is soft skills our job?

Is Soft Skills Our Job?

8th -12th APRIL, 2013 LIVERPOOL

Yelena Korol, KNEU, Ukraine

“I have learnt much from my teachers, more from my IATEFL colleagues and most from my students.”(unknown)

OutlineWhat I have learnt from ITEFL colleagues

What I have learnt from my students

Give and receive feedback loop

A New Level of Thinking: 3 repairing tools

Talk shop

Effective International Communication

Project Team WorkAims• to be more aware of team work self as a language learner self as a team player• to be able to give a joint presentation •

Outcome• joint presentation• reflective poster on team work• give and receive feedback loop• teacher’s new level of thinking

•

Teacher’s Observation Use of English

Efficient team work

Trustful atmosphere in teams

Responsibility

Student self-discovery

Team Study enjoyment

I felt…

Spread the News Project

advertising

involving investors

development of the newspaper

High and LowContext Cultures

E.Y. KorolKNEU, April 2013

Low context cultureClear and precise messages

Factual informationClosed questionsTarget –orientedBeing assertive

Individual responsibilities

High Context CultureSending Subtle messages

Making Indirect remarks

Being relationship-oriented

Doing their best to save face

Trying to avoid conflict and preserve harmony

Focusing on group responsibilities

High contextChineseKoreanJapaneseArabSpanish ItalianEnglishNorth AmericanScandinavianSwissGerman

Low context

What You Think/What You Say

We can’t accept it

You absolutely don’t

understand

Unfortunately, we would be unable

to accept itI’m afraid you don’t seem to understand

S.T.A.R. vs C.O.M.P.A.S.S. Feedback

C ommentary (Am I describing or judging?)O pportunities (Did I use all opportunities ?)M otivated (How did I motivate myself?)P rogress fixing (What progress have I made?A nalytical (What were my strong and weak points?)S trategic ( What would I do differently next time?)S elf-awareness-oriented ( I vs WE)

Talk Shop1.The class is unmotivated to write feedback after each lesson.

2.The student uses the same basic words over and over again, boring the reader.

3. A student copies someone’s paragraph and turns it as his own writing.

Giving Feedback Practice

Habits

Be ProactiveBegin with the End in Mind

Put First Things First

“7 Habits of Highly Effective People”Steven R. Covey

Habits

Skills(how to)

Knowledge(what to, why to)

Desire(want to)

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then,

is not an act, but a habit" Aristotle

Interdependence

Independence

Dependence

Production

Production capability

Effectiveness: P/PC Balance

Soft skills: teamwork Joint presentation

Effectiveness

"No one can persuade another to change.

Each of us guards a gate of change that can only be opened from the inside.

We cannot open the gate of another, either by argument or emotional appeal."

Marilyn Ferguson

THANK YOUelena_korol@list.ru

ReferencesHall, E.T. (1976). Beyond Culture. New York, Anchor books.

Dignen, B. (2007). Feedback. Business Spotlight 51.

Frendo, E., Teaching High and Low Communication Styles. Business Issues, Spring 2011 Issue 77

Covey. S.R. (2004). 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,CBS COMPANY, the UK.