APPROVED 2025 ENG1504 PRACTISING WORKPLACE AND STUDY GUIDE

ENG1504 – Practising Workplace English 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ORIENTATION TO THE MODULE i. Introduction ii. Purpose of the module iii. Module outcomes iv. What to expect from the module v. Expectations from students vi. Study materials for the module vii. Tuition and E-tutoring viii. Assessment in this module ix. Plagiarism x. Orientation to using myUnisa xi. Icons xii. Conclusion 1. STUDY UNIT 1: WRITING SKILLS FOR BUSINESS DOCUMENTS 1.1. INTRODUCTION 1.2. BUSINESS DOCUMENTS 1.2.1. Writing letters 1.2.2. Writing memoranda 1.2.3. Writing minutes of a meeting 1.2.4. Writing reports 1.2.5. Writing text messages (SMS) 1.2.6. Writing emails 1.3. QUALITIES OF GOOD BUSINESS DOCUMENTS 1.3.1. Structure 1.3.2. Conciseness 1.3.3. Completeness 1.3.4. Appropriateness 1.3.5. Language accuracy 1.4. THE WRITING PROCESS 1.4.1. The steps in the writing process 1.4.2. The importance of following the process 1.4.3. A practical example of the writing process 1.5. WRITING FOR A PURPOSE ENG1504 – Practising Workplace English 4 1.5.1. Writing to apologise 1.5.2. Writing to complain 1.5.3. Writing to enquire 1.5.4. Messages of goodwill 1.5.5. Writing to market a product and publicise an event. 1.6 CONCLUSION 2. STUDY UNIT 2: MEETINGS IN THE WORKPLACE 2.1. INTRODUCTION 2.2. PURPOSE OF MEETINGS 2.3. FORMAT AND STYLE OF MEETINGS 2.4. PROCEDURES OF MEETINGS 2.5. ROLES OF OFFICE BEARERS AND ATTENDEES 2.5.1. Roles of the chairperson 2.5.2. Role of the secretary 2.5.3. Role of the attendees 2.6. MEETING DOCUMENTATION: NOTICE, AGENDAAND MINUTES 2.6.1. Notice of a meeting 2.6.2. Agenda of a meeting 2.6.3. Minutes of a meeting 2.6.4. Format of minutes 2.7. CONCLUSION 3. STUDY UNIT 3: REPORT WRITING IN THE WORKPLACE 3.1. INTRODUCTION 3.2. PURPOSE OF REPORT WRITING 3.3. THE SHORT FORMAL REPORTS 3.4. CONCLUSION 3.5. GLOSSARY OF TERMS 3.6. OUTCOMES CHECKLIST 4. STUDY UNIT 4: PROPOSALS AND PRESENTATIONS 4.1. INTRODUCTION 4.2. PROPOSAL STRUCTURE AND FORMAT ENG1504 – Practising Workplace English 5 4.3. EXAMPLES OF ONLINE BUSINESS PROPOSALS 4.4. PRESENTATIONS 4.5. CONCLUSION ENG1504 – Practising Workplace English 6 ORIENTATION TO THE MODULE i. Introduction Welcome to the module Practising Workplace English (ENG1504). This is a semester module about writing and producing formal and professional workplace documents, which will support productivity in the business sector. The module is used as a feeder module for several qualifications in the institution. The design of the module is informed by Unisa’s Transformation Charter and thus integrates the following transformation pillars: Student-Centred Scholarship, the Pedagogical Renewal of Teaching and Assessment, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. We therefore encourage you to embrace the implementation of these pillars during your engagement with this module. ii. Purpose of the module The main goal of this module is to develop proficiency in English and a range of related communication skills and strategies for workplace environments. Students who complete this module will be able to produce well-written work-related documentation in English that are concise and complete with suitable and formal language appropriate for respective business objectives. This entails students’ ability to plan, gather information, draft, revise, edit, proofread and critique workplace documents. This module will be beneficial to both public and private sector work environments pertaining to Business English. iii. Module outcomes • Design workplace documents that are reflective of good business writing in terms of genre and register. • Demonstrate an ability to critique given workplace-related text. • Demonstrate an ability to design business proposals and presentations in consideration of aspects of appropriate presentation skills. • Display an ability to revise, edit and proofread draft workplace-related texts. • Develop written texts for specific purposes relevant to specific workplace environments. ENG1504 – Practising Workplace English 7 iv. What to expect from the module The course content covered in the module is as follows: STUDY UNIT 1: Writing Skills for Business Documents STUDY UNIT 2: Meetings in the Workplace STUDY UNIT 3: Report Writing in the Workplace STUDY UNIT 4: Proposals and Presentations v. Expectations from students Once you are registered for this module, you are expected to plan how you will approach and complete all the activities and assignments on time for the module and other modules registered for. The business writing process involves a range of skills that you need to understand and practice in order to ensure a quality product. Your approach to each study unit should involve the following writing skills: • Planning, which involves thinking in various ways about what you want to communicate and how you can organise your text. • Thinking creatively to generate ideas, which is often called brainstorming. In this kind of thinking, you are free to be creative without judging whether an idea is good or bad. You should aim to open up possibilities you can later explore and develop, or reject. • Critical reflection is another kind of thinking that you should adopt to evaluate, select and cluster ideas that are closely related. Various techniques can be used to begin structuring your content: grouping key words; drawing mind maps, diagrams or flow charts; deciding on the topic for each paragraph; or deciding on a format with a set of headings and subheadings you can use for longer and more complex texts. You can, of course, produce a first draft with very little planning, and without using any of the suggested techniques systematically, but then you will probably need to spend more time revising, editing and proofreading your document. ENG1504 – Practising Workplace English 8 • In evaluating your thoughts, you need to keep in mind the people who are likely to read the document, about the subject matter and about what you want to achieve. vi. Study materials for this module Your study materials for this module include: • Tutorial Letter 101 • The study guide • Any other tutorial letters you may receive throughout the semester • Any additional information provided on myUnisa, e.g. Announcements from your lecturers or e-tutors Tutorial Letter 101 and the study guide will be part of your study material, which is accessible on myUnisa. Click on the Official Study Material tab in the menu on the left of the ENG1504 module portal. Your study guide and tutorial letters contain everything you need to complete this module. However, you may benefit more from also using the module website on myUnisa. By using the site, you can: • submit assignments (please note: it is advisable that you submit your assignment online, as this will ensure that you receive rapid feedback and comments) • access your official study material • have access to the Unisa Library functions