Towards a combined product - process approach TO DEVELOPING BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE WRITING SKILLS FOR ENGLISH MAJORS IN HAIPHONG UNIVERSITY

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PART A : INTRODUCTION
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1. Rationale
Foreign languages have been introduced and taught in Vietnam for many years. Especially,
English has become a very popular subject to be taught and paid further surveys and studies
at all levels: from elementary to secondary schools and, furthermore, to tertiary education
across the country.
As the spread of English to almost all corners of the world, nowadays, people are getting
more and more aware of the importance of the language. For many people in Vietnam,
English is seen as a very necessary means to get a good job, especially a well-paid job in
foreign invested companies. Thus, there is a growing demand to learn the language for
business communication. Therefore, the teaching and learning of English have been placed
in an important focus. However, the current situation of English teaching and learning in
Haiphong University has both advantages and disadvantages which should be defined more
clearly so that we can improve the teaching-learning environment and the proficiency of
English competence of the students.
As English teachers of ESP, we may find it hard to determine what points to focus on when
asked to navigate students for their big steps into the real world after they leave university.
We should always bear in mind that some of our students may someday have to work for a
100% foreign invested or International Joint Venture (IJV) firm. This requires not only
instructing our students on how to improve their foreign business language skills, but also
helping them come to terms with cultural differences and business styles which may often be
more of useful resources than impediments.
Feedbacks from many graduates of Haiphong University and now working for foreign firms
show that they really need real-life English when they start their jobs in foreign invested
companies such as how to prepare for a job process, office activities, administration
procedures, etc.

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Besides, the teaching of business correspondence is one part of the English for Business
Communication. That is why the English majors will really have to face with some
fundamental drawbacks when taking part into this ESP course, namely lack of real-life
experience, limited time allocated for the course, inappropriate material course book,
inexperienced teachers, etc. With those difficulties, the teaching of English business
correspondence is really a challenge. What we have to carry out at the moment is to find out
the effective way to the teaching and learning this subject matter, so that when they leave
university and start working for a business firm they will feel less difficult dealing with
business correspondence.

2. Aims of the study
The study is aimed at:
1. Reviewing current approaches to teaching EFL writing with focus on teaching and
learning business correspondence writing;
2. Identifying some commonly made mistakes by English majors in Haiphong University
while learning to write business correspondence; and
3. Giving suggestions for effectively teaching business correspondence writing in
Haiphong University.
I strongly hope that with all my great efforts focused on some pending matters in terms of
both theory and practice, some of my study will partly contribute to the improvement of ESP
learning-teaching in general, and business correspondence writing in particular.

3. Scope of study
This research focuses on finding out suitable techniques for teaching students to write
business correspondence correctly and efficiently (in which cover letters are of the most
concentration).
With the current ESP curriculum and materials in use in Haiphong University, the Business
English is taught within only 30 forty-five minute periods. That is why the scope of our

study is limited to the writing of cover letters in Job Seeking Process.


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4. Methodology
For the implementation of this study, a number of methods will be used such as contrastive,
comparative, analysis, general review from published materials in the related fields.
Different sources of materials will be chosen from related textbooks, articles, internets,
Video Compact Discs (VCD), Compact Discs (CD).
Also, the analysis of students’ writing task is done to recognize most common mistakes
made by students when they perform their cover letter writing. This can surely help teachers
anticipate problems in the existing course and seek the possible solutions to fix these
problems. The analysis will assist to distinguish advantages and disadvantages in teaching
techniques for teachers’ part.

5. Organization of the study
The study includes three parts:
PART A: INTRODUCTION presents Rationale, Aims of the study, Scope,
Methodology and Organization of the study
PART B: DEVELOPMENT constitutes the body of the study and consists of three
chapters:
Chapter One: Review of Literature
In this chapter, the trends and approaches applied to teaching English writing
such as Product, Process and Genre are reviewed and then narrowed down to
the approaches for teaching ESP. At the end of this chapter a summary of the
limitations and differences of these approaches is presented.
Chapter Two: Methodology
A brief description of the Business English course currently being taught in
Haiphong University is given and all information related to the research
questions, survey and data collection procedures is also provided with. Also

the analysis of errors made by students is discussed.


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Chapter Three: Data Analysis and Discussion
In this chapter, survey data collected are analyzed based on the questionnaire
responses in order to find out some major findings about students’ difficulties
in learning Business letter writing. Besides, students’ needs on the course
content, methodologies and their recommendations will be discussed.
Additionally, their weaknesses and strengths are concluded after the error
analysis. Finally, a combined approach to teaching business letter writing is
suggested.
PART C: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS presents review of the study,
recommendations for improvements and some suggestions for further study.


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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
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CHAPTER ONE: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
1.1. English for Specific Purposes (ESP)
From the early 1960’s, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has grown to become one of the
most prominent areas of EFL teaching today. Its development is reflected in the increasing
number of universities offering an MA in ESP and in the number of ESP courses offered for
overseas students in English speaking countries.
According to Hutchinson & Waters’ point of view, they clearly mention, after a careful
analysis of ELT and based on a focus on the commonality of language and learning, that
“ESP must be seen as an approach, not as a product. ESP is not a particular kind of language

or a methodology, nor does it consist of particular type of teaching material.” (Hutchinson &
Water 1987:19). Being recognized as an approach, learning English should be focused on the
student needs and therefore learning motivation should be created and paid attention to. As
for a broader definition of ESP, Hutchinson and Waters (1987:19) also mention, "ESP is an
approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on
the learner's reason for learning".
With the above mentioned views on ESP, it can be shown that rather than simply focus on
the method of language delivery, more attention should be given to the ways in which
learners acquire language and the differences in the ways language is acquired. Learners are
seen to employ different learning strategies, use different skills, enter with different learning
schemata, and be motivated by different needs and interests. Therefore, focus on the learners'
needs became as equal as the methods employed to disseminate linguistic knowledge. Also
the teaching approaches should be learner-centered orientation.
As for Hutchinson and Waters (1987:17) ESP is divided into three divisions: English for
Science and Technology (EST), English for Business and Economics (EBE), and English for
Social Science (ESS) and then when coming to the upper level, each of these three branches
is further divided into sub-divisions according to learners’ needs: for study as English for
Academic Purposes (EAP) and for work as English for Occupational Purposes (EOP).


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Besides, Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) suggested the use of continuum which clarifies
the nature of ESP work. The continuum runs from very General English courses to specific
ESP courses. In this process, the higher the level is, the more specific the ESP course
reaches, ranging from English for beginners to individual needs of professional users.
Today, English is one of the major languages in the world with the number of speakers of over
four hundred millions. Geographically, English is the most widespread language on earth. It is
the language of business, technology, sports and aviation. The world communication is mainly
carried out in English. “Incredibly enough, 75% of the world’s mails and 60% of the world’s
telephone calls are in English.”(John and Liz Soars (1986): 2)

Further more, as Dudley-Evans and St John note that with the increasing numbers of
international students taking Master courses in Business, Finance, Accounting and Banking,
the area of Academic Business English is beginning to assume much greater importance in
EPA. (Dudley-Evans and St. John 1997: 31) and ESP courses are designed by mixing up
different elements to fit the learners’ particular situation.

1.2. Teaching English writing
1.2.1. Definition of writing
Writing is one of communicative approaches. Through the mastery of writing, people come
to be fully effective in intellectual organization, in the management of everyday affairs, in
the expression of ideas and arguments. By writing people can have control of both
information and of people as well.
As mentioned by Byrne (1988) we can understand that “writing is an act of forming graphic
symbols”. However, of all language learning skills, writing is valued as “a language skill
which is difficult to acquire” (Tribble, 1996:3).
In The World's Writing Systems, Peter T. Daniels defines writing as: “a system of more or
less permanent marks used to represent an utterance in such a way that it can be recovered
more or less exactly without the intervention of the utterer”.
1.2.2. Writing tasks and activities


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Doff (1988: 148-153) and Brown (1994: 327-330) divide writing activities according to the
level of the teacher's control, which include: (1) imitative or writing down, (2) controlled or
guided writing, and (3) free-writing or self-writing.
Imitative writing involves classroom activities like copying, which are somewhat mechanical
and do not require the students to understand the meaning. That is why these activities are
uninteresting for students and should only be used for beginners. Another form is dictation,
which is more challenging to students. This incentive activity helps develop both listening
and spelling. However, it does not really develop writing skill in that students do not have to

express ideas or find ways to constructing sentences. Also, this is not an authentic activity.
Controlled writing activities provide more challenges for students but still limit their creation
such as changing a text from present tense to past tense, completing a sentence by filling the
blanks, writing sentences from clues, writing from pictures. Another form is dicto-comp, in
which the teacher read the whole paragraph at normal speed, then puts key words from the
paragraph on the board, and students are required to rewrite the paragraph from their
recollection and the key words. Freer activities include writing based on a text or on oral
presentation. In the former, students are provided with a paragraph as a model, then are
required to based on the paragraph and write a similar paragraph giving their own
information or information provided by the teacher. Oral presentation begins with class
activities when students make suggestions and the teacher builds up an outline, or a list of
key expressions, on the board.
In free writing, or self-writing, students have a certain amount of choice on the ideas, there
may be some few limitations like the length of the composition, or the topic chosen to write
about.
1.2.3. Teaching writing in ESL classes
Students need to be personally involved in writing in order to make the learning experience
of lasting value. Encouraging student participation in the exercise, while at the same time
refining and expanding writing skills, requires a certain pragmatic approach. The teacher
should be clear on what skills students are trying to develop. Next, the teacher needs to
decide on which means (or type of exercise) can facilitate learning of the target area. Once


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the target skill areas and means of implementation are defined, the teacher can then proceed
to focus on what topic can be employed to ensure student participation. By pragmatically
combing these objectives, the teacher can expect both enthusiasm and effective learning.
As Ann Raimes (1983) mentions that “When we learn a second language, we learn to
communicate with other people: to understand them, to talk to them, read what they have
written and write to them. Visitors to another country will often have to leave a note for the

mailman, fill out a customs declaration form, give written instructions, or write a thank you
letter.”
There is no better way for students to grasp the essential value of writing as a form of
communication than for them to produce the kind of practical writing that many people do in
their everyday life. Each piece of practical writing has both clear purpose and specific
audience: Messages, application forms, invitations, letters and instructions and the like.
1.2.4. Approaches to teaching English writing
There are several ways to approach writing in the classroom. It should be said at the
beginning that there is not necessarily any 'right' or 'best' way to teach writing skills. The
best practice in any situation will depend on the type of students, the text type being studied,
the school system and many other factors as Raimes (1983) points out “There is no correct
answer to question of how to teach writing in ESL classes. There are as many answers as
there are teachers and teaching styles, or learners and learning styles.”
Hereafter, several approaches are reviewed with a view to understanding the background
theory of current writing approaches to teaching writing in ESL classes.
1.2.4.1. The Product Approach
For a long time, Product Approach has dominated much of the teaching that happens in the
English classrooms. In this approach, focus is greatly placed on the linguistic knowledge,
with attention on the appropriate use of vocabulary, syntax, and cohesive devices.
As far as the Product Approach is concerned, learning to write has four stages:
familiarization, controlled writing, guided writing and free writing. The aim of this approach
is to enable students to produce similar texts. Brown (1994:320) states that learning is


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evaluated through text analysis of students’ work according to some criteria such as the
standard of rhetorical style, accurate grammar, and conventional organization.
The Product Approach to writing usually involves the presentation of a model text, which is
analyzed and the basis of a task that leads to the writing of an exactly similar or a parallel
text. Robinson (1991) summarizes the method in the following way:

MODEL TEXT →COMPREHENSION/ANALYSIS/MANIPULATION →
NEW INPUT → PARALLEL TEXT
The use of models for text analysis and as a basis for thinking about the purposes and
readership of a text can, however, have an important role to play in teaching writing. This is
especially true where the teaching of writing is integrated with the teaching of reading. The
situation where the writer looks at a model, or previous example, of a text he wishes to write,
and then adapts it for the specific purpose reflects what frequently happens in business or
academic writing
Therefore, this approach is totally teacher-centered and product or output-focused. The
weaknesses of the Product Approach is that process skills are given a relatively small role,
and that the knowledge and skills that students bring to the classroom are undervalued. In
short, product-based approaches see writing as mainly concerned with knowledge about the
structure of language, and writing development as mainly the result of the imitation of input,
in the form of texts provided by the teacher.
However, advantages of the Product Approach can not be denied, for this traditional
approach recognizes the need for students to be given linguistic knowledge about texts, so
students will have a clear idea about the organization of a particular text. And what’s more,
the Product Approach understands that imitation is one way in which people learn. It has
contributed greatly to the development of students’ vocabulary and structure and under some
circumstances it is very useful for practical teaching.
1.2.4.2. The Process Approach
Form the 1970s, in the light of the weakness of Product Approach, teachers are more
concerned about the Process Approach. As its term suggests, in the Process Approach, the


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focus of attention has shifted from the finished product to the whole process of writing:
experience and question, prewriting preparation, draft writing, editing and rewriting,
publication or sharing, and response and feedback from the readers. The very typical four
stages go as following: prewriting; composing/drafting; revising and editing.

In Process Approach, the teacher primarily facilitates the students’ writing, and providing
input or stimulus is considered to be less important. Writing development is seen as an
unconscious process which happens when teachers facilitate the exercise of writing skills.
The role of a teacher is as an education facilitator. The shift of focus and the change in the
teacher’s role necessitate greater emphasis on activities such as collaborative group work and
peer evaluation.
Since its foundation, the Process Approach has been widely accepted because it lays
emphasis on the writing process of writers. Compared to the Product Approach, the Process
Approach has undoubtedly made great improvements on practical teaching and provided
much thought for English teachers. However, the disadvantage of the Process Approach is
that it often regards all writing as being produced by the same set of processes; that it gives
insufficient importance to the kind of texts writers produce and why such texts are produced;
and that it offers learners insufficient input, particularly in terms of linguistic knowledge.
Ron White and Valerie Arndt are keen to stress that 'writing is re-writing; that revision
seeing with new eyes - has a central role to play in the act of creating text' (White and Arndt
1991: 5). In their model, process writing is an interrelated set of recursive stages which
include:
- Drafting
- Structuring (ordering information, experimenting with arrangements, etc.)
- Reviewing (checking context, connections, assessing impact, editing)
- Focusing (making sure you are getting the message across you want to get across)
- Generating ideas and evaluation (assessing the draft and/or subsequent drafts)
White and Arndt's model can be represented diagrammatically, as in Figure 1:


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Figure 1: Model of Process Approach

The teacher plays a greater role in this approach in providing input and consequently,

feedback during the revision and evaluation stages. The number of times this is done is not
restricted as writing is a recursive activity. The teacher’s response serves to provide support
for the students in the writing process as well as engage him/her in critical self-evaluation of
the written product. The teacher may also act as a source of input for the students, though
more advanced students can rely on their own sources of input from the library or the
Internet. But in the final analysis, the student has to consider, to a fair degree, the context of
the writing task. In summary, this approach informs us that writing essentially involves
thinking skills and knowledge of the various stages in the process to transform information
into coherently written texts.
Up to now, a conclusion can be made by Raimes that in the Process Approach, students do
not write on a given topic in a restricted time and hand in the composition for the teacher “to
correct”-which is usually means to find the errors. Rather, they explore a topic through
writing, showing the teachers and each other their drafts, and using what they write to read
over, think about, and move them on to new ideas.
Summarizing, it can be said that Process Approach sees writing primarily as the exercise of
linguistic skills, and writing development as an unconscious process which happens when
teachers facilitate the exercise of writing skills.
1.2.4.3. The Genre Approach


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Recent years have witnessed increased emphasis being placed on the notion of genre in the
language learning classroom and some genre-based teaching approaches have come into
being. However, there are strong similarities with product approaches and, in some ways,
genre approaches can be regarded as an extension of product approach.
Like Product Approach, Genre Approach regards writing as predominantly linguistic but,
unlike Product Approach, they emphasize that writing varies with the social context in which
it is produced. So, we have a range of kinds of writing- such as business letters, research
articles, and reports-linked with different situations .
In the ELT field, Dudley-Evans (1997:154) also identifies three stages in Genre approach to

writing. First, a model of a particular genre is introduced and analyzed. Students then carry
out exercises which manipulate relevant language forms and, finally, produce a short text.
To write in a particular genre, whether a formal report or a historical romance, the formal
patterns that shape a text must be aware of. Students need to be familiarized with the
schemata associated with the particular genres they will require. Genre analysis can therefore
provide the vocabulary and concepts to explicitly teach the text structures we would like our
students to produce. It places language at the center of writing development by allowing
shared understanding and explicit guidance. The Genre Approach offers students a relatively
fixed discourse model that they can use for reference, thus students will gain confidence in
producing a text that serves its intended purpose. On the other hand, as to the negative side,
the Genre Approach is prescriptive rather than descriptive, which is likely to lead to lack of
creativity and de-motivation in the learners. Students will feel this teaching approach boring
and in their practical writing, their products will be found stereotyped. Sometimes, the Genre
Approach may prove to be a text-centered approach, focused on the reproduction of the
product, rather than a student-centered one. What is more, in practical teaching, teachers can
not provide students with all sorts of genres in the classroom. Therefore, the Genre Approach
also has its limitations in the teaching of writing.
To sum up, with brief review of the thee approaches commonly applied in teaching writing
as Product, Process and Genre approaches, both advantages and drawbacks are defined and
looked into. Of course, there cannot be a single perfect approach to teaching students writing
especially writing their business writing. The question here is laid down to ESP teachers is


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that he should pick up the most advantageous strengths of each approach and appropriately
combine them into a synthetic approach so that the teaching and learning will be of
maximum effect. A synthesis of approaches will be suggested in Part C of this study.

1.3. Error classification
In order to give suggestion for an appropriate approach to teaching business correspondence

writing for English majors in Haiphong University, error identification is made because it is
one of the useful techniques in teaching-learning process.
Correction and Assessment are really in-separate because they both help the learners to
assess their learning and self-value their products. Error correction in writing is often made
on students’ written work such as homework, exercises, assignment.
In writing classes, students’ errors are often pointed out by teachers on different performance
aspects of a written task and then students will be shown the appropriate ways to improve .
Hereinafter we will look at different types of errors, including mistakes (Edge, 1989) as
follows:
Errors of meaning are language products that are correct in linguistic form but fail to mean
what the producer means to say. In comparison with errors of form, errors of meaning are
more difficult to be discovered and understood. Errors of meaning can also be pieces of
language with correct linguistic form but are socially unacceptable because they affect
understanding , they are more important than errors of form.
Errors of organization are involved in the text that fails to follow the conventional
organization which makes it easy to follow and pleasing to read.
Errors of presentation The errors in presentation involve those do not follow the
conventional format, lay-out of a cover letter as well as style, spacing, letter font or size.
Errors of language form, according to Ur (1996), are mainly referred to when teacher give
their feedback, which makes students believe that these are what matters. The first reason is
that “errors in spelling and grammar catch the eye and seem to demand to be corrected.”


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Additionally, students themselves always want their language errors to be corrected. And
one more possible reason is that language errors are much easier to be found out and
corrected than errors of contents and organization.
In short, all the above-mentioned errors should be paid much attention to because writing
skills require a combination of elements. For the wrong pieces that can be recognized as
mistakes, not errors, students should be encouraged to correct by themselves and hopefully

the repetition of these mistakes may be avoided. As for mistakes that are almost impossible
to be corrected in a short time as fossilized ones, there should be specially designed exercises
to raise the students’ awareness on the knowledge . And for those that are caused by the lack
of necessary knowledge, teachers need to provide students with the knowledge of right and
expected items. Based on the analysis of errors made by students during their learning
process an appropriate approach can be suggested and applied.


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CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY

2.1. A description of the current business course to be taught for English
majors in Haiphong University
2.1.1. The course syllabus
The Foreign Language Department of Haiphong University consists of 3 major subdivisions: The English, Russian and Chinese departments. Students who have passed the
national entrance exams will be sorted into two types of groups: The teacher training groups
and the remaining students will be in non-teaching groups. The ESP course is allocated for
the non-teaching groups only. After graduation, students of these groups will look for a job
in business or manufacturing enterprises and use their English for office work. That is why
they are supposed to learn a variety of ESP subjects such as: English for Education, English
for Finance and Banking, English for Economics, Business English, and so on, so that they
can obtain technical terms and specialized knowledge for their targeted subjects.
The time allocation for Business English course is as of the following:
Semester
IV

Credits Periods
3

3x15

(Business I)
V

Requirements
Introduce and practice basic skills and techniques for
business communications.

3

3x15

(Business II)

Develop and further practice the skills used in business
situations and greatly focus on business language
functions.

VI

2

2x15

Business correspondence writing

(Business III)
Business English is taught when students have obtained basic language skills in General
English like listening, speaking, reading and writing. Based on this syllabus, Business
English for students is aimed to help students:

-

To understand authentic Business texts

-

To use relevant Business language functions to business contacts


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To master their basic skills and techniques for writing business
correspondence and to produce simple but correct business letters, memos,
faxes and reports.

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To participate in business contexts giving personal information, exchanging
information and expressing opinions.

2.1.2. The business English course
Time allocation:

30 x forty-five minute periods

Course Objectives
-

To obtain fundamental overview of Business English Correspondence

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To Focus on writing Business letters, memos, reports and job applications

-

To practice some key office activities such as Job Seeking Process, dealing with
office problems, sending fax, emails, photocopying, etc.

Course Components
1. Business Letter Writing
2. Application Forms (Cover letters)
3. Curriculum Vitae/ Resume
4. Job interviews
5. Thank-you letters
6. Letters of complaints
7. Letters of Invitation
8. Letters of Reference
9. Letters of Resignation
10. Agreements & Contracts
Class features
The class size for Business English courses in Haiphong University is rather large, ranging
from 40 to 50 students per group due to the lack of infrastructure facilities and ESP teachers.
Contrary to other English language courses, the English courses for business communication
are content-based because it combines the teaching of language knowledge with the subject


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matter of business conventions. Within 30 periods, both fundamental knowledge and

practical skills on business affairs should be taught to students with a focus on writing
business correspondence, especially job-seeking procedures such as cover letters, curriculum
vitae, and job interviews.
Another feature of this course is the fact that all students are of semester VI/ third year
students of English majored department, which means that they have obtained basic
linguistic skills like reading, speaking, listening and writing. That is why they share the same
first language (Vietnamese) and the same level of foreign language (English). During the
class, the language used in teaching and learning is English. However, Vietnamese language
is sometimes used for the certainty of achievement of the content’s objectives and avoidance
of ambiguity.
The student assessment of the course is carried out in the form of a 60-minute written exam
to be held at the end of the term. Students have to present what they have learned as business
writing skills and do writing business correspondent test: writing a CV and a job cover letter.
Based on the exam results obtained, we have found that various kinds of mistakes have been
made and spotted students’ weaknesses when they encounter with business writing.
Therefore, this can be interpreted that the teaching and learning of business correspondence
writing have not been of success and therefore need much improvements.
2.1.3. Teaching business letter writing
In business communication, letters play a very important role in establishing and maintaining
business relationships, both within a company and with external contacts. To accomplish
this, many specific genres and sub-genres have been developed, which have been the object
of linguistic investigation and which are taught in specific courses, as great importance is
attributed to them in business studies. Moreover, this genre has a long-standing tradition, and
the study of its forms in differing historical contexts has pointed out its varying aspects and
its dynamic nature.
There are many modern communication methods available today, but the traditional business
letter remains an important means of sending printed messages. The business letter acts as an


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ambassador for the company, and also it conveys an impression of the company or of the
writer in many ways.
Developments in technology have made it possible to have instant communication all over
the world. Speed is now becoming the key to successful business communications. As a
result fax messages, e-mail are taking the place of many business letters. However, in many
aspects of life and work, nobody can deny the existence of written communications- one of
which is the use of application form or cover letter when you start your own job hunting
process.
As defined by Martin (1993:36), genres can be identified by their overall shape or generic
structure by the genre linguistic functions. Additionally, the communicative purpose can
decide some of the grammatical and lexical structures and other characteristics that make the
discourse type distinctive. A genre can be a general or large genre, that is when a genre
consists of several different genres.
The genre of business correspondence includes business letters like complaint letters,
invitation letters, job application letters, resignation letters, and some other business letters.
The very purpose of all these sub-genres is doing business
Business letters belong to written business correspondence and must conform a number of
linguistic features of the genre. Business letters must be of standard written language, which
means correct use of grammar, spelling, vocabulary usage, and conventions of capitalization
and punctuation. Business letters are the basic means of communication between companies.
They are documents typically sent externally to those outside a company but is also sent
internally to those within a company.
Besides, the language used in business letters should be appropriate, or of appropriate style.
Business letters should be formal, concise, impersonal and informal language must be
minimized.
As Ann Raimes (1983) mentions that business letter writing also gives us the chance to deal
with a variety of forms and functions that are an essential part of language mastery. We write
letters to invite, inquire, explain, apologize, commiserate, congratulate, complain, order,
apply, acknowledge and thank, in other words for various social and business contacts.

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Once students have known the form of a business letter, they can be given communicative
writing tasks that lead them to practice useful form. The writing of business letters in the
classroom can be tied in a very neatly with lessons on the functions of language e.g. how to
make a complaint, job cover letter, letter of invitation, letter of resignation and so on.
As mentioned earlier due to the limitation of the scope of this study, the focus is on the steps
for writing a job cover letter:
Step 1: Defining the audience and purpose:
Personalize the letter and try to find out as much as possible about the
person/ the company you are writing the application form to.
Step 2:

Creating a work plan: gather information about the company, the job
applied, work experience, education background.

Step 3: Collecting and evaluating data
Step 4: Working out an out line
Step 5: Writing draft version
Step 6: Revising the letter
Step 7: Proofreading, finalizing and start writing

2.2. The survey
2.2.1. Target Population
The survey was carried out with the cooperation of one class (42 English majors) namely
K5B. They are third-year students of English department. They are in their early twenties
ranging from 21 to 23 years of age. The Business English course for those students began at
the beginning of December 2006 and completed in April 2007. The course is obligatory to
all students of the class.
These 42 students had to take part in the national entrance exam in which English accounts

for one third of the exam score. This means that these students studied English when they
were at high school for three to seven years. For the first five semesters, they were provided
with General English in language skill practice such as listening, speaking, reading,


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listening, which is why they have obtained certain basic language skills especially writing
skills when they started the Business English.
2.2.2. Objectives of the survey
The survey was conducted with a view to:
-

Finding out students’ background and motivation to learn business English

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Finding out students’ opinions about the current teaching approach of
Business English course in Haiphong University

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Finding out difficulties students have encountered and then possibly
analyzing mistakes made through their writing tasks

2.3. Data collection procedures
2.3.1. Need analysis questionnaire survey
In order to achieve the objectives of the study, a survey questionnaire on the above said
study will be made and given to students. The content is designed carefully so that when
they are collected all data answered will be easily analyzed.
Questionnaires were chosen as a data collection instrument in this study as it was the best

way to gather objective responses. According to Gillham (2000) and Nachmias (1996), the
respondents are not put under pressure of time i.e. they answer the questions in their own
time and at their own pace, and in an anonymous style of responding, they undoubtedly feel
free and comfortable to answer questions and give reliable responses, therefore, the
information collected was objective and reliable.
2.3.2. Questionnaire
The content of the questionnaire consists of :
SECTION I: Background Information and Motivation of the students’
English and Business studying. This section includes four questions on students’
interest, purpose for future profession, and the number of students in the class


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SECTION II: Business English / Business correspondence course There are
eight questions about the Business English course and related issues as learning
difficulties, materials, time allocation, and students opinions about the course’s
strengths or weaknesses.
SECTION III: Writing Approaches
The questions in this section are used to check or point out the most suitable
approach for teaching and learning business letter writing. Also their opinions
about teaching performance, classroom activities are required.
SECTION V: Error Identification
Questions regarding students’ reaction on error recognition, identification and
correction.
2.3.3. Procedures
The questionnaire was designed based on the objectives and purposes of the survey and then
questionnaire papers were delivered to students and collected a week later. The respondents
were informed of the purposes of the questionnaire and the way to answer the questions. The
results of the questionnaire were summarized in tables and figures.
2.3.4. Limitation

Though almost all of students have completed the questionnaires given, we can not be quite
sure that they truly reflect their genuine attitudes and thoughts. Partly, this is due to the
anonymous questionnaires or they feel quite free to complete it. However, with quite clearly
mentioned purposes to students, we strongly hope to rely on the reliability of the survey

2.4. Error analysis of cover letters written by students
Due to the limitation of time, in this study the researcher will only conduct the survey and
analyze students’ outputs through their practical writing on the subject of cover letters.
After the students have obtained lectures on writing cover letters (format, lay-out, checklist,
writing tips), have been given with cover letter samples and also they have done some


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practice exercises (e.g. gap filling, letter rearrangement, drafting letters), they were asked to
write cover letters in response to a real-life job advertisement and then all their products
were collected and checked for error analyses.
Students have to write their personal cover letters in response to the following Job
Advertisement:
Haiphong Daily Newspaper
# 2436/ April 17, 2007
******************
JOB OPPORTUNITY
A 100% Japanese invested company requires a bilingual secretary for their
manufacturing factory in Nomura-Haiphong Industrial Zone. The candidates must
be bilingual in English and Japanese; one or more other Asian language would be
welcome (e.g. Chinese preferable).
Competitive salary, chances of promotion and overseas training, are offered to 18-22
year olds with excellent secretarial skills, the ability to communicate and an outgoing
personality.
Applications with recent passport photos as well as CVs addressed to the

Administration Dept. (Mr. Kohno Takeuchi-Personnel Manager), are welcome.

After all the cover letters written by the students have been collected, the analysis will be
made in order to find out whether they will be the source for the answer to the questions the
study was intended to answer.

CHAPTER THREE: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
I will make use of the data analysis approach provided by Strauss and Corbin (1990), in
which the researcher who is concerned with accurately describing what he has understood,
reconstructing the data into recognizable reality for the people who have participated in the


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study. Therefore, I will combine my understanding of the process teaching writing in the
university that I select and the view provided by the teachers to arrive at certain
interpretations. Based on that, I will suggest some implications or suggestions for the
implementation of teaching writing application forms.
In the following, the study data will be presented and an analysis of these data will be made

3.1. Need analysis questionnaire survey
3.1.1. Students’ background and attitude towards the business course
The total number of questionnaire respondents is 42, of which 6 are male and 36 are female
with the average age of 22.
Based on the result of the survey, it can be said that the English majors have high and
positive attitude towards learning English as most respondents (38/42) accounting for 90%
say that they study English for finding a good job in the future. The remaining accounting
for 10% claim that they study English for other purposes such as traveling, overseas study or
others.
As far as motivation is concerned, 83% of the respondents find English very essential for
their future job and career advancement. Meanwhile, only 14% of them have a very short

term target as to pass the English examinations only.
In short, we can find that approximately 85% of the respondents have positive views towards
the learning and teaching of English language among English majors.

14%

3%

Future Job
Exam driven
Others

83%


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Figure 2: Students’ motivation towards English language
3.1.2. General opinions of the course
For this section the question was: “What do you think of the business course?” Out of the 42
respondents, there are 27 ticks (accounting for 64%) for the box “Interesting” and 10 ticks
(accounting for 24%) in the box “Very Interesting”. The other 5 ticks are for “No Idea” or
“Boring”.
We can see that around 88% of the students surveyed showed their interest in learning
English-especially business course. The answer is that they really need Business English for
their future job after their graduation. The office work will deal with various kinds of both
spoken and written language and that is why they need professional English for their job.
Figure 3 below shows the students’ awareness of the usefulness of the Business English
course. However, this may be different from the real needs in their future.
12%

24%

Very interesting
Interesting
No idea

64%

Figure 3: Students’ general opinion of Business English course
3.1.3. The necessity of business English course
We can reason their opinions on the course by analyzing the necessity of the course over
their short term and long term objectives. The reason why they find the course important and
interesting is that they all find that the course contents are very useful and practical for their
future profession when they start to work in company offices. As questioned “How do you
find the role of the course to your future career?” 37 out of 42 respondents claim that the
course is important and very important to them, accounting for nearly 90%. Figure 4 will
show the necessity of the Business course


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Very important & Important
No idea
12%

88%

Figure 4: The necessity of business English course
3.1.4. Difficulties faced by the English majors in Haiphong University
When we ask students to give their opinions about the level of difficulty of the course, 76%

thinks that the course is of medium level and the remaining 24% finds the course difficult.
Perhaps, the reason here is, apart from the common social and cultural topic their knowledge
and experience on business matters remain limited. That is why when they come across with
a new subject they find this quite a challenge.
Additionally, the time allocation for the course is rather short: 30 forty-five minutes periods
(50% say that it is quite a short time and 50% think it is medium)

24%

Medium
Difficult

76%