ENG 2024
Communication Skills
Written Report of:
CW3 - NARRATIVE PROJECT
Prepared by:
Name Student ID
1. Chan Weng Yan 20028056
2. Liew Yong Xuan 20027454
3. Lim Kai Hong 20041919
4. Teoh Beng Chuan 20039913
Prepared for:
Ms. Nalina
Date of submission:
20/6/2022
Scenario
Jenny is the class monitor for the upcoming semester. After a few months of
observation, she identified an unusual classmate in the class who was frequently alone and
had no companions. He goes by the name Wong, has tattoos on his arms, and has a distinct
personality when compared to others. Wong's classmates constantly criticize him and even
spread tales that people with tattoos are horrible people who are more rebellious and less
intellectual. This caused a lot of confusion among coursemates concerning Wong. "Why
does Wong seem so harsh every day, and who offended him? I don't recall ever seeing him
laugh.” a classmate was conversing with a friend. "Isn't it true that we should avoid making
him angry? Just by looking at him full of tattoos, you can tell he has a bad temper and might
be a gangster. Make sure you are not offending her at all costs; otherwise, the results will be
terrible." Her pal replied. Because he has a scornful expression on his face, Wong's peers
are hesitant to approach him. Jenny, even though she did not fully comprehend Wong's
personality, since she heard a lot of bad comments about him from her classmates, listened
and followed her classmates' speculations and concluded that Wong was a bad person.
One day, the students planned to eat lunch during their break. They noticed Wong's
displeasure as they drove past the school meadows, seeing a kitten meowing in front of him,
appearing miserable. As someone who loves small animals, Jenny exclaimed to Wong:
"Hey! What exactly are you doing here? Do you have a problem with kittens? You're so
terrible that you won't even allow a cat out of your sight." Wong gave her a cold stare but
remained silent because he didn't want to argue with him. When Jenny approached the
kitten, she found a jug of milk and a handkerchief with Wong's name written on it. She was
perplexed by this: "Is it possible that I misunderstood her? No, No, No. How could someone
with a sour disposition like little animals?"
Jenny stopped by the office the next day and saw Wong in the Dean of Students'
office, where he had not come out in a long time. She noticed the dean's countenance was
serious and assumed Wong had done something wrong. "I am sure that the teacher caught
this guy abusing the cat in the field yesterday; he deserved it!" Jenny continued to chastise
Wong in his heart. Soon after, the dean of students entered the classroom, and the teacher
complimented Wong on his compassion. The Dean of Students explained that Wong
discovered a homeless kitten behind the school and decided to buy milk every day to feed it
and take it to a secure environment. "Learn more from Wong!" The teacher smiled as he
looked at Wong.
Jenny was shocked and realized her mistakes. She remembered the day when she
tried to return the handkerchief to Wong, she noticed that he had multiple wounds on his
hand, which looked like scratches from small animals. Also, the milk she drank on the table
every day was identical to the milk the kitten drank the day before. Jenny finally understood
it was Wong who had given it his milk to drink but had been scratched by the cat when he
went to touch it. Jenny realized that she had a misunderstanding with Wong. She felt
humiliated and apologized to him for his rudeness. She also promised to improve her
mindset. Wong also chose to forgive her and offer her a second opportunity.
Introduction
The story above is regarding a boy named Wong being discriminated against by his
classmates. Jenny, the class monitor believes that people that have tattoos are horrible and
rebellious. One day, Jenny saw an injured kitten meowing sadly Infront of Wong. She
immediately assumed that Wong was doing something bad to the kitten. Then, she saw
Wong in the Dean’s office for a long time with a serious ambiance. She assumed that Wong
was caught by the Dean regarding the issue yesterday. The Dean then explained the truth
where Wong feeds the homeless kittens daily after discovering them. Finally, she realized
her mistakes and apologized to Wong. The communication problems identified are indirect
communication, direct aggression, and selective listening.
Communication Problem 1
From the topic interpersonal, there are two communication problems identified. The first is
indirect communication which means, the initiator will not communicate directly and tries to
bid around the bush (Barowski, 2021). This will cause misunderstanding as the recipient
might get the wrong meaning. For example, when Jenny accused Wong of treating the kitten
badly, he only gave her a cold stare and did not bother to explain as he did not want it to turn
into an argument. However, this is bad as Wong did not communicate directly which will
make Jenny not understand what his motive was.
Solution
The solution to reducing the indirect communication problem is to adopt concrete language
in our communication. The use of concrete language means that we should express
ourselves with words that are more specific rather than vague (Williams, 2017). With this, we
can eliminate the indirect communication as the sender of the message will not bid around
the bush and the recipient can understand better. For instance, Wong can better explain
himself with more specific words rather than just a facial expression that he thinks will help
him avoid the argument and Jenny then can better understand him.
Communication Problem 2
The second communication problem from the topic above is direct aggression. This is where
verbal assault is performed on a certain individual. This will cause individuals to feel
offended and refuse to communicate which will cause miscommunications. From the story,
we can see that Jenny scolded Wong when she saw him with the kittens. Which then caused
indirect communication as Wong wanted to avoid the argument.
Solution
The solution to direct aggression is to be assertive. This is where an individual expresses
their thought and feelings without any judging or discrimination. With this, we can achieve a
higher possibility of conflict solving as both parties act with respect and without any
prejudice. For instance, Jenny can better understand what Wong is doing before she reacts
and not just react based on her assumptions made based on his tattoos earlier. This will
allow her to express herself more politely and acceptably.
Communication Problem 3
In the second topic Listening and Critical Thinking, the communication problem discovered is
selective listening. Selective listening is where an individual chooses only to listen and react
to a certain opinion that matches their thinking (Brennan, 2021). This will cause serious
communication breakdowns as the recipient cannot receive the real message from the
sender and only listens to what she believes in. For example, in the story, Jenny only
chooses to listen to the bad comments made on Wong. Even when a thought that she might
have misunderstood him, she still stuck to believing that he is cruel.
Solution
The solution to selective listening would be self-monitoring. This is where an individual
monitors his or her behavior and is aware of the impression it makes. Which will allow the
individual to shape their behavior and get rid of bad habits (Cherry, 2021). For example,
Jenny should monitor herself and be aware that she has selective listening problems which
are prejudiced against Wong. By knowing the mistake, this solution will help her minimize
and eliminate it as she can accept all types of input from others and make a rational
judgment.
Reflection
As a reflection, we understand that communication problems will occur at any time in our
daily lives and there are always solutions to the problems. We can always see indirect
communication in our lives, as many people do not want to express their feelings
specifically. Which will cause communication problems as the other party does not
understand them. The solution of concrete language allows us to better express ourselves in
our daily lives. Moving on, direct aggression is also often seen in our daily lives where
people often approach others in a manner that might cause conflict between the two. With
this, assertiveness is a solution to the situation. This allows us to express our real feelings
without judging or discriminating against others. In reality, this will allow us to communicate
and understand one another better because we can let go of all our discrimination toward
that person. Moving on, selective listening often happens in our daily lives where one only
chooses to listen to opinions a match their thinking. For example, when an argument
happens in real life, many of them are due to parties that refuse to accept opinions that differ
from their beliefs. Thus, they should monitor themselves and consciously try to eliminate the
bad habit.
References
Barowski, J. (2021, September 25). [Link]. Retrieved from Direct vs Indirect
communication: [Link]
[Link]#:~:text=Indirect%20communication%20is%20when%20the,to%20get
%20their%20point%20across.
Brennan, D. (2021, June 5). WebMD. Retrieved from What is Selective Listening:
[Link]
%20listening%20is%20when%20you,anyone%20can%20develop%20and
%20improve.
Cherry, K. (2021, May 20). very well mind. Retrieved from what is self-monitoring:
[Link]
%2Dmonitoring%20is%20a%20personality,it%20has%20on%20your
%20environment.
Williams, J. (2017). Montana State University. Retrieved from Clear & Concrete Language:
[Link]
=Concrete%20language%20refers%20to%20tangible,rather%20than%20real
%2Dworld%20objects.