The Basics of English Workshop

As a result of the Human Resource Development Office’s Training Needs Assessment last year, Communication skills training programs are among the greatly needed training of UP Manila employees. Over the past years, HRDO has conducted a series of training on business communication, and this year the office plans to focus on the fundamentals of the English language. This will help UPM employees build a strong foundation in the English language and grammar as they revisit its basics. A good command of English will allow them to communicate effectively and adequately express themselves, whether in written or spoken form.

Led by the Training and Research Section, the HRDO successfully conducted a 2-day training entitled The Basics of English Grammar, Its Proper Usage, and Parts of Speech Training. The HRDO invited Ma’am Ma. Caselyn B. Morada, Instructor 4 from the Department of Arts and Communication of the College of Arts and Sciences, UP Manila, as the subject matter expert. The training was conducted in two batches wherein the first batch was scheduled on April 17-18, from 1:00 to 5:00 pm, and the second batch was scheduled on April 19-20, from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. The training was held face-to-face on the 8th Floor, Social Hall, PGH Building, where 25 and 27 UPM employees participated in the first and second batches, respectively. 

As part of the training objectives, employees were expected to (1) have a firm grasp of basic English grammar, (2) improve fluency in English language use, and (2) enhance and build writing and speaking skills using proper English. In attaining these objectives, Ma’am Morada prepared a course outline covering the topics to be discussed during the training. 

Ma’am Morada focused her discussion during the first day on the different parts of speech, considered the basic building blocks of language. Parts of speech are essential for effective writing, and building a strong understanding of them plays a key role in communicating ideas clearly and concisely. This was followed by the basic grammatical rules including subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, and parallelism. It has been highlighted that using proper grammar makes it easier for readers to understand the message. Day 1 concluded with the common grammatical mistakes to avoid in formal writing to reduce the risk of misinterpretation or confusion and to ensure that the message is received and understood as intended.

The second day of the training covered the different sentence types: Declarative, Interrogative, Imperative, and Exclamatory, which provided the framework for a clear written expression of ideas. The sentence structures were also discussed, such as the simple, complex, compound, and compound-complex sentences. Using a variety of sentence types and structures is important as it can help avoid monotony in writing. Towards the end of the discussion, Ma’am Morada explained the difference between the active and passive voice and the basics of paragraph writing. Ma’am Morada concluded the 2-day training by sharing various technological aids that can be used to improve writing. She emphasized that writing is a skill that takes time and effort to develop as she encouraged the participants to read and practice to have a firm grasp of the English language.