NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY School of Humanities & Social Sciences Language & Communication Centre HW0310 Professional Communication

Semester 1, AY2012-2013 Instructions for Assignments 1 & 2 Assignment 1: Cover Letter & Resume Assignment 1 constitutes 40% of your final grade. Scenario: As a graduating student from NTU, you are actively seeking employment. 1. Choose an online or print job advertisement . The job must be suitable for a graduate at entry-level. The advertisement must contain the following information: Brief description about the company Job scope Requirements for candidate 2. Read and analyse the job advertisement carefully. Respond to the advertisement by writing a cover letter of about 250 words and a 2-page (maximum) resume. Your cover letter must adhere to formal letter-writing conventions. 3. Submit a hardcopy of your assignment to your tutor in Tutorial 3. Softcopy submission will not be entertained. 4. Submit your assignment in the following order: i. ii. iii. iv. Universitys Honour Code Declaration Form found in edveNTUre Job advertisement (original or photocopy) Cover letter Resume

5. Penalty scheme for late submission of Assignment 1 Marks drop by 20% for each day that an assignment is submitted late. If the assignment is not received by the tutor after the 5th day (including Saturday and Sunday), it is understood that the student concerned is not submitting it.

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Please staple the documents together. Do not put them in a folder. IMPORTANT NOTE: Late submission will not be entertained. Do not seek help from the Career and Attachment Office (CAO) when working on Assignment 1. Your tutor will not entertain assignment review before submission. If you request for an assignment review for your real job application, this will be considered as the final submission.

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Assignment 2: Oral Presentation Assignment 2 constitutes 40% of your final grade. You are required to work in groups of 3-5 people for this assignment. 1. Choose a Professional Communication topic that you are interested in. The topic can be a subtopic or an extension of one of the main lecture topics. 2. Within the chosen topic, find a case study (personal experience, media article, video clip, advertisement, etc) that contains a communication problem. The context of the case study may be the Singapore workforce or it may an international workforce. If you choose the latter, you must show application to the local context. 3. Analyse the communication problem by identifying 3-4 research questions. Address these questions preferably by using principals taught in lectures/tutorials/the textbook or other sources. Dont forget to cite your sources. 4. Present your analysis as a group. Each presenter in the group will speak for only 4 minutes. 5. Submit an outline of your assignment 2 to your tutor in Tutorial 3. Use the form in Annex A. 6. Refer to Annex B for an idea of how to prepare your assignment 2 outline. 7. Refer to the Oral Presentation Evaluation Form (page 5 of this document) to find out how you will be assessed for this assignment. Oral Presentation Rules & Regulations 1. Your group presentation will be video-recorded. Each group is to buy a mini-DVD disc . Present the disc to your tutor on the day your group presents. Dont forget to label it: every group members name and your tutorial group number must be on the disc. 2. Each presenter is to print out and bring a copy of the Oral Presentation Evaluation Form on the day the group presents. Pass the labelled forms in groups to your tutor. 3. Dress code for presenters: dress as though you were going to a job interview. 4. Each presenter aims to speak for 4 minutes and will be individually timed. Beyond 4 minutes, the presenter will be penalized. If a group wishes to show a video clip, you may be given extra time to do so. Depending on the size of your class, this may be no more than 2 extra minutes per group. Check with your tutor. (This does not mean you must show a video.) There will also be a Question & Answer session at the end of each groups presentation. 5. Due to time constraints and technical issues, do not use your own laptop to present. Bring your USB drive and present using the desktop in the Communication Skills lab. 6. Classmates who are not presenting on a given week: please help your tutor set up the videocamera, etc.

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ASSESSMENT GUIDELINES FOR ASSIGNMENTS

ASSIGNMENT 1: COVER LETTER AND RESUME (40%) COVER LETTER

1. Attention grabbing start; information put across in a highly persuasive manner; Originality is apparent (e.g. giving specifics to support claims) Relevant information (qualifications, skills, and experience) given. Addressed job requirements of advertisement closely related to job scope stated Action-oriented closing of cover letter with reference to resume (ask for INTERVIEW, give CONTACT) Excellent grammar - Accurate and effective language use; Good use of diction and appropriate tone Correct format and visually appealing; fulfills word limit (About 250 words); kept within one page

2.

3.

4.

5.

RESUME
6. Relevant information given. Addressed job requirements of advertisement Effectiveness and consistency in organization of resume information; Professional layout with good use of suitable headings, bullet points and fonts , white space (VISUAL APPEAL) Excellent grammar - Accurate and effective language use; Good use of diction and appropriate tone; Use of parallel construction in descriptions Effective resume type-chronological, skills-based, functional; resume kept within two pages

7.

8.

9.

OVERALL Assignment submitted according to guidelines: with cover page, used quality white 10. paper, looks professional.

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ASSIGNMENT 2: ORAL PRESENTATION (40%) GP: GRADE:

NAME:

TUT

NO.

A. Subject Matter
Introduction of topic (first speaker) Good attention-getter Clear introduction of group members Clear main idea of the topic Clear background and/or definition when necessary Clear outline of topic with a moving agenda Relevant content effectively presented with visual aids Smooth use of transitions between speakers Body (second to penultimate speaker) Sufficient content development Well-organized content Sufficient evidence and examples Clear reiteration of main idea/position Relevant content effectively presented with visual aids Smooth use of transitions between speakers Conclusion (last speaker) Clear reiteration of main idea/position Clear summary of groups points; smooth ending

Comments

1.

2.

3.

B. Delivery 4. 5.
Use of visuals Effective modes i.e. ppt, video, clips, etc. Attractive; well constructed Body language and attitude Appropriate facial expressions Natural body movements including hand gestures Consistent eye contact, not looking at the screen/notes Confident, enthusiastic, and sincere Voice Clear voice projection Appropriate pace; effective variation of tone Good articulation; fluent Language Grammatical; good choice of words

6.

7.

8.

Audience rapport Able to hold attention, influence, captivate audience

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9. 10 .

Appearance Appropriate attire e.g. office wear; appropriately groomed

C. Group Dynamics
Cooperation Consistent use of visuals; good teamwork Organisation Logical flow of content from one speaker to the next D. Time Limit - Completed within time limit

11. 12 .

E. Q & A

Clear and/or clever answers to questions Clever ways to handle a silent audience

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Annex A NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY School of Humanities & Social Sciences Language & Communication Centre HW0310 Professional Communication Assignment 2 Outline Please use this form to prepare your outline and submit it to your tutor by Tutorial 3. Tutorial Group: Group members names: 1. 2. Topic: Case study: Source of case study: Problem: Purpose: Questions to address in the oral presentation: 1. 2. 3. 4. 3. 4. Day/Time:

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Annex B NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY School of Humanities & Social Sciences Language & Communication Centre HW0310 Professional Communication Sample Assignment 2 Outline* Tutorial Group: C64 Group members names: Topic: Intercultural Communication Case study: A misunderstanding that took place in Abc Engineering, a Japanese company operating in Shanghai, China. Source of case study: Abc Def Pte Ltd, 4 July 2012 [online]. The Wrong Way to do Business. Retrieved 5 August 2012 from http://www.abcdef.com/localnews/view/17019 Problem: Globalisation has seen many companies expanding their business overseas. With this, there is a need to learn and improve cross-cultural communication. Failure to do so may lead to misunderstandings in the workplace. Purpose: To analyse a case study in which a Japanese managers message offended his Chinese subordinates. Questions to address in the oral presentation: 1. What did Mr Yamamoto, the Japanese manager, intend to convey to his Chinese subordinates? 2. Instead, how did his Chinese subordinates perceive his message? 3. According to his subordinates, what aspects of Chinese culture did Mr Yamamoto fail to consider? 4. Moving forward, how can Mr Yamamoto gain back his subordinates trust and cooperation? 5. What application can this case study have to us graduating students?
*For the purpose of illustration, this outline is fictitious.

Day/Time: Wed, 10:30am

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