At the Library

The Library Assistant (L.A.) and An English Language Teacher (Ashok) 

L.A. : Good morning, sir, May I help you? Ashok : Good morning. I am looking for some books on English language teaching and I would like to enroll as a member too. L.A. : Oh! Sure. We have plenty of material on English language teaching. Please have a look at the available range and if you are satisfied, you can surely enrol as a member. Ashok : Oh! That's splendid! Where can I find them? L.A. : Please go to the middle section and there is a full section to your right. 


(Ashok visits the section and comes back to the front desk.) Ashok : Oh! There is quite a stock. Now, may I know the rules for enrolment? L.A. : Well. You need to fill in this application form and you have to be introduced by a member of this library. Or else, you have to get the application counter-signed by the head of your department or institution. Ashok : Well! You see, I don't work for any particular institution alone. I am a freelance trainer for Spoken English and Communication and work for various training institutions. In other words, I am self-employed and I am the boss. But I know some of your members and I can get the necessary introduction. L.A. : Oh! That'll be Fine. Ashok : By the way, what is the membership fee? L.A. : It is five hundred rupees annually. Ashok : How many books can I take at one time? L.A. : You can take three books and two journals at one time. Ashok : How long can I keep them? L.A. : Two weeks are the limit and after that there is a late fee of two rupees per book per day. Ashok : That's okay. Do you have a card-catalogue? L.A. : No. It's computerised. You can check the titles and authors in the computer. Ashok : Oh! That's fine. Tell me, do you have any other facility? L.A. : Yes. We have a microfilm section and you can also watch videos. Ashok : Very good! Are you open on Sundays? L.A. : No. We are open from Monday to Saturday from 9.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Ashok : That suits me fine. I will come tomorrow with the filled in application. Thank you very much. You have been a great help. L.A. : You are most welcome. Good day!

Journalist and The Public Relation Officer

Journalist : Good morning Sir. Could I have some information? What does the term call centre mean?  PRO : Call centre is a multi-faceted work-place where various functions occur like customer service centres, information lines, reservation centres, help desks, etc. It is a sophisticated voice operations environment that provides a full range of high-volume, call handling services (inbound and outbound) including directory assistance, multilingual customer support, credit card services, operator services) interactive voice response and web-based services.  Journalist : What size of accommodations is preferred by the call centres?  PRO : Call centres prefer large accommodation depending on their work load and customer base.  Journalist : How large or small is the call centre's work force and personnel costs?  PRO : The size of the work force depends on the functions of the centre. If it is a centralised call centre that handles various functions and their work force is large. Then the personnel costs are the most significant.  Journalist : Could you tell us about the technology they use?  PRO : The call centre’s technologies include Automatic Call Distribution (ACD), Interactive Voice Response (VR), Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) which allows the actions of the computer to be synchronised with what is happening on the phone. They employ Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technologies and other database systems too.  Journalist : What types of calls do the call centres handle?  PRO : Types of calls are often divided into outbound and inbound. Outbound calls are those which the agent initiates to a customer with the aim of selling a product or a service to that customer. Inbound calls are initiated by the customer to obtain information, report a malfunction or ask for help.  Journalist : How are the staff organised?  PRO : The staff of the call centre are organised in tiers. The First tier consists of unskilled workers who are trained to resolve issues using a simple script. If the First tier is unable to do so, then issue is transferred to a more skilled second tier. In some cases, there may be a third tier of support too.  Journalist : Do the call centres get criticised and if so, for what?  PRO : Yes. They do. Some critics say that the work atmosphere in such an environment is below human standard. Some criticise about the low rates of pay and the other constrains put on the staff by the employers. For example, there is the restriction of time that a staff can spend in the toilet. Apart from that, the cal1ers complain about the skill level of the staff and their inability in solving the problem for which the customer calls.  Journalist : Could you tell us about why there is a trend to move call centres to India?  PRO : One reason is the large number of English speaking workers available who can be employed cheap. Also, Indian technology is good and infrastructure is cheap.  Journalist : What does the future hold for call centre employment in India?  PRO : According to the survey conducted by the Employment Cell of India, call centres are going to be the largest job providers in India. The Rs. 81,000 crore industry including other IT-enabled services is expected to generate 20, 00,000 jobs in the near future. The future looks good for the call centre industry because India has a large number of graduates and undergraduates with good command over English. Indian technology is good and infrastructure is available cheap and also effectively trained manpower which is the backbone of a call centre.  Journalist : How is an Indian call centre executive's work rated?  PRO : Indian call centre executives take 8 to 10 minutes in processing their call, whereas call centre executives in the U.K. and the U.S. take 12 to 15 minutes to perform the same task. This saves time and increases efficiency levels. Indians have neutral accent and easily understandable English Accent compared to people in China and other countries.  Journalist : Thank you very much for giving us your valuable time and information.  PRO : You're most welcome. Let me also thank you for taking your time to gather information on call centres. Hope to see the write up in your publication.  Journalist : You're we1come. We will send you a copy of our journal in which the article gets published. Good day sir.  PRO : Good day!

Coordinating Conjunctions and Correlative Conjunctions

A conjunction joins words or groups of words in a sentence.

• I ate lunch with Kate and Derma.
• Because it is rainy today, the trip is canceled.
• She didn’t press the bell, but I did.

There are three types of conjunctions:

1.Coordinating Conjunctions

     a.Connect words, phrases, or clauses that are independent or equal

     b.and, but, or, so, for, yet, and not

2.Correlative Conjunctions

     a.Used in pairs

     b.both/and, either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also

3.Subordinating Conjunctions

     a.Used at the beginning of subordinate clauses

     b.although, after, before, because, how, if, once, since, so that, until, unless, when, while, where, whether, etc.

Coordinating Conjunctions

1.And—means "in addition to":

• We are going to a zoo and an aquarium on the same day.

2.But—connects two different things that are not in agreement:

• I am a night owl, but she is an early bird.

3.Or—indicates a choice between two things:

• Do you want a red one or a blue one?

4.So—illustrates a result of the first thing:

• This song has been very popular, so I downloaded it.

5.For—means "because":

• I want to go there again, for it was a wonderful trip.

6.Yet—indicates contrast with something:

• He performed very well, yet he didn’t make the final cut.

Correlative Conjunctions

1.Both/and

• She won gold medals from both the single and group races.
• Both TV and television are correct words.