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Academic & business English writing
 Summary: |
Academic & business English writing. |
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 Type: |
One to One Email Correspondence |
 Duration: |
10 weeks. |
 Fee: |
£240 |
How does this course work?
- Having enrolled on the course, the student completes a simple questionnaire in order to provide the tutor with an idea of what the student wants the course to achieve (eg improved essay writing, the production of sharper business documents). There is also an opportunity for the student to nominate any particular areas for improvement.
- The tutor writes a summary, based on the questionnaire, of the perceived needs of the student
- Dialogue by e-mail to ensure that both parties are clear about the aims of the course.
- The student submits a piece of writing of roughly 500 words.
- The tutor analyses the piece and provides a report on perceived strengths and weaknesses.
- There is then a further e-mail dialogue to identify precisely the areas which need work.
- The tutor sets writing exercises aimed at improvement in the identified areas
- The student returns work whenever ready to do so.
- The tutor responds, normally within a week, with detailed analysis and suggestions for further work.
- Throughout there is the opportunity for dialogue via e-mail – the course is intended to be interactive and personal.
Tutors
Areas covered
The list given below briefly indicates some of the important factors in formal writing.
As described above, areas to work on are agreed between student and tutor.
- Establishing the precise purpose of the document
- Identifying the readership
- Deciding on the degree of formality
- Choosing the ‘voice’
- Logical organisation of the document
- Concision of argument
- Purposeful paragraphs
- The use of headings
- Avoiding needless repetition
- Eliminating redundancy of language
- Consistency in the use of language (singular/plural, personal/impersonal, capitals/lower case, formal/informal).
- Logic in the use of lists and tables
In an academic or business document the conceptual shape of the document is crucial to its success. It is worth emphasising that the course focuses as much on the structure of formal writing as on the use of language.
Materials
This is essentially an on-line, individually-tailored course. We will not burden you with weighty manuals and reference books. The process is a meeting of minds, not a pre-programmed series of chores. The student is, however, free to utilise the advice provided by the tutor in any way best suited to promoting the aims of the course, including printing out and keeping material.
Duration and cost
Each course runs for
10 weeks, within a maximum period of three months. The course is structured as a
series of tasks with feedback and comment from the tutor between each task. The
tutor will allocate one hour on an agreed day each week to comment on and
respond to work, and to set new tasks. We estimate that you should allow between
2-4 hours per week to really get the most from your course. We reccommend taking
the course in successive weeks to ensure focus is maintained. Where this is not
possible, the 10 weeks can be spread out over a maximum period of three months
if required.
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