Communication Skills: Listening, Speaking and Functional English
Communication Skills tests whether you can follow spoken English and respond appropriately in situations. Items appear as dialogue completion, situational response, identifying the function of an utterance, and questions on stress and politeness.
Listening
Listen for gist first, then for detail such as numbers, names and directions. Intonation carries meaning: a rising tone at the end signals a question or uncertainty, a falling tone signals a statement or completion. In note-taking, record keywords and symbols rather than full sentences, since you hear the text once.
Speaking and functions
Every functional item asks what the speaker is doing, not what the words mean literally. Learn the labels: requesting, offering, suggesting, apologising, complaining, warning, inviting, thanking, agreeing and disagreeing politely. Politeness is carried by fixed frames - Could you possibly...?, I'm afraid..., Would you mind + -ing?, Shall we...? Register must stay consistent: formal written exchanges reject Ya, sure and contractions in the wrong places.
Worked example
A: "Would you mind opening the window?" B: ______ Reasoning: Would you mind invites a negative-polarity reply, where agreement is expressed negatively. The correct response is "Not at all", meaning no objection. "Yes, I'll open it" is a common error because yes here would signal that the speaker does mind.
Turn-taking cues
Read the line after the blank. If the next speaker says "You're welcome", the missing turn must be an expression of thanks; if it says "That's all right", the missing turn is an apology.
Traps that cost marks
- Answering with content when the question asks for the function.
- Using informal replies in a formal dialogue.
- Missing the constraint set by the following turn.
- Confusing word stress: REcord (noun) versus reCORD (verb).