Excellent English: A Writing Review - Part III: Achieving Clear, Concise Writing
English (ESL)
Training
Provided by Online Training Directory
You will develop a clear, concise, and dynamic writing style that gets the attention of your reader.
This is the third of three review courses that together provide an in-depth review of grammar, punctuation, mechanics, sentence structure and clarity. While it is preferable that students take all three courses in sequence, they may also pick and choose the individual courses that suit their needs. Part III of the review will help the student develop a clear, concise, and dynamic writing style. Exercises, tutoring and mastery quizzes help students understand the concepts and revise their own writing to be more clear, concise, and dynamic. Topics include clear reference; using synonyms and transitions; avoiding redundancy and achieving concise, strong sentences; appropriate use of jargon; effective use of invented words; choosing strong verbs, etc. Required Book: The Classic Guide to Better Writing: Step-by-Step Techniques and Exercises to Write Simply, Clearly and Correctly By Rudolf Flesch & Abraham H. Lass0898797764:Product Link on amazon.com
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Excellent English: A Writing Review - Part III: Achieving Clear, Concise Writing
Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to: 1. Generate clear, concise and dynamic writing. 2. Recognize and revise redundancy, wordiness, weak constructions and passive verbs. 3. Use jargon appropriately. 4. Use logical transitions.
Assessment
1. Students will complete a variety of exercises that reinforce the material. 2. After each lesson, students will take a multiple-choice quiz. 3. After the final lesson, students will take a multiple-choice exam.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week one focuses on precision. Through reading, studying and completing exercises, the student will become proficient in recognizing and revising unclear or ambiguous references, misplaced modifiers, and double negatives.
Through reading, studying and completing exercises, students will develop a more dynamic style by recognizing and revising nominalizations and weak verbs.
Students will learn to recognize and correct wordiness and redundancy, including expletive constructions, overuse of intensifiers, and overreliance on prepositional phrases.
Through reading, studying and completing exercises, students will learn how to recognize and correct inappropriate use of technical jargon, how to use invented words effectively, and how to use transition words and phrases to improve coherence in sentences and paragraphs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SAMPLE LESSON WEEK 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Pronoun Problem One: Ambiguous Pronouns All right. Now pronouns are great things, but there are certain times they should be used, and certain times they should be avoided. In the cases below, pronouns are used without antecedents; we don''''t know what the pronouns are referring to, and so the sentences have ambiguous meanings:At the store, they''''re selling rutabegas at half-price. (Who is selling rutabegas?)On that show, they wore Spandex and danced with a chicken. (Who wore Spandex?)At the ball park, they hit me in the head with my malt. (Who hit you in the head?)On the web page, it says that the kid believes he''''s a dragon. (Who or what says that the kid believes he''''s a dragon?) In common speech, we say things like this all the time. There are two problems with these kinds of constructions: 1) they do not tell us who or what is doing the action, and 2) they often use the plural "they" when they mean "he" or "she." Let''''s consider one of our examples more closely.At the ball park, they hit me in the head with my malt. Who is "they"? The person selling malts? Other members of the speaker''''s party? The fans of the opposing team? We have no idea! Let''''s assume that the sentence is referring to the person who walks around the bleachers selling food. That person should be singular: a "he" or "she," never "they."
Contact Hours: 10
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to: 1. Generate clear, concise and dynamic writing. 2. Recognize and revise redundancy, wordiness, weak constructions and passive verbs. 3. Use jargon appropriately. 4. Use logical transitions.
Assessment
1. Students will complete a variety of exercises that reinforce the material. 2. After each lesson, students will take a multiple-choice quiz. 3. After the final lesson, students will take a multiple-choice exam.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week one focuses on precision. Through reading, studying and completing exercises, the student will become proficient in recognizing and revising unclear or ambiguous references, misplaced modifiers, and double negatives.
Through reading, studying and completing exercises, students will develop a more dynamic style by recognizing and revising nominalizations and weak verbs.
Students will learn to recognize and correct wordiness and redundancy, including expletive constructions, overuse of intensifiers, and overreliance on prepositional phrases.
Through reading, studying and completing exercises, students will learn how to recognize and correct inappropriate use of technical jargon, how to use invented words effectively, and how to use transition words and phrases to improve coherence in sentences and paragraphs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SAMPLE LESSON WEEK 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Pronoun Problem One: Ambiguous Pronouns All right. Now pronouns are great things, but there are certain times they should be used, and certain times they should be avoided. In the cases below, pronouns are used without antecedents; we don''''t know what the pronouns are referring to, and so the sentences have ambiguous meanings:At the store, they''''re selling rutabegas at half-price. (Who is selling rutabegas?)On that show, they wore Spandex and danced with a chicken. (Who wore Spandex?)At the ball park, they hit me in the head with my malt. (Who hit you in the head?)On the web page, it says that the kid believes he''''s a dragon. (Who or what says that the kid believes he''''s a dragon?) In common speech, we say things like this all the time. There are two problems with these kinds of constructions: 1) they do not tell us who or what is doing the action, and 2) they often use the plural "they" when they mean "he" or "she." Let''''s consider one of our examples more closely.At the ball park, they hit me in the head with my malt. Who is "they"? The person selling malts? Other members of the speaker''''s party? The fans of the opposing team? We have no idea! Let''''s assume that the sentence is referring to the person who walks around the bleachers selling food. That person should be singular: a "he" or "she," never "they."
Contact Hours: 10
About The Training Provider: Online Training Directory
Online Training Directory - Workforce and Continuing Ed online courses are offered at basic, intermediate and advanced levels. Going beyond basic training provides a deeper and more educationally rewarding learning experience, especially for students who wish to advance careers or initiate new ones. For the general lifelong learner we continue to offer "fun to learn" single, stand-alone courses.
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