CLASS IX Unit-1 Communication Skills

EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS
UNIT- I COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Communication refers to the process of exchanging or passing of information, ideas or thoughts
from one person to another. Communication skills are those skills which are needed to speak and
write properly.
1.1 IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
 It creates clarity of thoughts and expressions.
 It brings people together.
 It bridges the gap between individuals and groups.
 It helps understand people better.

1.2 ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION CYCLE

Let us understand the elements of communication.
a) Sender: The person who sends the information
b) Receiver: The person who receives the message.
c) Encoding: Process of converting a message into the form suitable for the required
medium.

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

Perspectives in Communication
Perspectives are ideas, views, or fixed ways of thinking. These sometimes affect our
communication.
Factors affecting perspectives in communication
 Language
 Visual Perception
 Past Experience
 Prejudice
 Feelings
 Environment
 Personal factors
 Culture

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.

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Q1. What is the purpose of communication?

(a) Inform (tell someone about something) (b) Influence
(c) Share thoughts, ideas, feelings (d) All of the above

Q2. Which of the following methods are used to receive information from the sender through a
letter?
(a) Listening (b) Speaking (c) Reading (d) Writing

Q3. How do you receive information on phone?

(a) Listening (b) Speaking (c) Reading (d) Writing

Verbal Communication
Verbal Communication is the sharing of information by using words. It is what most people use as
a method of communication.
Types of Verbal Communication
 Oral or Spoken Communication: Communication which involves talking
Examples: Face-to-face conversation, Talking on a phone, Classroom teaching
 Written Communication: Communication which involves written or typed words.
Examples: Writing letters, notes, email, etc., SMS (Short Message Service), 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.

Disadvantages of Verbal Communication

 The most common disadvantage of verbal communication is the cultural differences
between the sender and receiver of the information.
 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, become a confident and effective speaker.

Non-Verbal Communication
Non-verbal communication is the message we send to others without using any words. We send
signals and messages to others, through expressions, gestures and body postures.

Q1. Choose the correct example of oral communication.

(a) Reports (b) Newspapers (c) Face-to-face conversation (d) Notes

Q2. When we communicate verbally, we should use _______.

(a) Difficult words (b) Simple words (c) Confusing words (d) Abbreviations

Q3. Why do we send emails?

(a) To reach on time (b) To talk to each other
(c) To share documents and files (d) To meet each other

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Importance of Non-Verbal Communication

 Non-verbal communication makes our message stronger.
 Using the right gestures while speaking makes our message more effective.
 Using the right gestures and postures helps us to be professional at work.

Types of Non-Verbal Communication

 Facial Expression
 Posture
 Gestures or Body Language
 Touch
 Space
 Eye Contact

Visual Communication
Visual Communication involves sending and 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. Examples: Traffic symbol, Traffic Lights, Sign showing
railway crossing, for flammable substances, for slippery surface.

Q1. Which of these is a positive (good) facial expression?

(a) Staring hard (b) Wrinkled forehead
(c) Nodding while listening (d) Looking away from the speaker

Q2. What does an upright (straight) body posture convey/ show?

(a) Shyness (b) Fear (c) Confidence (d) Intelligence

Q3. 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

Q4. 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

Writing Skills: Parts of Speech

When we talk or write in English, we use sentences to express ourselves. 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.

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.

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.
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A noun (Dog, Table, India) is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. A pronoun (I, They, He,
You) is a word used in place of a noun. A verb (Run, Eat, Think) expresses action or being. An
adjective (Small, Blue, Sharp) modifies or describes a noun or pronoun. An adverb (Always,
Inside, Before) modifies or describes a verb. A preposition (on, at, under, in) is a word placed
before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word in the sentence. A
conjunction (and, or) joins words, phrases, or clauses. An interjection (Wow!, Oh!, Oh no!,
Thanks!) is a word used to express emotion.

Along with the main ‘Parts of Speech’, there are some more words we need for making a sentence
known as Supporting Parts of Speech. They are: Articles - The words ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’ are known
as articles. Conjunctions , Preposition & Interjection.

Q1. What is a sentence?

(a) A group of ideas that form a complete paragraph
(b) A group of words that communicate a complete thought
(c) A set of rules that we must follow to write correctly
(d) A set of words that contains all the basic punctuation marks

Q2. Which of these sentences use uppercase letters correctly?

(a) I am Hungry. (b) Divya and sunil are reading.
(c) The bucket is Full of water. (d) She lives in Delhi.

Q3. Which of these sentences are punctuated correctly?

(a) Where are you going. (b) I have a pen a notebook and a pencil.
(c) I am so happy to see you! (d) This is Abdul’s house.

Q4. Underline the noun, pronoun, adjective, verb and adverb in these sentences.
(a) Sanjay plays football everyday.
(b) Divya gave him new books.
(c) I opened the red box carefully

Writing Skills: Sentences

Parts of a sentence
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-
Sentence Subject Verb Object
I ate an apple. I ate an apple

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). 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’. 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.

Types of Sentences

Active and Passive Sentences

Sentences where the subject does an action are known to be in the Active voice. Sentences in
which the subject receives an action are known to be in the Passive voice. For example:

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Active Voice - She wrote a letter.

Passive Voice - A letter was written by her.

Types of Sentences (according to their purpose)

 Statement or Declarative Sentence - This is the most common type of sentence. It
provides information or states a fact. It always ends with a ‘full-stop’ (‘.’). For Example: I
completed my project.
 Question or Interrogative Sentence - This type of sentence asks a question. It always
ends with a question mark (‘?’). For Example: Did you complete your project?
 Emotion/Reaction or Exclamatory Sentence - An exclamatory sentence expresses an
emotion, such as joy, sadness, fear or wonder. It always ends with an exclamation mark
(‘!’). For Example: I completed my project!
 Order or Imperative Sentence - These sentences show an order, command, request, or
advice. It can end with a full stop or an exclamation mark (‘.’ or ‘!’). For Example: Complete
your project.

Q1. Identify the subject in the sentence, “The children played football.”
(a) The children (b) Children played (c) Played (d) Football

Q2. Identify the object in the sentence, “The children played football.”
(a) The children (b) Children played (c) Played (d) Football

Q3. Which of these sentences has both indirect and direct objects?
(a) I am watching TV. (b) She bought a blue pen.
(c) The girls played cricket. (d) He wrote his sister a letter.

Q4. Which of these sentences is in passive voice?

(a) They are watching a movie. (b) The clock was repaired by Raju.
(c) He is sleeping in the room. (d) My pet dog bit the postman.

Pronunciation Basics
Pronunciation is the way you say a word. Correct pronunciation will help you express yourself in a
clear and confident manner.

Phonetics
Phonetics is the study of the sounds that we make when we speak.

Types of Sounds
Vowels - The English alphabet has five vowels (a, e, i, o and u) but 12 vowel sounds.
Diphthongs (combination sound of two vowels) - We make a diphthong sound when we combine
two vowels.
Consonants - A consonant sound is any sound that is neither a vowel nor a diphthong sound.
Q1. What is phonetics?
(a) Study of how we write words in English.
(b) Study of how people understand sentences.
(c) Study of how many words the English language has.
(d) Study of the sounds we make when we speak.

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Q2. What are the different types of sounds used in English pronunciation?
(a) Vowel sounds (b) Diphthong sounds
(c) Consonant sounds (d) All of the above

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.
Types of Greetings
 Formal Greetings - They 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.
For Example: Greeting Reply
Hello Sir. How are you? Very well. Thank you! How are you?

 Informal Greetings – They are used when you talk to friends, family or a known person.
For Example: Greeting Reply
Hey! How are you doing? Hi! I am doing great!

Q1. You say ‘Good Morning’ when it is _______________.

(a) 11 am (b) 9 am (c) 8 am (d) All (a), (b) and (c)

Q2. You may say ‘Hi’ when you meet _______________.

(a) your teacher in class (b) a senior in the office
(c) your Principal (d) your friends at a shop

Q3. You say ‘Good Afternoon’ when it is ______________.

(a) 10 am (b) 11.59 am (c) 6 pm (d) 1 pm

Q4. You say ‘Good Evening’ when it is ______________.

(a) 11 am (b) 9 am (c) 2 pm (d) 7 pm

Talking about Self

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.

Q1. Use the following words to complete the form given below. football and swimming, seven-
years-old, Hassan, Yasmin in Bangalore.
(a) My first name is ______________.
(b) My surname is _________.
(c) I am ________.
(d) I live _________.
(e) I like _________.

Q2. A postal code is ______________.

(a) a group of numbers or letters used to identify a government building.
(b) a code used to indicate the door number of a house.
(c) a group of numbers or letters used by the post office to identify a region.
(d) a code used to identify different post offices.

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Asking Questions
A question is a request for information.

5W+1H Method for Asking Questions

Question Usage Example
Word
Who ‘Who’ is used to ask about people Who is the new student in the
class?
Where ‘Where’ is used to ask about a place Where does she live??

When ‘When’ is used to ask about time When did she join school?
What ‘What’ is used to ask about a thing, an What is her favourite subject?
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 make friends?

Q1. Raju is the class monitor. He wants to know why Ramesh is coming late every day. Which of
the following is a question that Raju can ask Ramesh?
(a) Do you come on time? (b) Are you late?
(c) Why are you late every day? (d) Will it not be easier to complete your work if you come
on time?

Q2. If you have not understood a task given to you, which question should you ask?
(a) Where are the reports of this task? (b) Can you repeat the instructions for this task?
(c) Can you give me an example of this task? (d) Why are you doing this task?

Q3. Sheela does not have time so she decides to delay a task. Which question should he ask
before ignoring the task?
(a) What is this task? (b) When does this task need to be completed?
(c) Is this task important? (d) No need to ask any question.

Q4. Renuka is joining a new school. Which of the following questions will help her become
comfortable with her new classmates?
(a) How long have you been studying here? (b) Would you like to share my lunch?
(c) What do you all do in your free time? (d) All the options are correct.

Types of Questions
There are two basic types of questions: close-ended and open-ended.
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.
Sometimes, when we ask a question, we expect an answer with more details. These are called
open-ended questions because their answer options are not limited or closed.

Framing (or forming) Questions

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Framing close-ended questions:

 We can form close-ended questions by adding helping verbs (called auxiliary verbs) like Be,
Do and Have. Example – They talk on the phone every day. - Do they talk on the phone
every day?
 In some cases, we exchange the positions of the subject and the verb to create a close-
ended question. Example – He is there.- Is he there?

Framing open-ended questions: We can form open-ended questions by using question words,
such as What, Why, Who, How, When and Where.

Q1. What are close-ended questions?

(a) Questions that can have any answer (b) Questions that do not have answers
(c) Questions with yes/no answers (d) Questions that have many answers

Q2. Which of these are open-ended questions?

(a) Where do you live? (b) Are you hungry?
(c) How do you feel? (d) Did you meet him?

Q3. Which of these are question words?

(a) What (b) Want (c) Which (d) How

Q4. Which of these is the correct way to convert the sentence “You are studying” into a question?
(a) You are studying? (b) Studying you are?
(c) Are you studying? (d) Studying are you?

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