Preface
Communicative English for Engineers and Professionals is a product of our long experience and knowledge gained through classroom teaching of communication skills in English and research carried out at the university and college levels. The material in the book has been well tested on learners and professionals and modified after feedback from them. It is designed to give our readers an edge in their careers.
As the title of the book Communicative English for Engineers and Professionals indicates, the book is a comprehensive study of oral and written skills in English. It is meticulously written to develop our readers’ insight into the learning and enhancement of technical and business communication skills and to help them meet challenges by providing them with some useful practical tips.
The book has a wide range of utility. It is broad enough to cover the syllabi of B.Tech., B.E., Bachelors and Masters in Commerce, Hospitality, B.Pharma., Nursing, Physiotherapy, MBA, and other courses being taught at various universities, professional and technical institutions. It is also suitable for in-job professionals who would like to enhance their oral and written communication skills. We have also taken into consideration aspirants of English proficiency examinations, who wish to sharpen their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. Above all, teachers will find this book useful as a support material and a ready reference for making their class instructions learner-centered and practical. It will also provide them with answers to some pertinent questions that they might come across during their classes.
The layout of the book has been designed to follow the natural progression of the faculties of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Chapter 1 is an effective guide for learners, especially beginners, on how to develop and improve oral communication, and it gives readers practical tips to achieve this aim. Chapter 2 is unique as it directs the learners to the field of CALL (Computer Aided Language Learning) and other useful technologies for learning oral and written communication skills. Chapters 3 and 4, valuable sections on vocabulary extension, will not only furnish the readers with a wide range of synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, homophones, one-word substitutes, and technical terms but will also help learners develop an understanding of difficult words by gaining knowledge on roots, bases, and affixes of the English language. Chapter 5 deals with the phonetics of English in the fine tuning of the skills learnt in Chapter 1. Chapter 6 has been especially designed for job seekers and professionals who aspire to gain proficiency in group discussions, interviews, and professional presentations. Chapter 7 concentrates on the fundamentals of grammar and touches the aspects that are normally difficult for learners, supported by examples taken from day-to-day interactions. Developing the skills of reading, note making, note taking and summarizing are dealt with in Chapter 8. Chapters 9 and 10 discuss professional and technical written communication along with the creative aspects of writing slogans, paragraphs, dialogues and developing outlines, which are included in the course contents of many universities. All the features are supported with apt illustrations. Each chapter ends with learner-oriented practice material intended to make the readers apply the concepts to their professional and personal real-life situations.
We have been rather particular to make the book relevant to the current requirements of students, their curricula, and to the prevailing standards of oral and written interactions in the professional sector. The scope of the book is wide enough to cater to the needs of beginners, improvers, and professionals by providing them with the knowledge of the basics and the tools required to practice them. This is just not another theoretical book but a detailed guide for learning and developing your communication skills.