COURSE GUIDE W ix

COURSE GUIDE DESCRIPTION

You must read this Course Guide carefully from the beginning to the end. It tells
you briefly what the course is about and how you can work your way through
the course material. It also suggests the amount of time you are likely to spend
in order to complete the course successfully. Please keep on referring to the
Course Guide as you go through the course material as it will help you to clarify
important study components or points that you might miss or overlook.

INTRODUCTION
BDKO1103 Basic Interpersonal Communication is one of the courses offered by
the Faculty of Business and Management at Open University Malaysia (OUM).
This course is worth 3 credit hours and should be covered over 15 weeks.

COURSE AUDIENCE
This is a compulsory course for students pursuing the Diploma in Management
and Diploma in Human Resource Management program.

As an open and distance learner, you should be able to learn independently and
optimise the learning modes and environment available to you. Before you begin
this course, please confirm the course material, the course requirements and how
the course is conducted.

STUDY SCHEDULE
It is a standard OUM practice that learners accumulate 40 study hours for every
credit hour. As such, for a three-credit hour course, you are expected to spend
120 study hours. Table 1 gives an estimation of how the 120 study hours could be
accumulated.

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Table 1: Estimation of Time Accumulation of Study Hours

LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
1. Define the term communication and the concepts and principles of
interpersonal communication;
2. Identify the importance of interpersonal communication, its conflicts and
means to address it in various forms of interaction;
3. Assess your “self “perception, listening capabilities, usage of symbols and
behaviourism in forming meaningful relationship; and
4. Apply all of the above in interpersonal communication within groups,
teams, organisations, the public and within an intercultural society.

COURSE SYNOPSIS
This course is divided into 10 topics. The synopsis for each topic is presented
below:

Topic 1 outlines the foundation of understanding the nature of communication

and introduces you to the essentials of interpersonal communication. Discussion
focuses by defining “communication” as an important terminology that forms
the basis of interpersonal communication. Other topics discussed include
the introduction to interpersonal communication, the elements, functions,
characteristics, importance and its applications that may result in conflict in
interpersonal relationships.

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Topic 2 discusses the concept of “self” as the main actor in interpersonal

communication, and how it affects several communication contexts. The
topic explores how the self is formed and changed through the process of
communicating with others. Another important aspect in interpersonal
communication involves perception, which is critical to our efforts in creating
meaning in every interaction.

Topic 3 embarks upon the art of listening, the first step into mastering
interpersonal communication. This topic will explore and focus on topics such as
the listening process, the benefits of effective listening and the listening obstacles.

Topic 4 takes a closer look at verbal communication and how language forms
words which allow us to create and perceive meanings in communication.
This topic will examine some of the common barriers and solutions to effective
language use in various communication contexts.

Topic 5 will explore non-verbal interaction or behaviours as part of interpersonal

communication as another major dimension of human communication. This topic
discusses the importance of non-verbal behaviours, the different types of non-
verbal cues and guidelines for non-verbal effectiveness which give an impact on
the communication process.

Topic 6 focuses on the revolving technologies and how it has transformed

the lives of people either in their interaction between friends and families,
interpersonal relationships, groups, organisations, the public and their own
intrapersonal dialogue. The topic discusses how numerous activities and
the advent of communication technologies have an implication in complex
relationships between humans. This topic will also focus on ethical issues in
cyberspace which has become an important issue in today’s communication
process.

Topic 7 focuses on the many kinds of groups, each with their own unique
characteristics as well as goals and patterns of behaviour. The topic discusses
the function of group and team communication and its relation to interpersonal
communication. This topic will also help discover how to perform interpersonal
communication effectively in groups and teams.

Topic 8 will discuss the importance of forming an effective interpersonal

communication in the workplace, particularly in an organisation as a system.
Communication in a large number of people working together requires a
structured way to communicate and accomplish the organisational goal. This
includes the basic interpersonal skills which involve writing, speaking and
listening. This topics also focus on the importance of communication skills which
are absolutely essential in an organisation.

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Topic 9 will discuss communication in public and the importance of having

skills to address the public. It also discussed include the process of preparing,
staging and delivering a presentation to an audience. Communicating in a large
community represents communicating in the public sphere. This topic will
discuss the understanding and mastery of the skills in dealing with the public
which involves one-to-many.

Topic 10 discusses communication in a diverse society which forms a basis in

any communication process involved. Diversity in languages and culture is a
prominent influence that affects the relationship between people (interpersonal),
small groups or in our social lives. This topic attempts to present the methods
required in interpersonal communication between people from different cultures.
It also explores the nature of how culture and interpersonal communication affect
the communication climate.

TEXT ARRANGEMENT GUIDE

Before you go through this module, it is important that you note the text
arrangement. Understanding the text arrangement should help you to organise
your study of this course to be more objective and more effective. Generally, the
text arrangement for each topic is as follows:

Learning Outcomes: This section refers to what you should achieve after you
have completely gone through a topic. As you go through each topic, you should
frequently refer to these learning outcomes. By doing this, you can continuously
gauge your progress of digesting the topic.

Self-Check: This component of the module is inserted at strategic locations

throughout the module. It is inserted after you have gone through one sub-section
or sometimes a few sub-sections. It usually comes in the form of a question that
may require you to stop your reading and start thinking. When you come across
this component, try to reflect on what you have already gone through. When you
attempt to answer the question prompted, you should be able to gauge whether
you have understood what you have read (clearly, vaguely or worse you might
find out that you had not comprehended or retained the sub-section(s) that you
had just gone through). Most of the time, the answers to the questions can be found
directly from the module itself.

Activity: Like Self-Check, activities are also placed at various locations or junctures
throughout the module. Compared to Self-Check, Activity can appear in various
forms such as questions, short case studies or it may even ask you to conduct an
observation or research. Activity may also ask your opinion and evaluation on a
given scenario. When you come across an Activity, you should try to widen what
you have gathered from the module and introduce it to real situations. You should
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engage yourself in higher order thinking where you might be required to analyse,
ne.

Summary
helps you to recap the whole topic. By going through the summary, you should

the summary that you do not fully understand, it would be a good idea for you to
revisit the details from the module.

Key Terms: This component can be found at the end of each topic. You should
go through this component to remind yourself of important terms or jargons

explain, you should look for the terms from the module.

References: References is where a list of relevant and useful textbooks, journals,

articles, electronic contents or sources can be found. This list can appear in a few
locations such as in the Course Guide (at References section), at the end of every
topic or at the back of the module. You are encouraged to read and refer to the
suggested sources to elicit the additional information needed as well as to enhance
your overall understanding of the course.

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
Learners of this course are required to pass BDPP1103 Introductory Management
course.

ASSESSMENT METHOD
Please refer to myINSPIRE.

REFERENCES

Adair, J. (1997). Effective communication. London: Pan Macmillan.

Adler, R., & Towne, N. (1975). Looking out/looking in: Interpersonal

communication. Reinhart Press: USA.

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University Malaysia
Malaysia (OUM)
(OUM)
xiv COURSE GUIDE

Barker, A. (2000). The sunday times: Improve your communication skills. Changchun:
Changchun Publishing.

Beamer, L. & Varner, I. (2001). Intercultural communication in the global workplace.

(2nd ed.). Singapore: McGraw Hill.

Bovee, C. L., Thill, J. V., & Schatzman, B. E. (2004). Business communication

essentials. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Chaney, L. H., & Martin, J. S. (2002). Intercultural business communication (2nd ed.).
CA: Pearson Education.

TAN SRI DR ABDULLAH SANUSI (TSDAS) DIGITAL

LIBRARY
The TSDAS Digital Library has a wide range of print and online resources for the
use of its learners. This comprehensive digital library, which is accessible
through the OUM portal, provides access to more than 30 online databases
comprising e-journals, e-theses, e-books and more. Examples of databases
available are EBSCOhost, ProQuest, SpringerLink, Books24x7, InfoSci Books,
Emerald Management Plus and Ebrary Electronic Books. As an OUM learner,
you are encouraged to make full use of the resources available through this
library.

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Copyright Open University
University Malaysia
Malaysia (OUM)
(OUM)