An investigation into the listening and reading comprehension of a heterogeneous group in a management development programme
- Authors: Cowley, Gillian Ann
- Date: 2012-08-17
- Subjects: Language arts - South Africa , Communication in business , Listening , Second language acquisition - South Africa , Language and education - South Africa , Language and culture - South Africa , Reading comprehension - Ability testing
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:2634 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/6080
- Description: M.A. , South African companies, faced with the challenges of keenly competitive global and domestic markets, must reconsider their foci and methods of staff training and development. Political pressures to address the imbalance of power in local workforces by activities such as affirmative action also mean that the skills, knowledge and attitudes of employees must be improved. The Management Development in Afrox Training Programme, developed and conducted by Afrox Limited, is targeted at the company's supervisory level and forms part of the company's affirmative action policy. This level of employee reflects the heterogeneity of the South African population and comprises persons of diverse language and cultural groups and educational levels. An investigation into the listening and reading comprehension levels of the delegates found that the majority of them are not equipped to cope with the complex language used in a typical management development programme. An understanding of sophisticated Western business concepts, encapsulated in English for Specific Purposes, is not successfully transferred to the delegates and results in a failure to deliver the desired outcomes of the course. Based on the findings of the research a number of recommendations have been made. These have application not only to the Management Development in Afrox programme but to business programmes which are currently not meeting the needs of their South African target groups because of linguistic elements which confound the planned learning process.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Cowley, Gillian Ann
- Date: 2012-08-17
- Subjects: Language arts - South Africa , Communication in business , Listening , Second language acquisition - South Africa , Language and education - South Africa , Language and culture - South Africa , Reading comprehension - Ability testing
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:2634 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/6080
- Description: M.A. , South African companies, faced with the challenges of keenly competitive global and domestic markets, must reconsider their foci and methods of staff training and development. Political pressures to address the imbalance of power in local workforces by activities such as affirmative action also mean that the skills, knowledge and attitudes of employees must be improved. The Management Development in Afrox Training Programme, developed and conducted by Afrox Limited, is targeted at the company's supervisory level and forms part of the company's affirmative action policy. This level of employee reflects the heterogeneity of the South African population and comprises persons of diverse language and cultural groups and educational levels. An investigation into the listening and reading comprehension levels of the delegates found that the majority of them are not equipped to cope with the complex language used in a typical management development programme. An understanding of sophisticated Western business concepts, encapsulated in English for Specific Purposes, is not successfully transferred to the delegates and results in a failure to deliver the desired outcomes of the course. Based on the findings of the research a number of recommendations have been made. These have application not only to the Management Development in Afrox programme but to business programmes which are currently not meeting the needs of their South African target groups because of linguistic elements which confound the planned learning process.
- Full Text:
Luister as kommunikasievaardigheid in skoolbestuur
- Authors: Bongers, Rudolf Jan
- Date: 2014-03-06
- Subjects: Listening , Oral communication , Communication in education
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:4227 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9585
- Description: M.Ed. (Education) , The human body is, par excellence, a means of communication. Without communication man will not be able to express his emotions and needs. Much has been said and written about communication and everyone agrees that communication is important for man as a social being, as well as the part he plays in an organisation. Should problems arise within an organisation, the blame is put on poor communication. Too much time is spent, however, on training managers' communication skills in order to enable them to convey messages more effectively. On the other hand, no time is spent on improving the managers' listening skills, in order for them to understand others better. The educator is at the head of a school where people work with people. The staff, pupils and parents are all, at some time or another, in conversation with the educator. This gives them the opportunity to share their complaints, recommendations or feedback with him. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the educator has the necessary listening skills. He must be able to listen objectively and without prejudice. By listening the educator improves interpersonal relationships that produce a more effective school with satisfied staff and pupils. In order to improve his listening skills, the educator should be aware of the fact that he has a listening deficiency and should purposefully set about improving his listening skills - how difficult and time-consuming it might be.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Bongers, Rudolf Jan
- Date: 2014-03-06
- Subjects: Listening , Oral communication , Communication in education
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:4227 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9585
- Description: M.Ed. (Education) , The human body is, par excellence, a means of communication. Without communication man will not be able to express his emotions and needs. Much has been said and written about communication and everyone agrees that communication is important for man as a social being, as well as the part he plays in an organisation. Should problems arise within an organisation, the blame is put on poor communication. Too much time is spent, however, on training managers' communication skills in order to enable them to convey messages more effectively. On the other hand, no time is spent on improving the managers' listening skills, in order for them to understand others better. The educator is at the head of a school where people work with people. The staff, pupils and parents are all, at some time or another, in conversation with the educator. This gives them the opportunity to share their complaints, recommendations or feedback with him. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the educator has the necessary listening skills. He must be able to listen objectively and without prejudice. By listening the educator improves interpersonal relationships that produce a more effective school with satisfied staff and pupils. In order to improve his listening skills, the educator should be aware of the fact that he has a listening deficiency and should purposefully set about improving his listening skills - how difficult and time-consuming it might be.
- Full Text:
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