The Business Writing Course is an 8-credit course in written business English run by Linnaeus University from our office in the Nisbethska building in Kalmar.
My name’s David Richardson and I’ve been teaching on this course since it started … in about 1994! The other members of the team are Beth Butler, who lives in Auckland, New Zealand, Jon Clark, who’s in Valladolid in Spain and Bruce Harper, who’s based in Ipswich, a city just outside Brisbane in Australia.
The ‘big idea’ with the course is that you get better at writing … well, by writing (and by getting feedback on what you’ve written), so that’s what you’ll be doing on this course.
If you start by looking at the Business Pages on the course web site, you’ll be able to read some information about three - completely fictitious - companies in the Kalmar area, which have to communicate in writing for a variety of reasons. You choose one of these companies each time and write the letters, reports and memos for them. Sometimes you’ll be complaining, sometimes apologising and sometimes explaining.
You’ll notice that there are two types of assignment during the course: Warm-Up Tasks and Send-In Tasks. These come in a three-week cycle: at the end of the first week you submit the Warm-Up Task; at the end of the second week you submit the Send-In Task(s); and then there's a week 'off' (so that we can catch up with the marking!). N.B. The first Warm-Up Task isn't due until 16th February.
Warm-Up Tasks
These are shorter and more straightforward tasks which come one week before a Send-In Task. The idea is to give you some practice with the kind of language you'll need to use for the Send-In Task - and for you to receive feedback on your performance before the Send-In Task is due. You submit your Warm-Up Tasks like this:
- Write your task in a word-processing programme and check it through.
- Copy the text.
- Click on the Comment link at the bottom of the Blog Post for that Warm-Up Task.
- Paste the text into the text box that comes up.
- Make sure your name's on the task somewhere.
- Click on the button to upload your task.
You'll receive a mark out of 5 for the Warm-Up Task from David, together with a marked version of your task (where I identify every single mistake you've made!). I send the mark and comment to your private e-mail address.
When everyone's Warm-Up Task has been marked, I'll also post a general comment about how people tackled the Warm-Up Tasks on the Blog, including comments on frequently-made mistakes and tips about how to get a really good mark for the following Send-In Task.
Send-In Tasks
These are submitted to your Internet Tutor (he or she will have informed you about the format they need to be sent in). There are usually several parts to each task, and you'll receive feedback from your tutors for each part. The only information your tutor sends to David is the overall mark, so feel free to ask for help and advice before you submit the final version of your Send-In Tasks.
The In-Tray Exam
There's another way you get marks too - from the In-Tray Exam. This comes at the end of the course, however, so you'll get some information about this later on in the course.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with David. In the meantime, we're looking forward to working with you this term.
