Faculty of Engineering

A Course offered by the Department of English

Course Action Plan

Level: Engineering students
Term: Fall 2017

Course Title: Speech Communication

Course Code: ENGL 300
Number of Credits: 2 Credits

Instructor: Ms. Abla Saadeh

Email: a.saadi@bau.edu.lb

Course Coordinator: Dr. Laila Helmi

Office: Beirut Campus, Hariri Building Floor 9, Room 923

1 ENGL 300 Action Plan Fall 2017

1- Course Description and Overall Aims:

Theory and practice of speech communication behavior in one-to-one, small group, and public
communication situations are introduced. Students learn more about themselves, improve skills
in communicating with others, and prepare and deliver formal public speeches.
The course aims to:

The academic aims of the course are:

to provide understanding of speech within a broad biological and, to some extent social, context
to provide students with the conceptual tools and background knowledge required to understand
developments in the speech sciences, including appreciation of the range of sources of evidence
and the multiple levels of theoretical analysis
to inculcate skills of scientific reasoning, research and reporting useful not only to specialists in the
speech sciences and related disciplines and professions, but also to graduates who proceed to other
professions

2- Intended Learning Outcomes of the course (ILOs):

(a) Through knowledge and understanding, students will be able to
(k1) - Define key components of a communicative act
(k2) - Collect relevant information
(k3) - Summarize relevant information
(k4) - Convert information into effective presentations and
PowerPoint
(k5) - Describe communication barriers
(k6) - Identify different aspects and effects of body language
(k7) - Outline a successful job-interview
(b) Intellectual skills
(i1) - Predict and remedy possible communication barriers
(i2) - Produce effective PowerPoint slides
(i3) - Illustrate information to make communication more effective
(i4) - Analyze pictures to show comprehension of body language
(i5) - Appraise questions and the audiences response for effective
follow-up
(c) Professional and practical skills
(p1) - Organize questions and the audiences response for effective
follow-up
(p2) - Classify verbal and paraverbal communicative aspects
(p3) - Design an effective communicative event / an effective
presentation
(d) General and transferable skills
(g1) - Communicate effectively and successfully
(g2) - Manage job-interviews
(g3) - Improve personal communication skills
(g4) - Develop effective interpersonal communication skills

2 ENGL 300 Action Plan Fall 2017

Weekly Plan

Week One:
(Sept. 5-Sept. - Introduction to rules and regulations
8) o Attendance Policy
o Continuous Assessment Procedures
o Students are expected to take notes in class
o Students are expected to be active via iconnect for uploaded
handouts, announcements, reminders, grades,...
- Introduction to the course (Use of AV material)
o The course addresses speech communication directly and
indirectly. Students are expected to prepare Power Point
presentations on topics assigned by the instructor.
o The topics are announced on a weekly basis to ensure that
the time of preparation is the same for all students.
o Division of grades (grades breakdown + components)
o Policy of makeup exams for students' missed assessments
o Bonus work (to be submitted at the end of the course;
material: photo shooting or critiquing/summarizing an
article on speech communication)

o Digital video
o Graded Harkness Discussion
o Oral Presentations: A group of 2-4 students (depending on
the number of students in class divided by the number of
topics) gives a presentation on the same topic. Their
presentations will be assessed by their instructor: each
presenter will be assessed alone. Students may choose to go
solo and present individually.
o Evaluation of the presentations is based on the presenters
tone, body movements, interaction, handling of questions,
use of time.
- The content of the presentations given by the students, along with
the feedback the instructor provides, constitutes part of the material
for the course: students should make sure to be attentive and take
notes.
- It's advisable this semester that presenters prepare an exercise
for the class after they finish their presentation. This way
learning would be more effective and the material would be
easily internalized.
o Midterm exam (written or preferably oral if the number of
students allows)
o Final Exam (format)

- Elements of an effective Power Point presentation.

- Selecting relevant points
- Deciding which items to provide with detailed explanation.
- The importance of tone - body movements - well-organized slides -
interaction with the audience, eye-contact etc

3 ENGL 300 Action Plan Fall 2017

 - The importance of the tone, strength of speed, power of pitch,
intonation and stress.

1. What is Speech Communication? What does it involve?

2. What is the difference between listening and hearing?
3. Types of speech (informative, argumentative, and persuasive)

Assignments:
Read the article entitled "9 Self-improvement Strategies for Engineers"
uploaded to your iconnect homepage

Week Two:
Guided Discussion of the above assigned article in preparation
(Sept.11-15) for Harkness discussion next time whereby a group are seated
together and start conversing aloud about a topic the teacher
assigned ahead of time without the instructor's interference
1. Using Language To Communicate
2. Quotes on speech communication + commentary
3. Adlibing and improvising a speech
4. Tongue Twisters

Discuss Types of messages in communication

o Verbal, nonverbal & Paraverbal Communication Components
Verbal vs Paraverbal Communication Skills
Power Point presentations: Highlights

Week Three: Continue Discuss Types of messages in communication

(Sept.18-22) o Verbal, nonverbal & Paraverbal Communication Components
Verbal versus Paraverbal Communication Skills
Power Point presentations: Highlights

Personality types & communication preferences

o Personality types & communication tendencies
o Types of Questions: close-ended, open-ended, wonder-type/
Rhetorical,....
o Responding Effectively to Questions

During & After Presentations:

- Instructor
o provides feedback, comments, fills in the gaps
o presents questions, comments on audience
o comments on etiquette and ethics relevant to presenter and
audience
o discusses students oral peer-assessment
o offers assessment
4 ENGL 300 Action Plan Fall 2017
 Wrap up previous lecture
o Appreciative Inquiry
o The Purpose of AI - The Four Stages
Tone, Pitch & Intonation (How to Flex Your Communication Style.
Do people hear what you are saying or how you say it??)

Dynamic Listening Skills for Effective Communication (Developing

dynamic listening skills to ensure effective communication is the secret ingredient to your
organizations bottom-line demands!)

10 minute Harkness discussion trial

Week Four: Graded digital video speech (10%)

(Sept.25-29)

Week Five Continue Graded digital video speech (10%) if needed.

(Oct. 2 -
Oct. 6) Use of figurative language in communication

Optical Illusions
Understanding the Mehrebian Study

Drills on figurative language (Irony, simile, metaphor, paradox, idioms,

)
Types of written speech + Drills

Material wrap up + Revision

Week Six:
(Oct.9-13) Midterm-Exam (20%)

Week Seven Oral Presentations (20%)

(Oct. 16-20)
Group 1 Topic: Oral and Written Business Communication Skills

Group 2 Topic: Hierarchy at the workplace: Communication

Etiquette, email etiquette, pragmatics, politeness, behavior, actions,
responses, Get heardregardless of where you sit in the organization
Communicate Up, Down and Across the Organization

Group 3 Topic: Developing Our Emotional Intelligence to Maximize

Communication Efficacy

Group 4 Topic: Responding to Conflict: Strategies for Improved

Communication (Learn to manage disputes and disagreements positively and proactively.)
5 ENGL 300 Action Plan Fall 2017
 Or
Topic: Diversity and Difference in Communication (gender, ethnicity,
nationality, identity, disability,as variables that affect
communication)
10 minute Harkness discussion trial

Week Eight:
(Oct.23-27) Group 1 Topic: Communication Boot Camp (Text messaging, emails, the
Blackberrytheres no shortage of ways to communicate quickly in the Digital Age. But what
happens face-to-face when you need to find the right words and communicate them in the right
way?)

Group 2 Topic: International Communication (Issues related to free

flow of messages, social responsibility, universal access, intellectual
commons, participatory communication, developmental
communication, and cultural diversity in the global exchange of media
messages are addressed through discussion of current, real-life cases)

Group 3 Topic: Globalization, Communication, and Culture

(Globalization has produced the increased flow of goods,
capital, people, knowledge, images, crime, pollutants, drugs,
fashion, viruses, and beliefs across territorial and ideological
boundaries of all kinds. This course is focused on
organizational communication in a global economic
environment and helps students prepare for cross-cultural
management issues, decision-making for multinational
organizational effectiveness, and a consideration of global
economic and labor issues.)

Group 4 Topic: Job Interviews (Do's and Don'ts), CVs and Resumes

Week Nine:
(Oct. 30- Oral Presentations
Nov.3)
Group 1 Topic: The Rhetoric of Film

Group 2 Topic: Mass Communication (survey the various

genres of mass media such as books, magazines,
newspapers, radio, television, film, Internet and others.
Examine the development, roles, functions, problems and
criticisms of specific media from a global context.
Oral Presentations (20%)

Group 3 Topic: : Leadership and Management

Group 4 Topic: Slogans & Logos

Assign reading the first 6 pages of the following article

Communication Skills for the 21st Century
Engineer uploaded to students' iconnect homepages

6 ENGL 300 Action Plan Fall 2017

 10 minute Harkness discussion trial
Week Ten: Guided article discussion
(Nov. 6-10) Lecture 1: Speech Disorders: Reasons, Implications, Treatments

Lecture 2: Performance Appraisals

Lecture 3: Gender Stereotypes in Advertisements: What Do They

Communicate?

Assign reading the last 6 pages of the following article

Communication Skills for the 21st Century
Engineer uploaded to students' iconnect homepages

Graded Harkness discussion start (check attached paper for details)

Week Eleven: Guided article discussion

(Nov. 13-17) Lecture 1: Speech phobias (Types, reasons, & treatment)

Lecture 2: How to Start & End a Speech

Using the overhead projector to discuss few slides related to
(quotations on speech communication)

Lecture 3: Meetings at the workplace: Purposes, types, procedures &

minutes writing

Graded Harkness discussion (continued)

Week Twelve : Graded Harkness discussion (continued) (10%)

(Nov. 20-24)

Week Thirteen: Graded Harkness discussion (continued) (10%)

(Nov. 27-
Dec.1)

Week -Wrapping up presentation material in handout forms and giving a

Fourteen: briefing on each as this will constitute the final exam material
-Revision
(Dec 4-8)
-Bonus work submission

TBA Final Exam 40%

:Grading Scheme

7 ENGL 300 Action Plan Fall 2017

Week 1 6 Week 7 12
Digital video (an authentic 10% Graded Harkness discussion 10%
way to have students (check attached paper for
details)
introduce themselves; it's a
variation of speech #1)

Midterm Assessment 20%

(written but preferably oral
if the number of students
allows; partly, students
will have to analyze a very
short speech by stating the
speaker, the addressee, and
the purpose )

Sub-total 30% Individual/ In-group PPT 20 %

Oral Presentations
(Weeks 8-13)

Sub-Total 30%

TBA Final Exam 40%

8 ENGL 300 Action Plan Fall 2017