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NTRO EDUCATIVo
~ FRANCISCO JA~ ..

ENGLISH BOOKLET
ADVANCED 5
Teacher: Elizabeth C. Alvarez
5m
Course:
-
__
Student: ---.,.

Year: · .: ·
STUDENTS'BOOK
 Communication
'When peo ple talk, listen complete/y. Most people never listen.'
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), American writer

OVERVIEW

VOCABULARY
·····························
Good
communicators
LISTENING
·····························
lmproving
communications
READING
·····························
E-mail: for
and against
LANGUAGE REVIEW
·····························
ldioms
SKILLS
·····························
Dealing with
communication
breakdown
CASE STUDY
·····························
The price of success

STARTING UP
El Think of a good communicator you know. Explain why he/she is good
at communicating.

I] What makes a good communicator? Choose the three most important

factors from this list.
• fluencyinthelanguage
• grammatical accuracy
• an awareness of body
language
• an extensive vocabulary • a sense of humour
• being a good listener • physical appearance
• not being afraid of • no strong accent
making mistakes

11 What other factors are important for communication?

l:J Discuss these questions.

1 What forms of written and spoken communication do you like using? Why?

2 What problems can people have with the different forms of communication?
3 How do you think those problems can be solved?

Good
a Which of these words apply to good communicators and which apply
to bad communicators? Add two adjectives of your own to the list.
communicators articulate coherent eloquent extrovert fluent
focused hesitant inhibited oersuasíve rarnhlino
 1 concise 5 clear and easy to understand
2 reluctant to speak 6 good at influencing people
3 talking in a confused way 7 outgoing
4 able to express ideas well 8 eager to react and communicate

B Complete the extract below from a talk by a communication expert with

the verbs from the box.
clarify confuse digress engage explain interrupt ti5tett ramble

'Good communicators really .. lift:~.0 .. 1

to peo ple and take in what is said. They maintain
2
eye contact and have a relaxed body language, but they seldom and stop
3
peo ple talking. lf they don't understand and want to something, they wait for
a suitable opportunity.

When speaking, effective communicators are good at giving information. They do not
4
...•.••••••• their listener. They make their points clearly. They will avo id technical terms,
5
abbreviations or jargon. lf they do need to use unfamiliarterminology, they by
6
giving an easy-to-understand example. Furthermore, although they may in order
to elaborate a point and give additional information and details where appropriate, they
7
will not.. and lose sight of their main message. Really effective communicators
8
who have the ability to with colleagues, employees, customers and suppliers
are a valuable asset for any business.'

liJ ◄ >l) CDt.t Listen to the talk and check your answers.

·-e DVD-ROM 4 11 Think of a poor or bad communicator you know. How could they improve
-= -Glossary. V
their skills? What advice would you give them?

11 ◄ >)) CDt.2 Listen to the first part of an interview with Alastair Dryburgh,

lmproving an expert on communication. Does he think technology makes good

communication easier?
munications
El ◄>» coi.zListen again. What four key points does Alastair make about
communication?

B ◄ >)) CDt.3 Listen to the second part of the interview. Alastair gives an example
of a company which has used technology to change the way it communicates
with customers. Give reasons why it communicates well.

liJ ◄>» CDt.4 Listen to the final part, where Alastair is describing a bad customer
experience. What mistakes did the company make, and how could they have
improved the customer experience?

- -:- :.,e 11 Discuss an example you know of a company which communicates well with
its customers ora company which communicates badly. What advice would
-:: DVD-ROM.
you give to the bad communicator?

7
U N IT 1 ►► COMMUNICATION

What irritates you most about these forms of communication?

E-mail: for and e-mail
against mobile phone

conference calling
voicemail
BlackBerry

web presentation

El What are the advantages and disadvantages of using e-mail?

11 Read the article on the opposite page quickly and choose the best title.
1 Time to switch your BlackBerry off
2 How to deal with your inbox

3 A quiet word beats sending e-mail

liJ Read the article again and list the advantages and disadvantages of using
e-mail. Does the writer mention any that you Usted in Exercise B?

11 Find expressions in the article which mean the following.

1 looking at another person (paragraph 2)
2 upsetting or embarrassing someone by being rude or tactless (paragraph 2)

3 not be caught or punished when you have done something wrong (paragraph 4)
4 pretend something is true in arder to deceive peo ple (paragraph 4)

5 keeping writing or talking to someone, even though you do not see them often
(paragraph 8)
6 aiming an idea or product at someone (paragraph 8)

11 Complete this text with the expressions in Exercise E in the correct form.
1
1 don't have a problem with him his family whilst he's posted overseas and
sending e-mails in office time. That's not the main issue. However, if he thinks he can
2
••••••••.••• sending such abusive e-mails to colleagues, he is sadly mistaken and he'll have
3
to face the consequences of his actions later. He is clearly about his colleagues
4
and spreading nasty rumours. He'd be better off speaking to colleagues if he has
problems with them. He's slightly better when speaking with customers, but he needs to
5
think about who he's speaking to when he's our products to them. And he just
6
doesn't know how to say no to peo ple without •

m Discuss these questions.

1 'Business is best done faceto face.' Do you agree?

2 How could communication be improved in your organisation?

~ '\\I;)~ ~\\\ tl;)mm-ui\tn\\l;)\\ ~n"''t~\"'~~ l;)\\\t~ <;:i\~~\\').\\').\0.

4 What do you do when you receive a nasty e-mail?
5 Is communication better these days with ali the new technology?
 ..............................................................................
by Luke Johnson

E-mail might just be responsible for

the productivity increases that
economists tell us are the key to
rising prosperity. But it could also
5 be sending us ali mad.
The truth is that business is gener-
ally best done faceto face, and if that
is impossible, then speaking via the
phone. But too many of us now hide
10 behind silent, typed communica-
tions. The trouble is that the recipient
of an e-mail <loes not hear a tone of
voice or see a facial expression; nor
can the sender modify their message
15 halfway through, sensing that it is
causing offence. When you read an
e-mail, you cannot tell the mood of ·
the e-mailer.
A permanent written form is
20 deadly if you are feel ing impetuous and longer sorting out the e-mails themselves logically. It allows you to
and emotional. Too often I have that matter from ali the junk. It has reply swiftly to a host of different
made the rnistake of sending an 45 become, I'm afraid, a dangerously questions when time is short. You
irritable response, which will have corrupted médium. La.rge companies don 't have to worry about journey
festered and angered the other end suffer chronic overuse of 'reply to ali'. 70 times or travel costs, unreliable post-
25 much more than a difficult telephone Moreover, e-mail can be a terrible age or engaged phones or voicemail.
exchange. Spoken words fade, but distraction, especially if you use E-mail is a marvellously economi-
e-mail is forever. 50 a BlackBerry. I was recently cal too! for keeping in touch with
It is so much easicr to be tough vía reprimanded for peeking at mine far-flung commercial contacts; you
e-mail, or to get away with weak during a board meeting - a gross 75 can send thern a note at your leisure,
30 excuses, or to make things up, or form of hypocrisy on my part, 24 hours a day. It is also a terrific
to say no. Almost invariably, it is because I once tbreatened to sling method of discreetly and directly
more human and serious to have 55 out of the window any PDA-type pitching to someone powerful. It
a real discussion rather than a devices being used in meetings certainly beats trying to get a meet-
bizarre online conversation. I know I chaired. I have now vowed to 80 ing or even reach them on the phone.
35 employees who have been fired for switch off both B lackBerry and Like it or not, I could not do my
sending abusive e-mails, or who mobile in ali meetings - anything job without e-mail. Meanwhile, I
have faced severe legal conse- 60 less is uncivil. know a senior financier, an ex-chair
quences for writing something they It must be adrnitted that e-mail of a FTSE company, who still has his
should have just said verbally. is hard to beat as a transmitter of 85 secretary print out his e-mails for
40 Everyone in business finds their documents and data. lt forces the him to read so he can then dictate
inbox is almost swamped every day sender to careful ly think through replies for her to e-mail back. Now
with spam. I notice I spend longer 65 their arguments and express that reall y is mad.

1 tM11hd◄lWii'i, El Complete the idioms below with the words from the box.
ldioms bush grapevine loop mouth nutshell picture
point purposes stick tail wall wavelength

a) to put it in a . g) can't make head nor of it

b) to get straight to the . h) to talk at cross- .
e) to hear it on the . i) to beat about the .
d) to put someone in the . j) to get it straight from the horse's .
e) to get the wrong end of the . k) to be like talking to a brick .
f) to be on the same . 1) to keep sorneo ne in the .

9
UNIT 1 ►► COMMUNICATION

IJ Match the idioms in Exercise A to these definitions.

1 to fail to understand anything 9
2 to share similar opinions and ideas

3 to give the main facts in a short, clear way

4 to not understand something

5 to delay talking about something
to keep someone in the
6 to give the latest information
loop
7 to talk about the most important thing
8 to hear about something because the information has been passed
from one person to another in conversation

9 to be told something by someone who has direct knowledge of it

10 to try to communicate with an unresponsive person
11 to include someone in group communication
12 to not understand someone

to be on the same
wavelength
11 Complete these sentences with the idioms from Exercise A in the
corred form.
1 OK, 1'11 l'm afraid it's the last time we're going to miss a deadline.
2 Paola and I and agree on most things. We seem to be .
3 A lot happened while you were on holiday. Let me .

4 1 think we are 1 mean next week, not this week.

5 He never gives you a straight answer. He's always .

6 1 that he's been fired. Is it true?

7 The new organogram is very complicated, but to , we still report to the

same manager.

8 l'm afraid that isn't right. lfyou think our biggest problem is communication, then
you have .

9 This document from our subsidiary makes no sen se at ali. 1 .

10 l've tried to get my supplier to give usa discount severa! times, but they just won't.
lt's like .

11 The company is going bankrupt. The CEO told me himself. 1 heard it .

12 1'11 need regular updates about the progress of the project. 1'11 also need to know
what's going on when l'm away. Please .

llJ Ask your partner these questions.

1 What have you heard on the grapevine recently?

2 When is it necessary to put someone in the picture?

3 In what situations is it good to get straight to the point?

4 Is there anything you can't make head nor tail of?

5 Who are you on the same wavelength as? Why?

6 Have you ever felt you were talking to a brick wall?

7 When have you been kept either in or out of the loop? How did you feel?
 Dealing with a) the person speaks too fast or too quietly
communication b} you want someone to stop talking while you do something
breakdown
e) you don't understand a word/expression the other person uses
d) you want to make sure of the spelling of something
e) you want more information about a subject

f) the connection is not good and you can't continue the conversation
g) you want to confirm sorne information

El ◄ >)) coi.s Listen to a telephone conversation between Bernard Klebermann

and Koichi Sato. Which of the problems mentioned in Exercise A do the
speakers have when communicating?

B ◄ >» CD1.6 Listen to the same two speakers in a similar conversation. Explain
why the second conversation is better. Give as many reasons as you can.

liJ ◄>» CD1.6 Listen to the conversation again and complete these extracts with
words or expressions from it.
1 That's good. Could you while I get a pen?
2 Sorry, Bernard, 1 Could you a little,
please? 1 need to take sorne notes.
3 Let me that: 200 posters, pens and pencils and 50 bags it.
4 Seel- sorry, could you me, please, Bernard? 1 don't
think I know the company.
5 'They've placed an order for 518 of the new lasers .. .'
'Sorry, 580 lasers?'

6 Sorry, 1 don't follow you. What.. 'roll-out' ?

7 But I need details about the company Sorry, it's .
Could you , please? 1 can't hear you very well.
8 Sorry, 1 still can't hear you. l'll. , maybe the line will be better.

11 Match each extract in Exercise D to the situations you discussed in

Exercise A. Two of them correspond to the same situation.

11 Work in pairs. Role-play two situations.

Student A: Turn to page 132. Student B: Turn to page 140.

USEFUL LANGUAGE

ASKING FOR REPETITION
Sorry, could you repeat that?
1 didn't (quite) catch that.
Could you speak up, please?
Could you say that again,
please?
ASKING FOR CLARIFICATION
What do you mean by ... ?
What does ... mean?
Could you clarify that?
CHECKING INFORMATION
Would/Could you spell that,
please?
Can I read that back to
you?
PROBLEMS WITH
UNDERSTANDING
Sorry, l'm not with you.
Sorry, 1 don't follow you.
Sorry, l'm not sure I know
what you mean.
ASKING FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION
Could you give me sorne
more details, please?
Could you be a bit more
specific?
Could you explain that in
more detail?
TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
Sorry, it's a bad line.
Can I call you back?
lt's a terrible connection.
l'm afraid 1'11 have to get
back to you later.
Sorry, we were cut off.
SUMMARISING THE CALL
Let me go over what we've
agreed.
Let me just summarise ...
11
ACT(V(T'( "E>OOK
 Communication
.. OCABULARY El Complete each sentence with the best word .
1 Good presenters rarely ramble. They usually try to be as ... J.~f.<;:_Í.~~T. .. as possible.
a) inarticulate b) hesitant e) ED
2 Her arguments were so that we ali agreed to her pro posa l.
a) fluent b) extrovert e) persuasive
3 The audience were very and carried him through his difficult
presentation.
a) responsive b) eloquent e) coherent
4 She is a very person. She always keeps her attention fixed on what
she wants to achieve.
a) sensitive b) focused e) fluent
5 He never says what he thinks or shows what he feels. How can anybody be so
..................... ?
a) rambling b) fluent e) reserved
6 Everybody seems so here. They behave and speak freely, and do
not really care what other people think.
a) incoherent b) articulate e) uninhibited
7 We know that not ali politicians are Sorne of them even use
an autocue.
a) eloquent b) inhibited e) hesitant

m Match these words to make compounds and collocations relating to

communication.
1 extensive a) accuracy
2 eye b) communication
3 body e) contact
4 grammatical d) humour

5 sense of e) language
6 effective f) vocabulary

(y,OCABULARY + D Complete the following phrases with soy or tell as appropriate.

1 JEc'. ! l. a story 6 somebody what to do
2 the time 7 helio/ goodbye
3 as far as I can . 8 a lie / lies
4 yes orno 9 what you mean
5 somebody 10 something
to do something under your breath
 - - . --,r -· ·- .. ••

1 Can you think of situations when it might be better not to t~!l the truth?
2 How easy or how difficult do you find it to other peo ple to do things
for you?

3 In meetings, how often do you what you think?

4 Have you ever a joke in English?

5 How easy or how difficult is it to the difference between the

banknotes used in your country?
r-
>
z
6 Can you 'How are you?' in more than three languages? Ci'I
e:
7 When you were a child, did you use to do as you were ? >
,,,
Ci'I

Check your answers in the key. Then answer the questions for yourself. ~
:::a
;::i::::

El Complete the idioms in the sentences below with the correct nouns.
ldioms 1 They sent usa very long reply with all the details. But to put it in a ... n.v.t~h.~/! .... ,
that's it, we've won the contract!

2 1 wish my boss would stop beating about the and tell me clearly
whether or not I stand a chance of being promoted soon.

3 She expected profit figures and I was going on about sales figures. Once again, we
were just talking at cross .

4 Not official yet, but it seems we're going to relocate. Just heard it on the
·····················.

5 lf you think you can give a good presentation just beca use you know your
subject inside out, well, l'm afraid you've got the wrong of the
······················
6 This is a very badly written re port. 1 just can't make or
..................... of it.

7 l've tried to tell my boss, but it's like talking to a .

No reaction! ·····················.

I] Reorder the words to make idioms.

1 · to / the / in / loop / someone / keep
2 to / straight / the / get / mouth / it / horse's / from
3 to/ point /come/ the / straight / to
4 to/ picture / somebody / the / in/ put
5 to / on / wavelength / same / be / the

11 Complete the sentences with the correct form of an idiom from exercise B.
1 1 know you couldn't attend the meeting, so here's a summary of the main points
just to p_v.t_y~-~- _i_,:i_ _tJ,_~ _p_ic:f:v.r.~ ...

2 Let me : 1 think your performance is totally unsatisfactory.

3 1 want to be 1 don't want important decisions to be taken
without me.

4 1 thought it was a rumour, but toda y 1 Andrew told me he was

resigning.

5 Fortunately Sue and 1 so we hardly ever disagree about anything.

UN IT 1 ►► COMMUNICATION

m Match these new idioms with their definitions.

1 air your views a) tell somebody ali the information they want or
2 be at a loss for words need to know
b) unable to say anything because something
3 drop a hint
surprising or totally unexpected has happened
4 give somebody the
low-down e) express your opinions about something in public

5 keep somebody d) give somebody regular information about things

up to date e) make a suggestion in an indirect way

11 Complete the sentences with the appropriate form of an idiom from

exercise D.
1 E-mail me every day to ...k.~.~P.. 'Y!~ ..<,,.p..tC>.4<l1:~ ... with the latest developments,
will you?

2 When she was told she'd been nominated Businesswoman ofthe Year, she

3 Could you briefly on their financia! situation befo re our meeting this
afternoon?

4 Every week in our department there's a meeting where the administrative staff can
..................... and discuss problems.
5 We can't be sure, but management that there might be redundancies.

El Study the examples of linking words.

Linking ideas 1 Despite his great sense of humour, he often finds it difficult to respond to his
audience.
2 In spite ofhis shyness, he is a brilliant speaker.
3 Although he generally communicates his ideas clearly, 1 often find it hard to
follow him.
4 Even though l'd put them in the picture, they didn't seem to grasp what I was on about.

Cross out the two explanations which are not correct.

The words in ita/ics are used to
a) express the cause of something, the reason for something.
b) reinforce an idea, add information.
e) contrast ideas.

I] Tick the three sentences which make sense. Then check your answers in
the key.
1 1 managed to follow their conversation, although my attention had drifted away. ✓
2 Even though the talk was awfully boring, l left the room after a couple of minutes.
3 Despite the fact that he knew he was right, he refused to admit it.
4 In spite of their criticisms, 1 didn't lose my confidence.
5 1 was unable to express my disagreement although I am generally assertive.
6 1 felt sleepy throughout the meeting inspire o' my tiredness.

11 Rewrite the three incorrect sentences in exercise B.

 , - -·--···-···--a--• .... ,._,_, •v 5uc.>.> LIIC 111,C:dlllll!; UI lne W0f0S ana
phrases in itolics.
1 Although Sue is usually very direct, this time she was really beating about the bush.
2 Despite the market's bearish trend, he was optimistic about share prices going up
again soon.

3 Although he often tends to waffle, today he made a presentation that was clear,
concise and to the point.

4 Their new product sold quite well even though the advertising campaign was
a complete flop.

5 They managed to find a huge site for the new factory in spite of the scarcity of
land in that part of the country.

An e-mail D You work in the Human Resources Department of a modern, forward-looking

organisation. You are very interested in the course advertised below.

BRENTFORD COLLEGE
BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATION TRAINING
Autumn-Winter Courses
Communication & People Skills [Course Ref. No. 23-D]
The aims of this residential one-week seminar are to:
• improve participanrs' speaking and listening skills
• analyse common communication problems and explore ways of resolving them
• give participants opporrunities to experiment with conflict resolution strategies
• help participants <leal with ciefensiveness and aggressiveness.

This seminar will be of interese ro ali

Course fee (including manual): f650
professionals who have to deal wich people
Dates: 7-13 October
and work out problems with ochers.
Venue: Brentford College
Facilitator. Kate McGovern, PhD, MBA,
For furcher detaíls, contacr. Martín Lowles, BATP
Presidenr of Schróders Consultanrs in Geneva,
Brenrford College, 27 Burrard Street,
author of rhe besrseller How to Listen to Others and Brentford TW9 OAK
Resolve Conflicts Email: mlowles@BATP.ac.uk

Write an e-mail (70-80 words) to your Head of Department, including:

• a request to go on the course

• why you think the course would be useful

• sorne details of the course

• an enquiry about the possibility of financia! support towards the course fee.

To:
Subject: