Reflection: The FINALE

Writing this reflection is a very emotional matter for me. Weeks of writing long blog posts have finally come to an end. At this, a mix of elation and sense of loss fills me. Maybe I will continue in my personal blog to post about random topics.

Throughout these weeks of blogging, an example of a topic that piqued my interest would be:

The first week's topic, the debate on Mother Tongue scores, was an extremely nice representation of policies in many organizations and in the society. Usually proposals of policies will be debated, whether in the parliament or in corporate meetings. In this case, a public outrage was triggered, spreading to various platforms of discussion.

Some of the arguments were very intriguing. Some said that reducing Mother Tongue (MT) weightage was an 'easy way out' of the issue of students choosing English over MT. Others felt that the proposed move was justified by the amount of workload students have to bear.
The topic gave me a chance to think of one of Singapore's iconic policies: bilingualism.

Blogging in business English was new for me. Although action verbs may have been wrongly used and passive voice was used at times, hopefully you readers have enjoyed my blog posts.

That's all folks!

By Kwee Peng

Reflections

This blog has been one of the challenging sections of this subject as it makes u consider on which is the best way to write a post and explain it in the right way.

One of the blogs that proved to be one of the most challenging was the one on 'split weighting for the mother tongue language'. Both sides of the topic had to be carefully interpretated and had to do a summary based on our understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the topic. This not only tested my interpretational skills but also other skills such as how to phrase the summary in a right way.Through this exercise, I have been able to further enhance my writing techniques and my understanding on different topics has improved.

In conclusion, I feel that this exercise has been useful for me and it has increased my vocabulary and writing skills based on this business world. Despite the challenges, it has always allowed me to further improve.
Done By: Palwinder Singh Johal

Reflections

This is the first time that I have been exposed to blogging of articles on today's society.

My first blogging based on article review had been a challenging one for me as it is something new that I have been exposed to. The first newspaper article is "Singaporeans split on Mother Tongue weighting". Reading this article is a challenge to me as I do not usually read newspaper article that does not interests me. However, I manage to overcome this challenge by deceiving myself that this is a very interesting topic.

The second challenge that I faced is to write a reflection based on the article. This is the first time doing reflection on article in English as the other time that I did reflection on article, it is in Chinese. As the Chinese version requires a format to follows, I do not know if the English version is needed. However, I continued to write the reflections treating it as I have never done the Chinese version so as not to confused myself. Overtime, I got used to writing reflections on the articles given weekly.

From the first article "Singaporeans split on Mother Tongue weighting" to the recent one on English language, I can say that some of the articles are interesting. I got to learn more about today's society through reading the articles weekly. Without this blogging exercise, I might still be unaware that there is Mother Tongue weighting has becomes a concern that it has been brought up.

Overall, I have definitely learn many things through this blogging exercise. Firstly, i got to know more about today's society and its concerns. Secondly, I learnt to do reflection based on the articles that i had read. Last but not least, I know that through this blogging exercise, it can help improved my skills on writing.

Done by: Shirley

English Language

English is an important language in today's society.

As different countries have their own native language, it is very hard for two different countries to communicate with one another. Therefore, English language is one of the main language that countries used to communicate with one another.

Many countries are enforcing students to learn English language at a young age. For example, China students are now being taught basic English in their school. Some of the China students who wished to further improve their English, had been seen coming to Singapore to pursue their studies. China, who majors in Chinese language is now learning English in order to build business relationships with countries like United States of America.

Singapore has always been enforcing students to learn both their Mother Tongue language and English language during their pre-school. Some working adults are also seen taking part-time English class to further improve on the English. English language is important in our life and in the business industries. Mother Tongue language is not the only one that has increased their standards but also English language. This goes to show that English is really important in this world as it has becomes a means of communication and building relationship ties in the business world.

Done by: Shirley

Emotional Intelligence- The huge X factor in modern workplaces

References: `Emotional intelligence' a new hiring criterion, The Bonston Globe
Emotional intelligence trumps technical know-how, The Globe and Mail

EQ and benefits of EI
EQ comprises a collection of so-called "soft" skills, including self-awareness, an understanding of how your mood and behavior affect others; impulse control, including how you manage stress on the job; initiative, whether you can be counted on to report to work on time, manage your own time, and meet expectations; and the ability to motivate and lead others. Empathy is also included. (Source: `Emotional intelligence' a new hiring criterion)

The latter article used as reference is the application of the theories as shown in the former article. The latter article shows clearly that a lot of employers are " better off hiring for attitude and then training for skill”. People with EI are more flexible and can assume various roles, making it effiecient for the company. The difference between the 2 articles is that while the former focuses on explaining EI, the latter shows the practical use in a company.

Commonly, people are deemed to have 2 intelligences, IQ (intelligence quotient) and EQ (emotional quotient). In the past, IQ was used as an indispensable yardstick in evaluating whether an individual is an asset to the company. Nowadays, as the education level of most candidates have raised, Emotional Intelligence (measured by EQ) is the main factor employers look out for.

IQ tests can only calculate linguistic, logical, and spatial intelligence, while the EQ test includes intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence. (Source: http://www.kidswebindia.com/iqeqtreasures.php)

"Many businesses utilize EQ tests to help their employees determine and measure their emotional responses to various situations." (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-emotional-quotient-eq.htm)

Research has shown too that "Not only does emotional intelligence greatly contribute to job performance and leadership skills, it has also been found to increase profits". (Source: http://www.ihhp.com/what_is_eq.htm)

Limitations of EQ
A person’s EQ can be measured using any one of a number of assessments, including one developed by the aforementioned Salovey and Mayer. Some assessments utilize self-given responses while others are peer-given responses. (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-emotional-quotient-eq.htm)

Like all other assessments, there would always be the issue of human variability through the time the person is assessed at. Some people display different responses even towards identical events, depending on their mood, energy levels and various factors. Also, some people may not remember certain incidents when asked to take a questionnaire-type assessment, and thus the accuracy of such assessments will always be at doubt.

EQ focuses on intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences, while there are generally two types of "social" people: introverted and extroverted. The former kind of people are usually strong in intrapersonal while being weak in interpersonal intelligences, and vice-versa. The big question is how do we make full use of people's strengths and weaknesses in the workplace, as finding people who are strong in both intelligences may be tedious.

Another aspect of EQ is that people tend to have different situations in which they are more comfortable. Examples would be the place they work, the colleagues they have, and the type of work they are in. Adaptability is a point worth considering, although there are limitations in that aspect too. Depending on various personalities, some people's EQ may change over time if they face too many setbacks and hostile elements, thus blurring EQ's usefulness.

Empathy is more complex, as it requires first-hand experience or similar encounters for people to utilize effectively. It also depends on whether the individual is willing to spend time and effort understanding other people's situations. A simple EQ test has little ability in testing an individual's true worth of empathy, as every individual may be useful in various situations.

Conclusion
EI is a good theory, which is used to cover up some obviously lacking aspects of IQ. However, the measurement of EQ remains an issue, and EQ may also fluctuate over time. I thereby conclude that the best way to find out of a individual's true capabilities and compatibility in the workplace is simply to "put him/her to work".

Extra food for thought:
IQ tests can only calculate linguistic, logical, and spatial intelligence, while the EQ test includes intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence.
Since every person has a creative, unique brain, the limits to which we can push the brain's potential depend entirely on how we activate and stimulate it.
(Source: http://www.kidswebindia.com/iqeqtreasures.php)

By Kwee Peng

Final Post

Over the few weeks of blogging experiences, I realized that blogging is quite a fun activity as it requires knowledge of people in understanding the topic they are writing. This blog activity had let me know more about the society and it had improved my knowledge and characteristic.

E.g. the previous blog entry about Emotional Intelligence had taught me on what is the actual ways of handling personal emotions, on why should people handle their emotions, and on how important is emotions to the society.

With all the blogging topics, it had helped me to know more about what everyone should have and what is the correct characteristic everybody should have. Therefore from this blogging experience, it had help me achieve another level of my characteristic and also improved in my English writing.

Here, I would like to thank you, Mr Pang, for guiding us all along in this blogging activity. Without you, I would not been able to improve my writing, and also on my blogging skills. (because I have never blog before in the past) You have also helped me to learn how to analyse articles and also some particular Topic.

Once again, THANK YOU!! :D

By: Winston

Emotional Intelligence

What is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional intelligence describes the ability, capacity, skill or, a self-perceived grand ability to identify, assess, manage and control the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups.

Emotional Intelligence embraces two aspects of intelligence:

· Understanding yourself, your goals, intentions, responses, behaviour and all.

· Understanding others, and their feelings.

Emotional Intelligence includes four types of abilities:

1. Perceiving emotions – the ability to detect and decipher emotions in faces, pictures, voices, and cultural artifacts—including the ability to identify one's own emotions. Perceiving emotions represents a basic aspect of emotional intelligence, as it makes all other processing of emotional information possible.

2. Using emotions – the ability to harness emotions to facilitate various cognitive activities, such as thinking and problem solving. The emotionally intelligent person can capitalize fully upon his or her changing moods in order to best fit the task at hand.

3. Understanding emotions – the ability to comprehend emotion language and to appreciate complicated relationships among emotions. For example, understanding emotions encompasses the ability to be sensitive to slight variations between emotions, and the ability to recognize and describe how emotions evolve over time.

4. Managing emotions – the ability to regulate emotions in both ourselves and in others. Therefore, the emotionally intelligent person can harness emotions, even negative ones, and manage them to achieve intended goals.

The five domains of Emotional Intelligence:

1. Knowing your emotions
2. Managing your own emotions
3. Motivating yourself
4. Recognizing and understanding other people's emotions
5. Managing relationships, E.g. managing the emotions of others

Emotional intelligence refers to an ability to recognize the meanings of emotion and theirrelationships, and to reason and problem-solve on the basis of them. Emotional intelligence is involved in the capacity to perceive emotions, assimilate emotion-related feelings, understand the information of those emotions, and manage them.

The high EI individual, most centrally, can better perceive emotions, use them in thought, understand their meanings, and manage emotions, than others. Solving emotional problems likely requires less cognitive effort for this individual. The person also tends to be somewhat higher in verbal, social, and other intelligences, particularly if the individual scored higher in the understanding emotions portion of EI. The individual tends to be more open and agreeable than others. The high EI person is drawn to occupations involving social interactions such as teaching and counselling more so than to occupations involving clerical or administrative tasks.

The high EI individual, relative to others, is less apt to engage in problem behaviors, and avoids self-destructive, negative behaviours such as smoking, excessive drinking, drug abuse, or violent episodes with others. The high EI person is more likely to have possessions of sentimental attachment around the home and to have more positive social interactions, particularly if the individual scored highly on emotional management. Such individuals may also be more adept at describing motivational goals, aims, and missions.

Different EI in people

Some of us accomplish certain tasks with great ease and sophistication; others of us simply can't do those tasks. This is the case with most challenges we face in life. Some of us are great chess players while others of us have trouble just figuring out how the pieces move. Some of us are fabulous conversationalists, while others of us have trouble just saying hello.

Emotional intelligence is an intelligence having to do with discerning and understanding emotional information. Emotional information is all around us. Emotions communicate basic feeling states from one individual to another -- they signal urgent messages such as "let's get together" or "I am hurting" or "I'm going to hurt you."

We all need emotional intelligence to help us through our emotionally demanding days. Even if we are not emotionally intelligent ourselves, we may rely on those higher in emotional intelligence to guide us.

EI are particularly good at establishing positive social relationships with others, and avoiding conflicts, fights, and other social altercations. They're particularly good at understanding psychologically healthy living and avoiding such problems as drugs and drug abuse. It seems likely that such individuals, by providing coaching advice to others, and by directly involving themselves in certain situations, assist other individuals and groups of people to live together with greater harmony and satisfaction.

Measuring Emotional Intelligence

Some people ask whether emotional intelligence should be measured at all. Often, people who take this position equate emotional intelligence with maintaining a sense of sensitivity and respect toward humanity. The idea of assigning a number to a person's quality and particularly an emotion-related quality such as emotional intelligence seems highly problematic.

The counter-argument to this begins with the idea that self knowledge is a core human value. The importance of self-knowledge has been recognized by both Western and Eastern philosophers since antiquity.

One contemporary contribution to self-understanding that arises from psychological research is that it is very difficult for people to understand themselves without some kind of independent feedback.

Changing Emotional Intelligence

Some people may ask that “Is it possible for someone to increase his or her emotional knowledge?” and “Is it possible for someone to improve their social and emotional functioning?” In both cases, the answer is almost certainly yes.

First of all, it would be surprising if people could not learn something about emotions and emotional behaviour. People are very good at learning, and emotions are fairly well understood. There is nothing mysterious about how to teach information about emotions.

Many educational curricula exist concerning teaching social and emotional effectiveness. In addition, some curricula can be focused on emotional learning in particular. Teaching emotional knowledge and teaching social and emotional functioning are somewhat different.

Therefore, I agree that Emotional Intelligence is very important to everyone and with a good Emotional Intelligence, everybody can work well together and the world will have peace. In addition, I suggest that peoples should work on managing their emotions and this will definitely help them to move on to a greater path in their life.

By: Winston

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_intelligence

http://www.businessballs.com/eq.htm

http://www.unh.edu/emotional_intelligence/index.html