Communication skills for placement
Successful communication during placement involves engaging effectively with patients or clients, as well as with facilitators, supervisors, and other students. Learning to communicate effectively on placement doesn’t happen passively; it involves an active learning process. This resource provides useful tips and strategies that will help students develop communication skills for and during placement.
Small talk leads to big talks
Trying to improve your communication skills without actively participating in informal discussions is like trying to learn to swim without getting in the water. You might feel more comfortable starting by just dipping your toe in or you might prefer to dive right in. Regardless of how you choose to begin, you're going to need to get wet! The good news is that you're not alone.
Building relationships in professional settings requires you to engage in small talk and show interest in others (Candlin, 2008, p. 27).
Small talk is a ‘polite conversation about subjects that are ordinary or unimportant, especially at social occasions’ (Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries). For example, Hi, I don’t think we’ve met yet. I am […] ; How long have you been working here? Etc.
We encourage you to engage in small talk in everyday situations, such as classes, seminars, work, activities outside of university, and on placement. By engaging in small talk and informal interactions with native English speakers, you will pick up English language norms and nuances that are often not explicit in formal settings. Gradually, you will build confidence in speaking fluently in English, and this confidence will translate into your learning and how you communicate during placement.
EAL students Alexandra and Asees speak about the challenges they faced when they started interacting in English, and how they built their confidence to speak confidently and clearly.
Tips to improve pronunciation
Many EAL learners try to fit English words to the rhythm of their first language, and this makes it harder for native English speakers to understand them.
Many pronunciation errors are particular to speakers of one first language, but an English pronunciation issue that is common to speakers of many different first languages relates to sentence stress. Surprisingly, sentence stress is an area of pronunciation that many English language learners don't pay much attention to, or don't know much about.
Learn more about the native rhythm of English and how to mimic it in the clip below.
Activities
Try using these strategies during your placement:
- Strategies for listening effectively on placement
- Strategies for speaking effectively on placement
- Strategies to engage in communication across different cultures
Reflect on all aspects of communication on your placement to assess how effective your communication strategies have been.
BE BRAVE, HAVE A GO and BOUNCE BACK – The first time is always the hardest.
References
Candlin, S. (2008). Therapeutic communication: A lifespan approach. Pearson Education Australia.
Prince, D., & Hoppe, M. H. (2000). Communicating across cultures. Centre for Creative Leadership.