Comprehending and Giving Instructions Comprehending and Giving Instructions What are some important things that you have learned about and/ or giving instructions? How could these language and communication skills help you be more effective in tasks, procedures, and processes at school and work? This topic - I mean Comprehending and Giving Instructions is totally related with our processes at school or college and undoubtedly necessary in our future work - petroleum engineering. First thing that I have learned about this topic is that all instructions must be in imperative form because a person who receives instructions should have no options. For example, if a safety engineer said that you couldn't touch the exposed wire, you still have an option. Instead of saying "you couldn't touch the exposed wire" he must say "you shouldn't touch the exposed wire" but it would be better if the safety engineer just said "don't touch the exposed wire". You, Glen, also give us instructions during the classes, obviously. Some of your instructions are in imperative form, some aren't. We (your students) listen to your instructions because you have a competence in English. We trust you and that's why you haven't to explain us your opinion. You are an expert. You can give us instructions in imperative form. But it's a bad example because you always explain our mistakes even we don't ask you to do it. You already know when it is necessary to clarify. Besides giving instructions we also have to know how to correctly receive instructions. We should to paraphrase, ask to clarify, tell that we don't understand something if we face with instructions. Again, it is very, very important to know how to give for or receive instructions because vast majority of works has specific instructions, particularly such works as: firefighting, petroleum engineering, civil engineering, medicine and so on. But go back to the way right to give instructions. Also your instructions should be sequential. After each point you should make sure that your audience totally understood it. After that you can go down the list of instructions. In conclusion I would like to say that when you receive instructions you have to go by the book and make sure you understand all of these instructions because following instructions is not only responsibility of person who gives instructions but largely you are in charge for it.