reading and writing for business for communication

Accumulative Report FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

THE PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE OF BINH DUONG PROVINCE

THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Interview (30%)

Writing (70%)

Interview (30%)

Rubric for interviewing

3 The student has fully operational command of the language Their use of English is

appropriate, accurate and fluent, and shows complete understanding about the given reading texts

2.25 The student has fully operational command of the language Their use of English is

sometimes unsystematic in accuracy and inappropriate usage However, they have

to show their understanding about the given reading texts

1.75 The student has operational command of the language, though with occasional

inaccuracies, inappropriate usage and misunderstandings in some situations However, they have a little understanding about the given reading texts

1.0 The student has an effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies,

inappropriate usage They expose some misunderstandings about the given texts

Rubric for written responses

Indicators Written marking rubric Marks

Focus &

Details

There is one clear,

well-focused topic Main ideas

are clear and are well

supported by detailed and

There is one topic Main ideas are somewhat clear

The topic and main idea are not clear

0.25

Organization

The introduction is

inviting, states the main

topic, and provides an

overview of the paper

Information is relevant and

of the paper A conclusion is included

The introduction states the main topic A conclusion is included

There is no clear introduction, structure, or conclusion

0.25

Word choice

The author uses vivid

words and phrases The

choice and placement

of words seems

accurate, natural, and

The author uses vivid words and phrases The choice and placement

The writer uses a limited

vocabulary

Jargon or clichés may be present and detract from

0.25

All sentences are well

constructed and have

varied structure and length

The author makes no errors

in grammar, mechanics,

and/or spelling

Most sentences are well constructed and have varied structure and length The author makes a few errors in grammar, mechanics, and/or spelling, but they do not interfere with understanding

Most sentences are well constructed, but they have a similar structure and/or length The author makes several errors in grammar, mechanics, and/or spelling that interfere with

understanding

Sentences sound awkward, are distractingly repetitive,

or are difficult to understand The author

makes numerous errors in grammar, mechanics, and/or spelling that interfere with understanding

0.25

Content Reading passage 1

BRANSON’S NEW ROUTE TO MORE JOBS

For many young people lucky enough to get a job after leaving school or college, the biggest shock transition to work is how few holidays they get Having spent their academic years working an eight or nine- month year, it can be depressing to realize that for the rest of working lives they will be able to take only four weeks off a year

Many would jump at the chance to take three months off and that’s exactly what happened at Virgin Atlantic, the airline run by Richard Branson He believed the initiative will help to reduce unemployment Faced last autumn with recession and its failure to acquire more flight slots out of Heathrow airport, the company was having to consider redundancies

Mr Branson wrote to the staff saying that cutting back on jobs was “something I have never wanted to do” Instead, he invited employees to take up to six months unpaid leaves and join

in a job-sharing scheme

The immediate crisis passed but the idea of a shorter working year took off When the company later asked for 300 volunteers to take three months unpaid leave, 450 put their names forward Mr Branson said: “to be fair and share it around, in some cases we said that people could only take 6 weeks.” Most of the volunteers were cabin crew but other staff, including secretaries and pilots took advantage of the offer as well “And when they came back from their break… they definitely seemed to enjoy work more,” he said

The company tends to recruit and train its own staff from scratch As Mr Branson said:

“if you’ve been at college or on the dole, working only nine months still makes you a lot better off financially than you were before.” He believed there was a broader social benefit to

be achieved “If you are only taking on people for nine months, that will enable others who would otherwise have no work or be living on the dole to have a chance too.” And he goes further “I think this should be the basis of a pattern across the whole European Community for the first few years of working life.”

Nor was a shorter working year applicable for the young people “ If older women and men with children can afford it because one partner’s working 12 months and the other nine,

I think a lot of people would like to earn slightly less and be able to spend more time with their children,” said Branson

This year the scheme is on offer again, although not over the busy summer period “All the people who took time off last year would like to do it again.” Mr Branson said But its realization depended on whether the company could recruit enough people to allow 400-500 existing staff to take three months off The company was considering whether the arrangement should become a permanent feature, Mr Branson said “For new people taken on

in most departments, we are thinking about making nine-month working as a standard contract.”

Question 1: In less than 150 words, write a summary of the main ideas of the passage Question 2 If you were the subject of such a scheme, what would you spend 3 off-

work months doing to improve your life? In no more than 250 words, write a paragraph to describe your plan

ANSWERS

Question 1

In the "Branson's new route to more jobs”, author Richard Branson introduces a sharing scheme that employees spend a six-month year working and take three months off unpaid for cutting back redundancies job at Virgin Atlantic airline Specifically, his scheme shows some benefits for unemployed people who need a chance working job and even his staffs can be able to spend more time for themselves or their family Firstly, depending on the company could recruit enough and train the new staff from scratch even they have been still been at college or people have no work for allowing the existing staffs to take three months off unpaid And actually, the initiative helps to reduce unemployment Secondly, the scheme makes the staffs not only the young people have a shorter working year but also the older women and men can spend much time for their family After they come back from their breaking, they definitely enjoy working more The company considers making nine-month working as a standard contract

job-Question 2

Currently, I think about what I want to achieve in my 3 off-work months to improve

my life which using spare time for things that enhance the mind, and relaxes and unwinds after a long working time First, I will be relaxed by playing sports, watching movies, playing scrabble, reading books, and writing a diary Some scientists say that these physical and mental activities serve as a tonic and refresh me to face new challenges Central to my first idea is the benefit of spending spare time for doing some recreational activities, is to promote brain’s ability, which will enable them to become more intellectual and brilliant Second, improving my life by rest is particularly important, which can make it possible for me to relax after long working a nine- months year We all require to unwind time to recover from the hassle of works and everyday life Anything cannot let else encroach on my relaxing time Don’t check the inbox for messages and turn off a mobile phone Otherwise, the lines between the day off and working days will begin to blur, and you won’t feel refreshed Finally, I personally believe my 3 off-work months to what is best for help me to drive the further toward enriching my brain and remain a good healthy at relaxing time

Morale also suffers during decline People fear they may be the next to be made redundant Productivity often suffers, as employees spend their time sharing rumours and providing one another with moral support rather than focusing on their jobs For those whose jobs are secure, pay increases are rarely possible Pay cuts, unheard of during times

of growth, may even be imposed The challenge to management is how to motivate employees under such retrenchment conditions The ways of meeting this challenge can be broadly divided into six Key Points, which are outlined below

KEY POINT ONE

There is an abundance of evidence to support the motivational benefits that result from carefully matching people to jobs For example, if the job is running a small business or

an autonomous unit within a larger business, high achievers should be sought However, if the job to be filled is a managerial post in a large bureaucratic organisation, a candidate who has a high need for power and a low need for affiliation should be selected Accordingly, high achievers should not be put into jobs that are inconsistent with their needs High achievers will do best when the job provides moderately challenging goals and where there is independence and feedback However, it should be remembered that not everybody

is motivated by jobs that are high in independence, variety and responsibility

KEY POINT TWO

The literature on goal-setting theory suggests that managers should ensure that all employees have specific goals and receive comments on how well they are doing in those goals For those with high achievement needs, typically a minority in any organisation, the existence of external goals is less important because high achievers are already internally motivated The next factor to be determined is whether the goals should be assigned by a manager or collectively set in conjunction with the employees The answer to that depends

on perceptions of goal acceptance and the organisation's culture If resistance to goals is expected, the use of participation in goal-setting should increase acceptance If participation

is inconsistent with the culture, however, goals should be assigned If participation and the culture are incongruous, employees are likely to perceive the participation process as manipulative and be negatively affected by it

KEY POINT THREE

Regardless of whether goals are achievable or well within management's perceptions

of the employee's ability, if employees see them as unachievable they will reduce their effort Managers must be sure, therefore, that employees feel confident that their efforts can lead to performance goals For managers, this means that employees must have the capability

of doing the job and must regard the appraisal process as valid

KEY POINT FOUR

Since employees have different needs, what acts as a reinforcement for one may not for another? Managers could use their knowledge of each employee to personalise the rewards over which they have control Some of the more obvious rewards that managers allocate include pay, promotions, autonomy, job scope and depth, and the opportunity to participate in goal-setting and decision-making

KEY POINT FIVE

Managers need to make rewards contingent on performance To reward factors other than performance will only reinforce those other factors Key rewards such as pay increases and promotions or advancements should be allocated for the attainment of the employee's specific goals Consistent with maximising the impact of rewards, managers should look for

communicating everyone's remuneration, publicising performance bonuses and allocating annual salary increases in a lump sum rather than spreading them out over an entire year are examples of actions that will make rewards more visible and potentially more motivating

KEY POINT SIX

The way rewards are distributed should be transparent so that employees perceive that rewards or outcomes are equitable and equal to the inputs given On a simplistic level, experience, abilities, effort and other obvious inputs should explain differences in pay, responsibility and other obvious outcomes The problem, however, is complicated by the existence of dozens of inputs and outcomes and by the fact that employee groups place different degrees of importance on them For instance, a study comparing clerical and production workers identified nearly twenty inputs and outcomes The clerical workers considered factors such as quality of work performed and job knowledge near the top of their list, but these were at the bottom of the production workers' list Similarly, production workers thought that the most important inputs were intelligence and personal involvement with task accomplishment, two factors that were quite low in the importance ratings of the clerks There were also important, though less dramatic, differences on the outcome side For example, production workers rated advancement very highly, whereas clerical workers rated advancement in the lower third of their list Such findings suggest that one person's equity is another's inequity, so an ideal should probably weigh different inputs and outcomes according to employee group

Question 1: In less than 150 words, write a summary of the main ideas of the passage Question 2: Among the six mentioned strategies in motivating employees, which

one do you think is the most effective? In no more than 250 words, write a paragraph to

describe your ideas

ANSWERS

Question 1

In this essay, the author indicates the ways of facing the challenge to managers is how

to motivate employees under adverse conditions that can be divided into six strategies "Key point one", making the motivational from carefully matching employees to jobs "Key point

two", the management have to ensure employees have specific goal which assigned by a manager and depended on perceptions of goal acceptance and the organization's culture "Key point three", management's perceptions of the employee's ability whether goals achieved, managers must be sure employees are confident, and "Key point four", the manager can personalize the rewards as a reinforcement employees' different needs "Key point five", the managers need to make rewards more visible and potentially more motivating "Key point six", one person's equity is another's inequity that the reason why the managers should transparent the inputs and outcomes to get rewards