Introductions; Understanding Different Cultures
ENGL510 Foundations of Professional Communication
Week 1 Discussion
Introductions; Understanding Different Cultures
Class, welcome to our first online discussion topic of the session. The purpose of online discussions is to share perspectives on a variety of topics and to practice and improve writing skills. To make the most of these online discussions, be sure to do the following.
Make your initial post in response to the topic by Wednesday or earlier. Post follow-ups to your fellow students after making your initial post.
Make each post a thoughtful, well-written paragraph of several sentences.
Write as though you were at work. Spelling and capitalization count. Avoid text message abbreviations, such as “lol.”
Be courteous, kind, and constructive in your feedback posts.
Let’s get started by getting to know one another a little better, and then we’ll get into the main topic for the week—cultural differences, which is discussed in Chapter 2 of our textbook. In your initial post, begin by telling us a little bit about yourself, particularly with regard to career and educational goals. Then tell us about an experience you have had in which cultural differences were important. This could be a situation in which your understanding of different cultures helped you to succeed, or it could be an occasion in which a misunderstanding based on cultural differences occurred.
ENGL510 Foundations of Professional Communication
Week 2 Discussion
Listening Styles
When we think of communication, we often focus on what we are saying or writing to others. Listening, however, is an important and often undervalued communication skill. Chapter 4 of our textbook is entitled Listening and Learning. In it, the authors point out that “anyone can listen, but the ability to listen well is less common.” In addition, they identify four major types of listeners.
People oriented
Action oriented
Content oriented
Time oriented
Based on the description of these styles in our textbook, what is your listening style? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this style? How might understanding your listening style make you into a more effective listener?
In your initial post, reflect on your listening style. In your follow-up posts, provide helpful and constructive feedback to your fellow students. As a reminder, remember to make your initial post by Wednesday and to make it thoughtful and well-developed.
ENGL510 Foundations of Professional Communication
Week 3 Discussion
Perspectives and Perceptions
In Chapter 5 of our textbook, the authors discuss the concept of attribution, which they define as “an explanation of an observed behavior.” According to the authors, we often use heuristics, or mental shortcuts, to help explain the behavior of others. The problem is that these shortcuts often lead us to make mistakes. The two most common attribution errors are
the self-serving bias; and
the fundamental attribution error.
The self-serving bias is our tendency to attribute our successes to internal causes and our failures to external causes. An example of the self-serving bias is to take credit for a good grade in one class while blaming the instructor for a poor grade in another class. The fundamental attribution error refers to the way people tend to attribute other people’s actions to internal rather than external factors. For instance, when a friend or colleague is unusually abrupt or curt with us, we might assume that he or she is upset or annoyed at us, but the real reason might be a tight deadline at work or an unexpected problem at home.
For your initial post, think of a time in your own life when you may have been guilty of either the self-serving bias or the fundamental attribution error. Looking back at it, what did you learn? In your follow-up posts, provide helpful feedback to your fellow students.
ENGL510 Foundations of Professional Communication
Week 4 Discussion
Your Online Self
In Chapter 8 of our textbook, the importance of using social media to enhance your visibility online for professional purposes is discussed in detail. In your initial post, consider the following questions.
Search for yourself online. What did you find? How might this look to a potential employer?
Do you have a LinkedIn profile? If so, how active are you on the site?
What else can you do to make sure your online professional persona is one that you can feel proud of?
In your follow-up posts, provide helpful feedback to your fellow students.
ENGL510 Foundations of Professional Communication
Week 5 Discussion
The Ethics of Interviewing
Job interviews can be very stressful. No matter how hard we may try to prepare, we may be faced with difficult or uncomfortable questions that we didn’t see coming. On the other hand, there are some questions that are not merely difficult, but illegal. As noted in Chapter 9 of our textbook, employers are typically prohibited from asking questions related to any of the following.
Sex
Age
Ethnicity
Sexual orientation
Religion
Marital status
Political views
Disability status
Although there are exceptions where such questions may be allowed, these are quite rare. However, employers are not always aware of these rules. Imagine that in the course of a job interview you have been asked an illegal question, such as one of the following.
Are you married?
What church do you attend?
How many children do you have?
Who did you vote for in the most recent election?
Where were you born?
You have a few possible options: responding to the question directly (“Yes, I am married”), refusing to answer (“That is an illegal question and I refuse to answer”), or responding indirectly (“My marital status will not affect my ability to do the job”). In your initial post, pick one of the questions and tell us how you would respond, and why. After your initial post, provide helpful feedback in responses to your fellow students.
ENGL510 Foundations of Professional Communication
Week 6 Discussion
Using Surveys to Craft Presentations
This week you will begin working on a persuasive presentation that will be due in Week 8. The scenario is as follows. You have been asked to make a presentation at work on a topic you are knowledgeable and passionate about. In Chapter 11 of our textbook on page 265, there is a list of over 50 topics you may wish to choose from. In addition to that list, here are a few more possibilities.
Ethical views on employee monitoring
Pros and cons of working from home
Challenges and opportunities in doing business overseas
Adopting “green” policies and technology at work
Predicting the future of work
Improving employee satisfaction
Increasing customer loyalty
Before making your presentation, you want to get a better understanding of what your colleagues already know about the topic, what they don’t know yet, and what they’d like to learn, so you decide to make a short survey and distribute it ahead of time to those colleagues who are planning to attend.
In your initial post, tell us which presentation topic you have chosen. In addition, provide a list of at least three questions to ask on your survey. Indicate the type of response sought for each question; for example, multiple choice, true/false, number scale, or written reply.
Suggestion: If you are familiar with Google Forms, use it to create your survey and then provide a link to it in your initial post so that we can take it ourselves.
ENGL510 Foundations of Professional Communication
Week 7 Discussion
Sharing a Slide (or Two)
In Chapter 13 of our textbook, the authors include examples of several types of presentation slides, including the following.
Text slides
Table slides
Pie charts
Line charts
Bar charts
In your initial post for this week, please create and share one or two of these types of slides that you will be using for your persuasive presentation. You do not need to share the audio accompaniment, just the slide or slides themselves. So that your fellow students and I can provide you with helpful feedback, remind us of the topic of your presentation. Finally, explain the purpose of each slide and why you believe each slide achieves that purpose.
Then provide helpful feedback to at least two of your fellow students. Each feedback post should consist of a solid paragraph and contain specific feedback and suggestions as needed.
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