ITECH5401 Professional Communication
School of Engineering and Information Technology
Overview
This assignment comprises two parts. Part A is an annotated bibliography. Part B is an essay.

The annotated bibliography should be completed first as preparation for writing your essay. The annotated bibliography will comprise half of your assignment one mark, (which is worth 20% in total). Both parts will be submitted for assessment together in week 7.

In tutorials in week4, your draft annotated bibliography will be reviewed by your peers. You are then expected to improve on your first draft, taking this feedback into account.

The test in class in week 5 will be based upon your annotated bibliography and your chosen essay topic.

Part A Annotated bibliography 1000 words 10% First draft to be completed by week 4
Part B Essay 1500 words 10% To be completed by week 7

Submission requirements
Your assignment will be submitted online using moodle in week 7. Refer to the course description for details of the exact due date and time.
You will be required to submit three separate files, one each for part A draft, part A final and part B.
You will be required to submit both your annotated bibliography and essay via Turnitin. Refer to the preventing plagiarism page on the University website:
http://federation.edu.au/students/learning-and-study/online-help-with/plagiarism

Federation University General Guide to Referencing:

The University has published a style guide to help students correctly reference and cite information they use in assignments. A copy of the University’s citation guides can be found on the university’s web site. It is imperative that students cite all sources of information. The General Guide to Referencing can be purchased from the University bookshop or accessed online at:
http://federation.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/164121/FedUni-General-Guide-to-Referencing-2014.pdf

Individual Assignment Part A (Annotated bibliography)
Annotated bibliography due dates: In Week 4 tutorial to be reviewed in class, then submitted with the essay in Week 7 (Refer to course description for specific due date)

Objective:
The purpose of this assignment is for students to demonstrate their ability to find academic reference material relating to a particular topic, interpret academic texts and apply paraphrasing techniques and the APA referencing style. Students will prepare an annotated bibliography.


Description of assignment, PART A:
You will need to select five (5) journal articles on the topic of non-verbal and/or intercultural communication that you intend to use as part of the supporting evidence for your essay. You are required to write a 200 word summary of each article comprising one to two paragraphs.

Each annotated bibliography needs to include the following five parts:
a) Full citation information for each article above each summary
b) A short statement in your own words of the author’s viewpoint
c) A short summary in your own words of the theory or research findings
d) Comments (your opinion) on the usefulness and/or limitations of the theory/research findings for your own research paper (essay)
e) An evaluative comment on the article content, in your own words, on how the contents of this article will fit into your own research topic

Submission requirements
You will need to bring your completed annotated bibliographies to the Week 4 tutorial to be reviewed by your peers in class using the marking guide provided.
In Week 7, you must submit 2 files for part A: the draft Week 4 Annotated Bibliography and the final updated version of your annotated bibliography.














Individual Assignment Part B (Essay)

Essay due date: Week 7 (Refer to course description for specific due date) with Annotated bibliography

Objective:
The purpose of this assignment is to enable students to evaluate professional communication with particular reference to inter-cultural communication, to research a topic and to demonstrate an ability to communicate the key issues through a written essay.
Assignment topic:
Intercultural Communication
It is possible for miscommunication and misunderstandings to occur between individuals when interacting professionally. In particular, when people from different cultural backgrounds interact on a professional level, it can lead to poor impressions being established. This can be due to the different cultural context and values each individual brings to the interaction. It is argued that an intercultural business strategy is important and involves a cultural strategy, a business strategy and a communication strategy (Varner, 2000). Archee (2013), refers to Hofstede’s five dimensions of culture as significant distinguishing features between cultures (p.97).
Using an example scenario expanded upon from the list below, write an essay of at least 1500 words in which you describe a problem that occurred due to poor intercultural communication. Highlight the cultural differences that led to the problem. You must refer to at least one of the Hofstede’s dimensions of culture: Power distance, Uncertainty avoidance, Individualism-collectivism, Masculinity-femininity. Explain how your example relates to one of these dimensions.
Examples of poor intercultural communication you might use:
I. Archee et. al., (2013), describe an interaction between a Chinese business man and an Australian business man (p.85). The Australian addresses the Chinese man informally and this leaves the Chinese man feeling uncomfortable.
II. A Japanese businessman meets an Australian businessman who is a delegate from an Australian Company with an office in Japan. The Japanese businessman gives his business card to the Australian who puts it in the back pocket of his pants and sits down on it. The Japanese man interprets this as a sign of disrespect toward him.
III. You may have an example from your own life experience of an incident you have observed (or been involved in) where intercultural communication problems were evident.
In your essay, give clear definitions of culture, communication and intercultural communication in your own words. Using your chosen example scenario, demonstrate how communication can be negatively impacted upon due to intercultural communication problems. Using five (5) journal articles you have found, discuss how intercultural awkwardness or difficulties might be avoided. You may wish to suggest a strategy that would help improve communication with reference to your chosen example.


References:
Archee, R. Gurney, M. Mohan, T. (2013) Communicating as Professionals (Edition 3), Cengage learning, Melbourne, Australia
Varner, I (2000). The Theroretical Foundation for Intercultural business Communication: A conceptual Model. Journal of Business Communication 37. 39-57 (downloaded from http://job.sagepub.com/content/37/1/39)

Description of Assignment Part B requirements:
Students will prepare a 1500 word essay (including references). The assignment is to be completed individually. This is NOT a group assignment. Please refer to the marking criteria for more detailed breakdown of marks.

• In the essay, you are expected to write in paragraph style with an introduction and a conclusion. The use of bulleted/numbered lists should be avoided and no headings are to be used.
• The essay should be presented in the following order and format:
a) Cover page;
b) Introduction;
c) Body paragraphs;
d) Conclusion.
• Essays with unsupported personal opinions will be marked down, as will those that make excessive use of direct quotes (no more than 8 lines in total).
• Incorrect APA referencing will also be penalised.
• Any direct quotation from one of your sources (i.e. anything that you have not written yourself) must be referenced (cited) in-text (as well as included in the reference list); if the quotation is more than three lines in length it should be formatted in its own paragraph indented 0.75 cm, single-spaced, with font size 10; if it is three lines or less it should be surrounded by quotation marks (double inverted commas).
• The vast majority of your essay should consist of your own writing whether paraphrasing a specific section of a source or synthesizing ideas from a number of sources. Paraphrasing should also be accompanied by in-text citation (as for a direct quotation).
• If you use a source either with a direct quotation or by paraphrasing and do not cite it, you are guilty of plagiarism (refer to the course description).
Submission requirements
In Week 7, you must submit 1 file for part B: the essay. This must be submitted through turnitin.





Plagiarism
It is important to learn from the work of others and you are encouraged to explore the library, World Wide Web resources and have discussions with other students. However, work for the assessment must be entirely your own work.
*Important*
Plagiarism is the presentation of the expressed thought or work of another person as though it is one's own without properly acknowledging that person.
You must not allow other students to copy your work and must take care to safeguard against this happening. In cases of copying, normally all students involved will be penalised equally; an exception will be if you can demonstrate the work is your own and you took reasonable care to safeguard against copying.
Plagiarism is a serious offence. As set out in the University Regulation 6.1.1. students who are caught plagiarising will, for a first offence, be given a zero mark for that task. A second offence will result in a failing grade for the course involved and any subsequent offence will be referred to the Student Discipline Committee.
Federation University General Guide to Referencing:
The University has published a style guide to help students correctly reference and cite information they use in assignments. A copy of the University’s citation guides can be found on the university’s web site. It is imperative that students cite all sources of information. The General Guide to Referencing can be purchased from the University bookshop or accessed online at:
http://federation.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/164121/FedUni-General-Guide-to-Referencing-2014.pdf





ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY MARKING GUIDE Grade Final
5 x Annotated
Bibliographies
(25 marks)
Each annotated bibliography summary must include the following four elements:
- is approximately 200 words
- includes an accurate summary of the article
-has a commentary on the usefulness and relevance of the article to its field of study
-includes an evaluation of how the article will fit into your essay topic High level of skill in summarising & presenting ideas from the original source in a concise way and in your own words. Each annotated bibliography includes all four elements. 4 - 5
Evidence of substantial level of understanding of the original source. Most of the writing is written in your own words, is concise and captures the essence of the source. Some minor problems with sentence structure and expression are evident and/or each annotated bibliography includes only three of the four elements. 3
Evidence of low level understanding of the original source. The writing is very similar to the original source or it is not concise, clear or accurate. There are a number of sentence structure and expression problems evident and/or each annotated bibliography includes less than three of the four elements. 2
Poor understanding of the original source. Writing is unclear, inaccurate or hard to follow. Spelling, sentence structure and expression are problematic and/or each annotated bibliography includes two or less of the four elements.
0 - 1
Referencing
(5 marks) Each annotated bibliography includes a full citation which complies with the general guide.
5
Not all annotated bibliographies include a full citation and/or the full citations mainly comply with the general guide. 4
The full citations are partially complete and only partly comply with the general guide. 2 - 3
The citations are incomplete and do not comply with the general guide 0 - 1
Total /30
Assessor comments

ESSAY MARKING GUIDE Mark range Final Mark
Introduction
(10) The introduction addresses all components (i.e. includes background information to the topic, a clear thesis statement and outlines the main ideas in the body). It addresses the topic and is well written. 9 - 10
The introduction addresses most components, and the purpose and intent are stated. It is mostly addresses the topic and generally well written. 7 - 8
The introduction is satisfactory and addresses some components; the thesis statement may be unclear. It may not directly address the topic and there are some problems with writing clarity. 4 - 6
There are minimal aspects of the question in the introduction; writing is unclear in purpose and intent. 2 - 3
Introduction is unclear or non – existent with no intent and purpose. 0 - 1

Body and Structure
(10) The body contains evidence of high level understanding of the essay topic. The paragraphs are clear with topic sentences and supporting evidence. Sentence structure is clear and sentences flow logically. 9 - 10
Evidence of substantial understanding of the essay topic. Most of the paragraphs contain topic sentences and supporting evidence and clearly make a point. There are minor problems with sentence structure and expression. 7 - 8
Evidence of low level understanding of the essay topic. The paragraphs do not contain topic sentences, relevant evidence, or are unorganised. There are a number of sentence structure and expression problems evident. 4 - 6
The paper does not contain organised paragraphs, topic sentences, evidence or clear expression. 0 - 3


Literature & Argument
(15) All literature in text is cited and relevant. Citations are accurate & systematic. Argument is well developed and well supported by literature. 13 - 15
All literature in text is cited & relevant. Citations are mostly accurate. The argument is mostly developed and supported by the literature. 10 - 12
Most literature in text is cited. Some evidence is not relevant to the argument. There is an attempt at an argument but there is improvement required. 7 - 9
Some literature in the text is cited. Citations have consistent errors. The overall argument is unclear and the writing tends to be descriptive. 4 - 6
Opinion only; no in text literature is cited. 0 - 3

ESSAY MARKING GUIDE continued Mark range Final Mark

Conclusion
(10) Coherent & logical conclusion of essay topic. The final remarks clearly capture the essence of the topic. The topic is tied together well and no new information is contained in the conclusion. 8 - 10
Well organised and clear conclusion of essay topic that mostly captures the essence of the topic 6 - 7
Some evidence or an attempt at a conclusion. There are problems with summation of the main points. 2 - 5
The paper has no conclusion or summation of the main points and ends abruptly. 0 - 1

Writing, presentation and readability
(15) Presents high level of skill in articulating and presenting ideas / issues in a clear and concise way. The paper has an obvious essay structure, has no or minimal syntax errors and is easy to read. 13 -15
Presents moderate level of writing skill. An obvious attempt at essay structure, but is lacking 10 - 12
Writing, structure, syntax & presentation is inconsistent. Mostly description rather than evaluation & discussion or not well supported by evidence; limited integration of material. 5 - 9
Writing &/or structure &/or presentation is/are poor. No evaluation or discussion. There is description or personal opinion only with no supporting logic or evidence; no integration of research. The paper is hard to read due to consistent syntax and/or language errors. 0 - 4
TOTAL
/60