English Learning Guide

Competency 1
Unit 1: Customer Service
Workshop 1
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF

Name: Cohort: Date:

Training program: Instructor:

INTRODUCTIONS AND BASIC PERSONAL INFORMATION

(IN/FORMAL COMMUNICATION)

This workshop attempts to help you improve your basic interaction with others at your
workplace, sharing personal information, identifying formal and informal communication,
and asking and giving information on phone calls your coworkers and you will learn about
customer service and how to interact with others at your workplace.

Objective: From the development of these activities, you will be able to introduce
yourself and other people using formal and informal communication at work.
1. Work in groups and discuss the following questions:

- What do you understand for personal information?

- What data corresponds to personal information?
- How can you ask a person about their personal information?
- Share your answers with the rest of the class and practice asking and answering personal
information questions.

2. Create a business card using your personal information. Use the image as an example.
Take into account:
- Name of the company
- Full name
- Position in the company
- Contact information

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3. Skills practice: Do the following activities to practice the learnt vocabulary and English

structures. 3.1.Speaking practice

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Image taken from internet as an example. https://www.canva.com
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 English Learning Guide
Competency 1
Unit 1: Customer Service
Workshop 1
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF
Now, practice your oral skills and
perform a small personal
presentation in groups. Suppose
you are a new employee at a company and you will introduce yourself to the team.
Switch roles and get to know each other. Ask and answer questions about
everybody in the group. Share your business cards.
3.2.Listening practice
Before watching the video, discuss:
- What is communication?
- How do we use communication at work? Give some examples.

Watch the video, make notes, and answer or complete the following statements:
- What is communication?

- Mention 3 ways of communication

_____________________________, _______________________________,

__________________ - What does influence how people imagine you?

- Who can you communicate with in a casual or informal way?

_____________________________, _____________________________, ____________________

- Texting Abbreviation, Emoji, and being silly is fine to communicate with

_____________________, ______________________.

3.3.Reading practice
Before Reading the text, discuss the following questions:
- Do you think it is necessary to have a communication code at work? Give
examples. - What can you say about formal and informal communication?
Describe.

VOCABULARY
Identify the key words from the text. Look for their definition, pronunciation in English.
WORD / EXPRESSION DEFINITION

Interchange

Role

Organization

channels of communication

Verbal communication

Spoken communication

Written communication

non-verbal
communication
 eye contact

Workplace

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English Learning Guide

Competency 1
Unit 1: Customer Service
Workshop 1
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF
Employees
Duties

Hierarchical

Command

Network

Requests

Reports

Bottom-up

Top-down

Strand Chain

Cluster Chain

Gossip Chain

secrecy

time-consuming

reliable

Supporting

Available

Difference Between Formal and Informal Communication

March 27, 2015 By Surbhi S[21]

Someone said correctly “The very attempt of,

not to speak, speaks a lot.” Communication
plays a crucial role in our life, as
people interchange their ideas, information,
feelings, and opinions by
communicating. Formal
communication passes through
predefined channels of communication all
over the organization. On the
contrary, Informal flows in every direction,
i.e. it moves freely in the organization.
Communication can be verbal – spoken or written, or non-verbal i.e. using sign language,
body movements, facial expressions, gestures, eye contact or even with the tone of voice.
In an organization, there are two channels of communication – formal communication and
informal communication. People often confuse between these two channels, so here we
present this article that explains the difference between formal and informal
communication network.

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Text adapted from: https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-formal-and-informal
communication.html used by SENA for
pedagogical purpose, exclusively.

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English Learning Guide

Competency 1
Unit 1: Customer Service
Workshop 1
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF
Definition of Formal Communication: communication in which the flow of information is
already defined. The communication follows a hierarchical chain of command established
by the organization. This type of communication is used exclusively in the workplace, and
the employees follow it while performing their duties. Some examples are: Requests,
commands, orders, reports etc.
There are four types of formal communication:
∙ Upward or Bottom-up: The information goes from subordinate to superior
authority. ∙ Downward or Top-down: The goes from superior to subordinate.
∙ Horizontal or Lateral: The communication between two employees of
different departments working at the same level.
∙ Crosswise or Diagonal: The communication between the employees of two
different departments working at different levels.

Definition of Informal Communication: Communication does not follow any pre-defined

channel for the transmission of information. This type of communication moves freely in all
directions, and it is very quick and rapid. This type of communication is very natural as
people interact with each other about their professional life, personal life, and other
matter. Some examples are: Sharing of feelings, casual discussion, gossips, etc.
There are four types of informal communication:
∙ Single Strand Chain: The communication in which one person tells something to
another, who again says something to some other person and the process goes
on.
∙ Cluster Chain: The communication in which one person tells something to some of its
most trusted people, and then they tells them to their trustworthy friends and the
communication continues.
∙ Probability Chain: The communication happens when a person randomly chooses
some persons to pass on the information which is of little interest but not important. ∙
Gossip Chain: The communication starts when a person tells something to a group
of people, and then they pass on the information to some more people and in this
way the information is passed on to everyone.

Key Differences
 1. Formal communication is also known by the name of official communication.
Informal Communication is also known by the name of grapevine.
2. In formal communication, the information must follow a chain of command.
Conversely, the informal communication moves freely in any direction.
3. In formal communication, full secrecy is maintained, but in the case of
informal communication maintenance of secrecy is a very tough task.
4. Formal communication is written, whereas Informal communication is oral. 5.
Formal communication is time-consuming as opposed to Informal communication,
which is rapid and quick.

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English Learning Guide

Competency 1
Unit 1: Customer Service
Workshop 1
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF
6. Formal communication is more reliable than Informal communication.
7. Formal communication is designed by the organization. Informal communication
starts itself due to the urge of ‘human to talk’.
8. In formal communication, the documentary evidence is always available. Informal
communication supporting documents are not available.

According to the text:

- Answer your instructor´s comprehension questions and share your answers.
- Establish a comparison chart between formal and informal communication. Work in pairs
FORMAL COMMUNICATION INFORMAL COMMUNICATION

- Make a graphic illustration of the 4 types of in/formal communication. Use mind maps models
and share it with the rest of the class. Work in pairs
FORMAL COMMUNICATION INFORMAL COMMUNICATION
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English Learning Guide

Competency 1
Unit 1: Customer Service
Workshop 1
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF

3.4.Writing Practice
Let’s suppose that you are part of a design team. Write a short paragraph, saying
who the members of your team are. Use the following text as a model.
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Hello, My name is Kevin Galindo. I am a graphic
designer at Draw your Dreams Corporation.
These are the members of my team. On my
right, Blanca and Jeisson, they are the
copywriters for the new products on the
production department. On my left, you can see
Rosa, Julian, and Miriam. They are the sales
representatives of the company.
And I am the one in the middle of the picture.
We are a great team with lots of ideas for our
customers!

Now, try your own text. Use a picture to have

more ideas!
_______________________________________________________________________
_________
_______________________________________________________________________
_________
_______________________________________________________________________
_________
_______________________________________________________________________
_________
_______________________________________________________________________
_________
_______________________________________________________________________
_________
_______________________________________________________________________
_________
_______________________________________________________________________
_________
_______________________________________________________________________
_________
_______________________________________________________________________
_________
 Extension activities: the extension activities will help you improve your performance in
the topics. You need to reach at least five hours of practice on your own.
- For further information, listening practice, pronunciation, and more about this, check the
link below to a YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egtyq2ccCIA
- Based on your instructor’s orientation, explore the following website and practice the English
structures. Do at least 2 activities from each topic studied in class and deliver them to your
instructor: http://www.esl-lounge.com/student/grammar-guides/grammar-beginner.php

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Image taken from internet as an example. https://mx.depositphotos.com/127312238/stock-illustration
set-of-business-people-office.html

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