Grade 12 Commerce: English

In this unit, 'Prose and poetry from world writers', you learn to compare two authors' treatment of one theme. You work with exam-style questions and written reasoning. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Prose and poetry from world writers' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: compare two authors' treatment of one theme, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Choose the theme: the value of money against the value of people. Text A, prose: 'Mr Kapoor kept every receipt since 1988. When his shop flooded, he saved the receipts first and left the stock to the water. Later, he could not say why.' Read it twice and note the narrator's detached tone.
2. Step 2, Read Text B, a poem by a different writer. 'We priced the house, the land, the years. / The sum was fair, the buyer kind. / No one had a figure for the doorway / where my mother stood, resigned.' Notice the speaker's quiet regret and the contrast with business language.
3. Step 3, Compare how each author treats the theme. Text A treats the theme with irony: the owner values paper records over goods, perhaps because they prove his past. Text B treats it with sorrow: a fair sale cannot include the emotional value. A shows habit; B shows loss. Write both views in one thesis sentence.
4. Step 4, Compare language and structure. Text A uses short, factual sentences and ends on an unanswered 'why', so the reader must infer. Text B uses accounting words ('priced', 'sum', 'figure') then breaks them with a human image, 'my mother stood'. Both use the gap between numbers and feeling.
5. Step 5, Write a comparative paragraph. 'Both authors suggest that value cannot be measured in money, but they differ in tone. Text A is ironic, as Mr Kapoor "saved the receipts first", whereas Text B is mournful, as the speaker finds "no figure for the doorway". Together they show that commerce overlooks emotion.'
6. Step 6, Your turn: write one sentence comparing the endings. Model answer: Text A ends with a question left unanswered, which makes the reader reflect on the owner's motives, whereas Text B ends with a still image of the mother, which makes the reader feel the loss directly.

Activity. About 40 to 50 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a timed paper and an error log.

Standard to meet. Compare two authors' treatment of one theme: at least 70 percent on an exam-style task, with the method shown.

In this unit, 'Grammar and editing', you learn to edit and transform text with precision. You work with exam-style questions and written reasoning. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Grammar and editing' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: edit and transform text with precision, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Proofread in layers. Read this notice once for meaning: 'their is a meeting of the shareholders on monday, all members was requested to attend.' Then hunt by type: spelling and homophones (their/there), capital letters (monday), punctuation (a comma joining two sentences) and agreement (was/were). Mark each error before you correct anything.
2. Step 2, Correct the errors. 'Their' becomes 'There', because it introduces existence. 'monday' needs a capital: Monday. The comma joins two full sentences, so use a full stop. 'All members was' becomes 'All members were', since 'members' is plural. Result: 'There is a meeting of the shareholders on Monday. All members were requested to attend.'
3. Step 3, Transform voice. Active: 'The manager approved the budget.' Passive: 'The budget was approved by the manager.' The object moves to the front, the verb becomes was plus the past participle, and the doer follows 'by'. Use the passive in commerce writing when the action matters more than the person: 'Invoices were issued on 5 May.'
4. Step 4, Transform speech. Direct: The clerk said, 'I will send the invoice tomorrow.' Reported: The clerk said that he would send the invoice the next day. Three changes happen: the quotation marks go, 'will' shifts back to 'would', and 'I' and 'tomorrow' become 'he' and 'the next day'.
5. Step 5, Combine sentences precisely. 'The firm cut its prices. Sales rose by 12 per cent.' Joined: 'After the firm cut its prices, sales rose by 12 per cent.' Or: 'The firm cut its prices, so sales rose by 12 per cent.' Choose the link that shows the true relationship, here cause and effect, and put a comma after an opening clause.
6. Step 6, Your turn: edit 'the clerk have posted the invoices yesterday' and then change it to the passive. Answer: Edited: 'The clerk posted the invoices yesterday.' (capital T, and the simple past with 'yesterday', not 'have posted'). Passive: 'The invoices were posted by the clerk yesterday.'

Activity. About 40 to 50 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a timed paper and an error log.

Standard to meet. Edit and transform text with precision: at least 70 percent on an exam-style task, with the method shown.

In this unit, 'Writing: reports, letters and articles', you learn to write formal, persuasive and analytical text. You work with exam-style questions and written reasoning. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Writing: reports, letters and articles' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: write formal, persuasive and analytical text, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Plan a formal complaint letter from facts. Order: 40 office chairs, ordered 3 March, promised for 10 March, delivered 24 March. Lateness is 24 minus 10 = 14 days. Layout: your address, date, the supplier's address, 'Dear Sir or Madam', a subject line, body paragraphs, 'Yours faithfully', your name.
2. Step 2, Write the opening and the evidence. 'I am writing to complain about the late delivery of 40 office chairs under order 2291. The goods were promised for 10 March but arrived on 24 March, fourteen days late.' Keep the tone formal: no slang, no anger, exact dates and numbers.
3. Step 3, Persuade with a clear request. 'Our new staff worked without proper seating for two weeks. I therefore request a discount of 10 per cent on the invoice total of 18,000, which is 1,800, so the final amount would be 16,200. Please reply within seven days.' State the remedy, the figure and the deadline.
4. Step 4, Switch to an analytical report. Use headings: Introduction, Findings, Conclusion, Recommendations. Findings: 'Sales rose from 48,000 in the first quarter to 54,000 in the second, an increase of 6,000, or 12.5 per cent.' Show the figures, then explain what they mean in the Conclusion.
5. Step 5, Draft a persuasive article opening. 'Can a small shop survive without a website? Of 50 local traders surveyed, 35 (70 per cent) said online orders now bring in a quarter of their income.' A headline, a question, a statistic and a call to action make the writing persuasive.
6. Step 6, Your turn: write the closing paragraph of a letter asking for a refund of 20 per cent of an 8,000 order. Answer: 20 per cent of 8,000 is 1,600. 'I therefore request a refund of 1,600 within 14 days. I look forward to your reply. Yours faithfully, [your name]'.

Activity. About 40 to 50 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a timed paper and an error log.

Standard to meet. Write formal, persuasive and analytical text: at least 70 percent on an exam-style task, with the method shown.

In this unit, 'Reading: unseen passages', you learn to read critically in timed conditions. You work with exam-style questions and written reasoning. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Reading: unseen passages' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: read critically in timed conditions, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Set a time plan before reading. For a 45-minute unseen section: 5 minutes to skim, 30 minutes to answer, 10 minutes to check. Total 5 + 30 + 10 = 45. Passage: 'Ten years ago most market stall owners took only cash. Of 200 owners surveyed, 38 still refuse cards. Supporters of cash call it simple and private; critics call it slow to count and easy to lose.'
2. Step 2, Skim actively. Read the first and last sentences, circle numbers and underline contrast words such as 'still' and 'critics'. In one line state the main idea: markets are moving from cash to cards, but not every stall has changed. Doing this takes under two minutes and guides every answer.
3. Step 3, Answer a retrieval question with numbers. 'What proportion of owners still refuse cards?' 38 out of 200 is 19 per cent. The remaining 162 owners, 81 per cent, accept cards. Write the figure and the unit, and quote 'still refuse cards' as proof.
4. Step 4, Read critically for viewpoint. The writer gives both sides: 'supporters' and 'critics' are placed in balanced clauses of similar length. So the tone is neutral and balanced, not for or against cash. Evidence: neither side is called 'wrong', and no emotive words are used.
5. Step 5, Use context for vocabulary and summary. 'Refuse' means 'say no to', shown by the contrast with 'accept'. For a 40-word summary, keep only the main idea, the 19 per cent figure and the two opposing views, and leave out examples. Cross out anything you copied word for word.
6. Step 6, Your turn: give one reason from supporters and one from critics in the passage. Answer: Supporters say cash is simple (or private). Critics say cash is slow to count (or easy to lose). Quote the words 'simple and private' and 'slow to count and easy to lose'.

Activity. About 40 to 50 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a timed paper and an error log.

Standard to meet. Read critically in timed conditions: at least 70 percent on an exam-style task, with the method shown.

In this unit, 'Speaking and listening', you learn to deliver an argued presentation. You work with exam-style questions and written reasoning. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Speaking and listening' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: deliver an argued presentation, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Frame the argument. Motion: "Businesses should prioritise ethical sourcing over lowest cost." Thesis: "Ethical sourcing protects brand trust and long-term profit." Reason: a thesis tied to a business outcome persuades commerce students.
2. Step 2, Write a precise opening. "Cheap production can be expensive. When a supplier fails an ethical audit, the damage to trust can cost far more than the saving." Reason: the paradox makes the audience think.
3. Step 3, Build the first argument with PEEL. Point: ethical sourcing builds trust. Evidence: consumer surveys show many buyers prefer responsible brands. Explain: trust increases repeat purchases. Link: it protects revenue.
4. Step 4, Add a second point and a counter-argument. "Second, ethical suppliers reduce supply risk. Critics say ethical sourcing raises costs. Yet short-term cost must be weighed against fines, recalls and lost customers." Reason: addressing costs directly strengthens credibility.
5. Step 5, Fix an error. Weak: "Ethics is good for everyone so firms should do it." Better: "Ethical sourcing reduces legal and reputational risk, so it is a sound financial decision." Tie moral claims to measurable benefits.
6. Step 6, Use transitions and a strong close. "Having looked at trust and risk, I turn to cost. In conclusion, ethical sourcing is not a charity; it is a strategy for long-term profit." Reason: signposts guide listeners and the close restates the thesis.
7. Step 7, Your turn. Write a thesis and a counter-argument paragraph on "Companies should adopt a four-day week". Model answer: "Thesis: A four-day week can raise productivity and retention." "Counter: Some fear lost output; however, trials show focused work often compensates."

Activity. About 40 to 50 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a timed paper and an error log.

Standard to meet. Deliver an argued presentation: at least 70 percent on an exam-style task, with the method shown.

On the slide: L1 Basic · Letters, sounds and first reading

Notes: Match letters to sounds and read short words and simple sentences aloud. Notes: use the sounds s, a, t, p, i, n; learners blend them into sat, pin and tap, then read a three-word sentence and clap the syllables.

On the slide: L2 Awareness · Sentences and simple writing

Notes: Write a clear sentence with a capital letter and full stop, and read a short story with understanding. Notes: give a picture prompt; learners say the sentence first, write it, and check capital, spacing and full stop with a partner before reading it aloud.

On the slide: L3 Foundation · Paragraphs, grammar and reading for meaning

Notes: Write a paragraph of five connected sentences and identify nouns, verbs and adjectives in a text. Notes: colour nouns blue and verbs red in a short passage; learners then write about their street, using at least two adjectives and one linking word.

On the slide: L4 Practitioner · Essays, speaking and responding to texts

Notes: Write a 300-word structured essay and give a short talk, quoting evidence from a text to support a view. Notes: model Point, Evidence, Explain; learners write one paragraph about a character, quote one line, and explain what it shows, then speak it aloud.

On the slide: L5 Specialist · Analysis, argument and style

Notes: Analyse a writer's choices of language and structure and write a sustained argument of 600 words. Notes: take two openings of different short stories; learners compare tone, sentence length and imagery in a table, then argue which opening works better and why.

This course: Grade 12 Commerce English is at this level. Its units include Prose and poetry from world writers; Grammar and editing; Writing: reports, letters and articles; Reading: unseen passages and more.

On the slide: L6 Advanced · Literary and linguistic study

Notes: Evaluate texts through a critical lens, tracing how language changes across time and context in a researched essay. Notes: compare an older and a modern passage; learners list five differences in vocabulary and syntax and argue in 1,500 words what each reveals about its period.

On the slide: L7 Super expert · Research, editing and authorship

Notes: Produce an original piece of research or a polished long-form text, with a literature review and defended method. Notes: pick a narrow question about language in one genre; build a corpus of fifty samples, analyse patterns, write 5,000 words, and revise after external review.