Kerala Plus Two Communicative English (DHSE) study guide
Kerala Plus Two Communicative English (DHSE) · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
Communicative English is the optional English paper offered at the Higher Secondary (Plus Two) level under the Directorate of Higher Secondary Education, Kerala, and is normally taken alongside the compulsory English course. It suits students who want a practical command of English - reading unfamiliar texts quickly, writing letters, reports, notices and articles, and speaking and listening with confidence - rather than a purely literary training. The Kerala Plus Two Communicative English (DHSE) study guide has 7 sections and about 2,572 words.
01Reading Comprehension: Unseen Passages
Unseen passages carry a large block of marks, and the section tests four levels of reading: literal retrieval, inference, vocabulary in context, and evaluative judgement (tone, purpose, attitude). You are almost never asked for your general opinion on the topic - every answer must be anchored in the passage you were given.
380 words, about 2 min02Writing Skills: Letters, Reports, Notices, Articles, Speeches
Writing tasks are marked on three heads in this order: format, content and expression. Candidates lose more marks to a missing subject line or a wrong subscription than to imperfect grammar, so learn each format as a fixed frame before worrying about style.
390 words, about 2 min03Grammar and Usage: Concord, Tense, Voice and Reported Speech
Grammar is rarely tested as isolated labelling. It appears as editing, gap-filling, sentence completion and transformation, so the useful skill is choosing the form the surrounding sentence demands rather than reciting definitions.
378 words, about 2 min04Vocabulary and Word Formation
This section tests word families, affixation, collocation, confusables and idioms in context. The gap in the sentence tells you the word class you need, and the word class tells you the suffix - that single chain solves most word-formation items.
314 words, about 2 min05Literature: Prescribed Prose and Poetry
Prose and poetry questions reward close reading of a short extract far more than general summaries. Examiners look for three things: accurate identification of the device or idea, a quoted word or phrase as evidence, and a sentence explaining its effect.
371 words, about 2 min06Literature: Drama and Fiction
Drama questions test how dialogue and stage direction together create tension; fiction questions test narrative craft - point of view, characterisation, setting and the ending. In both, the examiner wants analysis of how the text works, not a retelling of what happens.
352 words, about 2 min07Communication Skills and Functional English
This section tests whether your English works in real transactions: telephoning, requesting, complaining, apologising, interviewing, presenting. Marks go to the response that fits the situation and the grammar of the previous turn, not to the longest answer.
387 words, about 2 min