Salem Community College

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1 Salem Community College Course Title: Business and Occupational Writing Course Code: ENG122 Lecture Hours: 3 Lab Hours: 0 Credits: 3 Course Description: ENG 122 is designed to help students improve their written and oral technical and business-related communications. Instruction is provided in the techniques of efficiently and effectively composing letters, memos, proposals, reports, summaries, abstracts, descriptions, specifications, resumes, as well as delivering oral presentations. Place in College Curriculum: Business and Occupational Writing may be taken as an English or humanities elective by any student. It is especially recommended for students planning careers in business-related positions in which communication skills are necessary for success. Also, this course may be substituted for ENG 102 by students who do not wish to pursue a four-year degree. Students should consult a counselor or the instructor to be sure that this course will satisfy the English requirement in their major. Prerequisite: ENG 101 Credits: Three (3) College-level credits

2 Course Performance Objective #1 Students will create written communication that is appropriate for the workplace audience. 1. Students will assess and respond to their audience s information needs. 2. Students will produce written communication that is user centered. 3. Students will create written communication that is clear and concise. 4. Students will produce a variety of written communication documents, such as memos, letters, brochures and pamphlets, instructional materials, reports, and proposals. 5. Students will create documents that are written for people of varying audience types. 6. Students will recognize primary and secondary audiences for their correspondence 7. Students will recognize and employ various strategies for connecting with an audience. 8. Students will cite common communication constraints and explain how to address those constraints. Course Performance Objective #2 Students will recognize and avoid unethical written and oral communication in their assignments. 1. Students will name common causes and types of unethical communication. 2. Students will cite examples of unethical communication. 3. Students will explain how critical thinking can promote ethical decisions and ethical communications. 4. Students will define plagiarism and its penalties and will avoid plagiarism in their assignments. 5. Students will practice paraphrasing, summarizing, and appropriate citation of sources. Course Performance Objective #3 Students will edit documents for appropriate style. 1. Students will define, recognize and eliminate ambiguity. 2. Students will apply standard English rules of mechanics and usage. 3. Students will avoid awkward use of passive voice, wordiness and redundancy, vague and ambiguous diction, and confusing pronoun references. 4. Students will compose communications which employ appropriate sentence structures and which adhere to the principles of logical coordination, subordination, parallelism, and discourse. 5. Students will recognize and employ tone appropriate to the intended audience.

3 Course Performance Objective #4 Students will define and practice creative thinking. 1. Students will develop and engage in brainstorming activities prior to composing their correspondence. 2. Students will develop and practice mind-mapping activities. 3. Students will define and practice storyboarding. Course Performance Objective #5 Students will engage in collaborative classroom activities. 1. Students will define the characteristics of successful collaboration. 2. Students will explain the function of the members of a group. 3. Students will describe the role of the project manager. 4. Students will establish guideline for managing a collaborative project. 5. Students will describe and practice methods to resolve conflicts in group activities. Course Performance Objective #6 Students will engage in the research activities. (IL) 1. Students will select an instructor-approved research topic. 2. Students will locate electronic and print resources from reliable sites and sources. 3. Students will evaluate their sources for timeliness, accuracy, balance and bias. 4. Students will use both primary and secondary sources. 5. Students will practice incorporating their research into their documents. 6. Students will practice correctly citing their research sources using MLA, APA, or other approved method. Course Performance Objective #7 Students will compose and edit a variety of documents using the appropriate form. 1. Students will distinguish an author s main points from supporting material when composing summaries. 2. Students will distinguish between and recognize the elements of various types of abstracts and summaries: closing summaries, informative abstracts, descriptive abstracts or executive abstracts. 3. Students will compose a variety of letter types, including letters of application, complaint, and inquiry.

4 4. Students will compose a variety of reports including proposals and progress reports. 5. Students will compose a description of a process, or a description of a physical entity, which emphasizes logical order, perspective, and the use of transitional language. Course Performance Objective #8 Students will create visuals to enhance their documents. 1. Students will explain when visuals are appropriate. 2. Students will identify common types of visuals. 3. Students will describe the strengths and weaknesses of various types of visuals. 4. Students will determine which types of visuals are appropriate to various correspondence. 5. Students will include appropriate visual supplements, including computer generated visuals, in their correspondence. Course Performance Objective #9 Students will create attractive, usable page design. 1. Students will explain the importance of page design. 2. Students will demonstrate the effective use of white space. 3. Students will select appropriate fonts and size. Course Performance Objective #10 Students will compose their resume. 1. Students will describe the purpose of a resume. 2. Students will examine various approved resume formats and select one for use. 3. Students will prepare an inventory of their own employment and educational experience. 4. Students will compose their own resume. 5. Students will compose their own cover letter employing the strategies discussed in class. Course Performance Objective #11 Students will simulate job-search and interview techniques, and create a resume.

5 1. Students will search hard-copy and on-line sources for jobs in their major. 2. Students will search hard-copy and on-line sources to determine the salary range for a job of interest to them. 3. Students will search current on-line sources to determine questions frequently asked by employers. 4. Students will discuss and evaluate potential responses to common interview questions. 5. Students will engage in mock interview sessions. Course Performance Objective #12 Students will give a 10-minute extemporaneous presentation to their classmates. 1. Students will research an instructor-approved topic from current, reliable on-line and hard-copy sources. 2. Students will document their sources and create a Works-Cited page (MLA documentation form). 3. Students will explain the differences between an impromptu, memorized, scripted, and extemporaneous speech delivery. 4. Students will deliver their extemporaneous speech using only notes and are encouraged to use visual aids. 5. Students will deliver their presentations at a conversational pace while employing effective volume and inflection, and appropriate use of gesture and body language.

6 General Education Requirements: The general education goals addressed in ENG 122 include written and oral communication, critical thinking and problem solving. Additionally, the course emphasizes teamwork and ethical behavior. Course Activities: The students will participate in lecture, group activities, written and oral communication assignments both in and outside of class, critical thinking and problem solving exercises, and research projects. (IL) Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend all classes and labs. Instructors will announce their own attendance policies which will appear on the course guides presented to the students. Academic Honesty Policy: Students found to have committed an act of academic dishonesty are subject to failure in the course, academic probation, and/or suspension from the College. See the Student Handbook for additional details. ADA Statement: If you have a 504 Accommodation Plan, please discuss it with your instructor. If you have any disability but have not documented it with the Disability Support coordinator at Salem Community college, you must do so to be eligible for accommodations. To contact the Disability Support Coordinator, call , or [email protected] to set up an appointment. To find out more information about disability support services at Salem Community College, visit Means of Evaluation: Please refer to the instructor s syllabus addendum (to be distributed in class) for specific information regarding the course requirements and means of evaluation. Required Text: For textbook information, please see the Salem Community College Bookstore Website