Academic Grammar (with writing tutorials)

This academic English grammar course is designed to improve your ability and understanding of academic grammar. There are eight grammar lessons on academic tenses, conditionals, modals verbs, passive grammar, relative clauses, sentences structure 1 & 2, and verb patterns. Each lesson includes a language review, guided and freer writing practice. This course will provide valuable practice in key aspects of academic writing.

Writing Tutorials: What are writing tutorials? Once you have written studied and practised the grammar area you are give an opportunity to write TWO academic paragraphs that you send it to us to check. We will provide valuable feedback on your writing in terms of task, grammar, vocabulary, referencing, cohesion and coherence. There is a email form at the end of each lesson where you copy and paste your summary to send to us. We return your work within 1-2 days with tutor comments and advice.

What will you learn on this course?

• You will learn about 8 key academic grammar areas.
• You will have lots of guided grammar practice.
• You will have lots of freer grammar practice.
• You will practice paragraph writing using the specific grammar area.
• You will have the opportunity to receive feedback from an academic tutor on your writing to improve your writing skills.
• Course duration: 60 days.

Who is this course for?

• Level B2 (upper-intermediate) to C2 (advanced) Learners.
• Second language speakers who want to improve their reading skills.
• International students who want to go to an English speaking university.
• International students who are studying at an English speaking university.
• Anyone who wants to improve their academic reading skills.

Lesson Procedure

• Review your understanding of the grammar topic.
• Read a detailed language review.
• Practice 5-6 guided writing tasks.
• Freer practice: write one paragraph and compare to a sample answer.
• Freer practice: write a paragraph on your subject topic focusing on the specific grammar area.
• Send the two freer practice paragraphs to us for valuable teacher feedback.

There are eight lessons included in this course with each lesson taking approximately 2 hours to complete. You have to do the course in order of each lecture 1-8 When you complete the course, you will receive a certificate.

Duration: This course lasts for 60 days once you pay. Therefore, you have 60 days to the complete all 8 lessons.

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Course Content

The course consists of eight lessons. Each lesson includes a digital lesson booklet to download.

The Lesson Procedure

Each lesson has a similar number format. This is an example from the Academic Tenses lesson:

Task 1: Introduction	Task 1: Grammar Review Read the following paragraph on Saturday jobs for teenagers and underline the tenses.  Why has the writer used those particular tenses?    Saturday jobs for teenagers A recent study by Resolution Foundation has revealed that the once popular custom of a Saturday job for teenagers is in decline. It claims that the percentage of 16- to 17-year-olds with weekend jobs fell by almost half between 1997 to 1999 and 2017 to 2019 (Busby, 2020). One of the reasons for this decrease may be the need for adolescents to focus more on their studies, particularly as places for university have become more and more stretched. It could also be argued that the traditional posts of shelf stacker or shop assistant no longer appeal to young people, and other ways of earning extra money, such as online bloggers and influencers, are far more attractive and easier to achieve. These particular jobs also offer far more flexibility, as they can be tailored around their schoolwork and completed at home. In light of the current global pandemic, it is predicted that fewer and fewer teenagers will opt for a conventional Saturday job in the future. Instead, they are much more likely to spend their free time on the Internet.
Task 2: Review	Task 2: Language Review Read the rules on these common tenses in academic writing. Are any of these new to you?
Tasks 3-9: Paragraph Writing	Task 3: Present simple vs past simple Identify the mistakes in the following sentences. Not all are incorrect. 1. The online payment system Stripe was a trustworthy payment processor. 2. In the UK, the first zero-waste shop opened in 2017. More exercises in paid version Task 4: Present simple vs present perfect Highlight the correct form of the verb. 1. According to the BBC, almost 24,000 students apply/have applied to study medicine at UK universities next September. 2. Homeopathy uses/has used diluted substances which cause the body to heal itself. More exercises in paid version Task 5: Past simple vs present perfect Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb in brackets. 1. Green tea ________________________ a significant trend in the West. (become) 2.Dave Asprey ________________________ the first biohacking facility ‘upgrade labs’ in 2017. (set up)  More exercises in paid version Task 6: Present simple vs future simple with ‘will’ Highlight the correct option. If both are correct, highlight them both. 1. This essay argues/will argue that physical banks will disappear completely in the next decade. 2. In 2025, healthcare systems will adopt/adopt more preventative health approaches. More exercises in paid version Task 7: Tense review Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb in brackets. Use only active or passive structures of past simple / present simple / present perfect simple / future simple. 1. Government income _____________ from indirect taxation such as import duties. (derive) 2. Unemployment _____________ when economic growth outstrips productivity growth. (fall) More exercises in paid version Task 8: Paragraph Tense Review 1 Complete the gaps in the paragraph with the correct form of the verb in brackets.  Exams versus coursework The most effective way to assess students _____________________ (long debate) in the field of education. Two of the most common methods are examinations and coursework. On the one hand, examinations _____________________ (allow) teachers to assess several students at the same time on the same content. Exams are also seen by some as more flexible in relation to content, timing and question types. Indeed, a 2018 study led by Stanford University… More exercises in paid version Task 9: Paragraph Tense Review 2 Read the following paragraph on newspaper paywalls and see if you can identify the five errors. Due to the decline in readership of printed newspapers, many online newspapers chose to add a paywall to their website. It is a way for digital newspapers to charge readers to access certain content, usually through a subscription. According to a study of almost 80 print media firms in the US undertaken at Harvard Business School in 2019, online paywalls were successful in generating … More exercises in paid version
Task 10-11: Freer Practice	Task 10: Paragraph Writing Write a paragraph (150-250 words) on salary caps in sports. Try and use all four tenses from the session. Compare with the sample answer. Task 11: Extra Practice Select a topic from your subject. Write a short paragraph (150-250 words) using a range of tenses.
Writing Tutorial	Paragraph Writing Tutorial Copy and paste your paragraphs (Task 10) into this form and submit.
Completed	When you have completed the lesson, just hit ‘complete’