Let’s Communicate 2

Revised & Expanded Edition

Let’s Communicate 2

J. John Love JoyFrancis M. Peter S.J.

An ESL Textbook-cum-Workbook

BANGALORE • CHENNAI • COCHIN • GUWAHATI • HYDERABADJALANDHAR • KOLKATA • LUCKNOW • MUMBAI • RANCHI • NEW DELHI

INDIA • USA • GHANA • KENYA

LET’S COMMUNICATE 2

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First Edition, First Reprint : 2015ISBN 978-93-5138-141-9

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Preface

Let’s Communicate 2 is for the first-year Undergraduate students (Semester II) who are in need of Basic English for everyday use. A great deal of thought and effort has gone into the preparation of the text with a hope that this book will aid students in their quest to gain proficiency in English. The book comprises four units such as Education, Entertainment, Career and Society.

Unique in a few ways, it provides opportunities for students to practise linguistic elements as well as communication skills. We have tried to blend fun activities with language and creative skills like pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, study skills, language skills, critical thinking and creative writing.

Here are some additional information you would want to know about the book.

Textbook-cum-Workbook: This is a textbook-cum-workbook where students learn essential elements of the target language and get to apply them in meaningful contexts immediately after the input is provided.

For the Disadvantaged Learners: Aimed at the rural vernacular medium tertiary level students, who might have arguably had inappropriate English language input since childhood, this book provides reasonable and at the same time relevant opportunities for developing their English language proficiency. Often, textbooks for tertiary level students are packed with ambitious content which are unmanageable for most of the students. We have tried to minimise input with a view to maximising output through well-crafted communicative tasks.

Integrated Approach: Pertinent principles of constructive teaching methods have been put to use on every page. Neither in terms of activities nor with the adoption of syllabus have we got attached forcefully to only one prominent approach. We have taken a hybrid route to materials production. Users will get to see traditional exercises like translation, memorising, drilling, matching and filling-in on the one hand and communicative activities like problem-solving, information-gap, opinion-gap, debate, quiz and panel discussion on the other.

Reality-Driven: Textbooks under communicative paradigm are often thought to be blind towards the difficulties faced by teachers whose classroom setting is traditional, whereas, the student population is inconveniently overcrowded and heterogeneous. We have tried to address the issue by taking into consideration the actual conditions of our classrooms. Accordingly, the content is simplified and culturally sifted; feasibility, heterogeneity, teacher-expertise and crowded

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traditional classrooms are taken into account while designing the learning tasks. For instance, textbooks with listening activities usually come with audio CD. Teachers are expected to use the CD to develop the listening skills of their students. In practise, it is seldom used owing to the unavailability of the simplest of gadgets or the difficulty surrounding the procurement or use of it. On the contrary, this book which is grounded in reality, has sufficient listening activities to satisfy essential communicative requirements yet necessitates nothing extra except the teacher, his/her students and the book.

Student-friendly: The typeface and the layout have been set to make students feel at ease in the first instance itself. Hardly can you find a book for teaching English which has used lesser number of words per page as the one you are holding.

The reading texts are of reasonable length and diction befittingly relevant to the students. The well-researched wordlist on areas which students are closely associated with can help them come out of the greatest handicap of not knowing the appropriate words which are essential for communication. The contextualised grammar involves them in meaningful interaction, so that, they not only learn the structure of the target language but also put those structures to communicative use. Materials used to develop basic reading skills are consciously chosen to boost their self-worth. With regard to the task demand, critical thinking is kept reasonably low because high cognitive demand, though a positive requisite, often prevents instant and spontaneous communication.

Teacher-Friendly: Teachers may wonder whether this book requires their presence in the first place. The doubt, if not exaggerated, is reasonable because the activities are designed to undergo a pedagogic conversion vis-à-vis a shift in focus from a lecturing teacher to that of a participatory student. For example, the rubrics for the activities are addressed to the students unlike the conventional focus on teachers.

However, without a teacher the learning process would be incomplete. Contribution of the teachers is vital for various reasons. Firstly, the language used in the rubrics may not be easy for students to comprehend and respond. So, their contribution to making the language comprehensible is equally important. Secondly, a lot of creative space is available for the teachers, so that, they customise the tasks to suit their contexts. Thirdly, in order to manageably break away from the traditional teaching practice, descriptive grammar is either circumvented or clipped wherever possible. Such details are left to the discretion of the teachers. Finally, the success of such a book depends largely on teachers’ classroom management and it is in this aspect teacher-friendliness is much manifested. The ready-for-use tasks, reality-driven classroom procedures and less preparation time are the three important features teachers would (of course arguably) find in their favour.

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Testing through learning: Teachers often complain about students’ indifference to classroom participation. Sometimes, even the best of teachers are clueless in getting students involved in classroom learning. Given their limited mark-driven outlook about learning, students rightfully find no basis for involvement in an act which gives no yield, mark-wise. As a modest solution to this impasse, we have embedded a mechanism in the textbook to continuously monitor and evaluate student-performance by their peers as well as the teacher. Consequently, students may realise that their efforts are accounted for and that they have to take the classroom process seriously.

Today, testing and learning go hand-in-hand; and students are considered active contributors to the testing process. Testing, therefore, is not something done to the students but it is something which is done with them. In other words, continuous assessment is considered part of the teaching-learning process, thereby, weeding out the notion of occasional learning for the test and forgetting soon after. In fact, what matters the most is not what students remember during the assessment but long after it. Learning a language is not knowing but internalising and this requires relentless practice and monitoring. To that end, the book serves as a portfolio that teachers can rely on to assess students’ language proficiency.

To sum, Let’s Communicate 2 is a book which has simple texts, manageable tasks, reasonable cognitive demand, inherent assessment mechanism, pleasant layout and a lot of activities and space for creative thinking.

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Acknowledgements

The content of the book evolved through the encouragement, support and care of a few people. We would like to thank them for their efforts.

First and foremost, we would like to thank all the students who enthusiastically participated in the pilot study. Every lesson of this book was field-tested with the students of St. Joseph’s College, Tiruchirappalli. Their involvement helped us improve the tasks substantially. A special word of thanks is due for K.K. Kesow, K.G. Sri Saaligram, S. Naga Arjun, T. Joshua Jennkin and R. Gowtham Arasu.

We gratefully acknowledge the management of St. Joseph’s College, Tiruchirappalli, for providing us the platform to trial the materials.

We also express our gratitude to Dr. G.M. Joseph Dunston, Francis Prabhu, D. Jisan Morais and S. Antony for their invaluable words of encouragement.

Our sincere thanks to A. Ramesh, whose meticulous proofreading, helped reduce errors considerably.

Thanks to A. Suguma, J. Sisha Saleth and J. Tana Saleth for their tolerance and unconditional support.

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Contents

Preface 1Acknowledgements 4Note to the Teacher 6Note to the Student 8

1. Education 102. Entertainment 483. Career 804. Society 114

Answer Key 146

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Note to the Teacher

We deem it a privilege to suggest ways which could help enrich your teaching skills. Insights gathered from our day-to-day classroom teaching experiences are put together in this book with a hope that you will recognise some relevant ways of teaching English to the disadvantaged students. Let’s look at some important details for a better understanding of the book.

Organisation of the Content: Let’s Communicate 2 is built around similarly structured four units which are arranged in this order: vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening, speaking and writing. Every lesson, which is consciously arranged in two pages, has activities for students to actively participate in the learning process.

Classroom Management: A set of instructions is given wherever necessary on how to conduct the activity. It is important that you read the rubrics prior to the class in order to reword them for the students. While it may seem trite to state this, it cannot be denied that this would be beneficial in two ways: first, this would beat mechanical reproduction because you are not merely reading from the text but instructing them; and second, you know your students better and you shall therefore modify the rubrics to suit their level of understanding. For example, a teacher’s rewording of the rubrics for Commerce graduates will be different from that of the language used with the Tamil Literature students.

Students should bring the book to the class regularly. Do not compromise on it. For some activities, a rough indication of consumable time is also allotted. Depending on the situation, you shall redistribute time to whichever other activity you deem it fit.

Most of the activities can be managed with the existing classroom arrangement. Essential words are presented through a popular unscramble game at the start of the unit. This can only be an introduction to the word. Here the role of a teacher is crucial. Use as many interesting games as possible, so that, the students understand the words holistically. Don’t rush through the lessons on vocabulary. Make sure that the words become part of the students’ deployable system.

Home Work: Mostly, writing activities are take-home assignments; and this is indicated by in the beginning of the lesson. You need not strictly follow the given specifications. Improvisations are welcome without deviating much from the original.

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Continuous Assessment: Complete realisation of the book depends mostly on strict adherence to considering this book as a portfolio for continuous assessment. As the students are required to participate compulsorily during each lesson, we urge the teachers to award grades/marks for the students based on their performance – be it vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, reading or writing. Award marks as frequently as possible. There is no need for any additional assessment component other than the book activities.

Answer key: This book is available only with the answer key. Though there are positives if the key is appended to the text, for classroom use it is more of a hindrance than constructive assistance to the students since they usually resort to copying answers from the key. So it is advisable to remove the key from the students’ book before distribution, so that, they fully involve in the activity and find out the answers on their own.

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Note to the Student

Let’s Communicate 2 is intended to help you maximize your understanding and use of English. Since it is also a workbook, carry the book to the class everyday.

Here are some ideas which would assist you with your classroom participation and help you develop your proficiency in English.

Vocabulary • Learn the wordlists given in the text by heart.• Know from your teacher the pronunciation and collocation of the words.• Use the words as many times as possible in meaningful contexts.

Grammar • Pay close attention to grammar in whatever text you read.• Practice grammar as much as possible.• Focus more on the grammar item you find difficult to use.

Reading • Read the task before you read the text.• Match the reading speed to the task you are doing.• Read the text as sense groups, not every single word.

Listening• Understand the purpose of listening.• Listen to ideas. Don’t try to catch every word you listen to because you may

not be able to get the overall idea of the discourse.• Connect the important ideas and extract the information you really need to

know.

Speaking• Get from your teacher the correct pronunciation of the words.• Don’t miss an opportunity to speak in the classroom.• Speak only English during pair and group work.

Writing • What you do the most in this book is writing, do it seriously.• Use appropriate spelling.

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• Write sentences and paragraphs on your own. You need not copy or rush with the tasks - think, understand and write.

Peer Assessment • This would give you a sense of ownership of the assessment process.• By assessing your friends, you also assess your own self. • While awarding marks to your friends, do it honestly and seriously.

General tips • Do the tasks on your own.• Try getting as much practice as possible.• Apply classroom learning in day-to-day life.

Let's Communicate-II

Publisher : Laxmi Publications ISBN : 9789351381419Author : J John Love JoyAnd Francis M Peter SJ

Type the URL : http://www.kopykitab.com/product/10299

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