Introduction
Course Overview
Curiosity about language is uniquely human, one of the traits that distinguishes people from other life-forms. It is perhaps your own curiosity or need to know more about the English language that has led you to enroll in this course. One of the underlying principles of this course is that a more comprehensive grasp of language—its parts, its interrelationships, its structure—may not only add to a fuller appreciation of language but also may contribute to more effective efforts at communication.
This course cannot promise to make you an A-plus English student or suddenly transform you into a highly accomplished writer (which you may already be). But it does promise to raise your level of awareness of the structure of the English language. Clearly framed presentations of the material, instructive discussions of concepts, and activities combine to offer the very real potential for you to become a more savvy and skilled practitioner of language.
The course is fundamental in nature—and yet sufficiently comprehensive and broad in scope. Therefore, this course provides both a foundation for students lacking a basic understanding of the English language as well as a highly useful review for those needing to “brush up” what they’ve already once studied.
