Workplace Communication Skills for ESL Classes

Workplace Communication Skills for ESL Classes In workplace communications, with friends, strangers, etc. there are unwritten rules that are followed when speaking English. These unwritten rules are often referred to as register use or workplace communication skills when referring to employment. Good workplace communication skills use can help you communicate effectively. Incorrect workplace communication can cause problems at work, cause people to ignore you, or, at best, send the wrong message. Of course, correct workplace communication is very difficult for many learners of English. To begin with, lets look at some example conversations to help understand  the correct type of register use in various situations. Examples of Correct Register Use (Wife to Husband) Hi honey, how was your day?Great. We got a lot done. And yours?Fine, but stressful. Pass me that magazine, please.Here you go. (Friend to Friend) Hi Charlie, can you give me a hand?Sure Peter. Whats up?I cant get this to work.Why dont you try to use a screwdriver? (Subordinate to Superior - for workplace communications) Good Morning, Mr. Jones, may I ask you a question?Certainly, how can I help you? (Superior to Subordinate - for workplace communications) Excuse me Peter, we seem to be having a problem with the Smith account. Wed better get together to discuss the situation.Thats a good idea Ms Amons, would 4 oclock suit you? (Man Speaking to Stranger) Pardon me. Do you think you could give me the time?Certainly, its twelve thirty.Thank you.Not at all. Notice how the language used becomes more formal as the relationship becomes less personal. In the first relationship, a married couple, the wife uses the imperative form which would be inappropriate with a superior in for workplace communications. In the last conversation, the man asks using an indirect question as a means of making his question more polite. Examples of Incorrect Register Use (Wife to Husband) Hello, how are you today?Im fine. Would you mind passing me the bread?Certainly. Would you like some butter with your bread?Yes, please. Thank you very much. (Friend to Friend) Hello Mr. Jones. May I ask you a question?Certainly. How many I help you?Do you think you could help me with this?Id be happy to help you. (Subordinate to Superior - for workplace communications) Good Morning, Frank. I need a raise.Do you really? Well, forget about it! (Superior to Subordinate - for workplace communications) Hey Jack, what are you doing?! Get to work!Hey, Ill take as much time as I need. (Man Speaking to Stranger) You! Tell me where the  supermarket is.There. In these examples, the formal language used for the married couple and friends is much too exaggerated for daily discourse. The examples of for workplace communications, and of the man speaking to a stranger, show that the direct language often used with friends or family is too impolite for these types of for workplace communication. Of course, correct for workplace communication and register use also depends on the situation and the tone of voice you use. However, in order to communicate well in English, it is important to master the basics of correct for workplace communications and register use. Improve and practice your recognition of workplace communications and register use in various situations with the following quiz. Workplace Communication Quiz Test yourself to see how well you understand correct register usage in these following workplace situations. Choose the appropriate relationship for these phrases from the choices listed below. Once you have finished, continue down the page for the answers and comments on the correct choices for each question. ColleaguesStaff to ManagementManagement to StaffInappropriate for the Workplace Im afraid were having some problems with your performance. I would like to see you in my office this afternoon.What did you do last weekend?Hey, get over here now!Excuse me, do you think it would be possible for me to go home early this afternoon? I have a doctors appointment.Well, we went to this wonderful restaurant in Yelm. The food was excellent and the prices were reasonable.Listen, Im going home early, so I cant finish the project until tomorrow.Excuse  me  Bob, would you mind lending me $10 for lunch. Im short today.Give me five bucks for lunch. I forgot to go to the bank.You are an extremely handsome young man, Im sure youll do well at our company.Excuse  me  Ms  Brown, could you help me with this report for a moment? Quiz Answers Im afraid were having some problems with your performance. I would like to see you in my office this afternoon. ANSWER: Management to StaffWhat did you do last weekend? ANSWER: ColleaguesHey, get over here now! ANSWER: Inappropriate for the WorkplaceExcuse me, do you think it would be possible for me to go home early this afternoon? I have a doctors appointment. ANSWER: Staff to ManagementWell, we went to this wonderful restaurant in Yelm. The food was excellent and the prices were reasonable. ANSWER: ColleaguesListen, Im going home early, so I cant finish the project until tomorrow. ANSWER: Inappropriate for the WorkplaceExcuse  me  Bob, would you mind lending me $10 for lunch. Im short today. ANSWER: ColleaguesGive me five bucks for lunch. I forgot to go to the bank. ANSWER: Inappropriate for the WorkplaceYou are an extremely handsome young man, Im sure youll do well at our company. ANSWER: Inappropriate for the WorkplaceExcuse  me  Ms  Brown, could you help me with this report for a moment? ANSWER: Management to Staff Comments on Quiz Answers If you were confused by some of the answers, here are some short comments that should help you understand: Management to Staff  - In this sentence management, although unhappy, is still polite when asking an employee to come in for a critique.Colleagues  - This simple question is informal and conversational and therefore appropriate among colleagues.Inappropriate  - This is the imperative form and  is therefore  inappropriate for the workplace. Remember that the imperative form is often considered rude.Staff to Management  - Notice the polite form used when speaking to a superior at work. The  indirect question form  is used to make the question extremely polite.Colleagues  - This is a statement from a discussion about a non-work related topic among colleagues. The tone is informal and informative.Inappropriate  - Here an employee is announcing his / her plan to management without asking. Not a very good idea in the workplace!Colleagues  - In this statement a colleague politely asks another colleague for a loan.Inappropriate  - When asking for a loan never use the imperative form!Inappropriate  - The person making this statement would be considered guilty of sexual harassment in the United States. Management to Staff  - This is a polite request.

Race and Gender Bias and Discrimination in Higher Edu

Race and Gender Bias and Discrimination in Higher Edu Many believe that once a student has made it to college or university, the barriers of sexism and racism that may have stood in the way of their education have been overcome. But, for decades, anecdotal evidence from women and people of color has suggested that institutions of higher learning are not free from racial and gender bias. In 2014, researchers conclusively documented these problems in a study of how perceptions of race and gender  among faculty impact who they choose to mentor, showing that women and racial minorities  were far less likely than white men to receive responses from university professors after emailing to express interest in working with them as graduate students. Studying Race and Gender Bias among University Faculty The study,  conducted by professors  Katherine L. Milkman, Modupe Akinola, and Dolly Chugh, and published on the Social Science Research Network, measured email responses of 6,500 professors across over 250 of the U.S.’s top universities. The messages were sent by â€Å"students† who were interested in graduate school (in actuality, the â€Å"students† were impersonated by the researchers). The messages expressed admiration for the professor’s research and requested a meeting. All messages sent by the researchers had the same content and were well-written, but varied in that the researchers used a variety of names typically associated with specific racial categories.  For example, names like Brad Anderson and Meredith Roberts would typically be assumed to belong to white people, whereas names like Lamar Washington and LaToya Brown would be assumed to belong to black students. Other names included those associated with Latino/a, Indian, and Chinese students. Faculty Are Biased in Favor of White Men Milkman and her team found that  Asian students experienced the most bias, that gender and racial diversity among faculty does not reduce the presence of discrimination, and that there are big differences in the commonality of bias between academic departments and types of schools. The highest rates of  discrimination against women and people of color were found to occur at private schools and among the natural sciences  and business schools. The study also found that the frequency of racial and gender discrimination increases along with average faculty salary. At business schools, women and racial minorities were ignored by professors  more than twice as frequently as were  white males. Within the humanities they were ignored 1.3 times more often- a lower rate than in business schools but still quite significant and troubling. Research findings like these reveal that discrimination exists even within the academic elite, despite the fact that academics are typically thought to be more liberal and progressive than the general population. How Race and Gender Bias Impacts Students Because the emails were thought by the professors studied to be from prospective students interested in working with the professor in a graduate program, this means that women and racial minorities are discriminated against before they even begin the application process to graduate school. This extends existing research that has found this kind of discrimination within graduate programs to the â€Å"pathway† level of the student experience, disturbingly present in all academic disciplines. Discrimination at this stage of a students pursuit of postgraduate education can have a discouraging effect, and can even harm that students chances of gaining admission and funding for postgraduate work. These findings also build on previous research that has found gender bias within STEM fields to include racial bias too, thus debunking the common  assumption of Asian privilege in higher education and STEM fields. Bias in Higher Education is Part of Systemic Racism Now, some might find it puzzling that even women and racial minorities exhibit bias against prospective students on these bases. While at first glance it might seem strange, sociology helps make sense of this phenomenon. Joe Feagin’s theory of systemic racism illuminates how racism pervades the entire social system  and manifests at the level of policy, law, institutions like media and education, in interactions between people, and individually in the beliefs and assumptions of people. Feagin goes so far as to call the U.S. a â€Å"total racist society.† What this means, then, is that all people born in the U.S. grow up in a racist society  and are socialized by racist institutions, as well as  by family members, teachers, peers, members of law enforcement, and even clergy, who either consciously or unconsciously instill racist beliefs into the minds of Americans. Leading contemporary sociologist Patricia Hill Collins, a Black feminist scholar, has revealed in her research and theoretical work that even people of color are socialized to maintain racist beliefs, which she refers to as the internalization of the oppressor.In the context of the study by Milkman and her colleagues, existing social theories  of race and gender would suggest that even well-intentioned professors who might not otherwise be seen as racist or gender-biased, and who do not act in  overtly discriminatory ways, have internalized beliefs that women and students of color are perhaps  not as well prepared for graduate school as their white male counterpar ts, or that they may not make reliable or adequate research assistants. In fact, this phenomenon is documented in the book  Presumed Incompetent, a compilation of research and essays from women and people of color who work in academia. Social Implications of Bias in Higher Education Discrimination at the point of entry into graduate programs and discrimination once admitted have striking implications. While the racial makeup of students enrolled in colleges in 2011 fairly closely mirrored the racial makeup of the total U.S. population, statistics released by the Chronicle of Higher Education show that as the level of degree increases, from Associate, to Bachelor, Master, and Doctorate, the percentage of degrees held by racial minorities, with the exception of Asians, drops considerably. Consequently, whites and Asians are overrepresented as holders of doctorate degrees, while Blacks, Hispanics and Latinos, and Native Americans are vastly underrepresented. In turn, this means that people of color are far less present among university faculty, a profession dominated by white people (especially men). And so the cycle of bias and discrimination continues.Taken with the above information, the findings from Milkmans study point to a systemic crisis of white and male s upremacy in American higher education today. Academia cant help but exist within a racist and patriarchal social system, but it has a responsibility to recognize this context, and to proactively combat these forms of discrimination in every way it can.