This document provides instructions for an assignment on effective oral communication in English for a course at the Open University of Malaysia. Students must write a paper between 2,500-3,000 words addressing oral communication in interpersonal, small group, and public speaking contexts. They must also prepare a 10-12 slide PowerPoint presentation summarizing the paper's content. The assignment is worth 30% of the course grade and will be assessed based on criteria for content, organization, language use, and presentation delivery. Plagiarized assignments will receive score deductions.

1. PENYERAHAN DAN PENILAIAN TUGASAN
ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION AND ASSESSMENT
KOD KURSUS /COURSE CODE : OUMH1303
TAJUK KURSUS /COURSE TITLE : ENGLISH FOR ORAL COMMUNICATION
SEMESTER /SEMESTER : MEI/MAY 2011 (SMP KHAS)
ARAHAN KEPADA PELAJAR / INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS
1. Tugasan ini mengandungi SATU (1) soalan sahaja yang disediakan dalam bahasa modul bercetak
kursus ini. / This assignment contains only ONE (1) question that is set in the language of the
printed module for the course.
2. Jawab dalam Bahasa Inggeris. / Answer in English.
3. Muatturunkan templet tugasan versi bahasa yang berkenaan daripada MyVLE untuk penyediaan
dan penyerahan tugasan anda. Tugasan anda hendaklah ditaip dengan menggunakan saiz fon 12
Times New Roman dan langkau baris 1.5. / Download the language version of the assignment
template concerned from the MyVLE for preparation and submission of your assignment. Your
assignment should be typed using 12 point Times New Roman font and 1.5 line spacing.
4. Tugasan anda hendaklah antara 2500 hingga 3000 patah perkataan tidak termasuk rujukan.
Bilangan perkataan hendaklah ditunjukkan di hujung tugasan anda. Jangan menyalin soalan dan
arahan tugasan dalam jawapan anda. / Your assignment should be between 2500 to 3000 words
excluding references. The number of words should be shown at the end of your assignment. Do
not copy the assignment question and instructions to your answer.
5. Anda dikehendaki menghantar tugasan KEPADA TUTOR BERSEMUKA. Anda dinasihatkan
menyimpan senaskah tugasan yang diserahkan untuk rujukan sendiri. / You must submit your
assignment TO TUTOR. You are advised to keep a copy of your submitted assignment for
personal reference.
6. Anda hanya boleh menghantar tugasan SEKALI sahaja dalam SATU fail. / You can submit your
assignment ONCE only in a SINGLE file.
7. Tugasan anda hendaklah diserahkan antara 13 Julai 2011 hingga 24 Julai 2011. Serahan selepas
24 Julai 2011 TIDAK akan diterima. / Your assignment must be submitted between 13 July 2011
and 24 July 2011. Submission after 24 July 2011 will NOT be accepted.
8. Tugasan hendaklah disiapkan secara individu. Anda dilarang meniru tugasan orang lain. Anda
juga dilarang sama sekali memplagiat kerja orang lain sebagai kerja sendiri. / Your assignment
should be prepared individually. You should not copy another person’s assignment. You should
also not plagiarise another person’s work as your own.
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2. ASSIGNMENT QUESTION
The language co-ordinator of a local college of higher education has invited you to present a paper
and a talk on ‘Communicating effectively in spoken English in selected social contexts’ to her
colleagues. The paper will be distributed to the language instructors before your talk.
1. Write the paper using these headings/sub-headings and notes below as well as others that
you may decide to use. Content given is suggested only; you may add your own ideas where
appropriate.
• Introduction: importance of speaking English for study and work purposes; basic
principles of effective speaking and listening skills; various forms of oral
communication in English; purpose of the paper and overview (see the main topics
and sub-topics below).
• How oral communication works: theories of oral communication; focus on the
transactional model of oral communication; how the components of the model work
together; what makes the process complex.
• Interpersonal communication: personal and impersonal situations; appropriate
topics of conversation; listening and speaking skills and strategies.
• Small group communication: description of functions; how small group
communication is organised; group members’ roles; question and answer strategies;
examples of small group communication in different social contexts (including
academic context).
• Public communication (or ‘public speaking’): social contexts where public
speeches occur and functions; making oral presentations; credibility of speaker and
related qualities; audience analysis for effective communication.
• Conclusion: summary of main ideas of paper; complexity of the speaking process;
knowledge and skills/strategies needed for effective speaking in different social
contexts; need for speech training.
(20 marks)
2. Prepare 10-12 MS PowerPoint slides based on the content of your paper for a 10 minute talk.
Use phrases rather than whole sentences in your slides. Use numbered/bulleted lists to
organise and present main/supporting ideas on a given slide. Make your slides visually
interesting by using appropriate colours for the background and suitable embedded symbols
and pictures.
(10 marks)
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3. [Total: 30 Marks]
The breakdown of marks is as follows:
1. Written Paper – 20 marks
2. Oral Presentation – 10 marks
Total: 30 marks
1. WRITTEN PAPER (20 marks):
Assessment Criteria
(Marks Allotment)
Descriptors Marks
CONTENT &
ORGANISATION
(12 marks)
Very Good to Excellent:
Substantive and knowledgeable development of assigned
topic; ideas are relevant to topic; ideas appropriately and
interestingly selected; ideas logically and coherently stated;
supported and sequenced; overall coherence achieved.
Average to Good:
Some knowledge of assigned topic; adequate range of ideas;
ideas are mostly relevant to topic but lack details; loosely
organised but main ideas stand out; limited support; logical
but incoherent in parts.
Poor to Fair:
Limited knowledge of the assigned topic; ideas are of little
substance and inadequate; ideas are somewhat confused or
disconnected; lacks logical sequencing and development.
9-12
5-8
0-4
LANGUAGE
(8 marks)
Very Good to Excellent:
Very effective use of complex sentence structure;
sophisticated and effective range of vocabulary; appropriate
register; few grammatical errors.
Average to Good:
Effective simple sentences; adequate range of vocabulary;
several grammatical errors but meaning not obscured.
Poor to Fair:
Major problems in use of simple sentences; limited and
repetitive choice of vocabulary; frequent grammatical errors
causing unclear meaning.
7-8
4-6
0-3
TOTAL MARKS 20
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4. 2. ORAL PRESENTATION (10 marks):
Component Descriptors Scores
Effective
Presenter
Excellent presenter who presents ideas coherently and clearly; uses
appropriate voice volume and intonation; uses suitable linguistic
expressions; communication is not at all affected by minor errors;
natural and no reading of prepared slides.
9-10
Good
Presenter
Satisfactory presenter who is able to present ideas coherently and
clearly most of the time, uses acceptable voice volume and
intonation; uses some suitable linguistic expressions;
communication generally not affected by errors; some reading from
prepared slides but not too obvious.
7-8
Fair
Presenter
Less than satisfactory presenter; some ideas are lost or confusing,
uses inappropriate voice volume (too soft) or intonation; uses poor
linguistic expressions; communication sometimes affected by major
errors; some reading from prepared slides.
5-6
Poor
Presenter
Poor presenter with little or no communication taking place; shows
inability to perform task; cannot respond to audience; incoherent and
poor use of language features; total reading from prepared slides.
0-4
TOTAL MARKS
10
TOTAL= 30 marks
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5. GUIDE FOR STUDENTS
1. Refer to Module Topics (see e.g. Topics 1.1. 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.13 – 2.36, 2.3, 6, 7, 8 and 10) on
speaking effectively in interpersonal situations, in small group situations, and in public.
Summarise the information as much as possible to highlight the importance of English in the
Malaysian context, the main benefits of speaking well in English, and how these may be
derived from speech training.
2. Search the Internet using Google, Yahoo or any other suitable search engine for more
information on the important status of English globally as well as locally, and benefits of oral
communication in English. Use various combinations of the keywords taken from the notes
given under each sub-heading in the assignment question. Remember to source information
from reputable websites such as university or college sites.
3. Note the URL or web address of useful websites that you access. Write down also the author
and page title (if available), and the date you accessed the page so that you can include the
information in your references page at the end of your paper.
4. Use a uniform colour scheme for the background in your MS PowerPoint slides. Make sure that
your text in the slides is not too wordy. In other words, do not merely copy and paste
paragraphs or even whole sentences from your paper. Summarise and use numbered lists and/or
bulleted lists to present your main ideas and supporting points. Remember that you are
preparing the slides to talk about the ideas contained in them, not to read continuously from the
slides!
5. Use pictures and/or drawings to make your slides interesting but these graphic elements must
be relevant to the content of your presentation. If you want to link short video clips to your
presentation, do talk with your tutor to see if it may be feasible.
GUIDE FOR THE TUTOR
1. Please help the students structure both their paper and the MS PowerPoint presentation slides.
Check to see that the headings and sub-headings of the paper and the slide presentation form a
coherent whole.
2. Advise students on aspects of content and organisation as well as (academic) language style so
that they are able to revise their work accordingly.
3. When possible, assist students with accessing the Internet for relevant information that they can
use in their paper or presentation. Advise them about how they can avoid plagiarism when
sourcing information i.e. by summarising, paraphrasing, quoting, commenting on and
documenting the information that they obtain from various sources. Tell them how to use the
APA style (6th
ed. if available) of documenting resources/references.
4. Examine/Mark student assignments and enter the respective student’s marks into the OMES.
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6. _________________________________________________________________________________
PENILAIAN / EVALUATION
Tugasan ini akan menyumbangkan 30 % daripada jumlah markah kursus berkenaan dan akan
dinilai berdasarkan kepada Skema Jawapan. / This assignment accounts for 30 % of the
total marks for the course and shall be assessed based on the Answer Scheme.
Anda akan diberikan maklum balas tentang tugasan ini sebelum Peperiksaan Akhir Semester
bermula / You would be given feedback of the assignment before the Final Semester
Examination commences.
PLAGIARISME : POTONGAN MARKAH / PLAGIARISM : MARKS DEDUCTION
Amaran : Tugasan yang diserahkan secara automatik akan disemak untuk menentukan kadar
pertindihan. Jika plagiarisme dikesan, markah akan dipotong seperti berikut: / Warning :
The submitted assignment will automatically undergo a similarity check. If plagiarism is
detected, marks would be deducted as follows:
 Tugasan dengan pertindihan kandungan antara 10 - 30 % : potongan 20% daripada
jumlah markah yang diperolehi.
 Tugasan dengan pertindihan kandungan lebih daripada 30 % : Markah sifar akan
diberikan.
 Assignments with 10 - 30 % overlap with others : 20% deduction from the total marks
scored.
 Assignments with more than 30% overlap with others : Zero mark would be given
MUKA SURAT TAMAT / END OF PAGE
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7. _________________________________________________________________________________
PENILAIAN / EVALUATION
Tugasan ini akan menyumbangkan 30 % daripada jumlah markah kursus berkenaan dan akan
dinilai berdasarkan kepada Skema Jawapan. / This assignment accounts for 30 % of the
total marks for the course and shall be assessed based on the Answer Scheme.
Anda akan diberikan maklum balas tentang tugasan ini sebelum Peperiksaan Akhir Semester
bermula / You would be given feedback of the assignment before the Final Semester
Examination commences.
PLAGIARISME : POTONGAN MARKAH / PLAGIARISM : MARKS DEDUCTION
Amaran : Tugasan yang diserahkan secara automatik akan disemak untuk menentukan kadar
pertindihan. Jika plagiarisme dikesan, markah akan dipotong seperti berikut: / Warning :
The submitted assignment will automatically undergo a similarity check. If plagiarism is
detected, marks would be deducted as follows:
 Tugasan dengan pertindihan kandungan antara 10 - 30 % : potongan 20% daripada
jumlah markah yang diperolehi.
 Tugasan dengan pertindihan kandungan lebih daripada 30 % : Markah sifar akan
diberikan.
 Assignments with 10 - 30 % overlap with others : 20% deduction from the total marks
scored.
 Assignments with more than 30% overlap with others : Zero mark would be given
MUKA SURAT TAMAT / END OF PAGE
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