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ESS SEM2

 

Here is the programme for the FOUR sessions we have in S2 and the work we (you!) will be doing:-

First Week:

Tuesday 20/2 (2hours)  and Friday 23/2 (3hours).

  • Set up & work plan
  • Comms Theory and Advertisment Task
  • FOR THIS FRIDAY 23/2:
    • prepare and print out written report  ASSESSED
    • Come prepare to talk about (NOT READ!) your 10 -second reaction and how this mght have changed or been reinforced by looking in detail. ASSESSED

ADVERTISING TASK INSTRUCTIONS:

How do I analyse & evaluate the advert provided?

1. Remembering that this is a professional English course, you will do this in your very best English, having used spellcheck in Word / OpenOffice, Grammarly and Wordreference as appropriate to aid you in the task of proofing (relecture).  Failure to use such tools and to proof-read your work closely will be penalised.  You will NOT, however, use DeepL, Google Translate and other online translation tools – those are agents of plagiarism in this context which will have serious consequences if you use them.

2. Once you have the advert in front of you:

  • take just 10 seconds (then turn it over!) to look at it – yes, just 10 seconds: no more.  Don’t cheat and spend longer!! Record what is your immediate reaction to the first visual impression (remember, as the saying goes ‘first impressions are lasting impressions’). WHAT was it that had some kind of effect upon you  … and WHY? Think of the following scales (PLUS others of your own devising!).  Clearly if you have any, some or all impressions on or towards the right hand side of the bullet-point list below, then the advert will not have delivered all of the effects desired.  Having considered how the advert figures on the list below, you should award it an ‘Instant Impact‘ mark on 10 where 10/10 = perfection / excellence and 0/10 = useless / zero  (or worse a completely negative) impact / a total waste of time, effort and money.  In your report, you must explain and justify this mark.   Dimensions you could use to guide your thinking might include (inter alia):
      • excitement/interest — boredom/disinterest
      • understanding — confusing
      • shocking/surprising  — predictable
      • wanting to look/read more — prefering to turn the page/move on
      • pretty/attractive — unattractive / yuk!
      • immediate — takes too long to make sense of
      • funny / got the joke — tried to be funny but failed / didn’t get the joke
      • Sophisticated /stylish  — crass
      • etc…….

3. Now (only AFTER you have written your 10 second look observations) turn the advert back over again and look at it in very much more detail:

  • is your initial impression confirmed (whether it was positive, negative or rather neutral) or did your impression change? If so, did it get ‘better‘ or ‘worse‘? Why was this?    NB. The problem is that had you had a neutral or poor first impression – you would probably have turned the page without troubling yourself to take a closer look and find out that you just might have been interested!
  • Whatever your impression, try to identify at what stage (or stages) in the communications process things went ‘right‘ or ‘wrong‘.  What does it take, then, to make a success of an advert and how can we make sure we don’t ‘sign off on‘ something that could well result in disinterest, failure to generate sales and little or no return on the amount (costs) invested in the advert. This will take some pretty sharp analysis based upon Comms Theory:
    • what might have been the initial idea/intended message – can  you discern what it was intended to be?
    • How well, in your view, was this intended message encoded in the advert: image, words, content, colour, humour, layout etc etc…
    • Was print the right / the best medium for the transmission of such a message to the intended market?
    • When you decoded the advert for yourself, did you ‘get‘ (understand) the intended message .. or something else? Did your 10-second analysis feelings change ‘for better or for worse‘?  If so what ‘message‘ did you receive?
    • What was your considered response to the message you received and decoded?  So, how closely did your response match the response that the company would have wanted you to have?
    • As a result of your in-depth analysis, award the advert an ‘Overall Impact‘ mark on 10 where 10/10 = that worked to perfection / I would have reponded in exactly the way the company would have hoped I would  and 0/10 = useless / I didn’t ‘get’ anything remotely like the message and would not have responded as the company would have wished / a total waste of time, effort and money.  In your report, you must explain and justify this mark.
  • Thinking of your responses above, are there principles we can apply here / tests we can use at each stage of the process to make sure the chances of success are maximised? (Remember: you will perhaps be being asked to render ideas as images, words and adverts in all kinds of forms …. or you may well be presented with material that you are told to communicate to the desired audience….. you will perhaps have the opportunity to make things go more ‘right‘ and less ‘wrong‘.  How will you try to influence those directing you – especially when you can see the flaws and the opportunity to correct them?)

Output Required.

1. An individual report in YOUR OWN best English (NOT using a translator tool or AI and NOT an essay – you absolutely MUST understand the difference), analysing and evaluating the advert you have been given taking into account the above highly-specific instructions.  Hard copy – 2 pages of A4 maximum / I full page absolute minimum (not including images) in 12pt.   To be submitted to me in hard copy and in class on Friday 23rd February 2024.  NB. No other form of submission is acceptable.  ASSESSED.

2. Be prepared to present and disuss your findings with me and your colleagues on Friday 23rd Feb. NB. Reading of your report is NOT acceptable – you should be able to talk to your colleagues naturally and in English.  ASSESSED.

3. Plenary Session. Can one apply the same sort of principles to a video that we have applied to the printed page or should other criteria apply?

FOR OUR NEXT CLASS:-

I will prepare you in class on Friday 23/2 with my 10 tips on writing covering letters which I will want you to use…

I will then give you instructions for the next task you will be doing.  You will come to our next class with a saved copy of the Job Description and Person Specification of a real job somewhere in the English-speaking market (of the sort that you could realistically apply for at the end of your Masters and a full draft of covering letter for it (in your best English) according to my instructions and NOT based upon a standard letter template or AI or a previous letter you may have written manipulated via a translator tool. Be aware that any infringement of these requirements will result in a mark of 0/20.

SECOND WEEK  18/3

As per the above instruction, in class you will show me the details of the post for which you are writing your covering letter and I will offer my comments on your draft (formative feedback).  YOU WILL THEN SUBMIT THE PRINTED FINAL VERSION (of your covering letter together with the job offer) TO MY PIGEON HOLE (CASIER) BY THE THURSDAY OF THIS SAME WEEK WITHOUT FAIL 21st March by 12 Noon.  NB. Submissions after this date or in any other form will not be accepted or marked unless accompanied by a medical certificate.

The following will help you:

Covering Letter Task

(and moving on to CV and Interview).

I have put together a considerable number of mini-videos for you on all aspects of the process of applying for a job.  Here they all are….

Do go through them!  They are there to help you!

We will be considering the questions:

  • How (and why) are recruitment and selection functions changing rapidly (what is going on from the employers’ side?)… especially: ‘How much does it really cost to lose and replace a member of staff?’  Here we will consider direct and indirect quantifiable costs and also non-quantifiable, non-financial (but no less real) costs.  If you can understand the employer’s postition better you will write a better letter and cv and will have a greater chance at interview.  Here is an exerise I may want you to do in class on the subject!
  • What does that mean to you seeking employment on the job market?  Do you need to approach job-search differently?  Don’t wait for Friday or Saturday night newspapers: prepare your ground. Prepare to be found – develop LinkdIn profiles…. sanitise your Facebook and social network presence: employers DO look before inviting you to interview.   Think about Professional Association membership (see my video!): it matters! it shows you are no longer a student looking for a job – you are already a Young Professional moving in Professional circles.  Such associations allow you to become a student member very cheaply and theat enables you to put your CV online for corproate members to see.   Target the comlpanies you want to work for – don’t do bland speculative letters.
  • The significance of the job offer and the Job Description and Person Specification – see the examples here.  READ, READ and RE-READ these documents concernig the post you are seeking until they are under your skin.   Match who you are and what you have done to these and then consider how you are going to show this ‘match’ in the covering letter and cv…and interview.  I show you how to do this in one of my videos which helps with structuring the covering letter and designing the CV
  • What makes a great covering letter (10 Tips webpage)  for the international, English-speaking market – and, incidentally for the Ferench marketplace? Here are two videos I have made for you on the subject:

Our Final Class: 15/4

This will entail:-

  • me providing feedback on your covering letters and handing back your individual work
  • you receiving your marks for the unit: an average of the THREE marks you will have earned for:
    • the advertisment written analysis
    • the advertisment oral presentation
    • your covering letter
  • I will move on to speak of crafting the CV and preparing for interview…. as it is looking forward to your future!

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