This study assessed the orientation and perceived utility
of business communication syllabus amongst Indian students
of business administration. Four reasons motivated the study:
i) Very little work on the perception of Indian students
regarding business communication curriculum has been undertaken;
ii) In the fast globalizing Indian corporate sector with
increasing presence of MNCs, effective communication skills
have assumed a never before importance in any successful
manager's skill set; iii) For a non-native English speaking
country like India, English is still a foreign and acquired
language and hence communication skills in English do not
come naturally to Indian students; and iv) Despite all B-school
students being intensely aware that communication skills
are crucial to their getting and sustaining a job and also
of their lack of proficiency in it, most business communication
teachers "realize the difficulty of getting students
to take business communication course seriously" (McPherson,
1998). The ultimate goal is to reorient the curriculum of
business communication according to the findings of the
present study, in which 124 students were surveyed. A decrease
in the utility of certain aspects of written skills was
perceived. Limited weightage was the major reason behind
not taking business communication course seriously. The
most frequently preferred additional topics were `Soft Skills'
and `Speaking Effectively'.
Communication is the primary tool we have for managing
our personal and professional relationships. With English
as the international language of business, expertise over
communication in English can give a non-native English-speaking
country a strong competitive edge. Effective English communication
skills are the key to a knowledge-based economy and international
intelligibility. Hence, a workforce's ability to communicate
effectively in English cannot be questioned. But for a non-native
English speaking country like India, English is still a
foreign language and hence, does not come naturally to Indian
students. Most business communication teachers "realize
the difficulty of getting students to take business communication
courses seriously" (McPherson, 1998). The same is true
for business communication teachers in India as well. The
fact that students effectively learn when they want to learn,
when they value what they are learning as relevant and crucial
to their careers, cannot be ignored. The art of successful
teaching lies in creating such environment that stimulates
students' enthusiasm for learning by correlating topics
taught to their future goals.
This study aims at finding out the reasons behind students
(particularly Indian students) not exhibiting the required
level of interest in business communication as a part of
their course and identifying changes, over the last decade,
in Indian Business students' preferences for business communication
course curriculum. The ultimate goal is to reorient the
curriculum of business communication according to the findings
of the present study.
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