NCERT wants more stress on public speaking, interviewing and:

1. NCERT lists study skills and communication skills for later classes. 2. The spoken skills named are public speaking, interviewing and debating. 3. These are preferred to writing essays on well-worn topics. 4. Dictation, copying and recitation are not on the list. **Why not the others:** Dictation, copying and recitation are mechanical practices, not the communication skills named. _Source: NCERT, Position Paper of the National Focus Group on Teaching of English (2006), section "3.3.2 Language and Critical Thinking: Reference Skills, Grammar, and Rhetoric", PDF p. 20 (ncert.nic.in/pdf/focus-group/english.pdf)_