DELTA STATE POLYTECHNIC

P.M.B 003,
OTEFE OGHARA, DELTA-STATE, NIGERIA.

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE LABORATORY

TECHNOLOGY,
SCHOOL OF APPLIED SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
(BIOCHEMISTRY OPTION)

GROUP B ASSIGNMENT

ON
USE OF ENGLISH
(GNS 401)

JANUARY, 2024

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 GROUP B MEMBERS

S/N NAMES MAT NO SCORE

1 OKORODUDU PRECIOUS BRORIE 20011

2 FRIDAY EGBEGBE 17251

3 NJUWE BENJAMIN 20228

4 ONORIENOBOHWO OGHENERO 17810

JOY

5 ONYENIKE DEBORAH AMAKA 19615

6 NWACHUKWU CHIOMA 18586

BLESSING

7 PREYEBA ROSEMARY SANDRA 18421

8 OMOVIKE OGHENETEGA 20107

ENDURANCE

9 OKE JOY ELOHOR 19448

10 EMAMEMOR BENEDICTA 18214

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 CERTIFICATION

This is to certify that this assignment work was carried out by the aforementioned
persons in the department of Science Laboratory Technology, (Biochemistry
Option), School of Applied Sciences and Technology, Delta State Polytechnic,
Otefe-Oghara.

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 DEDICATION

This assignment work is dedicated to God almighty who is the giver of knowledge
and wisdom.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost our profound gratitude goes to God Almighty for the grace and
the strength he gave usduring the course of this research work.

We also want to appreciate the effort and sacrifice of our amiable lecturer for her
support, teachings, words of wisdom and encouragement throughout the period of
her lecture classes.

Finally to beloved parent and well-wishers for their love, sacrifice, encouragement
and prayers.

May God bless you all!

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page - - - - - - - - - - - i

Certification - - - - - - - - - - iii

Dedication - - - - - - - - - - - iv

Acknowledgement - - - - - - - - - v

Table of Contents - - - - - - - - - - vi

Topic - - - - - - - - - - - 1

Procedures for Communicating In Debate - - - - - - 2

Procedures for Communicating In Meetings- - - - - - 7

Procedures for Communicating In Seminars - - - - - 10

References - - - - - - - - - - - 13

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 TOPIC

1. List and discuss the procedures for communicating in

- Debate
- Meetings
- Seminars

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PROCEDURES FOR COMMUNICATING IN DEBATE

Communication refers to sharing of ideas, facts, opinions, information and

understanding. Simply stated, communication is the dissemination of information
and understanding form one person to another. It involves at least three elements:
the sender, the receiver, and the message or information that is shared. A
communication in which words are used is verbal communication. The main
characteristic of verbal communication is the use of words, either written or
spoken. Debate is a very good example of a verbal communication associated with
oral communication and argumentation skills. Debate is a process that involves
formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection
of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put
forward for common opposing viewpoints (Aclan et al; 2015).

People may come up with the most stunning content for their argument, but the
fact is that in most cases, nearly one-third of the marking criteria goes to the
delivery of the material. While speaking passionately (communication) about
poorly researched work probably won't win one a debate, marrying factual
evidence with emotional conviction and proper communication will. No matter
how analytical and academic a debate is, the presentation and way it is
communicated will have a definite effect on the adjudicator, as well as the
audience.

The following are the procedures for communicating in Debate:

RHETORIC

- Discover how to persuade through Invention

- Assemble your argument with Arrangement.

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 - Express your argument as you improve your Style.
- Speak without paper by committing your speech to Memory
- Amplify your performance techniques, highlighting your Delivery

DELIVERY

- Eliminate filler words

- Find synonyms for overused language.
- Speak slowly and enunciate
- Invent your rebuttals calmly.

BEHAVIOUR

- Consolidate your movement

- Establish eye contact.
- Diversify your tone
- Master the dramatic pause
- Close your debate with passion (Levin and Topping, 2006).

RHETORIC

- Discover how to persuade through invention: The five canons of rhetoric

were first coined by the Roman philosopher Cicero in the first century
(Aclan et al; 2015). Cicero laid out these five major rules of rhetoric,
dividing skillful argumentation into more digestible parts. The first step of
rhetoric is called Invention. It refers to the nascent stages of an argument,
where you discover the pressing nature of your argument for your particular
audience. You'll need to have an understanding of your audience's desires
and needs, as well as how to best appeal to them.

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- Assemble your argument with Arrangement: The order that your
audience hears your argument has a massive effect on how they'll perceive
your speech.
- Express your argument as you improve your Style: You don't want your
argument to be riddled with clichés or tired language. Get creative with your
speech, expressing salient points in a dynamic way. Ensuring that you are
proud of your style will help you communicate and perform it with much
more conviction.
- Speak without paper by committing your speech to Memory: While it
may seem fairly simple, it's good to remember that a memorized speech will
always impress more than a speech read off a paper (Levin and Topping,
2006).
- Amplify your performance techniques, highlighting your Delivery: The
final canon of rhetoric, Delivery, will lead your directly into mastering the
art of performance in a debate. Focused primarily on gesture, body language,
and tone, your delivery is key in impressing points upon your audience (Roy
and Macchiette, 2005). Your facts may be completely accurate, but if you
can't properly connect these points to an audience, much of your
presentation will be missed.

DELIVERY

- Eliminate filler words. When your speech is riddled with "uh's" and
"'um's" and other various aspirated sounds, you appear to know less than
you actually do (Walters, 2006). Your verbal hesitations also suggest that
you are taking time to find your next word. You want to avoid this in
debate, as you're aiming to express mastery over your intended topic.

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- Find synonyms for overused language. It's easy to settle into overused
words in phrases while debating, especially because a great deal of your
speech will be founded in your research (Walters, 2006). There's a
tendency for politicians to rest back on trite language, and you want to
avoid falling into those traps while you debate.
- Speak slowly and enunciate. There's a tendency, especially among
young debaters, to fire off facts in a rapid, nearly manic way. While you
don't want to make your speech drag, there are many benefits to slowing
down your speech patterns (Levin and Topping, 2006).When you slow
down your speech, you give your audience and your adjudicator more
time to process your strong points.
- Invent your rebuttals calmly. Before opening your mouth, take a
moment to take a deep breath and calm down your mind. There's a lot of
pressure riding on the rebuttal portion of the debate, especially as you
have to connect your various points in an improvised fashion (Levin and
Topping, 2006).

BEHAVIOUR

- Consolidate your movement. Using gesture can be extremely helpful

in elaborating on your points. All public speaking is, after all, just an
attempt to seem natural and accessible in front of a larger crowd.
Remember the basic NODS rule of physical gesture, which dictate
that all your movement should Neutral, Open, Defined, and Strong.
- Establish eye contact. It's unlikely that you'll win your debate if you
aren't making eye contact with both your audience and your
adjudicator. In speaking in any public setting, the crowd will feel a
trust in you if you can connect directly to them using the eyes. Even

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 brief moments of connection will serve you well, as for that instance;
one person will feel that you are speaking directly to them.
- Diversify your tone. No one wants to listen to a monotonous speaker,
especially if you're being judged on your ability to craft a compelling
argument. Changing your tone throughout will also highlight the
breadth of your argument, as you should adapt for each section of
your speech.
- Master the dramatic pause. Any moment of stillness, in a debate,
should feel important. Because so much of debate revolves around the
power of oration, any break in the action will feel heavy (Reynolds,
2010). The dramatic and power pauses are the longest, and often the
most successful. They come directly after and before large moments
in a speech, respectively.
- Close your debate with passion. You always want to maintain
immediacy while debating, but you want to make sure that you aren't
letting your argument get away from you. If there's a time to
relinquish some control, however, it's in your closing statements
(Reynolds, 2010). Often referred to as a "final blast," your closing
remark takes familiar points from your speech and amplifies them
with a final appeal to your audience. You can achieve this with a
heightened tone of voice, or you can allow your speech to move a bit
quicker than it normally would. Poking small holes in your composure
will amplify your power as an orator, and this last effort may be
crucial in solidifying a win.

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PROCEDURES FOR COMMUNICATING IN MEETINGS

A meeting is a gathering of two or more people that has been convened for the
purpose of achieving a common goal through verbal interaction, such as sharing
information or reaching agreement (Svennevig, 2012). Meetings may occur face-
to-face or virtually, as mediated by communications technology, such as
a telephone conference call, a skyped conference call or a videoconference.

It is no exaggeration to say that the success or failure of a business, institution or

organization meetings will hinge on the effectiveness of communication, as well as
the communication skills of the other attendees. You need to make sure you are
speaking clearly and are getting your points across in a way that can be easily
understood by everyone else.

The following are some of the procedures for communicating in meetings.

- Before the Meeting

- Punctuality
- Defining the objective
- Stay on topic
- Voice of success (Svennevig, 2012).
- Word choice
- Watch your body language
- Listen
- Avoid distractions
- Allocate breaks
- Encourage the clash of ideas.
- Close on a note of achievement.
- Following the meeting (Cohen et al; 2011).

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- Before the meeting: The most important question you should ask is: “What
is this meeting intended to achieve?” You can ask it in different ways
—“What would be the likely consequences of not holding it?” “When it is
over, how shall I judge whether it was a success or a failure?”—but unless
you have a very clear requirement from the meeting, there is a grave danger
that it will be a waste of everyone’s time.
- Punctuality: Nothing says that a meeting is not important more than turning
up late to it. Not sticking to the allocated time schedule in a meeting also
shows a lack of respect for other people's time. Be aware of the message that
you are sending (Cohen et al; 2011).
- Defining the objective: if you are trying to use a meeting to achieve definite
objectives, there are in practice only certain types of objectives it can really
achieve. Every item on the agenda can be placed in categories (Cohen et al;
2011).
- Stay on topic: An agenda should be driven by action and sent to attendees
in advance. If an item comes up for discussion that is not on the agenda
make a note to discuss it during General Business or schedule it in for
another time.
- Voice of success: The energy in your voice can give clues to the message
that you are sending. Are you delivering your point with confidence? Does
your message sound positive or negative? How can you use your voice
inflections to emphasize your point? What feeling is your tone of voice
reflecting? These are important in communicating (Svennevig, 2012).
- Watch your body language: Body language is just as important as verbal
communication. It provides clues to your attitude and state of mind – be
conscious of the message that you're sending with your body language. Are

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 you slouching in your chair? Are you using eye contact to include everyone?
Are your arms crossed defensively?
- Listen: When you are not speaking make sure that you are practicing good
listening skills. Communication is a two-way process. Actively listening to
your colleagues can help you to better understand and communicate with
them.
- Avoid distractions: Following the agenda and staying within the timeframe
of each action point will help you to stay focused. Have water at hand to
remain hydrated and put your phone away to avoid external distractions.
Good meetings require good participants and good leaders. All attendees
should be prepared and ready to communicate effectively in order to make
the meeting as productive and constructive as possible.
- Allocate breaks: Breaks during long meetings can give the team a chance to
relax and understand the information. A refreshed individual is more likely
to understand topics and participate during the session. These intervals also
give you a chance to redirect the forum's conversation back to its purpose
and make any necessary adjustments to the meeting's schedule.
- Encourage the clash of ideas: But, at the same time, discourage the clash
of personalities. A good meeting is not a series of dialogues between
individual members and the chairman. Instead, it is a cross flow of
discussion and debate, with the chairman occasionally guiding, meditating,
probing, stimulating, and summarizing, but mostly letting the others
thrash ideas out. However, the meeting must be a contention of ideas, not
people.
- Close on a note of achievement: Even if the final item is left unresolved,
you can refer to an earlier item that was well resolved as you close the
meeting and thank the group.
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 - Following the meeting: The secretary (or better still, one of the members)
may take the minutes, but the minutes are your responsibility. They can be
very brief but should contain important facts (Cohen et al; 2011).

PROCEDURES FOR COMMUNICATING IN SEMINARS

Seminar is an advanced group technique which is usually used in higher education.

It is an instructional technique it involves generating a situation for a group to have
a guided interaction among themselves on a theme. It refers to a structured group
discussion what usually follows a formal lecture or lectures often in the form of an
essay or a paper presentation on a theme (Otoshi and Heffernen, 2008).

The following are the procedures for communicating in seminars

- Body language and posture

- Giving an introduction
- Identify your main ideas
- Time management
- Handing over to a co-presenter
- Conclusion (Otoshi and Heffernen, 2008).

- Body language and posture: Before your seminar presentation, decide

where you will stand for the presentation. Position yourself so you can see
everyone but don’t stay on one side of the room; change sides from time to
time. Think about your audience, and where and how they will be able to see
you. If you are one of a few people making a presentation, confidently walk
up to the front of the room displaying a positive attitude, look your audience
in the eye and smile. The way people stand or sit during their presentation
can make their audience calm and responsive, or anxious and unsettled. Eye

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 contact lays the groundwork for trust between you and your audience.
Eighty per cent of human communication is non‐verbal. Don’t look to the
back wall. Maintain eye contact and try to look at everyone at least once, but
it has to be brief, moving around different parts of the room.

- Giving an introduction: Introductions are a part of many academic

presentations (Reinhart 2002). We may introduce ourselves or perhaps our
fellow students who may all be taking part in the same presentation. You
may also be required to introduce a speaker at a seminar or conference. The
introduction can motivate your audience and is a very important part of your
presentation. It requires you to be energetic and if you are, your audience
will sense the energy. Greet the audience with a ‘Good
morning/afternoon/evening’ and introduce yourself. Don’t weaken your
opening by explaining that you hate presenting in public and that you are
nervous.
- Identify your main ideas: Focus on the main purpose of your seminar. As
your audience has only one chance to hear you, put your ideas into a logical
order so that they are easy to follow and understand. Check that they link
together and that they cover everything your audience needs to know.
Organize your speech into an outline that both highlights the main ideas and
presents them clearly and logically for your audience.
- Time management: You will need to manage your time during the
presentation so you can get your full message across, so don’t finish before
or after your allocated time.
- Handing over to a co-presenter: Your talk may be a group presentation
with two or more speakers. You need to manage the handover gracefully, for
example: I would like to conclude my discussion/report at this point and

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 hand over to my partner/colleague XYZ who will examine/discuss/report the
area/topic/perspective of …
- Conclusion: Similar to a written assignment, the conclusion again states
your main points and what has been learned or shown, but you also may
raise implications inherent in the findings and offer creative
recommendations.

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 REFERENCES

Aclan, E. M., & Aziz, N. H. A. (2015). Exploring parliamentary debate as a

pedagogical tool to develop English communication skills in EFL/ESL
classrooms. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English
Literature, 4(2), 1-16.

Cohen MA, Rogelberg SG, Allen JA, Luong A (2011). Meeting design
characteristics and attendee perceptions of staff/team meeting quality. Group
Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice 15(1):90-104.

Levin, P. & Topping, G. (2006), Perfect presentations, Open University Press,

Maiden Head, Berkshire.

Mountain, K. (2007), Presentation techniques, Competency Based Training

Institute, Sydney.

Otoshi, J., & Heffernen, N. (2008). Factors predicting effective oral presentations
in EFL classrooms. Asian EFL Journal, 10(1), 65-78.

Reynolds-Smith, A. (2010), Making presentations, class notes, TAFENSW Sydney

Institute, Sydney.

Roy, A., & Macchiette, B. (2005). Debating the issues: A tool for augmenting
critical thinking skills of marketing students. Journal of Marketing
Education, 27(3), 264-276

Svennevig J (2012). The agenda as resource for topic introduction in workplace

meetings. Discourse Studies 14(1):53- 66

Van Emden, J. & Becker, L.(2010). Presentation skills for students, Palgrave
McMillian, Basingstoke, United Kingdom.

Walters, L. (2006). Secrets of successful speakers, McGraw-Hill, New York.

Zare, P., & Othman, M. (2013). Classroom debate as a systematic

teaching/learning approach. World Applied Sciences Journal, 28(11), 1506-
1513.

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