BLOCK 02- LISTENING AND SPEAKING IN INFORMAL AND FORMAL CONTEXTS

a short introduction

Block 2, Listening and Speaking in Informal and Formal Contexts, discuss the practical side of communication. In the previous block, we had a discussion on the theoretical side of communication. Here on this block, they emphasize both the informal and formal aspects of communication.

Unit number	Unit name	Discusses
Unit 01	Informal Interpersonal Functions	Deals with Informal Interpersonal Functions such as greetings, introductions, inviting, small talk, and so on.
Unit 02	Making Enquiries/Asking Questions	How to ask questions or make inquiries in both formal and informal encounters.
Unit 03	Group Discussions and Meetings	Emphasizes the skills which might help you perform better in group discussions and meetings.
Unit 04	Essentials of Presentation Skills	Emphasizes presentation skills that will help you in your academic and professional life.

UNIT 01:INFORMAL INTERPERSONAL FUNCTIONS’
A small introduction.

• Unit 01 discusses the following topics
  • Greetings
  • Introducing Oneself and Others
  • Extending Invitations: Accepting, Declining Invitations, Taking Leave
  • Small Talk

GREETINGS

Now let us have a look at different expressions that can be used in the interpersonal relations

• ‘Hello!’ -It is a common form of greeting among friends.
  • Eg:- •‘Hello, Raj!”
  • “Welcome Prashant…take a seat”
• “How do you do?”-It is a common greeting, especially among the British.
  • “How do you do?” is not a question. It is a greeting.
  • •The response to “How do you do?” is “How do you do?”
  • •It uses between two people who see regularly.
• “Hi”– It is an informal greeting.
  • More informal than “HELLO”.
  • It is only use with very close friends, not generally with older people or people who are superiors at work.

• Other ways of greeting are:
  • “Good Morning”
  • “Good Evening”
  • “Hello, seeing you after a long time.”
  • “Delighted to see you!”

INTRODUCING ONESELF AND OTHERS

There are many different ways to introduce yourself and other people in English. •Here are some common phrases and expressions often used:

1. You can introduce directly your name along with a greeting.
   • For example.
     • “I’m Vinita Shukla. How do you do?”
     • “Hello. I’m Naresh Tripathi from Convensys. Nice to meet you”.
2. Introducing yourself to a person who you know already.
   • For example:-
     • “Have we met before?” I’m Renu Vyas.”
     • “Tarun George. I have a vague feeling we have met somewhere”.
     • “Was it at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore?”
     • “That’s right. I did my Master’s there 2014-2016″.
     • “That’s it then. I was doing my research there, same time”
3. Introduce yourself by disclosing the reason for visiting the particular place.
   • For example:-
     • “I’m Sudhir Shah. Come for the interview?”
     • “Yes. My name’s Dina Vakil. You’re from?” “Surat. And you.
     • “Vadodra. Are we too early?”
     • “It’s better this way than late”.
     • “I agree

SOME OTHER WAYS TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF

Hello. My name is …

Nice to meet you. I’m …

May I introduce myself? I’m…

EXTENDING INVITATIONS: ACCEPTING, DECLINING INVITATIONS, TAKING LEAVE

• There is a number of expressions that can be used for inviting a person. Now let us discuss some of these expressions.
• Invitation expressions
  • “Please do come in.”
    • Is Mr. Dhawan there, please?”
    • “Please do come in.”
    • “I’m sorry to barge in like this.”
    • Here in the above conversation, a person invites a person named Dhawan by using the expression “please do come in”
• Rejecting invitation.
  • “Hello, Bob! What a surprise!” … (greeting)
  • “This is my afternoon round of rum.”
  • “How about joining me (inviting) •
  • “Too early for me.” (apologizes for refusing invitation).
  • “Look, you don’t have a phone and I didn’t note your address the last time I was here.

Small Talk

• Small talk is a casual form of conversation.
• It is normal and necessary to make “small talk” in certain situations. 
• Small talk can be about any topic like:
  • Talking about the weather
  • Talking about Personal Matters
  • About the Food
  • About an  Entertainment

Turn-taking

Like any other conversation turn taking is also important one in the case of small talk.

• Turn-taking is very important for the smooth flow of conversation.
• Small talk is a two way communication.
• Each members has to contribute by taking his turn.
• As a response to what one speaker has said the second speaker continues or adds information.
• If one of the participants is distracted, the flow of communication will be disturbed.

Co-operative

• Small talk should be cooperative in nature.
• For a successful talk two speakers have to co-operate each other.
• Each speaker sometimes has to agree each other and thank each other.
• It leads to fruitful communication

SELECTED EXPRESSIONS FROM SMALL TALKS

Find one’s feet

• to be able to act confidently and independently
• to become used to or familiar with a new situation or place.
• Example:-
  • It can take months to find your feet in a big city like Mumbai.

Put one’s feet up

• to rest or relax.
• to relax and not do anything
• example:-
  • I’m going to go home and put my feet up

fall on one’s feet

• to be in good condition or in a good situation after having a bad or difficult experience.
• to have good luck after a difficult period.
• Example:-
  • He lost his job but fell on his feet when he was hired by another company just a few days later.

Have both feet on the ground

• be practical and sensible.
• Example:-
  • I’m a man coming from a family of farmers and I have my feet on the ground