What Is the Best Way to Learn Business Grammar?

A workshop with grammar rules flatly will not teach you or your employees how to avoid usage errors when they write.  They must learn how to correct errors over time in a grammar course by having someone show them the errors in their own writing samples and helping them understand how to write differently in the context of their own business writing.

What Makes Ideal Business Grammar Training?

Business-writing trainers know how to teach adults business grammar, punctuation, spelling, sentence clarity, vocabulary, and word usage. The research shows that to learn to use correct grammar, adult learners must have these components in their training:

1. Each trainee must be assigned to a business grammar trainer who works with him or her throughout the business grammar course.
2. The trainees must submit writing samples no one has edited for them.
3. The trainer must go through each sample thoroughly, identifying business grammar training the trainee needs.
4. The trainee must receive a list of sentences with the same business grammar problems together, with corrections showing how the sentences should have been written so the trainees can see how they are consistently making the same business grammar error.
5. They must read about the business grammar rule that pertains to the error and show they understand the rule.
6. They must go through activities practicing the business grammar skills.
7. The trainer must evaluate the practice activities and correct any misconceptions. The individualized attention is very important.
8. The trainees must rewrite their original documents applying the business grammar rules to see the writing in their own business writing.
9. The trainees must study the corrected sentences to be sure they can write them correctly on their own, then take a test containing sentences from their original business writing sample to show they can correct the errors from memory.
10. The trainer must evaluate the quiz and coach the trainee through anything he or she still needs to learn.

The Business Writing Center’s Basic Grammar Course Tutorial contains this individualized training. You can learn more about the individualized writing training at this link: Basic Grammar Course Tutorial

The counterpart that uses the same methods to teach nonnative speakers of English to polish their language grammar is the Individualized Writing for Nonnative Speakers of English course. You can read about it at this link: Individualized Writing for Nonnative Speakers of English

A Second Option: A Basic Grammar Course with Rules Taught in Lessons

Though not as effective as individualized training, business people can learn to use correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, and word usage in a business grammar course with lessons. This type of business grammar course is called a “survey course.” These are the components a business grammar course that is a survey must have:

1. It must cover the major areas of business grammar.
2. It must have an instructor available to coach the trainee if he or she is having difficulty.
3. The business grammar course must have a pre-test trainees take before the grammar course and a post-test taken after the course to ensure the person has learned the skills.
4. The business grammar course must have pre-tests before each lesson and post-tests after each lesson to ensure that the trainee has learned the skills.
5. The business grammar course lesson materials must have clear explanations anyone can understand easily.
6. The training must include examples so the trainee can see how the rules are applied.

The Business Writing Center’s Basic Grammar course and Basic Grammar for Business course are examples of high-quality business grammar courses. The Basic Grammar course materials are online. The course contains all the components required to teach grammar rules successfully. More about the course

The Basic Grammar for Business course has more in-depth grammar training. It uses a grammar textbook with lessons from the textbook. More about the course
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