Course Course

Name of Course L T P Credit

Type Code
IC HSI111 Communication Skills 1 0 2 5

Course Objective
This course has been designed to provide a foundation in effective communication in English. The focus of the course
is to improve the language proficiency of the students by emphasizing on the LSRW (Listening, Speaking, Reading,
and Writing) skills.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course the students will be able to:
 Use English Language effectively in spoken and written forms.
 Comprehend the given texts and respond appropriately.
 Communicate confidently in formal and informal contexts.

Unit Lecture Practical

Topics to be Covered
No.
English Grammar: A
Revisiting
Articles; Prepositions
Modal verbs; Subject-
1 verb agreement; Tense;
Types of sentences;
Phrases and Clauses
Practical (Lab) Learning Outcome
Hours Hours
Exercises: To help students to
On articles, prepositions (fill refresh and revise
in the blanks) the grammar
Correction of sentences (error
1 analysis)
2
Joining of sentences &
Parsing of sentences

On modal verbs
Importance of vocabulary Exercises: To help students to
building & Lexical aspects Exercises on word formation build their
Word- Form- Meaning & Word games: Hangman; vocabulary
Synonyms & Antonyms building words with cards;
Word formation memory game, etc.
2 1
Idioms and phrases/ Reading of Maya Angelou’s
Phrasal verbs “Caged Bird” Robert Frost’s 2
Collocations “After Apple-picking”
Words as metaphors and
images
Pronunciation/ Phonetics Exercises: To help the students
Articulation of sounds practice sessions on to improve their
(consonants& vowels) pronunciation ( fricatives) pronunciation
Syllable and consonant Reading of Charles Dickens’s
cluster Oliver Twist (Chapter 2: Please
3 1
Stress and Intonation Sir, I want more…); Julian 2
Indian English Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending
pronunciation (Introduction); Emma
Received Pronunciation Donoghue’s “The Tale of the
Rose”
Developing Listening Exercises: To develop
Skills Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I students’ listening
Types of listening: have a Dream… & Michelle comprehension
active, passive, Obama’s New Hampshire skills
interpretive & critical Speech on Women
2
4 Role of listening in 1 Empowerment
communication
Snippets from movie: Troy (to
re-narrate the Greek myth)
&Games like Chinese whisper
etc.

1
 Reading Comprehension Exercises: To develop
(literary texts)  Reading of short stories: students’ reading
Types of reading: close - Ruskin Bond’s ‘Time comprehension of
reading, reading between Stops at Shamli’ literary texts
the lines, skimming & - Mahasweta Devi’s Bitter
scanning Soil & Imaginary Maps
Summarising & William Somerset Maugham’s
paraphrasing “The Luncheon”
5 1
analysis and 2
interpretation
textual reading
contextual reading
(underpinning ideas on
history/politics/economic
condition/knowledge/power
structure etc.
Reading non-literary texts Exercises: To develop
Difference between Cuttings from The Hindu’s students’ reading
scientific and literary Science and Technology comprehension of
discourses section non-literary and
6 1
Objective vs. subjective; Samples from science text books 2 general texts
Fact vs fiction and journals
Brevity in expression&
Linearity in discourse
Oral Communication Exercises: To develop
Communication, the two On oral communication in the students’ speaking
way process form of role plays; situational skills
Channels of conversations for negotiation,
communication persuasion, assertion etc.
Importance of listening Making a Sales Presentation
7 in verbal discourses 1
Importance of intonation 2
in verbal discourses
Sensitivity/ Aptness of
words in articulating one’s
thought; Barriers to
Communication
Oral Presentation Exercises: To develop
India and the World with Individual/ team presentations, students’ oral
Shashi Tharoor, impromptu presentations, chalk- presentation
8 1
Conversations with History talks, etc. 2 skills
(youtube uploaded by univ
of California, 2015)
Group Discussions Exercises: To develop
The Argumentation and GDs/ reporting of group 2 students’ discussion
9 1
Debate Process activitie. skills
Body language
Developing Writing Skills Exercises: To develop
Different elements of the On paragraph writing students’ Written
writing process (pre- Preparing an outline Communication
writing, drafting, Summarizing a text skills
10 revising and editing) 1 Paraphrasing a text
Types of writing Assignments: letter Writing
(expository, descriptive & Writing SoPs
& persuasive) 2
Preparing an outline

2
 Sentence structure/
clusters, coherence &
Sense of paragraph
Use of Linking devices;
grammatical device
Punctuation Exercises: To help students
Capitalization; apostrophe; Short passages to punctuate develop their skills
colon; semi-colon; comma; Quizzes to use punctuation
11 1
hyphen; parentheses; Dash; 2 marks effectively
Ellipses; quotation marks &
inverted commas
Rhetorical Functions in Exercises: To develop
Academic Writing On description, reporting, students’ academic
Intro: For whom one is narration, comparison and writing skills
writing and the purpose contrast, explanation
for which one is writing- Assignments: to prepare and
to Argue, Inform, present oral and visual
Persuade, Explain, laboratory reports
12 1
Convince etc. 2
Laboratory Reports,
Book Reviews, Research
Proposals, etc.
Description; reporting;
narration; comparison &
contrast; explanation
Writing & Rhetoric Exercises: To develop
Writing about sports; food; Related exercises on Writing: students’ writing
13 1
fashion; film (in the form of sports/ food/ fashion/ film 2 skills for different
review) review purposes

EVALUATION POLICY

 80% marks will be assigned for Mid-Semester (30%) and End-Semester (50%)
 20% marks will assigned for Quizzes and Assignments
 There will be two quizzes (10 marks) and two assignment (10marks)

SUGGESTED READING:
1. Bailey, Stephen. Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students. Routledge. 2011.
2. Doron, L. & Soffos,C. Teaching for Deep Comprehension. Portland, 2005.
3. Frey, N. & Fisher, D. Rigorous Reading: Five Access Points for Comprehending Complex Texts. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Corwin. 2013.
4. Garner, Bryan A. Modern English Usage. OUP, 2016.
5. Gerson S J & Gerson S M (2002). Technical Writing, 3/e Pearson Education Asia.
6. Green, David. Contemporary English Grammar–Structures and Composition. MacMillan India. 2014.
7. Huckin T. N. & Olesan. Technical Writing and Professional Communication, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
8. Kortepeter, Paul. Writing & Rhetoric Series
9. Laminack, L. & Wadsworth, R. Learning under the influence of Language and Literature: Making the Most of
Read-alouds Across the Day. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 2006.
10. Lebauer, R. S. Learn to listen, listen to learn: Academic listening and note-taking. (2nd edn.). White Plains: NY:
Pearson Education. 2000.
11. Lewis, Norman. Word Power Made Easy. Penguin India. 2015 (Print)
12. Pease, Allen & Barbara Pease. The Definitive Book of Body Language. Read Books, 2004.
13. Rost, M. Introducing Listening. London: Penguin books. 1994.
14. Solomon, Philip Sunil. Word Power: Vocabulary Builder. Oxford University Press. 2017 (Print)
15. Trimble, Louis. English for Science and Technology: A Discourse Approach. CUP. 1985.