Writing Routine and Non-Routine Requests in Business By Assoc. Prof. Sripathum Noom-ura Language Institute, Thammasat University

Transcription

1 Writing Routine and Non-Routine Requests in Business By Assoc. Prof. Sripathum Noom-ura Language Institute, Thammasat University Aim: To train students to write a formal business letter Level: Intermediate/advanced The teaching procedure is adapted from many websites such as and Procedure: 1. Give out a sample letter to show the block left or modified block left format which includes: letter head/address (but not name of the writer) name and address of recipient references date opening subject heading body of the letter closing signature name and job title enclosures A good example of the letter formats can be found from 2. Discuss how to skip a line between each part and skip four lines after the closing in order to leave space for signature, etc. Here is a good set of instructions on how to type a letter: 1. Open your writing on a computer. Routine business letters must be typed, not hand-written. Create a blank document and save it to your computer files. 2. Space down approximately six spaces from the top of the page. You want to leave room at the top of your letter for your company's letterhead, which will be what the letter is printed on. Type the date on the far left of the page. Write the date out, such as "September 16th, 2011," rather than "9/16/11." 3. Move down two spaces from the date. Type the addressee's name, followed by his professional title. For instance, if you are addressing the letter to the CEO of a company, you would write "John Smith, CEO." Skip a line and write the name of the recipient's organization. Skip another line and include the complete address where the letter is being mailed to.

2 P a g e 2 4. Type your salutation two spaces down from the inside address. For a routine business letter, an appropriate salutation is "Dear Mr. Smith" followed by a colon. You must always include a personal title, such as "Dr.," "Ms." and "Mr.," unless you do not know the gender of the recipient. If you are unsure of the recipient's gender, keep it neutral by eliminating the personal title and using the full name in the salutation, so it goes "Dear Chris Smith." 5. Skip one line and begin the body of your letter. Format the body with a left justify, block setting so that your paragraphs look neat. Type the body of your letter in a concise and professional manner. Your main point should be stated at the very beginning. You might write, "This letter is in response to the merger between..." Avoid adding fluff and fillers to the body of your letter. Recipients want to read only what they need to know. 6. Leave a single blank line between paragraphs if the body of your letter is longer than one paragraph. 7. Close the business letter by saying "Thank you," "Cordially" or "Sincerely." The closure should go one space after the last line in your body paragraph. Skip four lines and type your name. The blank space will be used for your wet signature once the letter is printed. \ 8. List any enclosures that you are attaching. Skip a line after your typed name and write Enclosures, followed by a colon and then the name of the document(s) you are sending along with the letter. 3. Discuss the differences between the routine and non-routine requests. A common routine request is usually a request for information. It is routine when the writer 1) is not asking a special favour and 2) is expecting the request to be accepted. A typical routine letter asks for more information, catalogues, and price quotation. The reader usually accepts the request because what is requested is usually available at hand. A non-routine requires individualized acknowledgement. The reader may or may not be able to settle the request. For example, a Thai student requests a transfer from the Heathrow Airport to a university in London. There may not be any service to the university. The receiver may have to suggest a company which provides their service.

3 P a g e 3 4. Show another example of a letter that gives students rough idea what each paragraph should discuss. Here is an example taken from Block Format 123 Winner's Road New Employee Town, PA March 16, 2001 Ernie English 1234 Writing Lab Lane Write City, IN Dear Mr. English: The first paragraph of a typical business letter is used to state the main point of the letter. Begin with a friendly opening; then quickly transition into the purpose of your letter. Use a couple of sentences to explain the purpose, but do not go into detail until the next paragraph. Beginning with the second paragraph, state the supporting details to justify your purpose. These may take the form of background information, statistics or first-hand accounts. A few short paragraphs within the body of the letter should be enough to support your reasoning. Finally, in the closing paragraph, briefly restate your purpose and why it is important. If the purpose of your letter is employment related, consider ending your letter with your contact information. However, if the purpose is informational, think about closing with gratitude for the reader's time. Sincerely, Lucy Letter

4 P a g e 4 5. Discuss the language style by drawing students attention to sample language from three extracts below. Discuss the formality of each letter. 6. Ask students to rewrite this letter in a formal way. Fine Foods Ltd. 10 Bridge Street London SW10 5TG Hello Mr. Roger Jones: I got the letter you sent on 1st September, and the stuff about the stock control system you make. It sounds great for us, but I want to check some things before we buy it. You said the system is bang up-to-date, but what happens if you update it again soon? Do we get money off the new one? You said it takes 3 weeks to install the system that s too long! Can t you do it any quicker? Hope you can reply soon, we re in a bit of a hurry. Thanks, Janet Brown

5 P a g e 5 7. Ask students to work in pairs. Swap their letters and the teacher gives out the peer evaluation check sheet so that the reader has guidelines of what to look for. Here is the example of the check sheet. PEER EVALUATION FORM 1. How clear is it? Is there anything you found unclear or unnecessary? 2. Appropriacy of language: Is the language appropriate to this kind of formal letter? Does it make good use of phrases from Worksheet 2? Is there any vocabulary that you particularly liked? 3. Layout / organisation: Is the layout appropriate to this kind of letter? Comment on anything that could be improved. 4. Language accuracy: Is there language you think is not correct (grammatical errors, incorrect collocations etc.)?

6 P a g e 6 8. Give students 5 minutes to discuss their feedback with their partners. 9. Give out another sample letter at the feedback stage. Students compare their work with the sample letter. The teacher may ask what they learn from their own work and the sample letter. Fine Foods Ltd. 10 Bridge Street London SW10 5TG Mr. R. Jones Sales Manager Thames Software Systems River Buildings Stockwell Walk London SW17 5HG 12th September 2006 Dear Mr. Jones, Stock Control Software System Thank you for your letter of 1st September and the information you sent regarding the stock control system offered by your company. I certainly feel the system will meet our requirements. However, there are some points which I would like clarified before we go ahead and order the system. Firstly, although you mentioned that the system has recently been updated, I wondered whether we might be eligible for a discount on any future upgrades. Secondly, the installation and implementation period of three weeks, to which you refer in your letter, seems rather long. Is there any possibility of getting the system up and running on a shorter timescale? I would be very grateful for a swift response to these queries, in order that we can begin the process as soon as possible. Thank you in advance for your assistance. I look forward to your reply. Yours sincerely, J. Brown Ms J. Brown Purchasing Manager

7 P a g e As homework, students are required to write and type two letters: a routine request and a non-routine request. Task 1 Write a routine request (an inquiry) for the following situation. Land s End, Inc. sells casual clothing by mail. You want to be on their mailing list so that you receive all their catalogues. Task 2 Write a letter for the following request. You re going on a business trip. Write to Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia. Request a single room for two nights (give specific dates) and ask for information regarding the cost. Variations: The procedure mentioned above is for a 3 hour-class. Teachers can eliminate parts if their teaching period is shortened to one or one and a half hour.