Spanish-American Institute

Course Syllabus for

502 Business English                                          120 hours

Prerequisite(s):  English VI or comparable level

Business English course is designed to help students develop good communication skills that can be used in the business world and in further study.  Each week, students will have the opportunity to read and discuss examples of good writing in different formats, to improve their English through correct usage and skills development, and to write shorter passages in formats used in the business and academic worlds.  

Course Description: 

·        Lesson 1                      Getting started:  freewriting, brainstorming, clustering, organizing, and selecting ideas, drafting, and revising

Understanding regular verbs in the past tense

                                                      Writing simple sentences with action, linking, and helping verbs 

                                                      Subject-verb agreement

·        Lesson 2                      Fine-tuning your writing:  writing unified paragraphs

                                                      Forming compound sentences with coordinating conjunctions

                                                      Understanding irregular verbs in the past tense

·        Lesson 3-4                      Writing a paragraph with examples

                                                      Reading for writers:  exemplification

                                                      Forming compound sentences with semicolons

                                                      Understanding modals and problem verbs in the past tense

·        Lesson 4-5                      Writing a narrative paragraph

Reading for writers:  narratives

                                                      Forming compound sentences with conjunctive adverbs

                                                      Identifying past participles

·        Lesson 6-7                      Writing a descriptive paragraph

Reading for writers:  descriptive passages

                                                      Writing complex sentences with subordinating conjunctions

                                                      Using the present perfect and the past perfect

·        Lesson 7-8                      Writing a process paragraph

Reading for writers:  process essays

                                                      Writing complex sentences with relative pronouns

                                                      Using past participles as adjectives

·        Lesson 9-10                      Writing a cause-and-effect paragraph

Reading for writers:  cause-and-effect essays

                                                      Varying sentence types by beginning with adverbs or prepositional phrases

                                                      Identifying and pluralizing nouns and pronouns

·        Lesson 11-12                      Writing a compare and contrast paragraph

Reading for writers:  compare and contrast writing

                                                      Combining sentence by using participles

                                                       Pronoun-antecedent agreement

·        Lesson 13-14                      Writing a classification paragraph

Reading for writers:  classification writing

                                                      Combining sentences by using compound subjects or verbs

                                                      Understanding pronoun case

·        Lesson 15-16                    Writing a definition paragraph

Reading for writers:  definition passages

                                                      Using appositives and varying sentence length

                                                      Identifying reflexive and intensive pronouns

·        Lesson 17-18                    Writing an argument paragraph

Reading for writers:  argument writing

                                                      Using parallel structure

                                                      Adjective and adverb comparatives and superlatives

·        Lesson 19-20                     From paragraph to essay:  understanding essay structure, deciding on your topic, stating your thesis, arranging your ideas, drafting, editing, and revising

                                                      Choosing exact words

                                                      Grammar and usage issues for ESL writers               

·        Lesson 21                         Writing introductions and conclusions

                                                      Using concise language and avoiding clichés

                                                      Grammar and usage issues for ESL writers (continued)

·        Lesson 22                         Different essay formats:  exemplification, narrative, and descriptive essays

Using similes and metaphors

Run-on and comma splice sentence problems

Using commas and apostrophes                                          

·        Lesson 23                        Different essay formats:  process, cause-and-effect, and comparison and contrast essays

Sentence fragment problems

Understanding mechanics of capitalization, of quotations, of title punctuation, etc. 

·        Lesson 24                       Different essay formats:  classification, definition, and argument essays

Illogical shifts in writing

Plagiarism

 

Requirements:

Students will read and discuss model passages; will write paragraphs and short essays; will review English grammar, usage, and mechanics; and will focus on many of the writing problems specific to ESL writers. 

Evaluation:

The final grade will be based on class participation (25%), assignments (50%) and exams (25%).

Textbook: 

Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell, Writing First:  Practice in Context With Readings, Boston:  Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000,  or comparable text. 

 

 

rev. 4/03