1

Communication
Skills

INTRODUCTION
Communication skills are those skills which are needed
to speak and write properly. A person who is able to
speak appropriately whilst maintaining eye contact with
the audience, uses varied vocabulary and articulate
speech to suit the need of the audience is generally said
to be an effective speaker. Similarly, an effective writer
should be able to use written words in various styles
and techniques to communicate his/her message and
ideas to the readers. One should have the ability to listen
carefully and write and speak clearly in any situation.
Therefore good reading, writing, speaking and listening
skills are essential for effective communication.
As a student, you may study any language, but it is
important that you are able to read, write, speak and
listen well in order to communicate properly. Speaking
more than one language can help you to communicate
well with people around the world. Learning English can
help you to communicate with people who understand
English besides the language you have been exposed to
speaking the language from easly childhood, for example,
your mother tongue. In the present time, a thorough
 knowledge of the language with communication skills is
very important in any occupation or to set up a business.

SESSION 1: INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION

You probably hear people talking about communication
all the time. Everyone needs it and wants it, but what
exactly is communication? Let us try to understand it.
The word ‘Communication’ comes from the Latin
word commūnicāre, meaning ‘to share’. In Figure 1.1,
you can see that communication is the ‘sharing’ of
information between two or more individuals or within
a group to reach a common understanding.

Importance of communication
Your ability to communicate clearly and share thoughts,
feelings and ideas will help you in all your relationships.
For example, you can inform about something or you
can also influence others through communication.
Communication skills are needed to:
• Inform: You may be required to give facts
or information to someone. For example,
communicating the timetable of an exam to a
friend.
• Influence: You may be required to influence
or change someone in an indirect but usually
important way. For example, negotiating with a
shopkeeper to reduce the price or helping a friend
to overcome stress due to exam or any other reason.

Asking for
Information
Where I am
are you going
going? home.

Giving
Receiving Information
Information
Figure 1.1: Communication Process
 • Express feelings: Talking about your feelings
is a healthy way to express them. For example,
sharing your excitement about doing well in your
exams or sharing your feelings with your parents
and friends.

Elements of communication
Communication is a two-way exchange of information,
i.e., giving and receiving (Fig. 1.2). Speaking and
writing to someone are examples of giving information.
Reading and listening to someone are examples of
receiving information.

Figure 1.2: Elements of Communication

Perspectives in communication
Perspectives are ideas, views, or fixed ways of thinking.
These sometimes affect our communication. For
example, if you have a fixed idea that your teacher or
father is strict, even when they are being friendly, you
may think they are scolding you even though they are
polite. In the same way, others may also have fixed ideas
about you, which affect whatever you say to them.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
 Factors affecting perspectives in communication
Sometimes, we are not able to communicate clearly
because of barriers that stop us from sharing and
understanding messages. Some of these are summarised
in Table 1.1.
Table 1.1: Factors affecting Perspectives in Communication
Factor How the factor can become a barrier
Language In case of use of incorrect words, unfamiliar language and lack
of detail, language can act as a barrier to communicate what one
wishes to convey. For example, language can act as a barrier
when an Indian who only knows Hindi and Chinese who has the
knowledge of Mandarin only want to interact with each other.
Visual Perception Visual perception is the brain’s ability to make sense of what
we see through our eyes. For example, completing partially
drawn pictures with visual perception whereas they may be
something else.
Past Experience Letting our earlier experience stop us from understanding or
communicating clearly. For example, “This shopkeeper cheated me
last time. Let me be careful or “I scored low marks in my Maths
exam, so I am scared to ask and answer questions in class.”
Prejudice Fixed ideas, such as thinking “No one in my class likes me” may
stop a student from communicating openly in the class.
Feelings Our feelings and emotions, such as lack of interest or not trusting
the other person affect communication. For example “I am not
feeling well, therefore, I don’t want to talk.”
Environment Noise or disturbance in the surroundings may make communication
difficult. Example, talking to a friend in a function where there is
loud music being played by the orchestra.
Personal factors Personal factors include your own feelings, habits and ways
of thinking. For example, fear, and low confidence may make
communication difficult.
Culture Signs’ which have a different meaning in different cultures, such
as showing a thumb may mean ‘good job’ done for some people
but may be insulting to others.

Effective communication
Effective communication can happen if we follow the
basic principles of professional communication skills.
These can be abbreviated as 7 Cs, i.e., Clear, Concise,
Concrete, Correct, Coherent, Complete and Courteous.
These are further explained in Figure 1.3.
 Figure 1.3: 7Cs of Effective Communication

There are different methods of communication, which

include non-verbal, verbal and visual.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
NOTES

Check Your Progress

 NOTES
Column A: Column B: Examples
Communication
Barriers
1. Language A. Trying to read a book when
somebody else is watching TV in
the same room.
2. Emotional B. In some cultures, wearing shoes
and walking inside the kitchen is
considered rude and disrespectful.
3. Environmental C. Talking in Hindi when others
know only Tamil.
4. Cultural D. Parent is not talking to the child.

What have you learnt?

SESSION 2: VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Verbal communication is the sharing of information by
using words. It is what most people use as a method
of communication. We will learn about non-verbal
and visual communication in the next session. Verbal
communication is important because if you do not
use the right words, you will cause confusion and you
will not be able to communicate what you want. The
important forms of verbal communication are given in
Table 1.2.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
 Table 1.2: Verbal Communication
Type of Verbal Examples
Communication
Oral or Spoken Face-to-face conversation: When you can
Communication: see the listener.
Communication which For example, group discussion, talking to
involves talking family member at home, conversation with
public through speeches, etc.

Talking on a phone: This is for personal

and official communication.
Phone conversations should begin with a
greeting (Hello), talking and listening to
each other. The conversation can end with
a ‘Thank you’ and ‘Bye’.
Classroom teaching, business discussion
and public speeches are other examples
of oral communication, where one person
talks to many others at once.

Written Writing letters, notes, email, etc.

Communication:
Communication which
involves written or
typed words.

SMS (Short Message Service): These can

be sent through a phone to a person or a
group.

Can be used to send messages to a person

or to a group using email to share news,
thoughts, documents and files (including
photos, videos, music, etc.).

Books and newspapers.

Advantages of verbal communication
Verbal communication is easy and quick. You can say
what you want and get a quick response. It is an easier
form of communication when you have to exchange
ideas. You keep changing your communication as per
the other person’s reply.

Disadvantages of verbal communication

The most common disadvantage of verbal communication
is the cultural differences between the sender and
receiver of the information. These differences may be due
to the use of different languages, inability to understand
the colloquial phrases used by the other individual, and
the accent. Since verbal communication depends on
words, sometimes the meanings become confusing and
difficult to understand if the right words are not used.

Public speaking
Speaking in front of a large group makes most people
nervous. You can use the 3Ps (Prepare, Practice,
Perform) method to get over your fears, and become a
confident and effective speaker. These points are shown
in Table 1.3.
Table 1.3: 3Ps of Public Speaking
3Ps of Public Speaking
Prepare Think about your topic
Think about what your listeners need to know about the topic
Think about the best way to make your listeners understand your topic
Write what you plan to say
Practice Practice by yourself first, talk in front of a mirror
Talk in front of your family and friends and ask them what they think
Speak clearly, loudly and at the right speed (not very fast nor very slow)
Perform Take a few deep breaths if you are feeling nervous
Think about what you have prepared and start speaking confidently

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
NOTES Initial thinking activity
After watching the video in the e-learning lesson for this
topic write down why do you think Tina’s directions were not
understood? How would you give directions on the phone?

Activity 1
Role play of a phone conversation
Materials required
Notebook, pen
Procedure
• Form groups comprising at least three students in each
group.
• Write a script on a phone conversation, based on a
scenario given by your teacher. For example, the scenario
could be a conversation between a person from the Call
Centre and customer talking about the product that is to
be delivered at the customer’s residence.
• One student acts as a caller and the other as receiver.
• Speak the conversation aloud.
• The third student gives feedback on the effectiveness
of the communication, keeping in mind the 7Cs of
communication.

Activity 2
Public speaking
Materials required
Notebook, pen
Procedure
• Form groups of three students in each group.
• Within the group, choose a topic for a very short speech.
• Use paragraphs.
• Each person uses the 3Ps (Prepare, Practice and Perform)
method and makes a speech to the others in the group.
• Others give feedback — was the person able to
communicate properly?
• One student volunteers to give a speech in front of the class.

Check Your Progress

What have you learnt?

SESSION 3: NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Non-verbal communication
is the message we send
to others without using EXPRESSIONS

any words as shown in

PARA-
Figure 1.4. We send LANGUAGE POSTURE

signals and messages to

others, through expressions,
gestures and body postures. NON-
VERBAL
In this session, you will learn EYE
GESTURES
CONTACT
about the non-verbal method
of communication, its types
and importance. You will
learn to use the correct body SPACE TOUCH

language, like gestures, eye

contact, handshake, etc.
Figure1.4: Non-verbal Communication

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
 Importance of non-verbal communication
In our day-to-day communication, it is observed
that most of the communication is done using body
movements (face, arms, movements, etc.) and voice
control (voice, tone, pauses, etc.).
As we can see in Figure 1.5, maximum communication
is non-verbal. We communicate using words, tone of
voice and body language as shown in Table 1.4.
Words
(Verbal)

Expressions,
Movements,
Pictures
(Non-verbal and
Voice Control Visual)
(Non-verbal)

Figure 1.5: Methods of Communication

Table 1.4: Types of Non-verbal Communication

Non-Verbal Communication — Exchanging information without words
Hand movements (gestures) • Raising a hand to greet
and body language • Pointing your finger in
anger

Expressions • Smiling to show happiness

• Making a sad face when
you are upset

Non-verbal communication makes our message

stronger. Using the right gestures while speaking
makes our message more effective. Knowing non-verbal
communication helps us understand our audience’s
reaction and adjust our behaviour or communication
accordingly.
 Using the right gestures and postures helps us to be
professional at work. If verbal messages are blocked by
noise or distance, etc., we can use hand movements to
exchange our message. Placing a finger on the lips to
indicate the need for silence and nodding the head up
and saying ‘ yes’.
We communicate non-verbally in many ways. Let
us learn about some of these (see Table 1.5).

Table 1.5: Types of Non-verbal Communication

How to make use of non-verbal

Type What it implies
communication effectively?

Facial Expression A facial expression many a • Keep your face relaxed

times shows the feelings of a • Try to match your expression
person. For example, when with what you are saying
we are happy, we express it • If you agree with something,
through a smile or when we you may nod while listening,
are sad we show a gloomy which indicates that it has
face. your assent

Postures are positions of • Keep your upper body relaxed

Posture the body. They show our and, shoulders straight
confidence and feelings. • Sit straight, rest hands and
For example, straight feet in relaxed position
body posture is seen as • Keep hands by your sides
confidence. Holding your while standing
head may be taken as
tiredness.

Gestures describe • Avoid pointing at people with

Gestures or movements of parts of the your finger
Body Language body, especially hands or • Instead of keeping your hands
head, to express an idea in pocket while talking, try to
or meaning. This includes keep your hands on the sides
waving, pointing and using • Bend your head a little while
our hands when speaking. talking or listening to show
For example, raising a that you are paying attention.
hand may mean asking a
question. Biting nails show
nervousness.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
 Touch We communicate a great • Shake hands firmly.
deal through our touch, • Avoid other touch gestures,
such as shaking hands and such as stroking your hair,
patting on the back. For scratching your nose, tugging
example, a firm handshake on your clothes, etc., during
shows confidence. Sports formal communication.
coaches pat on the back of
the players to encourage the
players.

Space The space between • Maintain proper space,

two persons while depending on the relationship,
communicating, generally which could be formal or
depends on the intimacy or informal or the closeness with
closeness between them. the person with whom you are
talking.

Eye Contact Maintaining an eye contact • Look at the person who is

with the person you are speaking.
talking indicates interest, • Keep a relaxed, pleasant look.
whereas, looking away can • Break the look every few
make the other person feel seconds.
ignored.

Paralanguage Paralanguage is the tone • Use a proper tone and volume

of our voice, speed and while speaking
volume that makes a • Maintain a moderate rate
difference in the meaning (speed) of talking
of the communication.
Speaking too fast may show
excitement or nervousness.
Speaking too slow may
show seriousness, sadness
or making a point.

isual communication
Another important method of communication is
visual communication, which involves sending
or understanding messages only through images
or pictures. The main advantage of this type of
communication is that you do not need to know any
particular language for understanding it. It is simple,
easy to understand and remains same across different
places. Table 1.6 shows some common types of visual
communication.
Table 1.6: Examples of Visual Communication
Visual Communication: Exchanging Information through Images
Traffic symbol which Traffic Lights—Red for
communicates not to Stop; Yellow for Wait and
blow horn Green for Go

Sign for ladies and gents toilet Sign showing railway

crossing

Sign for flammable substances Sign for slippery surface

Sign used to pause a video or Sign which communicates

audio file in smartphone or that the area is a no
computer smoking zone

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
NOTES

Check Your Progress

 (c) Confidence NOTES
(d) Intelligence
3. Which of these is not an appropriate non-verbal
communication at work?
(a) Putting arm around a coworker’s shoulder
(b) Shaking hands firmly
(c) Looking at the speaker with a smile
(d) Standing with an upright posture
4. When you are preparing for a presentation, you should
.
(a) focus on the objectives of the presentation
(b) practice your speech in front of a mirror or friend
(c) do rehearsals to time your presentation of slides
(d) All of the above

B. Put a × mark against the actions below which are incorrect

for demonstrating the use of non-verbal communication
• Laughing during formal communication
• Scratching head
• Smiling when speaking to a friend
• Nodding when you agree with something
• Standing straight
• Yawning while listening
• Sitting straight
• Maintaining eye contact while speaking
• Biting nails
• Firm handshake
• Clenching jaws
• Looking away when someone is speaking to you
• Intense stare

C. Short answer questions

1. Give examples of any four common signs used for visual

communication.

What Have You Learnt?

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
 SESSION 4: WRITING SKILLS: PARTS OF SPEECH
When we talk or write in English, we use sentences to
express ourselves. Sentences are important because if
you do not clearly write sentences then, the meaning of
the same cannot be understood clearly. A sentence is a
group of words that communicates a complete thought
(Example: Raju goes to school). A group of words, which
does not make complete sense, is known as a phrase
(Example: Raju goes). A sentence always begins with
a capital letter, and it always ends with a question
mark, full stop or exclamation mark. Read out aloud
the examples given below.
• Did you work on your project?
• I completed it yesterday.
• That is good!

Using capitals
We know that all sentences begin with capital letters.
Do you know at what other points in a sentence we
should use capital letters?
It is easy to know what to capitalise if you remember
the word ‘MINTS’. MINTS is a set of simple rules that
help you capitalise words correctly. Each letter in the
word MINTS refers to one capitalisation rule as shown
in Table 1.7.

Table 1.7: Capitalisation Rules

Alphabet M I N T S
What it Months The letter Names Titles Starting
shows: letter of
sentences
Rule Capitalise the Capitalise the Capitalise the Capitalise the Capitalise
first letter in letter ‘I’ when first letter in first letter in the first
all the names it is used to the names of the titles used letter in
of months. begin a word. people, places before people’s every
and days. name. sentence.

Example I will go to I play tennis This Tuesday, Dr Shah and The cat ran
college in with him Vidya will be Mr Patel work out of the
June. every day. in Rajasthan. together. house.
Punctuation
It is a set of marks, such as the full stop and the comma,
which help us separate parts of a sentence and explain
its meaning. Like uppercase letters, punctuation is also
a very important part of sentences and has some rules.
Some common punctuation marks and their use have
been given in Table 1.8.
Table 1.8: Punctuation Marks
Punctuation Sign Use Examples
name
Full stop . Shows the end of a sentence. Also This is a sentence. This is
used to show short form of long another sentence.
words. For example, ‘doctor’ can Sanjay is a doctor. His
be shortened to ‘Dr’ when we use patients call him Dr Sanjay.
it as a title before a name.
Comma , Sometimes, we use a comma to After the waiter gave me a
indicate a pause in the sentence. menu, I ordered food.

We can also use a comma to I bought apples, oranges and

separate items when we are listing grapes.
out more than two items in a row.
Question ? We use a question mark at the What is your name?
mark end of a question. How old are you?

Exclamation ! We use an exclamation mark at What a pleasant surprise!

mark the end of a word or a sentence to You are late!
indicate a strong feeling, such as
surprise, shock or anger.
Apostrophe (’) We use an apostrophe followed That is Divya’s pen.
by an s to show that something Are these Abdul’s books?
belongs to someone.
We also use an apostrophe to Let’s go. (Instead of Let us
indicate the shortened form of go.)
some words in informal speech. He isn’t here. (Instead of He
is not here.)

Basic parts of speech

There are eight basic parts of speech in the English
language. These are noun, pronoun, verb, adjective,
adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection. The
part of speech indicates how the word functions in
meaning as well as grammatically within the sentence.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
 Figure 1.6: Parts of Speech

A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or

idea. Nouns are often used with an article (the, a, an),
but not always. A pronoun is a word used in place of
a noun. A verb expresses action or being. An adjective
modifies or describes a noun or pronoun. An adverb
modifies or describes a verb, an adjective, or another
adverb. A preposition is a word placed before a noun
or pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word
in the sentence. A conjunction joins words, phrases,
or clauses. An interjection is a word used to express
emotion. You should be able to use these parts of the
speech in making sentences.
The different types of words we use in sentences
are called parts of speech. Some examples are nouns,
pronouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs, as shown in
Figure 1.6. Let us read more about them in Table 1.9.
Table 1.9: Parts of Speech
Example
Parts of Speech What they do Example sentences
words
Noun Nouns are words that In the sentence, ‘Reema wrote Dog
refer to a person, place, a letter.’ Both Reema and letter Table
thing or idea. These are are nouns. India
‘naming words.’ Sanjay
Pronoun A pronoun is a word In the second sentence, I
used in place of a noun “Reema wrote a letter. They
She is tired.” ‘She’ is used He
in place of the noun Reema, You
it is a pronoun.
Adjectives Adjectives are words In the sentence “Reema wrote Small
that describe other a long letter.” Long is an Blue
words adjective that describes the Sharp
noun ‘letter’. Loud
Verbs Verbs are words that In the sentence: “Reema wrote Run
show action a letter.” Wrote is the verb. Eat
It tells what action Reema did. Think
Sit
Adverbs Adverbs are words that In the sentence “Reema quickly Easily
add meaning to verbs, wrote a letter.” Quickly is an Always
adjectives, or other adverb. It tells us how Reema Inside
adverbs. They answer did the action (writing). Before
the questions — How?
How often? When? And
Where?

Let us now see how these words are used. Read aloud
the sentence given below.
Wow! Reema went to the studio and met a famous
actor.
We already know that Reema, studio and actor are
nouns. Famous is an adjective here because it describes
the noun actor and the words went and met are verbs
because they describe an action.
What about the remaining words in this sentence
wow, to, the, and? What are these words called? We use
such supporting words to join the main parts of speech
together and to add information to the sentences we
make. Let us now look at these supporting words.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
 Supporting parts of speech types

Figure 1.7: Supporting Parts of Speech

Along with the main ‘Parts of Speech’, there are some

more words we need for making a sentence. These are
shown in Figure 1.7. Let us learn more about them
using Table 1.10.
Table 1.10: Supporting Parts of Speech

Supporting Parts
Use Examples
of Speech
Articles The words ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’ are The car stopped suddenly because
known as articles. Articles are a cat ran in front of it.
generally used before nouns. A book
An is used before words with a An apple
vowel (a,e,i,o,u) sound An umbrella
A is used before nouns with a The sun
consonant (all other alphabets)
sound
The is used to refer to specific or
particular words
Conjunctions Conjunctions are words that join Instead of, Sheela went to the
two nouns, phrases or sentences. market. I also went to the market.
Some common conjunctions are Sheela and I went to the market.
‘and’, ‘or’ and ‘but’. Instead of, “Do you want oranges?
Do you want apples?”
“Do you want oranges or apples?”
Prepositions Prepositions connect one word Some common prepositions are ‘on’,
with another to show the relation ‘at’, ‘under’ and ‘in’.
between them. They usually The cat is on the roof.
answer the questions ‘where’, The shop is at the end of the road.
‘when’ and ‘how’. Rahul is standing under the tree.
I live in Delhi.
 Interjections These words express strong Wow!
emotions, such as happiness, Oh!
surprise, anger or pain. They have Oh no!
an exclamation mark at the end. Thanks!
Help!

The teacher will facilitate these activities by showing you the

e-learning module for this lesson via http://www.psscive.ac.in/
Employability_Skills.html. The module will include videos and
e-content for the above topics as well as detailed instructions for
some activities below.
Initial thinking activity
After watching the initial video in the e-learning lesson for this
topic write down what do you think was wrong with Seema’s
letter?

Activity 1
Identifying parts of speech
Materials required
Notebook, pen
Procedure
Read aloud the paragraph given below.
“on sunday, i have an appointment to meet Dr. Patel in delhi.
my house is near Mr. Patels shop i went to his shop on friday to
buy vegetables I bought potatoes onions carrots and a cabbage
Mr. Patel is a friendly man have you met him”
• This paragraph contains examples of the parts of speech
you learnt about in this lesson.
• Identify as many of these parts of speech as you can and
mark them.
• Write the paragraph with proper punctuation and
capitalisation.

Activity 2
Constructing sentences
Materials required
Notebook, pen
Procedure
• Form pairs of students.
• List out five parts of speech that you learnt in the lesson.
• Select one of them and create two simple sentences which
use these parts of speech.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
NOTES

Check Your Progress

 NOTES

girl, girls, boy, milk, dog, skipping, riding, running, studying,

drinking, barking
a. The is
.

b. The is
.

c. The is
.

d. The are
.

e. Raju is
.

f. The is
.

Under, And, In, At, Or, Up

Conjunction Preposition

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
 What Have You Learnt?

SESSION 5: WRITING SKILLS: SENTENCES

Parts of a sentence
As you have learnt in English classes, almost all English
sentences have a subject and a verb. Some also have an
object. A subject is the person or thing that does an action.
A verb describes the action. Object is the person or thing
that receives the action. For example, read a loud the simple
sentence “Divya reads a book”. Let us see the different parts
of the sentence as given in Figure 1.8.

Figure 1.8: Parts of a Sentence

Read a loud the example sentences shown in Table 1.11
and understand which is the subject, verb and object.
Table 1.11: Parts of a Sentence
Sentence Subject Verb Object
I ate an apple. I ate an apple.
He cooked dinner. He cooked dinner.
She kicked the football. She kicked the football.
Dia and Sanjay broke the bottle. Dia and Sanjay broke the bottle.
Types of objects
The object in a sentence can be either direct or indirect.
Direct objects are the ones directly ‘acted on’ by the
action word (verb). If the verb is ‘reads’ and we ask
“What does Divya read?” The answer is ‘book’ which is
the direct object. A direct object answers the question
‘what?’.
An indirect object answers questions, such as ‘to
whom’ and ‘for whom’. For example, in the sentence
“Abdul gave a gift to his mother.” The verb is ‘gave’.
and there are two objects here — ‘gift’ and ‘mother’.
What did Abdul give? The gift. To whom did Abdul
give the gift? To his mother. Here, ‘gift’ is the direct object
and ‘his mother’ is the indirect object. Some sentences
only have direct objects while some have both direct
and indirect objects.
Read a loud the examples given in Table 1.12 and
practice finding the direct and indirect objects.

Table 1.12: Direct and Indirect Objects

Verb + By
Direct Indirect
Sentence Verb Verb + What? whom/to
object object
whom?
Sanjay bought bought Vegetables vegetables
vegetables.
Fatima and Sonia played Tennis tennis
played Tennis.
He offered me an offered Orange me orange me
orange.
The teacher gave us gave Homework us homework us
homework.

Types of sentences
Active and passive sentences
Read a loud the sentence shown in Figure 1.9. What is
the difference between the two sentences?
1. Sanjay broke the glass.
2. The glass was broken by Sanjay.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
 The action (verb) in both
the sentences is breaking of
the glass. But the ‘subject’ of
both sentences is different. In
the first sentence, the subject
(Sanjay) does the action. In
the second sentence, the
Figure 1.9: Types of Sentences
subject (the glass) receives
the action.
Read the sentences in
Figure 1.10 again.
Sentences where the subject
does an action are known to
Figure 1.10: Active and Passive Sentences be in the Active voice.
Sentences in which the
subject receives an action are known to be in the Passive
voice.
Read aloud some more examples given in Table 1.13.
Table 1.13: Active and Passive Sentences
Active Voice Passive Voice
She wrote a letter. A letter was written by her.
He opened the door. The door was opened by him.
Mohan played the flute. The flute was played by Mohan.

Types of sentences (according to their

purpose)
Read a loud the sentences in Figure 1.11. How do you
think they differ from each other?

Figure 1.11: Examples of types of Sentences

Each of these sentences has a different purpose. Also,
notice how each sentence in Figure 1.12 ends.

Figure 1.12: Different types of Sentences

Read the examples in Figure 1.12 to practice the different

types of sentences.
Table 1.14: Types of Sentences
Types of Sentences
Statement or Question or Emotion/Reaction or Order or
Declarative Interrogative Exclamatory Sentence Imperative
Sentence Sentence Sentence
This is the most This type of An exclamatory These sentences
common type of sentence asks sentence expresses a show an order,
sentence. It provides a question. It strong emotion, such command, request,
information or states always ends with as joy, sadness, fear or or advice. It can
a fact. It always ends a question mark wonder. It always ends end with a full stop
with a ‘full-stop’ (‘.’). (‘?’). with an exclamation or an exclamation
mark (‘!’). mark (‘.’ or ‘!’).
Read aloud the examples given below
I go to school. Did you go to I came first in class! Go to college today.
I like eating school? Go eat your
vegetables. Do you like eating vegetables.
vegetables?
It is very cold. How is the Oh, it’s so cold! Wear your sweater.
This room is weather? Clean this room.
unclean. Could you help
clean this room?
I completed my Did you complete I completed my project! Complete your
project. your project? project.
I exercise everyday Do you exercise Go and exercise
everyday? today.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
NOTES Paragraphs
You have learnt about sentences. A group of sentences
forms a paragraph. While writing a paragraph, make
sure the sentences have a common idea. When you
want to write about a different idea, make a new
paragraph. For example, if you are writing about your
school, the first paragraph can be of sentences about
the name, location, size and other such details. In the
next paragraph you can use sentences to describe what
you like about your school.
 NOTES

Check You Process

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
 What Have You Learnt?

SESSION 6: PRONUNCIATION BASICS

If we do not say (or pronounce) words correctly,
others cannot understand what we are saying
as in the example shown in Figure 1.13. In this
lesson you will learn about the common ‘sounds’
used while speaking English. You will learn and
practice how to say common words correctly.
Pronunciation is the way you say a word, just as
spelling is how you write a word.
To communicate well when you speak, you
need to know how to pronounce words correctly.
Figure 1.13: Importance of Pronunciation Correct pronunciation will help you express
yourself in a clear and confident manner. It will also NOTES
help others to understand your words easily.

Speaking correctly
Say the following words aloud. Ask your teacher and
friends if you pronounced them correctly.
Your World Chair Wear
Also try saying these words aloud
Sun Son Sail Sale Tail Tale
What did you notice? Sometimes words, which
have similar spellings are pronounced differently.
Sometimes words, which have different spellings may
be pronounced in the same way. The best way to learn
correct pronunciation of words is to listen carefully.

Phonetics
How do we pronounce words? We use sounds to speak.
Every word is made up of one or more sounds. We put
these sounds together to pronounce words. Phonetics is
the study of the sounds that we make when we speak.
For example, the word dog is made of three sounds
put together: d-o-g. Speak the word aloud as shown in
Hindi to help you pronounce it correctly
The word cat is made of three other sounds: c-a-t.
Speak the word aloud as shown in Hindi to help you
pronounce it correctly . The English
alphabet has 26 letters, from A to Z. But each of these
letters can be pronounced in different ways in different
words. We use 26 letters to write in English. But, we
use more than 26 sounds when we speak English.
This is why a word’s spelling does not always match its
pronunciation.
Let us take the letter ‘a’ for example. Read the words
below aloud. The alphabet ‘a’ is pronounced differently
in different words as shown in Table 1.15.
Table 1.15: Different sounds of letter ‘a’
Words Pronunciation Pronunciation in
of the letter ‘a’ Hindi
cat, apple and back ऐ , ,

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
 car, fast and park आ , ,

call, ball and saw आ , ,

Pay attention to the sound of each word while listening,

you will be able to pronounce it clearly.

Types of sounds
We have now seen how the letters of the alphabet are
not enough to exactly match the many different sounds
we make when we speak. Let us take a closer look at
the sounds we use. All English words are made of three
basic types of sounds as shown in Table 1.16.

Table 1.16: Different Sounds in English

Diphthongs (combination
Vowels Consonants
sound of two vowels)
The English alphabet has We make a diphthong sound A consonant sound is any
five vowels (a, e, i, o and u) when we combine two vowels. sound that is neither a
but 12 vowel sounds. This Diphthongs start as one vowel vowel nor a diphthong
means most vowels can sound and go to another. sound.
be pronounced in different
ways. We make a vowel
sound when we read a vowel
in a word.
For example, we pronounce For example, the sound ‘ou’ in For example, we use
the letter ‘i’ in the word ‘bit’ the word “house” is a diphthong consonant sounds to say
by using a vowel sound. or a combination. the letters ‘p’ and ‘t’ in the
In Hindi it is In Hindi, it is word Pot. In Hindi is

Say the word ‘bit’ aloud and Say the word ‘house’ aloud and Say the word ‘pot’ aloud
listen to how you are saying listen to how you are saying the and listen to how you
the vowel sound. diphthong. are saying the consonant
sounds.

Some more examples are given in Table 1.17. Say these

words aloud (also given in Hindi to assist pronunciation),
listen carefully when others say these words and repeat
what you hear.
 Table 1.17: Examples of Different Sounds

Vowel Sounds

long ‘ee’ sound short ‘i’ sound short ‘u’ sound long ‘oo’ sound
Sleep Slip Book Boot
Keep Dip Put Group
Feel Fill Foot Two
Combination vowel (diphthong’) sounds

‘ea’ sound ‘oa’ sound ‘ou’ sound

‘ae’ sound
Near Late Boat Mouth
Deer Cake Loan Cow
Hear Game Most Cloud
Consonant sounds
‘p ’ sound ‘t ’ sound ‘k ’ sound ‘l ’ sound
Pen Train Book Look
Report Story Cold Place
Stop Put Music School

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
NOTES

Check Your Progress

What Have You Learnt?

SESSION 7: GREETINGS AND INTRODUCTIONS

We use certain words called ‘greetings’ before we start
talking to friends, people familiar to us, or people whom
we are meeting for the first time. Also we use certain
sentences to tell about ourselves or others, to people
who do not know us. This is called an Introduction.
Greetings
There are many ways to greet a person. The greeting and
reply to a greeting at work is different from the greeting
and reply given to a friend. Similarly, there are many
ways to say goodbye when you depart.
The greetings change depending upon who we are
talking to and even according to the time of the day.
Greetings help us start a conversation nicely as shown
in Figure 1.14.

Types of greetings
Figure 1.14: Greetings and
There are two ways of greeting as shown in Figure 1.15. Introductions

Say the greetings below a loud.

Formal greetings are used if you do not know the
person. It is used to greet senior, elderly people or people
with whom we have formal relations like teachers or
customers. This is used more often in schools, colleges
and offices.

Figure 1.15: Formal and Informal Greetings

Say a loud the formal greetings and replies given in

Table 1.18.
Table 1.18: Formal Greetings
Greeting Reply
Good morning everybody! Good morning, Ma’am!
Good morning, Sir! Good morning, everyone!
Hello Sir. How are you? Very well. Thank you! How are
you?
How are you Tina? I’m doing well. How are you, Sir?

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
 Informal greetings are used when you talk to
friends, family or a known person.
Say out loud the informal greetings/replies given in
Table 1.19.
Table 1.19: Informal Greetings
Greeting Reply

Hey! Hello or Hi!

Hey! How are you doing? Hi! I am doing great!

Hi! Good to meet you.

We can also greet people according to the time of the

day when we meet them. Say out loud the greetings
given in Table 1.20.

Table 1.20: Greetings According to Time

Time Greeting

From early morning to 11.59 am Good morning

12 pm to about 5 pm (afternoon Good afternoon

hours)
5 pm to midnight Good evening (We usually do not greet people by saying
Good night even if it is night. We say Good night at the
end of conversation.)

Introducing yourself and others

When you are meeting someone for the first time, or if
others want to know about you, you need to ‘Introduce’
yourself. You can do this by telling your name and some
general information like about your hometown, your
job or subjects as a student, your interests, etc. When
introducing yourself, remember to look at the other person
and smile. Some examples are shown here in Figure 1.16.

Figure 1.16: Introducing Yourself

We can introduce someone to others by telling their
name, what they do, how we know them, or even by
describing something interesting about them. One
example is shown here in Figure 1.17.

The teacher will facilitate these activities by showing you the Figure 1.17: Introducing
e-learning module for this lesson via http://www.psscive.ac.in/ Others
Employability_Skills.html. The module will include videos and
e-content for the above topics as well as detailed instructions for
some activities below.
Initial thinking activity
Have you come across such a situation? Based on the initial
videos in the e-learning lesson for this topic, write down how do
you think we start talking to friends and neighbours? How can
we start a conversation politely?

Activity 1
Formal and informal greetings
Materials required
Notebook, pen
Procedure
• Form pairs of students.
• Each pair should write about two conversations—one
with formal greetings and one with informal greetings and
act it out.
• One volunteer pair acts this out in front of the class.
• The class says if the formal and informal greetings have
been used correctly.

Activity 2
Introducing someone
Materials required
Notebook, pen
Procedure
• Use same pairs of students as above.
• Each pair should write a conversation to introduce
someone to their friends and family and act it out.
• One volunteer pair demonstrates it for the class.
• The class says if the introductions have been made
correctly.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
NOTES

Check Your Progress

(c) 8 am (d) All (a), (b) and (c)

What Have You Learnt?

SESSION 8: TALKING ABOUT SELF

You may need to talk about yourself on many occasions
especially when you meet new people. You may also
need to fill forms with information about yourself. In this
session you will learn how to describe (or ‘introduce’)
yourself and write about yourself.

Talking about yourself

When you meet someone for the first
time, they may want to know more My I study
about you. You will need to ‘introduce’ name is in
Amit. Class IX.
yourself by telling them about yourself
as shown in Figure 1.18.
You usually start by telling your
name. Then you can talk about other
things, such as what you do, your age, I like
I don't
where you live, or even about the things History. like
or activities that you like or dislike. For Maths.
all these sentences, you will use nouns
and verbs.
A noun is a ‘naming’ word that is Figure 1.18: Talking About Self
used for a person, place, thing, or idea.
Some examples of nouns are Ali, Delhi, football and
music.
A verb is a ‘doing’ word that tells us what the noun
does. Some examples of verbs are play, like, eat and
write. Note that some verbs with an ‘ing’ ending can also
act as nouns. Swimming is an example. We can talk about
likes and dislikes using nouns as well as verbs that end
with ‘ing’. For example, cycling and swimming.
Table 1.21 represents talking about oneself. Read
a loud.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
 Table 1.21: Talking About Yourself

Name I am Harish Sethi. My name is Anu. I am Lucy Peter. My name is Ali.

What they I am in high I am a student. I play cricket. I practice karate.
do school.
Age I am 15 years old. I am 16 and a I am nine. I will be 17 soon.
half years old.
Hometown I stay in Agra. I live in Mumbai. I am from Goa. I’m from Patna.
Likes I like playing I like swimming. I like carpentry. I like music.
chess.
Dislikes I dislike summers. I do not like dolls. I dislike loud I do not like playing
noise. football.
Strengths I can write stories I am a good I can solve I am a good team
very well. public speaker. crossword player.
puzzles quickly.
Weaknesses I leave tasks I get angry easily. I cannot I am nervous to
incomplete . manage my time speak in front of a
properly. large group.
Filling a form
Sometimes, instead of talking, you will have to write
about yourself in a form. A form is a typed or printed
page with blank spaces for information.
Each form is different, so you should read it properly
before filling. Write neatly taking care to use the correct
spellings. A form usually has the following fields for
personal information as shown in Table 1.22.
Table 1.22: Some fields a form

Name Here you enter your name. Sometimes you may need to
write the first, middle (if any) and surname.
Date of birth This is the date on which you were born. It is usually
written as the day, followed by the month, followed by
the year in numerals.
Address This is the postal address which includes your house
number and the details of the street, area and the city.
PIN code This is a group of numbers used by the post office to
identify a region. It is an important part of an address.
Signature (or Sign) This is your name or initials written by hand, in a
specific way (which is difficult for anyone else to copy).
Example NOTES
Harish Sethi was born on 5 December 1999. He lives in
Agra, in a house named Sukh Nivas. His house number
is 13 in Raja Nagar. His postal code is 282001. Harish
filled a form asking for personal information like this.
First Name Harish
Last Name Sethi
Date of Birth 5 December 1999 (or 05-12-1999)
Address Sukh Nivas, No. 13, Raja Nagar, Agra
Pin Code 282001

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
NOTES

Check Your Progress

What Have You Learnt?

SESSION 9: ASKING QUESTIONS I

Are you sometimes scared
of asking too many
questions as shown in
Figure 1.19. What happens
if you do not ask questions
at the right time? Why do
we need to ask questions?
In this session you will
learn about the importance
of asking questions and
how to get information
by asking the correct Figure 1.19: Asking Questions
questions.

Need for asking questions

A question is a request for information as shown in
Figure 1.20. It could be any type of information, such
as an answer to a question in the textbook, information
about a person or a place or about how to do a task.

Figure 1.20: Example of Asking Questions

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
 Asking questions helps us to
• gain new knowledge, get information,
• make sure that what we know is correct,
• avoid doubts, confusion, misunderstanding, and
• start talking to people by asking about them and
their ideas.
How to make sure we have complete information?
If you do not have information about how to reach a
place, you will not be able to reach it. If you do not know
how to do some work, you will not be able to complete it,
unless you ask questions and get information. Asking all
the correct questions at the right time is also important.
You can follow the simple method of ‘5W+1H’
shown in Table 1.23 to make sure that you have all the
information you will need for a particular work. Read
out the examples aloud.

Table 1.23: 5W+1H Method for Asking Questions

5W+1H Method for Asking Questions
Question Word Usage Example
Who ‘Who’ is used to ask about people Who is the new student in the
class?
Where ‘Where’ is used to ask about a Where does she live?
place
When ‘When’ is used to ask about time When did she join school?
What ‘What’ is used to ask about a What is her favourite subject?
thing, an idea or an action
Why ‘Why’ is used to find the reason Why is she not talking to anyone in
the class?
How ‘How’ is used to find the method How can I help her to make friends?
 Activity 1 NOTES
Framing questions
Materials required
Notebook, pen
Procedure
• Form groups of four students in each group.
• Tell the students about a situation. Use the 5W+1H
method to make a list of questions that should be asked
to get complete information.
• One volunteer group reads out the list to the class. The
rest of the students give feedback if these were right
questions.
Activity 2
Framing questions
Materials required
Notebook, pen
Procedure
• Form pairs of students.
• Your teacher will tell you about a situation for which you
have to make plans.
• Make a list of questions you will ask. Also, think and write
why you need to ask that question. (What is the purpose
of the question?).
• Read out your list to your partner and discuss if each
other’s questions were right.

Activity 3
Let us guess!
Procedure
• Divide the class into five groups.
• Each group discusses and decides on one famous
personality.
• All groups will take turns to ask other group questions
and guess the person.
• Every group gets to ask one question each to other groups.
In total, each group can ask three questions. If they are
not able to guess within the first three questions, extend
the number of questions to five per group.
• If you run out of questions, tell each team to give the
teams a CLUE.
• For example, for Mahatma Gandhi, the clue can be:
• He is called the Father of the Nation
• He was a lawyer from Gujarat
• His picture is on Indian rupee notes
• After spending about five minutes preparing in their
groups, give the teacher examples of the kind of questions
prepared.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
NOTES

Check Your Progress

 a) she/like/sing?/Does/to b) waiting/What/are/you/for?

c) play/like/football?/Do/ d) fighting?/they/are/Why
you/to

What Have You Learnt?

SESSION 10: ASKING QUESTIONS II

A question is a sentence, phrase, or word that either
asks for information or is used to test someone’s
knowledge. We always use a question mark (?) at the
end of a question. In our day-to-day interactions with
others, we often have to ask and answer questions to
get information. Asking the correct questions can help
us get the information we want as shown in Figure 1.21.

Types of questions Figure 1.21: Questions and

Information
There are two basic types of questions: close-ended and
open-ended.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
 Questions that can be answered with a “yes” or a
“no” are called close-ended question. That is because
the answer options are limited or closed. For example,
when we ask “Do you have a TV at home?”, the answer
could be either “Yes” or “No” (see Figure 1.22).
Sometimes, when we ask a question, we expect an
answer with more details. For example in Figure 1.23
Figure 1.22: Open-ended
when we ask “What do you like to watch on TV?”, the
Question answer could be “I like to watch movies on TV.” These
are called open-ended questions because their answer
options are not limited or closed. In this case, the person
could have also said sports, news, or anything else.

Framing (or forming) questions

Framing close-ended questions
We can form close-ended questions by adding helping
verbs (called auxiliary verbs) like Be, Do and Have. These
convey additional information, such as time and mood.
Figure 1.23: Close-ended Besides these, there are other auxiliary verbs (called modal
Question
verbs), such as Can, Shall, May, Should, Could which
show possibility or necessity. One method of framing
close-ended questions is to take a sentence without the
above words and place such words before the subject.
For example, the sentence “I like it” can be changed
into a close-ended question by adding the word “do”
before the subject “I”. This creates the close-ended
question: “Do I like it?”
Read aloud the other examples are shown in Table 1.24.
Table 1.24: Close-ended Questions
Sentence Close-ended questions after adding helping verbs

They talk on the phone every day. Do they talk on the phone every day?
You share your lunch with your Could you share your lunch with your friends?
friends.

Please Note: The helping verb changes based on the

subject, but the main verb remains unchanged. For
example, in the sentences and the questions below, the
main verb (cook) remains unchanged, but the auxiliary
verb (do) changes based on the subject. Read aloud the
other examples are shown here in Table 1.25.
 Table 1.25: Close-ended Questions with Helping Verbs

Sentence Close-ended Questions after adding helping verbs

I cook dinner. Do I cook dinner?

She can cook dinner. Can she cook dinner?

They cook dinner. Do they cook dinner?

Framing close-ended questions

In some cases, we exchange the positions of the
subject and the verb to create a close-ended question.
We can follow a similar method for sentences that
already have auxiliary verbs. Read aloud the other
examples given in Table 1.26.
Table 1.26: Close-ended Questions (Subject/Verb exchanged)
Sentence Close-ended questions after exchanging positions of
the subject and the verb
He is there. Is he there?
They were cleaning their room. Were they cleaning their room?

You can help me. Can you help me?

Framing open-ended questions: Using question

words
Some questions are called open-ended because their
answers are not limited or closed. They have to be
answered with more information than just a “yes” or
a “no”. We can form open-ended questions by using
question words, such as What, Why, Who, How, When
and Where. Read aloud the other examples are shown
here in Table 1.27. Notice how these questions CANNOT
be answered with a “yes” or a “no”.
Table 1.27: Open-ended Questions with Question Words
Open-ended questions Answer sentence
What did you do? I went to the park.
Why did you go there? I went to meet my friend.
How did you go? I cycled.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
NOTES

Check Your Progress

 NOTES

What Have You Learnt?

GLOSSARY
Auxiliary verbs: verbs used along with a main verb to convey
additional information, such as time and mood. There are three main
auxiliary verbs ‘Be, Do and Have’
Coherent: making sense, related to the main topic
Communication: sharing of information between two or more
people to reach a common understanding
Concise: using simple words and saying only what is needed, not
extra
Concrete: using exact words and facts
Courteous: showing respect, polite, friendly
Exclamation: a sudden cry or remark expressing surprise, emotion,
or pain

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
NOTES Instead: as an alternative, another option
Modal Verbs: these are other auxiliary verbs, such as ‘Can, May
and Should’
Modify: make partial or minor changes to something
Paralanguage: the other parts of spoken language (besides words)
tone, rate, loudness, etc.
Posture: the position of the body when standing, sitting or working
Precise words: exact, most suitable words
Similar: looking same in appearance, character, or quantity, but
not identical
Specific words: special, correct name
Studio: a place where films are made or produced
Title: a name that describes someone’s position or job

FURTHER READINGS
Session 1: Introduction to Communication
• https://bit.ly/2yrCswn
• https://bit.ly/2GPRn8A
Session 4: Writing Skills 1 – Parts Of Speech
• http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/top-ten.html
• https://bit.ly/2ImnVUS
Session 5: Writing Skills2 – Sentences
• https://bit.ly/2EepS38
Session 6: Pronunciation Basics
• https://bit.ly/1HkctUu
Session 7: Greetings and Introductions
• h t t p s : / / w w w . t h o u g h t c o . c o m / g r e e t i n g - p e o p l e - in-
english-1212039
• https://reallifeglobal.com/23 -different-ways-greet-
someone-english/
Session 8: Talking About Self
• https://bit.ly/2H3UjML
Session 9: Asking QuestionsI
• http://www.englishlearnsite.com/grammar/wh-questions/
• https://bit.ly/2IklgeA