LANGUAGE FORMS AND

FUNCTIONS FOR FORMAL

WORK PLACE INTERACTION
1) MAKING DECISION

The mental process that leads to the selection of an action among

several alternatives.
Every decision making process produces a final choice. The output can be
an action or an opinion

 Making decision whether the situation is in formal or informal.

 Make a decision on type of language forms that suits the workplace.

1) MAKING DECISION

 The important of making decision

- Managers perform all their functions and activities through
decision-making process.
- To determine what needs to be done.
- Making right decision in the right times values much to the
organization.
- It helps in the formation of strategies and implement them.
1) MAKING DECISION
2) JUSTIFYING

 For person :
Showing or proving someone to be just right
 For decision, action, or idea
To show or prove that the decision, action or idea is reasonable or
necessary.
 2) JUSTIFYING

Ways to justify
Clause : A group of
words that has both
 Impersonal (3rd person) pronouns
subject and verb
- To refer someone or something that wants to be justified
- Example : “It is not like what you seem it is..”
 Use of the passive voice
- To emphasize the action and object of sentence rather than the subject
- Example : “The project is not being handled by someone from our department”
 Complex grammatical sentences with more than one clause
- Made up of an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses connected to it.
- To show that one idea is more important than in dependent phrase
- Example : “Further to the memorandum sent this morning, all staff must submit the report by
today”.
 2) JUSTIFYING

 Formal vocabulary and phrases which express ideas precisely

Formal Informal
I agree with her that... She’s right.
I find it most unsatisfactory that.. I’m fed up with …
It is necessary for me to… I need to…

 Longer words with suffixes and prefixes

- Set of letters that are added at the beginning (prefixes) or end (suffixes) of another word
- Changes a word from one class to another
- Helps in improving general reading comprehension
- Example : “He is proven to be guilty, irregardless of what you said”.
“Her neat handwriting makes the report easily readable”
 3) SEEKING CLARIFICATION

 A listener can ask for clarification when they cannot make sense of the speaker’s
responses, sometimes, the messages that a speaker is attempting to send can be
highly complex, involving many different people, issues, places & or times.

 Clarification is the skill we use to ensure that we have understood the message of the
speaker in an interpersonal exchange. When using clarification follow these guidelines
to help aid communication and understanding.
 3) SEEKING CLARIFICATION

Guidelines for clarification

 Admit if you are unsure about what the speaker means.
 Ask for repetition. (Use open, non-directive question-if appropriate.)
- ”when you said……what did you mean?”
- “could you repeat….?”
- “i’m not quite sure I understand what you are saying.”
- “I don’t feel clear about the main issue here.”
 State what the speaker has said as you understand it, and check whether this is what they really
said.
 Ask for specific examples.
 Ask if you have got it right and be prepared to be corrected.
3) SEEKING CLARIFICATION
4) CLARIFYING

 Clarifying involves checking that the listener’s understanding is

correct and resolving any areas of confusion or misunderstanding.

The purpose of clarifying is to:

 Ensure the listener’s understanding of what the speaker has said is
correct, reducing misunderstanding.
 Reassure the speaker that the listener is genuinely interested in
them and is attempting to understand what they are saying.
 4) CLARIFYING
Clarifying involve:
i) Non - judgmental questioning
The best questions are open-ended as they give the speaker choice in how to respond, whereas closed
questions allow only very limited responses.
Open Questions Closed Questions

 To assist a speaker to talk about an issue,

the most effective questioning starts with
'when', 'where', 'how' or 'why'. These
questions encourage speakers to be
open and expand on their thoughts.
 Closed questions usually obtain a 'yes' or
'no' response and do not encourage
speakers to be open and expand on
their thoughts. Questions often begin
with 'did you?' or 'were you?’

For example:
For example:
“When did you first start feeling like this?” “Did you always feel like this?”
“Why do you feel this way?” “Were you aware of feeling this way?”
 4) CLARIFYING

ii) Summarising and seeking feedback

 A summary involves reviewing what has taken place during the whole conversation. It should be
done at the end of conversation, although sometimes it may be appropriate midway through
as a way of drawing together different threads.

 The aim of summarizing and seeking feedback is to review understanding, not to give
explanation, to judge or to interpret
5) INTERRUPTING

 When can we interrupt?

1. When the speaker is pausing to breathe.

2. When the speaker is finishing a phrase or sentence.
3. When you have a good point to make that would contribute
positively to the discussion.
5) INTERRUPTING

 Ways to politely interrupt a conversation

1. Attention getters
- Clearing your throat
- Uhm…
- Oh…
- Well…
5) INTERRUPTING

2. Add information
- I need to add something here…
- May I add…
- I’d like to add…
- Let me add something…
5) INTERRUPTING

3. Need to interrupt
- Let me interrupt a second…
- I’m sorry to interrupt, but…
- Sorry for interrupting, but…
- Can I just mention something?
5) INTERRUPTING

4. Professional setting
- Before we move on to the next point, may I add…
- Pardon me….
- Before you go on, I’d like to say something.
5) INTERRUPTING

5. Ask for clarification

- Could you clarify that?
- Sorry, could you explain that a little more?
- Do you mean that?
5) INTERRUPTING
6) NEGOTIATING

 Happens when two or more parties meet with the hope of gaining
something from the other party.

PROCESS OF NEGOTIATION
 Use correct language
 Use positive language
 Use passive voice
6) NEGOTIATING

 NEGOTIATION SKILLS
• Identify the issue for negotiation
• Consider the time and effort involved
• Identify the negotiation strategies
6) NEGOTIATING

 LANGUAGE OF NEGOTIATION
• Inviting proposals
• Presenting the proposals
• Bargaining
• Expressing agreement
• Expressing disagreement
• Ending negotiation