Final reflection on learning

Now it has come to the end of the course . Or perhaps it might be  only the beginning for us to  put all the knowledge that we have learnt into practice and become them one day.

In this course I found that my writing skill has improved dramatically compared to the way it was 3 months ago. This improvement is attributed to the amount of writing practices that we have employed through  various activities such as writing blog posts, writing lesson plan, the cover letter and resume , meeting minutes, proposal and emails to respective stakeholders.

Frankly, I enrolled into this course with the initial speculation that there would be a lot of discussions and verbal communications involved. However, I was taken by surprise to notice that there were also many writing tasks too. And I had to say it was such an enjoyable surprise .Since English is my second language and although I am required to write a fair bit in my course, personally I found that my writing skill hardly improved over the past year. Personally I guessed it was because I did not receive detailed feedbacks on my writings .Due to time constraint, learning has been one-directional most of the time. My tutors were  way too  busy  finishing the lesson requirement  and could not afford to correct each student on trivial shortcomings  such as wrong grammar or poor choice of vocabulary .These small  factors, if accumulated over time would  greatly affect the overall performance of the assignment. Nevertheless, I was also way ignorant to be able to eveluate my writing objectively. As a matter of fact, I have been repeating the same mistakes again in my writing  without noticing them.

In this class, having been introduced to the 7 C standard, I started to form a habit of asking  what is the purpose of my writing, does it sound coherent? Is it concise ? Is it clear?I find  these guideline questions are extremely useful in writing a good piece of essay. Furthermore through evaluating other’s work, I was exposure to a diverse range of writing styles from which I gradually withdrawn some useful tips of writing and build up my vocabulary.

I also like the lighthearted manner in which writing was infused into the course curriculum. Despite the  heavy workload, many  interactive activities such as  class discussions, peer feedbacks, peer teaching  etc  in replacement to thick textbooks and daunting compulsory readings required in conventional courses  have made  this class  much more pragmatic and enjoyable.

Lastly, it was the open-minded and mutual respective culture in classroom that helped me to express my ideas freely without being so self-conscious  about making mistakes. I would also like to express my gratitude to the facilitator-Brad and all of my beloved classmates for making ES2007S such a memorable experience.

Reflection on Oral Presentation (Post #5)

Seeing everyone smiled yesterday after the presentation has been a heartfelt moment. We smiled as we said “ yeah, it ‘s all over!” . We smiled as we knew we have done our best even though it was not perfect. Most importantly, we smiled out of the gratitude that we were given a chance to do something different from what we did before – writing a proposal and making people believe in it.

 

Reflecting on the OP, the first thing I would say is that Liberty was such a good combination of members. We all come from various faculties (Science, Engineering and Art) .Moreover, each of us possessed different talent and personalities that compensated each other’s weakness. Min was a natural team leader, straightforward and aggressive who brought a vibe of dynamic into the team. She would alarm us as we tended to divert from our main points. Shweta was pleasant, creative individual who usually brought up suggestions as we were stuck with a problematic issue. Dinh was a good listener and an IT expert who saved the three girls from the computer disaster. I was taken by surprised how well we got along with each other despite our diverse cultural background and how responsible everyone was, from responding the messages on face book to finishing one’s part on time. It was obvious that everyone put a serious effort into it and the presentation has been a wonderful piece of teamwork.

I guess being able to do that, the classroom culture which promoted constructive criticism, active listening and fostering intercultural communication more or less had a vital impact. Those EQ values that we listened and discussed in classroom have penetrated into our minds and changed the way we interacted with each other to some extent.

Personally, I was satisfied with what I did during the presentation.I practised before the presentation many times to resonate with the content and be able to get used to the layout of points that I needed to cover.Probably thanks to that, I was able to present naturally without referring to the slides so often.In order to mentally prepare for the presentation, I told myself it was not about how well I have to perform in front of other. Nevertheless,I took it simply as a chance to share my thoughts with my classmates and confidently persuade them in what I truly believe in. Honestly,there were times when I was too emotionally involved that I sidetracked from the main points, I guess my presentation should have been more concise and shorter to bring about a greater impact to the audiences

However, when I look back on this OP in the future, I would not remember much of the moment that we were up there presenting our ideas. Rather, I would remember the journey that we all have gone through as a team to achieve a common goal. It was the first heated team discussion to negotiate the topic of our proposal , the peer feedbacks, the first online meeting on Google which we took a while to figure how to use it, the very different perspectives that we always brought into group discussions, the serious rehearsals when Dinh was painfully glued to his script, and of course all the laughter and stress induced as we were walking through different phases of the project etc…that I would cherish the most. I like it because it was a learning process from which we had fun making mistakes and learn how to improve them by listening to other’s feedbacks. Through this process, I felt that I have enjoyed and learnt a lot from it .

 

This experience was a remarkable one that I will bring with me in my future endeavors.

 



 

ES2007S - Nov 2012  

Evaluating Intercultural Behavior (Post #4)

This was an incident that I happened to observe at a hospital in Singapore. The patient, an  old man from China,was in such a critical situation that he needed to be admitted right away to the medical ward.Patient was assigned to bed number 4. However, the patient's family member was not satisfied and consistently requested for a bed change.The reason was that number 4 was  a homonym for “death” in Chinese.The nurse manager explained to the family members that the hospital then was experiencing a severe shortage of beds due to high patient load and it would take as soon as 2 days to get another bed available. It was imperative to let patient have treatment at the ward right away. Surprisingly enough, patients’ family members agreed to forgo bed number 4 and let  the patient  stay in the emergency department until another vacant bed was ready.  

Due to such procrastination,the patient was in coma for 3 weeks and would not likely to  recover. On top of that, the family was then in a state of financial difficulty.Therefore, the doctors suggested a humanitarian death as an ultimate solution for him. However, again, the medical team encountered one significant issue : the cultural  barrier.The family members took their suggestion in such a negative way that they became so agitated and requested for a transfer to another hospital.

The medical staff tried to explain their viewpoint but to no avail. Finally, the patient was shifted to another hospital as per request.

Analysis :

The above story might sound very awkward to some of us .How could one allow the life of his/her beloved one to be  endangered due to such ridiculous matter of a bed  number ? However,strictly speaking, number four has been well-known to be an unlucky number in Chinese culture.Due to that, many numbered product lines skip the "four". For example, Nokia phone does not have a series number starting with 4. Some buildings skip floor 4 or replace the number with the letter "F", particularly in heavily Asian areas. And there is absolutely no table number 4 in a Chinese wedding dinner....Assumed that you were educated by your parents  with such strongly fixed mind against number 4, chances are you would not know other better way to behave than the above Chinese family did.

Another underlying issue was the delicate and sensitive topic of death. Death has been such a taboo across cultures that it leads to conversational unease or even  disruption.After all, number 4 was not well-received because it implies death.The extent in which people accept death and how much they are willing to talk about it varies from culture to culture. In this case, the Chinese family had rather extreme preconceptions about it. As a consequence,such ideas have hindered them from saving their own family member from the hand of death.

Technical error in posting comments

Hi everyone

Lately my blog has experienced a technical error which was found out by Min. She tried to post her comments on my blog but it was not successful.This happened even when she tried again and again for 5 times.

Please let me know if anyone of you having the same issue as Min.

Regards
Heather

Blog Post 3: Application Cover Letter

Hi All,
I am applying for Admission Officer position at an Inernational School.
Here are the job requirements:

Successful applicants must be able to work in a fast paced environment, have previous administrative experience and have an excellent command of the English language.

Additional Requirements:

• Minimum Degree  in any discipline
• Must have a minimum of 2 years experience in an administrative role
• Must be fully proficient in using MS Word and excel
• Experience using data management systems would be highly regarded
• Must have excellent organisational skills and meticulous attention to detail
• Must have excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Must be fluent in English
• Able to start working immediately

______________________________________________________________________________ 

The Canadian International School
7 Jurong West Street 41
Singapore 649414
Phone: +(65) 6467 1732
Fax: +(65) 6467 1729
 

Dear officer-in-charge,

 

I am writing to express my interest in the Admission Officer position listed on StraitTimes on 9^thSeptember. I have just graduated from National University of Singapore (NUS) with a Sociology degree and had one year of full-time working experience at an international medical services department at a local hospital. I have experiences in building large, consumer-focused information seminars both in Singapore and overseas. While much of my experience has been in the healthcare world, I understand the ultimate value of the educational sector and believe that my previous work experience will be an asset to your organization.

 

My responsibilities at the hospital included the daily administration work, evaluation of international patients ‘profiles in order to refer them to the right specialists and correspondences with international medical assistance companies on medical insurance claims as well as repatriations. In addition, I worked closely with health care professionals as well as health alliances to ensure seamless communication between them and the patients. Those above-mentioned experiences have taught me how to build strong relationships within all departments of an organization. I have the ability to work in a team and in a cross-team setting. Having been in the customer service line has also shaped my interpersonal communication skills and cultural competency. I can work well with people from different backgrounds and age groups.

 

As a student, I have been actively involved in volunteer and extra-curriculum activities: I participated in a student project to improve the quality of life for sex workers in Singapore and took care of the logistics for International Student Club throughout my school years. Those experiences have built up my empathy and organizing skills, which are part of the requirements for this position.

 

Please find my resume attached herewith for your kind perusal. Should you require any clarifications on my personal information, please feel free to contact me though my email or mobile phone.

 

Once again, thank you very much  for your consideration; and I am looking forward to hearing from you.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

Heather Nguyen

Email: heathernguyen128@gmail.com

HP: +65 84800331

Interpersonal Conflict : Money matter

A blazing hot afternoon,the sunshine danced randomly on mycup of coffee.I waited  impatiently at the corner of a cafeteria, constantly searching for his sight.Stream of people coming and going added noises of their conversations to my unstable mood. 3 pm, he came as promised in his sporty car. Well-built and tall, he was in his maroon burberry polo-shirt, wearing Guess cap and fashionable jean ripped at both knees, his eyes swept through the cafeteria. I raised my hand to signal. We exchanged greetings and he  ordered his drink. He asked about my study, I replied politely. We both felt into a moment of absurd silence. He started to initiate more topics…Without a word, I handed him a piece of paper; he glanced through and signed under Guardian section.At that moment, I knew for myself that we could no longer talked freely to each other as the way we did before any more.I felt as if there was an invisible wall separating us . Obviously, we were having a interpersonal conflict.

Money, when it matters, sometimes it hurts, no matter how close the relationship used to be. Several years ago when my little brother came to Singapore to study, he needed a guardian. Tan, a Singaporean  friend of my brother’s, offered his help. He did not accept any money even though we suggested him to do so. Tan started to borrow 4000 $ from us last year for a business project. Out of appreciation for what he did to my brother,my mother gave in despite it was a big amount of money to my family.Since then he has been promising to return them “next month”, but next month has never seemed to come yet. My brother started to bring up the sensitive money issue while they met for a drink. He started to talk about being a guardian to my little brother as an excuse .Gradually, it came to the point that my brother did not bother to meet up with Tan anymore. Tan , in the other hand,visited us sometimes to sign documents for my little brother as if nothing serious happened. Our disappointment grew into frustration and anger as time passed by.He has a well-paid full time job, with average income of 5000 SGD per month. It is definitely not so hard for him to return the amount of money that he borrowed.

 Frankly, I feel that while a relationship is sustainable when it is mutually beneficial for both parties, it is unethical to take advantage of it for money. Now, my question is how can I get my money back without causing so much damage to friendship with Tan?

why is effective communication important?

why is effective communication important?

We are living in the world where no one is able to survive without interactions with others. From the most simple to the most complicated job of a national president, communication plays such a vital role.

 

In Chinese, to converse is “通话”, which literally means throughout(通) communication(话). Hence,effective communicating has proved itself to be emphasized since ancient time.

Thousands of years later, in this modern time, communication is not only on face-to-face basis but also has been introduced to new channels due to influence of technology .Now we can easily be in touch with someone who is thousands of kilometers away from us through text, email, facebook and skype. We are actually spoilt for choices. Surprisingly enough, although communication channel reaches its acme, communication breakdown occurs more commonly than ever. For example, statistics shows that in the past decade, divorce rate in the world has increased dramatically. How could this be possible?While there are variety of factors that have  contributed to this, effective communication certainly has a major impact on identifying and resolving these social issues.

 

In this course, we analyze different types of communication,namely interpersonal communication, writing(for internet communication), position communication( for employment purpose) and oral communication.

 

While being effective in all the above-mentioned communication models would be ideal, I personally think that interpersonal communication is the most important because it requires both external skills (like asking questions, observations etc) and constant reflection on the internal belief system. Honestly,I am terrible at internet communication, It sometimes takes a week for me to reply an email because of my procrastination habit; I was just not born to provide an answer to certain issues right away, especially if the communication model is not on face-to-face basis. Strictly speaking, I guess this behaviour pattern has been existing partly because of my ignorance to others'feelings  and most probably also due to my superior mind: subconciousy ,I want to be perfect in replying that single email/message. As a result ,being obsessed to be good actually hinders me from expressing my thoughts freely and spontaneously to others. In any case, this certainly has something to do with my family up-bringing and personal preconceptions which I believe could be changed by adopting new interpersonal communication skills in this course….Well, I am here to learn and am looking forward to seeing how I can utilize new interpersonal skills to break this persistent habit!!

 

Thank you guys for reading and have a nice weekend !!:)