ELC650-COURSE BRIEFING

ENGLISH FOR
PROFESSIONAL
INTERACTION

ELC 650

Course Briefing

COURSE OUTCOMES

•
• Demonstrate social skills when maintaining interactions in the
• workplace (A3)

• Explain verbally critical incidents concerning interpersonal
• communication issues in the workplace and communicate ideas
• through clearly written email (A4)

• Display positive values and attitudes during professional interaction in
• the workplace (A5)

COURSE CONTENT

Topics

1. Essentials of Communication
sender, receiver, channel, encoding and
feedback

2. Forms of Communication
Verbal- written and oral communication
Non-Verbal communication

3. Language Functions For Interpersonal
Communication & Informal Workplace Interaction

• Engaging in small talk (family, home, interests, movies, vacations, relationships,
health and etc.)

• Initiating and closing conversations
• Giving compliments
• Praising and congratulating
• Expressing opinions and ideas
• Questioning and negotiating informally
• Agreeing and disagreeing
• Apologising
• Making suggestions
• Making requests
• Accepting and declining invitations
• Taking leave
• Expressing condolences

4. Language Functions For Formal Workplace
Interaction

• Making phone calls
• Giving and responding to opinions
• Problem-solving
• Complaining
• Making decisions
• Justifying
• Seeking clarification
• Clarifying
• Interrupting
• Making decisions
• Negotiating
• Stating and clarifying positions
• Bargaining
• Handling and resolving conflict

5. Interpersonal Communication

• Context of interpersonal communication
• One-to-one vs group communication
• Group discussion skills
• Personality and conflict
• Tone
• Interpersonal communication styles
• Cooperative/collaborative versus confrontational
• Direct versus indirect
• Critical versus neutral
• Positive versus negative
• Casual versus formal
• Confidence building
• Problem solving skills
• Listening skills
• Negotiation skills
• Decision making skills

6. Considerations For Professional Interaction

• Attitudes and Behaviour
• Appearance
• Demeanor
• Reliability
• Accountability
• Competence
• Ethics
• Poise
• Etiquette
• Hierarchical relations (status and power)
• Professional etiquette
• Politeness

ASSESSMENTS

Week Assessments Duration Weightage

6&7 Workplace Simulation (Pair work) 11 minutes 25%
Oral Interaction
(Topics 1-4)

9 & 10 Discussion Observation (Group work) 25 minutes 25%
Discussion
(Topics 1-5)

9 & 10 Written Presentation (Individual work) 30 minutes 20%
Email (200 words, written after the discussion)
(Topics 1-5)

13 & 14 Video Critique (Pair work) 15 minutes 30%
Oral Presentation
(Topics 1-6) 100%

Total

PLANNER: ACADEMIC SESSION I: OCT 2021 – FEB 2022

WEEK EVENTS

WEEK 1 (11/10 – 15/10) ONLINE LESSONS
WEEK 2 (18/10 – 22/10) ONLINE LESSONS
WEEK 3 (25/10 – 29/10) ONLINE LESSONS
ONLINE LESSONS
WEEK 4 (1/11 – 5/11) ONLINE LESSONS
WEEK 5 (8/11 – 12/11) ASSESSMENT I: WORKPLACE SIMULATION (25%)
WEEK 6 (15/11 – 19/11)
SEMESTER BREAK (22/11 – 26/11) 1 WEEK

WEEK 7 (29/11 – 3/12) ASSESSMENT I: WORKPLACE SIMULATION (continuation)
WEEK 8 (6/12 – 10/12)
WEEK 9 (13/12 – 17/12) ONLINE LESSONS
ASSESSMENT II: DISCUSSION OBSERVATION (25%)
WEEK 10 (20/12 – 24/12) ASSESSMENT III: WRITTEN PRESENTATION (20%) – MODERATED
SPECIAL BREAK (27/12 – 31/12)
ASSESSMENT
WEEK 11 (3/1 – 7/1)
WEEK 12 (10/1 – 14/1) ASSESSMENT II & III (continuation)
WEEK 13 (17/1 – 21/1)
WEEK 14 (24/1 – 28/1) 1 WEEK

ONLINE LESSONS (SUBMISSION OF ON-GOING MARKS –
ASSESSMENT 1)
ONLINE LESSONS

ASSESSMENT IV: VIDEO CRITIQUE (30%)
ASSESSMENT IV: VIDEO CRITIQUE (continuation)

ASSESSMENT I

Type of Assessment: Workplace Simulation (WS)
Pair work
Assessment Weeks: 6, 7 & 8
Duration: 3 minutes preparation and 8 minutes
presentation
Mark Allocation: 25 marks -Refer to Rating Scale for
Assessment I (25%)

The paper consists:
• 3 Situations for pairs
• 3 situations for groups of 3

• Refer to: Assessment I Workplace Simulation
– Lecturers' Guide

ASSESSMENT I – LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS FOR
INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION/ SMALL TALK AT
THE WORKPLACE:

• Initiating and closing conversations
• Expressing ideas and opinions
• Clarifying
• Justifying
• Apologising
• Making suggestions
• Seeking clarifications
• Making requests
• Accepting and declining invitations
• Giving compliments
• Praising and congratulating
• Expressing opinions and ideas
• Questioning and negotiating informally
• Agreeing and disagreeing
• Taking leave
• Expressing condolences

ASSESSMENT II & III –DISCUSSION OBSERVATION
(DO) & WRITTEN PRESENTATION EMAIL (WPE)

Assessments II and III are linked as they are based on a
similar stimulus. These two assessments which evaluate the
students’ oral and written communication are conducted
consecutively in the classroom.
The paper consists:
• 3 Situations for groups of 4
• 3 situations for groups of 5

ASSESSMENT II

Type of Assessment: DO – GROUP DISCUSSION
(Project Planning)
Assessment Weeks: 9 and 10
Duration: 5 minutes preparation and 20 minutes discussion
Mark Allocation: 25 marks -Refer to Rating Scale for
Assessment II – [25%]

Refer to: Assessment II Discussion Observation
– Lecturers' Guide

ASSESSMENT III

Type of Assessment: Written Presentation Email
Assessment Weeks: 9 and 10
Mark Allocation: 20 marks -Refer to Rating Scale for
Assessment III (20%)

Refer to: ELC650 Assessment III Written Presentation
Email – Lecturers' Guide

SAMPLE WP EMAIL SITUATION

∙ Instructions for Written Presentation – Email (Individual work – 20%)
∙ Write an email of about 200 words to your manager, summarising the key

decisions based on the four aspects of your discussion.
∙ One mark will be deducted if your email exceeds 210 words.
∙ You are given thirty (30) minutes to write the email.
∙ Include a subject line in your email.
∙ Begin your email with ‘Dear …’

Submit the notes taken during the discussion with the email.

Situation
A group of you have been given the task of planning an event as part of your
company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative. Write an email of about
200 words to your manager, summarising the key decisions based on the following
aspects:

∙ the kind of event you would like to carry out and the objective
∙ the activities to be held as part of the event
∙ budget, funding and promotion of the event to the staff
∙ committees and duties for staff to help run the event

WP EMAIL FOR GROUPS OF 5

∙ Instructions for Written Presentation – Email (Individual work – 20%)
∙ Write an email of about 250 words to your manager, summarising the key

decisions based on the four aspects of your discussion.
∙ One mark will be deducted if your email exceeds 260 words.
∙ You are given thirty (30) minutes to write the email.
∙ Include a subject line in your email.
∙ Begin your email with ‘Dear …’

Submit the notes taken during the discussion with the email.

Situation
A group of you have been given the task of planning an event as part of your
company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative. Write an email of about
250 words to your manager, summarising the key decisions based on the following
aspects:

∙ the kind of event you would like to carry out and the objective
∙ the activities to be held as part of the event
∙ budget, funding and promotion of the event to the staff
∙ committees and duties for staff to help run the event

ASSESSMENT IV: VIDEO CRITIQUE

Type of Assessment: Video Critique (should be a live
presentation – depends on students’ internet connection –
2nd option – recording of presentation)
Pair work
Assessment Weeks: 13 & 14
Mark Allocation: 30 marks -Refer to Rating Scale for Assessment
IV (30%)
The Video Critique is a 15-minute presentation:
• 4 - 5-minute video excerpt – video excerpts must be from 2020 to
2021 (students must show and discuss their selected excerpts
after week 7)
• 5-minute presentation per student X 2
• each student presents 3 critical incidents based on the video excerpt

VIDEO CRITIQUE (3 IN A GROUP)

If there are 3 students in a group, the video critique is a 23-minute
presentation (8-minute video excerpt);
• 5-minute presentation per student X 3
• each student presents 3 critical incidents based on the video excerpt
• ELC650 Assessment IV Video Critique Lecturers' Guide

WHAT IS A CRITICAL
INCIDENT?

• Usually it is an incident that has significance to the students. It is often
an event which made the students stop and think, or one that raised
questions for you.

• It may have made the student question an attitude, value or
behaviour.

• It might include an incident involving conflict, hostility, criticism,
motivation and improvement (positive or negative).

• Critical incidents may relate to issues of communication, attitude,
personality, knowledge, culture, relationships, beliefs or emotions.

A REMINDER FOR ASSESSMENT IV

SCORE 5432 1
ITEMS VERY POOR
EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR
Suitability for Hardly capable of
audience DELIVERY structuring and
adapting the
Highly capable of Capable of structuring Reasonably capable of Somewhat capable of presentation to meet
structuring and and adapting the structuring and structuring and the audience’s needs.
adapting the presentation to meet adapting the adapting the
presentation to meet the audience’s needs. presentation to meet presentation to meet
the audience’s needs. the audience’s needs. the audience’s needs.

Fluency Presenter is highly Presenter is fluent and Presenter is Presenter is hesitant Presenter is extremely
fluent and polished. polished. reasonably fluent and and lacks fluency. hesitant and not
polished. fluent.

Eye contact Maintains Maintains Maintains Maintains Maintains no
extremely strong eye some eye minimal eye eye contact
strong eye contact with contact with contact with with audience.
contact with audience. audience. audience.
audience. Presents by
Presents with Presents with Presents with a reading
Presents occasional use moderate great deal of throughout the
without of notes. amount of reading. presentation.
reading at all. reading.

USEFUL LINKS

• LANGUAGE EXPRESSIONS
• https://www.ihbristol.com/useful-english-expressions
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAZW2EDEFZw
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmICJDWqcRo

• GROUP DISCUSSION SKILL
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YHQEQl0w8c
• https://youtu.be/OZcfQVggDRM

• EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AT THE WORKPLACE
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRE-uciREO4

THE ELC650 TEAM
ROSDIN ROSLY (012-6468767)
NORFARHANA FADILLA MOHD ZAKI (019-6602515)
NURBAYA MOHD ARIS (010-2207705)
SALWA OTHMAN (017-5586553)
SITI HAJAR AISYAH AZHARI (019-3697095)