MAZOON COLLEGE

Course Code : Eng. 60(Eng.1160) Course Name: writing and Research

Course Instructor : Dr Khadija Al Balushi
Date of Submission : 4/3/2020 Total Marks: 15

Remark: Candidates are advised to read all instructions before answering

Learning outcomes to be tested by this assignment:

1. Appreciate and recognize the basic concepts and different types of research.

2. Describe and discuss the basics steps and features of doing a good research design, its process
and methodology.

Scope of the Assignment

This assignment will check the students’ ability to do the reading and analyzing activities
independently
Plagiarism Policy
Plagiarism includes, and not limited to, submitting a report/presentation/ dissertation/ term
paper/research paper or any other work to be graded which includes the production of other
author(s) without properly acknowledging the original author(s) of the work, or use the work of
other person (paid or un paid) and submitting it to be its own work to claim grades or any other
credit. The college is using text matching detection software; text similarity above 20% is not
acceptable and deemed plagiarism.
Submission Instructions
 Use A4 size paper, Times New Roman 14 font size with double (2) line spacing in text.
 Use first page of assignment as cover page to submit your work
 Submit soft copy of assignment through college portal and hard copy as per instructions of the
course instructor.
 Late submission is subjected to deduction of 2 marks per delayed day
 Plagiarized work shall not be considered to award any marks
 Student will be served with academic warning in case of submitting plagiarized work.
 Mazoon College
Summer 2019

Eng. 60 /1160
Writing and Research
 ENG 60/1160 “Writing and Research” are required to write a description of their research topic
according to the attached template (look at your college inbox).
 Please make sure that you read and understand the rubric for quiz 1.
 You should use TIMES NEW ROMEN font 14 double spacing between lines.

Quiz 1 Rubric

Mark
Topic Title The title should be operational free from any 1
grammatical errors.
Introduction Should include lead in to the topic. The topic or thesis 3
statement should be clearly stated at the begging or the
end of the introduction that showed the purpose of the
current research.
Research Question Research question is related to the title, feasible, and 2
neither too broad nor too narrowed.
Review of Literature To include the current or previous knowledge including 3
(Background) substantive findings, as well as theoretical and
methodological contributions to the topic field. 
Research Qualitative, Quantitative, or triangulation? Why this 3
methodology methodology has been chosen?
Research What is the tool of research? Interview or questionnaire? 3
Methods/Tools Why this tool has been chosen?
Structures, semi-structured, unstructured interview?
Why?
Closed-ended, open-ended, combination questionnaire?
Why?
Direct or participant observation? Cover or overt? Why.
Total 15

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 Eng. 60 /1160
Writing and Research
Quiz 1

Student Name
ID
Section
Lecturer
.

Spring 2020

3
 Title

Improving Communication Skills for Mazoon College Students

Introduction

Enhanced soft skills are a requirement of every employer in this era. Soft skills

should be taught at fundamental level, as it enhances the communication, problem

solving, creativity, critical thinking, negotiating and interpersonal skills.

Communication skills among students must be enhanced essentially as they are

most of the times exposed to scenarios in and outside university which require

good communication abilities. This paper aims to improve communication skills

among college students through a questionnaire which administers verbal, written

and social communication skills for students. The purpose of this research is to

improve the these skills for the students of Mazoon College by analyzing the

factors that affect communication skills.

Research Question

The research question is based on how equipped the students of this college are for

improving their communication skills. What are the various dimensions of these

soft skills that college students need to get familiar with?

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Review of Literature (Background Research)

Communication basically is the process of transferring information, ideas and

opinions through different verbal and non-verbal methods. Commonly, verbal

method is used , which is a two way method when feedbacks are given on message

received. Along with communicating orally symbols and signs are also used. The

components of communication are the person delivering the information and the

person receiving it. According to the work of previous researchers such as Ahmad

and Dababneh (2010) and Foster and Moffat (2005) it is concluded that an

effective environment for communication enables students to improve their

communication level. Thus, college students must be given opportunities to

improve their skills in order to make their mark in the job market. There are basic

kinds of communication skills. According to Mohd Helmi (2005) there are three

kinds of communication that are interpersonal , management and public

communication. However there are four elements ; the speaker, receiver, channel

and feedback. Harlak et al. (2008) suggests that college students must do activities

that help them build their soft skills starting from the very beginning year of

college. Hence the colleges should help students recognizing the communication

skills in order to succeed in this era of globalization. Thus the aim of this research

is to analyze the level of soft skills among the students of this college.

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Research Methodology

The qualitative research method is chosen for this study as it helps us in exploring

the problem by providing a detailed view of the phenomenon. It helps in justifying

the problem and plays a minor role. The purpose in open ended and it is feasible to

collect data on words from a comparatively small number of participants. We can

analyze this data and through the text analysis and asses the process over time. The

perspectives of the participants help us generate theories. The qualitative research

methods enables us to understand the perspectives and views. A concept will be

developed leading to potential theories. In addition we can discover individual

thoughts and views. We can interact among the participants , the participants

appear more involved as there is a structured survey which uses a dynamic process

of questionnaire. The ability to probe will help us determine more than just initial

responses. We can uncover the views of students through in depth analysis of a

small group of people. This makes our research more descriptive.

Data Collection tools (Methods)

A questionnaire is created which will be based on constructs i.e oral, written and

social communication skills. Participants can respond at a scale of strongly

disagree, strongly agree, agree, disagree, slightly disagree against different options

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for each kind of communication. Whether they prefer verbal communication skills

improved through verbal presentation of ideas, understanding was is heard, giving

a feedback or through a presentation. If written form of an idea, giving the

feedback in written form or negotiating through an agreement helps improving

written communications skills and which kind do they prefer. In addition if how

much affected are social communication skills by communication in different

cultures and languages humbly. A close ended questionnaire is made as it enables

us to be conclusive. Data can be measured quantifiably which useful in

categorizing the participants on the basis of answers. We can easily analyze and

compare these answers.