Course Outline of Record

Item	Value
Curriculum Committee Approval Date	03/22/2024
Top Code	150100 - English
Units	3 Total Units
Hours	54 Total Hours (Lecture Hours 54)
Total Outside of Class Hours	0
Course Credit Status	Credit: Degree Applicable (D)
Material Fee	No
Basic Skills	Not Basic Skills (N)
Repeatable	No
Grading Policy	Standard Letter (S),  Pass/No Pass (B)

Course Description

This course applies the principles of ethical and effective communication to the creation of letters, memos, emails, and written and oral reports for a variety of business situations. The course emphasizes planning, organizing, composing, and revising business documents using word processing software for written documents and presentation-graphics software to create and deliver professional-level oral reports. This course is designed for students who already have college-level writing skills. PREREQUISITE: ENGL C1000. Transfer Credit: CSU. C-ID: BUS 115.C-ID: BUS 115.

Course Level Student Learning Outcome(s)

1. Create a targeted cover letter or email and resume for a specific job posting using clear, concise, and grammatically correct professional language.
2. Produce a business-related analytical report, which includes an executive summary, documented sources, and graphics using clear, concise, and grammatically correct professional language.
3. Design and deliver an oral report on a topic suitable for a business situation using presentation software and/or audio-video multimedia and employing professional verbal and non-verbal language.
4. Given a variety of business situations, and using clear, concise, and grammatically correct professional language, write the following messages: direct request, direct reply, and negative news.

Course Objectives

• 1. Explain the elements of the communication process.
• 2. Analyze how word selection and usage affects communication.
• 3. Solve business communication problems through planning, problem solving, organizing, writing, listening and presenting techniques.
• 4. Illustrate sensitivity to audience needs and desire, including cross-cultural situations.
• 5. Plan, organize, write and revise letters, memos, emails, and reports suitable for a variety of business situations, including quantitative (e.g., accounting and finance) and business legal contexts.
• 6. Plan and deliver individual or team oral-presentations for business meetings.
• 7. Understand communication in an internationalization and globalization context.
• 8. Identify a basic logical fallacy in an oral or written context.
• 9. Select a proper delivery format—face-to-face v. electronic—and identify the strengths of each modality.
• 10. Understand uses of social media and related Internet writing contexts.
• 11. Adjust composition, prose, and rhetorical language use for optimal conciseness and clarity.
• 12. Demonstrate an understanding of social etiquette applicable in a business environment.
• 13. Be able to discern and appreciate the differences between primary sources and secondary sources.
• 14. Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of original work, the role of proper citations and references, and the ability to avoid plagiarism of either a deliberate or inadvertent nature.

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Lecture Content

Direct request and direct reply. Negative (bad news). Persuasive. Employment-related (e.g. a resume). Analytical Report analying a problem or question, compares and contrasts alternative solutions, includes properly inserted visuals, page numbers and an assocaited table of contents, includes documented sources, an executive summary, and provides conclusions and recommendations. The report will be prepared using word processing software, properly formatted, and printed by a computer printer. Oral presentation, using presentation software and/or audio-visual multimedia, on a topic suitable for a business situation.

Method(s) of Instruction

• Lecture (02)
• DE Online Lecture (02X)

Instructional Techniques

Instructor utilizes lectures, class discussion, workshops, small groups, or one-on-one consultations. Instructor may require students to submit compositions to external sites such as Turnitin. Instructor employs audio and video technology to appeal to different learning types. Instructor assigns homework.

Reading Assignments

Students read selections weekly from the course textbook, reader, online course lessons, and linked newspaper and journal articles.

Writing Assignments

Students will write letters, memoranda, CVs, cover letters, reports, and other business-related documents.

Out-of-class Assignments

Students will be regularly assigned reading and writing homework.  Instructor may also require attending a business presentation or other out-of-class enrichment activities.

Demonstration of Critical Thinking

Students demonstrate critical thinking when considering their rhetorical stance in written communiques, during presentations to various audiences, and during interviews.

Required Writing, Problem Solving, Skills Demonstration

Eight end-of-chapter writing assignments and case studies are required.A presentation of the business report is required.

Eligible Disciplines

Business: Masters degree in business, business management, business administration, accountancy, finance, marketing, or business education OR bachelors degree in any of the above AND masters degree in economics, personnel management, public administration, or Juris Doctorate (J.D.) or Legum Baccalaureus (LL.B.) degree OR bachelors degree in economics with a business emphasis AND masters degree in personnel management, public administration, or J.D. or LL.B. degree OR the equivalent. Masters degree required. English: Masters degree in English, literature, comparative literature, or composition OR bachelors degree in any of the above AND masters degree in linguistics, TESL, speech, education with a specialization in reading, creative writing, or journalism OR the equivalent. Masters degree required.

Textbooks Resources

1. Required Guffey, M. Essentials of Business Communication, 11th ed. Cengage Learning, 2018 Rationale: - Legacy Textbook Transfer Data: Legacy 2. Required Bovee, C., and Thill, J. Business Communication Today, 14th ed. Prentice Hall, 2017 Rationale: -- Legacy Textbook Transfer Data: Legacy 3. Required Guffey, M.E. Loewy, D.. Business Communication: Process and Product, 10 ed. Cengage, 2022

Other Resources

1. Coastline Library 2. A variety of business journals such as Business Week or newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal enhance knowledge of whats going on in business today. 3. Guffey Student Website offers chapter reviews, Web Think activities, and updated chapter URLs. 4. Guffey XTRA! Is an online study assistant that accompanies the textbook. 5. Student Study Guide offers self-checked workbook activities and applications review of chapter concepts. It also offers concepts for students to help them develop career skills. 6. For Essentials of Business Communication, a diskette is given to each student that holds the template for end-of-chapter writing improvement exercises and selected assignments. For Business Communication: Process Product, students must have access to the Internet.