Quality Business Writing

Introduction:

• Business writings (letters /reports /proposals) are formal means of communication. Quality business write-ups can convey concise & precise information, request desirable actions or make required decisions. Quality write-ups play a key role in building and maintaining professional image of the writer and his / her business organisation.
• Quality write-ups can also positively impact the writer’s career. Whether one is simply communicating with colleagues and clients, quality writing is important. In all business writings, it is crucial that one should have the effective writing skills to convey one’s message / ideas that are simple, clear (not elegant, not stylish), and understood by intended readers.
• This is a comprehensive 6-month modular course. It covers 3 integral modules at 8 sessions of 3 hours each per 2-month module. The full 6-month course provides the essential business writing skills to equip participants with ability to mastering grammatical rules and syntax and to using the skills to express themselves clearly and accurately in writing, For a start, the course has been planned to be conducted twice a year in which participants can attend, at intervals, each separate module when available.
• The business writing skills covered in this specially structured course are for practical business usage and they can be easily learned and mastered at any age without disadvantage.

Learning Objectives:

1. This course will enable the participants to acquire the following business writing skills:

(1) Module 1:
(a)  Types of Business Writing. Principles for Effective Business Writing. Business Writing Essentials.
(b)  A comprehensive understanding of English grammar.
(c)  Ground rules of grammar and syntax to create well-formed sentences in business writings.

Module 2:
(a) Uses of Phrases and Clauses.
(b)  Understanding the common Grammatical Terms and their uses.
(c)  Usage of various types of Word Order & Sentence Organization.
(d)  Guides dealing with problem structures that people have difficulty with.
(e)  How to use a particular sentence structure? What are common mistakes and reasons for wrong use?

Module 3:
(a)  Analysis of Sentences.
(b)  Application of grammatical rules & syntax to analyze simple, compound and complex sentences, and to refine the sentences to be easily understood by intended readers.

Duration: 
A 6-month modular course – at 8 sessions of 3 hours each per 2-month module.

Who Should Attend:
Prerequisite:
This course is particularly suitable for ones who aspire to enhance their mastery of English to acquire the quality business writing skills to express themselves clearly, effectively, and accurately in business writing and to strive for consistent quality write-ups in building and maintaining professional image on the writer and his / her business organisation.

Course Fees:

Award of Certificate
Certificate of Completion will be issued to participants who have completed all class assignments and attended at least 75% of the course.

Content Outline(Module1: 8 sessions)

Session 1A : Effective Business Writing

• Types of Business Writing
• Principle of Effective Business Writing
• Business Writing Essentials

Session 1B– Composition of Language

• Sounds (International phonetic symbols, Intonation, Stress).
• Structure / Grammar (8 Parts of Speech). (Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Adjective, Conjunction, Proposition, Interjection).
• Vocabulary (Word form, Word formation, Word meaning).

Session 1C – Features & Functions of “Noun”
[Names of things, ideas, processes, or condition]

• Proper noun.
• Nouns as subjects of sentences & clauses.
• Words functioning as noun (Gerund, verb used as a noun).
• Noun phrase; Gerund phrases; Noun clause.
• What can follow a noun.
• Singular & Plural noun.
• Countable & Uncountable nouns.

Session 2 – Features & Functions of “Pronoun”
 [Substitutes for a noun, or a clause or a phrase functioning as a noun]

• (1) Personal pronouns (he)
• (2)  Relative pronoun (who)
• (3) Demonstrative pronouns (this)
• (4) Indefinite pronouns (all)
• (5) Numerical pronouns (first)
• (6) Reflexive pronouns (yourself)
• (7) Reciprocal pronouns (each other)
• (8) Possessive pronouns (mine)
• (9) Interrogative pronouns (what)

Session 3 – Features & Functions of “Verb”
 [Express an action, event, or a state]

•  (1)  Main verbs
•  (2)  Primary Auxiliary Verbs
•  (3)  Modal Auxiliary Verbs
•  (4)  Transitive & Intransitive Verbs
•  (5)  Number
•  (6)  Person
•  (7)  Tenses.
•  (8)  Active & Passive Verbs
•  (9)  Mode of Action
•  (10) Concord.
•  (11) Verb Complementation,
• (12) Verb + Object Complement
• (13) Verb Patterns.
• (14) Finite & Non-finite Verbs (Infinitive; Gerund; Participles)
• (15) Subjunctive
•  (16) Link Verbs
•  (17) Action Verbs & State Verbs
•  (18) Phrasal Verbs & Prepositional Verbs
•  (19) Verbs of Movement
•  (20) Turning Verbs into nouns
•  (21) Old English Verb Forms.

Session 4 – Features & Functions of “Adverb”
[Add more information to a verb, adjective or adverb]

• (1)  Adverb positions
• (2) Adverbs of manner & Adjective
• (3) Adverbial Phrases
• (4) Adverbial Clauses;
• (5)  Adverbial Clauses of Conditions (using tenses & subordinating conjunctions).
• (6) Adverbial Clauses of Concession.

Session 5 – Features & Functions of “Adjective”
[Describe a person or thing]

• (1)  Participles as adjectives, nouns;
• (2)  Past participles as adjective;
• (3) Modifier / Adjunct

Session 6 – Features & Functions of “Conjunction”
[Join words or complete idea]

• (1)  Coordinate Conjunctions (of parallel functions).
• (2) Subordinate Conjunctions.
• (3) Correlative Conjunctions (eg. either..nor, both ..and).

Session 7 – Features & Functions of “Preposition”
[Use before a noun (or pronoun) to show place, position, time or method]

• (1) “-ing forms” & “infinitive”.
• (2) uses before conjunctions.
• (3) without preposition.
• (4) commonly uses

Session 8 – Features & Functions of “Interjection”
[Express an emotion]

• The Interjection.
• What are the different kinds of interjection?
• How do punctuate interjection?

(Module2 : 8 sessions)

Session 9 – Phrases & Clauses

• Phrases (Noun phrase; Adjectival phrase; Prepositional phrase; Verb phrase)
• Clauses (Noun clause; Relative clause; Adverbial clause; Interchanging between phrase &clause.
• Uses of whose, what, that, which, who, whom etc)

Session 10 – Grammatical Terms

• Determiners; Articles; Subject; It; There; Object
• Predicate; Attributive & Predicative Adjective; Attributive & Predicative Noun.
• Appositive; Dangling Modifiers; Number; Cardinal & Ordinal Number.
• Dates; Abbreviations, Initials & Acronyms)

Session 11 – Other Grammatical Terms

• Idioms, Colloquial, Cliché, Slang
• Phrasal Verbs, Proverbs
• Language Terminology

Session 12 – Word Order & Sentence Organization

• Types of sentence & sentence patters; Verb patterns
• Basic work order; Information structures; Inversion.
• Fronting; Exclamation; Emphasis; Cleft sentences.
• Ellipsis; Spoken structures & Tags; Complicated structures.
• Negative structures, double negative; Repetition.
• Tense simplification in subordinate clauses.

Session 13 – Word Order & Sentence Organization

• Politeness; Distancing verb forms.
• Discourse markers; Direct speech; Indirect speech.
• Uses of “whether & If”; Imperative (verb forms & let structures).

Session 14 – Punctuation Marks & Comparison Structures

• Punctuation marks.
• Comparison structures

Session 15 – Let & Do Structure, Question Structures

• Let & Do Structures.
• Types of Question Structures.
• Direct Questions & Indirect Questions.

Session 16 – Other Question Structures

• Uses of Interrogative Pronouns (what, which, who, whom, whose);
• Uses of Question Words (“Which, What & Who”, “Who & Whom”, “Who ever , What ever & Others”, “Whose & Who”, “Why & Why not”)
• Question Tags

(Module 3 : 8 sessions)

• Session 17 – Analysis of Sentences
  [based on sample sentences extracted from newspapers, articles, and speeches etc.]
• Session 18 – Tenancy Agreement (Legal Terms & Others)
• Session 19 – Confusable Words & Expressions
• Session 20 – Common Mistakes by very advanced students
• Session 21 – Keys points of LKY’s address on Good Writing
• Session 22 – “The Complete Plain Word”
• Session 23 – George Yeo’s Speech on ““China in a Multipolar World”
• Session 24 – The Complete Plain Word