before starting, ensure the comfort of the audience. Place the screen according to the

number to indicate the points on the screen with a pointer. Stand as close to the

audience as possible.

Clarity and Persuasion

A clear presentation is an effective presentation. The audience must be able to

follow the arguments and not feel lost. Following are the ways to ensure that a velar

presentation is made.

1. There must be an in depth knowledge of the topic. Spend time learning about

the topic in detail. The success of presentation depends on the familiarity in the

subject.

2. Use language appropriate for the audience. Don’t use difficult words. Avoid

jargon.

3. The rapport between the audience and the presenter is crucial. Treat them as

persons and not as mechanical recording devices.

4. A well-structured presentation will lead to clarity of thought and expression.

5. The examples and illustrations that are meaningful for the audience will help

effectively clarifying the concepts for the audience.

6. Effective use of audio-visual tools will enhance the impact and clarity of your

presentation.

The following additional points may be considered to make the presentation

persuasive.

1. Precise statement of the topic or problem.

2. Logical explanations.

3. Relevant information.

4. Emotional appeal of the topic and explanation.

5. Real-life examples.

Non-Verbal Communication

Body language

Since a presentation is a live performance, the non-verbal communication skills

while speaking will influence the audience. The following aspects of non-verbal

behaviour should be given attention:

Appearance

Maintaining good/ positive posture

Eye contact

Gesture- use positive gesture and hand movements to reinforce the argument

Do not stand fixed like a statue. Move with ease and freedom between the

screen and the audience. Signal moving to a new point by changing the posture

or place of standing.

Smile and look relaxed while answering questions.

Rehearsal

To give a good presentation, rehearse the full performance to be able to:

Coordinate speech and visual projections

Know if the information has been properly edited

Check if the duration is as allowed and specified

Minimize the stage fright

How to rehearse

Rehearse before an auditor

Rehearse before a listener, preferably before an auditor who can evaluate the

material in terms of its technical accuracy

The auditor should be able to provide objective criticism

The auditor should be willing to spare time to critically listen to your

presentation

Use the microphone while rehearsing

Use the visual aids to coordinate delivery and visual projection

Observe the time limit

Use eye contact. Lift the eyes from the notes. Face the audience and make eye

contact with the audience for as long as possible.

Practice voice modulation, proper intonation, correct pronunciation of the

words and proper variation in volume.

Rehearse by recording the speech and listening to it for recognising voice and

manner of delivery. After analysing the performance, necessary change or

improvement in performance can be done.

Some guidelines for an effective presentation

Do all those things which involve the audience and encourage their

participation.

Avoid doing things which would reduce audience involvement.

Visualize the successful end of the presentation. Prepare well. Perform well.

The presentation is bound to end well.

Accordingly, don’t do the following:

Speak too low in a feeble voice that cannot be heard.

Shout which makes you sound angry and jarring.

To arouse and sustain audience interest, do the following positive things:

Maintain eye contact with the whole group throughout the delivery.

Be simple and clear.

Put interesting questions to the audience.

Invite volunteers to role-play.

Stand close to the audience in a way that they are able to see the presenter.

Make the presentation sound well researched and enthusiastically presented.

Two final tips for effective presentation:

1. Stage fright-treat stage fright to be a natural experience of all presenters. Use it

as a positive source of nervous energy essential for performing well.

2. Visualise the successful end of presentation. Prepare well. Perform well. The

presentation is bond to end well.

Opening and Closing

Opening

Very short time is available for a presenter to grab the attention of the audience

and create interest in them for the topic. Within 30 to 45 seconds, this has to be done.

During this short period, the audience must be made aware of the credibility of the

presenter. A pleasant expression on the face, a confident posture, definite eye contact

will help to connect with the audience. A brief opening statement uttered with

conviction and enthusiasm is all needed. Some of the tips discussed below will be

helpful to begin the presentation:

1. Pose a question to the audience.

2. An incident that arouses curiosity.

3. Use some interesting statistics.

4. Challenge a popular notion.

5. Use an anecdote.

Closing

In order to make the presentation a memorable incident for the audience,

something that was informative as well as delightful, there are few ways through

which the presentation can be closed.

1. A summary statement that captures the gist of the presentation

2. A positive ending that makes the audience feel elevated

3. An appeal for action

Time Management

In a presentation, the speaker should always keep in mind the time taken to

communicate. The time limits announced in formal oral activities should be strictly

observed. The audience should not feel rushed through any part of the presentation.

The pace of presentation should not exceed 110-120 words per minute. You should

not speak too fast to reach that part that deals with solution. The discussion of the

problem is equally important. The audience or listener should never be made to feel to

be a passive captive listener. There should be time for questions and answers at the

end of the presentation. Do not spend too much time in making or refuting others. It is

important that you conclude your argument.

Organize the argument well in advance.

Make swift transitions.

Do audience research to anticipate queries and refutations.

Make an impressive introduction so that people want to hear the presentation.

Be objective – do not be carried away by the subject or the oratory.

Part-B: Communication Skills

Module I:

Pronunciation and Naturalization of Language

Phonemic Notations

Vowels, Diphthongs, Triphthongs Vowels

Vowels are voiced sounds during the production of which the air escapes

through the mouth freely and continuously unaccompanied by any audible frictional

noise. The vowels that do not change their quality are called pure vowels. There are

12 pure vowels or monophthongs in English. The pure vowels are as follows.

i fleece, sea, machine

kit, bid, hymn, minute

e dress, bed, head, many

æ trap, bad

start, father

lot, odd, wash

thought, law, north, war

foot, good, put

u goose, two, blue, group

strut, mud, love, blood

nurse, stir, learn, refer

ə about, common, standard

Diphthongs

Diphthongs are the sounds of vocalic quality during the production of which

the tongue starts in the position of a particular vowel and moves in the direction of the

position of another vowel, within a single syllable. The vowels that change their

quality are called diphthongs. There are 8 diphthongs in English. They are as follows.

e face, day, break

ə goat, show, no

a price, high, try

a mouth, now

choice, boy

ə near, here, weary

eə square, fair, various

ə poor, jury, cure

Triphthongs According to Oxford Reference Dictionary, a triphthong is a union of three

vowels (letters or sounds) pronounced in one syllable (as in fire). Examples of

triphthongs are eye, -ieu in adieu, -eau in beau.

Consonants

Consonants are the sounds during the production of which the air escapes

through the mouth or nose with friction. Consonants include all breathed (voiceless)

sounds. But there are some consonants like /l/, /j/ /w/ etc that are produced without

friction. The consonant sounds in English are:

Consonants

p pen, copy, happen

b back, baby, job

t tea, tight, button

d day, ladder, odd

k key, clock, school

g get, giggle, ghost

t church, match, nature

d judge, age, soldier

f fat, coffee, rough, photo

v view, heavy, move

θ thing, author, path

ð this, other, smooth

s soon, cease, sister

z zero, music, roses, buzz

ship, sure, national

pleasure, vision

h hot, whole, ahead

m more, hammer, sum

n nice, know, funny, sun

ŋ ring, anger, thanks, sung

l light, valley, feel

r right, wrong, sorry, arrange

j yet, use, beauty, few

w wet, one, when, queen

Stress

Syllables

A syllable is a word or a part of a word which contains a vowel or a consonant

acting as a vowel. A word can be made up of one or more syllables. The words like

‘boy’ /b /, ‘girl’ / g l/ etc have one syllable each and they are called

monosyllabic words. The words like ‘doctor’ /d ktə/, ‘father’/f ðə/ etc has two

syllables each and they are called disyllabic words. Again there are a number of words

in English with three syllables, example – remember/r membə/, four syllables,

example- population, five syllables, examples-examination/ gzæm ne ən/ and so

on. Double letters represent single sounds as in ‘summer’/s mə/ and ‘rubber’/r bə/.

Word Stress

Stress may be described as the degree of force with which a sound or syllable is

pronounced. Every syllable is uttered with a certain degree of force and the one

uttered with the greatest degree of force is called the stressed or accented syllable.

Example

Look at the words ‘important’ and ‘impotent’. An important person is a person

with a lot of power. An impotent person is a powerless, helpless person. In writing,

they are spelt differently. Though they may sound alike, but when it is pronounced

there is a difference. The difference is im POR tant and IM potent. Both the words

have three syllables. The second syllable in ‘important’ is said with more force than

the other two syllables. In the case of ‘impotent’, the first syllable is said with more

force than the other two syllables. A mark ( ) is placed before the stressed syllable to

indicate stress.

The stressed syllable is said to receive primary stress or accent and the syllable

next to that in the degree of force of utterance is said to receive secondary stress or

accent. We mark the stressed syllable or primary accent with a short vertical stroke on

top at the beginning of the syllable. Secondary stress is marked with a short vertical

bar below and at the beginning of the syllable.

Stress in monosyllabic words

In the case of monosyllabic words where there is only either a vowel or a

consonant acting as a vowel; the stress is not marked as it is taken for granted that the

word itself is accented.

Example:

ant /ænt/, box/b ks/ etc.

Stress in Polysyllabic words

In a polysyllabic word the syllable on which a pitch movement takes place is

said to receive primary accent. Any other prominent syllable in the same word is said

to receive secondary accent. There are a number of disyllabic words like teacher,

wisdom, cancel, and doctor which receive the accent on the first syllable. There

are a number of disyllabic words like be come, can teen, re mark, and se rene

which receive the accent on the second syllable. There are trisyllabic words like

advertise, anything, beautiful and customer which receive the accent on the

first syllable. There are trisyllabic words like a greement, ar tistic and de velop

which receive the accent on the second syllables and there are trisyllabic words like

ciga rette, disap point and under stand which receive the accent on the third

syllable. The accent in English words is fixed in the sense that the main accent always

falls on a particular syllable.

Stress in words used as both nouns and verbs

There are a number of disyllabic words in English in which word-accent

depends upon whether the words are used as nouns/ adjectives or as verbs.

If these words are used as nouns/ adjectives, the accent is on the first syllable and if

these are used as verbs, the accent is on the second syllable. A few of these are listed

below:

Word Noun or Adjective Verb

Absent /’æbsənt/ /əb’sent/

Concert /’k nsət/ /kən’s t/

Conduct /’k nd kt/

/kən’d kt/

Contact /’k ntækt/

/kən’tækt/

Contract /’k ntrækt/

/kən’trækt/

Contrast /’k ntr st/

/kən’tr st/

Convict /’k nv kt/

/kən’v kt/

Desert /’dezət/ /d ’z t/

Digest /’da d əst/ /d ’d əst/ or /da ’d əst/

Export /’eksp t/ / ks’p t/

Import /’ mp t/ / m’p t/

Object /’ bd kt/ /əb’d əkt/

Perfect /’p f kt/ /pe’fəkt/

Permit /’p m t/ /pə’mit/

Present /’preznt/ /pr zent/

Produce /pr dju s/ /prə’dju s/

Stress in Compound Words

By compound word we mean a word composed of two separable words. In

spelling them, there may or may not be a hyphen between the two elements forming

the compound.

In most compound words in English the primary accent falls on one of the two

elements. The most common type in English is the first of the two elements receiving

the primary accent. A few examples are given below:

‘air-raid ‘coalman ‘lifeboat ‘postman

‘blackbird ‘crossword ‘mailbag ‘rain-coat

‘bookshelf ‘footprint ‘offprint ‘school-bus

‘cardboard ‘hairbrush ‘pickpocket ‘tea-party

There are, however, a few compound words with –ever and –self as the second

elements in which the second element receives the primary accent. A few examples as

given below:

Her’self Him’self My’self Them’selves

How’ever What’ever When’ever Who’ever

There are other compound words in which both the elements are accented, but

the primary accent falls on the second element. For example:

After-‘noon Home-‘made Country-‘house

Good-‘looking Bad-‘tempered Post-‘graduate

Sentence Stress

In connected speech some words stand out from the rest due to the stress given

to certain words. In the following examples the words that stand out from the rest are

marked with a vertical bar:

1. He ‘came.

2. ‘Meet me at ‘ten.

3. ‘Buy me a ‘pen.

4. I ‘lost my ‘bunch of ‘keys.

5. I ‘want to ‘buy a ‘pen.

6. ‘Don’t ‘talk ‘loudly!

7. ‘Who’s ‘turned ‘off the ‘fan?

The sentences listed above, when they are said neutrally, are said in such a way that

the words marked with a vertical bar above them stand out from the rest.

If in a bit of connected speech several syllables are prominent, only one will

receive the primary or tonic accent. This is usually the last prominent syllable.

The words stressed in the sentences given above are nouns, verbs, adjectives,

adverbs, negatives, question words and two-part verbs. They are important words in a

sentence. They give us most of the information.

The words that are not stressed are pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions,

articles, be-verbs, and auxiliary verbs. They are purely ‘grammatical’ words. They are

not stressed. When we speak a sentence, the words which carry information are

stressed while the purely ‘grammatical’ words are not stressed.

Strong, Weak and Contracted forms

There are a number of words in English which have two or more qualitative

and quantitative patterns depending upon whether they are accented or not. When

these words are accented or when they are pronounced in isolation, the strong forms

of these words are used; when they are unaccented, the weak forms of these words are

used. The weak forms exhibit reductions of the length of sounds and weakening of the

vowels in them. Given below are the most common of words with two forms. Both

strong and weak forms are given in phonemic transcription.

Articles Strong Form Weak Form

A /e / /ə/

An /æn/ /ən/

The /ði / /ð / before a vowel

/ðə/ before a consonant

Auxiliary Verbs Strong Form Weak Form

Am /æm/ /əm/, /m/

Are / / /ə/

Can /kæn/ /kən/, /kn/

Could /k d/ /kəd/

Does /d z/ /dəz/, /z/, /s/

Do /du / /d /,/də/,/d/

Had /hæd/ /həd/,/əd/, /d/ Has /hæz/ /həz/, /əz/, /z/

Have /hæv/ /həv/, /əv/, /v/ Is / z/ /z/, /s/

Must /m st/ /məst/, /məs/

Shall / æl/ / el/, / l/ Was /w z/ /wəz/

Were /w / /wə/

Will /w l/ /l/

Would /w d/ /əd/, /d/

Prepositions Strong Forms Weak Forms

At /æt/ /ət/

For /f / /fə/

From /fr m/ /frəm/

Of / v/ /əv/, /v/, /ə/

To /tu / /t / before a vowel

/tə/ before a consonant

Conjunctions Strong Forms Weak Forms

And /ænd/ /ənd/, /nd/, /ən/, /n/

As /æz/ /əz/

Than /ðæn/ /ðən/ /ðn/

That /ðæt/ /ðət/

But /b t/ / bət/

to be (am, are, is)

affirmative

negative

long form short form long form short form I am I'm I am not I'm not

he, she, it: he is he's he is not he isn't oder he's not we, you, they: we are we're we are not we aren't oder we're not

to be (was, were)

affirmative negative long form short form long form short form I, he, she, it: he was - he was not he wasn't we, you, they: we were - we were not we weren't

have got

affirmative negative long form short form long form short form I, we, you, they:

we have got we've got we have not got we've not got oder we haven't got

he, she, it: he has got he's got he has not got he's not got oder he hasn't got

had

affirmative negative long form short form long form short form every time regardless the subject (I, he, she, it, we, you, they): I had I'd I had not I hadn't

do

affirmative negative long form short form long form short form I, we, you, they: I do - I do not I don't he, she, it: he does - he does not he doesn't

did affirmative negative long form short form long form short form every time regardless the subject (I, he, she, it, we, you, they):

I did - I did not I didn't

Modals (can, could, must, might, will, would, shall, should, ought to) affirmative negative long form short form long form short form can - cannot can't could - could not couldn't must - must not mustn't might - might not -- need - need not needn't will 'll will not won't would 'd would not wouldn't shall - shall not shan't should 'd should not shouldn't ought to - ought not to oughtn't to

The short forms’s and’d have two different long forms:

he's = he is

He’d = he would

We seldom use short forms after names and nouns.

Peter has got a book. = Peter's got a book.

The children have visited London. = The children've visited London.

When have is a full verb, we do not use the short form.

They have breakfast at 6 o'clock.

In spoken English we use the short form a lot. We say things like: I'm / you're / didn't

etc. instead of I am / you are / did not etc.

We also use these short forms in informal written English. When we write in the short

form, we use an apostrophe (') for the missing letter(s).

Forms of the auxiliary verbs to be, to do and to have:-

To be - Simple Present Form

Positive Statement Negative Statement Long form Short form Long form Short form I am I'm I am not I'm not He is He's He is not He isn't or He's not She is She's She is not She isn't or She's not It is It's It is not It isn't or It's not

You are You're You are not You aren't or You're not

We are We're We are not We aren't or We're not

They are They're They are not They're not

To be - Simple Past Form Positive Statement Negative Statement Long form Short form Long form Short form I was

---

I was not I wasn't He was He was not He wasn't She was She was not She wasn't It was It was not It wasn't You were You were not You weren't We were We were not We weren't They were They were not They weren't

To do - Simple Present Form Positive Statement Negative Statement Long form Short form Long form Short form I do

---

I do not I don't He does He does not He doesn't She does She does not She doesn't It does It does not It doesn't You do You do not You don't We do We do not We don't They do They do not They don't

To do - Simple Past Form

Positive Statement Negative Statement

Long form Short form Long form

Short form

I / he / she / it / you / we / they did ---

I / he / she / it / you / we / they did not

I / he / she / it / you / we / they didn't

To have - Simple Present Form Positive Statement Negative Statement Long form Short form Long form Short form I have I've I have not I haven't or I've not He has He's He has not He hasn't or He's not

She has She's She has not She hasn't or She's not

It has It's It has not It hasn't or It's not

You have You've You have not You haven't or You've not

We have We've We have not We haven't or We've not

They have They've They have not They haven't or They've not

To have - Simple Past Form Positive Statement Negative Statement Long form Short form Long form Short form

I / he / she / it / you / we / they had

I'd he'd she'd it'd

I / he / she / it / you / we / they had not

I hadn't or I'd not he hadn't or he'd not she hadn't or she'd not it hadn't or it'd not

you'd we'd they'd

you hadn't or you'd not we hadn't or we'd not they hadn't or they'd not

The long and short forms of the modal verbs can, could, shall, should, will and would Can Positive Statement Negative Statement

Long form Short form Long form Short form

I / he / she / it / you / we / they can --- I / he / she/ it / you / we /

they cannot I / he / she / it / you / we / they can't

Could Positive Statement Negative Statement

Long form Short form Long form Short form

I / he / she / it / you / we / they could --- I / he / she/ it / you / we /

they could not I / he / she / it / you / we / they couldn't

Must Positive Statement Negative Statement

Long form Short form Long form Short form

I / he / she / it / you / we / they must --- I / he / she/ it / you / we /

they must not I / he / she / it / you / we / they mustn't

Shall Positive Statement Negative Statement

Long form Short form Long form Short form

I / he / she / it / you / we / they shall --- I / he / she/ it / you / we /

they shall not I / he / she / it / you / we / they shan't

Should Positive Statement Negative Statement

Long form Short form Long form Short form

I / he / she / it / you / we / they should --- I / he / she / it / you / we /

they should not I / he / she / it / you / we / they shouldn't

Will Positive Statement Negative Statement Long form Short form Long form Short form

I / he / she / it / you / we / they will

I'll He'll She'll It'll You'll We'll They'll

I / he / she / it / you / we / they will not

I won't or I'll not He won't or He'll not She won't or She'll not It won't or It'll not You won't or You'll not We won't or We'll not They won't or They'll not

Would Positive Statement Negative Statement

Long form Short form Long form Short form

I / he / she / it / you / we / they would

I'd He'd She'd It'd* You'd We'd They'd

I / he / she / it / you / we / they would not

I wouldn't or I'd not He wouldn't or He'd not She wouldn't or She'd not It wouldn't or It'd not* You wouldn't or You'd not We wouldn't or We'd not They wouldn't or They'd not

* Not "good" English, but you will hear occasionally.

The Imperative

Let Us

Positive Statement Negative Statement

Long form - rarely used Short form

Long form - used by pompous people Short form

Let us Let's Let us not Let's not

Intonations

The rate at which the vocal cords vibrate is called the frequency of vibration

and this determines the pitch of the voice. The more rapidly the vocal cords vibrate,

the higher will be the pitch. When we hear someone speak, we realize that he doesn’t

always speak on the same note. We hear constant variations in the level at which his

voice is pitched. Sometimes the pitch rises and sometimes it falls. At other times, it

remains level, high or low. The patterns of variation of the pitch of the voice

constitute the intonation of a language.

When the pitch of the voice falls we call it the falling tone. When the pitch of

the voice rises we call it the rising tone. We mark the falling tone with a downward

arrow ( ) before the syllable on which the pitch of the voice falls, and the rising tone

with an upward arrow ( ) before the syllable on which the pitch of the voice rises.

Functions of Intonation

Falling tone is used in the following contexts:

1. Definite remark

Example: It’s raining.

2. Order

Example: Get me some water.

3. Wh-question

Example: Who’s shouting?

Rising tone is used in the following contexts:

1. Yes- no questions(mostly used to confirm something)

Example: Are you ready?

2. Polite commands

Example: Sit there.

3. Questions showing concern

Example: Why are you crying?

4. Apologies

Example: I’m sorry.

Different Accents

English is spoken as the mother tongue and as the second language in many

parts of the world. Though the English spoken in different countries is not very

different in grammar, it varies quite a bit in pronunciation. There are different

varieties of pronunciations across the globe, like, American, British, Australian etc.

So, it is necessary to understand these varieties. For convenience, we are focusing on

the two major varieties of English pronunciation- British and American and the basic

difference between the two.

The way English is spoken in one region of Britain varies, sometimes slightly

and sometimes greatly, from the way it is spoken in another region of the country. But

one type of pronunciation has come to be regarded as ‘standard’. It is spoken by most

of the news presenters on BBC TV and Radio. It is this type of pronunciation that

people have in mind when they talk about British English pronunciation.

The basic difference between British English and American English

pronunciation are discussed below:

British / / and American /æ/

One of the most noticeable differences between British and American

pronunciations is that while the British use the / / sound in a large number of words

(example: half is pronounced as /h lf/), the Americans use the /æ/ sound in the

words pronounced by them (example: /h æ lf/). A few examples are:

Word British English American English

Ask / sk/ / æsk/

Bath / b θ/ / bæθ/

Fast /f st/ /fæst/

British / / and American / /

The next difference between British English and American English

pronunciation can be found in the use of the sound / / in British and / / in

American.

Some examples are:

Word British English American English

Confidence /k nf dəns/ /k nf dəns/

Doctor /d ktə/ /d ktə/

Politics /p l t ks/ /p l t ks/

There are some other differences which can be found between the two

pronunciations. They are:

British pronounce the word ‘news’ as /nju z/ with a /j/ sound before /u / and

the Americans pronounce it as /nu z/ without the /j/ sound.

In American English, the letter t is often pronounced /d/ when it comes

between two vowel sounds. The word writer is pronounced as /ra tə/ in

British English and / ra dər/ in American English.

In British English laboratory is pronounced as /ləb rətr / whereas in

American English it is pronounced as / læbrət r /

Influence of Mother Tongue

Most of the speakers start learning English several years after getting used to

their mother tongue. Naturally, the speech habits formed in the mother tongue

influence the way we speak English. This has resulted in several ‘regional’ varieties of

spoken English, depending on the speaker’s mother tongues. It takes considerable

effort to ‘correct’ these accents.

In most of our languages, words are spoken as they are written. But in English,

pronunciation does not closely follow spelling. This leads to several difficulties when

we speak English. For example, a word like ‘butter’ is written with a double t. But

there is only one /t/ sound in pronunciation: /b tə (r)/ and not /b ttər/. Consonant

sounds are, generally speaking, not doubled in English while it is common in our

mother tongues. Other similar instances are shown in the following words.

‘Written’ is pronounced with double /t/ sound as /r tten/ and not as /r tn/.

‘Funny’ as /f nn / and not as /f n /, ‘Silly’ as /s ll / and not as /s l /.

Module-II

Listening Skills

Barriers to Listening

Communication involves the skills of listening and speaking. To become a

good communicator, both the skills need to be developed. The competence in listening

contributes to the development of speaking skills.

Hearing is an involuntary act that happens automatically, but listening is a

voluntary activity and hence it is deliberate.

Active Listening

An active listener is a person who looks into the eyes of the speaker and makes

eye contact with that person. An active listener should be able to learn to

communicate through gestures and facial expressions. Try to show enthusiasm for

what the speaker is saying. Your posture communicates your enthusiasm. If you sit

relaxed, you show disinterest. If you are an active listener, you should sit leaning

forward and not backward. Learn to respond to the speaker’s words. Use responses

such as ... mm..., OK, all right, perhaps, certainly, no, not at all, yes, very well, etc.

Such responses help the speaker to understand whether you are with him or her.

Listening is not a passive activity during which the listener receives the

thoughts and feelings of the speaker. While listening, several thoughts run through our

mind. We think much faster than we listen. So, it is quite likely that our thinking is

interrupted by several other thoughts. One may race ahead of the speaker’s words or

one may drift into another world. Such things can severely hamper listening.

Barriers to Listening

Nobody is born a poor listener. Still, there are some factors which can act as

barriers to listening. The first reason for poor listening could be that the listener is not

interested in the subject or the topic being discussed. In such cases, the listener does

not make an effort to listen to and understand the content. As a result, he or she does

not understand what the speaker is talking about.

The second factor may be that of partial listening as some listeners are partial

listeners. This results in inadequate understanding. The third reason may be the fast

pace of the delivery by the speaker. In such cases, what happens is the audience listens

to the speaker for a while and when they realize that they could not cope with the

pace, then the listener gives up the attempt and stop listening. So, the listener must

remember to speak at a pace at which the listener is comfortable.

The fourth factor may be traced to that of remaining quiet or pretending that

you have understood when you have not. There you are making a mistake. Your

failure to ask for clarifications can cause inadequate comprehension. People often

don’t ask for repetitions or clarifications due to shyness. Some do not ask any question

or voice their doubt as they are unsure of their language competence. It is the listener

who loses here.

The fifth barrier arises when there are enough disturbances in the physical

environment around you which makes the listening process even difficult. Finally, if

you are engaged in other activities while listening to someone, it may also create a

barrier in effective listening. If your attention is divided, it will hamper the listening

activity.

Academic Listening

Sometimes students find it hard to follow lectures in English because their

education might have been given to them in a vernacular medium. But if you have to

get a complete and accurate understanding of the lectures, one can often follow one of

them methods, viz., take notes, fill a form, a table, etc., and complete a visual, a chart,

a table etc.

Listening and note taking

When one listens to lectures, a helpful method is to take notes for future

reference. While taking notes one must remember that the same notes may be referred

by you at a later period. So the notes taken down by you should be understandable to

you later and it should contain all the important points. Based on the notes you should

be able to write an essay or a complete paragraph. It is therefore very important that

one has to learn to make systematic notes that will help you to recall the main points

and their supporting details and develop them into longer texts.

When you listen to academic lectures or talks, it is necessary to take notes for

future reference. The speaker will give some idea about what the speaker is going to

talk about right at the beginning. For example, the speaker may begin by saying,

‘Today we will discuss five different forms of political systems’. Here, the speaker is

giving a hint about the main important idea. So, the first important step in note taking

is to identify the main ideas and their supporting details.

The second step in note taking is to express the main points is to express the

main points and their supporting details in a short or in a condensed manner. For

example, if the speaker says, ‘Let me begin with monarchy, one of the oldest forms of

government’. The same idea can be expressed in this form: Monarchy- oldest form of

govt.

The third step in note taking is to organize the main ideas and supporting

details in a systematic way using the decimal numbering system. The first level of

numbering may be such as 1, 2, 3, et cetera for main ideas and the second level of

numbering such as 1.1 and 1.2 or 2.1 and 2.2 for supporting details.

Listening to announcements

Listening is a voluntary activity and hence we listen for different purposes.

Based on the information we require, we choose to listen to certain selected details

and ignore the rest. So, we need to develop the listening ability effectively. When one

listens to a particular news item that interests one, one may listen for all the details,

while on certain occasions, one may listen for some specific information only. When

one is at a railway station or bus station or an airport, one listens to announcements for

specific information like the arrival and departure time of a train or bus or an

aeroplane.

Listening to News on the Radio and Television

We listen to news on the radio or television to gather information about the

events happening around the world. When we listen to a news bulletin in a news

channel, we do not listen to every news item for the full details. This activity is similar

to that of reading a newspaper. News items are read selectively.

Listening for overall information

In some cases like listening to a report of a discussion in the Parliament, one

may not be interested in the specific details. But, at the same time, one may be

interested to learn the final outcome. In such a case, the specific details are ignored

and only the final outcome is given importance.

Module III

Speaking Skills

Theory and Practice

Rules of Word Stress and Rhythm

Rules of Word Stress

Most words with many syllables are stressed on the third syllable from the end.

When suffixes are added to shorter words, stress is shifted to keep it on the third

syllable from the end. For example, the words like par’ticular, ge’ography,

psycho’logical, ther’mometer, ‘family, fa’miliar, famili’arity, ‘democrat, de’mocracy.

In compound words, the first part is usually stressed. But when the first part is

an adjective, the second part is stressed. Example, ‘breakfast, ‘toothbrush, ‘handbag,

‘eyewitness, man-‘made, good-‘looking.

When the same word is used as noun and as a verb, the noun is usually stressed

on the first syllable and the verb on the second. Example, ‘object (noun), ob’ject

(verb), ‘present(noun), pre’sent(verb), ‘conduct (noun), con’duct(verb).

Rules of Stress and Rhythm

1. They ‘started ‘early for the ‘station.

2. You will be ‘making a ‘big ‘mistake.

3. ‘Why ‘can’t you be ‘quiet for a ‘while?

4. Her ‘husband is ‘short and ‘very ‘fat.

5. I ‘don’t ‘want to ‘talk to her.

6. ‘Who has ‘turned ‘off the ‘radio?

7. Was she ‘sad or mad?

The words that are stressed are nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs, negatives,

question-words, and two part verbs. These words give us the most information. The

words that are not stressed are pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, articles, be-verbs,

and auxiliary verbs. They are purely grammatical words. Therefore, the words that

carry information are stressed, while the purely grammatical words are not normally

stressed.

Rhythm

1. It was ‘good you ‘told her.

2. It would have been ‘better if you had ‘told her.

The first sentence has six words. The second sentence has ten words. But, both the

sentences have the same number of stressed syllables- two each. The unstressed

syllables are joined to the stressed syllables and are squeezed between them. The

following things can be noticed here. They are

1. The stressed syllables come at fairly regular intervals.

2. The time intervals between stressed syllables are roughly the same.

3. When two stressed syllables come close together, the speed of utterance is

slow. When stressed syllables are separated by unstressed syllables, the

unstressed syllables are said rapidly.

4. With the stressed syllables coming at regular intervals, the utterance has a

rhythm.

Pauses and sense groups

When we talk, we don’t talk in single words but in groups of words spoken

continuously. These groups of words, which are closely connected in meaning and in

grammar, are called sense groups. A sense group is a tone-group in intonation. A long

sentence can be cut up into two or more tone-groups. We may make a short pause after

each group, but not during the group. Such pauses help to make reading or speaking

easier and to convey one’s ideas more clearly.

In cutting speech up into small groups, speed at which you are speaking is one of

the factors. The following sentence may be read in either way.

a) ‘All of the ‘students in ‘this class ‘study English.

b) ‘All of the ‘students in this class |‘study English.

You may be reading the second sentence more slowly than the first. Besides, you

may want to give some emphasis to the idea all of the students in this class.

The following sentences get progressively longer and it would be convenient to

cut up the longer ones into small groups according to their grammatical structure.

Note the single bar ( | )is used to mark the pause.

‘All of them ‘study ‘English

‘All of the ‘students in this department | ‘study ‘English and other ‘subjects.

‘All of the ‘students in this department | ‘study ‘English and other subjects | for a

‘course of ‘four years.

Short pauses may be made between tone-groups within a sentence, but they are

not always necessary.

Here are more examples:

(1) ‘If he comes, | ‘tell him to do it.

(2) ‘On the ‘table, | there were ‘no books.

(3) I ‘go to ‘bed early, | as a ‘general rule.

(4) ˇUsually | he ‘takes the ‘bus to work.

(5) ‘Last Wednesday | I ‘wanted to ‘get to ‘London early. | So I ‘caught a train|

a‘bout an ‘hour before my usual one | and I ‘got to work | a‘bout ‘half

past eight.

Falling and Rising Tones

Tone is a change in the pitch of the voice. A change in the pitch occurs on a

stressed syllable. A falling tone begins with a pitch fairly high on the first syllable.

The pitch falls a little from stress to stress. Then, it finally falls at the last meaningful

syllable. The pitch remains low for the remaining unstressed syllables. In the rising

tone, the pitch rises at the last meaningful syllable. It continues to rise for the

remaining unstressed syllables.

Falling tone is used in the following contexts.

(1) Statements

In normal statements, the falling tone can be used. The tone suggests that

you’re sure about what you’re saying. But, if the statements have to be seen as

more friendly, soothing and encouraging, the rising tone can be used. For

example:

a. You’re wrong. (I checked the spelling in the dictionary.)

b. She’s very ill. (I visited her in the hospital)

c. ‘Don’t worry.

d. I’ll be back soon.

(2) Wh- questions

Wh- questions are normally spoken in the falling tone. The questions do not

sound very friendly. If the Wh- questions must be made to sound friendly, and

to show interest and concern, the rising tone can be used. For example:

a. ‘How did you do it?

b. ‘Where do you live?

c. Why are you crying?

d. How can I help you?

(3) Commands

Commands are usually spoken in the falling tone. If the commands should

sound polite and more like pleading, then the rising tone can be used. For

instance:

a. ‘Don’t be a ‘damn fool!

b. ‘Stop grumbling!

c. Sit down.

d. ‘Turn ‘down the music.

(4) Apologies and Compliments

Expressions of gratitude, apologizing, complimenting are routinely said in the

falling tone. If the rising tone is used, it will sound more genuine. A few

examples are:

a. That’s nice.

b. I’m sorry.

c. That’s nice.

d. I’m sorry.

Rising tone is used in the following contexts.

(1) Yes – No Questions

Yes-no questions are normally spoken in the rising tone. Examples:

a. ‘Are we late?

b. Is ‘dinner ready?

c. ‘Can I leave now?

Statements are normally spoken in the falling tone. Sometimes, in ordinary

conversations, statements are turned into questions, by speaking them in the rising

tone.

(2) Question–tags

Another way of turning statements into questions is by adding question-tags.

a. We’re starting now, aren’t we?

b. Your brother left last night, didn’t he?

If what is said is true, and the listener is asked only to agree with what is said, the

falling tone can be used in the question–tag. When you are not sure what you are

saying is true and you are asking the listener to tell you if it is true or not, the rising

tone can be used. In this sense, the question-tag is like a yes-no question.

In the following, the speaker expects the listener to agree.

a. Your ‘sister’s a doctor, isn’t she? (I know she is.)

b. It ‘looks like rain, doesn’t it? (I’m sure about it.)

In the following, the speaker is not sure of his or her statement.

a. You ‘live in Delhi, don’t you? (Correct me if I’m wrong.)

b. I can ‘come later, can’t I? (Tell me if I can.)

(3) Exclamations

The falling tone is normally used in exclamations. But to express strong

feelings, the rising tone can be used.

a. Best of luck.

b. Yes.

Fluency and Pace of Delivery

Based upon the purpose of the presentation and the audience present there, the

speaker could vary the speed and pace of the talk. For instance,

Mutual Funds and securities investments are subject to market risks and

there can be no assurance or guarantee that the Scheme’s objectives will

be achieved. As with any investment in securities, the Net Asset

Value of Units issued under the Scheme may go up or down depending

on the various factors and forces affecting the capital markets. Please

read the respective Offer Documents carefully before investing.

Here, the audience may not be able to understand what the speaker was saying

because the speaker was speaking too fast. If it is a talk as a part of an advertisement

on TV for a certain purpose, the speaker would want to do his or her job within the

time limit allotted for that particular advertisement. And this demands a faster pace in

his delivery which suited his purpose.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh – has not – taken a view – on the

suspension of – the construction – of the Narmada Dam – till

resettlement – and rehabilitation – of the affected families – is

completed – as per the Narmada Award – and Supreme Court orders.

Here, the speaker was speaking at a slow pace as it was a report being read for

releasing a press note. Reporters were writing down what was being said, every word

being noted down. So, it demands the speaker to slow down the pace of his speech.

The tribes of India – now known as ‘adivasis’ or ‘original inhabitants’ –

lived in the remote jungles and remained outside the mainstream of

Indian life until the British came. The British, with their hatred of

bureaucratic untidiness, decide that the tribals should be administered

like anyone else.

Here, the audience were able to understand what the speaker was saying as it was

spoken at a normal speed. The speaker, here, also spoke fluently. The listeners would

have certainly understood what the speaker said.

The speaker spoke about the topic with confidence. He spoke smoothly and

without any unnatural breaks or hesitations. He emphasised a few important words.

One word flowed smoothly on to the next without a gap. But there were pauses at the

end of breath- groups and sense-groups. These are some of the features of fluent

speech.

All through Independence Day, Hindus and Muslims continued to flock

to the Mahatma’s residence… To a group of political leaders who had

come to seek his blessing, he said simply, ‘Be wary of power corrupts,

for power corrupts. Don’t fall into its trap. Don’t forget that your

mission is to serve the poor in the villages of India.’

This is a fluent speech. It had an easy, relaxed flow. It was neither too fast, nor too

slow. It was delivered at a ‘normal’ pace. The speaker slowed down at places, and he

spoke a little fast at certain other stretches. That is a feature of fluent speaking-

slowing down and quickening the pace for a purpose.

Formal Style of Speaking

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the

greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we

stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous

decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves

who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a

joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

This was the beginning of a famous speech by the great American leader, Martin

Luther King Jr. on a formal occasion. The speaker is speaking at a rather high pitch.

He is also using the rising tone more often than the falling tone. He is speaking at a

slow, steady pace. The pitch is almost level throughout- there aren’t too many

variations. These again are features of a formal style of speaking.

Informal Style of Speaking

One day, lacking anything at all to do, I went and saw the mayor. I told

him I was a journalist, but really, I just wanted someone to talk to. He

had an undertaker’s face and wore blue jeans and a blue shirt. This made

him look like a prisoner, but he was a kind man.

In an informal style of speaking, the speaker does not hesitate, but pauses at the end of

sense–groups in long sentences, but there are no gaps in the middle of a sense–group.

Computer memories are defined by the number of ‘bytes’ of information

they can store. Each byte is a combination of binary numbers- usually

eight of them-and stands for an ordinary number or letter. Each of the

binary numbers-always either 1 or 0, corresponding to the presence or

absence of electric current in a section of circuitry-is known as a ‘bit’,

from the phrase ‘binary digit’.

Here, the speaker slows down when he is presenting items of information that are

important, unfamiliar, unusual or difficult.

In the 1960s, Harvard researcher Robert Rosenthal studied how you can

make people succeed simply by labelling them ‘successful’. Students

were randomly assigned to two groups, ‘high-potentials’ and ‘low-

potentials’. Those singled out as more successful ...were...

Here, the speaker slowed down and paused before were. That helped him present the

fact very emphatically.

Small talk

It is often found that one finds it comfortable to talk with one’s friends and

relatives very easily. But, whenever a situation comes where one has to make a

conversation with a stranger or indulge in small talk with people with whom there is

little acquaintance, one finds it very difficult how to open a conversation and what

topics to be taken so that the conversation is continued for some time.

In today’s world, there is an increasing need to converse with different people

in different situations. One needs to understand how and when to switch rules – from

being a listener to a speaker and vice versa. Sometimes, it becomes necessary to

interrupt the speaker in a conversation to seek a clarification, add a point to what has

been said or disagree with the speaker. It is, therefore, very important to know when

and how to interrupt a speaker and how to handle interruptions from others while one

speaks.

Initiating a Conversation

The best strategy that can be used to start a conversation with known or

unknown individuals is to follow the method of IRSF: Initiate Respond, Sustain, and

Follow-up. The next thing that you ponder upon is how to initiate a conversation with

a stranger. It can be done by greeting the stranger or by asking a question (What is the

time please?) or making a statement (I have seen you somewhere- you look familiar).

The sample conversations below illustrate how one can initiate a conversation.

At a busy shopping place

Customer: I am looking for a nice shirt to go with mu black jeans. (Initiate)

Salesperson: Please take a look at this blue shirt. (Respond)

Customer: I have two blue shirts already. (Sustain)

Salesperson: Let me show you a few other colours to choose from. (Follow-up)

A professional meeting a well-known individual

Person 1: I’m pleased to meet you. (Initiate)

Person 2: The pleasure’s mine. (Respond)

Person 1: I’ve heard Roy speak about you often. (Sustain)

Person 2: Only good things, I hope. (Respond)

A few useful conversation openers are given below.

Conversation Openers Response

How’s it going? Great.

Lovely weather? Yes, it is.

How’s work? OK/ Fine/ Not too bad.

I haven’t seen you for a while. I’ve been busy/ away.

Interrupting a conversation

Nobody likes being interrupted when they are indulged in some conversation. It

is usually seen as rude and creates tension. Although it is agreed that it is not nice to

interrupt someone else, people are usually not aware of when and how often they

interrupt others.

Though many people get angry when they are interrupted, there are many

assertive ways to handle interruptions. Repeat what you had said before you were

interrupted. This will ensure that you communicate what you want to say. Also avoid

criticizing and confronting the other person and at the same time get your message

across in a subtle manner.

Sometimes it happens that some people tend to talk endlessly even though you

may want convey an important point. You can signal this by using non-verbal sign

system either by raising your hand slightly, tilt your head, or raise your eyebrows

slightly to let them know that you have something important to say. Even then, if the

other person does not give you a chance, then you can give a comment that you would

like to share something when that person finishes his talk. They will realize the need to

allow you to speak and will do give you the chance to do so soon.

A few useful ways of interrupting politely in a conversation are given below.

Purpose Interrupting / Taking turns

Calling attention Excuse me

May I...?

I would like to share something with you.

Adding a point Let me add to/ share...

I would like to add something to what you just said..

Adding a point/ Cutting the It’s very interesting!

Conversation short

Seeking a clarification Sorry to interrupt you, but I need a clarification.

Sustaining a Conversation

Once you begin the conversation, there should be some topic which might help

you in sustaining the conversation. Some of the common topics which help you build a

conversation are weather, food and customs, current affairs, etc.

Closing a Conversation

In order to close a conversation with someone you know well you can use

phrases such as bye, goodbye, right then or until next time. In order to close a

conversation with someone you do not know very well you can use questions such as

shall we call it a day? Or phrases such as See you then or Catch up with you later.

A few useful phrases to close the conversation with people you know well are given

below.

Phrases used to close a conversation Response

See you soon/ later. See you soon.

I must be going. Goodbye / Bye.

I’ll be in touch. Bye for now.

Ciao. Ciao.

A few useful phrases to close a conversation with people you meet for the first time

Phrases used to close a conversation Response

I’m glad/ pleased to have met you. I am glad/ pleased to have met you too.

It’s really nice to meet you. It’s nice to have met you too.

It’s been a pleasure talking to you. The pleasure’s mine as well.

We need to meet soon to share our ideas. I would love to do that.

It’s been very interesting talking to you. Same here.

Conversations

Conversations are both interactional (chatting with friends) and transactional

(asking for information) in nature. They play a significant role in building social

relations.

Interaction pattern Transaction pattern

A: What did you do last night? (Initiate) A: What would you like to have?

B: Went to the cinema (Respond) B: I’d like to order some breakfast.

A: Oh really? (Follow-up) A: Sure. What can I bring you- South

What did you see? (Sustain) Indian, North Indian, or Continental?

B: Lord of the Rings (Respond) B: I’d like one masala dosa, a plate of idlis,

Have you seen it yet? (Sustain) and some filtered coffee.

A: No, it’s difficult with the kids (Respond) A: Shall I bring the idlis first?

B: Yeah, of course. (Follow-up) B: Yes, and coffee last. And make it quick

Notice that both types of conversations illustrate the initiate/ open – sustain – respond

– close/ follow-up model.

There are two kinds of conversations, depending on the relationship between

the participants in a conversation. The first kind occurs between people who are close

to each other and have a lot in common, socially and culturally. The second kind of

talk is between people who are less intimate. Most conversations have some specific

purpose. Sometimes, personal or social conversations may be just casual conversations

with no specific purpose. Seeking a clarification, extending an apology, confirming or

negating something or offering an opinion are some of the purposes of conversations.

A few useful phrases for seeking clarifications are given below.

Excuse me, please help me understand what you mean by ...

I have question for you ...

Can you tell me what is meant by...?

Please clarify ... for me.

I haven’t understood what you just said. Please explain.

Could you spend a moment in telling me...?

I am sorry, what did you say? / Which one?

Do you mean...?

Any particular...?

What do you mean by...?

Extending an apology

Sometimes when some mistakes occur from one’s part unintentionally,

inconvenience is created for the person who suffers from your mistake. In such

situations, the first thing to be done is to apologize.

Some useful phrases for making apologies are

I am sorry.

Oops! I am sorry about that.

Sorry to bother you.

I am sorry for the inconvenience caused.

I apologize for the inconvenience caused.

My sincere apologies.

Giving an opinion

Normally, when you are part of a discussion, it may be necessary to express

your opinion on certain things. But, one is often hesitant to express one’s opinion due

to many reasons. The reasons may be:

You don’t have an opinion on the subject.

You have an opinion, but are worried about what others might say or think.

You have an opinion, but don’t feel you can say exactly what you mean.

You are not able to express yourself in the eloquent manner that you are

capable of in your native language.

You feel intimidated by others who are more confident about expressing their

opinions.

It is not difficult to say you opinion. But you should know how to position your

opinion in a conversation so that no one is offended nor you remain uncomfortably

silent without giving your opinion.

Some useful phrases for expressing opinions are

I think...

The way I see it...

If it were up to me...

I suppose...

It is fairly certain that...

I honestly feel that...

In my opinion...

As far as I’m concerned...

If I were in your situation...

I’m pretty sure that...

I’m convinced that...

I believe that...

Introducing oneself to others

Few phrases used for introducing oneself to others

I’d like to introduce myself...

I’m...

My name is...and I am from...

Hi, I am...

Few phrases used for introducing others

This is...

I’d like to introduce... from...

Here’s...

I feel privileged to introduce...

Few phrases used when meeting for the first time / on being introduced

Pleased to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Nice meeting you.

Glad to meet you.

It’s a pleasure meeting you.

Some phrases used when responding to greeting

Pleased to meet you too.

Nice meeting you too.

Glad to meet you too.

Making Requests

There are occasions when one has to ask others to do something for us. So, it is

important to know how to make requests appropriately in different situations. A few

phrases normally used to make request is given below.

Request

Can you shut the window?

Could you shut the window?

Do you mind shutting the window?

Would you mind shutting the

window, please?

Response

Of course

Certainly

Right away

In a minute

I’m sorry, I can’t because...

I’m afraid I can’t because...

Asking for permission

For certain actions that we want to do we need the permission from someone

else. It is, therefore, very important to learn how to ask for permission in the most

appropriate way so that you get the permission,

Some useful phrases for giving permission

OK

Sure, go ahead.

Yes, I guess so.

All right.

Formal speech

A short formal speech is made in the following situations:

To welcome a guest at a function

To bid farewell to someone leaving an institution/ organization, or

To propose a vote of thanks at the close of a formal event.

However, preparing and delivering a public speech can be challenging. One may find

it difficult to decide what one want to say, or how to say it. To some, perhaps the very

thought of speaking before an audience is frightening. With enough guidance and

practice, anyone can write and deliver a speech successfully.

Making a short formal speech involves three stages:

1. Planning

2. Writing

3. Delivery

Planning Stage

The content of the speech and how it is delivered will depend on three

important factors:

Occasion/ Situation

Audience

The purpose of the speech

Writing Stage

This stage involves the following:

Creating an outline

Collecting the material required

Preparing the first draft

Editing for correctness, cohesiveness, etc.

Delivery Stage

The following points have to be kept in mind while a speech is delivered:

The speaker’s appearance- the speaker must be well groomed

Clarity and audibility

Adjust the pace of delivery – pause when necessary

Make eye contact with members of the audience and sustain it to win the trust

and confidence of the listeners

Be natural in gestures and posture – avoid distracting mannerisms (for example,

keeping one’s hands in one’s pockets)

Delivering a welcome address

While listening to the speeches note the following points:

Welcoming the guests – naming them first and then giving their position/ title/

designation

Welcoming the guests – the sequence, first the chief guest, then the guests of

honour and other dignitaries. The head of the college/ organization is invited

last, as he/ she is the host.

The qualifiers used before the names of dignitaries: esteemed, respected, his/

her Excellency (for the Governor/ President, etc.)

The introduction of the guests to the audience – relating to the group the

significance of the guest’s position or his/ her achievement/ contributions

The moderate pace of delivery used; neither too fast nor too slow

Phrases used when delivering a welcome address are

Opening courtesies Giving the background Introducing the theme/ purpose

Good morning/ The idea took birth a This gathering offers us a diverse

afternoon/ evening year ago... platform to...

Let me first welcome... In the last meeting, we Let us take the first step towards..

discussed the possibility of...

I feel privileged to We were exploring the The initiative to... will go a long

welcome... possibility of ... way in creating...

I would like to There was a need felt to Today’s function marks...

welcome... work together on...

I have great pleasure It was felt that... This meeting/ conference stands

in welcoming.../ It is for...

my pleasure to

welcome...

Proposing a vote of thanks

A formal function/ occasion normally involve a formal closing with a vote of

thanks for all those who organised and participated in the event.

A few useful phrases for proposing the vote of thanks are

I have task of delivering the vote of thanks to this august gathering here.

My thanks to distinguished...

I am also grateful to....

I must also thank the other members of ...

My thanks to all...

It’s a great honour to have this opportunity to thank all of you.

We are deeply indebted to...

We would like to thank...

We are very grateful to you for...

In this connection, we would like to make particular mention of...

We thank you very much for your patience...

Thank you so much...

Descriptions

Language can be used to describe people, places and events around us.

Different situations demand different kinds of descriptions. The style of description

depends on the relationship of the speaker with the listener and the person/event/

thing/ place being described.

Describing people

At some stage of a person’s life, some situations may have come up where one

had to describe a person whom one knows or saw to another individual. So, one may

start with the description of his/ her appearance, the move on to personality and

demeanour. One must concentrate on the unique characteristics of the person.

Describing places

When one has to describe a place one has visited, the following details are

included:

The location

Its history

Statistical facts and figures pertaining to the place

Legends associated with the place, if any

Its popularity

Significance of the place – what does it mean to people

But, it also depends on how much the listener knows about the place.

Describing an event

Description of an event can be of three types:

1. Factual

2. Impressionistic

3. Combination of factual and impressionistic

Newspaper reports and TV/ radio news reports/ programmes offer samples of a factual

description of events.

Describing an object or thing

We often describe an object when it is unfamiliar to the listener. You might

have to describe an object to a police official or to an official at a Lost and Found desk

in order to assist the person in identifying the object. It is also possible that you are

making a presentation on a product. In such a case, you may have to describe it to the

audience.

We can describe an object in terms of:

Its physical features

Size

Shape

Colour

Smell, if any

Taste, if any

Texture/ material

Functionality

Cost

Group Discussions

In the present global economic world, group discussion is now seen as a

common part of any recruitment by various companies, establishments, public

undertakings and so on. Group discussions are usually conducted because most

organizations expect their employees to cooperate and collaborate with each other and

work together as a team. Employers are keen on having team players and not

individual contributors. Cooperation, collaboration and strong team work are the three

basic fundamentals which are given priority for personal as well as professional

expertise and success. So, as part of the work culture and atmosphere, it demands that

there should be these essential people skills in each and every person striving towards

success.

Then, the question rises up regarding one point discussed above, namely, what

are people skills or what do you mean by people skills? One idea that must be clear

from the beginning is that when you are working as part of a team; remember it is

inevitable for you to work with a few others who may not always be of the

temperament, aptitude, outlook, belief etc. The people skills that one needs to work in

such a team will comprise the following:

To be pleasant in communication

To accept criticism without taking it personally

To focus criticism on ideas and not on people

To appreciate good ideas and suggestion, remarks, comments, and observations

made by anyone in the group

To analyze and evaluate ideas objectively, without feeling biased about the

source of its origin

To be sensitive to the taste, attitude, and temperament of other members in the

group

To avoid hurting other’s feelings

A group discussion is the communication between members of a specific group

on a topic of common interest or concern. Such discussions commonly take place

among student groups or teacher groups in academic institutions or among employees

in organizations. Usually, they are formal discussions on a pre-determined topic.

However, informal discussions also take place when people meet informally.

Group discussions are normally held for some of the common reasons like:

To gain a better understanding of a subject or topic area

To explore ideas and exchange information

To critique proposals or new ideas

To brainstorm and explore new possibilities

To look for the best solution to a problem

To prepare new policies

There are some skills required for the effective participation in group

discussions like good communication skills, interpersonal skills, leadership skills and

problem solving skills. Let us discuss each skill in detail.

Good communication skill

First and foremost, one should be a good communicator. To be a good

communicator, one should be able to

Think clearly and logically

Express one’s thoughts and ideas coherently

Speak accurately and appropriately

Listen to others and respond appropriately

Express agreements, disagreements and reservations (full or partial) without

hurting the listener’s feelings

Help others see a problem or situation from multiple perspectives.

Interpersonal skills

Interpersonal skills refer to the ability to interact with other members and carry

on a conversation in a pleasant way. This will call for the ability to

Remain focused on the objective of the discussion and not digress

Accept criticism of your ideas with a smile and not consider it an attack on you

Disagree with someone else’s idea and still be pleasant

Find positive aspects in ideas put forth by someone with whom you disagree on

many issues

Recognize every member of the group as equal partners

Ensure that every member gets equal opportunity to speak.

Leadership skills

To lead the team

To inspire the team

To give the discussion a sense of direction

To initiate a discussion

To encourage passive members to express their views

To help the team arrive at a conclusion

To summarize the discussion.

Problem solving skills

To think creatively

To think out of the box

To think for innovative solutions to problems

To analyze the different dimensions of a problem.

In addition to these basic skills, one must have a positive attitude towards the

task and the people like,

Believe that a few heads together can resolve issues quicker and better.

Respect others’ knowledge and skills.

If someone disagrees with your views or ideas, do not jump to the conclusion

that he/ she is your enemy.

Every individual has an ego just like you. Respect it. That shows your sense of

respect to others.

Just as much as you do not like to be insulted by anyone else, you should try

not to insult anyone else through your remarks or body language. That shows

your respect to colleagues and peers.

Refuse to be provoked. If you get provoked, you exhibit your weakness. Also

try not to provoke anyone. But show your sense of maturity.

Accept rejection of your ideas, as long as it is reasonable and logical. It shows

your humility.

Be prepared to accept amendments/ modifications to your ideas. That shows

your open-mindedness.

Wear a smile on your face when you speak. It is an effective ice – breaker.

Types of group discussion

Group discussion may be of two kinds:

Topic-based

Case-based

Let us discuss the varieties in a better manner.

Topic-based group discussion

Here, the discussion is based on a topic given to the group. Look at these three

topics:

Literacy Programmes in India

Reservation in jobs is a curse

The number thirteen

They represent three different categories.

The first topic is a factual topic. In the case of a factual topic, one is expected

to show the understanding of the topic, how well informed you are on it, and whether

you are aware of the basic facts about it. The second topic is a controversial topic. It

gives scope for argument and debate. Since it is a controversial topic, there will be

different views on it. Some may support it while others may oppose it. What is

important is not what view one holds but how well one can substantiate it. It is very

important that one is able to put forth valid arguments, so that one may make

meaningful contribution to the discussion. The third topic is an abstract topic. It is

rather unlikely that one may get an abstract topic for a group discussion. The fourth

topic is an objective one.

Case-based group discussion

In a case-based discussion, information about a situation is given to you and

you are asked to resolve the situation.

Roles and functions in a group discussion

It is important that every member in a group plays productive roles with two

objectives in mind:

To achieve the immediate purpose of the discussion:

It may be to resolve an issue, to finalize a plan of action, to solve a problem, or

to make recommendations on an important topic. Such roles are typically

known as task building roles.

To strengthen and maintain the group:

If every member in the group agrees with everyone else, you, as a team, may

not produce the best. Similarly, if every member is concerned only about what

he/ she has to say, and not with what the members contribute, you may not be

playing a positive role. So, you need to play roles that help members make their

best contribution and roles that help members stay together as a cohesive

group. Such roles are known as group building and maintenance roles.

There are different roles the members could play in a group discussion like,

Task building roles

Initiating: In every group discussion, one person has to initiate the discussion. The

initiator presents the topic and puts the topic in perspective.

Inviting views, ideas, opinions, and facts: Having initiated the discussion, the

initiator should invite other members to present their views, ideas, opinions etc. Some

useful expressions for inviting are:

Can we start with Mr. Sharma?

Can we first listen to Ms. Ann?

Reacting and asking for reactions: It is inevitable that in a discussion you tend to

agree or disagree with other’s opinions. Do not hesitate to express your reactions but

learn to express your disagreement with someone’s idea or opinion and not with the

person. A member who plays an active role will also try and get every member in the

group to express his/ her reactions to an idea, argument or an opinion.

Explaining, elaborating and exemplifying: Sometimes, we notice that someone has

an interesting idea but is unable to express it well. It may be useful for another

member to pick it up and explain, elaborate and also give examples, if necessary, so

that the group has a better understanding of it.

Clarifying, synthesizing: Sometimes we do not understand a speaker well. On such

occasions, do not hesitate to seek clarification on anything that you don’t understand.

You are actually giving an opportunity to the speaker to reassure himself/ herself that

her/ his message has been understood correctly by the group.

Challenging: There may be occasions when you may need to challenge an idea. Do

not hesitate to do it but learn to do it as politely as possible.

Summarizing: Towards the end of the discussion, it is necessary for one of the

members to summarize the discussion.

Group building and maintenance roles

It is essential that every member plays a constructive role with a view to

strengthening the group and also maintaining the rapport between members. Some of

the roles that you could play in this direction are:

Encouraging others

Complementing others on their useful contributions

Being supportive

Mediating

Discussion Etiquette

For conducting a group discussion, there are some rules:

Dos

Listen to other speakers. Do not assume that you are more knowledgeable than

others.

Respect the contribution made by other speakers.

Agree with and acknowledge what you find is agreeable in other’s opinions and

views.

Disagree politely with ideas, not with the person.

Offer chances to silent partners.

Expect others to disagree with some or all your views. They are entitled to do

so just much as you have the right to disagree with their views. It is part of the

game and hence do not feel insulted or upset when someone does disagree with

your views.

Keep the discussion focused on the main topic. When there is a digression,

bring it back to the main point. This is the role of a good leader.

Make yourself audible to everyone in the group. Often people tend to indulge

in conversations aside because they cannot hear the speaker.

Put up right signals to indicate your responses to the discussion. Often we

communicate a lot more through our body language than through spoken

words.

Don’ts

Don’t get into a conversation with your neighbour or a person across the table

while someone is speaking to the group.

Don’t use strong expressions such as ‘That’s absolutely wrong,’ to express

disagreements.

Don’t try to dominate the discussion. It’s not considered a positive quality.

Don’t sound rude or aggressive.

Don’t interrupt a speaker unless it’s very essential. Be courteous enough to

apologize for the interruption if you have to.

Telephone Communication

Types of calls

There are different types of calls depending upon the situation and the speakers

involved in the conversation. Depending upon the nature of the conversation and the

nature of the relationship between the speaker and the listener, we can notice that the

language used in conversation varies considerably from each other. We can classify

the calls into basically three types: formal, informal and semi-formal.

Agreeing and disagreeing

In our conversations, we express our opinion on different things. When

someone expresses an opinion, we may agree or disagree with it. While it is easy to

agree with someone, it is difficult to express disagreement. It is important to express

disagreement without hurting the listener’s feelings. It is possible to express

agreement or disagreement in different ways. Here are some expressions to convey

your agreement or disagreement.

Expressing agreement

Absolutely, definitely, exactly, etc.

How true.

How right you are/ that is.

Expressing strong agreement

I couldn’t agree more.

That’s exactly/ precisely my view.

I’m of exactly the same opinion/ view.

My own view is just the same.

That’s quite true/ right.

Expressing mild disagreement

As a matter of fact...

Actually/ In fact

I don’t know (about)...

I’m not sure...

Expressing strong disagreement

No way.

Never.

Impossible.

I entirely disagree.

I can’t accept this...

Expressing disagreement bluntly

I disagree.

I can’t agree with...

That’s not right/ true.

That’s wrong.

Expressing disagreement subtly

I see it very differently.

If I were you I would...

That’s not the way I see it...

Making appointments

We often meet people for different reasons. You meet a doctor when you are

ill, a lawyer when you need legal advice, a government official to discuss official

matters or a bank official if you need help with banking. Often we have to call the

person we want to meet in advance and fix an appointment to see him/ her. Usually,

appointments are made on the phone. Here are some few useful phrases used for

making appointments.

I have an appointment with Dr Reddy.

I want to make an appointment to see...

I am unable to keep the appointment. (be present)

I don’t want to break the appointment. (not show up)

I’m afraid I have to cancel the appointment.

She has a five o’clock appointment with...

She has a dental appointment at three this afternoon.

Cancelling and rescheduling appointments

On certain occasions, you may have to miss an appointment for certain

unavoidable reasons. In such situations, it is necessary to call and either cancel the

appointment or ask for another one. There are some steps in such a call.

Step 1- Greet.

Step 2- Announce that you have an appointment.

Step 3- Express regret at inability to keep the appointment.

Step 4- Ask for a new appointment, if necessary.

Step 5- Thank and close the conversation.

Reminding

We expect people to manage their time well and do things on time. However,

very often we find it necessary to remind others to do things. You remind someone to

do things for one of these two reasons:

Because you do not want the person to forget to do something.

Because the person has forgotten to do something.

Reminding subtly

People may not appreciate reminders sometimes. It may be necessary to remind

someone of something, but he or she may not like the reminder. In such cases you

may want to remind the person in a gentle, subtle or indirect way. Some subtle ways

of reminding are:

Mentioning the time, day, date, etc to remind someone that something has not

been done.

Asking a question to remind someone that something has been forgotten.

Mentioning that something has not happened or you haven’t done something

for a while, thereby subtly saying that you would like to do it.

Mentioning something related to what you want to remind the other person of

something.

Some useful phrases for reminding in normal ways

May I remind you that...

If you recall/ remember

I hope you won’t mind my reminding you about...

I should remind you that I must leave in the next ten minutes.

Telephone etiquette

Etiquette is defined by Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary as “the set

of rules or customs which control accepted behaviour in particular social groups or

social situations”. There are rules and customs for telephoning too. Some of the

telephone manners are:

As far as possible, answer a call in the first or second ring.

Dial numbers carefully to avoid getting a wrong number.

If you end up calling a wrong number, apologize before hanging up.

Speak distinctly and clearly.

If you are calling on a mobile phone, check f it’s a good time to talk.

Use the caller’s name during the conversation.

Keep calls as short as possible.

Smile when you are talking.

Avoid giving curt replies. Be helpful to the caller.

Do not transfer the call to someone else unless it is required.

When transferring, alert the caller.

Module IV

Reading Skills

Reading with a purpose

Reading is a process of decoding information in a text. It involves your ability

to read and understand the words, phrases and sentences and other symbols or visuals

in a text. Different strategies are employed in reading a text which suits the purpose of

reading.

Purpose of reading Example Reading strategy Name of the strategy

Reading to get a few Looking up some Do not read contents Scanning

specific items of specific information from cover to cover.

information in a dictionary, go to the specific

encyclopedia, a page on which there

product manual, a is information.

brochure or other

reference resources

Reading for an Reading a story, a read fast, often skip Skimming

overall understanding newspaper, a film words, sentences,

of a text review, a description and even paragraphs

etc that are not important

and try to get an overall

understanding of the text.

Reading for total reading your textbooks read the text slowly, word Intensive reading

information for study purpose, or by word and sentence by

reading an article on a sentence because your aim

topic of importance to is total or near total

you comprehension.

Reading for pleasure reading novels, short may read the text selectively Extensive reading

Stories, magazines etc. without being bothered by

unfamiliar words.

Scanning

Scanning is looking quickly through a text in order to find a specific piece of

information. The information may be a number, a name, a figure, the meaning of a

word, the part of speech of a word, etc. To scan a text, pass you eyes over it and stop

when you locate the piece of information you are looking for. This strategy is helpful

while consulting reference books in a library, while consulting catalogue, etc.

Surveying a text using an index

When we select a book, first we want to know what the contents of the book

are. The title and blurb give you some idea about the book. The index is an

alphabetical list at the end of a book that provides the page number on which a

subject, name of an author/ scientist, etc., is found.

Making predictions in reading

When you predict, make intelligent guesses about something. As a reader, we

often make predictions about the contents of a book or a chapter or a section.

Text structure

Long texts are usually divided into sections. Most writers would use section

headings to make the reading easy. Sections may be divided into paragraphs. We

expect the writers to follow certain structures in their writing.

Inferences

Some writers use the technique of signposts in their writing very effectively.

But some writers do not use signposts effectively. So, at times it becomes necessary to

infer the message that is very explicitly stated. For that we use clues from the context-

clues from words, phrases and sentences. We also use our world knowledge about

things.

Reading graphics

Just as much as you read a text, it is possible to read graphics. Graphics include

pie charts, bar diagrams, tables, etc.

Reading critically

The ability to read a text critically is an essential component of academic

reading. Critical reading involves identifying and differentiating facts, opinions and

arguments in a text. Once you have identified these, you need to test their validity in

relation to your own knowledge and viewpoint, and if necessary prepare counter

arguments. To read critically, you need to understand the main points in an argument.

Note-taking is a reliable way of doing this.

Reading for research

In order to research a specific topic, you should often look beyond your

textbooks and try to determine other sources- reference books, books on the specific

topic and research publications- in order to find information/ idea/ work done on the

topic so far. It helps to know what information you can find in each of these and how

you can find this information. When you need to use a number of references for your

research work, you need to be able to quickly determine whether you are likely to find

a specific piece of information on atopic, in a given text. You save time if you can

quickly determine that you need to move to a different source.