COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN ENGLISH - Official …

1 COMMUNICATIONSKILLSIN ENGLISHFIRST COURSE IN ENGLISH (2012 Admission Onwards)UNIVERSITY OF CALICUTSCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATIONC alicut University, Malappuram, Kerala, India-673 635101(A)School of Distance EducationCommunication SKILLS in EnglishPage2 UNIVERSITY OF CALICUTSCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATIONF irst Course in ENGLISH (2012 Admission)COMMUNICATIONSKILLS IN ENGLISHP repared byDr. Ahammed,M. A, , Adib-i-Fazil, For Advanced Studies And Research In EnglishFarook College, Calicut 673632 Scrutinized byDr. Sajitha , , Professor,CentreforAdvanced StudiesandResearchinEnglishFarook College, Calicut & Settings:Computer Section, SDE ReservedSchool of Distance EducationCommunication SKILLS in EnglishPage3 CONTENTSUNITIBASICS OF PHONETICS05-22 UNITIIENGLISH LANGUAGE23-127 UNITIIIVOCABULARY128-146 UNITIVCOMMUNICATION SKILLS147-171 School of Distance EducationCommunication SKILLS in EnglishPage4 School of Distance EducationCommunication SKILLS in EnglishPage5 UNIT IBASICS OFPHONETICSO bjectivesThis module will understand the basics of Phonetics.

2 Familiarisethestudents with thesounds and symbols of identify the various reasons for incorrect understandtheSyllable, Word stress and students learntopronounce vowels, diphthongs andconsonant sounds familiarizethe students withtranscription, strong formsand weak forms of international language, ENGLISH is a window to the outside a global languageithas a unique status . Englishhasno one-to-one correspondence between the letters of thealphabetsand the sounds they represent. For example, the letter /i/ is pronounced differently in ink and ice . The letter /K/ in keep and /C/ in cat ispronounced alike. In ENGLISH ,one letterof the alphabet stands for more than one sound. Thus there is no one to one relationship betweenspelling and is a fact thatsome speakers of Englishattractus with theirgood commandof languagewithcorrect is a foreign language and we are not the native speakers ofEnglish.

3 In India it isasecondlanguage and so there exists aserious problem with regard to thecorrect pronunciation of the ENGLISH words. Since there arevarietiesof ENGLISH spoken indifferent parts of the world,we often come across, incorrectpronunciation and of the reasons for incorrect pronunciation aregiven countries where ENGLISH isthe native or first language, the children get enough exposureto ENGLISH . They learn to respond to sounds and tones which theirelders habitually usewhile talking to them. Laterthey imitateand learnto speak in the mother tongue countrieslike India whereEnglish is a second or foreign language, children listen towrong sounds and tones spoken by their teachers or grownups. Thus they tend to pick upfaulty pronunciation.

4 This happens mainly due to their lack of sufficient exposure to theright variety of the often we tend to speak ENGLISH as we speak ourmother due to theinfluence or interference of our mother tongue we makea number Phonetic AlphabetThe twenty six letters of ENGLISH alphabet are used forwriting ENGLISH . There aredifferencesbetweenthewriting andpronunciation ofEnglish. So we need morealphabets torepresentall the speech sounds inEnglish. The distinctive soundunits that help to pronounce arethe is the minimal sound unit. There are 44 phonemes in ENGLISH . The studyof phonemesis known as phonology. The 44 sound units inEnglish contain 44 symbols. Thesesymbols are classified as given below;School of Distance EducationCommunication SKILLS in EnglishPage6 Total Sounds44 Consonants 24+Vowels20 (Pure Vowel 12 +Diphthongs 8)IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)These arethe alphabets accepted by the International phonetic Associationtorepresent all thesounds that exist in all the languages of alphabets are based on the Pronunciation (RP)Since ENGLISH is a world language, it is spokeninevery partsof the world.

5 In somecountries like , , Canada and Australia, ENGLISH isthe native or first language. But incountries like China, Pakistan, India etc, ENGLISH is the second language or non-native language. Asthere are variations in accent, tones and pronunciation, it is essential for us to follow a standardvariety ofEnglishthat is received or accepted by all people in the world. Such a native regionalvarietywith an accepted accent that has gainedasocial prestigeand statusis knownas theReceived Pronunciation (RP) of the pronunciation of the people of South EastEngland and is used byalleducated ENGLISH speakersall about soundsThere are 26 letters in ENGLISH and so most of us believethatthere are only 26 sounds inEnglish. Because of this misconception most of the Indian students fail to get acquainted with theright pronunciation and accent.

6 Actually, though there are 26 letters, there are 44 different soundsin ENGLISH . An alphabet is different from the at the following words1)cat, 2)keen, 3) occasion, 4 )Chemistryinthese words c, k, cc andchhave /k/ same )Chemist Ch give /k/ sound2)Character3)Cheese4 ) Chess Ch give /t /soundTranscriptionTo indicate standard sounds in ENGLISH there are some standard symbols. Thesesymbolsthat are accepted by the educatedclassof peopleare known as IPA (International PhoneticAlphabet). Using standard symbols for standard sounds is known as Transcription. There are twotypes of transcriptions (1) Broad Transcriptionand(2) Narrow Transcription or phonetic of Distance EducationCommunication SKILLS in EnglishPage7 VowelsVowels are pronounced with an open tract and so there is noformation ofair pressure at any pointabove the a sustainable vocal soundmade without audible stoppingof thebreath or friction in its passage out through the mouth.

7 A vowel sound, the quality of which doesnot changesover the duration of thevowelis called a pure vowel. Thereare 12 pure vowel soundsin ENGLISH which are given below with /as insit/s :/as inbeat/bi: as inbet/ /as insat/s :/as infarm/f : / as ingot/ :/ as inall/ :l / as input/p :/ as infool/fu: / as inbut/b :/ as in bird /b : / as inago/ g /Vowel sounds may appear in the initial,medialor final position. Examples are given below:SoundPositionExamples|i:|InitialEa t,eachMedialPiece, thief, seed, dreamFinalSee, pea, key| i|or /IInitialIt, in, inkMedialSilk, thick, slip, hit, cityFinalDuty, beauty, lonely, quickly| e|InitialEmpire, enter, existMedialBed, dead, head, wet, redFinalDoesn toccur in the final position| |InitialActor, axe, appleMedialBank, man, sad, mangoFinalDoesn t occur in the final position| |InitialUtter, uplift, understandMedialBus, dull, dust, gun, munchFinalDoesn t occur in the finalpositionSchool of Distance EducationCommunication SKILLS in EnglishPage8| :|InitialAunt, art, answerMedialCar, hard, farm, march, fastFinalCar, bar, jar| |InitialOffice, oxygen,MedialHot, bottle, dog, lockFinalDoesn t occur in the final position|.

8 |InitialAll, awkward, oughtMedialBall, call, morningFinalSaw, raw, claw| |InitialDoesn t occur in the initial positionMedialBook, cook, look, woodFinalDoesn t occur in the final position|u:|InitialDoesn t occur in the initial positionMedialRule, groove, suit,stupidFinalNew, shoe, two| :| or/3:/InitialEarly, earnMedialThird, murder, suffer, nurse, dirtFinalDoesn t occur in the final position| |InitialAbout, effort, ago, allowMedialSentence, condition, factoryFinalMotor, colour,doctor, beggarDiphthongsThese sounds indicate vowel quality beginning in onevowel soundand later gliding intoanother vowel. So they are gliding eight diphthongs in ENGLISH are given /as inhay/he / as inlife/la /as inboy/b /as ingo/g / as in cow/ka / as inhear/h / as inpure/pj / as incare/ke /School of Distance EducationCommunication SKILLS in EnglishPage9 CONSONANTSA consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closureof thevocal :|p|: pronounced with the lips|t|: pronounced with the front of the tongue|k|: pronounced with the back of the tongue|h|: pronounced from glottis|f| and |v|: pronounced by forcing air through a narrow channel.

9 |m| and |n|:While pronouncing theair flowing throughthenose.(So nasal sounds).There are 24 consonants in ENGLISH . They are given below:NoSoundExample1.|p|pin, spill, keep2.|b|bit, imbibe, jumble3.|t|tin, after, what4.|d|dog,order, lead5.|k|cut, character, neck6.|g|get, girl, eager7.|t |cheap, nature, watch8.|d |jeep, jealous, judge9.|m|map, man, remind, mine10.|n|nap, near, line, Christian11.| |sang, song, bring, singing12.|l|leaf, relate,detail13.|f|fat, feather, half14.|v|van, wave, velvet15.| |thin, thank, wrath16.| |then, feather, breath17.|s|Sap, sound, cross18.|z|maze, gaze, zenith19.| |she, nation, shout20.| |measure, pleasure, treasure21.|h|harm,house,he22.|r|run, ruin, ray23.|w|we, wicked, watch24.|j|yet, yesterday,youSchool of Distance EducationCommunication SKILLS in EnglishPage10 Problems of Indian English1 )In IndianEnglish |S| and |z| are not pronouncedcorrectlyin wordsand this leads toconfusion between pairs.

10 Examples aregiven below:|z||s|EyesIceFallsFalseFearsHissHi sNieceKneesFierce2)Interchanging of the sounds | | and |s|| ||s|ShaveSaveSheSeeSheetSeatShineSign3)C onfusion between the sounds |v| and |w||v||w|VeryWhiteVestWestVineWhyVoiceWe arTo understand the distinctionsbetween soundsenough practice with tongue twisters isessential. Example:She sells sea shells on the sea Test(A). Identify thesounds of theunderlined letters in the following Curious2. Tragedy5. Approve8. Aware9. Exploit10. DeathSchool of Distance EducationCommunication SKILLS in EnglishPage11 Answers1.| |2. | u| | |5.|z|6. | |7. |u:|8. |e |9. | i|10. | |Practice examples of words:1. A word endingin|d |-Answer-judge2. A wordendingin|g|-Answer pig3. A wordbeginning with| |-Answer that4. A wordbeginning with| |-Answer shyC.