Grammar for Professionals
Length
12 hours; two 6-hour meetings.
Description
Suppose a sentence reads: “Two cars were reported stolen today by the Huntsville Police Department.” Is the writer really trying to communicate that the police department stole the cars?
Suppose a sentence reads: “Me and Henry Allardyce will visit your plant cite to access the need to install pollution control devices.” [1] Does the writer recognize that he or she has communicated a lack of professionalism—evidenced by poor grammar, spelling, and usage?
Preventing embarrassing grammatical blunders like these is the objective of Grammar for Professionals.
Some adults may occasionally feel inadequate in applying the patterns of standard English. Beginning with a review of the parts of speech, Grammar for Professionals offers these adults a study of the basic grammatical arrangements and major sentence patterns of the English language. The course also includes work in punctuation, spelling, and usage.
By the end of this course, the student should have a clearer understanding of—
- The parts of speech.
- Basic word order.
- Phrases and clauses.
- Types of sentences.
- Position of modifiers.
- Forms of the cases.
- Subjects and verbs.
- Agreement of subjects and verbs.
- Agreement of pronouns.
- Modifiers and their forms.
- Punctuation and capitalization.
- Spelling and usage.
- The use of the dictionary.
Grammar for Professionals is designed for anyone who wants to improve his or her command of the English language and may be especially helpful to anyone who speaks English as a second language.
Method
The principles of this course are simple:
- Understanding: If someone understands why something is grammatically incorrect, he or she is better equipped to change patterns of writing and speaking.
- Knowledge: It's more important to know where and how to find the answer to a grammar question than it is to know all the rules of grammar.
- Immediate application: Students will have an opportunity to practice what they have learned.
The instructor will use discussions, demonstrations, lectures, and visual aids to cover problems and problem-solving techniques. These discussions and demonstrations are followed immediately by laboratory sessions in which class members participate actively and during which they apply the lesson to practice material based on actual samples of communications problems which often confront the typical writer in government, business, or industry. During these sessions, the instructor works with class members individually.
Materials
Students will be provided a 270-page text to answer the most common questions. Throughout the course, each student is liberally supplied with illustrative materials and exercises. The exercises are checked in class or taken up by the instructor and carefully evaluated. This work can be at times demanding, but never burdensome, and the instructor's comments are always constructive.
Price
Available upon request by calling 256-883-6310.
[1] Corrected: Me and Henry Allardyce
Henry Allardyce and I will visit your plant cite site to
access assess the need to install pollution control devices.