English II Final Revision on Communication

Final Revision Session

• Strategies for oral and written communication in English II
• Faculty of Languages and Education
• Global Campus, Nebrija

Oral Communication

• More personal and less formal than written communication
• Flexible and quicker
• Effective in addressing conflicts or problems

Informal Oral Communication

• Face-to-face conversations
• Telephone conversations
• Discussions at business meetings

Formal Oral Communication

• Presentations at business meetings
• Lectures
• Commencement speeches

Strategies on oral discourse

• Oral communicative strategies
  • Time-gaining strategies
  • Maintenance strategies
  • Help-seeking strategies
• Oral negotiation strategies
  • Clarification requests
  • Confirmation checks
  • Comprehension checks
  • Negotiation strategies focusing on form
    • Recast
    • Explicit correction

Time-gaining strategies

• Using filler expressions to gain time to think
• Examples: Really?, Uhm, let me see, well, sure

Maintenance strategies

• a) Make a positive comment or remark to keep the conversation going
  • Examples: I understand, I see, I see what you mean, Sounds good, Very good
• b) Shadow: Partially repeating what the partner has said

Help-seeking strategies

• a) Ask for help: I don't understand; What?; What does... mean?; How do you say...?
• b) Ask for repetition. Could you repeat that?
• c) Indicate there is a problem. For instance: Louder please; I can't hear you well.

Clarification requests

• One partner does not understand well and requests an explanation
• Examples: What?; What did you say?

Confirmation checks

• The listener checks that he/she has understood his partner correctly
• For example: Did you say...?

Comprehension checks

• To be sure our partner has understood
• Examples: Do you understand?; Is it clear?; Do you agree?

Negotiation strategies which focus on form

• a) Recast. Your partner corrects your language.
  • Example: Speaker 1: Me like golf. Speaker 2: I like golf. Speaker 1: Yes, I like golf
• b) Explicit Correction. You correct your partner by explaining what is wrong.
  • Example: Speaker 1: You get up early? Speaker 2: You need Do You before get up. Speaker 1: Do you get up early?

Relative pronouns

• A relative pronoun is used to refer to nouns mentioned previously (people, places, things, animals, or ideas)
• They can be used to join two sentences and introduce relative clauses
• Common relative pronouns in English: which, that, whose, who, whom
• In some situations, what, when, and where can act as relative pronouns

Relative pronoun WHO

• Used in relative clauses to refer to people and sometimes pet animals
• Can act as subject or object of the relative clause
• Can be the complement of a preposition; the preposition goes at the end of the relative clause instead of before who.
• Often used with collective human nouns like committee, government, group, panel, police, or team

Relative pronoun WHICH

• Used to refer to animals and things in defining and non-defining relative clauses
• Always used to introduce relative clauses when referring to a whole sentence or clause

Relative pronoun WHOSE

• Normally used as a relative pronoun to indicate possession
• Used before nouns instead of a possessive expression (my, your, his, her, its, our, their, x's) in defining and non-defining clauses

Relative pronouns: WHEN, WHERE, and WHY

• Use these pronouns to refer to places, times, and reasons.

Relative pronouns: typical errors

• Don't use that instead of who, whom, or which in non-defining relative clauses
• Don't use what as a relative pronoun
• Don't use who for things

Defining Relative Clauses

• Provide essential information about the noun to which they refer
• Cannot be left out without affecting the sentence's meaning

Non-defining Relative Clauses

• Provide extra information about the noun
• Can be left out without changing the sentence's meaning
• Always use commas with non-defining relative clauses

Forming adverbs

• Formed by adding -ly to an adjective

Adverbs of Frequency

• Indicate how often something happens
• Usually placed after the subject and before the main verb

Asking for something

• Speech-act theory was introduced in 1975 by J.L. Austin and further developed by J.R. Searle

How to express requests in English

Asking others to do things

How to express refusal in English

• Make a statement of regret
• Explain why the answer is "no"
• Offer an alternative

How to express acceptance in English

How to express compliments and responses in English

How to express invitations and thanks

Formal invitations

Informal invitations

Accepting an invitation

How to express apologies and complaints in English

• Deal with complaints in a structured way
• Using indirect language
• Keeping your voice calm
• Using modal verbs
• Ending complaints with a question
• Explaining why you're upset/frustrated/angry

Step 1: Listening

• Important to listen to customer's problem attentively and empathize
• Use phrases and filler sounds to acknowledge understanding

Step 2: Apologizing

• Apologize sincerely for the problem

Step 3: Taking action

• Work with manager to find a solution
• Follow up with the customer

Step 4: Follow-up

• Confirm the issue has been resolved
• Ask if there are any further concerns