Final Reflection

Initially when I was introduced to this module by my friend, I was hesitant in taking it up. As this module is an English module, I felt that the proficiency of English plays a large role in our assessment. Due to my poor command of English, I was afraid that I may score badly for this module. On the other hand, I was really keen to try this module out as the content that will be taught to us is very practical and useful. After much consideration, I decided to give this module a shot.

Ever since when I was young, I was not very confident in communicating in English because I spoke Mandarin most of the time with my family and friends. As a result I felt inferior when communicating with people who are fluent in English. When communicating with them, I would be very conscious with the words I use as I was afraid that I would make a fool out of myself in front of them. Sometimes, I would even stutter in front of them. Due to my incompetence in English, I would always be nervous when I have to speak in front of a crowd.

After taking this module, I realized that communication is not all about the proficiency in the language. There is actually a lot more than the message itself, like the nonverbal and Para verbal. Weak command of English should not obstruct people from communicating with others. Instead of shying away from communication, people with weak command of English should communicate more and try to learn along the way so as to build up their confidence in the future.

Unlike other modules that are very theoretical, this module is very practical and realistic as there is a lot of hands on activities. What I benefited most from the module is the practical assessment of peer teaching and presentation. I feel that the feedback session after each presentation is very useful. It allows me to recognize my strengths and weaknesses. Knowing my strengths has increased my confidence level as it gives me an assurance by making me believe that I am capable of doing more than what I think I can. I will also try my best to improve on the things that I am weak at.

The learning process of this module had also been an enjoyable one too. I am very grateful that I took this module despite the fact that I had a dilemma of not taking the module at first. I would really like to thank Dr. Radhika for providing us with an excellent learning experience. I will definitely introduce this module to all of my other friends.

Reflection on Oral Presentation

Presenting to a large group of audience has never been an easy job for most people, and I’m no exception to it. Ever since I was young, I would always panic and get all tensed up when all eyes are placed on me. I would also stutter and it resulted in me not being able to convey my message across clearly to the audience.

During the peer teaching and mock oral presentation, several feedback that I received was insufficient eye contact, limited gesture and the tendency to end my sentence with a higher note. As such, while practicing for my oral presentation, I paid extra attention to these points to make sure that I do not make such mistakes again during the actual presentation.

In the past, I would always memorize my script by heart as I was afraid that I might forget my points during the actual presentation. I would also always hold a copy of my full script. However, after the past few assessments, I realized that memorizing my script by heart could be the main reason for the lack of eye contact. As I try to recall every word of my script, my eyes tend to roll upwards which then makes it difficult for me to make constant eye contact with the audience.

Holding a hard copy of my script also restricts my hand gestures. Therefore for this presentation, I have decided not to hold any script and not to memorize any script by heart. Instead of memorizing, I kept practicing my presentation with the slides concurrently. I also made it a point to not look at my slides unless if necessary, for example, when transiting between slides. I feel that this have helped in reducing my reliance on the slides and I was able to have more eye contact with the audience. I also made it a point to vary my intonation. For example, when asking a question, I tend to end of my sentence with a higher note and when affirming a point, I end my sentence with a lower note.

Although there is more room for improvement for my final performance during the actual presentation, I am glad that my practices paid off well. With sufficient practices, I realized that I was able to hide my fear from the audience and calmly bring across the message that I want to convey. Without the restriction of holding a script, I was able to present myself better with more gestures too.

This presentation was a good experience for me and I will practice more to improve my presentation skills further.

Evaluating Intercultural Behavior

During my secondary school life, I went for a Taiwan exchange programme. It was my first trip to Taiwan and I was very excited about it. As most of the Taiwanese speaks Mandarin, I did not think that any research on the country was necessary for the trip.

I visited many educational and interesting places in Taiwan. The event that left the most impression on me was the one day trip to a Taichung Secondary School. When I reached the school in the morning, it gave me a different feel from the schools that I usually see in Singapore. The school there had a more traditional and conservative appearance as most part of the school were in wood colour. Therefore, I was expecting the students and culture there to be more traditional and conservative. To my surprise, the students there were extremely friendly, welcoming and open-minded.

In my secondary school, a Buddy was commonly assigned to an exchange student to ensure that the exchange student’s needs were attended to and to make it easier for the exchange student to integrate into the class. However, no buddy was assigned to me when I visited the Taichung Secondary School. Initially I was a little afraid, but eventually I realized that buddy system was not necessary there. In less than an hour, almost all the students in the class have approached me to introduce themselves and their friends. Their way of communication were very genuine and made me felt very heartwarming. I felt more like a good friend of their instead of a new exchange student that had just joined their class. Although it was uncomfortable at times when they stepped into my personal space when I just knew them, it was easy to integrate in and adapt to their communication style.

After the trip, I realized that knowing the same language as the citizens of the country that you are travelling to is not sufficient to integrate and adapt into their lifestyle. Research on the country’s culture and communication style is equally important. I feel that if I have done more preparation and research for my Taiwan trip, I would be able to understand and communicate better with the students. 

Resume

Application Letter

17 Feb 2013

123 Jalan Bukit Merah #00-1433

Singapore 100004

Mobile: +65 9*** 4488

Email: name@hotmail.com

Hiring Manager

Standard Chartered Bank

8 Marina Boulevard, #01-01

Singapore 018981

Dear Hiring Manager

Application for an internship in Standard Chartered Bank

I am a second-year student majoring in Statistics from National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Science. I am writing to communicate my interest in applying for the Consumer Banking Internship Programme as advertised on your website. I am really keen in joining your dynamic team in consumer banking and hope to assist your team in providing excellent services for the customers.

Being the treasurer of NUS Salsa Club, I have developed asset and record management skills. With a limited given budget of $600 a year, I would have to strategized and ensure that the entire club fund is efficiently allocated. NUS Salsa Club conducts Beginner Salsa Classes for nonmember student in NUS. Due to the Salsa Classes conducted, I would have to manage large quantity of payment made through different modes. It is essential for me to make sure that all students have made payment before the start of class and the class size is sufficient to pay for the instructor fee.

As the President of Jurong Junior College (JJC) Chinese Orchestra Club, I have acquired leadership and effective interpersonal communication skills. I was required to plan and oversee all the club practices. The Chinese Orchestra Club was made up of different sectional group that played different instruments. It was important for me to ensure that all the information have been communicated effectively to the different sectional leaders.  It was necessary for us to follow closely with our planned schedule in order for us to deliver our performance on time. I also have to work closely with my teacher and committee members to ensure that all the performance preparation had been made.

I am very interested in the Consumer Banking Internship Programme. I have also enclosed my resume for your attention. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully 

Yap Qi Hui

Interpersonal Conflict

Interpersonal conflicts are very common in our daily lives. As different people tends to have different views on the same issue.  Conflicts will definitely have an impact on relationship between people which may not always be a negative one. Some conflicts help to improve the understanding between people. The approach of handling the conflict plays an important role as it will affect the outcome. Sadly, there is no hard and fast rule in resolving conflict.

Back in my College time, I was the president of my school Chinese Orchestra Club. As the president, I was in-charge of organizing the practice schedule for my team. My vice president and I also have to oversee the whole rehearsal and ensure that everything runs smoothly.

There was an incident when my remedial class clashed with our practice. The vice president also had to attend a workshop but he expected the workshop to end before the practice. Therefore I passed our room key and all the responsibility to him. In the mid-day, I heard from friends, who will be attending the same workshop, that the workshop will be ending quite late. Immediately I tried to contact my vice president to confirm. He said that the timing was not stated clearly but he felt that he will be able to make it on time. Afraid that he will not be able to make it in time, I called off the practice. He was unhappy with my decision as our performance is round the corner and every practice is precious. However in my point of view, I felt that punctuality is an important aspect in our club and I do not wish to portray a negative example. On top of that, calling it off will minimize our loss as we were already very low on budget. Despite having different views, both of us meant well for the club.

Do you think there is a better way in dealing with such a situation?

Effective Communication

Communication plays an essential part in our daily life. Almost everything we do will require us to communicate with others in a way or another. Communication also acts as a medium for us to build relationship with others and exchange knowledge, ideas and thoughts. With effective communication skills, we will be able to comprehend better and reduce unnecessary misunderstandings. This will definitely help in fostering relationships and building trust.

Before joining ES2007S, I have always thought effective communication as being able to pass your intended message to the audience with clarity and conciseness. After the first few lessons, I realise that effective communication is not just about the verbal or written message that is passed between the speaker and the listener. Nonverbal communication also plays an important part in effective communication.  Our actions, tones and facial expressions act as some form of nonverbal communication media. The tones we use and body gestures we do as we speak will send signals to the listener. The nonverbal message that we send instead of been perceived similarly to our verbal messages. This will not only cause confusion, it will also lead to suspicion. Many will usually choose to believe the nonverbal message as it is considered to be a more natural and unconscious language of communication.  Situations like these will most likely lead to mistrust and high occurrence level may deteriorate their relationship in the long term.  Therefore it is important to be sensitive and careful of the nonverbal signals that you are sending out.