About the Course

Communication Techniques is a course designed for 2^nd year students who major in English. The course teaches the students to communicate correctly in English in different daily situations, to be careful when speaking with people from different cultures, familiarizes them with the body language and its significance in communication as well as gives a glimpse of the language development and history of human communication. The course includes 30 class hours.

Goals:

• Learn tips for effective communication, questioning techniques, appropriate ice-breakers and conversation starters;
• Speak with ease and confidence;
• Prepare and deliver a speech in public;
• List channels of non-verbal communication and analyze their importance in different cultures;
• Discover and use unlimited internet resources for language learning;
• Prepare individual project and presentations;
• Practice skills of online search; e-mail; power point, movie maker; YouTube;
• Learn how to publish created media online;

Requirements:

To complete the course successfully students need to present the following tasks and projects:

•   Student’s Portfolio;
• Online tasks, blog posts;
• Video CV;
• 2 evaluation tests;
• In-class project presentation;
• Public speech.

Oral presentations:

Dates assigned for oral presentations will be strictly observed. Make-up presentations may be arranged ONLY for “excused” absences, such as those caused by illness or by participation in an approved university activity. (Written medical excuse or authorized documentation is required). Otherwise, penalty of minus 1 point will apply.

Class presentation:

See the syllabus for texts and required assignments that will be covered each class. You are expected to come to class prepared to be able to discuss and participate in class activity in an intelligent and insightful manner. Participation is extremely important.

Attendance:

Attendance is essential for this class. Students are allowed 2 unexcused absences. Excused absences include medical excuses, religious observances and participation in university events such as sports or performances. Students who do not care have nothing to do in this class.

Classroom etiquette:

Please be on time. Switch off your cell phone during class. Please pay attention and listen quietly while your fellow classmates or I am speaking or presenting. Respect is important!

Evaluation:

Students will receive a grade for the course that will make up 20% of their final grade. Evaluation tests will make up 20 %, Portfolio and video CV 20 %. They will pass an oral examination – theory and practice, examination grade will constitute 40% of their final grade.

Grading Rubric for Class Presentation:

	1	2	3
Topic and time	The topic was not open. The speech was not to the subject.	The presentation was full of facts or lacked a lot of information. It was difficult to follow the logic between the slides	The students was speaking up to the point and the presented topic was opened completely. The information was presented in an interesting and logical way – it was easy to follow the speaker. 5-7 minutes
Eye contact	Speaker avoided eye contact, and was always reading from the notes or slides.	Good eye contact. Sometimes reading from the notes.	Spoke freely. Used slides just to comment on his/her ideas.
Voice/ Pronunciation	Spoke too slowly or too quietly. Had lots of pronunciation errors that made it difficult for the audience to follow the speaker.	Made some pronunciation mistakes, but it was easy to understand the message. Voice   loud enough.	Pronounced all the words correctly in a loud clear voice. Kept the attention of the audience.
Posture and gestures	Was showing tension and felt unassured while delivering the speech. Walked during his presentation without necessity, fidgeted.	Presented in a calm manner.	Presented in a calm manner using body language to prove the main points.
Grammar mistakes	Lots of grammar mistakes that make the speech uncomprehensible.	Some grammar mistakes.	No grammar mistakes.
Visual aids and Handouts	No visual aids or useless visual aids that did not help to open the topic.	Some visuals. Sometimes too much text on the slides or the handout did not meet the requirements.	Visual aids that enhanced the presentation and made it interesting. Handout done perfectly.
For 10 – 18 points