Interactive and Industry-Connected: SBLEK3023 equips UUM students with real-world communication skills
Pictures Students of English for Small Group Communication (Group Q)
SINTOK, 1 July 2025: The English for Small Group Communication (SBLEK3023) course under the School of Languages, Civilisation and Philosophy (SLCP), Universiti Utara Malaysia, continues to make its mark as one of the most dynamic and interactive language courses offered at the university. Tailored for high-performing students (MUET Band 5 and above), the course is a hallmark of SLCP’s commitment to experiential and industry-relevant language education.
Led by Abdurraouf Ramesh bin Abdullah, and delivered by an accomplished team of instructors, the course focuses on developing students’ interactional competence across personal, academic, and professional settings. Among the teachers assigned for this course were Fatin Athirah Fadzillah, whose students from Group Q were selected for a Maybank-led corporate engagement session, alongside Nadzatul Fariha Abdul Rashid, Dayana Raslan, and six more language educators who each brought unique expertise and teaching approaches into the classroom.
Throughout the semester, students participated in an array of intellectually stimulating and practically grounded activities. The course began with a critical analysis of non-verbal communication through a movie scene assignment, where students interpreted subtle cues such as paralanguage, gaze, kinesics, and spatial dynamics in interpersonal exchanges. This assignment honed their ability to observe and articulate interactional nuances, which is crucial for real-life communication.
Subsequently, students were challenged to navigate informal group discussions through live role-play simulations, where they assumed designated roles such as task leader, social-emotional supporter, questioner, and recorder. These simulations required students to manage topic initiation, development, conflict, and closure with fluency, empathy, and diplomacy.
Adding to the rigor, students engaged in academic forum simulations emulating real seminar and symposium settings. They took on roles as moderators, panelists, and audience members to discuss topical issues, present arguments, and respond to live questions; replicating the spontaneity and intellectual depth required in professional discourse. Toward the end of the semester, students engaged in problem-solving discussions where they identified authentic challenges, brainstormed viable solutions, evaluated alternatives, and presented their collective resolutions while demonstrating goal-oriented communication in action.
A defining moment this semester was the exclusive Maybank Takeover Session, hosted in the class taught by Fatin Athirah, where Group Q students had the opportunity to participate in a real-time engagement with Maybank executives. This session was not only a rare industry immersion experience but also a living classroom where students confidently applied the interactional strategies and soft skills they had mastered throughout the course. The conversation between students and corporate leaders unfolded with mutual respect and intellectual curiosity, highlighting the course’s success in preparing students to thrive beyond university walls.
SBLEK3023 is more than just a language course. It is a transformative platform that fuses academic rigour with practical engagement. As the A242 semester draws to a close, the course stands as a testimony to UUM’s forward-thinking pedagogy, one that empowers students to speak, lead, and connect with impact across diverse real-world contexts. – Fatin Athirah Fadzillah
