Developing the Essential Skills of Effective Communication

Dr. Ujjwala Kakarla is a poet and author. She is working as a Senior English Language Expert at Trans Aviacons Pvt Ltd (Air Force Academy) in Hyderabad. She worked as Prof. of English in various technical institutions and Deemed University for more than a decade. SAGE is the proud publisher of her book “Functional English for Communication”, co-authored with Tanu Gupta and Leena Pundir. SAGE has a fast-growing list of high-quality textbooks on education.

Basic Skills of Language: An Input to Effective Communication

English seems to be an easy language when learnt by means of informative approach. When used as a skill approach, many learners feel difficult to listen and understand, read and understand, speak and write to communicate naturally and spontaneously. We can’t describe a flower without its parts-petals, sepal, stigma, stem, etc. So too, language cannot be described without its foundation skills- Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Moreover, Language cannot be developed without its basic pillars- vocabulary, Grammar, Pronunciation and spelling. English is truly a complex language with crazy inventions, strange words, lexical relations and misinterpretations.

To increase the level of English proficiency and interaction, the secret code is- practicing with the aid of helpful exercises, descriptions, language games and group discussions. The foremost need is to apply a few wise strategies to learn, practice, grow and develop your basic skills:

Creating your Vocabulary
Regular note making of passive words and expressions is one of the easiest ways to learn their contextual usage creating as many sentences as possible. Further, many of these passive words can be turned into active vocabulary by means of creating stories and essays that help you remember better and spell effectively.

Description of Pictures
Choose any appealing image and describe it in as many details as you can. Learners get acquainted with as many adjectives as possible and understand how to spontaneously express their feelings and perceptions.

Practice English Grammar Exercises
Choose such exercises that explain the grammatical concepts in a clear and simple way. By practicing grammar-related aspects regularly, you can boost up your confidence and be able to speak and write English with ease.

Conversations/Role Plays
The conversation or dialogues learners practice in the classroom is a pair work. These activities overcome the shyness and fear among the students. They also help the students to boost up their confidence to speak the language.

Role plays make students experience a realistic situation. They sharpen their listening skills and bring them in contact with the new language and discover areas where they need additional practice.

Language Games
Language games are learner-centred that promote communicative competence and create a meaningful context for language use. Moreover, they increase learning motivation, reduce learning anxiety, integrate various linguistic skills and foster spontaneous use of language.

Group Discussions
Group discussions help learners in developing their listening and speaking skills. Depending on the type of discussions, it is useful to draw up a list of useful functional language for the learners to refer to. These include phrases for functions such as giving reasons and giving an opinion.

Conclusion
The mastery or proficiency of language lies in being able to understand and use it in both the modes- receptive and expressive. Teaching must aim at an effective mastery of basic skills by every learner. These basic skills are an input to effective communication.

Read the SAGE textbook Functional English for Communication by Ujjwala Kakarla, Tanu Gupta and Leena Pundir will help readers enrich their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills through a large number of practice exercises and examples from academic and professional areas.

You can check out the book here!

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