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this is assignment that has all the requirements that has to be followed and we need to use this article acct601_week_1_written__assignment.docx article_week_1.pdf Unformatted Attachment Preview Week 1 Communication Skills and Report Writing Written Assignment Using the articles that were selected on communication skills and report writing from the Week 1 readings, summarize five aspects of communication skills and report writing that are discussed in the articles that you selected. Explain why each aspect of communication skills and report writing is vital to an accountant’s professional career. The summary should be a minimum of five to eight pages (counting the cover page and bibliography). The font size should be 12-point and the type can be Times New Roman, Verdana, or Arial. Your paper should be properly cited using APA referencing style. This means that citations should be in a bibliography and in the body of the paper wherever you refer to or directly quote any information or terms from other sources. You should include a minimum of three references in your paper. This paper is a research paper—you need to learn something new from this assignment, not just provide your ideas about your experience. Please submit your paper no later than midnight Sunday at the end of Week 1. Journal of Educational Research, Dept. of Education, IUB, Pakistan (Vol. 22 No. 1) 2019 Effectiveness of Explicit Pragmatics Instruction in Developing Business Communication Skills: A Study of Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions Muhammad Asif Javed* Hazrat Umar** Abstract Language is a means of communication, and pragmatics helps in understanding and using the language of real use. This study explores teachers’ and students’ perceptions of the inclusion of explicit pragmatics in the instruction of business communication contents to enhance learners’ competence to produce effective business communication discourse. Qualitative-pluralistic approach has been used for data collection. Business communication course contents were taught with the incorporation of relevant contents from pragmatics, and afterwards feedback from 120 students was sought through open ended questions. Besides, ten instructors of business communication were interviewed to find out the need and feasibility of teaching explicit pragmatics in business communication classrooms. The results of this study show that explicit instruction of pragmatics is highly beneficial in learning the basic concepts of business communication. It is recommended that explicit instruction of pragmatics be made a compulsory part of teaching business communication skills. Keywords: Pragmatics, explicit instruction, business communication, perceptions Introduction Linguistics scientifically studies language as a tool of communication from various angles and pragmatics deals with the language of real life use and addresses the communicative competence for the appropriate use of language for successful communication. The basic course contents of business communication skills on communication cycle, Seven Cs, intercultural communication, verbal and non-verbal communication, and interpersonal communication are vital to learn business communication in classroom(Chaney, 2005; Murphy, Hildebrandt, & Thomas, 2007). It is generally observed that the business graduates cannot communicate effectively when they join their professional careers after the completion of their academic qualification. Various empirical studies find that communicative contents can be better learned through explicit pragmatics, and pragmatics may be included in the classroom * Ph.D. Scholar, Department of English, Faculty of Languages, NUML, Islamabad/Lecturer in English, Department of Humanities, COMSATS University Islamabad, Email asif.javed@comsats.edu.pk **Assistant Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Languages, NUML, Islamabad, Email humar@numl.edu.pk 30 Journal of Educational Research, Dept. of Education, IUB, Pakistan (Vol. 22 No. 1) 2019 instruction of specific communication skills (Amaya, 2008; Bardovi-Harlig, 2013; Brock & Nagasaka, 2005; Ellis, 2004; Othman, 2011; Rose & Kasper, 2001). The instruction of relevant concepts of pragmatics along with the course contents may facilitate in learning language for specific purposes. This study explores teachers’ and students’ perceptions of effectiveness of core concepts of pragmatics for developing students’ pragmatic communicative competence. This study proposes that instruction of explicit pragmatics helps learners in learning the basic contents of business communication skills. The study is significant as it explores the critical role which pragmatics can play to enhance the professional communicative competence of business students. Literature Review Importance of Communication Skills for Professionals Communication skills assist professionals in performing their jobs and making advancement in their career(Roebuck, Sightler, & Brush, 1995). Through improving language skills, future business professionals can compete effectively in the expanding global market(Orban, 1994, p. 422). Pragmatics assists learners in using “language appropriate to particular communicative events”, in using “the relevant utterances necessary for being considered a competent conversant”, and “interpreting meaning contextually”(Brock & Nagasaka, 2005, p. 18). Importance of Pragmatics for Language Instructors The knowledge of pragmatics can empower the instructors with the relevant cultural, social, professional perspectives. Delivering education in cultural context is vital in the present era (McCarthy, 2001, p. 125) to enable learners cope with challenges after the completion of their studies. Significance of Explicit Knowledge of Pragmatics in Business Pragmatics helps in learning “how-to-say-what-to-whom-when” (BardoviHarlig, 2013, p. 68)and is, expected to be helpful for business administrators to meet the communication challenges they encounter in their day-to-day interactions in diverse situations. The explicit knowledge of pragmatics helps communicators in behaving according to acceptable societal norms, linguistically as well socially(Othman, 2011, p. 101). Major Segments in Pragmatics Pragmatics deals with a triangle of three closely linked contributors: 1) speaker/encoder’s intention, 2) contents of the contexts and 3) interpretation made by a competent hearer/decoder(Gauker, 2008). The encoders are supposed to “design their utterances against the common grounds they share with their addressees—their common experience, dialect, and culture”(Schober & Clark, 1989, p. 211). “People 31 Journal of Educational Research, Dept. of Education, IUB, Pakistan (Vol. 22 No. 1) 2019 understand each other in conversations by gathering evidence about each other’s intentions”(Schober & Clark, 1989, p. 211). Pragmatic competence is associated with the learners’ sociopragmatic and pragmalinguistic skills. Pragmatics and Language Functions Language performs various functions through speech acts i.e. complimenting, requesting, complaining and apologizing, as well as through different type of discourse, and through speech events of different nature(Kasper & Rose, 1999). Pragmatics studies language from formal/informal and social perspective in a communicative event with a focus on those “factors that govern our choice of language in social interaction and the effects of our choice on others”(Crystal, 1987, p. 120). Explicit Instruction of Pragmatics According to Lin (2007), “The education of pragmatics is necessary and important in our globalized world” (p.91). Similarly, Rose (2012) states that the knowledge of pragmatics facilitates professionals in making adjustments in specific social, cultural and cognitive situations for the production and comprehension of language. The courses on communication skills need to be enriched to enable the learners for their future professions(Korn, 2004, p. 589). Implicature and Entailment Implicature is a kind of inference drawn without extra information. Implicature is what communicators can imply, suggest or mean, apart from the actual words in an utterance (Cap, 2010, p. 211). Implicatures are generated when Gricean cooperative maxims are flouted. These include the maxims of quality, quantity, relevance, and manner. Entailment deals with the relationship between two interlinked statements, where the truth of one statement depends upon the truth of the other(Yule, 1996a). Entailment depends upon the language but implicature depends upon the conversational context. Context and Shared Knowledge Context contributes in formulating utterances and interpreting their pragmatic meanings. Natural languages are context dependent(Åkerman, 2009, p. 155). Context is also closely related to the shared knowledge of communicators. Besides the linguistic context, co-text and physical context also contribute to meanings. The surrounding words in a text attribute certain meaning to a specific word besides the effects of physical location, time and place(Yule, 1996b, p. 129). Pre-existing Knowledge Structures Communicators rely on their pre-existing knowledge structures for interpreting the unsaid or unwritten part of utterances, and familiar patterns and structures assist in experiencing similar structures(Yule, 1996a, pp. 85-86). These structures are called 32 Journal of Educational Research, Dept. of Education, IUB, Pakistan (Vol. 22 No. 1) 2019 schemata. “A script is pre-existing knowledge structure involving event sequences”(Yule, 1996a, p. 86). Background knowledge structures are culturally determined and make cultural schemata(Yule, 1996a, p. 87). Pre-existing knowledge of the linguistic conventions formulate conventional schemata. Pragmatics can help in understanding the various dimensions of schemata and their underlying factors(Yule, 1996b, p. 62). The review of the relevant literature establishes the importance of knowledge of pragmatics for effective communication skills. The review also shows that no study has been conducted to explore the opinions and perceptions of instructors and students of business communication. This study examines the opinions and perceptions of instructors and learners of business communication about the effectiveness of explicit instruction of pragmatics in developing business communication skills. Methodology Pluralistic qualitative approach has been used for data collection. The data have been collected through: 1) the feedback of 120 students of business studies in business communication skills classrooms, and 2) the opinions sought through semi-structured interviews from ten teachers of business communication. Purposive sampling technique was used and prior consent was sought from the participants. As the present study is qualitative in nature, the data have been triangulated for the sake of trustworthiness. Procedure The business communication instructors were interviewed on the following themes: i. ii. iii. Aims of Business Communication Skills Courses Recommended Text Books and Course Contents Inclusion of Explicit Pragmatic Contents into Business Communication Courses This research was a single group experimental study on the pattern of “one group posttest only” (with no control group) which is an “applied research to evaluate intervention effectiveness with individuals”(Gast, 2010, p. 13). These students were first taught course contents of business communication skills. Afterwards, they were explicitly taught relevant contents from pragmatics and were asked to answer openended questions on the usefulness of pragmatics in business communication skills. The process was completed in five weeks. The students’ responses on pragmatics have been analyzed through AttrideStirling’s (2001) ‘theoretical thematic analysis’. This form of analysis tends “to be driven by a researcher’s theoretical or analytic interest” in a specific area; it is “more explicitly analyst-driven”; and gives “a detailed analysis of some aspects of the 33 Journal of Educational Research, Dept. of Education, IUB, Pakistan (Vol. 22 No. 1) 2019 data”(Braun & Clarke, 2006). The pattern of theoretical thematic analysis is portrayed in Figure 1 as under: Researcher’s theoretical or analytic interest in a specific area Detailed and explicit analysis of available data The generated results in the form of themes and categories Figure 1. Pattern of theoretical thematic analysis The students’ responses have been presented in the form of figures and under their respective headings. Figure 2 below depicts the model for analyzing the students’ responses. Segmentation (of contents of pragmatics in assimilation with course contents of business communication • coding material • identifying themes • constructing thematic networks Exploration (of trends and patters regarding the usefulness of contents of pragmatics from students perceptions) • describing/exploring thematic networks • summarizing thematic networks Integeration (through interpreting patterns) • Presentation of data Figure 2. Model for analyzing students’ responses. This figure has been developed from Attride-Stirling’s (2001) “analyses employing thematic networks”. Results 1) Teachers’ Opinions on the Role of Communication Skills Pragmatics in Business The responses of the instructors are summed up as follows: Aims of Business Communication Skills Courses According to the instructors of business communication, the students of business studies are prepared for diverse business scenarios to perform their future roles as entrepreneurs, managers, team leaders, and other multidimensional roles. Communication skills significantly add value in the students’ academic learning. Effective communication skills assist business administrators in making advancement in their careers and grow their businesses. The instructors are of the view that business 34 Journal of Educational Research, Dept. of Education, IUB, Pakistan (Vol. 22 No. 1) 2019 market is becoming increasingly glocal, and pragmatics enriched communication skills help business administrators in performing their roles effectively. Recommended Text Books and Course Contents The instructors reported that most of the course books recommended for business studies and business communication are written by foreign authors, and can only partially address the needs of contemporary indigenous organizations. The course contents devised for various subjects of business studies and business communication also have a reflection of the recommended/available course books. On the other hand, the students of business studies and other management sciences are prepared to work for local organizations after the completion of their qualifications. The instructors feel a need of reviewing and revising the course contents to handle the challenges which their students would face in their professional careers. Inclusion of Explicit Pragmatics into Business Communication Courses The instructors agreed that many course contents already have implicit reflection of pragmatics. Pragmatics is useful in producing desirable interpersonal skills. Since the courses on business communication skills aim at preparing business graduates for effective communication in their professional careers, therefore, the course contents may be made more effective through the inclusion of explicit pragmatics to enable business administrators to perform their tasks with improved interpersonal skills. The knowledge of pragmatics helps in understanding the relationship between linguistic forms and their impact on the users and assists in conveying the desired meaning in a specific context and assuming probable interpretations by the audience. The instructors opine that pragmatic competence of business administrators helps them understand the constraints of a communicative situation and communicate according to the sociolinguistic norms of society. 2) Students’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Pragmatics in Business Communication Courses The results of the students’ responses in regard to the open-ended questions are as follows: How are contents of pragmatics (speaker’s intentions, presuppositions, frame, listener’s interpretation, differences as barriers/noise, shared context) helpful in understanding communication cycle? In this section, students’ perceptions and preferences regarding the advantages of contents of pragmatics in understanding and performing communication cycle effectively have been presented. Figure 3 shows relationship between concepts from pragmatics and communication cycle. 1. 35 Journal of Educational Research, Dept. of Education, IUB, Pakistan (Vol. 22 No. 1) 2019 • sender, message, receiver, feed back, channel/medium • flow of message from sender to receiver; and feedback from Communication Cycle receiver to sender through some in business media/ channels communication Pragmatic content relevant to encoding and decoding of a message or an utterance Performing communication effectively through integrating relevant pragmatic contents • speaker’s intentions, presuppositions, frame, listener’s interpretation, differences as barriers/noise, shared context • speakers intetions, presuppositions,frame, and shared context are involved in encoding a message • listeners interpretations, frame, barriers, and context are involved in decoding a message Figure 3. Relationship between concepts from pragmatics and communication cycle. Sender’s Roles and Responsibilities The sender should consider his/her own and the receiver’s frame before encoding and relaying a message. The receiver may interpret the message quite differently from what the sender intends to convey. The sender should understand the possible interpretations which can be made by the listener and make his/her intentions more obvious in an utterance. A sender should also consider the frame of a particular (his/her own and the receiver’s) society. Receiver’s Roles and Responsibilities The receiver should consider his/her own frame while decoding/interpreting a message as his/her biases may affect the decoding of the message. The receiver should 36 Journal of Educational Research, Dept. of Education, IUB, Pakistan (Vol. 22 No. 1) 2019 understand what the sender has intended to convey through a message below its surface meaning. General Considerations in Message Formulation Communicators of a communicative event may have different frames. Their frames can become barriers in successful communication. Shared context makes contribution in making message more meaningful. A message should be more detailed if there is less shared context and vice versa. Non-verbal communication (gestures, facial expressions, eye contact etc.) are also helpful in interpreting the unsaid part of a sender’s message. Importance of Pragmatics Pragmatics helps in understanding the back-story of every conversation and facilitates communication when the receivers are from different frames. Awareness of pragmatics assists in situational communication through making it audience oriented. 2. What are the advantages of incorporating Gricean Cooperative Maxims in understanding 7Cs (completeness, conciseness, consideration, concreteness, clarity, courtesy and correctness)? The respondents view that Gricean cooperative maxims of quality, quantity, relevance, and manner are closely associated with Seven Cs and they are a value addition to 7Cs. Observance of maxims minimizes misunderstandings in business correspondence, and helps to conduct business effectively and efficiently. The relationship between Gricean maxims and Seven Cs is shown in Figure 4. • Quantity • (size) • Relevance • (relation) • Quality • (truth) Completeness Correctness Conciseness consideration Completeness Completenes Conciseness Correctness Correctness Conretenss Clarity Clarity • Manner • (explicitness) Figure 4. Relationship between Gricean cooperative maxims ... Purchase answer to see full attachment