Esl Writing Fundamentals

IMPROVE YOUR WRITTEN ENGLISH SKILLS - AN IDEAL COURSE FOR ANYONE WITH ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

This course is written for those with English as a Second Language. This course will develop your knowledge of English grammar and your ability to write in English for business and study. The course is aimed at students who can write and speak basic English and wish to strengthen their English language skills, in particular their writing skills. Students will learn by reading the course notes, completing written and spoken exercises for each lesson, and submitting them for comment and correction.

This course is suitable for ESL speakers who need to improve their written english skills.

Lesson Structure

There are 12 lessons in this course:

1. Parts of speech
   • Parts of speech
   • Singular & plural forms
   • Subject-verb agreement
2. Verbs
   • Verb tense
   • Infinitives
   • Participles, phrasal verbs
3. Parts of a sentence
   • Subject & predicate
   • Object
   • Clauses and phrases
4. Building and combining sentences
   • Structure and meaning
   • Sentence variety
   • Linking words
5. Vocabulary
   • Related words
   • Word origins
   • Prefixes
   • Suffixes
   • Word combinations
6. Developing vocabulary
   • Context
   • Formal & informal language
   • Connotative & denotative language
7. Writing for different purposes Part 1
   • Writing to obtain and clarify information
8. Writing for different purposes Part 2
   • Writing to provide information
9. Writing for business
   • Writing letters
   • Short reports
   • Submissions
10. Study skills
    • Understanding concepts
    • Essay structure
    • Addressing all parts of a topic
    • Understanding what is required
    • Referencing
11. Proof reading and editing
    • Correcting and refining your document
    • Targeting the intended reader
12. Special project
    • Reading
    • Researching and writing for three different contexts (work, study, business).

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Understand the basic rules of grammar
• Apply rules of grammar to construct correct sentences
• Identify word parts - word roots, prefixes and suffixes
• Use word parts to develop vocabulary
• Name the parts of speech
• Understand basic principles of correct sentence construction
• Understand the nature and purpose of a paragraph
• Identify different kinds of language - formal/informal, direct/indirect
• Identify appropriate language for different writing contexts
• Use correct formats for business writing
• Use correct formats for writing for study
• Improve pronunciation

What You Will Do

• basic principles and terms of English grammar
• what are the parts of speech in English, and the forms in which they can be used
• how to correctly use parts of speech, including as adverbs and pronouns
• what are the basic building blocks of English sentences
• how to construct correct sentences
• how to vary sentence structure
• what is a paragraph, and how to construct one
• common work roots and how they are used to create different English words
• the role and meanings of suffixes and prefixes
• when and how to use direct (denotative) and indirect (connotative) language in business or study
• how to write correctly for different purposes
• correct business writing
• how to respond appropriately to different study tasks
• different writing formats for workplace and study
• how and why to reference
• how to edit a piece of writing to improve its organisation and readability
• how to proof read a piece of writing to eliminate errors
• what to consider when planning a piece of writing.

Extract from the course:

ADJECTIVES

Adjectives are words that identify or give more information about nouns. They usually precede the noun.

There are different kinds of adjectives, listed below. It is not important to remember what they are called. However, it is important to understand what different kinds of adjectives do.

• Adjectives that describe: Examples: blue, happy, unconscious, excellent, confused, large, beautiful

The boy was happy with his bright kite as it sailed high in the cloudless sky.

• Adjectives that identify things: Examples: this, that, these, those

I want those plums, and can you put them into this box?

• Adjectives that indicate amounts or quantity: Examples: some, no, several, many, twenty, few, little

Some doctors have little understanding of psychology.

• Adjectives that show possession or ownership: Examples: my, your, its, their, his, our, my mother’s, John’s, India’s

I have your book but its cover is slightly damaged.

• Adjectives that indicate distribution: Examples: each, every, all, most, either, neither

Each person that I interviewed was most helpful and answered every question fully.

• Adjectives that ask a question: Examples: which, what, whose

Which house did you buy and in what area is it?

Some of these adjectives can take on other roles, also. For instance, in the above sentence, the word ‘which’ is an adjective that modifies a noun (which house). In the following sentences, however, it acts as a pronoun:

Two good movies are playing. Which would you like to see? (Interrogative pronoun)

We missed the plane, which caused us a lot of trouble (relative pronoun)