Technical University of Mombasa

Hello!

This is your first Lecture, in a series of twelve sessions. I want to start by giving you a detailed
overview of your Communication Skills course HMC 4107 offered online.

Course Description

The contents of your course spread over 12 sessions. Each session has between 1- 5
lectures. The main focus of this course is on communication skills. These skills comprise
the four primary language skills you need to master for effective Communication,
namely, reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

The Purpose of this Course

HMC 4107 Communication Skills will introduce you to the principles and skills of Effective
Communication.

Course Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

a) Explain the elements of communication, credibility and confidence;

 b) Communicate competently with credibility and confidence;

c) Demonstrate sensitivity to the dimension of diversity within a community;

d) Build a relationship and specifically with their working group members;

e) Prepare and deliver effective presentations; and

f) Apply communication skills to everyday life

Mode of Study

This course will adopt a blended learning format which essentially consists of online learning modules
where a portion of the lectures and reading material will be presented online

Assessment

CATs 30%

Examination 70%

Your Schedule

In Learning Portal, you will access online lessons, course materials, and resources. This course is
self-paced but with four specific dates: start date, midterm date, final date and completion date.
Lecture 1 is scheduled for the 1st week of the course so it is important that you begin immediately.
The activities are designed to make sure that you can meet the requirements as listed above.
Required Text/Material

Lumsden & Lumsden, Communicating with Credibility and Confidence: Third Edition,
Thomson/Wadsworth, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-0-495-00385-4

Working through the Course

To complete this course, you are required to read the study units and read sets of books and other
relevant materials that you may lay your hands on. You will also need to undertake practical
exercises for which you need a pen, a pencil, a notebook, and other materials that will be listed later
in this course guide. At the end of each unit, you will be required to submit written assignments for
assessment purposes. At the end of the course, there will be a final examination. The course should
take about 15 weeks.

What you Need

The major materials you will need for this course are listed below.

1. Course guide

2. Study Units

3. A smartphone, Tablet, Laptop Computer

4. Audio CDs

5. Video CDs

6. Assignment file 7

7. Relevant textbooks

8. Presentation schedule
Course outline

Session 1: Introduction to Communication Skills

In this session, I give you an overview of this course, and I also discuss the meaning of
Communication; elements of Communication, why we need effective communication.

Session 2 Barriers to Communication

Session 3 Barriers to Communication

I want to believe that at this point we are familiar with the operative principles of
Communication, its effectiveness, and the various concepts associated with
overcoming what we identified as barriers to Communication. I am going to introduce
you to Non-Verbal Communication with special emphasis on the importance of Body
Language in Communication. I intend to highlight the soft skills relevant for performing
well in professional activities like group discussion and interviews.

Session 4

Having identified barriers that obstruct effective Communication in our last session, I
want to introduce to you the first skill of Communication we call Listening Skills. I will
take you on a journey to establish detailed answers to these questions: Why do you
need listening skills? How can you enhance your listening skills? How can you become
a better listener? Which strategies can you use to become an active listener? Do we
have barriers to listening? If we do what are they and how can you overcome them?
Session 5

For you to make your Communication smooth and flawless, you need to look into
various practical aspects like grammar, spelling, pronunciation, and punctuation. .
Under Writing Skills, we shall engage in reinforcing the grammatical structures critical
to Communication. The errors that will come under the practical aspects of
Communication are kept under one umbrella term Common Errors.

Session 6

Having reinforced the grammatical structures critical to Communication in our

previous session, I focus on Written Communication. I will help you to enhance
formally structured effective official writing. Basics of official correspondence--
principles of writing general and official correspondence. Here Letter Writing, with
special emphasis on Job Application Letter, is dealt with. Note-taking is an important
aspect of academic studying. I will also take you through the skill of note-taking.

Session 7

Here I will focus on Technical Writing Emphasizing Report Writing and Essay Writing. I
will highlight the difference between literary style and technical style. The next two
sessions are quite important in a professional sense. Reflective writing is another
important skill you need to develop for some of the activities on this course, and for
your learning journal. I will assist you to distinguish between academic writing and
reflective writing.

Session 8

In this session I plan to take you through another important communication skill known
as Reading Skills. Indeed, reading is going to be an essential component in
your learning at university. This is not only because reading is a principal means of
obtaining information, expanding your knowledge and understanding of your subjects
but also because a large proportion of your time of study will be spent working with
written sources of information and because you have to cover a great deal of material
in a short amount of time.

Session 9

My focus will be on Group Discussion. We shall attempt to answer the following

questions: Why do you need group discussions? How can you make a good participant
in group discussion? How to judge group discussion participants? How to consider the
non-verbal aspects of group discussion?

Session 10

Interview Skills, will be the theme of my lectures in this session. Beginning with a
discussion on how to prepare for an interview, the session systematically covers all the
skills needed for giving a successful performance at an interview.

Session 11

This session focuses on Oral Presentation. This includes professional presentation skills
and general skills related to public speaking. It addresses important questions such as:
“How to overcome stage-fright” and “How to deliver a confident presentation.”

Session 12
This session deals with what is contemporary and necessary, that is, Netiquette—the manner
and method of expressing oneself online. I also look at the subject of Cross- Cultural
Communication or Inter-Cultural Communication. This focuses on communication across-
cultures or Communication between two cultures. Kenya is a multi-cultural country, and, in a
globalized scenario, there is no country that has a single culture. In this context, interaction with
people of another country, or for that matter, with citizens of the
world, calls for an informed knowledge of various cultural aspects embedded in the process of
Communication.