English Learning Guide

Competency 1
Unit 1: Customer Service
Workshop 1
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF

Name: Cohort: Date:

Training program: Instructor:

INTRODUCTIONS AND BASIC PERSONAL INFORMATION

(IN/FORMAL COMMUNICATION)

This workshop attempts to help you improve your basic interaction with others at your workplace,
sharing personal information, identifying formal and informal communication, and asking and
giving information on phone calls your coworkers and you will learn about customer service and
how to interact with others at your workplace.

Objective: From the development of these activities, you will be able to introduce yourself and
other people using formal and informal communication at work.
1. Work in groups and discuss the following questions:

- What do you understand for personal information?

- What data corresponds to personal information?
- How can you ask a person about their personal information?
- Share your answers with the rest of the class and practice asking and answering personal
information questions.

2. Create a business card using your personal information. Use the image as an example. Take into
account:
- Name of the company
- Full name
- Position in the company
- Contact information

3. Skills practice: Do the following activities to practice the learnt vocabulary and English structures.

3.1.Speaking practice

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Image taken from internet as an example. https://www.canva.com
 English Learning Guide
Competency 1
Unit 1: Customer Service
Workshop 1
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF
Now, practice your oral skills and perform a small personal presentation in groups. Suppose
you are a new employee at a company and you will introduce yourself to the team. Switch
roles and get to know each other. Ask and answer questions about everybody in the group.
Share your business cards.
3.2. Listening practice
Before watching the video, discuss:
- What is communication?
- How do we use communication at work? Give some examples.

Watch the video, make notes, and answer or complete the following statements:
- What is communication?

- Mention 3 ways of communication

_____________________________, _______________________________, __________________

- What does influence how people imagine you?

- Who can you communicate with in a casual or informal way?

_____________________________, _____________________________, ____________________

- Texting Abbreviation, Emoji, and being silly is fine to communicate with _____________________,
______________________.

3.3. Reading practice

Before Reading the text, discuss the following questions:
- Do you think it is necessary to have a communication code at work? Give examples.
- What can you say about formal and informal communication? Describe.

VOCABULARY
Identify the key words from the text. Look for their definition, pronunciation in English.
WORD / EXPRESSION DEFINITION
Interchange
Role
Organization
channels of communication
Verbal communication
Spoken communication
Written communication
non-verbal communication
eye contact
Workplace

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Competency 1
Unit 1: Customer Service
Workshop 1
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF
Employees
Duties
Hierarchical

Command
Network
Requests
Reports
Bottom-up
Top-down
Strand Chain
Cluster Chain
Gossip Chain
secrecy
time-consuming
reliable
Supporting
Available

Difference Between Formal and Informal Communication

March 27, 2015 By Surbhi S[21]

Someone said correctly “The very attempt of,

not to speak, speaks a lot.” Communication
plays a crucial role in our life, as
people interchange their ideas, information,
feelings, and opinions by
communicating. Formal
communication passes through
predefined channels of communication all
over the organization. On the
contrary, Informal flows in every direction,
i.e. it moves freely in the organization.

Communication can be verbal – spoken or written, or non-verbal i.e. using sign language,
body movements, facial expressions, gestures, eye contact or even with the tone of voice.
In an organization, there are two channels of communication – formal communication and
informal communication. People often confuse between these two channels, so here we present
this article that explains the difference between formal and informal communication network.

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Text adapted from: https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-formal-and-informal-
communication.html used by SENA for pedagogical purpose, exclusively.

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Competency 1
Unit 1: Customer Service
Workshop 1
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF
Definition of Formal Communication: communication in which the flow of information is already
defined. The communication follows a hierarchical chain of command established by the
organization. This type of communication is used exclusively in the workplace, and the
employees follow it while performing their duties. Some examples are: Requests, commands,
orders, reports etc.
There are four types of formal communication:
 Upward or Bottom-up: The information goes from subordinate to superior authority.
 Downward or Top-down: The goes from superior to subordinate.
 Horizontal or Lateral: The communication between two employees of different
departments working at the same level.
 Crosswise or Diagonal: The communication between the employees of two different
departments working at different levels.

Definition of Informal Communication: Communication does not follow any pre-defined channel
for the transmission of information. This type of communication moves freely in all directions, and
it is very quick and rapid. This type of communication is very natural as people interact with each
other about their professional life, personal life, and other matter. Some examples are: Sharing of
feelings, casual discussion, gossips, etc.
There are four types of informal communication:
 Single Strand Chain: The communication in which one person tells something to another,
who again says something to some other person and the process goes on.
 Cluster Chain: The communication in which one person tells something to some of its most
trusted people, and then they tells them to their trustworthy friends and the
communication continues.
 Probability Chain: The communication happens when a person randomly chooses some
persons to pass on the information which is of little interest but not important.
 Gossip Chain: The communication starts when a person tells something to a group of
people, and then they pass on the information to some more people and in this way the
information is passed on to everyone.

Key Differences

1. Formal communication is also known by the name of official communication. Informal

Communication is also known by the name of grapevine.
2. In formal communication, the information must follow a chain of command. Conversely,
the informal communication moves freely in any direction.
3. In formal communication, full secrecy is maintained, but in the case of informal
communication maintenance of secrecy is a very tough task.
4. Formal communication is written, whereas Informal communication is oral.
5. Formal communication is time-consuming as opposed to Informal communication, which
is rapid and quick.

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Competency 1
Unit 1: Customer Service
Workshop 1
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF
6. Formal communication is more reliable than Informal communication.
7. Formal communication is designed by the organization. Informal communication starts
itself due to the urge of ‘human to talk’.
8. In formal communication, the documentary evidence is always available. Informal
communication supporting documents are not available.

According to the text:

- Answer your instructor´s comprehension questions and share your answers.
- Establish a comparison chart between formal and informal communication. Work in pairs

FORMAL COMMUNICATION INFORMAL COMMUNICATION

- Make a graphic illustration of the 4 types of in/formal communication. Use mind maps models and
share it with the rest of the class. Work in pairs

FORMAL COMMUNICATION INFORMAL COMMUNICATION

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Competency 1
Unit 1: Customer Service
Workshop 1
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF

3.4. Writing Practice

Let’s suppose that you are part of a design team. Write a short paragraph, saying who the
members of your team are. Use the following text as a model.
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Hello, My name is Kevin Galindo. I am a graphic
designer at Draw your Dreams Corporation.
These are the members of my team. On my
right, Blanca and Jeisson, they are the
copywriters for the new products on the
production department. On my left, you can see
Rosa, Julian, and Miriam. They are the sales
representatives of the company.
And I am the one in the middle of the picture.
We are a great team with lots of ideas for our
customers!

Now, try your own text. Use a picture to have

more ideas!
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

Extension activities: the extension activities will help you improve your performance in the topics.
You need to reach at least five hours of practice on your own.
- For further information, listening practice, pronunciation, and more about this, check the link
below to a YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egtyq2ccCIA
- Based on your instructor’s orientation, explore the following website and practice the English
structures. Do at least 2 activities from each topic studied in class and deliver them to your
instructor: http://www.esl-lounge.com/student/grammar-guides/grammar-beginner.php

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Image taken from internet as an example. https://mx.depositphotos.com/127312238/stock-illustration-
set-of-business-people-office.html

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