The Basic Grammar and Writing Skills for Business course contains training in both usage (grammar, punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure) and business writing (e-mail, memos, letters, reports, and other documents). The focus is on providing the business writer who has some usage problems with the instruction to make his or her writing clear, effective, and correct. Business people with many basic writing skills problems should take BWC110 Basic Writing Skills Tutorial.
The course uses the lessons from the Business Writing Skills course without the 12 practice activities. The time you would have spent on the practice activities is devoted to the grammar training.
The training materials include an online index for continued use of the reference tools after the course is finished. Course materials remain online for the duration of the course and after the course is finished.
Course Time
You will go through the course at your own pace, so you could complete it within a few weeks. However, you have up to four months to complete the course so you can fit the study time into your schedule. All lessons must be finished within the four-month period.
Course Content
The Writing Training Portion of the Course
Use a standard memo format.
For letters, use a "Subject" or "Re" line if your company customarily uses it.
Write a clear, complete introduction.
For emails, letters, and memos, write a cordial beginning or buffer.
State the contents of the email, letter, or memo.
Keep explanations of a subject together in one block.
Check each block for focus.
Check each block for completeness.
Open each block with a statement of the contents.
Use headings to open blocks.
Bold field or data names to identify them as blocks.
Present Lists Clearly.
Create lists.
Open list blocks.
Mark the list items clearly.
Keep list items in a single list.
Keep list items in the same format.
Use full phrases to define words clearly.
Write concisely.
Combine sentences to show relationships and use short sentences to be clear.
Write clear, simple, straightforward sentences.
Write strong, direct sentences.
Use words the reader will understand.
Proofread.
Format the email to be readable.
The Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, and Sentence Structure Portion of the Course
Lesson 1: Proofreading Principles
Lesson 2: Using Active Voice
Lesson 4: Number Accuracy
Lesson 5: Transposition Errors
Session 1 Diagnostic Test
Lesson 7: Word Division
Lesson 8: Number Expression
Lesson 9: Capitalization
Lesson 11: Other Punctuation
Lesson 12: Special Punctuation
Lesson 13: Spelling
Lesson 14: Confusing Words
Lesson 16: Pronoun Agreement
Lesson 17: Using Defined Terms Consistently
Lesson 18: Citing Sources