Journal of English Language Teaching

Enhancing Communication Skills in English through Interactive Materials

P. Sathya

Asst. Professor in English, Holy Cross College (Autonomous), Nagercoil

Catherin Edward

Associate Professor in English, Holy Cross College (Autonomous), Tiruchirapalli

Keywords: interactive materials, communication skills, referencing skills

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Abstract

This article reports on the effectiveness of interactive course materials to enhance advanced English communication skills of the learners. The study made use of a railway timetable along with a travelogue to engage the learners in meaningful interaction, which resulted in developing their basic and advanced communication skills. Basic communication skills are the four language skills namely, listening, speaking, reading and writing and advanced communication skills refer to language functions such as discussing, persuading, negotiating, sharing ideas, opinions and views, agreeing and/or disagreeing with others opinions, etc. Literary materials along with non – literary materials were used in order to train the learners to develop their ability to use the language in various circumstances. An action research project is carried out to train the tertiary level learners in using the language in different situations. The result was satisfactory in enhancing not only the language skills of the learners but also their referencing skills.

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