Course Description and Learning Outcomes
Description
ENGL 210F is designed to provide you with communications skills for your professional life. To encourage you to think about applying these skills, the course environment has been designed around a simulated business, Living4Learning (L4L), and as a student in the course you will inhabit the role of an employee at L4L.
Within this role, you will be part of a team that has been assigned a major project to be completed by the end of the term; you will be expected to communicate in a professional manner with your teammates as you work on completing this challenge. You will have to learn to work collaboratively using technologies to communicate with team members who may be geographically dispersed—a condition increasingly common in the business world.
Assignments in English 210F will introduce you to the major genres of business writing, and help you develop the critical thinking skills necessary to define your purpose and audience—why and for whom you are writing. You will also develop your ability to write persuasively using key rhetorical principles and appeals to ethos, logic, and emotion. You will learn how to present an argument for common real world scenarios such as recommending a course of action or maintaining trust and goodwill with your clientele.
But most importantly, English 210F will help develop your ability to communicate in a professional, concise, and appropriate style for the business world.
Learning Outcomes
After you have completed your term with English 210F/Living4Learning, you will have practiced or mastered the following skills:
- Rhetorical analysis for communication (i.e., identifying context, audience, purpose, scope, etc.)
- Writing as process: planning, drafting, and revision
- Giving, getting, and using constructive feedback
- Communicating using clear and concise language, adapting tone and structure appropriately according to circumstances
- Collaborative teamwork, including communicating synchronously and asynchronously with colleagues
- Reading instructions and carefully following procedures
- Meeting deadlines and working within time constraints
- Producing a variety of communications in different genres, forms, and for different audiences
Grade Breakdown
The following table represents the grade breakdown of this course.
| Activities and Assignments | Weight |
|---|---|
| Weekly Meetings and Activities | 25% |
| Departmental Blog | 10% |
| Assignment 1: Making a Request | 10% |
| Assignment 2: Recommendation | 20% |
| Assignment 3: Communicating in a Crisis | 15% |
Assignment 4: Proposal
|
20% |
Assignment marking criteria can be found on the individual assignment description pages.
Your graded assignments will be returned to you online as “feedback” in each dropbox for Assignments 1, 2, and 4, and in the quiz for Assignment 3.
Official Grades
Official Grades and Academic Standings are available through Quest.
Materials and Resources
Textbook
Required:
- Thill, John, Courtland L. Bovee, and Ava Cross. Excellence in Business Communication, 6th Canadian Edition. Toronto: Pearson Canada, 2018.
This textbook is available in both hard copy and eText formats, and you can either purchase or rent the eText. Please see Purchasing and Accessing Your Textbook for instructions on how to purchase and access the the hard copy and digital versions of the text.
Note: The page numbers for both the 5th and 6th editions of the textbook are indicated on the weekly topic pages.
Resources
- Living4Learning: The Living4Learning website can be accessed from the link provided on the left side of the Course Home page.
- Library services for Co-op students on work term and students taking online courses
Course Schedule
ALL TIMES EASTERN – Please see the University Policies section of the Course Outline for details.
| Topic | Module Title | Textbook Readings | Due This Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topic 1 | |||
| READ ME FIRST! To succeed in this course you must understand what Living4Learning is. Please read the Introduction to ENGL 210F. | |||
| New Employee Orientation | Week 1: Introduction and Orientation | Living4Learning website, Ch. 16 to p.534 (6th ed.) or p. 541 (5th ed.) |
NOTE: The instructions for anything designated an "activity" can be found on the topic page for that week. Topic pages can be accessed from the first column in the table. |
| Activity: Rights and Responsibilities Agreement (Quiz) | |||
| Activity: New Employee Orientation Exercise* (Quiz) Due: Friday, May 6, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|||
| Week 2: The Communication Process | Ch. 1 Ch. 4 |
Activity: Employment Application* (Individual dropbox) Due: Thursday, May 12, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|
| Topic 2 | |||
| Making a Request | Week 3: Team Communications: Effective Requests |
Ch. 2 to p. 50 (6th ed.)/p.51 (5th ed.) |
Activity: Summary Report* (Group dropbox) Due: Thursday, May 19, 2022, 11:55 PM |
| Week 4: Drafting, Reviewing, and Revising | Ch. 1 (p. 19-20) | Assignment 1: Making a Request (10%) Activity: Peer Review Workshop* (Forum) Workshop Draft Due: Tuesday, May 24, 2022, 11:55 PM (Forum) Peer Review Due: Thursday, May 26, 2022, 11:55 PM (Forum) Final Version Due: Monday, May 30, 2022 11:55 PM (Individual dropbox) |
|
| Topic 3 | |||
| Making Recommendations | Week 5: Blogs; Research and Recommendations |
Ch. 7 Ch. 12, pp. 368-77 (6th ed.) or 374-83 (5th ed.) or p. 688-97 (BibliU) |
Activity: Summary Report* (Group dropbox) Due: Thursday, June 2, 2022, 11:55 PM |
| Departmental Blog** (Individual dropbox) Due: Friday, June 3, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|||
| Week 6: Persuasive Writing | Ch. 5 Ch. 10 |
Activity: Summary Report* (Group dropbox) Due: Thursday, June 9, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|
| Departmental Blog** (Individual dropbox) Due: Friday, June 10, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|||
| Week 7: Clarity and Conciseness; Drafting, Reviewing, and Revising | Ch. 6 |
Assignment 2: Recommendation (20%) |
|
| Departmental Blog** (Individual dropbox) Due: Friday, June 17, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|||
| Topic 4 | |||
| Delivering Bad News | Week 8: Communicating in a Crisis | Ch. 9 | Activity: Summary Report* (Group dropbox) Due: Thursday, June 23, 2022, 11:55 PM |
| Departmental Blog** (Individual dropbox) Due: Friday, June 24, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|||
| Week 9: Tone | Ch. 5 (review) | Activity: Summary Report* (Group dropbox) Due: Thursday, June 30, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|
| Assignment 3: Communicating in a Crisis (Quiz) (15%) Available: Wednesday, June 29, 2022, 12:05 AM Due: Sunday, July 3, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|||
| Topic 5 | |||
| Presenting a Project Proposal | Week 10: Organizing and Planning a Collaborative Proposal | Ch. 11 from p. 357 (6th ed.) or p. 362 (5th ed.) or p. 665 (BibliU) Ch. 12 Ch. 13 from p. 439 (6th ed.) or p. 445 (5th ed.) or p. 773 (BibliU) |
Begin Assignment 4: Proposal Note: You must contribute to this week's meeting no later than Wednesday, July 6, 2022 at 11:55 PM to be included in the proposal process. |
| Activity: Group Proposal Work Plan* (Group dropbox) Due: Thursday, July 7, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|||
| Departmental Blog** (Individual dropbox) Due: Friday, July 8, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|||
| Week 11: Layout and Design; Graphics | Ch. 12 from p. 386 (6th ed.) or p. 392 (5th ed.) or p. 710 (BibliU) | Activity: Summary Report* (Group dropbox) Due: Thursday, July 14, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|
| Activity: Progress Report* (Individual dropbox) Due: Thursday, July 14, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|||
| Departmental Blog** (Individual dropbox) Due: Friday, July 15, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|||
| Week 12: Finalizing Proposals and Evaluating Your Skills | Ch. 13 | Activity: Course Feedback (Survey) Opens: Monday, July 18, 2022 at 12:05 AM |
|
| Assignment 4: Proposal (20% total) Individual Portion (15%) Due: Wednesday, July 20, 2022,11:55 PM |
|||
| Activity: Progress Report* (Individual dropbox) Due: Thursday, July 21, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|||
| Departmental Blog** (Individual dropbox) Due: Friday, July 22, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|||
| Assignment 4: Proposal (20% total) Combined Group Submission (5%) Due: Friday, July 22, 2022, 11:55 PM |
|||
| There is no final examination for this course. | |||
*A Note About Weekly Activities
The weekly activity submissions make up 25% of your final grade. For more detailed information on how these activities will be assessed, see the Weekly Meetings and Activities page. Specific instructions for each activity can be found on the topic page for that week.
Your weekly group (department) meetings begin in Week 3 and take place online in the discussion forums. To find your weekly meeting rooms, click Connect and then Discussions on the course navigation bar above. Note: You will not be able to see the forums until Week 3.
**A Note About Blogs
Each person in the department is responsible for one blog contribution throughout the term. Your department must decide on a schedule for blog contributors. You will only be marked for your own blog contribution, which will make up 10% of your final grade. See the Departmental Blog page for more information on the blog assignment.
University of Waterloo