Transcript EUW/UUW 212: University English Week 1 (Chapter 1)

UVW 312:
English for Technical
Communication
Week 1 (Chapter 1 & 2)
Centre for International Languages
Semester 1(2015/2016)
Course Overview:
This course is designed to raise students’ communication
proficiency.
i. Primary focus: To improve students’
writing by familiarising them with technical
writing process (written technical
communication).
ii. Scope: major grammatical structures in
writing skills.
Assessments
1) Coursework:
i. Evaluation Report
ii. Questionnaire Design
iii. Presentation (Report)
15%
5%
10%
2) Test:
i. Midterm test
ii. Final Examination
20%
50%
TOTAL= 100%
Evaluation Report
What do you need to do?
• A SERVICE provided in UniMAP OR
• A PROGRAM organized by UniMAP.
• Topic will be assigned to each group.
Evaluation Report
Your report must have….
i. Executive summary
ii. Introduction
iii. Methodology
iv. Result and Discussion
v. Conclusion
vi. References
vii. Appendix
(Refer to Chapter 11, for a sample of Evaluation Report)
Technical Communication
First, what is communication?
• “The interchange of thoughts or information to
bring about mutual understanding, confidence
and effective human relationships”
(Biesler et al. 1990:1-2)
• Good communication is believed to result in
sharing the meaning of a message
• Verbal and Non Verbal (?)
Types of Communication
What do we need to communicate?
Flow of Communication
Channel
Sender
(Encoding
the
Message)
(means)
Barriers
Memo
Phone call
Sms
Fax
E-mail
To
communication
Receiver
(Decoding
The message)
What is Technical Communication?
Technical communication is communication
done at the workplace. It includes both written
and oral communication.
i. Usually has specific purposes and audiences.
ii. An important element in any workplace and
organisation.
iii. Communicate with colleagues and superior.
iv. Representing company at a conference/
presentation at meetings.
Types of Technical Communication
WRITTEN
– Letters, memos
– Reports
– Advertising and
promotional materials
– Guides, manuals,
instructions
– Newsletters, magazines
– Etc.
ORAL
– Formal and informal
presentations
– Group discussion
– Etc.
CMAPP Model
AUDIENCE
PURPOSE
CONTEXT
MESSAGE
PRODUCT
CMAPP Model
1. CONTEXT : surrounding situation, time place,
social distance, etc.
2. MESSAGE: content of the communication.
3. AUDIENCE: WHO do you want to reach?
4. PRODUCT: physical form of communication.
5. PURPOSE: Objective/ Reason for
communication.
WHY is it important for us to
communicate?
Importance of Communication
ORGANIZATION
SELF
All organization
require up-to-date
information to operate
efficiently.
Your knowledge and ideas
will be useless unless
you communicate them
to others.
Communication expertise
will be critical to your
career success.
Features of Technical
Communication
1. Purpose
-
To get something done (to complete a task,
persuade customers, as reminder, to inform
others)
2. Audience
- Specific readers
- the writer expects not only understanding
from readers, but also specific actions after
reading.
3. Organisation
- Use of headings / Subtopics
4. Style of writing
- simple, concise and straightforward.
- use of short sentences.
5. Tone
- objective and businesslike.
6. Graphics elements
- pictures, graphs, tables, etc.
- frequently used to help readers to find
important as quickly as possible.
Exercise
1. What do you understand about Technical
Communication?
2. At workplace, how can you communicate with your
boss or colleagues?
3. CMAPP Model is developed to describe about the
nature of technical communication. Define CMAPP.
4. Why communication is regarded as important at
any workplace?
5. What makes Technical Communication differ from
other types of writing such as academic writing or
personal essays?
The Technical Writing
Process
What is the writing process?
Why do we use writing process?
Steps to the Writing Process?
1. Planning
• WHAT TO WRITE?
• Writing down all information that you have on
your writing topic.
• RESEARCH about the topic.
• Techniques in Generating Ideas:
- Outlining
- Listing
- Mind Mapping/ Clustering
Outlining
Listing
Mind Mapping/ Clustering
Presenting Information
Deciding on the sequences of
your content paragraphs.
1. Chronological organisation
• Information is organised according to TIME or
WHEN the event takes place.
e.g: Development of Proton cars.
• Events can be described from the earliest to
the latest (ascending) or from the latest to the
earliest (descending).
2. Spatial Organisation
• Information are arranged according to
PLACEMENT/POSITION or GEOGRAPHY.
• E.g.:
Remove any jammed pieces of paper from the
copier. Firstly, turn the unit off and press the top
cover release button and open the cover. Check for
any jammed pieces of paper and remove. Open
the cover on the machine’s left side and check in
there as well. Turn on the copier and check to see
if it functions normally.
3. Comparing and Contrasting
• Information is arranged according to
SIMILARITIES and DIFFERENCES.
• E.g.:
– Advantages and disadvantages of _____________.
4. Most important to the least important.
e.g.:
A study conducted on customer satisfaction
index regarding this digital camera indicated
that the main complaint by many of the
consumers is that the battery life is too short.
This is followed by the second highest
complaint, which is that the functions
available are too limited and lastly, the third
highest complaint is that the body of the
camera is too fragile.
5. Cause and Effect order.
- REASONS for an event
- CONSEQUENCES of an action.
e.g.:
As the phenomenon of global warming worsens, it is
expected that energy expenditures for countries around
the world will show a marked increase as hotter
temperatures will mean more air conditioning for
consumers, and more difficult and expensive operating
conditions for electric power plants.
2. Drafting
• FIRST VERSION of the writing
• The focus is to DEVELOP the ideas you have
brainstormed, not to find errors in the writing
yet.
• Subject to change.
3. Revising
• Reading through and making changes to the
first draft.
– E.g.:
Rearrange the sentences / make
improvements in word choice.
• Make sure the message says exactly what it is
supposed to.
• Things to be considered:
– Have you put all the important information?
– Do the paragraph flow well?
– Did you wander from your points?
*The ABCs of Revising
A : Accuracy
• Have you chosen the right information for the
situation?
• Are all your facts relevant to the topic?
• Have you make sure that all the facts are
correct?
• Is the information supported by any evidence?
B: Brevity
• ‘ say what you need to say and stop’
• SIMPLE, CONCISE and STRAIGHT TO THE
POINT.
• NO wordy sentences OR irrelevant visuals.
C: Clarity
• Ability to be easily understood.
• Is the message CLEAR and UNDERSTANDABLE
to the audience?
• Words and grammatical structure.
• Organization of information.
• Way you present your message to your
audience.
4. Editing and Proofreading
• Modify / refine a written message to improve it.
• Editing :
 check the LENGTH and TYPES of sentences.
 use LANGUAGE that is APPROPRIATE for your
audience.
 avoid OVERUSED words.
 check for CLARITY, COMPLETENESS and TONE.
4. Editing and Proofreading
Proofreading :
 Look for general content errors
Misspelled words, incorrect spacing, punctuation and so on.
5. Publishing
• The final document (error-free) is ready for
publication.
• Deliver your document to the receiver OR
make it available to public.
• Consider the visual viewpoint of the writing.
Exercise
1. Writing is a process that involves several steps. How many
stages do we have in the technical writing process?
2. How many methods do we have in planning a piece of
writing?
3. When we are deciding the sequence/order of the information
in our writing, there are FIVE common organizational patterns
that can be used. Define each of them.
4. What is the ABC of Revising?
5. What is the difference between Editing and Proofreading?
TASK!!
• Make a research about the following topics.
• Next week’s discussion. 
Topics
Topic 1:
Discuss about things that you should do BEFORE, DURING And
AFTER attending a job interview.
Topic 2:
Men’s and Women’s physical appearance (attire, personal
hygiene, colour) for attending job interview.
Topic 3:
Things that you must avoid BEFORE, DURING and AFTER job
interview.
Topic 4:
Frequently asked questions for job interview + Tips to answer
them
Dealing with sensitive questions asked
Thank you 