Contextualizing Purposive Communication Course for Selected Professional Education Programs: Basis for Designing Contextualized Syllabus and Instructional Materials

This study explores the contextualization of the general education course for collegiate-level students in the Philippines. Purposive Communication is a 3-unit course that is mandatory for English and is intended to improve student's abilities to communicate effectively in speaking, writing, and presenting to diverse audiences in both local and global settings. The macro skills are replicated in a sophisticated academic environment through digital technology. The program offers activities that help students acquire and display communication strategies for academic, professional, and other objectives. These strategies are guided by the standards of effectiveness and appropriate language usage. The study utilized the Grounded Theory Method, a qualitative research approach developed by Kathleen M. Eisenhardt. A total of 10 informants were used to retrieve responses from the selected fields of disciplines as a jumpstart for designing the syllabus and instructional materials for specific professional educational programs. Six emergent themes shape the contextualization of the Purposive Communication course: developing confidence and competence in communication skills, articulating verbal and non-verbal for effective communication, integrating positive leadership characteristics, developing communication skills related to work, OBE-inspired teaching-learning process, and developing global skills for the 21st-century workplace. This study also presented a sample model for designing instructional material intended for a particular discipline and a modified portion of an actual syllabus of a Purposive Communication course highlighting communication for occupational purposes. The author recommended contextualizing this English course by suggesting to authors, curriculum designers, and educators to view the themes identified in this study as valuable references for designing educational materials and curricula. Furthermore, future research should focus on a single field of study to provide a more precise contextualization of the discipline, and the scarcity of books in local bookstores in the Philippines should serve as motivation to create customized Purposive Communication materials.