Welcome to English on Business Contexts I LS2622 Higher Diploma in English for Professional Communication Semester A 1999

In this course you will zDevelop principles of business writing zDevelop presentations skills zExpand awareness of business, cultural and interpersonal issues zEnhance data gathering skills zSynthesize previous learning and apply it to authentic situations zDevelop strategies for problem-solving zDevelop critical and analytical thinking skills

Lecture Schedule zWeek 1Introduction & The business writing process zWeek 2Creating a proposal zWeek 3 Writing a report zWeek 4The direct approach zWeek 5 Direct Requests zWeek 6No lecture (Reading and Conference week) zWeek 7Routine, good-news & goodwill messages zWeek 8Effective telephoning zWeek 9 Effective telephoning zWeek 10Cross-cultural business communication zWeek 11Presentations zWeek 12No lecture (Project week) zWeek 13 Simulation zWeek 14 Review

The Business Writing Process

Wtih a partner, discuss these questions: zWhat is meant by “the writing process”? zHow is the business writing process similar to other kinds of writing? zHow is the business writing process unique?

Steps in the Process Many writers break their writing down into different steps - although other writers may combine some of these steps zPlanning zDrafting zRevising zFormatting zProofreading

Planning zPurpose yWhat is your general purpose? yWhat is your specific objective? yWhat do you want your reader to do? zAudience yWho is the main audience? yWhat are his/her/their characteristics? yWhat do you expect their response to be? yHow much does the audience already know?

Planning zContent yInclude relevant data, discard irrelevant data yTechniques: xbrainstorming aim for quantity & don’t evaluate xmind mapping (or clustering) zOrganization yclassify - grouping related ideas ysubordinate - ranking major and minor points ysequence - direct approach or indirect approach

Drafting zLet ideas flow - don’t evaluate - separate drafting from revising zWays to let your ideas flow ypositive thinking yfind a quiet place to write yschedule enough time to achieve something ywrite out your purpose yavoid perfectionism ytalk out loud ysave writing the hardest parts for last

Revising zThree types of revising: Content, Style, Correctness zContent yDoes the content match the purpose? yIs the message clear to the reader? yIs the content relevant and complete? yIs the information organized in the best way?

Revising zStyle yclear & concise yshort, simple words ypositive, non-discriminatory language yvariety of sentence types yappropriate active and passive voice yavoidance of fragments and run-on sentences yunified, coherent paragraphs y word paragraphs ysincere, courteous tone y“you” attitude

Formatting zUse proper formatting for memoranda, reports, letters. (More on this will be covered in the tutorials.)

Proofreading zProof for content zProof for typographical errors (including misspellings - e. g.., “form” - missed by spell-checkers) zProof for format

Problem-solving Task zContext: You are the HRO Director of a company. Recently you interviewed a person for the post of Assistant HRO Director. Now you must send them a letter offering them the position. zWith partners, discuss these questions: zWho is the main audience for the letter? What are their characteristics? What do they already know? zWhat is the purpose of the letter? What is the specific objective? What do you want the reader to do? zWhat relevant data should you include in the letter? zHow should you organize the information in the letter?

References zOber, S. (1992). Contemporary Business Communication. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.