employability-skills-english-class-12.pdf

Employability Skills Textbook for Class XII  ISBN 978-93-5292-270-3 First Edition ALL RIGHTS RESERVED June 2020 Ashadha 1942...

Employability Skills Textbook for Class XII  ISBN 978-93-5292-270-3 First Edition ALL RIGHTS RESERVED June 2020 Ashadha 1942  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. PD 5T BS  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise disposed off without the publisher’s consent, in any form of © National Council of Educational binding or cover other than that in which it is published. Research and Training, 2020  The correct price of this publication is the price printed on this page. Any revised price indicated by a rubber stamp or by a sticker or by any other means is incorrect and should be unacceptable. OFFICES OF THE PUBLICATION DIVISION, NCERT NCERT Campus Sri Aurobindo Marg New Delhi 110 016 Phone : 011-26562708 108, 100 Feet Road Hosdakere Halli Extension Banashankari III Stage Bengaluru 560 085 Phone : 080-26725740 Navjivan Trust Building P.O.Navjivan Ahmedabad 380 014 Phone : 079-27541446 120.00 CWC Campus Opp. Dhankal Bus Stop Panihati Kolkata 700 114 Phone : 033-25530454 CWC Complex Maligaon Guwahati 781 021 Phone : 0361-2674869 Publication Team Head, Publication : Anup Kumar Rajput Division Chief Editor : Shveta Uppal Chief Production Officer : Arun Chitkara Printed on 80 GSM paper with NCERT watermark Chief Business Manager : Vipin Dewan Published at the Publication Division Editor : Bijnan Sutar by the Secretary, National Council of Production Officer :............. Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi 110 016 and printed at......... Cover and Layout DTP Cell, Publication Division Prelims.indd 2 6/18/2020 4:36:27 PM  Foreword The National Curriculum Framework–2005 (NCF–2005) recommends bringing work and education into the domain of the curricular, infusing it in all areas of learning while giving it an identity of its own at relevant stages. It explains that work transforms knowledge into experience and generates important personal and social values such as self-reliance, creativity and cooperation. Through work, one learns to find one’s place in society. It is an educational activity with an inherent potential for inclusion. Therefore, an experience of involvement in productive work in an educational setting will make one appreciate the worth of social life and what is valued and appreciated in the society. Work involves interaction with material or other people (mostly both), thus, creating a deeper comprehension and increased practical knowledge of natural substances and social relationships. Through work and education, school knowledge can be easily linked to learners’ life outside the school. This also makes a departure from the legacy of bookish learning and bridges the gap between the school, home, community and workplace. The NCF–2005 also emphasises on Vocational Education and Training (VET) for all those children, who wish to acquire additional skills and/or seek livelihood through vocational education after either discontinuing or completing their school education. VET is expected to provide a ‘preferred and dignified’ choice rather than a terminal or ‘last-resort’ option. As a follow-up of this, NCERT has attempted to infuse work across subject areas and also contributed in the development of the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) for the country, which was notified on 27 December 2013. It is a quality assurance framework that organises all qualifications, according to levels of knowledge, skills and attitude. These levels, graded from one to ten, are defined in terms of learning outcomes, which the learner must possess regardless of whether they are obtained through formal, non-formal or informal learning. The NSQF sets common principles and guidelines for a nationally recognised qualification system covering schools, vocational education and training institutions, technical education institutions, colleges and universities. It is under this backdrop that Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education (PSSCIVE), Bhopal, a constituent of Prelims.indd 3 6/18/2020 4:36:27 PM  NCERT, has developed learning outcomes based modular curricula for vocational subjects from Classes IX to XII. This has been developed under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Vocationalisation of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. This textbook takes care of generic skills embedded in various job roles in a comprehensive manner and also provides more opportunities and scope for students to engage with these common and necessary skills, such as communication, critical thinking and decision making in different situations pertaining to different job roles. I acknowledge the contribution of the development team, reviewers and all institutions and organisations, which have supported in the development of this textbook. NCERT would welcome suggestions from students, teachers and parents, which would help us to further improve the quality of the material in subsequent editions. Hrushikesh Senapaty Director New Delhi National Council of Educational June 2018 Research and Training iv Prelims.indd 4 6/18/2020 4:36:27 PM  About the Textbook Employability skills can be defined as soft skills, which employers look for in a potential employee. These are the skills that equip employees to carry out their responsibilities to the best of their abilities, ensuring client satisfaction. For example, the ability to explain what someone means in a clear and concise way through written and spoken means helps in fostering better relationship with the client or customer. Similarly, handling stress that comes with deadlines for completing a work or target and ensuring that a person meets the deadlines can be done through effective self-management training. It can also be done by working cordially with other people from different disciplines, backgrounds and expertise to accomplish a task or goal. In today’s digital age, employers expect that employees are able to make use of elementary functions of information and communication technology to retrieve, access, store, produce, present and exchange information in collaborative networks using the Internet. Students need to develop entrepreneurial skills so that they can develop necessary knowledge and skills to start their own businesses, thus, becoming ‘job creators’ rather than ‘job seekers’. Potential employees need to develop green skills, which are technical skills, knowledge, values and attitudes needed in the workforce to develop and support sustainable social, economic and environmental outcomes in business, industry and community. Thus, as a student, one is expected to acquire a range of skills so that the person can meet the skill demands of the organisation that one would be working for or to set up and run one’s own business. This textbook on ‘Employability Skills’ covers communication, self-management, information and communication technology, entrepreneurial and green skills. It has been developed as per the learning outcome-based curriculum. The employability skills are embedded in the Qualification Packs of the different job roles in various sectors under the National Skill Qualification Framework. The textbook aims to provide learning experience through a blended approach of text and video-based interactive e-learning lessons. Running these e-learning lessons in classrooms would require a computer with Internet connection, projector Prelims.indd 5 6/18/2020 4:36:27 PM  and sound system, which the school needs to provide to teachers and students. The teachers will guide the students to actively participate in class. The students can ask and answer questions, and follow the instructions to complete the exercises and activities. Vinay Swarup Mehrotra Professor and Head Curriculum Development and Evaluation Centre and National Skill Qualification Framework Cell, PSSCIVE, Bhopal vi Prelims.indd 6 6/18/2020 4:36:27 PM  Acknowledgements The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) expresses its gratitude to all members of the Project Approval Board (PAB) and officials of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, for their cooperation in the development of this textbook. The Council thanks Rajesh P. Khambayat, Joint Director, PSSCIVE, Bhopal, for rendering constant support and guidance in the development of this textbook. The Council acknowledges Saroj Yadav, Professor and Dean (Academic) and Ranjana Arora, Professor and Head, Department of Curriculum Studies (DCS), NCERT, for coordinating review workshops in the finalisation of this textbook. Review committee members from PSSCIVE, Bhopal — Abhijit Nayak, Professor and Head, Department of Health and Paramedical; Deepak. D. Shudhalwar, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Engineering and Technology; Kuldeep Singh, Associate Professor, Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry; Mridula Saxena, Professor, Department of Home Science and Hospitality Management; P. Veeraiah, Professor and Head, Department of Business and Commerce; Pinki Khanna, Professor and Head, Department of Home Science and Hospitality Management; Rajiv Pathak, Professor, Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry; Saurabh Prakash, Professor, Department of Engineering and Technology; R. K. Shukla, Professor, Department of Business and Commerce; and Vipin K. Jain, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Humanities, Science and Research, are also acknowledged for their valuable contributions. The Council also acknowledges Aakash Sethi, Chief Executive Officer, Quest Alliance; Aditi Kumar, Project Manager, Quest Alliance; Amit Singh, Advisor, National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development; Austin Thomas, Executive Vice President, Wadhwani Foundation; Mekin Maheshwari, Chief Executive Officer, Udhyam Learning Foundation; Nidhi Sahni, Curriculum Manager, Wadhwani Foundation; Nikita Bengani, Senior Program Manager, Quest Alliance; Poonam Sinha, Joint Director, National Institute for Entrepreneurship Prelims.indd 7 6/18/2020 4:36:27 PM  and Small Business Development; Rohit Massey, Consultant, National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development; Shivani Gandhi, Program Manager, Udhyam Learning Foundation; Sonal K. Jain, Consultant, Wadhwani Foundation; Sunil Dahiya, Executive Vice President, Wadhwani Foundation; and Vikrant Chandela, Associate Director, Wadhwani Foundation, for providing valuable inputs and illustrations in the development of this textbook. Vikas Kogey, Visual Analyser, and Pinki Tiwari, Graphic Designer, PSSCIVE, Bhopal, are appreciated for redrawing some of the illustrations used in the textbook. The images other than these have been sourced from Creative Commons License. Gratitude is also due to the Publication Division (PD), NCERT, for transforming the manuscript into an attractive textbook. Special thanks are due to Sweta Jha, Editor (contractual), and Shilpa Mohan, Assistant Editor (contractual), for copyediting the manuscript. Pawan Kumar Barriar, DTP Operator (PD), and Rajshree Saini and Hari Darshan Lodhi, DTP Operators (contractual), are appreciated for layout and design. viii Prelims.indd 8 6/18/2020 4:36:27 PM  Contents Foreword iii About the Textbook v Unit 1: Communication Skills 1 Session 1 Active Listening 2 Session 2 Parts of Speech 9 Session 3 Writing Sentences 16 Unit 2: Self-management Skills 23 Session 1 Motivation and Positive Attitude 23 Session 2 Result Orientation 28 Session 3 Self-awareness 32 Unit 3: Information and Communication Technology Skills 39 Session 1 Getting Started with Spreadsheet 39 Session 2 Performing Basic Operations in a Spreadsheet 44 Session 3 Working with Data and Formatting Text 50 Session 4 Advanced Features in Spreadsheet 57 Session 5 Presentation Software 63 Session 6 Opening, Closing, Saving and 66 Printing a Presentation Session 7 Working with Slides and Text in a Presentation 69 Session 8 Advanced Features used in Presentation 74 Unit 4: Entrepreneurship Skills 78 Session 1 Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneur 79 Session 2 Barriers to Entrepreneurship 91 Session 3 Entrepreneurial Attitudes 96 Session 4 Entrepreneurial Competencies 98 Unit 5: Green Skills 111 Session 1 Green Jobs 112 Session 2 Importance of Green Jobs 119 Answer Key 123 Glossary 125 Prelims.indd 9 6/18/2020 4:36:27 PM Prelims.indd 10 6/18/2020 4:36:28 PM Unit 1 Communication Skills Introduction Communication is a two-way process through which information or message is exchanged between individuals using language, symbols, signs or behaviour. Speaking, listening, reading and writing are the parts of communication, which help us to understand others. To learn a language, one needs to develop four key skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing as shown in Figure 1.1. Figure. 1.1: Key communication skills Speaking more than one language can help a person communicate well with people around the world. Learning English can help one communicate with people who understand English, besides the language the person has been exposed to since birth. The ability to communicate effectively is an essential skill in today’s information age. Communication skills are needed to communicate effectively with people and customers.  This Unit on communication skills aims to help you to understand the importance of various aspects of communication and develop effective communication skills. You should try to learn as many languages as possible as it will help you to understand others’ culture. It will also equip you with knowledge and skills, which are necessary to take advantage of the opportunities the twenty-first century offers. If you know many languages, you will be able to converse with people and read signage while travelling to different places. Communication involves a sender, who encodes and sends a message through a channel, and a receiver, who decodes the message and gives feedback as shown in Figure 1.2. Feedback is important in communication as it helps in knowing whether the receiver has understood the message or not. Figure 1.2: Elements of communication Session 1: Active Listening Effective communication involves skills that can be utilised to send messages that are clear, concise and accurate. Let us now try to understand what we mean by clear, concise and accurate. A clear statement is one which conveys the exact message that you are trying to convey to the other person. Here, we have two sentences. Now, which one do you think is a clear statement? (i) He went to his manager and said, “Please allow me to reach office at 11 AM on Tuesday, 11 June 2019, as I have an appointment with a dentist.” (ii) He went to his manager and said, “Please allow me to reach late to the office on Tuesday, 11 June 2019, as I have an appointment with a dentist.” 2 Employability Skills – Class XII Unit 1.indd 2 6/18/2020 4:38:38 PM  In the first sentence, you must have noticed that the Notes time is mentioned, which makes the statement clear. A concise statement is appropriately brief or to the point. Now, let us consider the two sentences given below. (i) The manager replied, “Alright, you may come late.” (ii) The manager replied, “Alright, you may come late. But it is a matter of great concern that most employees come late and you are also developing the same habit.” Now, you can see that in the second sentence, there is no need to tell the employee about the concern that the employer had at the moment. This could have been shared at a different forum or separately. An accurate statement is one that is factual, i.e., its correctness can be verified. Now, once again, let us learn through examples. (i) She informed the office that 50 per cent of the books given for binding have been completed. (ii) She informed the office that most of the books given for binding have been completed. Now, you can see that in the first sentence, a measurable information is mentioned, which makes the sentence accurate. It is, thus, important to ensure that our communication is clear, concise and accurate. Effective communication skills help us to communicate the message correctly, precisely and completely. Lack of communication skills can result in confusion, frustration, wasted effort and missed opportunities. Listening skill Every effective conversation starts with listening. Listening skill is one of the most important skills in communication. It is important to learn to give undivided attention to a person with whom a conversation is taking place. Given below are some reasons why listening attentively is important. We listen to obtain information. We listen to understand. Communication Skills 3 Unit 1.indd 3 6/18/2020 4:38:38 PM  Notes We listen to enjoy. We listen to learn. We listen to build and maintain relationships. We listen to resolve conflicts. Without the ability to listen attentively, messages can be easily misunderstood. Thus, communication breaks down and the sender of the message can easily become frustrated or irritated. Active listening Active listening is an art, which comprises both a desire to comprehend, as well as, offer support and empathy to the speaker. It can affect your job effectiveness, the quality of your relationship with others, and hence, your overall well-being. Active listening allows you to understand the problems and collaborate to develop solutions. The various factors that affect active listening are as follows. Eye contact: It is a form of body language. It is one of the most important aspects in the communication process. Maintaining an eye contact with the person you are talking to sends a signal to the speaker that “Yes, I am talking to you or listening to you”. Avoiding eye contact could mean that you do not want to listen to the person speaking to you. Gestures: These indicate to the speaker if you are listening or not. Keep your hand and feet still while talking to someone. Avoiding distractions: You need to identify the things that distract you. You must physically remove the distractions in order to listen attentively. For example, reducing the ringtone of your mobile phone or switching it off while attending a meeting or listening to someone will avoid distraction. Another example is that you should avoid glancing at the wristwatch frequently. Giving feedback: Feedback can be positive or negative. But in both the cases, one needs to be polite so that the person to whom the feedback is being given is not hurt or offended. 4 Employability Skills – Class XII Unit 1.indd 4 6/18/2020 4:38:38 PM  Stages of active listening The best kind of listening is ‘active listening’. It happens when you hear, understand, respond and remember what is being said. The five stages of active listening are as follows. 1. Receiving: It involves listening attentively. 2. Understanding: It is an informed agreement about something or someone. 3. Remembering: It refers to the retrieval or recall of some information from the past. 4. Evaluating: It is about judging the value, quantity, importance and amount of something or someone. 5. Responding: It is about saying or doing something as a response to something that has been said or done. How to ensure active listening? You can remember the acronym ‘RESPECT’ to ensure active listening (Table 1.1). Now, let us see what each letter stands for. Table 1.1: Active listening R Remove distractions that may hamper listening. For example, reducing the volume of television, radio or mobile phone while talking to a person. E Eye contact refers to looking at the speaker while listening. S Show that you are listening attentively to the speaker through gestures. P Pay attention and focus on what the speaker is saying. Communication Skills 5 Unit 1.indd 5 6/18/2020 4:38:43 PM  E Empathise and feel the emotions of the speaker. Empathy is the ability to share someone’s feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person’s situation. C Clarify doubts. Ask questions to clarify doubts. T Tune yourself to the timing of the speaker, i.e., wait for the speaker to finish, and then, respond. You have learned about various factors and stages of active listening. Now, let us try to understand how to overcome these barriers (Table 1.2). Table 1.2: Overcoming barriers to active listening Factors How a factor can How to overcome the barrier? become a barrier? Being pre‑occupied When pre-occupied, Do not let emotions take over your mind. you may not be Keep away phones and digital devices. listening to a person carefully. Noise and visual You may not be able to Create a conducive environment to avoid distractions hear the other person misinterpretations and distractions. clearly in a noisy environment. Past experiences You may have Avoid developing biases and be objective in or mindset developed biases or your approach when interacting with others. prejudices based on past experiences and interactions. Personal factors Your personal feelings Allow the other person to finish speaking, may affect your and then, respond. listening, for example, your preconceptions about the other person. 6 Employability Skills – Class XII Unit 1.indd 6 6/18/2020 4:38:46 PM  Notes Practical Exercise The teacher will facilitate these activities by showing you the e-learning lesson at http://www.psscive.ac.in/Employability_ Skills.html. This will include videos and e-content for the above topics, as well as, detailed instructions for some activities given below. Initial thinking activity After watching the initial video in the e-learning lesson for this topic, write the answer of the question — why is it important to listen actively? Activity 1 Group discussion Factors affecting active listening Material required Notebook, pen, etc. Procedure Form groups of three students each. Each group selects any one of the factors (as given in Table 1.2), which acts as a barrier to active listening. Discuss how it can affect or become a barrier to active listening in the following situations. (i) Family gathering for a wedding ceremony (ii) At a busy retail store (iii) Team discussion during sports day at school (iv) Birthday celebration of a friend Each group shares its experiences and ways to overcome these barriers. Activity 2 Poster making Active listening Material required Chart paper, pencil, sketch pens, etc. Procedure Make a poster on either of the below mentioned scenarios using the acronym RESPECT, which you have studied in this Session for practising active listening. (i) Depicting a conversation between two friends (ii) Parent–child conversation Activity 3 Role-play Negative effects of not listening actively Material required Notebook, pen, etc. Procedure Scenario: Kapil works in an organisation. His manager Sunita is having a discussion with him regarding a marketing plan. As Communication Skills 7 Unit 1.indd 7 6/18/2020 4:38:46 PM  Notes soon as Kapil enters the meeting room, he sits in a slouched position. He has not kept his phone on silent mode and keeps looking at it frequently. Even though he is listening to Sunita, his thoughts seem to be elsewhere. At the end of the session, Sunita feels Kapil is disinterested and hands over the marketing plan to some other employee. Check Your Progress A. Multiple choice questions Read carefully the questions given below and choose the correct option. 1. You work at the front desk of a telecom company. A customer approaches you while you are working. The customer has a query regarding a bill. What would you do? (a) Not pay attention to the customer (b) Keep the work aside and help the customer (c) Continue doing your work while talking inattentively to the customer (d) Ask the customer to talk to someone else 2. Which of the following can be a barrier to active listening? (a) Noisy environment (b) Not maintaining an eye contact with the speaker (c) Not being attentive (d) All of the above 3. Which of the following is not a stage of active listening? (a) Receiving (b) Understanding (c) Non-responding (d) Evaluating 4. What are the characteristics of an ideal message? (a) Clear (b) Concise (c) Accurate (d) All of the above B. Short answer question (80–100 words) 1. Write down a situation you faced at school, wherein, you overcame a barrier and practised active listening. What have you learnt? After completing this Session, you will be able to: identify the barriers to active listening. identify the stages of active listening. follow the steps towards removing barriers for active listening. 8 Employability Skills – Class XII Unit 1.indd 8 6/18/2020 4:38:46 PM  Session 2: Parts of Speech Introduction In any language, parts of speech are the categories of words based on their function within a sentence. These are the ‘building blocks’ of a language. When we speak or write, we use sentences to express ourselves. Therefore, sentences are important. A ‘sentence’ is a group of words that communicates a complete meaning, thought or action. For example, Raju goes to school. A group of words, which does not make complete sense, is known as a ‘phrase’, for example, Raju goes. A sentence always begins with a capital letter, and ends with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark. Read aloud the examples given below. Did you work on your project? I completed it yesterday. That is good! Using capitals We know that all sentences begin with a capital letter. It is easy to know what to capitalise if you remember the acronym ‘MINTS’. MINTS is a set of simple rules that help you to capitalise words correctly. Each letter in the word MINTS refers to one capitalisation rule as shown in Table 1.3. Table 1.3: Capitalisation rules Alphabet M I N T S Months I Names Titles Starting letter of sentences Rule Capitalise CapitaliseCapitalise the Capitalise the Capitalise the the first the letterfirst letter in the first letter in first letter in letter in ‘I’ when names of people, the titles used every sentence. the names used as a places, rivers, before people’s of all word. seas and oceans, names. months. mountains, islands and days. Example I will go to Every This Tuesday, Dr Shah and The cat ran out college in day, I play Vidya is in Mr Patel work of the house. June. tennis Rajasthan. together. with him. Communication Skills 9 Unit 1.indd 9 6/18/2020 4:38:47 PM  Punctuation There are 15 basic punctuation marks or signs used in English. These include full stop or period, comma, question mark, exclamation mark, apostrophe, colon, semi‑colon, dash, hyphen, parenthesis, quotation mark, bracket, brace, ellipsis and bullet point (Table 1.4). Table 1.4: Punctuation marks Punctuation Sign Use Example mark Full stop. It shows the end of a sentence. It is This is a sentence. This is also used to show short form of long another sentence. words. For example, ‘Professor’ can be Sanjay is a Professor. shortened as Prof., when used as His patients call him a title before a name. Prof. Sanjay. Comma , Sometimes, we use comma to indicate After the waiter gave me the pause in a sentence. menu, I ordered food. We can also use comma to separate I bought apples, oranges items when we are listing more than and grapes. two items in a row. Question ? We use question mark at the end of What is your designation? mark a question. How much is your work experience? Exclamation ! We use an exclamation mark at the What a pleasant surprise! mark end of a word or sentence to indicate You are late! a strong feeling, such as surprise, shock or anger. Apostrophe (’) We use an apostrophe followed by That is Divya’s desk. an ‘s’ to show that something belongs Are these Abdul’s books? to someone. We also use an apostrophe to indicate Let’s go instead of Let us go! the shortened form of some words in He isn’t here instead of He is informal speech. not here. Basic parts of speech The different types of words we use in sentences are called parts of speech. The basic parts of speech are nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs (Table 1.5). Figure 1.3: Basic parts of speech 10 Employability Skills – Class XII Unit 1.indd 10 6/18/2020 4:38:47 PM  Table 1.5: Basic parts of speech Parts of What they do Example sentence Example speech words Noun Nouns are words that refer to In the sentence: “Reema wrote Dog a person, place, thing or idea. a letter.” Both Reema and India They are ‘naming words’. letter are nouns. Sanjay Pronoun A pronoun is a word used in In the second sentence: I place of a noun. “Reema wrote a letter. She is They tired.” She is used in place He of the noun Reema. It is a You pronoun. Adjective Adjective is a word that In the sentence: “Reema wrote Small describes other words. a long letter.” Long is an Blue adjective that describes the Sharp noun ‘letter’. Loud Verb Verb is a word that shows In the sentence: “Reema wrote Run action. a letter.” Wrote is a verb. It Eat tells what action Reema did. Think Sit Adverb Adverb is a word that adds In the sentence: “Reema Easily meaning to a verb, adjective, quickly wrote a letter.” Quickly Always or other adverb. It answers is an adverb. It tells us how Inside the questions — how? how Reema did the action (writing). Before often? when? and where? Sometimes, the same words can be used differently. Will you book a movie for 3 pm? ‘Book’ is used as an adverb. I need to find my English book. ‘Book’ is a noun. His total cricket score was 145. ‘Total’ is an adjective. That is totally awesome. ‘Totally’ is an adverb. She is always watching a football match. ‘Football’ is an adjective. She got a new football for her birthday. ‘Football’ is a noun. The experienced sailor was able to hold up the ‘Sail’ is a noun. sail despite heavy storm. Satish was able to sail through despite the storm. ‘Sail’ is a verb. Kapil promised his father that he will be a good boy. ‘Promised’ is a verb. Kapil was unable to keep the promise given to his father. ‘Promise’ is a noun. Communication Skills 11 Unit 1.indd 11 6/18/2020 4:38:48 PM  Let us now see how these words are used. Read out aloud the sentence given below. Wow! Reema went to the studio and met a famous actor. We already know that Reema, studio and actor are nouns. Famous is an adjective because it describes the actor (noun) and the words went and met are verbs because they describe an action. What about the remaining words in this sentence — wow, to, the, and? What are these words called? We use such supporting words to join the main parts of speech together and to add information to the sentences that we frame. Let us now look at supporting parts of speech. Figure 1.4: Supporting parts of speech Supporting parts of speech Along with the main ‘Parts of Speech’, there are some more words we need for connecting words, phrases, clauses or sentences. Such words are called ‘supporting parts of speech’. (Figure 1.4 and Table 1.6). Table 1.6: Supporting parts of speech Supporting Use Example parts of speech Articles The words ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’ are The car stopped suddenly because known as articles. a cat ran in front of it. Articles are, generally, used A book before nouns. An apple ‘An’ is used before words with a An umbrella vowel (a, e, i, o, u) sound. The sun ‘A’ is used before nouns starting with a consonant (all except those starting with a, e, i, o and u) sound. ‘The’ is used to refer to specific or particular words. 12 Employability Skills – Class XII Unit 1.indd 12 6/18/2020 4:38:48 PM  Conjunctions Conjunctions are words that join Instead of – Sheela went to the two nouns, phrases or sentences. market. I went to the market. Some common conjunctions are Sheela and I went to the market. ‘and’, ‘or’ and ‘but’. Instead of – Do you want oranges? Do you want apples? Do you want oranges or apples? Prepositions Prepositions connect one word The cat is on the roof. with another to show the The shop is at the end of the road. relationship between them. They, Rahul is standing under the tree. usually, answer the questions I live in Delhi. ‘where’, ‘when’ and ‘how’. Some common prepositions are ‘on’, ‘at’, ‘under’ and ‘in’. Interjections These words express strong Wow! emotions, such as happiness, Oh! surprise, anger or pain. They have Oh no! an exclamation mark at the end. Thanks! Help! Practical Exercise The teacher will facilitate these activities by showing you the e-learning lesson at http://www.psscive.ac.in/Employability_ Skills.html. This will include videos and e-content for the above topics, as well as, detailed instructions for the following activities. Initial thinking activity After watching the initial video in the e-learning lesson for this topic, write down what do you think was wrong with Seema’s letter. Activity 1 Group practice Identifying ‘parts of speech’ Material required Notebook, pen, etc. Procedure Form groups of four students each. Read aloud the paragraph given below. “on sunday, i have an appointment to meet dr. patel in delhi. my house is near dr. patels clinic i went to a shop near the clinic on friday to buy vegetables I bought potatoes onions carrots and a cabbage dr. patel is a friendly man have you met him” This paragraph contains examples of parts of speech that you have learnt about in this Session. Identify as many parts of speech as you can and mark them. Discuss what was difficult in this activity. Write the paragraph with correct capitalisation and punctuation. A member of one group Communication Skills 13 Unit 1.indd 13 6/18/2020 4:38:48 PM  Notes volunteers and presents before the class what the group marked. The person writes the paragraph on the classroom board with the punctuations. The other students point out the mistakes, if any. Activity 2 Group practice Constructing sentences Material required Notebook, pen, etc. Procedure Form pairs of students. List the five basic parts of speech that you have learnt in this Session. Select one of them and form two simple sentences, which use these parts of speech. For example, if you have chosen adjectives, form two sentences that have adjectives. For each part of speech, a volunteer reads out the sentences the group has framed. The other students say if it is correct or not. Check Your Progress A. Multiple choice questions Read carefully the questions given below and choose the correct option. 1. What is a sentence? (a) A group of ideas that form a complete paragraph (b) A group of words that communicates a complete thought (c) A set of rules that we must follow to write correctly (d) A set of words that contains basic punctuation marks 2. Which of these sentences is capitalised correctly? (a) I am Hungry. (b) Divya and sunil are reading. (c) The bucket is Full of water. (d) She lives in Delhi. 3. Which of these sentences is 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 my house. 14 Employability Skills – Class XII Unit 1.indd 14 6/18/2020 4:38:48 PM  B. Fill in the blanks Notes 1. Fill in the correct nouns and verbs as given at the top of the table to complete the following sentences. Nouns Verbs girl, girls, boy, milk, dog, skipping, riding, student running, studying, drinking, barking (a) The ____________ is _________________. (b) The ____________ are _________________. (c) The ____________ is _________________. (d) Raju is ____________ _________________. (e) The ____________ is _________________. (f) The ____________ is _________________. C. Short answer question 1. Identify conjunctions and prepositions (remember, conjunctions join two sentences, while prepositions help answer the words ‘where’, ‘when’ and ‘how’) from the list given below and write them in the following columns. Under, and, in, at, or, up Conjunctions Prepositions Communication Skills 15 Unit 1.indd 15 6/18/2020 4:38:49 PM  Notes What have you learnt? After completing this Session, you will be able to: identify the basic parts of speech, such as nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs. use capitalisation and punctuation rules for sentences. explain the usage of parts of speech and identify them in a sentence. identify supporting parts of speech, such as articles, conjunctions, prepositions and interjections. Session 3: Writing Sentences Introduction A sentence is a group of words, which together expresses a complete idea that has meaning. A sentence is formed by putting together a group of words in sequence. This means that a sentence must be understood by others. A sentence, typically, contains a subject and an object, conveying a statement, question, exclamation, or command. Writing is constructed by putting sentences in sequence so that they are understandable. Simple sentence A simple sentence is one that has only one subject and one predicate or has only one finite verb. Complex sentence A complex sentence is one, which consists of two or more coordinate clauses, joined by a coordinating conjunction. As you have studied in English classes, almost all sentences have a subject and a verb. Some also have an object. A subject is a person or thing that does an action. Verb describes the action. Object is the person or thing that receives the action. For example, read aloud the simple sentence — “Nisha sells a laptop”. Let us see the different parts of the sentence in Figure 1.5. 16 Employability Skills – Class XII Unit 1.indd 16 6/18/2020 4:38:49 PM  A subject is a An object is the person or thing person or thing that that performs an receives the action. action. The question, Nisha Sells a Laptop The question, “who “who performed the received the action?” action?” will help you will help you find find the subject. In Subject Verb Object the object. In this this sentence, ‘Nisha’ sentence, ‘a laptop’ is is the subject. the object. Verb describes the action. The question, “what is the action?” will help you find the verb. In this sentence, ‘sells’ is the verb. Figure 1.5: Parts of a sentence Read aloud the sentences given in Table 1.7 to understand about subject, verb and object. Table 1.7: Parts of a sentence Sentence Subject Verb Object I wrote a letter. I wrote a letter He called the He called the customer. customer She packed the She packed the product product. Dia and Sanjay Dia and booked a cab booked a cab. Sanjay Types of object The object in a sentence can be either direct or indirect. Direct objects are the ones directly ‘acted on’ by the action word (verb). If we ask — “What does Nisha sell?”, the answer is ‘laptop’, which is direct object. A direct object answers the question ‘what?’. An indirect object answers the questions, such as “to whom” and “for whom”. For example, in the sentence — “Abdul gave a gift to his mother.” The verb is ‘gave’. What did Abdul give? A gift. To whom did Abdul give the gift? To his mother. Here, ‘gift’ is direct object and ‘his mother’ is indirect object. Some sentences only have direct objects, while some have both direct and indirect objects. Read out aloud the examples given in Table 1.8. Communication Skills 17 Unit 1.indd 17 6/18/2020 4:38:50 PM  Table 1.8: Direct and indirect objects Sentence Verb Verb + Verb + by Direct Indirect what? whom/to object object whom? Reema bought bought stationery stationery stationery. Fatima and Sonia played tennis tennis played tennis. He offered a coffee offered coffee me coffee me to me. The manager assigned projects us projects us assigned us projects. Types of sentences — Category I Active and passive sentences What is the difference between the following two sentences? 1. Sanjay broke the glass. Figure 1.6: Types of sentences 2. The glass was broken by Sanjay. The action (verb) in both the sentences is breaking of the glass. But the ‘subject’ in both the sentences is different. In the first sentence, the subject (Sanjay) does the action. In the second sentence, the subject (the glass) receives the action. Read the sentences in Figure 1.7: Active and passive sentences Figure. 1.7 again. Sentences, where the subject does an action, are known to be in active voice. Sentences, in which the subject receives an action, are known to be in passive voice. 18 Employability Skills – Class XII Unit 1.indd 18 6/18/2020 4:38:50 PM  Table 1.9: Active and passive sentences Active voice Passive voice She wrote an email. An email was written by her. He opened the door for The door was opened by him the customer. for the customer. Mohan sold a bike. The bike was sold by Mohan. Examples of active and passive sentences Active Passive I did not beat him. He was not beaten by me. Kapil made a profit A profit was made by Kapil yesterday. yesterday. The tiger was chasing The deer was being chased by the deer. the tiger. Types of sentences — Category II There are mainly four types of sentences, i.e., declarative, interrogative, exclamatory and imperative. Each of these have been described in Table 1.10. Table 1.10: Types of sentences — Category II Statement or Question or Emotion, reaction or Order or declarative sentence interrogative exclamatory sentence imperative sentence sentence It provides This type of An exclamatory These sentences information or states sentence asks a sentence expresses a show an order, a fact. It always question. It always strong emotion, such command, request ends with a full stop ends with a question as joy, sadness, fear or or advice. It (.). This is the most mark (?). wonder. It always ends can end with a common type of with an exclamation full stop or an sentence. mark (!). exclamation mark (. or !). Read aloud the examples given below. I go to office. Did you go to office? I received the prize for Go to office today. the best employee! It is very cold. How is the weather? Oh, it’s very cold! Wear your sweater. I completed my Did you complete I completed my project! Complete your project. your project? project. Communication Skills 19 Unit 1.indd 19 6/18/2020 4:38:50 PM  Examples of types of sentences — Category II Sentence Type Where is my I-card? Interrogative My arms ache from planting Exclamatory those saplings! Reading mythology will make Declarative you more aware. Come with us right now. Imperative No way! I don’t want a tattoo! Exclamatory Get out of the bed immediately! Imperative Figure 1.8: Types of sentences — Category II You can see that each of these sentences have a different purpose. Paragraph A group of sentences forms a paragraph. While writing a paragraph, make sure the sentences have a common idea. When you want to write about a different idea, make a new paragraph. For example, if you are writing about your school, the first paragraph can be of sentences about the name, location, size and other such details. In the next paragraph, you can use sentences to describe what you like about your school. I go to Government Higher Secondary School, Balachadi. It is not a very big school but has many good teachers. There are about 100 students in my school. My school is on the main road, very close to the city railway station. I love going to school and learning about new things. My school has a small playground, where I play cricket with my friends after the classes are over. It has a library also. I love my school. 20 Employability Skills – Class XII Unit 1.indd 20 6/18/2020 4:38:52 PM  Notes Practical Exercise The teacher will facilitate these activities by showing you the e-learning lesson at http://www.psscive.ac.in/Employability_ Skills.html. This will include videos and e-content for the above topics, as well as, detailed instructions for some activities given below. Initial thinking activity After watching the initial video in the e-learning lesson for this topic, write if you think Sanjay and Dia were able to frame correct sentences. Activity 1 Pair work Making sentences Material required Notebook, pen, etc. Procedure Form pairs of students. First, write three sentences having direct objects. Then, write three more sentences, containing both direct and indirect objects. Use different colours to mark the different parts of each sentence (subject, verb and object). Activity 2 Pair work Active and passive voice Material required Notebook, pen, etc. Procedure With same pairs as above, write a paragraph on any topic. The paragraph should have at least two sentences in active voice and two in passive voice. One student reads out the paragraph that the person has written before the class. The class gives the feedback. Activity 3 Pair work Types of sentences Material required Notebook, pen, etc. Procedure With the same pairs as above, make a list of minimum eight sentences. These should have at least two sentences of each type: declarative, interrogative, exclamatory and imperative. For each type of sentence, different volunteers read out their sentences before the class. The class, then, gives feedback on the correctness of the sentences. Communication Skills 21 Unit 1.indd 21 6/18/2020 4:38:52 PM  Notes Check Your Progress A. Multiple choice questions 1. Identify the subject in the sentence, “The children played football”. (a) The children (b) children played (c) played (d) football 2. Identify the object in the sentence, “The children played football.” (a) The children (b) children played (c) played (d) football 3. Which of these sentences has/have both indirect and direct objects? (a) I am working on a presentation. (b) She bought a blue pen. (c) The girls played cricket. (d) He wrote a letter to his sister. 4. Which of these sentences is/are 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. B. Short answer questions 1. Write one sentence of each type — statement, question, exclamatory and order. 2. Which job role do you wish to pursue? Write two paragraphs (about 100–150 words) about that industry and your career preferences. Make sure you follow all rules about sentences and paragraphs that you have learnt. Practice work Practise speaking in complete sentences with your classmates. Practise speaking with proper punctuations. Practise writing paragraphs on different topics. What have you learnt? After completing this Session, you will be able to: identify the different parts of a sentence. differentiate between active and passive voice. compose different types of sentences. 22 Employability Skills – Class XII Unit 1.indd 22 6/18/2020 4:38:52 PM Unit 2 Self-management Skills Introduction Self-management, which is also referred to as ‘self-control’, is the ability to control one’s emotions, thoughts and behaviour effectively in different situations. This includes motivating oneself, and working towards achieving personal and academic goals. Students with strong self-management skills are better at doing certain things well, such as coming to class on time, paying attention, obeying teachers, parents and elders, working with discipline, etc. It helps a person to do better in studies or work. In order to do well at work and life, in general, one must be able to manage and improve oneself in various skills, including timeliness, discipline, problem solving and work habits. To manage oneself well, a person needs to develop the following. Positive thinking: to think that one can get things done and be happy. Result orientation: to dream big and achieve the desired or set results. Self-awareness: to be aware of one’s personality traits and make the best out of one’s strengths. Session 1: Motivation and Positive Attitude Motivation and positive thinking can help us overcome fears and take up new challenges. Similarly, optimism, which is a mental attitude, reflecting a belief or hope,  can lead to positive and desirable outcomes. It helps us to achieve our dreams, continue working hard towards achieving success and live a happy life with a positive mindset. “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” — Helen Keller Motivation Motivation is derived from the word ‘motive’. Thus, directing behaviour towards certain motive or goal is the essence of motivation. An individual’s motivation may come from within (intrinsic motivation) or be inspired by others or events (extrinsic motivation). Intrinsic motivation It includes activities for which there is no apparent reward but one derives enjoyment and satisfaction in doing them. It occurs when people are internally motivated to do something because it brings them pleasure. They think it is important or feel what they are learning is significant. Incentives related to the motive or goal can satisfy one’s needs. Extrinsic motivation It arises because of incentives or external rewards. Lack of motivation or incentives may lead to frustration, for example, employees who are kept on contractual basis for a long time may get frustrated and leave an organisation. Positive attitude A positive attitude makes a person happier, and helps build and maintain relationships. It even increases one’s chances of success. In addition, it can help the person make better decisions. People, who maintain a positive or optimistic attitude in life situations and challenges, are able to move forward than those with a negative attitude. Positive attitude helps improve mental and physical health. Ways to maintain positive attitude It can take a little time and effort to build a positive attitude (Figure 2.1). Following are some ways that can help one maintain a positive attitude. 24 Employability Skills – Class XII  Start the day with a morning routine. Say positive affirmations, smile often and think about the tasks to be accomplished during for the day. Feed the mind with positivity, read motivating books, listen to music with uplifting lyrics, watch inspiring movies, etc. Be proactive. A proactive person decides how one must feel regardless of what may be going around or what the day may bring. Focus on constructive and positive things. Do not approach life with ‘problems’. Approach it with ‘solutions’. Learn from failures. Think what could have been better and work towards the goals. Learn to focus on the present. Negativity mostly stems out from anxiety of the past and future events. Move towards your goals and dreams. Be cheerful and work hard to achieve the dreams. Figure 2.1: Positive attitude Here are some more techniques that can help you to maintain a positive outlook in the long run. Physical exercise and fresh air: Following a healthy lifestyle is essential for students. Practising yoga, meditation and deep breathing exercises help improve blood circulation and relax the body. Taking a walk or playing in the park helps one to get a lot of fresh air, which helps in becoming more active. Healthy diet: A healthy and balanced diet is important for a healthy body and mind. Eating a balanced diet, such as daal, roti, green vegetables and fruits provides the strength required to do daily work efficiently. Organise academic life: By keeping class notes organised, completing assignments on time and keeping track of all deadlines, stress can be reduced to a great extent. When you are not stressed, you can channelise your mind to achieve the goals. Self-management Skills 25  Adequate sleep: A good night sleep for at least seven hours is important so that the mind and body can get recharged to function better the next day. Holidays with family and friends: Visiting a relative’s place, such as grandparents’ house or a new place during summer vacation can help one break the the monotonous normal routine and come back refreshed. Positive attitude is of immense value in a student’s life. There are various situations that the student will encounter in life, wherein staying positive will keep the child going. The most common example would be during exam results. At times, a student does not get the desired result in exams. But it is important not to lose hope, accept the result gracefully and work harder with a positive attitude for the next exam. Even during an interview for a dream job, a candidate may not get selected in the first attempt. However, with a positive attitude and persistent efforts, all dreams can be achieved. Thus, it becomes imperative for a child to learn to practise positive attitude in life at all times. What is stress and how to manage it? Stress is a state of feeling upset, annoyed and hopeless. There are times when we feel nothing is working right, we are not able to achieve our goals and feel hopeless. During such times, if we manage and control our emotions, it helps us to sail through. Some of the ways to manage stress are given below. Stay positive and analyse what is going wrong in a certain situation. Resolving the situation is easy once understood. Figure 2.2: Stress Maintain an accomplishment sheet and enter even small achievements. Keep your thoughts in present. Pondering over past issues makes us feel upset and helpless. Talk to friends and family for comfort. Practise meditation and yoga. Whenever you feel negative thoughts are taking over, take a look at your accomplishment sheet. 26 Employability Skills – Class XII  By managing stress effectively and maintaining a Notes positive attitude, one can overcome any challenge and achieve heights in career. Managing stress effectively helps one maintain a healthy work – life balance. Practical Exercise The teacher will facilitate these activities by showing you the e-learning module for this lesson via http://www.psscive.ac.in/ Employability_Skills.html. The module will include videos and e-content for the above topics, as well as, detailed instructions for some activities given below. Activity 1 Role‑play Avoiding stressful situation Material required Pen or pencil, notepad or sheets of paper, etc. Procedure Form groups of three Choose any one scenario from below. Situation 1: You have missed your school bus and are getting late. What will you do? Will you panic or call for help or try to find a way? Situation 2: You have to perform your best in a cricket match so that you get a chance to play for your school at the national level. You have been anxious (worried or stressed). Will you lose your sleep worrying about it or go to the field and practice? Prepare a skit and perform within your groups. Two members will perform the skit and one member will observe and share the feedback. Activity 2 Self-reflection Material required Pen or pencil, etc. Procedure Complete the table given below by listing situation(s) that cause negative thinking, for example, not performing well in an exam. List how you can manage the situations. Situations causing How to turn around negative thinking for positivity Self-management Skills 27  Notes Check Your Progress A. Short answer questions 1. Describe the ways you can make positive thinking a habit in life. 2. List the importance of positive thinking. Describe how it can help someone achieve one’s goals. What have you learnt? After completing this Session, you will be able to: explain the meaning of motivation. describe the type of motives. differentiate between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. describe the meaning of positive attitude. identify the steps for being positive in life. Session 2: Result Orientation Result orientation is a term used to describe a person’s ability to recognise what results are important and the steps needed to be taken to achieve them. It means to focus on the result of an assigned task. If you know the result you want to achieve, you can focus on the efforts required to achieve it. Hence, result orientation describes an individual or organisation that focusses on outcome rather than the process that has been used to produce a product or deliver a service. An ideal employee needs to be proactive and result driven. The person must always take necessary steps to achieve the set goals or targets. How to become result oriented? (i) Set clear goals: Setting clear and accurate goals is the first step one needs to take to meet the targets. (ii) Prepare an action plan: An action plan describes the way a person or an organisation will meet the set objectives. It gives a detail of the steps to be taken to achieve the target. Therefore, it consists of several actions or steps that need to be taken, and changes that need to be made. Each action, step or change should include the following information. 28 Employability Skills – Class XII  What changes will occur after the actions? Notes Who will carry out the changes? When will the changes take place? How long will the changes stay? What resources are needed to carry out the changes? Who should know and what should be communicated? (iii) Use the right resources and tools: One must evaluate the resources and tools needed to achieve those results and whether they are available. For example, you may want to clear the college entrance exam with 70 per cent marks. Do you have the books to study for the exam? If not, from where and how can you get them? (iv) Communicate with mentors and peers: One must talk to teachers, seniors and mentors for help in setting realistic goals. (v) Make a calendar: One must make a calendar to monitor the progress at regular intervals. (vi) Work hard: One