ES2002 - Business Communication

The Business Communication course is intended to meet the demand for graduates who are trained to communicate effectively in business settings. The emphasis is on both speaking and writing with an audience-centred approach.

Objectives

ES2002 helps students to acquire skills in effective communication in business contexts, especially in building networks and the facilitation of meetings and discussions, critical and creative thinking through argument and synthesis, and persuasive writing and presentations. The course also provides suitable platforms in the classroom for students to operationalise the knowledge of these skills at frequent intervals so as to reinforce the significance of clear and persuasive oral and written communication. The key feature in this module is the contextualization of skills in activities such as business presentations, report writing, giving constructive feedback and problem-solving discussions that simulate the interpersonal and intercultural nature of authentic business communication.

Modular Credits: 4

Workload: 0-4-0-4-3

Preclusion(s): CS2301, ES2007A, ES2007D, ES2007E, ES2007S, IS2101

Prerequisites/Preclusions

Students are expected to have a certain degree of language proficiency before taking the ES2002 Business Communication module which focuses more on developing skills in students and not so much on language improvement. As such, students who are required to take ES1000 must clear it before taking ES2002.

Course Structure

Tutorials are structured to actively engage the students in the learning process to ensure the internalisation of the principles and strategies introduced as well as to encourage independent learning. The tutorial sessions include students' mini lectures, group discussions, presentations, case studies, self and peer reviews and group conferencing.

Course Content

• The communication process, problems and principles. To gain a general understanding of communication as a process.
• Meeting/group discussion skills. To become more effective meeting participants and to ensure more productive meetings.
• Letter writing skills. To produce successful letters, memos or emails in any given situation, paying attention to the objective, the reader-writer relationship and the context.
• Report writing skills. To understand the fundamentals of the report writing process and develop the critical skills necessary to produce convincing written reports that are characterized by a sound and an interesting discussion of data, logical conclusions and feasible recommendations.
• Intercultural communication skills. To become aware of important factors at play when communicating across cultures for improved communication with audiences of diverse backgrounds in the global business environment.
• Interpersonal skills. To become aware and more sensitive to some important considerations in interpersonal communication to ensure smoother interpersonal relations.
• Oral presentation skills. To become more effective confident speakers and deliver persuasive presentations.

Assessment

Evaluation is based on 100% Continual Assessment.

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