ORGANISATIONS AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATION - 2024/5

Module Overview

The module aims to introduce students to the specifics of writing for, and within, organisations such as businesses, not-for-profit organisations and other organisation in the public and private sector.

 

Students will examine, week by week, the differences in approach to specific real world documents and communicational devises and methodologies used in organisations, from advertising to report writing, visual language to electronic communication in terms of tone, register, structure, style, audience and impact. As such, this is a module that equips students for the world of work and employment in multiple fields.  In each class, students will be exposed to critical writing on the subject of the week and will look at relevant examples in detail. Students will develop the ability to analyse these modes of written communication, to apply them to organisational situations, and to develop their own writing styles. To this end, they will then be given the opportunity to begin work on producing their own piece of written communication tied to that week’s subject, which will be taken away and worked on, and a selection of which will be presented and workshopped at the following session. This process will help students grow in confidence, both in presentational terms and in terms of delivering and receiving feedback on their work, in a safe and supportive setting.

 

Texts will be drawn from range of management, business, communications and literary sources, and will include theoretical and creative work.

 

Students will carry out their own analysis by producing a creative piece of written organisational communication alongside a critical essay and commentary reflecting on the creative work produced and using theories and concepts learnt on the module.

 

This module connects to other contemporary literature modules on the English Literature and Creative Writing MA programmes, where the emphasis is on 20th and 21st Century approaches to creating and examining literatures and our cultural responses to them. It also connects to other communications and managements modules on the Intercultural Business Communication and Marketing MA (ICBM) which have a strong professional skills based focus within a business and marketing context.

As a hybrid creative writing, English literature and communications module, it also makes up part of the creative writing pathway in the degree, connecting to a wide variety of creative writing modules offered as part of the programme.

 

Module provider

School of Literature and Languages

Module Leader

MOONEY Stephen (Lit & Langs)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

JACs code: Q140

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

The following areas are indicative of topics to be covered:

• Introduction to Organisations and Communications


• Advertising (conceptualizing the audience)


• Writing for Levels (different management and literacy levels)


• Report Writing


• Delivering Positive Information, & Managing the Negative


• The Language of Responsibility


• Case Study


• Handbook and Procedures Writing (internal)


• Translating the Technical


• Visual Language - Graphics and Visual Aids


• Electronic Communications

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate:

• the development in their creative writing skills in professional writing in various forms that will feed forward into their future careers as professional writers and/or critics


• their advanced understanding of the context of their work in historical and cultural terms, as well as in terms of other creative writing in the field


• their creative ability in writing on themes or in techniques related to complex organisational communication


• their development of varied and diverse advanced research and writing skills and, specifically, an understanding of matters relating to the dissemination of research into and/or publishing of professional organisational written communications through the broad range of assessment submission possibilities incorporated into the open-ended assessment type integral to the module


• productive and informed critical reflection on both the creative process itself and the finished work that has resulted from it


• their abilities with existing and emerging social media platforms and modes of communication and other digital competencies related to the module’s themes and composition practices


• individual critical and/or creative responses to the subject material via a diverse range of assessment submission options designed to appeal to diverse and inclusive learning and composition practices and/or to allow students to select assessment types most useful to them in planning for their current professional orientation or future employment plans

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

* End of semester Creative Piece (500-1000 words) plus Critical Essay and Commentary (2500 words) (100%)

 

Formative assessment and feedback

Verbal feedback and formative ‘feed forward’ is provided through seminar discussions, and tutor feedback in seminars, on short pieces (250-500 words of prose, or equivalent in another form) presented as part of the workshopping element of the classes. Each student can expect to present 2-3 such pieces over the course of the semester according to a schedule worked out between the tutor and the student cohort. This is a great way to not only develop your writing skills but is also a safe space within which you can trial new techniques and forms and in which you can gain confidence and practical experience as writers and presenters of work to audiences.

Written and/or oral tutor feedback will also be provided on one piece of creative writing (maximum of 1000 words or equivalent for poetry or other form) during the course of the module (the student is free to submit this at any point of the semester).

As such, writing, presentation and critical analysis skills will be developed and honed which will feed forward to the summative assessment at the end of the module.

There is the option of a range of other feedback mechanisms agreed between tutor and students in week 1 of the module, such as seminar contribution and writing exercises.

Module aims

• The module aims to: develop in students an advanced critical understanding of the function and operation of the various forms of written communication employed in organisations (both business and non-business)
• stimulate students' ability to identify and replicate different types of written documents and modes of written communication used within organisations
• develop and hone individual applied writing ability within the context of organisational structures and operational requirements
• enhance students' understanding of, and aptitude with, digital forms and contexts of professional writing
• professionally develop students' ability to mould and adapt information to suit the specific communicational requirements and scenarios in a written format
• facilitate students in gaining experience in working independently, selecting and evaluating date and other material for inclusion in, as well as the writing of, their own creative texts
• hone students' ability to analyse and appraise organisational situations and scenarios, and react to these appropriately, efficiently and effectively in written and electronic forms
• encourage students to think multi-modally about their written presentations and communication techniques, and to engage with technological opportunities and developments
• help prepare students to consider possible routes to publication for their work and make them aware of possible careers as arts and/or business communications professionals

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• Hone and develop students’ writing skills in prose and/or poetry by helping them gain significant confidence and ability in critical analysis and thinking about writing as communication, and in gaining an ability to use specific compositional skills that will have practical application to the workplace, and to help students produce innovative, imaginative and exciting publication standard creative work


• Assist students in locating their work in historical and cultural contexts by honing their understanding of the function and operation of the various forms of written communication employed in organisations (both business and non-business) through examination and workshopping of examples and larger case studies of organizational written communication


• Equip students with the research and writing skills they will need to produce both critically informed prose or poetry and creative criticism by helping them, through the safe space of the workshopping environment, to apply frameworks for the analysis of written forms of communication in the organisational workplace to their own work, and evaluate their effectiveness as well as their limitations, which will be of specific relevance to careers in the professional writing industries


• Assist students in developing and understanding the benefits, limitations and potential of new forms of digital communication and the employment contexts within which to employ them effectively through the use of, and experimentation with, new digital forms of communication


• Explore and appreciate the cultural differences and distinctions that can and do modulate communication and the effectiveness of strategies employed in other national, international and organizational contexts through the study of examples and case studies of international communications scenarios and encouraging students to bring their own cultural experiences of language and communication to the class, thereby increasing both cultural and social knowledge and inclusivity of alternative and multicultural voices


• Facilitate in students productive reflection on both the creative process itself and the finished work that has resulted from it by enabling them to work independently in creating a piece of professional creative writing, backed up with a combined critcial commentary and critical essay that will have developed their skills in essay composition, and to more fully develop their sense of their own practice as writers in their future careers

 

The learning and teaching methods include a combination of lecture materials, seminars, captured content, guided learning and independent learning.

Students will engage with preparatory reading, including creative work by other students, in advance of the seminar which will combine discussion of interrelated critical ideas and texts with in-class creative or critical writing exercises each week. Designed to help students reflect on and apply their learning to creative and critical outputs, the workshop environment acts as a safe space for developing and exchanging ideas, support and writing skills.

Varied learning materials such as lexical texts, visual materials (including marketing and advertising materials), material prompts, video and sound objects are designed to increase student accessibility and will present them with a range of interpretive materials and approaches with which to work and develop their own thinking and creative responses.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: CMCM058

Other information

Surrey's Curriculum Framework is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills and capabilities in the following areas:

Employability: You will examine different approach to writing in an organisational and business real world context a variety of modes and forms. We will look at specific real-world documents and communicational devises and methodologies used in organisations of all kinds (from charities and clubs to companies and the public sector). Examples range are advertising to report writing, as well as visual language to electronic communication in terms of tone, register, structure, style, audience and impact. This material, and the work that you produce in the weekly writing exercises, will equip you with direct and transferrable skill highly valued in the world of work in multiple fields.
This module connects effectively to other career and employment focussed modules on the degree, in particular with Communication and Management modules that are core to the programme. We also look at specific professional writing career paths (such as technical writers, editors, document specialists, content managers, terminologist, etc.)
All students will produce a creative writing project at the end of the module – a professional and/or business document with practical application to real world employment roles and alongside this a critical commentary that situates the creative document in professional contextualises.
Students therefore get the chance to explore writerly form, style and language in a professional writing context and the skills developed in this module, developed alongside your other communicants and management or literature and creative writing modules, will help equip you for the vast range of employment and career pathways that our post-graduate students go on to after (and sometimes during) their degree.
All students will also get the opportunity to experiment with and present critical and creative work in the workshop settings as well as present and respond to the work of other students, writers and critics, another set of key skills that English literature, creative writing and communications graduates bring to the table in a host of career and employment settings.

Digital Capabilities: Increasing digital capabilities in writing and communicating professionally is one of the core professionalisation aims of this module. You will be encouraged to explore modern communication and writing forms and modes and to develop greater skill and knowledge in digital writing forms and contexts. You will also increase you understanding of the benefits, limitations and potential of new forms of digital communication and the employment contexts within which to employ them effectively and professionally.
As part of the module seminars, you will also be encouraged to communicate with one another and to work collaboratively on some exercises SurreyLearn, Microsoft Teams, and other digital and document sharing platforms, skills will be carried forward to later modules on your degree.

Global and Cultural Capabilities: Both communications and creative writing are fields that reach out to all parts of the human experience and all parts of our global cultures, facilitating exchange of ideas, experiences, knowledge and language and helping to foster creative and cultural exchange and empathy in readers and writers of all kinds across the globe. In this module, we will look at writing from a variety of contexts, including fiction and non-fiction as well as business writing and other forms of professional writing.
Students are encouraged to share their own communication and writing experience and given the international nature of the student cohort in this programme, you will also benefit from the cultural experience and expertise of your peers. As part of the set reading and the workshopping elements of the module you will encounter cultural contexts and presentations that require a nuanced and thought through approach to sensitivity and awareness of difference in how written communication works in different cultural contexts. This module therefore connects with other communications and management modules across the Intercultural Business Communication and Marketing MA which focus on strategic approaches to international communication and exchange. Likewise, the module also connects to other English Literature and creative writing modules that explore global and cultural themes and writerly forms.

Resourcefulness and Resilience: The life of a professional writer can often be a solitary and isolating one. This module, through workshopping, group work and shared writerly experience will help equip you for the real world setting of your current and future writing practice. Not only will we look at career options for technical and professional writers, and texts where professional writers talk about their experience, you will also benefit from the experience of your peers (a really important group of contemporary thinkers about communication and writing), and from your tutors who are professional writers in their own right. The weekly seminar workshops provide a great opportunity to not only develop your writing skills but is also a safe space within which you can trial new techniques and forms and in which you can gain confidence and practical experience as writers and presenters of work to audiences. You will also receive constructive and supportive feedback from your peers and from module tutors.

 

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2024/5 academic year.