ENGLISH FOR PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION LEARNING UNIT 2 DESCRIBING JOB RESPONSIBILITIES Monaliza Sarbinii-Zin szmonaliza@unimas.my Office Tel. Number: 082-581737

LEARNING OUTCOMES 2. observe Subject-Verb agreement and parallelism At the end of this unit students should be able to: 1. understand English verbs 2. observe Subject-Verb agreement and parallelism 3. describe job responsibilities

Introduction to some useful terms Job specifications or Job Specs Job description Skills Qualities

Job Specifications include: Qualifications e.g. BSc(Computer Engineering) Knowledge e.g. Relational Databases, SQL and ORM technologies (JPA2, Hibernate) Experience e.g. 3-month internship at Silicon Valley 4. Abilities and skills e.g. Setting up IT labs, Managing Group Tasks, Updating Computer Programmes, Designing Interactive Applications

Job Description A description of the nature of the job It provides the tasks and responsibilities of a particular post For example:

_ZEM%252C_&usg=__HpAfdsmcbyBoDyzrpgD8qACdAj8%3D&ved=0ahUKEwiNurXazN_KAhUCTI4KHaUqD_AQyjcIQg&ei=8gu0Vo35H4KYuQSl1byADw#imgrc=IWf5qrECeaoRZM%3A&usg=__HpAfdsmcbyBoDyzrpgD8qACdAj8%3D

Question Skills Abilities or expertise Communication, problem-solving, computer skills are examples of skills that are very often sought by employers What are the skills you have or wish to have? List them down. Question

Qualities Related to character and attitude such as confidence, honesty, self-motivated resourcefulness When you write these into your CV they become ‘confident, honest, self-motivated and resourceful’. Why is that so? QUESTION: What are the qualities that you think are important to highlight about yourself? List them down.

Language Focus: VERBS Vivid verbs are very descriptive Verbs are action words. They describe what we are able to do, like walk and talk Vivid Verbs are very often used in job responsibilities in job advertisements Study the verbs in these job ads Vivid verbs are very descriptive

Post: Assistant Secretary Collate items for agenda of monthly meetings of the management committee Distribute agenda to committee members Attend management committee meetings and take minutes Circulate minutes of management committee meetings Support the work the Secretary taken from http://www.leoisaac.com/hrm/hrm024.htm

Post: Software Engineer Execute full lifecycle software development Write well designed, testable, efficient code Produce specifications and determine operational feasibility Integrate software components into a fully functional software system Develop software verification plans and quality assurance procedures Document and maintain software functionality Tailor and deploy software tools, processes and metrics Serve as a subject matter expert Comply with project plans and industry standards taken from http://resources.workable.com/software-engineer-job-description

Language Focus: VERBS cont. Turn to page 6 of your textbook for a list of vivid verbs You may add your own verbs to the list Page 6

Subject-Verb agreement I, we, they, my colleagues He , She, it Conduct ? Play Assist Put Run Manage Coordinate Source Scan Plan

Parallel Structure of Verbs Turn to page 7 Example 1 Example 2 Draws blood sample Editing university papers Carries out testing Organised seminars Writes reports Assists in layout and design Parallel ???

Using Parallel Structure What is a Parallel Structure? Simply put, it is ‘consistency’ in the tense you are using. draws-carries-writes are parallel because they are all in the present tense Editing- Organised and Assists How should these be re-worded? COMPARE these with

Let’s do some exercises WORK IN PAIRS Turn to page 3-5 (Job descriptions 1, 2 and 3) Discuss your answers with your lecturer

EXERCISE 2 WORK IN GROUPS List down the possible responsibilities, skills and qualities of either a (1) web page designer or (2) a flight attendant You may also choose a post/occupation suitable to your degree

Enrichment Turn to page 11 You may focus on ONE job advertisement only Discuss with your lecturer the following week Keep all these homework in your Portfolio. These will assist you in the assessments.

Let’s recap What is a Verb? What are vivid verbs? What is Subject-Verb Agreement? What is a parallel structure?