1
CERTIFICATE COURSE IN SPOKEN ENGLISH FOR COMMUNICATION SKILL
FOR
2017, 2018 & 2019EXAMINATIONS
Course - content and Outlines of Examination for the Add-On Course of Spoken English for Communication Skill.
Teaching periods per week : 8Time Allowed
Max. Marks : 100Practical : 3 Hours
(Practical and Theory Paper : 40+60)Theory Paper : 2½ Hours
Pass Marks : 35%
(Separately in Practical and
Theory Paper).
Objective:
The objective of this course is to bring about an improvement in the learners' language skills, namely, speaking, listening, reading and writing so as to make their communicative ability more accurate and effective.
Instructions for the Paper-Setter
(For the Theory Paper)
1.The theory paper shall consist of six questions in all.
2.Question Number-I pertaining to Grammar exercises shall be set from Units 1 to 8 of the prescribed book. Question Number-II, which also pertains to Grammar exercise, shall be set from among Units 9 to 15 of the prescribed book. In each question, the paper setter shall set 13 sentences out of which the learners shall attempt any 10. Question Number-I and II shall carry 10 marks each.
3.Question Number-III shall consist of two parts. Part(i) shall contain a short passage for reading comprehension followed by appropriate questions requiring answers whose length shall vary from one word to one line and not more. Each question shall be of 1 mark. Thus Part(i) shall carry 5 marks in all. The passage for comprehension in Part(i) shall be based on the first 8 units of the prescribed book. It shall be easy to comprehend and relatively simpler than the one in Q.No.IV.
4.Part(ii) of Question No.III shall pertain to pure vowels, diphthongs and consonants of Standard British English. The learners may be asked to list all the long vowels or the short vowels or the diphthongs with their IPA symbols and one example for each sound. The learners may also be asked to phonemically transcribe any 5 out of the given 8 words. These words shall be monosyllabic, very simple and commonly used. Part(ii) of Q.No.III shall carry 5 marks. There shall be no internal alternative in this question.
5.Question No.IV shall also contain a passage for comprehension and shall be based on Units 9 to 15 of the prescribed book. This passage shall be more complex than the one in Part(i) of Q.No.III. The questions based on this passage shall test the learner's ability to analyse, decipher and interpret the given ideas. This question shall carry 10 marks.
6.Question No.V and VI shall pertain to guided writing tasks. Q.No.V shall pertain to writing a paragraph of 150 words carrying 10 marks. Only one topic shall be set for this question. The paper-setter shall provide the beginning of the paragraph along with certain key vocabulary items likely to be used in the said topic.
7.Question No. VI shall pertain to letter-writing. The learners shall be asked to write a letter-either informal or formal - of about 125-150 words, carrying 10 marks. The paper-setter shall provide the appropriate salutations and the beginning of the letter. There shall be no internal alternative in this question.
Instructions for the Candidates:
1.All the six questions in the theory paper are to be attempted.
2.Question Numbers V and VI (in the theory paper) shall carry no internal alternative.
3.All the five parts/activities in the Practical examination are compulsory.
Book Prescribed :
(i)Units 1 to 15 of the following book are prescribed for this course :
Headway Elementary Student's Book by Liz & John Soars. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. Forty-first impression, 2002. (There is an accompanying Teacher's Book with the prescribed book which shall be used by the teacher).
(ii)Introducing learners to the pure vowels, diphthongs and consonants of Standard British English and IPA symbols of these sounds. Helping them to identify sounds in common words and finally teaching them phonemic transcription of monosyllabic words which are easy to transcribe and commonly used.
Suggested Reading:
The following suggested reading list is more for the teachers than for the learners.
1.Inthira, S.R. and V. Saraswathi eds. Enrich Your English Book-I: Communication Skills Delhi : Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages and Oxford University Press, 1995.
2.Klipped, Friederike. Keep Talking : Communicative Fluency Activities for Language Teaching, Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1984.
3.Doff, Adrian. Teach English. A Training Course for Teachers, Trainer's Handbook, Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1988.
4.Ghosh, R.N., K.W. Moody and S.R. Inthira. A Course in Written English, New Delhi : NCERT, 1978.
TESTING :
The final examination of Communicative English shall consist of two
parts :
Part-A:Practical Examination comprising 40 marks.
Part-B:Theory paper comprising 60 marks.
Guidelines for PART-A:
(i)Testing of Listening Skills shall consist of 10 marks. The listening text could be read out by the examiner or an audio-cassette could be played for this purpose. There shall be suitable questions based on the listening text.
(ii)Learners shall be asked to describe a scene/spectacle or a picture. This picture could be from a magazine or a book and shall call forth simple description. This shall carry 5 marks.
(iii)Group Discussions : Learners shall be divided into groups of three or four. There shall be a group-discussion on a given topic. The topic should be easy to speak on and shall be decided by the external examiner. Learners shall be assessed for correctness of expression, fluency, participation and initiative. This shall carry 10 marks.
(iv)There shall be an individual personality test of each of the learners conducted by the external examiner. This shall be of 10 marks.
(v)The last part in the practical examination shall consist a short writing task of about 150 words. This shall be in the nature of self evaluation by the learners. It shall include their experiences of the final practical examination and of the entire add-on course. It shall include whether they have benefited from this course or not. If not, why so? It shall also include any suggestions from the earners as to how the course could be improved. This shall be of 5 marks.
Guidelines for PART-B:
The theory paper shall be of 60 marks and 2½ hours' duration.
(i)Question Number-I and II shall pertain to Grammar exercises in the prescribed book and shall be objective-type. Each shall be of 10 marks. They may, for instance, involve filling up of gaps and choosing the correct sentence.
(ii)Part (i) of Question Number-III and Question Number-IV shall pertain to reading and comprehension tasks and shall be of 5 and 10 marks respectively. Both the passage for reading shall be based on various passages given in the prescribed book and shall be followed by suitable questions based on the passages. Both the passages shall be simple and easy to comprehend, with the second being slightly more complex than the first.
(iii)Part(ii) of Question No.III shall comprise either the listing of pure vowels (short or long vowels) or diphthongs of Standard British English along with their IPA symbols and examples. The candidates may also be asked to give phoneme transcription of 5 words which are monosyllabic and commonly used.
(iv)Question No. V and VI shall pertain to guided writing tasks and shall be of 10 marks each. Question No. V shall pertain to writing a paragraph of 150 words on a given topic where the beginning of the paragraph as well as certain key vocabulary items shall be provided by the paper-setter. Question No. VI shall pertain to writing an informal or formed (i.e. either of them) letter of about 125-150 words where the salutations and the beginning of the letter shall be provided by the paper setter.