Workplace Writing Skills Review

Curriculum Guideline

Effective Date:
Print Guideline
Discontinued
No
Course Code
CMNS 1099
Descriptive
Workplace Writing Skills Review
Department
Communications
Faculty
Language, Literature & Performing Arts
Credits
3.00
Start Date
End Term
201830
PLAR
No
Semester Length
15
Max Class Size
20
Contact Hours
3 / 1
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Lab
Learning Activities

Classroom activities will encourage students to develop a critical awareness of the principles of clear and correct prose. Although brief lectures will focus the aims of each unit, most sessions will be workshop-oriented and will emphasize:

  1. writing activities
  2. discussion and assessment of student writing
  3. discussion of ways to revise and improve written products
  4. rewriting activities.

Students will work in small study groups, learning to assess the effectiveness of one another's writing and to recommend strategies for organization and for revision.

Course Description
This preparatory course is designed for students requiring a review of the principles and practices of Standard English. This course is not a pre-requisite for other CMNS & ENGL courses, but a refresher to help students to develop the writing skills necessary for the more complex writing tasks required in subsequent courses. The fundamentals of Standard English are emphasized, including spelling, diction, grammar, logical sentence connections, and paragraph coherence. Course content is geared to students’ educational and professional goals and focuses on straightforward workplace writing tasks: summaries, descriptions, memos, letters, short reports.
Course Content

Students will acquire these skills by performing a variety of writing tasks to prepare them for future workplace related writing activities. Students will:

  1. write routine letters such as
    • requests for information
    • responses to request for information
  2. write memoranda which
    • instruct
    • report
  3. write summaries of field-related readings
  4. write descriptions of phenomena or mechanisms
  5. explain data or processes
  6. complete preparatory writing exercises.
Learning Outcomes

Successful students should be able to undertake the more complex writing tasks required in CMNS 1110, 1111 and 1115 or English 1130.

Special Course Objectives

By the end of the course, successful students will have developed proficiency in writing skills allowing them to

  1. write coherent paragraphs
  2. organize data in accurate and coherent form
  3. show logical connections between assertions
  4. write grammatically correct sentences
  5. choose words appropriate to the writing task
  6. spell correctly
  7. summarize field-related readings
  8. write business correspondence and memoranda in appropriate format
  9. use library resources effectively and efficiently
  10. gather data from firsthand observation
  11. distinguish between fact and opinion
  12. submit assignments in a neat and legible form that considers readers’ needs.
Means of Assessment

Evaluation will be based on this general breakdown:

Letter (3)  15%
Memoranda (2)  20%
Summaries (2)  20%
Description  10%
Explanations  10%
Tests/Quizzes/Exercizes  15%
Preparedness and participation           10%
Total 100%
Textbook Materials

The instructor will choose a suitable textbook. Possible choices are as follows:

  • The Brief English Handbook.  Dornan & Dawe
  • Writing Fundamentals.  J. T. Lyons
  • Canadian Business English.  Mary E. Guffey & P. Burke
  • The Bare Essentials.  S. Norton & B. Green
  • The Least You Should Know About English.  T. F. Glazier
  • The Reluctant Writer.  Mann & Roberts
  • Impact.  Mary Northey
Prerequisites
  • Any College entrance Language Proficiency Requirement EXCEPT the Douglas College Course Options in ELLA or ENGU, OR
  • a minimum grade of C- in ELLA 0460, or a minimum grade of C- in both ELLA 0465 and 0475, OR
  • a minimum grade of C- in ENGU 0450 or ENGU 0455 or ENGU 0490