MEMORANDUM

To: Dr. Lance Cummings

From: Arely Ramirez Diaz
Date: May 4, 2015
Re: Poland Applied Learning Project

During this semester, the professional writing course consisted of assignments meant to strengthen our
[the students] ability to write and communicate effectively with our audiences. The assignments entailed
for each of us to show what we have learned from our readings. For the Poland applied learning project,
we tested our potential by developing writing and communication skills, strategies for analyzing
audiences and flexible strategies for working collaboratively.

Develop writing and communication skills

Before writing the instructions for our groups audience our class had the luxury to be introduced to our
audience to get to know them. The introduction allowed our class to research and develop writing and
communication skills, competencies, and points of view needed by the audience we were to write
instructions for (Cummings, 2017). The Poland Handbook by Ronowicz enabled me to obtain basic
research from the audience that I was going to communicate with. Even though the handbook was a few
decades old, it allowed me to understand the Polish culture and create a relationship with my audience.

The yammer posts increased my awareness effective communication skills with a different culture. In the
yammer post I kept in mind that writing in international English was going to be important because
jargon, slang and sarcasm would not be easily understood. If I was ever worried about a sentence being
hard to understand I would use the Hemmingway app, an online editor, to ensure that certain sentences
would not be hard to read. Additionally, I stayed away from asking invasive questions that would prevent
the Polish students from feeling like I was intruding their privacy, or make them feel uncomfortable.

I illustrated my communication skills when I said, From what I have read is that the Polish culture finds
family to be important and proximity is typically not an issue, for example kissing each other the cheek.
Do you find that there are certain actions/traditions older generations follow, but your generation does
not? (Ramirez Diaz, 2017). I kept a welcoming tone that would create interaction.

I also noticed that the Polish student involvement increased when my classmates would continue the
conversation to someone else from the class. Allison Reardon illustrated this by stating, One question I
have is do you guys work or have jobs in between classes? Or if you don't work what do your parents
do? (Reardon, 2017) The first few comments were from our classmates and then there was an influx of
Polish students that joined. When we replied to another classmate it seemed like more Polish students felt
comfortable to respond.

Develop strategies for analyzing audiences

The class journals and class discussions allowed me to develop strategies for analyzing context, audience
and understand the purpose of instructional writing. The journals and yammer posts allowed our class to
explore our curiosity which is the advice Pellegrino Riccardi gave to the audience during his Ted talk. Our
class could get our questions answered about the Polish culture which created a sense of connection. I
was able to see that the Catholic church still persists through one of the yammer posts by Dominik
Orlowski which stated, Easter is very important time in lives of [C]atholics here in South Poland. And
one of the most interesting things about Easter is composing your own Easter basket(2017). I found it
interesting that religion is so important to the Polish that Dominik was not the only one to post about
Easter baskets.

Develop flexible strategies for working collaboratively

The hardest part of this project was to work efficiently together. Due to our conflicting schedules my
group opted for online teamwork. The first day Erin, Paxton, and I met for our group assignment we
decided to use the functional model of teamwork. We came to this understanding because each of us felt
like we were better at a specific skill. Erin could use a traditional recipe she knew and we felt was a
traditional cuisine for our area. Paxton could help with the design. I was to edit the instructions. Once we
began working we encountered issues with the established duties. Both Erin and Paxton had commitments
which prevented them from making the design for the initial instructions, so I had to make the first
instructions. I had never worked with In-Design before this class, therefore I had a difficult time
formatting images and designs. I managed to come up with an adequate draft after watching three
YouTube videos. Thankfully, after the first draft was turned in we went back to the initial plan of team
work. If I were to work on a collaborative assignment again I would create a calendar with schedules to
have a set time when each of us had our part due because it would make us aware of our individual
deadlines.
References
Cummings, L. (2017, January). Syllabus. Retrieved April 12, 2017, from https://uncw4-
my.sharepoint.com/personal/cummingsl_uncw_edu/_layouts/15/WopiFrame.aspx?sourcedoc=
%7B8BBFF424-237A-4DF4-A3E0 C261F7EC701E%7D&file=Syllabus_ENG204_SPR17
.docx&action=default

Orlowski, D. (20, April 2). Yammer. Retrieved April 03, 2017, from
https://www.yammer.com/zesp%C3%B3%C5%82szk%C3%B3%C5%82elektryczno-
mechanicznych/#/Threads/show?threadId=868800718

Ramirez Diaz, A. (2017, March 15). Yammer. Retrieved March 22, 2017, from
https://www.yammer.com/zesp%C3%B3%C5%82szk%C3%B3%C5%82elektryczno-
mechanicznych/#/Threads/show?threadId=859966044Ramirez Diaz, A. (2017, April 3). Progress
In-Class Journal:

Reardon, A. N. (2017, March 20). Yammer. Retrieved March 22, 2017, from
https://www.yammer.com/zesp%C3%B3%C5%82szk%C3%B3%C5%82elektryczno-
mechanicznych/#/users/1622822149

Yammer Discussion With Polish Students. Retrived April 12, 2017, from
http://ng.cengage.com/static/nb/ui/index.html?nbId=480
536&nbNodeId=169651986&eISBN=9781305671775#!&parentId=191272360