Final Reflection

This class to me has been a blessing from the start. I had wanted to take this module since Year 1, but was told that it was available to only Year 2 students and above. When I was in Year 2, I was delighted. I tried bidding for this module, but astounding bid points and incompatible timetables left me disappointed. In Year 3 semester 2 (this semester), I persisted and was set on bidding for it when round 2 started. It slipped my mind that bidding for this module actually starts in round 1. When I realized it, it was already round 2. I started getting frantic because I was in camp and there was no internet connection. I thought I had missed the boat. The module was after all highly sought after. Thankfully, my friend brought his laptop which had internet connection and I borrowed it to check the bidding history. To my utter amazement, this class ES2007 group 4 had one available place!! I was so thankful. Yet there was another concern, since it was the last place. If others were to bid for it then, the bid points would soar and I would have a chance of being outbidded. I silently prayed, during the whole of round 2, that the place would be preserved for me. My being in this module is evidence that God hears prayers. Against all odds, the place was “kept” for me.

On the first day of class, I was with mixed feelings. I had feelings of anticipation yet a little fearful because I was unsure what was ahead. I knew that there was no magic formula to effective communication but I understood the importance of it in interpersonal relationships. I compared it with a tool of a carpenter, which needed regular sharpening to be effective for use. Indeed, my tool was sharpened through this module.

Owning a blog for the first time and posting my comments online gave me a sense of satisfaction and achievement. Constant writing improved my command of the language and made me more conscious of errors committed unknowingly. Constructing resume, job application letters, business letters and minutes, participating in a mock interview and class discussions, researching a project and presenting our findings, have greatly equipped me for the real world after graduate. I feel that this module has been a good training ground for me in that it has helped me raise my self-confidence through understanding the intricacies of effective communication and putting them into practice.

Indeed, all good things must come to an end. Looking back, this journey, though short, has been enriching and fun. I learnt a lot from fellow course mates during the review sessions and other class interactions. I am also privileged to have a tutor, who has a good grasp of the content matter and is well-endowed with a wealth of experience to share, which has inspired me in more ways than one. One word to describe this experience --- Thankful.

Be happy

Here's a very cute video by Huggies diapers. Enjoy! And always look on the bright side of life!

Reflection on Oral Presentation

Su..suc…succ….sussess….SUCCESSFUL. This was one word which I stumbled on during the presentation, and eventually managed to pronounce, albeit with some awkwardness. This was definitely evidence of nervousness and something which I saw coming actually. As much as I had tried to preempt the words which I thought were more challenging to pronounce, I guess nervousness still got the better of me and presented itself even in simple words. I also struggled a couple of times during the presentation to find the right words to use and I think this could be one area where I can work on. Making deliberate effort to articulate my thoughts and ideas in all situations, even if it’s just hanging out with friends, will allow me to expand my vocabulary and practise the use of the English language. This will inherently increase my confidence during presentations.

For me, I felt that there was a little struggle between trying to avoid looking at my notes and ensuring that I presented all that I had intended to say for each slide. I guess I wasn’t confident enough to do without my notes and did not want to risk going blank during the presentation, thus I was prepared with notes to fall back on. This could have been a good thing, on the one hand, because at least I had content for each slide regardless of the activity of my brain.:) On the other hand, having notes could have prevented me from engaging the audience as much as I had wished to, and caused me to hurry through my presentation, focusing on just getting through with what I needed to say.

I could go on and on talking about my weakness and how I could have done better but I also want to acknowledge God and the people around me who have helped me survive the preparation for this presentation, while trying to complete a lab report and study for a test today. I thank God that His grace is sufficient for me, and that His power is made perfect in my weakness. Although there were some hiccups here and there, I generally felt that I was braver during this presentation as compared to my previous presentation, where my lips and hands literally trembled as spoke. Haha… In addition, I am also thankful for my group mates who have been very helpful, supportive and encouraging throughout the research project and the preparation for this presentation.

Presentation is definitely not my forte. But as my tennis coach used to say when we lost a point, “Don’t worry, the next one can only get better.” I guess it’s true that I can only get better every time I present, because every presentation is an opportunity for me to learn from my mistakes and improve.

I am thankful for this experience, and look forward to your feedback! :)

Biodata

Grace is an undergraduate at the National University of Singapore. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Life Sciences, concentrating in Biomedical Sciences. Her interest in science was piqued in secondary school, when she was selected from among her schoolmates to present her project on diagnostic immunology to teachers from other schools. Her passion in science has propelled her to want to share her knowledge and enthusiasm in science with others. During her stint as a relief teacher, she was attached to the science department, where she was trained to communicate scientific concepts to students through preparing lectures and facilitating science experiments. She also participated in the MOE Excel Fest 2006, where she put together a presentation on DNA for the 2-day event and shared ideas with teachers and parents on creative ways to kindle the students’ interest in science.

Besides developing herself academically in the area of science, Grace is also active in pursuing her other interests, as she believes in having a holistic personal development. She is an avid tennis player and has represented her school to participate in inter-school tennis tournaments. Her enthusiasm in tennis also gained her a position as a secretary of her secondary school tennis team and vice-captain of her junior college tennis team, allowing her to hone her leadership skills. She also volunteered to help out in the national schools debate competition because she enjoys learning from the debaters and watching their exchange of ideas. Grace continually enriches herself through self-improvement courses in NUS, in addition to her studies, because she sees learning as a process, not an end.

Giving to others as much as she has received herself is the basis for Grace’s involvement in various community projects, and her service in various capacities in Church and in a Christian organization in school. Her strong principles and beliefs stem from her faith.

Laughter - A means of communication

An article in The Straits Times section “Mind Your Body” about laughter as a means of communication and a kind of “social glue” caught my attention, and I thought it would be interesting for us to share on the blog our thoughts and experiences with laughter as a means of communication.

A brief outline of the article “Send in the Clowns” (Source: The Straits Times, Mind Your Body, Gary Hayden)

• Laughter is a basic pleasure, akin to the pleasures of eating, drinking and having sex.
• Laughter keeps our minds flexible and adaptable and contributes to our survival because it helps us to respond creatively to new and unexpected situations.
• Laughter is a means of communication which develops a stronger bond between two persons, depending on the extent of laughter. The social bonding theory of laughter explains that we are 30 times more likely to laugh when we are in company. Dr Robert Provine, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Maryland, said: “Laughter is a message we send to other people. We know this because we rarely laugh when we are alone. We laugh to ourselves even less than we talk to ourselves.” Laughter is powerful also because it cuts across language and cultural barriers. People of every nationality can speak and understand the universal language of laughter.

For the purpose of this course, we’ll discuss the communication aspect of laughter and leave the others for another time.

Laughter is no doubt a communication tool in all societies and some call it the “punctuation” in everyday speech. Laughter can be a bane or boon in communication though, and it very much depends on the context of the situation and the reason for laughing. For example, laughter is an effective means of communication in a nervous situation, where people tend to laugh to make others feel more comfortable. In other situations, laughter evokes trust and avoids the “flight or fright response”. In an office setting, an employee laughing at a boss’s joke will serve to establish a rapport between the employer and employee. On the other hand, laughter can also be exploited by some as a communication tool to manipulate and control a relationship. Another scenario where laughter as a communication tool leads to negative implications would be the use of it to ridicule and ostracise another person. However, laughter can serve as an enjoyable social corrective in some instances because people are less likely to repeat their mistakes for fear of evoking laughter from others or ourselves. The situations and intentions for laughing therefore result in different responses to laughter and achieve different outcomes.

With regards to intercultural communications, laughter may lead to misinterpretation amongst people of different cultural groups for the same reason, and even more so because of inherent cultural differences. Some people see laughter as a universal language which transcends language and cultural barriers but I feel that cultural differences can affect the interpretation of laughter in some situations. In Milford, Patricia’s paper “Laughter as Communication: Some Intercultural Implications”, she explains three manifestations of laughter and only one of the three conveys a constant meaning across cultures, and that is the reflex response to a particular physical stimulus. The second manifestation depends on the socially learned behaviours of the heterogeneous groups and only when they share the similar attitudes or experiences will they benefit from laughing together. The third manifestation of laughter is where laughter encodes semantic meanings significant to the receiver and sender and depends on the context for interpretation, as I have discussed earlier.
We see from here that laughter as a means of communication is as likely to result in misunderstandings as any other forms of communication, but when used appropriately, is an effective tool to bridge relationships, heal hurts and bring joy to people around us.

Feel free to share anecdotes where laughter was used to your advantage/disadvantage while communicating with others or any thoughts on this topic. Share jokes if you want, I’m sure we all need a good laugh! :)

Here’s one to start the week…

A sign outside a secondhand shop
WE EXCHANGE ANYTHING - BICYCLES, WASHING MACHINES, ETC. WHY NOT BRING YOUR WIFE ALONG AND GET A WONDERFUL BARGAIN?

Intercultural Communication

I was in Busan, Korea, for a short conference and mission trip.

During the short mission trip, a group of eleven of us, consisting of seven Korean and four Singaporean students, had the opportunity to visit and stay in a small church in Busan. We were introduced to the Korean culture as we interacted with the pastor and his wife and the congregation there. The pastor and his wife were extremely hospitable and had no qualms about allowing us to stay in their church for the night. They even provided us with food and treated us to ice-cream and Chinese cuisine at a nearby restaurant before we left.

Manner of greeting

In Korea, when you meet an elderly or someone first, it is good manners to greet first by stooping at a 30 degree angle and maintaining that posture for two to three seconds, while holding up your head. As for men, keep your arms and hands tight to your body and as for women, keep your hands together in front and stoop. It should be done in front about 2 to 5 meters away. The upper body stooped in greeting should be held up slowly after the interval of one breath of receiving the other’s return courtesy. Also, stooping slightly is just enough as the manner but nodding is considered to be bad manners. It is good manners to keep eye contact while stooping and to maintain that posture for a second. It is also good to say Annyeonghasipnigga (Hello) while stooping.

Source: Seoul, Jang-gu Culture and Tourism, http://tour.junggu.seoul.kr/english/zoom/zoom03.php

Upon reaching the church, we were greeted first by the pastor’s wife, who was standing a considerable distance away from us. Her manner of greeting was the typical 30 degree angle stoop, with her hands together in front of her. Along with the stoop came the verbal greeting “Annyonghaseyo”. I wasn’t too sure how to respond to the greeting and was feeling a little nervy for fear that I would appear to be rude. Thankfully, the Koreans in my team immediately reciprocated the greeting in a similar manner. The four Singaporeans mimicked what they did.

In Singapore, we would normally go up to the person and give a handshake to someone whom we were meeting for the first time, but it wasn’t in their culture to do so. At that point, I actually felt like I hadn’t greeted the host properly and had the urge to go up to her and reach out my hand to offer a handshake, but I eventually refrained from doing so. I wasn’t sure how they would react to a handshake and thought I’d just play safe by following what the Koreans did.

On the last day, the pastor sent us off to the bus stop and, to our surprise, gave each of us a handshake before he left. Even then, his other arm and hand were kept tight to his body and his back was slightly arched, which were characteristics of the Korean manner of greeting. I wasn’t sure if it was the influence of western culture in their lifestyle too or it was out of courtesy for our culture that he offered the handshake, but I was really grateful for that handshake. It allowed me to sincerely thank him for his love and hospitality towards us throughout our short stay there, in a manner that I was familiar and comfortable with.

Letter Critique

A customer service manager of an airline company replying to a letter of complain from a passenger who had a bad experience with the airline company’s services on his return flight home. The complaints were that he had the same flight seat number as someone else, he asked for a pillow for his back pain but the stewardess never gave it to him and the meal on board was cold and unappetizing.

(Communication channel: Email)


Subject Line: Your Nov. 29 letter about your experience on flight no.765


Dear Steven,

I am writing with reference to your complaint about having an unpleasant flight on October 27, 2005.

First, I apologize for all problems occurred during your flight. We always make a great effort to ensure that important matters such as this are properly managed.

Due to computer system problems that rarely occur and current employees training program that will finish shortly, we have not succeeded in meeting your expectations.

In light of this, we have decided to look at all your complaints, and avoid these problems to appear next times. I hope also that this will provide a basis for continuing our relationship, because your satisfaction is our success.

To speak with me personally, just call on 12345678.

Sincerely,
Gregory Lim
Customer Services Manager



Analysis

This letter fulfilled the courtesy aspect of effective writing in that the Customer Service Manager apologized immediately to the passenger in the second paragraph, for the inconvenience experienced by the passenger during his return flight. That probably helped to build bridges between the manager and passenger, because the passenger’s grievances were acknowledged. The tone used in the letter was also appropriate. In the third paragraph, the manager mentioned “I hope” and “your satisfaction is our success”. The use of subjunctive mood and positive words would be effective in appeasing the passenger and reassuring him of the quality of services of the airline company.

However, the letter was not very clear in explaining the cause of the hiccups. In the second paragraph, the manager mentioned “current employees training program that will finish shortly” but did not elaborate on how this program had affected the services provided by the airline.

Furthermore, the letter was incoherent and lacked cohesion particularly in the second and third paragraph. In the second paragraph, the manager tried to give an explanation to the complaints expressed by the passenger, but in the subsequent paragraph, he told the passenger that they “have decided to look at all your complaints”. The incoherence was that they would have looked into the complaints already before they could give an explanation to the passenger. Also, the use of “In light of this” as a connector for the two paragraphs was not effective because ‘this’ was not specified and the ideas in the two paragraphs were not linked. To improve the flow of the letter, the order of both sentences could have been reversed. For example, “In light of your complaints, we have investigated the case and found out that the computers were faulty etc…”

The letter also lacked some concreteness in convincing the reader on the airline’s efforts to improve the services. The manager mentioned that the airline company makes great effort to ensure that such important matters are properly managed but went on to justify themselves by saying that the issues were caused by computer system problems that “rarely occurred” and the ongoing employees training program that “will finish shortly”. The justifying phrases used after each explanation suggested that the problems were somewhat unavoidable and passenger’s confidence in the airlines might be affected after reading this. More concrete information could have been given to the passenger. For example, “We have informed the respective departments to carry out system maintenance on the computers and monitor the employees work conduct etc…”

The letter could also be improved in terms of correctness in grammar and sentence structure to make it more formal and professional. For example, the last paragraph could be changed to “Please feel free to contact me at 12345678 should you have further concerns or enquiries.”

An Interpersonal Conflict

Mary was a senior employee in the company. She has worked in this company longer than anyone else and has put in a lot of effort in her work, sometimes to the extent of going beyond the call of her duties. The employer, Alice, appreciates her hard work and treats her very well.

Recently, a new employee, Lily, joined the company and being new to the company, Alice paid extra attention to her, making sure she was adapting well. Alice also assigned Mary to be Lily’s mentor because she trusted Mary. Furthermore, Mary was the most senior and experienced person in the company to guide Lily.

Initially, Mary was delighted to have someone to share some of her workload and gladly showed Lily the ropes. However, after a while, Mary noticed that Alice showered praises on Lily extravagantly, even more than she ever did on Mary. Mary felt that she was not getting enough recognition for her contribution to the company and was convinced that Alice was biased. She was also anxious that the stability of her job may be threatened by Lily’s presence.

Mary started to find fault with Lily. Being someone who was very particular about the minute details, she would rebuke Lily at the slightest mistake. Lily would also be reprimanded by Mary, should she not be able to meet the strict requirements and high standards of her mentor. Lily felt indignant and exasperated because she was still adapting to the new environment, yet she was not getting all the encouragement and understanding needed from Mary. Lily attempted to reason with Mary but to no avail as Mary would claim seniority and Lily did not want to offend her mentor. Lily also did not dare to approach Alice to tell her about this issue because she did not want to be seen as incapable and causing trouble to arise so soon after joining the company.

Alice has heard about incidents between these two employees. What should Lily do in this situation? How should Alice approach the issue?

Why developing effective communication skills is important to me

We are social beings and we interact with one another everyday. Communication skills are important to me because they are like tools to a carpenter. When a tool used for cutting is blunt, it will not be able to achieve its full potential of making a clean cut and may result in a coarse piece of work. We need to sharpen the tool regularly for it to be useful for its work. Similarly, it is pertinent to constantly develop our communication skills so that it becomes an effective tool to expedite the exchange of ideas and opinions, boost self-confidence and create good impressions while preventing undesirable outcomes.

Effective communication enables others to interpret and understand accurately what we are trying to convey. Each of us has different motivations and expectations when we communicate. Some people speak or write letters to clinch business deals, some to show concern and care and others to educate. The person on the receiving end can only interpret our intention through the words that we utter and our body language. If we do not express ourselves coherently, needless misunderstandings may arise because of misinterpreted intentions and our expectations may not be met. As the world becomes more interconnected and we interact with people from different nationalities, backgrounds, cultures and ideologies in school and eventually in the workplace, miscommunication may become more common if we do not possess effective communication skills.

Effective communication skills are also important to me because having them leaves others with a good impression of us and inevitably boosts our self-confidence. Lecturers and teachers who have crossed my path and displayed effective communication have led me to this realisation. Those who are strict with their use of language and precise with their words tend to be particularly meticulous, organized and clear-headed. Appropriate expressions and body language also bring out their wisdom and high emotional quotient. These are teachers who are approachable and clear in their instructions and who have benefitted students like me greatly. Therefore, I feel that it is important for me to write and speak effectively so as to leave a good impression on others and build relationships, which may pave the way for further collaboration and interaction.