HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH CODE: 14 GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH STUDY SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING FORMAL/BUSINESS LETTERS EFFECTIVELY FOR THE 2ND-YEAR STUDENTS Supervisor : Le Thi Vy, M.A Student : Hoang Thi Luong Hoa Date of birth : 10.01.1994 Course : K19A03 (2012-2016) Hanoi – 2016 Graduation Paper DECLARATION Title:SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING FORMAL/BUSINESS LETTERS EFFECTIVELY FOR THE 2ND-YEAR STUDENTS I certify that no part of the above report has been copied or reproduced by me from any others’ work without acknowledgements and that the report is originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor Hanoi, 15 April, 2016 Student Signature Supervisor Signature Full name Full name Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Graduation Paper ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS At this stage of research accomplishment, I would like to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor M.A Le ThiVy for the useful comments, remarks and guidance through the learning process of this graduation thesis Furthermore, I would like to thank all teachers at the Faculty of English of Hanoi Open University for the great and interesting lectures which give me a sound basis with useful knowledge for the fulfillment of this graduation thesis Moreover, special thanks are given to my parents and all of my friends for all the material as well as moral support during my graduation thesis writing period Hanoi, 15 April, 2016 Hoang Thi Luong Hoa Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Graduation Paper TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims and objectives of the study Scope of the study Research questions Methods of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 An overview of letters 1.1.1 Definition and history of letter 1.1.2 Formal/Business Letter Definition 1.1.3 The importance of formal/business letters 1.2 Formal/Business letter format 1.2.1 Parts of a complete formal/business letter 1.2.1.1 Sender’s address 1.2.1.2 Date 1.2.1.3 Reference line 10 1.2.1.4 Recipient’s address 10 1.2.1.5 Attention line 11 1.2.1.6 Salutation 11 Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Graduation Paper 1.2.1.7 Subject line 11 1.2.1.8 Body 12 1.2.1.9 Complimentary close 12 1.2.1.10 Signature 13 1.2.1.11 Enclosure 13 1.2.2 Margin and line spacing 13 1.2.3 Formal/Business letter layout 14 1.2.3.1 Block: 14 1.2.3.2 Modified block: 16 1.3 American and British Formal/Business letter comparison 17 1.4 Popular formal/business letters 18 1.4.1 The order letters 18 1.4.2 The inquiry letters 19 1.4.3 The complaint letters 20 1.4.4 The adjustment letters 21 1.4.5 The refusal letters 22 1.4.6 The resignation letters 22 1.4.7 The sales letters 23 1.5 Summary 24 CHAPTER II THE ANALYSIS OF SOME COMMON MISTAKES MADE BSTUDENTS IN WRITING FORMAL/BUSINESS LETTER IN BRITISH STYLE 25 2.1 Format mistakes 36 2.2 Planning mistakes 38 2.3 Language mistakes 39 2.4 Summary 44 Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Graduation Paper CHAPTER III SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING A FORMAL/BUSINESS LETTER EFFECTIVELY 45 3.1 Suggestions 45 3.2 Summary 50 PART C: CONCLUSION 51 REFERENCES Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale English is a universal language People from different nations learn English and consider it as a medium for them to communicate There is no doubt that English is exactly the most popular language in the world In addition, English is the language of communication between the people from different cultures Moreover, English is the language of science and technology.Thanks to the popularity of English, most of the schools, colleges, universities worldwide have added English into their curriculum as one of the major subjects In learning English, beside speaking skill, listening skill and reading skill, writing is one of the most important And writing formal letters is one of the compulsory skills on university curriculum Second-year students, however, seems to be so equivocal about the ways to write them This actuality needs examining to give the best advices and suggestions to achieve the effective writing letter skill Aims and objectives of the study This study aims to analyze the reality based on the research and give several effective pieces of advice as well as suggestions for the 2nd-year students in writing formal letters In addition, the hitches concerned would be cleared up and mentioned in the study Scope of the study In fact, writing formal letters is necessary for all ages at every grade At the younger ages, we could write some simple letters such as invitation, congratulation or apology letters, etc At the elder ages, we could learn how to write letters in a higher level that require more details Eventually when we Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page have grown up, writing letter concerning to work or jobs is an essential skill However, the study only focuses on discussing the 2nd-year students’ problems in writing formal letters Research questions Some questions made to clear up the problems needing tackling are: - What is a formal/business letter? - How important a formal/business letter is? - What are the requirements in writing a formal/business letter? - What are the common difficulties in writing formal/business letters for 2nd-year students? - What are the solutions for students writing formal/business letters effectively? Methods of the study A host of methods have been applied to complete this graduation paper: Collected references, books and websites related Moreover, this research on writing formal letters is carried out by analyzing methods and comparative methods in the hope that learners could realize and understand the best way to improve it A survey questionnaire is conducted for the 2nd-year students with a point of view to find out their recognition, attitudes, evaluation of the matter and the difficulties they encounter Besides, information in the research was collected from many sources so that learners will get broad knowledge in order to apply successfully into their study Design of the study The study includes three parts: Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page Part A is the Introduction This part is the routines required for a graduation thesis, namely rationale, aims and objectives, scope, research questions, methods and design of the study Part B is the Development which includes three chapters: Chapter I is the Theoretical background This chapter refers the theory of letters in general and formal letters or business letters in particular such as definition, layout, format, etc Chapter II is the Analysis of some common mistakes made by students in writing formal/business letter in British style This chapter provides the analysis of some common mistakes made by students while writing a formal/business letter in British style Chapter III is the Suggestions for writing a formal/business letter effectively This chapter recommends several suggestions and solutions for students to have better formal/business letter writing skill The last part is the Conclusion This part is the summary of all the presented study in the previous parts It is followed by the reference used in the thesis Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND This chapter refers the things concerning the theory of letters in general and formal letters or business letters in particular Students could find out the exact answers for their questions in the format and layout of formal/business letters Several popular kinds of formal/business letters are mentioned as well 1.1 An overview of letters 1.1.1 Definition and history of letter A letter is a written message from one party to others containing information Letters guarantee the preservation of communication between both parties They bring friends or relatives closer together, enrich professional relationships and provide a satisfying means of self-expression Letters contribute to the protection and conservation of literacy, which is the ability to write and read ( Blake and Bly , 1993) Historically, letters have existed from the time of ancient India, ancient Egypt and Sumer, through Rome, Greece and China, up to the present day During the seventeenth and eighteenth century, letters were used to selfeducate Letters were ways to practice critical reading, self-expressive writing, polemical writing and exchange ideas with like-minded others For some people, letters were seen as a written performance For others, it was not only seen as a performance but also as a way of communication and a method of gaining feedback Letters make up several books of the Bible Archives of correspondence, whether for personal, diplomatic, or business reasons, serve as primary sources for historians.(Kazhdan,1991) Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page number 3, and 10 The most common words students make abbreviation to are: - is/am/are: I’m, He’s, They’re - would/will: She’d like , It’ll - has/have/had: She’s, I’ve, We’d - and: &, n The writer should be aware that the abbreviation is not allowed to be applied in a formal/business letter However, there are certain words that could be written in short-form The author has listed several kinds of abbreviation which are used in a formal/business letter • Titles abbreviations: - Mr - Mister - used when addressing men - Messrs - used when addressing two or more men, as in Messrs Smith and Wesson - Mrs - Misses - used for women if you are sure that they are married and for those who not prefer another title - Ms - used for women, regardless of their marital status Usually the safest bet - Dr - Used with addressees who you know have earned a doctorate, not only in medicine • Time and date abbreviations: - a.m (am) - ante meridiem = before midday - used with a 12-hour clock - p.m (pm) - post meridiem = after midday - used with a 12-hour clock Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page 40 - BC - Before Christ - used to denote years prior to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth - AD - Anno Domini - used to denote years after the birth of Jesus of Nazareth • Formal widely used abbreviations: - ASAP - as soon as possible - attn - attention: to show that a letter is for the attention of a particular person - BYOB - bring your own bottle: used on invitations to show that you should bring your own beverage to a party - cc - used on a business letter or e-mail to indicate that a copy of a given letter is being sent to the person mentioned - c/o or c/- - care of: used in the address on a letter or parcel that you are sending to someone at another person’s house - encl - enclosed or enclosure: used at the top or bottom of a letter to show that an attachment has been included in the letter - FAO - for the attention of: written in front of someone’s name on a document, letter, or envelope to show that it is intended for them - FYI - for your information: written on a business letter or e-mail to show that it is being sent to someone for their information only; they are not expected to reply or take any action - pp - on behalf of - written in front of someone’s name when you are signing a letter for them - PPS - written before a note at the end of a letter, after the PS note Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page 41 - PS - postscript: used for introducing some additional information at the end of a letter after you have signed your name - PTO - please turn over: used at the bottom of a page to indicate that there is a second page (informal) - RE - used in business letters to introduce their subject matter - ref - reference: used in a business letter when you are giving the numbers and letters that show exactly which document or piece of information you are writing about - RSVP - used on written invitations to ask the invited person to confirm their attendance • Other abbreviations - a/c - account - appar - Apparently - bus - business - cf - compare (Latin: confer) - comm - commerce - Corp - Corporation - dt - date - e.g - for example (Latin exampli gratia) - et al - and other people (Latin et alii) - etc - and so forth (Latin et cetra) - i.e - in other words (Latin id est) - ibid - in the same book, chapter, page, etc (Latin ibidem) - Ltd Limited - nb - nota bene - NOO - not on original Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page 42 - P&P - postage and packing - pdd - probable date of delivery - PIN - postal index number or Personal Identification Number - SAE - stamped (self-) addressed envelope - yr - year - ZIP (code) - Zone Improvement Plan (used in US addresses after the state designation to assure delivery) (macmillandictionary.com) Besides, the mistakes most of students make in writing formal/business letter are grammar mistakes Students might be wrong in applying tense usage These mistakes appear in letter number 2, and The tense could not be suitable with the given circumstance Moreover, unsuitable tense is the most common one They often mistake past simple tense for present perfect tense or past perfect tense For example: - They have discussed the company’s problems for hours (and they will continued discussing) -> present perfect tense - They discussed the company’s problems hours ago (and the meeting ended 15 minutes ago) -> past simple tense - They had discussed the company’s problems before the manager decided to dismiss that secretary -> past perfect tense In short, students need to distinguish the three tenses Present perfect tense is used to describe unfinished actions that started in the past and continue to the present or a finished action with a result in the present Past simple tense is used to describe finished actions In addition, past perfect tense is used to express a completed action before something else in the past, to explain or Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page 43 give a reason for something in the past and as part of the third conditional Moreover, it is noted that the past simple is applied for past events or actions which have no connection to the present; the present perfect is used for actions which started in the past and are still happening now or for finished actions which have a connection to the present and we could not use the present perfect with a finished time word 2.4 Summary In conclusion, several common mistakes that university students usually make have been listed and divided into main kinds: format mistakes, planning mistakes and language mistakes In each part, the specific mistakes are shown The circumstances that may lead to these mistakes are mentioned as well The sample tests above might help students compare and recognize the mistakes more easily It is hoped that the explanation can answer the questions concerning formal/business letters in British style Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page 44 CHAPTER III SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING A FORMAL/BUSINESS LETTER EFFECTIVELY This chapter recommends several solutions and suggestions for university students to write an effective formal/business letter Solutions are given to help students avoid making mistakes in writing a formal/business letter Besides, some useful tips that would lead the writers to successful formal/business letters are given by the author as well 3.1 Suggestions The mistakes made by the students in the sample in Chapter II.are divided into main kinds: Format mistakes, Planning mistakes and Language mistakes The solutions for each kinds of mistakes is mentioned in the following paragraphs Firstly, the students ought to determine the format, layout and style of the letter which is required clearly before starting writing The different formats, layouts and stylescould make the students mistake in placing the information Therefore, they can give the redundant information or in the wrong places The right places and the requirements in each part of a formal/business letter are mentioned in 1.2.2 Besides, the recapitulated knowledge in 1.2.3 and1.3 can also help the students realize the right format and organization of a formal/business letter more easily The right orientation is the good first step for a perfect formal/business letter Secondly, the students should select the information more exactly and carefully The unnecessary information has to be removed On the other hand, the essential information has to be written fully The contact information is the kind of information which students often forget to write in the letter A Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page 45 good formal/business letter is the letter which has complete required information and mentions the main purpose and issue directly without rambling; however, it must not be too short or curt Besides, the document required to attach with the letter in the enclose need focusing to avoid missing important documents In a formal/business letter, the recipients might be requested to send enclosures (timetables, bills, invitation cards, etc.) Meeting the demand is an important action to develop the friendly relationship between two organizations or people through a formal/business letter Thirdly, the students must determine the differences between formal and informal language as stated in 2.3.to write a formal/business letter with suitable language Moreover, that is great to study and apply the terminology of a certain area into a formal/business letter which concerns That would show the profession and make good impression on the partner On the other hand, for the students making grammar mistakes, they have to make a revision on grammar: the sentences structures, vocabulary and their usage, the tenses, etc The practice will help them improve their knowledge to apply on writing formal/business letters Learning to write a formal/business letter is necessary for people However, in fact, many writers are surprised to find that with all their literary skills, they still have a lot of difficulty when it comes to business writing To perfect the art of writing formal/business letter, there are certain skills and strategies that need following • Preparation before writing Before writing the letter, the writers must determine their purpose and audience For the purpose, this will serve as the direction, the reference, and the path of the details And for the audience, it also will set the tone, the style, Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page 46 and structure of the letter Defining the purpose will set things right at the very beginning This leads them to the right ways to a formal/business letter with suitable planning, format and language Using the formula: “Who?What?-Where?-When?-Why?-How?” to anticipate any questions therecipient might ask Taking a few minutes to list all of the specific points needed covering is important This step makes the necessary information not to be missed and the letter will become more perfect with clear organization • Keep the letter short and simple This is probably the most important rule the writers have to keep in mind when writing formal/business letters Time is very precious to all people and if they see the letter long and dragging, there is a good chance that they will skip reading it altogether The writers should state the main cause in the first paragraph Going straight to the point, discussing the problem directly and trying to convey it in as few words as possible is necessary The flowery language is not helpful in this circumstance; on the contrary, it could frustrate the intents As mentioned above, the letter should be short, simple to understand but not curt or written with the language express the disrespect to the readers A good rule encouraged to apply is to keep the formal/business letter to a single page • Follow a standard format The content of a typical formal/business letter consists of an introductory paragraph, a bulleted list of details, and a conclusion that sums up the whole ideas If following this standard format, the writers cannot go wrong Also, they should clearly indicate what it is you are asking for or recommending in order to avoid any confusion or misinterpretation The different purposes or explanation should be separated into small paragraphs A good business letter Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page 47 must provide all relevant information in a clear and concise manner The clear organization in a letter helps reader have an overview of the discussing problems • Keep the writer’s focus on the reader's needs This is a tip for a successful negotiation through the formal/business letters The easiest way to grab someone's attention is to immediately let him/her know what he/she can gain by cooperating with the writer, as opposed to telling the other person what the writer need from him/her It will be helpful to put yourself in his/her position and imagine what it would be like receiving the letter Even if the purpose of the formal/ business letter is to ask for something, the writer should deliver it in a way that focuses on the reader's needs and interests The benefits will be the determinant to lead thetwo partners to agreement • Avoid using passive voice Using the active voice instead of the passive voice is to sound more assertive and powerful.Good writers use the active voice whenever they can In active sentences, people things - they act and interact The active voice is vigorous and brief, showing who acts and how In passive sentences, things are done - people are acted upon or, worse, disappear entirely In most contexts, the passive voice is vague and evasive, making your reader unsure who is doing what • Avoid using extremely big words Some people like using big words and technical jargon in an effort to impress the readers Unfortunately, this approach rarely works On the contrary, it only makes the writer appear arrogant Instead, the writers should try to keep Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page 48 the used words as simple as possible However, the writers ought to make sure they not oversimplify the language so as to insult the reader • Avoid jokes, humor, sarcasm and anecdotes Using humor or sarcasm in writing sets your tone, and the writers may come off as sounding unprofessional, uninformed, or just plain ridiculous Anecdotes, on the other hand, while interesting, are best saved for verbal communication because they waste the time of a business audience who just wants to get to the point • Eliminate negative words, using positive words The positive words are usually best for achieving the letter goals It does not mean that negative words have no position in letters Nevertheless, the writer should usually use positivewords for they emphasize the pleasant aspects of the situation and pave the way for desired reaction The words like refuse, unfortunately, unable to, cannot, mistake, problem, error, damage, loss, etc may imply unpleasant facts and stir up the reader’s resistance to the goals and run the risk of damaging goodwill As a result, it is advisable that the writer be highly wary of negative words or words with negative connotations • Separate the writer’s opinion into clear paragraphs As stated above, this is particularly important, especially in case the writers are writing a long formal/business letter In addition to using concise sentences, the writers should make sure to group them into paragraphs properly The writers had better avoid stringing sentence after sentence in a half-page paragraph This will only make the letter very difficult to read and understand Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page 49 • Proofread and edit the business documents No matter how perfect the writers think their letter may be, while the writers are writing it, there is always a chance that spelling, grammar, and typographical errors may be found in the sentences To make certain the punctuation, spelling and grammar are letter-perfect,except in the direct emergency, always take time to set the writing aside and come back to it.The writer should proofread immediately after writing, and then again hours or days later 3.2 Summary Generally, learning to write English formal/business letters often does not come easy to learners and may become adifficult problem if they not have a good learning method or use them improperly Therefore, some suggestions in writing a formal/business letter effectively are recommended by the author to give students good ways to write These tips could lead students to the right direction to have formal/business letters which meet the demands of the recipients and are written with full necessary information in suitable tone and language Besides, the solutions for the common mistakes made by students are also supplemented in this chapter The author hopes that these solutions and suggestions would be useful for students in writing a formal/business letter effectively Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page 50 PART C: CONCLUSION Nowadays, the communication demand has become more important than ever It is clear to see that people pay more attention to communicate not only in speaking but also in writing Therefore, letters have played an important role in daily life Besides, for certain special circumstances, people have to use formal/business letters which have polite tone and language with clear organization to express their requests or negotiation In the study, the author has given the basic theory of letters in general and formal/business letters in particular The main elements of a complete formal/business letters have been listed The information about the ideal linespacing or margin is mentioned as well Moreover, the definition and sample of their format and layout in the study would help students have clear understanding about formal/business letters It is noted that there are certain differences between formal/business letters in American and British style Students have to be careful in writing letters to avoid making mistakes of these two styles Several kinds of popular formal/business letters are introduced in the study for the students so that they can distinguish the differences between these ones to avoid making mistakes while writing formal/business letters To find out the common mistakes that students often make during writing formal/business letters, the author has selected and searched in the real tests of Hanoi Open University students The typical mistakes are shown clearly in the tests After collecting and classifying, the author has divided the mistakes into main kinds: format mistakes, planning mistakes and language mistakes The analysis of these mistakes in the study will help the student avoid making the same mistakes and they could write effective formal/business letters Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page 51 In addition, formal/business letters are different from other kinds of letter The students who have great literary skills still can make mistakes while writing them Formal/business letters have particular requirements in writing them: in language, format, layout and organization To have an effective formal/business letter, students have to write carefully and focusing on the main purpose and prevent from rambling The suggestions for an effective formal/business letter which are mentioned in the study would be really helpful for students They could lead students to the right direction to have formal/business letters which meet the demands of the recipients In conclusion, through the thesis, the author hopes that students would become competent in writing formal/business letters and could write them effectively Furthermore, writing formal/business letters is expected to be useful for the students in their future careers That would be the author’s honor to have a small contribution to the students’ schooling Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page 52 REFERENCES English materials Austin, J.L (1962) How to Things with Words Cambridge University Press Bovee, C.L et al (2001) Business Communication Essentials Prentice Hall Brien, D.O (2012).Little Redbook: Letter Writing Rupa& Co Publisher Dobson, A (1999) Writing Business Letters: How to Produce Day-ToDay Correspondence That Is Clear and Effective How to Books Ltd Kumar, A (2014) Better Letter Writing (Two Colour) Ramesh Publishing House Guffey, M.E (2003) Business Communication Thomson SouthWestern Guffey, M.E., Rhodes, K., Loewy, D.D., Rogin, P (2010) Business Communication: Process and Product Third Brief Canadian Edition Thomson-Nelson Lesikar, R.V (1991) Basic business communication Richard D Irwin Inc Locker, K.O (1992) Business and administrative communication Richard D Irwin Inc 10 Nelson, J (2013).Writing Impressive Business Letters Goodwill Publishing House 11 Newman, A.&Ober, S (2013) Business Communication: In Person, In Print, Online South-Western 12 Pandit, P.N (2013) Superb Letters (Two colour).Ramesh Publishing House Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) 13 Wolf, M.P & Kuiper,S (1984) Effective communication in Business South Western Publishing Company Vietnamese materials 14 ĐanVăn (2009) CáchViếtThưTiếngAnh NXB TổngHợp TP HồChí Minh TP HồChí Minh 15 HồngĐức (2010) HướngDẫnViếtThưTiếngAnhTrongGiaoDịchXãHộiHiệnĐại NXB ThanhNiên HàNội 16 HuyLiêm (2009) ThưTínTiếngAnh - LuyệnTiếngAnh KỹNăngViếtThư (Song ngữAnh - Việt) NXB HàNội HàNội Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Qua [...]... discussion The preparation in writing a business letter should be careful There are some particular important things we had better understand while writing a formal or business letter of our own 1.2.1 Parts of a complete formal/ business letter There are many parts in a complete formal/ business letter and all formal/ business letters have certain elements in common However, formal/ business letters, nowadays, are... in the chapter that there are certain differences between formal/ business letters in American and British style Students have to be careful in writing letter to avoid making mistakes of these two styles Furthermore, several kinds of formal/ business letter are mentioned in the chapter as well This chapter includes the basic knowledge and instructions so that the second year students could write formal/ business. .. know the name (If you do not know the of the recipient name of the recipient) Post script Abbreviation: Abbreviation: p.s PS or ps (Derek O B., 2012) 1.4 Popular formal/ business letters There are almost as many types of letters as there are reasons for writing This chapter isdevoted to a number of typical letters: the order letter, the inquiry letter, the complaint letter, the adjustment letter, the. .. with so that the students can find out the best way to arrange a formal/ business letter format In addition, the margin and line-spacing in a formal/ business letter also need paying much attention The space between lines and each information, part of a letter have to be written carefully and exactly Besides, there are two letter layouts for students to choose the most suitable one for the requirement... in business They provide valuable information and they serve a legal purpose Furthermore, formal letters which are used in business (business letters) promote and sustain good will, good relationships are formed and maintained through effective communication Properly written business letters give a positive impression of a company or individual The effects that various formal letters can have on their... thought that business letter would be a thing of thepast once the email and other technology seep into the offices This notion has so far beenproven false .Business letters are still in wide use and their importance has not been diminished tothe slightest.(A Kumar,2014) 1.2 Formal/ Business letter format Bertha J Naterop (1978) states that Business Letters are intendedfor students of commerce, for all people... varied as their purposes For instance, many letters are written to persuade someone to do something Letters also can call people to action For instance, in a company, the leader might draft a piece of correspondence meant to inspire her employees to meet a particular business goal for the year Business letters are the life blood of communication for any business There are manytypes of business letters. .. Heading Sender’s British Style American Style On the top right corner of According to the letter but the letter usually aligned to the left On the right of the letter On either the left or right of address Recipient’s the letter Both on the left of the address Date letter Day/Month /Year Month/Day /Year (On either the left or right (On the left of the letter) of the letter) Salutation Dear Mr/Ms + Surname,...1.1.2 Formal/ Business Letter Definition Formal letters refer to those which are used in a formal situation to discuss or exchange the opinions of the sender and the recipient Formal letters are used mainly in business field, between people, organizations or companies which involve in trading certain goods or services A business letter is usually a letter from one company to another, or between... coupon, instruction for convenient phone in orders and free delivery, or a Web address where the customer can download more information.(Guffey M.E., 2003 • Hoang Thi Luong Hoa – K19A03 – (2012 – 2016) Page 23 1.5 Summary In this chapter, the author has mentioned an overview theory of the letter and focused on formal/ business letters The detailed parts in formal/ business letters and their writing instruction