Department Initiative

Creative Impressions Club

Department of Communication Skills

Marwadi University - Rajkot

The first activity of Creative Impressions was conducted on 29/8/18 from 10.00 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at MB603. 14 students participated in the event. The session was conducted by Dr. J. Vijayalakshmi and Ms. Pratixa Parmar.

The session was planned to cater to the needs of the reading, writing, speaking skills of the student along with the aspect of creativity. The students participated actively in the event. The students were very enthusiastic to present their own compositions. They recited poems, short-stories, quotes based on the theme of life and philosophy. The creativity was unique in the sense that the students had innovative methods of recitation with complete grip over the tone and language. In the second section, the students were given various poems and articles based on the theme of education, independence and technology. They were given 15-20 minutes to read and to interpret the meaning. This was followed by presentation by the students. The session ended with Q&A and feedback.

Department Initiative

Certificate Courses

The Department of Communication Skills

Marwadi University - Rajkot

Exciting news for the students of Marwadi University!!

Now, the students can also do certificate courses to improve their English Language Skills. The good thing is that there is a range of courses to address the specific needs of the students. They  can choose a course based on their needs. If somebody wants improve speaking skills in English, there is an exclusive course on it. If someone wants to prepare oneself for interview, there is a special certificate course for that. If some student wants to improve writing skills, there is a special course on that too. And there are many more such courses to cater to the specific requirements of the students. The students can pick and choose a course based on their requirements and strengthen their English. So, identify your requirement and enroll for the courses from the Marwadi University online portal.

Teaching Practice

Teaching Vocabulary through ICT: Quizlet

Dr Vipul Solanki

School of Languages, Marwadi University – Rajkot

As we know, building vocabulary is very crucial for learning any language. It is the familiarity with the words that help to read and comprehend a piece of text. Hence, teaching or familiarizing the learners with the words of the text which they are supposed to learn is necessary as well as helpful for them to understand the text well. Such an effort was made for the graduate students (BBA, BCom) who are learning English through an article Paytm: The Wonder Wallet, which is a part of the course Reading and Writing for Business, published in the business magazine Forbes – India.

Before starting reading of the article in the class, a group of words, which can possibly be difficult for the students to understand, was identified. Then, using an online tool Quizlet a lesson was prepared. Quizlet is a tool through which different methods of teaching and evaluating a topic can be created. Once the details of the lesson are feed on the portal, it will automatically generate a learning lesson, or various evaluation tools as shown below.

It generates the lesson under various categories like Flashcards, Learn, Write, Spell, Test, Match, Gravity, Live for learning and evaluation the topics.

The learners will be able to learn the words in terms of its meaning, pronunciation, and spelling. They will also be able to see how much they have learnt and retained by the evaluation tools and interesting games. To teach the aforementioned article, it was thought to be deemed fit to teach the words of the article first. To engage the students in the learning process and to make them retain the words, the ICT tool Quizlet was used which proved to be very helpful.

I am sure using Quizlet in your class too will be very interesting so give it a try and share your teaching stories here. It will also be fun to read about your experiences of such other innovative teaching practices. So keep blogging it here.

Book Released

A Postmodernist Critique of the Select Works of Amitav Ghosh

By

Dr J Vijayalakshmi

Assistant Professor

Department of Communication Skills

Marwadi University

The book entitled A Postmodernist Critique of the Select Works of Amitav Ghosh by Dr J Vijayalakshmi, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Skills, Marwadi University was released by the renowned writer Ms. Bharathi Pradhan at Ahemdabad International Literature Festival on 24^th December,2017. After unveiling the book, Ms. Pradhan congratulated the author for her hard work. Dr. Vijayalakshmi was given a session of 15 minutes to present her view points about her book. She spoke about the totalitarian concepts, consumerism, alienation and the technique of eternal ‘space’ and ‘time’. The postmodern values of totalitarianism are a struggle against the idealist concepts which are silenced by the society.  Man of today’s era lives in solitude due to the virtual boundaries of time and space. The truth and the real knowledge are decoded but it never comes to limelight as the rhetoric falls short of revealing the ‘Truth’ as ‘Truth’. Hence, it is the individual who struggles continuously to fix the truth:

 He struggles believing that,

 in every end, there’s a new beginning;

 in every failure, there’s a new lesson inscribed;

 in every disappointment, there’s a new confidential stance;

in every untruth, there’s a truth waiting to be explored;

Which tunes the ‘one’ to the ‘other’--the final truth.

 Yet, the rhetoric with its ‘gaps’ and ‘silences’ prevents

the declaration of truth.

But, the individual embarks on a mission, to legitimize the ‘Truth’–the beyond

with a hope that, the world will experience the truth,

 and the truth of inevitability

 and the truth of the ‘Other’,

 which, indeed defines the postmodern canon.

The programme ended with the Question and Answer session.

Book Published

“Unravelling the ‘Gay Plague’: A Study of William M. Hoffman’s As Is, Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart and The Destiny of Me, and Paul Rudnick’s Jeffrey”

By

Mr Jaykumar Buddhadev

Department of Communication Skills

The book looks into the various counter-discourses born out of the urban gay community since 1981 (to 1996) as a corollary to the mainstream discourse engendered by HIV/AIDS that added to the existing anti-gay rhetoric in the USA.

Movie Screening

Department of Communication Skills

As a part of English Day Celebration, a movie screening of ‘The Hundred-Foot Journey’ was organized by the Department of Communication Skills on 10^th February, 2018. More than 50 students participated in the screening. Many faculty members from Department of Communication Skills also participated in the screening including Dr. Deepak Mashru, Dr. Vijayalakshmi, Mr. BhautikLumbani, Ms. Ateesha Srivastava and Ms. PratixaParmar.

The objectives of movies screening include but not limited to the following:

•      To improve English

•      To enhance vocabulary with context

•      To learn ‘how’ (not just ‘what’) natives speak

•      To learn to read and review a movie

•      To understand human emotions & reactions

The student attended the screening based on the pre-registration. Before the screening of the movie, a brief background of the movie was given to the students along with the trailer of the movie. The screening was followed by the discussion and feedback.

The screening was third of its kind in the series as a part of CS – Elective i.e. English though Movies. This elective is offered to the 2^nd semester students of Marwadi University. It has been decided to have a movie screening every Saturday – 9:30am onwards.

The screening was coordinated by Mr. Jay Buddhadev and Mr. Mihir Dave of Department of Communication Skills.

Poem by Jaykumar Buddhdev

art and talents

with twenty and nine candles

here i am burying them

sometimes burning too

both with a practiced quietness

this art not learnt

but ‘tis a taste acquired

and a habit born on

empty dinner tables with

unworn rings - unclaimed lips

beds unshared and peerless nights

now no more them i see

opened or closed eyes

yet flashes of fancy

emerge rise and sink

staying momentarily but

the seeds of this art

sown slow and sudden

at ten and eight

just before adding ‘nother

to the tally of years

this bilious activity grew

gradually ‘twas nurtured

making them gangrenous too

seeming slightly simple to you

maybe ‘tis too

sans dancing and chanting

‘round their remains with

a wooden stake through

for even cold and buried

or burnt and bloody

they became someone new

with these talents

and hands sanguinary

glistening eyes

i am ready

with a cleaver

and such arts

should you begin

to seem enticing too

This poem has been published in the international journal The Criterion (Vol 8, Issue IV)

On Teachers’ Day

Ms Pratixa Parmar

Department of Communication Skills

Having teachers in your life is a blessing but along with that being a teacher is also a blessing. A teacher is the one who not only teaches their students but learns so many things from them. There is a beautiful relationship between a teacher and a student. The moment teacher step into the classroom there is a different world full of amazing ideas, imagination and the best part is enthusiastic students. The most important thing is to see and recognize all good things that are there around you. The way sun shines and brings brightness to endless life is the same way where students shine and bring enlightenment into their lives. What exactly they need is the ability to see and transform themselves. This way a learner can be a good teacher and a teacher can be a good learner. 

The best teachers are those who show you where to look but don't tell you what to see. Happy Teacher's Day.

Teaching Practice

Practices for Teaching Vocabulary

Mr Ashok Pandya

Department of Communication Skills, MEFGI - Rajkot

Words have power to destroy and heal. - The Buddha

Whatever and wherever we are today it’s because of our words that we have used in our life. Using minimum words and conveying maximum thought is heart of communication. One of the problem with vocabulary is that students (we also) do not remember new words for longer time, I had question in mind that how we can teach vocabulary in such way that students can remember it for longer time. I tried to find out answer. There are some techniques that I have come across which teacher can experiment for example teaching words with different images, showing movie scenes in which character uses that particular word, using it in their conversation, recording that conversation, creating story by using that particular word, creating what’s app group etc. I have experimented some of the techniques.

1.   Teaching words with different images:

Science says whatever we see we can remember it for longer time. When I teach anything and when   I use any word that students find difficult I explain that word by showing image of that word for   example ‘LIONIZE’ means to treat someone as celebrity, after explaining usage of that word, I       showed an image of that word on projector screen (type particular word on Google and click on       image)

I also explain it with white board.

      

2.   Creating WhatsApp group:

In my lab, Students have created WhatsApp group for learning vocabulary. I have advised them to introduce any new words with images in group and then they are supposed to make sentence of that words.

3.   Teaching through particular movie scene:

Students like when you talk about movie. Movies are source of learning. Students might not remember text but they remember dialogues of the movies. For example, I taught word ‘ENTREPRENEUR’ by showing movie clip of English Vinglish.

Now questions are: have they learnt words in a better way? Are they able to use effective words? Are they now able to remember words for longer time? Answers of these questions will be written in my next article.

Resources for Teaching Reading Comprehension

Resources for Teaching Reading Comprehension

Dr Pooja Mehta

Department of Communication Skills, MEFGI - Rajkot

I was in search of some good resources for reading comprehension. There are various books of and on reading comprehension available but from them what to choose and how to customize was the issue. At the same time to give something as an exercise which is latest or at least updated is also the point to be considered. While searching for the resources I came across two good websites. I would like to share them with you. 

1) The New York Times: Articles and Questions

https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/learning-article-of-the-day

It makes teacher's task easy. It has latest articles on various issues, the good part is, with questions for comprehension and analysis. Even there is Before Reading material provided as well as a stimulus for after reading analysis. This may work with students good at language. 

2) Student New Daily

https://www.studentnewsdaily.com/

This is also similar kind of a website but may work better with students as it is for students, keeping their level and need in mind. You find sections such as Daily News Article, Friday's Editorial Cartoon, Friday's News Quiz, Wednesday's Media Bias etc. Moreover, you find notes on key words, questions and answers, other resources etc all in a printable format.

We can customize these resources as per the need and use them not just for reading comprehension but for varied purposes. Hope this may be useful. Happy Musing!

 Faculty Development Program 

Department of Communication Skills, MEFGI - Rajkot

9-11 March, 2017

In accordance with the overarching goal of MEFGI, the Department of Communication Skill had organized a 3day Faculty Development Program (FDP) for the faculties of the Department. The program focused on innovative techniques and tools for teaching English language and communication skills.

The FDP was conducted by Dr. Kalyan Chatopadhya, an esteemed scholar in the field of English language and Communication. He has been active in this field with his versatile genius as a teacher, trainer, lecturer, and researcher for last 15 years. He is an Assistant Professor in English at Bankim Sardar College, University of Calcutta, and a Guest Lecturer in English at Rabindra Bharati University, India.

The FDP program was custom-designed to fulfill the developmental needs of faculties with view to the education environment, students and academic necessities in MEFGI. The entire program focused on practical pedagogical approaches of teaching language and communication skills.

Teaching Practice

Teaching English Language to B.Sc. Students: addressing attendant’s participation

Mr Bhautik Limbani
Department of Communication Skills
MEFGI - Rajkot

It is observed many times that learning and teaching English Language becomes fruitful when it is learner centric.  It requires need analysis. Need analysis enables a teacher to know what the learner knows and what the learner needs to know. We did so before the commencement of Semester II, B.Sc. We prepared lesson planning accordingly. In the labs, under the supervision of felicitator, they do writing and reading practice. In the lectures, we discuss Wings of Fire by Abdul Kalam.

The need analysis showed that they were efficient enough in the basics of English grammar so we started our first lab on writing practice. The first session was on Developing a Paragraph. We discussed four elements of Paragraph Development: order, coherence, unity and completeness. We saw a paragraph from one of the posts of Amitav Ghosh from his blog “Folly of Sundarban”. However one of the students was confused and perplexed. She looked exhausted at the end of the session. She was clearer about the paragraph development when we started, but the end was enigmatic for her. She understood theory well, could find out four essential elements of paragraph development from the given paragraph. Most of the students enjoyed the lab. However, as a felicitator, one should not forget to revise session planning to make delivery more satisfactory.   

It has to take account of three fundamental principles:

(1)  Only theory doesn’t work in Language Learning.

(2)  Language learners, from Science field, need different learning materials.

(3)  Learner matters.

The habit of revising lesson planning after every session helps one to increase student’s classroom participation. The next week we started afresh. We prepared a list of sixteen topics which “B.Sc. student” can write a paragraph on. Topics like “What is science?”, “What is microbiology according to me?”, “Difference between Invention and Discovery?” were given. Learners were given total freedom to select their area of interest. They discussed it with their classmates. They had to prepare a list of words related to their topic. They did so. They prepared a list of twenty words on their topic. They were asked to join three to four words together and structure a sentence. The only condition was their sentence must be meaningful. The next step was to arrange all the sentences in a proper order because when they are read together they all become a paragraph. They did so. The below given paragraph was the first draft of one of my second semester B.Sc. students.    

“Science is a single word, which describes our own existence. It is a bright area briefing to about our comforts, which has been made easier through science. It is a library allowing a person to be an inventor. To understand it in an easier way, it has been divided in different fields but actually, all are interlinked. As all matter has its two sides in the world, science is also described in two manner, which includes its advantages and disadvantages. Advantages describing our own comfort, which had made our life. Disadvantages had totally stopped our mind by more and more comforts gifted by science.”(Second draft)                                                                                                 - Anjali Ladani

The paragraph was the result of the efforts to cluster the words, she jotted down. She joined all words by using some helping verbs and conjunctions. She rejoiced after presenting her understating of the field she is studying in. The presentation was followed by a five minute discussion. She received some appreciation and suggestions from her classmates. As a felicitator, I explained some usages. She rewrote it as given below: 

“Science is a field that studies the elements of the nature. It does so by briefing about it and bringing comfort to human life. It is a library that helps a curious mind to become an inventor. To understand the science in a better way, it has been divided into several branches but they are not isolated ones. Modern technology is a boon of science. It helps human to be more comfortable in the life and know and grow faster.”(Third draft)                                 - Anjali Ladani

Despite some loose and isolated sentences, the paragraph generated meaning. I was surprised when their classmates offered their suggestions on “coherence”, “unity”, “order” and “completeness” of the paragraph development. They became aware of the importance of all four essential elements of paragraph development. The task of writing a paragraph was assigned to all the students; they underwent the same process. Each wrote a paragraph, presented, received the observations and suggestions and re-wrote it. (Some prepared three drafts!)

At the end of the process, they realized that they can write a meaningful paragraph on their own. Is not learning (self) realization? I suggested them to create a blog for the entire classroom; they did so. All have posted their paragraphs (third draft) on it. Your one click on www.microbiologybsc.blogspot.in may boost up the spirit of the students. Your suggestions would make our learning happier!

   

 

Post Truth!

Mr. Vipul Solanki

Department of Communication Skills, MEFGI, Rajkot 

As you are aware, Oxford dictionary has declared 'post-truth' as the word of year. Some intellects believe that we have entered in the age of post truth where in the truth is no more relevant. The emotional appeal or personal interest is conquering the truth/fact. The old age morals are breaking and the new age standards are begin established. "Prejudices are being converted into truths." "The truth has replaced believably." On the other hand, we have Gandhiji as our ideal whose whole emphasis is on truth. How do we see the change if there is any change? The discussion in this video (Sarokar: Post Truth) may help to understand it at some extent.

 

We can have discussion on it.

You may also like to read this article: Yes, I'd lie to you. . .