Communication 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.
Function and exponent pairs
- Request: Could you...? / Would you mind + -ing...? / I wonder if you could...
- Offer: Shall I...? / Would you like me to...?
- Permission: May I...? / Do you mind if I...?
- Suggestion: Why don't we...? / How about + -ing...? / We could...
- Polite disagreement: I see your point, but... / That may be so; however...
- Apology with repair: I'm sorry about... I'll make sure it doesn't happen again.
Adjacency pairs
A question about a price expects a price, not 'yes'. Match the grammar of the prompt: 'Have you...?' takes 'Yes, I have', not 'Yes, I do'. In dialogue-completion items, read the reply first - it usually tells you what the question must have been.
Telephone and email
- Answer the phone by naming the organisation, then yourself.
- 'Could I speak to...?' / 'Hold on, please.' / 'I'm afraid she's in a meeting. Shall I take a message?'
- Email: a subject line that names the action, one purpose per message, and a closing line stating what you want the reader to do.
Worked example
A: '______' B: 'The Chennai Mail leaves at 6.40 from platform 3.' Reasoning: B's reply gives train, time and platform, so A cannot have asked about the fare; A's turn must be a wh-question about departure and platform, in polite form. Model: 'Could you tell me when the Chennai Mail leaves and from which platform?'
Traps that cost marks
- Answering 'How are you?' with 'Yes'.
- 'What is your good name?' - say 'May I have your name, please?'
- Bare imperatives in a request, with no 'please' or modal.
- An email with no subject line and no closing request.