Posts

Insights from Thailand: A Collective Perspective on Inside No. 9's Sardines

Insights from Thailand: A Collective Perspective on Inside No. 9's Sardines Following a viewing of Inside No. 9's Sardines by around 70 Thai students, they all wrote short reviews. These then formed the basis of group reviews submitted to ChatGPT with the instructions to synthesise, only use content contained in the reviews and to maintain as much of the original review language as possible. The result was the following. The Inside No. 9 episode "Sardines" is a memorable blend of dark humour, tension, and unsettling twists that makes for a unique viewing experience. The episode centres on a game of sardines, in which characters must hide in a small, cramped space—a wardrobe—at an engagement party. This confined setting not only builds suspense but also brings hidden tensions to the surface as each new character is introduced. This intriguing premise allows for a mix of awkwardness and humour, with the close surroundings sparking both comedic exchanges and an increasi

USING A ROLE-PLAY SIMULATION TO PROMOTE STUDENT REFLECTION ON ORAL COMMUNICATION IN FORMAL MEETINGS

Abstract  Oral communication skills are widely accepted as vital graduate competencies. However, when compared with public speaking, formal meetings have received much less attention (Daff, 2013). This is despite the greater prevalence of such unplanned oral communication in the business world (Abrahams, 2017) and the apprehension formal meetings appear to evoke. This paper presents the use of a business meeting role-play simulation with a group of first-year undergraduate Accounting and Finance students at a university in England. The activity aims to provide opportunities to discuss and solve conflicts in a mock business environment, followed by reflection with reference to graduate competencies. The paper explains how the approach was developed, determines the competencies on which students chose to reflect and analyses the reasons given for choosing the most common competencies. The analysis shows that the competencies chosen by students for reflection generally align with the aims