Post-Year One Courses

Advanced communication skills

The four courses listed on the following pages contribute to the University’s menu of
General Education courses. They are all optional courses and are open to any student in
their second or subsequent years of study. Students entering the University in the second
or third year of their programme and who have been exempted from taking the appropriate
first-year courses offered by CSSU may also take these courses.

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 GEC 210: Introduction to legal language
Objectives

At the end of the course students should be able to:

1. Identify characteristics of legal language and how to use them in legal texts of their
own formation
2. Read and comprehend legal texts
3. Analyse legal texts to determine how they convey meaning
4. Appreciate what makes legal language complex and discuss ways in which it can be
simplified.

Topics
 Definition of legalese vs other varieties such as journalese
 Syntax
 Lexis
 Analysis of legal texts

Modes of learning and teaching

 Project
 Group work
 Problem-based learning
 Lectures

Modes of assessment
 Continuous assessment: Two pieces of written work, one oral presentation
assignment
 Final examination: A two-hour written examination
 The ratio of CA to the Examination is 50% : 50%

Recommended textbooks & reading list

Bhatia, V.K. (1993) Analysing genre: Language use in professional settings. London:
Longman
Maley, Y. (1994) The language of law. London: Longman

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 GEC 211: Advanced Writing Skills

Objectives

At the end of the course students should be able to:

1. Recognise and apply linguistic features that characterise various types of written
discourse
2. Organise essay content logically in sequentially related paragraphs
3. Use correct and appropriate language for various discourse genres
4. Carefully edit drafts of written discourse.

Topics
 Nature and functions of writing skills in society, business and education
 Pre-writing strategies
 Organisational structure of a written text such as statement of subject, main
issue issues, thesis statement, support statements of thesis and cohesion.
 Types of essays
 Editing essay drafts and the production of final drafts.

Modes of learning and teaching

 Project
 Group work
 Problem-based learning
 Lectures

Modes of assessment
 Continuous Assessment: Two pieces of written discourse on selected essay
typologies
 Final Examination: A two-hour written examination paper
 The ratio of CA to the Examination is 50% : 50%

Recommended textbooks and reading list

Dison, L. Stacey, J. Dilley, L. Witz, L. Benade, (1993) How to write essays. SACHED/Milller
Longman
Rosen, L.J. and Maskew Behrens. (ed) (2000) The Allyn & Bacon handbook (4th edition).
Boston: Allyn & Bacon

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 GEC 212: Advanced Oral Presentation Skills

Objectives

At the end of the course students should be able to:

1. Appreciate the value of oral communication in society and work situations
2. Develop skills for presenting information to different audiences
3. Develop skills for gathering information relevant to selected topics
4. Develop skills for planning and presenting information orally.

Topics
 Planning the presentation
 Preparing visual aids
 Deciding on presentation strategies (e.g. use of slides, OHP’s power point, video,
multimedia, posters, radio, tape) and how to use them effectively
 Delivering the presentation

Modes of learning and teaching

 Project
 Group work
 Problem-based learning
 Lectures

Modes of assessment

 Written assignment = 30%

 One minor oral presentation = 20%
 One major oral presentation = 50%

Recommended textbooks & reading list

Pennington, M. (1992) A review of recent research in second language phonology with

implications for practice. Hong Kong: City Polytechnic of Hong Kong
Fielding, M .(1993), Effective communication in organisations. Cape Town: Juta

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 GEC 213: Advanced Communication Skills

Objectives

At the end of the course students should be able to:

1. Communicate clearly and appropriately in business situations
2. Appreciate the importance of effective communication in business
3. Understand barriers to communication, and how they can be removed
4. Develop a socio-cultural awareness of business transactions within the context of
the ‘global village’
5. Develop speaking, reading and writing skills related to business communication

Topics
 Human communication
 Communication in organisations
 Intercultural communication
 Speaking skills
 Writing skills
 Reading skills
 Meetings
 Internal documents
 Data gathering

Modes of learning and teaching

 Project
 Group work
 Problem-based learning
 Lectures

Modes of assessment

 Continuous assessment: Two written assignments

 Final examination: A two-hour written examination
 The ratio of CA to the examination is 50% : 50%

Recommended textbooks & reading list

Lahif, J.M. and Penrose, J.M. (1997) Business communication. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice
Hall
Evans, D.W. (1992). People, communication and organisations. Cape Town: Juta
Fielding, M. (1993). Effective communication in organisations. Cape Town: Juta

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 Faculty of Health Sciences and School of Medicine
Course code: COM101

Course title: Communication and Academic Literacy for Medicine and Health
Sciences

Credits: 3 (2 contact hours and 1 hour tutorial)

Level: 1

Semester: 1

Type: Compulsory (GEC)

Pre-requisite: None

Co-requisite: None

COURSE OUTLINE
The course is designed to apply communication and academic literacy skills that will enable
the learners to become self-directed and life-long learners. It provides practice in basic
communication skills in academic and literacy skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking
and ICT in health sciences.

RATIONALE
The course focuses on the development of self-directed individuals who will be able to cope
with the demands of academic life in the Faculty of Health Sciences and the world of work.
Teaching and learning activities will focus on the development of communication and
academic literacy skills for the health sciences students.

AIM
The course aims to develop competence in communication and academic literacy skills that
focus on their use in health sciences and social contexts.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
At the end of the course learners should be able to;
 Apply the basic language skills of speaking, reading, writing, and listening in all
academic communication contexts relevant to health science disciplines;
 Reason cogently in different interactive communication situations;
 Become independent and self-directed learners;
 Produce general and specific texts that are fluent, accurate and reflect appropriate
style;
 Use information technology to enhance communication skills;
 Apply information literacy skills in their search for information;
 Select appropriate medium and channel to communicate messages;

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  Apply principles of oral communication in academic and social contexts;
 Use interpersonal and cross-cultural skills in various academic and social contexts
 Apply communication and literacy skills to address topical and emerging issues such
as HIV/AIDS, alcohol, etc.

TEACHING METHODS
Mini-lectures
Group work
Pair work
Oral presentations
Project work
Role play
Problem-based learning
E- learning technologies
Discussions

MODES OF ASSESSMENT

CA 70% made up as follows:

Report - 20%
Portfolio – 30% Each student will present a portfolio containing samples of all
his/her written work throughout the semester.
Oral presentation - 20%

Examination 30%

READING LIST

Cottrell, S (2003). The study skills handbook. 2nd edition. New York: Palgrave

Kalu, J. (2002). Project writing for higher education. Gaborone: Karima Publishers

Longman dictionary of contemporary English (1995). London: Longman

Recommended websites
http://www.newscientist.com
http://www.scientificamerican.com
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/default.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science

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Course code: COM102

Course title: Health Communication

Type: Compulsory (GEC)

Credits: 3 (2 contact hours and 1 tutorial)

Level 1

Semester 2

Pre-requisite: None

Co-requisite: None

COURSE OUTLINE

This course builds on COM101 by developing the learners’ confidence in communicating

academic and technical information efficiently and effectively through the investigation of
an environmental problem or a community health issue. It concentrates on developing
analytical and synthetic skills. The learners work in small groups to:
 identify a problem
 research it by communicating with the people affected by and concerned with the
issue
 read the relevant literature in the library and online
 present their findings and recommendations in both written reports and oral
presentations.

AIMS

The aims of the course are to develop the learners’ confidence in communicating effectively
and to apply problem-solving techniques in health contexts.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the course are to:

1. equip learners with communication skills in health contexts.

2. acquire interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills in health contexts.

3. promote the use of information communication technologies.

4. introduce the learners to problem-based learning

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 5. develop teamwork skills

Assessment Weighting %

 Group project: 70% made up as follows:

Written report: group 20%
individual 20%
Oral presentation: group 15%
individual 15%
 Final examination 30%

Recommended reading list

Fielding, R (1995). Clinical communication skills. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press
Kalu, J. (2002). Project writing for higher education. Gaborone: Karima Publishers
Longman dictionary of contemporary English (1995). London: Longman
Silverman, S., Kurtz, S. & Draper, J. (2005) Teaching and learning communication skills in
medicine. Oxford: Radcliffe Medical Publishing

Recommended websites

http://www.newscientist.com

http://www.scientificamerican.com

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/default.stm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science

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