This course explores aspects of the English
language and its grammar and punctuation which will help you to develop
your writing skills in various ways.
Grammar? Punctuation? I can already hear some groans! But in fact
the study of grammar is rapidly re-entering our lives and interestingly
there has been a wealth of books, articles and radio and TV programmes
in the past year or so looking at aspects of our English language,
how we write and use it in our daily lives and at the language’s
long and fascinating history.
Perhaps all this is an unconscious reaction against one of the fastest-growing
(some might say annoying) developments of English in recent years: the
use of text messaging via mobile telephones and computers. U knw wot
I mn? Does that example of shortened English have any structure to it,
even though there may not appear to be much sense at first glance?
This abbreviated form of English is in fact nothing particularly new.
Short forms of the language have been used for centuries, appearing in
various shapes and sizes. We can trace them from the illuminated manuscripts
of medieval monks, through Dickensian hand-written bank accounts, to
the Morse Code and Pitman’s shorthand. But underpinning all this
lies a sense of structure and sense. We sometimes call this grammar.
Linguistic scientists have many other names and theories for what underpins
our verbal and written communications with each other.
What this course aims to do is to look at selected aspects of the written
English language as we tend to use it in our daily lives, exploring as
we go some of the areas of confusion that arise, as well as highlighting
certain pitfalls and traps into which we can all fall.
The course will hopefully help you in your use of the language, whether
at work or for your own leisure communications. I am confident that by
the end of the course you will be more aware of not just what you are
writing, but how you can adapt and creatively change your writing style
to suit different audiences and purposes. |
John
Skinner
