3.5 Interaction skills in telephonic conversations

English home language

Grade 9

Personal development and empowerment

Module 18

Interaction skills in telephonic conversations

Activity 1:

To demonstrate interactive skills in telephone conversations

[lo 2.4]

Time to Role Play

• In the following role-play examples, imagine that you are calling Coca Cola or Captour to arrange a visit to their office.

Making a visitation request

• Making a request involves three stages:

1 . Introduce yourself by giving your name and explaining who you are:

I am a Grade 8 learner at _____.High/Secondary School in _______

2 . Give the background to your request by explaining why you are making it:

I am doing a project on work experience and I need to arrange a visit to a company in your field....

OR

I wish to enquire if you have a need for a volunteer in your organisation.

3 . Make your request politely and clearly.

3.1 Make sure that the receiver knows exactly what agreeing to your request will entail: How much of her/his time it will involve and what s/he or her/his staff will have to do: I wonder if I could pay a visit to your office for an hour or so sometime in the next two weeks, to talk to one of your staff about…

3.2 Make request: Make arrangementIf the person you are calling agrees to your request, it is important to make a clear arrangement. If you are arranging a meeting, for example, arrange the time and place and make sure you know where to go and what to do when you get there.

3.3 Make a note of all the information so that you do not need to call back again to find out something you have missed.

3.4 If the person you are calling cannot agree to your request, s/he may modify it. Listen carefully and try to fit in with her/his schedule.

3.5 Whether the receiver can help you or not, thank her or him and end the call politely.

• Now practise your telephone skills in pairs . Do TWO each.

A . 1. You are contacting a company to ask for a sponsorship for a sports tour.

2. You are hosting a beauty pageant and need clothing for the contestants.

3. Contact a clothing store.

4. You wish to make an appointment to see a career consultant.

5. You wish to join a local gym.

6. You are replying to an advertisement for a waiter/waitress at a seafood restaurant.

7. You phone a shop to ask for a particular item that you need desperately.

B . Your partner is a receptionist, telephonist or secretary who will take a message for the appropriate person and will answer any questions you wish to ask.

Activity 2:

To recognize and use common abbreviations and acronyms appropriately

[lo 6.1]

Once you have decided on a career choice, and are qualified or trained in that field, you need to find employment. Often a newspaper is the ideal place to look for advertisements by prospective employers. There are also agencies where you can leave your details.

• The following two examples appeared in a newspaper’s classified section:

• Fill in the meanings of the abbreviations as they appear in the advertisements.

1.1. co. ______________________

1.2. min.______________________

1.3. yrs.________________________

1.4. exp.______________________

1.5. neg._________________________

1.6. B.Sc._________________________

1.7. comp.______________________

1.8. affirm.________________________

1.9. pos.________________________

1.10 CV.____________________________

2.1 SPCA __________________________

2.2 PRO_________________________

2.3 NGO ____________________________

• An interesting career choice is that of estate agent. An estate agent usually earns commission and usually needs to advertise houses or flats in the classified section of a newspaper. Since advertising costs money, it is necessary to use abbreviations.

• Read the following advertisements before rewriting the advertisements filling in the abbreviations in full.
• Lovely sunny home; 3 bedrooms, b.i.c, bathroomm.e.s, d.g. with remote.
• Security flat R165 000 o.n.c.o.Urgent sale. Lock-up garage www.Comfy Homes.co.za

Assessment

LO 2

SPEAKING

The learner will be able to communicate confidently and effectively in spoken language in a wide range of situations.

Assessment Standards(ASs)

We know this when the learner:

2.4 demonstrates a range of complex interaction skills by participating actively in group discussions, conversations, debates, group interviews and surveys, and while so doing:

2.4.1 tackles important issues (e.g. social and ethical issues related to the environment and human rights);

2.5 gives oral presentations confidently and creatively paying attention to:

2.5.1 pausing and variation in tempo and volume at key points;

2.5.2 purpose and audience;

2.5.3 posture, gesture, body language and facial expressions to engage audience interest;

2.5.4 variation in presentation modes;

2.5.5 register;

2.5.6 tone;

2.5.7 degree of formality

2.5.8 different social and cultural conventions;

2.5.9 appropriate figurative devices such as climax, anti-climax, hyperbole and rhetorical questions.

LO 6

LANGUAGE STRUCTURE AND USE

The learner will know and be able to use the sounds, words and grammar of the language to create and interpret texts.

We know this when the learner:

6.1 works with words:

6.1.6 uses common prefixes and suffixes to work out meaning;

6.2 works with sentences:

6.2.6 uses a range of punctuation appropriately (e.g. colons, brackets to show something is in parentheses).

• .