Online English Comprehensive Skills Course

Penn Foster's English: Comprehensive Skills in Reading and Writing Certificate Program improves students' communication skills by developing grammar skills, the ability to write complete sentences and coherent paragraphs, library research skills, and vocabulary.

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

• Use reading techniques such as context and scanning to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words and information
• Identify features of writing such as topic sentences, supporting details, and other organizational features of paragraphs
• Recognize elements of writing such as parts of speech and sentences, simile, metaphor, imagery, inference, bias, and the elements of fiction
• Recognize nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, and other parts of speech
• Identify correct usage of words and parts of a sentence such as plurals, prepositions, and punctuation
• Differentiate between independent and dependent clauses, and identify correct use of sentence structure
• Compose a unified and fully-developed paragraph free of common errors
• Write a three-to-five paragraph factual composition with an introduction, a body, and a conclusion, and a formal business letter on the topic of a complaint
• Comprehend the skills necessary to write an effective essay, such as correct word usage, avoiding run-on sentences, and professional tone
• Write a coherent, well-organized personal essay of between 750 and 2,500 words that is free of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors

Learn the comprehensive English reading skills you’ll need in business and everyday life.

Objectives:

• Select main ideas and interpret what you read.
• Make inferences and draw conclusions.
• Distinguish fact from opinion and detect bias.
• Use imagery, similes, and metaphors in your writing.
• Understand and analyze characters, setting, plot, conflict, and theme in fiction writing.

Practice and improve your writing knowledge and skills.

Objectives:

• Identify basic parts of speech.
• Describe the writing process.
• Compare poetry and prose.
• Compose unified, coherent, and effectively structured paragraphs.
• Write an essay with an introduction, body, and conclusion.
• Write courtesy letters and formal invitations.
• Create business letters and interoffice memos.
• Write a factual report, a letter of application for a job, and a resume with a cover letter.

Supplement: Winning with Words

Learn to communicate more effectively and interpret writing and speech.

Objectives:

• Recognize and use both formal and informal English for letter writing.
• Use effective and appropriate vocabulary.
• Express your feelings, thoughts, and ideas easily and accurately.
• Talk to others and write with more confidence.
• Interpret and understand what people say and what you read.

Textbook: Word Power Made Easy