ASSIGNMENT

________________________________________________________________________
OUMH1303
ENGLISH FOR ORAL COMMUNICATION
SEPTEMBER 2016 SEMESTER
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INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS
1. This assignment contains only TWO (2) questions that is set in the language of the printed
module for the course.
2. Answer in English.
3. Download the language version of the assignment template concerned from the myINSPIRE for
preparation and submission of your assignment. Your assignment should be typed using 12 point
Times New Roman font and 1.5 line spacing.
4. Your assignment should be between 2500 to 3000 words excluding references. Do not copy the
assignment question and instructions to your answer. Only assignment answer developed within
the approximate word limit will be assessed. The number of words should be shown at the end of
your assignment.
5. You must submit your assignment TO YOUR FACE-TO-FACE TUTOR. You are advised to
keep a copy of your submitted assignment for personal reference.
6. Your assignment must be submitted between 4th 6th November 2016 or Tutorial 4. Submission
after 6th November 2016 or Tutorial 4 will NOT be accepted.
7. Your assignment should be prepared individually. You should not copy another persons
assignment. You should also not plagiarise another persons work as your own.
8. Please take note that PENALTY will be imposed on late submission of assignment as specified in
the Registrars Office circular 6/2012 (Refer to Registrars Announcement in myVLE).

EVALUATION
This assignment accounts for 30% of the total marks for the course and shall be assessed
based on the Rubrics or Answer Scheme attached.
You would be given feedback on the assignment before the Final Semester Examination
commences.
PLAGIARISM: MARKS DEDUCTION
Warning: The submitted assignment will automatically undergo a similarity check. If
plagiarism is detected, marks would be deducted as follows:
No.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Similarity Percentage (%)

0 30
30.01 50
50.01 70
70.01 - 100

Marks Deduction (%)

0
5
10
100

Assignments found to have similarities under any of the categories above; will not be entitled
to apply for appeal. For learners who fall into the 70.01-100 similarities group, the access
for online appeal for assignment remarking of the subject will be disabled from the appeal
options.

Please note that there are three components for OUMH1303 course as follows:
No.

Assessment Type

(a)

Assignment

Marks

Percentage

30

30%

Remarks
Written and Presentation

(b)

(c)

Oral Examination

Final Examination

40

60

40%

30%

Scenario based
Oral Exam is scheduled for / between Tutorial 4
and before the Final Examination day
To be conducted in Learning Centre

(Notes to Tutor:
Please refer to Administrator at the Learning Centre
OUMH1303Guidelines for Conducting Oral Exam)
10 short questions x 6 marks = 60 marks
(To be converted to 30%)
Exam duration: 1 hour

ASSIGNMENT QUESTION
The assignment is divided into TWO parts: written text and oral presentation.
The written text must contain the following: the written report, the collection of interview
findings and the references.
The oral presentation is a 5-10 minute verbal presentation of your report or the findings from
your interviews.
A. Written Text (20 %)
You have been assigned to write a report for your company / school on the following topic:
How to Improve Oral Communication Skills in English.
Your report must consist of three parts:
1. A written report that contains a synthesis and collection of ideas on the topic based on
definitions, terms, ideas, views, techniques in improving the aforementioned skills, etc. found
in journals / books / newspapers / the Internet.
Remember to include the references at the end of your report.
2. Views about the topic from FIVE people from different work / study settings. You may
interview your respondents by asking them questions such as:
- How can Malaysians improve their speaking/oral skills?
- How do you develop your oral skills?
- What do you do to make sure you English skills are developed? / etc.
Your respondents ideas may be different from one another and from you but include them as
well. You may summarise their ideas in paragraph form. Include any background information
e.g. respondents age, gender, place of work or study, etc. that may influence their views on
oral communication.
3. A list of references.

B. Oral Presentation (10%)

1. This task consists of a 5-10 minute oral presentation of a section of your report. Because
of time limitation, you are encouraged to select a section of your report for the oral
presentation; the introduction, the main findings or the summation. Alternatively, you
may also talk about the interviews that you carried out and/or the problems you
encountered during the interviews.
2. You may use any form of visual aid if you wish, e.g. Powerpoint slides, posters, pictures /
photographs, etc. If you use any, include them with your written text.
3. Do not memorise the full text or read the report.

COMPONENTS TO THIS ASSIGNMENT:

a. Written Text - (including the report, interview findings and references)
b. Oral presentation (including copies of visual aid used, if any)

ALLOCATION OF MARKS:
a. Written Text - (including the report, interview findings and references) 20 marks
b. Oral presentation (including copies of visual aid used, if any) 10 marks
Total: 30 marks

GENERAL GUIDELINE:
a. References in APA style must be included and taken from reliable sources such as books

and journals. You may refer to: http://www.emich.edu/halle/style_guides.html to view the

details and samples of APA style.
[Total A+B: 30 marks]

Assignment Rubrics
OUMH1303 ENGLISH FOR ORAL COMMUNICATION
SEPTEMBER 2016 SEMESTER

A.WRITTEN TEXT (20 marks):

10 marks are allocated for report and 10 marks are allocated for interview findings.
1) Report: (10 marks)
Component

Descriptors

Scores

Substantive and knowledgeable development of assigned topic; ideas are relevant

to topic; ideas appropriately and interestingly selected from various sources; ideas
logically and coherently stated; supported and sequenced; overall cohesiveness
achieved. A wide range of sources selected from different areas, e.g. journals /
books / newspapers / the Internet. Uses the proper APA style and appears wellorganised.

5-7

Very Good to Excellent:

CONTENT &
ORGANISATION

Average to Good:
Some knowledge of assigned topic; adequate range of ideas; ideas are mostly
relevant to topic but lack details; loosely organised but main ideas stand out;
limited support; logical but incomplete sequencing. A fair range of sources
selected from different areas, e.g. journals / books / newspapers / the Internet.
Uses the proper APA style.
Poor to Fair:
Limited knowledge of the assigned topic; ideas are of little substance and
inadequate; ideas are somewhat confused or disconnected; lacks logical

3-4

0-2

sequencing and development. A limited range of sources selected from different

areas, e.g. journals / books / newspapers / the Internet. Does not use the proper
APA style and/or appears disorganized.

Very Good to Excellent:

Very effective use of complex sentence structure; sophisticated and effective
range of vocabulary; appropriate register; few grammatical errors.
LANGUAGE

Average to Good:
Effective simple sentences; adequate range of vocabulary; several grammatical
errors but meaning not obscured.

Poor to Fair:
Major problems in use of simple sentences; limited and repetitive choice of
vocabulary; frequent grammatical errors causing unclear meaning.

0-1

2) Interview Findings: (10 marks)

Level

Excellent
Good
Fair

Descriptors

Scores

Interesting synthesis of interview findings adapted from a wide range of

interviews; well-organised and clearly sequenced.

7-10

Satisfactory synthesis of interesting and relevant materials from a number of

interviews; well-organised and sequenced.

3-6

Poor synthesis of interview findings from a limited range of sources

irrelevant to topic; poorly organised and presented.

0-2

B. ORAL PRESENTATION (10 marks):

Component

Descriptors

Effective
Presenter
(high pass)

Excellent presenter who performs task competently; able to present ideas

coherently and clearly; uses appropriate voice volume and intonation; responses
well to audience; uses suitable linguistic features; communication is not at all
affected by minor errors; natural and no reading of prepared speech.

Good
Presenter
(pass)

Satisfactory presenter who performs task effectively; able to present ideas

coherently and clearly for most of the time; uses acceptable voice volume and
intonation; generally reacts well to audience; uses some suitable linguistic
features; communication generally not affected by errors; some reading from
prepared speech but not too obvious.

Scores

9-10

6-8

Fair
Presenter
(low pass)

Less than satisfactory presenter; some ideas are lost or confusing in explanation,
uses inappropriate voice volume (too soft) or intonation; doesnt know how to
react to audience or ignores audience; uses poor linguistic features;
communication sometimes affected by major errors; some reading from prepared
speech.

3-5

Poor
Presenter
(fail)

Poor presenter with little or no communication taking place; shows inability to

perform task; cannot respond to audience; incoherent and poor use of language
features; total reading from prepared speech.

0-2