UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS

COURSE OUTLINE

1. COURSE TITLE: PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR

SOCIAL STUDIES AND LIFE SKILLS.

2. COURSE CODE: CSSO 103

3. CONTACT HOURS: 3 Hours per week

4. LECTURERS: KAGUDA. MUTONGA, KUFAKUNESU, J. MUTAMBWA

5. PURPOSE OF THE COURSE

The course builds on the first semester’s Academic Communication Skills for Social
Studies (CSSO 101) and is designed to equip students with relevant professional
communication skills for the world of work and real life skill to use in diverse
contexts. The course aims to develop students’ professional critical listening,
speaking, and writing and social-psychological life skills. Throughout the course,
students will study the theories, principles and practices for effective communication
applying these in a variety of assignments and situations. Students should be able to
plan and prepare professional meetings and presentations such as job interviews and
public speaking in order to analyse and adapt to various audiences as well as adjust to
different speaking situations, purposes and contexts. The course is for students in
Social Studies programmes who need to develop listening, speaking, and writing and
presentation skills for professional purposes. The course aims at producing an all-
rounder graduate who is useful in professional and social contexts.

6. AIMS

i. To introduce students to the various communication theories, principles and

practices for effective professional communication

ii. To equip students with both linguistic and non-linguistic communication skills for
the world of work.

iii. To equip students with real life skills in order to be competent in diverse cultural
contexts and issues.
 7. OBJECTIVES

By the end of the course students should be able to:

 Define key concepts in professional communication as shown in the

course content.
 Demonstrate their understanding of professional communication concepts
and contexts by citing appropriate examples from the world of work.

 Translate knowledge, attitude and values into actual abilities.

 Demonstrate their theoretical knowledge and skills through simulations

and role playing.

 Respond to real life problems and be part of the solution.

 Apply theory into practice.

8. COURSE CONTENT

WEEK 1
Communication Theory

 Definition(s) and elements

 Characteristics
 Levels of communication
 Models of communication
 Barriers to communication

WEEK 2 Nonverbal Communication

 Definition
 Types of NVC and implications in social/business contexts
 Visuals in social/business contexts

WEEK 3-4

Communication in Organizations
 Formal and informal systems
 Conflict and negotiations
 Intercultural communication

ASSIGNMENT 1 (Individual Assignment)

 WEEK 5-6

Written Communication

 Letters, memos, reports, questionnaires and proposals.

WEEK 7

Oral Communication and Self Presentation Skills

Oral Communication situations

 Telephone manners (cell and landline)
 Meetings
 Public speaking
 Interview strategies

WEEK 8-9 LIFE SKILLS

1. HEALTH MATTERS
 Personal health (cleanliness and fitness)
 Infection control
 HIV and AIDS ( Transmission, prevention, care, treatment and
support)
 STIs and sexual health
 Stigma and discrimination
 Epidemics (Ebola, cholera etc.
 NCDs (Non- communicable diseases, cancer, diabetes,
hypertension, obesity.

ASSIGNMENT 2 (Group Assignment)

WEEK 10-11
2. Social and Psychological life skills

 The bridge model

 Self-awareness
 Peer pressure
 Substance abuse
 Stress management
 Managing relationships
  Decision making
 Time management
 Assertiveness

WEEK 12
3. Social ethics: Citizenship.
 Social citizenship and social responsibility
 Unhu/ubuntu
 Human rights
 Moral and legal rights
 Human rights abuses

WEEK 13 REVISION

9. TEACHING/LEARNING APPROACHES

 Lectures
 Tutorials
 Group presentation and write ups
 Collaborative work and individual presentation by students
 Audio-visual Aids

10. COURSE ASSESSMENT

Coursework - 30%
Examination - 70%
SELECTED SOURCES

Berko, R. M. et al (1998) Communicating: A Social and Career Focus. Boston: Houghton

Mifflin Company.

DiSanza, J. R. (2000) Business and Professional Communication: Plans, Processes and

Performance. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Egan, V. (2003) Business Communication. North Ryde, Australia: McGraw Hill Custom

Fielding, M. (1997) Effective Communication in Organizations. Cape Town: Juta.

Guffey, M. E. (2000) Business Communication: Process and Product. Cincinnati: South

Western College Publications.

Sattenwhite, M. L. and Olson Sutton, J. (2000) Business Communication At Work. New York:
Glencore McGraw Hill.

Adkins, W.R. 1984. Life skills education: A video-based counseling/learning delivery system. In
Larson, D. (Ed). Teaching psychological skills. California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.

Briggs, D. 1995. Your child's self-esteem: The key to life. New York: Dolpin Books.

Brownell, A.J.J., Craig, B.J., de Haas, J.E., Harris, B.H. & Ntshangase, S.M. 1996. Life skills:
Personal and interpersonal development. Pretoria: Kagiso Publishers.

Carneiro, P., Crawford, C. and Goodman, A. (2007), ‘The impact of early cognitive and non-
cognitive skills on later outcomes’, Discussion Paper 92, Centre for the Economics of Education,
London
CASEL (2000-2011), ‘Skills and competencies’, webpage http://casel.org/why-it-matters/what-is-
sel/skills-competencies/. Last accessed July 2011

CASEL, ‘How evidence-based SEL programs work to produce greater student success in school
and Life’, Academic brief, CASEL, Chicago
CIA (2009), ‘World fact book’, webpage, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/, last accessed November 2011
Cunha F., Heckman J., Lochner L. and Masterov D. (2005), ‘Interpreting the evidence on life cycle
skill formation’, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 11331, Cambridge

Cunha, F. and Heckman (2010), J. ‘Investing in our young people’, National Bureau of Economic
Research Working Paper No. 16201, Cambridge

Division of Mental Health WHO, 1993. Life skills education for children and adolescents in
schools. Geneva: World Health Organization.

Hopson, B. & Scally, M. 1986. Life skills teaching. London: McGraw Hill Book Company.

Lindhard, N. & Dlamini, N. 1990. Life skills in the classroom. Cape Town: Maskew Miller
Longman.

Narayan, D et al. (2009), ‘Moving out of poverty Volume 2. Success from the Bottom Up, World
Bank’, Washington D.C.

National AIDS Commission (2003), Social mobilization plan for working with six key social groups
in Malawi on behavior change.

National AIDS Commission, Malawi (2008), Malawi HIV and AIDS monitoring and evaluation
report, 2007-2008.

NB: This is not an exhaustive list. Students are therefore, encouraged to find additional reading
material from various sources.

____________________D .Kaguda.
Coordinator