Sakshi Education
By
Prof. E. Sureshkumar
Director, Centre for English Language Training,
Osmania University College of Engineering
Today, India is one of the fast growing economies. As a result of this, job market is expanding. Unfortunately, not many engineering graduates are grabbing the job opportunities as their proficiency level of English is not up to the mark. Engineering students should not be satisfied with just mathematics, thermodynamics, alkali, chips and transistors. They must work on enhancing their English language skills, communication skills, and soft skills. The engineers must focus on improving their command over grammar, comprehension, report writing, seminar presentations, GD and interview techniques etc. Effective English communication skills are vital to engineering students to enhance their academic performance, employability and personal effectiveness. Today's job market wants candidates who have good communication skills and a dynamic personality. Organizations look for people who can work in teams and who can get along with their colleagues comfortably. Employers are keen on recruiting only those students who possess a right mix of technical skills and soft skills. Hence, it is high time students realized that communication skills in English and soft skills play a pivotal role in their personal as well as professional lives.
Identify your problems:
Many students find it difficult to overcome their English language problems as they lack proper awareness and exposure. Some of their language and communication problems are...
Use of the Right Approach:
Learn some useful tips for all skills/sub skills
Get tips from experts and various books on improving the four language skills, viz., listening, speaking, reading and writing and the sub skills, viz., pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and spelling. And you must realize that you need to be equally good at all the skills and sub skills. Grab opportunities for practicing all skills/sub skills. You must take responsibility for your own learning. You must get opportunities to practice various skills in various situations. You must be very active and get involved in discussions and debates on various topics. It is also a good idea to recall and talk about the language learning techniques and strategies. Also, you must check which of them are effective and which of them are not so effective. You must use the 'good' strategies more often. You must try new styles of learning and apply what you learn in various situations.
How to improve?
You should improve your oral communication by grabbing opportunities to practice conversations, JAM sessions, speechmaking, group discussions, debates, seminar presentations, telephoning, interviewing and role-playing. Written communication can be improved by way of keeping diary entries, letter writing, essay writing, summarizing, report writing, chatting on the net, ‘emailing’ and 'smsing'.]
Tips for proficiency:
Follow the above mentioned tips diligently so that you can improve your communication skills in English and become more employable. Students of engineering can also learn and practice the above at the University Training Centers. Try to follow the above mentioned tips and practice the exercises diligently so that you can become proficient in English. Try to read the books recommended below and also make an attempt to browse the websites mentioned below. They will remain as a constant resource for updating your communication skills in English.
Prof. E. Sureshkumar
Director, Centre for English Language Training,
Osmania University College of Engineering
Today, India is one of the fast growing economies. As a result of this, job market is expanding. Unfortunately, not many engineering graduates are grabbing the job opportunities as their proficiency level of English is not up to the mark. Engineering students should not be satisfied with just mathematics, thermodynamics, alkali, chips and transistors. They must work on enhancing their English language skills, communication skills, and soft skills. The engineers must focus on improving their command over grammar, comprehension, report writing, seminar presentations, GD and interview techniques etc. Effective English communication skills are vital to engineering students to enhance their academic performance, employability and personal effectiveness. Today's job market wants candidates who have good communication skills and a dynamic personality. Organizations look for people who can work in teams and who can get along with their colleagues comfortably. Employers are keen on recruiting only those students who possess a right mix of technical skills and soft skills. Hence, it is high time students realized that communication skills in English and soft skills play a pivotal role in their personal as well as professional lives.
Identify your problems:
Many students find it difficult to overcome their English language problems as they lack proper awareness and exposure. Some of their language and communication problems are...
- Incorrect pronunciation.
- Incorrect grammar.
- Inability to use the right word in the right context.
- Inability to adjust their pace, pitch and tone depending on different situations.
- Inability to speak clearly and audibly.
- Inability to comprehend quickly while reading.
- Inability to write effective reports.
- Inability to give seminar presentations impressively.
- Inability to face interviews confidently.
Use of the Right Approach:
Learn some useful tips for all skills/sub skills
Get tips from experts and various books on improving the four language skills, viz., listening, speaking, reading and writing and the sub skills, viz., pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and spelling. And you must realize that you need to be equally good at all the skills and sub skills. Grab opportunities for practicing all skills/sub skills. You must take responsibility for your own learning. You must get opportunities to practice various skills in various situations. You must be very active and get involved in discussions and debates on various topics. It is also a good idea to recall and talk about the language learning techniques and strategies. Also, you must check which of them are effective and which of them are not so effective. You must use the 'good' strategies more often. You must try new styles of learning and apply what you learn in various situations.
How to improve?
You should improve your oral communication by grabbing opportunities to practice conversations, JAM sessions, speechmaking, group discussions, debates, seminar presentations, telephoning, interviewing and role-playing. Written communication can be improved by way of keeping diary entries, letter writing, essay writing, summarizing, report writing, chatting on the net, ‘emailing’ and 'smsing'.]
Tips for proficiency:
- Learn words in context.
- Listen to Radio and watch as many English programmes on T.V. as possible and try to repeat the dialogues of the characters by imitating them.
- Do not hesitate to speak to your friends or classmates in English.
- Listen to music in English and repeat lyrics later even though you do not understand everything that is being sung.
- Play as many grammar games/ language games as possible.
- Use CDs with listening activities and practice listening exercises using headphones.
- Try to speak on telephone enquiring about a product/ service.
- Maintain vocabulary notes. New vocabulary can be learnt from newspapers, books, dictionaries, thesaurus etc. Try to learn at least twenty new English words every day.
- Use all the new words you have learnt in real life situations.
Follow the above mentioned tips diligently so that you can improve your communication skills in English and become more employable. Students of engineering can also learn and practice the above at the University Training Centers. Try to follow the above mentioned tips and practice the exercises diligently so that you can become proficient in English. Try to read the books recommended below and also make an attempt to browse the websites mentioned below. They will remain as a constant resource for updating your communication skills in English.
Published date : 14 Sep 2010 05:03PM
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