Communicative English Handbook I

Overview of the Handbook

• Title: Word and Image I: Communicative English Handbook for I Semester BA
• Focus: Preparing students in spoken and written communication skills.
• Published by: Bengaluru Central University Press, Bengaluru Central University (BCU).
• First Edition: Released in 2019.

Foreword Insights

• Purpose: Enhances students' grammar and pronunciation for effective communication.
• Recognizes efforts by the Text Book Committee for creating valuable material.
• Content includes basics of grammar and phonetics.
• Encourages both teachers and students to utilize the handbook effectively.

Preface Highlights

• Introduces fundamental communication principles for undergraduate students.
• The term "Image" represents the integration of writing for visual media in the syllabus.
• Curriculum includes two papers:
  • First paper focuses on English grammar and general communication skills.
  • Second paper emphasizes phonetics and spoken English for better pronunciation.

Board of Studies Members

• Chairperson: Dr. Chitra Panikkar, BCU.
• Diverse representation from various colleges including:
  • Government Arts College
  • Vivekananda Degree College
  • B.M.S College for Women
  • St.Joseph’s College of Commerce, among others.

Text Book Committee Members

• Committee chaired by Manjula Veerappa, Associate Professor, Vijaya College.
• Other notable members include:
  • Dr. Rama Devi, Professor, Government Arts College.
  • Vasudha A R, Assistant Professor and HOD, St.Anne’s Degree College.
  • Shirisha Kumari Balagam, Assistant Professor, St.Anne’s Degree College.

Educational Objectives

• Aims to equip students with effective communication strategies.
• Focus on developing both academic and practical English language skills.
• Promotes understanding of grammar essentials and phonetic pronunciation.

Conclusion

• The handbook is designed to cater to the needs of undergraduate students in improving their communicative abilities through structured learning and resources.

Possessive Pronouns

• Possessive pronouns indicate ownership; they can be singular (mine) or plural (ours).
• They vary by person: 1st person (mine), 2nd person (yours), and 3rd person (his).
• Gender distinctions exist: male (his) and female (hers).
• Serve as both subject and object pronouns, referring to singular or plural antecedents.

Reflexive Pronouns

• Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of a sentence, ending in “-self” (singular) or “-selves” (plural).
• Eight reflexive pronouns include: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.
• Examples highlight that underlined pronouns refer back to the same subject, such as "I saw myself."

Emphatic Pronouns

• Reflexive pronouns can also function as emphatic pronouns to stress the antecedent.
• Examples include usage in phrases like "I made it myself" and "The President himself promised."

Comparatives and Superlatives

• Adjectives can have different forms, including positive, comparative, and superlative.
• Example: clean (positive), cleaner (comparative), (the) cleanest (superlative).
• Harish is noted as the tallest boy; the cheetah is recognized as the fastest animal.

Quantifiers

• "Some" and "any" modify both countable and uncountable nouns, with "some" in positive contexts and "any" in negatives/questions.
• "Much" modifies uncountable nouns (e.g., water, money), while "many" modifies countable nouns (e.g., apples, Americans).
• "Little" applies to uncountable nouns and "few" to countable nouns (e.g., few doctors).

Interjections

• Interjections express strong emotions and are punctuated with exclamation points (e.g., "Ah!", "Alas!").
• Nouns, verbs, and adjectives can serve as interjections even without inherent grammatical function.

Articles

• Articles are special adjectives that modify nouns, with "the" being definite and "a/an" being indefinite.
• "The" refers to specific nouns, while "a/an" refers to non-specific ones.

Tenses

• Tenses classify into Present, Past, and Future with four forms each: Simple, Continuous, Perfect, and Perfect Continuous.

Present Tense

• Used to describe current actions, universal truths, habitual actions, and feelings.
• Structure: Subject + Main Verb + Object; third person singular adds "s" or "es" to the verb.

Negative Sentences (Present)

• Structure: Subject + Auxiliary Verb + Not + Verb (e.g., "Children do not like vegetables").

Questions (Present)

• Structure: Auxiliary Verb + Subject + Main Verb + Object.

Past Tense

• Structure: Subject + Verb in Past form + Object.
• Negative sentences require auxiliary verb "did" + not, leading to "I did not write the letter."
• Questions involve: Auxiliary verb (did) + Subject + Basic form of the verb.

Past Continuous Tense

• Indicates ongoing actions in the past using "was/were" + present participle.
• Example situations illustrate actions occurring simultaneously or over time.

Negative Sentences (Past Continuous)

• Structure: Subject + Auxiliary Verb (was/were) + Not + Present Participle.

Questions (Past Continuous)

• Structure: Auxiliary Verb (was/were) + Subject + Present Participle.