The Implementation of Advanced English
Communication Skill of University Graduate
to Foster their Professionalism
By : LUBNA ALGADRIE
Spoken interaction has played a major role in communication. High degree of effectiveness to employ advanced communication skill demands more than acknowledge of function, form and vocabulary, but also to employ cooperative behavior and to understand and to use accurate and appropriate verbal and non-verbal language. Improvement in the teaching and learning English should be done in interrelated levels related to teachers, materials, learners’ needs, material and the strategies.
This paper will explore the role of the interrelated levels in relation with the university graduate English competence based on 5 year case study in preparing the university graduates to foster their professionalism through content based and immersion model (Snow, M.M.2001)
A brief curriculum vitae.
Lubna Algadrie, Head of ITS Language Centre and an editor member of ITS scientific journal. Graduate from IKIP- Malang, she also got her Dipl. TEFL and MA in Sydney University, Australia. Since then she has conducted researches and developed materials in ELT and English for Specific Purposes (ESP). she joined English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course in UK (1997) and made a study visit Avignon University, France (2000). She has actively participated in the professional activities both at home and overseas and developed course for both university students and professionals. Since 2000 she has known as one of English Language Scholars and Researchers in SEAMEO countries. In 2003 she got Satya Lancana Karya Satya 30th from the President of the Republic of Indonesia.
Introduction.
The most commonly expressed objective of modern language teaching is to encourage learners to become communicatively competent. In fact communicative teaching methodology which will enable learners to master the communication competence usually requires the negotiation of meaning in real communicative situations. But so far most studies in the area of foreign language course design tend to deal up with the level of the textbook which often involves series of course books devoted to the development of a special skill needed by the learners. Very often these materials only deal with a single level integrating several skills. Moreover the language teaching in the L2 classroom traditionally is strongly teacher-controlled. Littlewood (1982 – 1984) stated however much we try to match content with communicative needs, the learners will only be able to communicate successfully in every day situation if we help them loanwords, a communicative ability which is sufficiently flexible and creative to go beyond the needs we predicted. In the last twenty years communicative language teaching has been put forth around the globe as the new challenging innovative way to teach English as a second or foreign language. The objectives are usually formulated into to develop the learners’ ability to understand and to express themselves in a foreign language, to foster the learners’ positive attitude towards communicating in a foreign language, to heighten their interest in language and culture, thus deepening international understanding.
If this aim can be achieved for graduate candidates who learn English before graduation, surely this skill will enable to foster their professionalism in terms that they can be better negotiators.
How Communication Skill be taught?
Communication skill usually puts the focus on the learners. Learner communicative needs provide a framework for elaborating program goals in terms of functional competence. Communication skill is not only concerned with face to face oral communication. The teaching approach involves an orientation towards collective participation in a process of use and discovery achieved by cooperation between learners as well as between learners and teachers.
How to design the course?
One thing that should be realized that in the teaching of communication skill to learners who are accustomed to being taught in their mother tongue may be at first be uncomfortable if the teacher speaks to them in English all the time. On the contrary learners often expect the teacher to express his/ her ideas in native – like English while the learners need to interpret, express and negotiate meaning. In fact, in the process of language learning learners should be involved psychologically as well as intellectually so that immersion process can be achieved.
On the teaching of communication skill, the basic level/ stage of competence of the learners should be taken into consideration for designing the teaching material.
At the Elementary level the teaching of communication skill should be more concerned with eliciting an increasingly wide range of linguistic forms and improving the quality of this range. Activities needed in class can be described as two level talk where language is used as conversation. Language games can be one of good alternatives.
How to implement advanced communication skill to foster the professionalism of the learners?
In many occasions professional course participants who are mostly professional in their own fields are mostly interested in taking English course which focuses on communication skill, inspite of the fact that the overall other basic skills are still very low. In the teaching of communication skill a teacher will find that once an activity gets goring the element of speed and unpredictability further to underline the spontaneity, creativeness and dynamism of oral interaction (Cicilia Tony, 1984).
Preparing the university graduate to be better competitors additional, English course (non-curricular program) should be made available which usually rely on the program provided by the university language centre.
In the course design process there are many factors that should be taken into consideration such as:
· Environment analysis
· Need analysis
· Application of principles.
Ø Environment Analysis.
This is a ranked list of situational factors and consideration of their effects on the design such as:
- What is your subject area?
- How often do you speak English?
- To whom do you speak English?
- Are you highly motivated to learn English?
- Why do you have to take the course?
- With whom are you taking the course?
- How large is the group?
The important of environment analysis is that it helps ensure that the course will be suitable, practical and realistic.
Ø Need Analysis.
Learners’ needs can be seen from 3 points. (Huthinson and Waters, 1987):
- Necessities, lacks and wants:
- Necessities:
What the learners has to know to function effectively? It can be listed into questions like:
- What skill do you need most in practice?
- Reading
- Writing
- Speaking
- Listening
- What kind of English do you need?
- General English
- Academic English
- Specific English for specific field
- What kind of social function is the kind of English you want?
- Political
- Educational
- professional
- Lacks:
What the learner doesn’t knows and know already
- What is the level of proficiency of the learner?
- What does the learner consider to be the most important?
- Wants:
What the learner thinks he/she needs. This can be known by asking these following questions:
- What is the target of taking the course?
- taking internationally standardized test (TOEFL , IELTS) for further study
- participating in an International seminar/ workshop
- presenting English paper
- joining English debate contest
- public talk etc.
Another factor which also need to be taken into account is the learner’s profiles covering:
- individual differences
- learning styles
- learner’s attitude
- learner’s motivation
- learner’s learning strategies
Ø Application of Principles
Research on language teaching and learning should be made to guide decision in designing the course material, method, and strategies.
Principles related to learners’ attitudes and motivation and the teacher should apply the most important principles based on the theory of linguistics and make sure that these are properly applied in the course.
Communication skill can be improved if the course is carefully planned, to cover:
- the important high frequency vocabulary and structure such as those used in:
- meeting
- negotiations
- telephoning
- sending email etc.
- list of topics such as:
- business meeting
- negotiating
- employment contracts
- service relationship
- private sales
- hard selling
- compensation
- custody battles
- warranty disputes.
- Lists of sub skill and strategies:
Which include the sub skills of listening reading and writing.
- List of themes
At this stage is making sure that the learning goal of the course are met.
- Relating of goal and activity type,. it should cover:
- quantity of talk
- motivation use of activity type.
Model of communication skill design for ITS graduate candidates (special course)
Design is based on result of environment and need analysis and application of principles needed in the course.
|
Participant : |
ITS graduates |
|
Skill needed : |
Advanced communication skill |
|
Subject area : |
Industrial Technology |
|
Frequency of English use : |
Very rare |
|
Whom to speak : |
Business friends, supervisors, guess – speakers |
|
Motivation : |
High |
|
Background competence : |
Advanced level |
|
Group course : |
peers of the same level |
|
Group size : |
10 persons |
|
Kind of English : |
Academic English |
|
Priority : |
Speaking skill. (communication skill) |
- Target
- Participating in workshop/ seminar in English.
- Taking international standardized test
- Individual data
- age : between 26 – 32
- learning strategies : translation method
of the learners passive reading.
- Duration of course: 36 hours/ 18 meeting
- Expectation
- get better promotion
- get chance for training/ further study.
- be better communicators
MATERIAL DESIGN: Topics of course material
General Material :
1. How to make a good introduction
2. You and your company
3. Your job
4. Telephoning
5. Receiving call
6. Flight Departure
Business Communication:
7. How to plan a meeting
8. Greeting – socializing
9. Culture element in-addressing people
10. Requests and offers
11. Taking and learning messages
12. Making plans
13. Fixing an appointment
14. Presentation
15. Handling question session
16. Directions
17. Apologies
18. Entertaining
Strategies:
- Discussion
- Pair conversation
- Writing assignment
Communication skill is mostly required in ELT for it is believed that negotiating skill needed by the professionals are rooted from there.
The success of communication skill course depends on how need analysis are done in the interrelated levels and the implementation of the result of the analysis into appropriate course design. Selection of topics will enable the course participants to get the model for real situation they night encounter in real situation.
Reference:
- Communicative Curriculum Design for the 21st century, Goodland. Kansas, Journal, English Teaching Foreign Jan 2002 page 2 – 7.
- Cicilia Tony; System vol. 12 NoPP133 –1984.
- Huthinson and Waters, English for Specific purposes Cambridge. Cambridge University Press, 1989.
- Little wood W, 1981 Communicative Language Teaching, Cambridge, Univ.Press.
- Snow M.M 2001 Content Based Immersion Models for Second Language Teaching. In the Teaching English as a second Language (3rd ed) ed M. Celce . Murcia Boston M Heinle and Heinle PP 303 - 318
- Wada. M. cd 1994. The Course of Study for Senior High School; Foreign Language as (English Version) Tokyo, Kairyudo