Writing
Business Writing Essentials
- Basic E-mail and Letter Writing
Tue. 2nd. Period Stephen Hofstee
Keywords:
Business English, Grammar, Vocabulary, Writing, Business Writing, Formatting, Product Writing

Delivery: Fully online (授業の実施形態: 完全オンライン)

  • Students will be asked to have their cameras on during live sessions.

Description

This course is a writing course suitable for students with a TOEFL Paper-Based Test score of up to 459, or students who have successfully completed the Gateway English course.  It is designed to equip students with the ability to compose different kinds of business correspondence. Students are exposed to and practice various phrases, format, and content usually found in standard business writing, both in class and for homework.  At the end of the course, students should have the ability to write standard business e-mails, letters, reports, and memos.

Designed as a product writing course, students will be encouraged to mimic a model text such as a formal letter and students' attention is drawn to the importance of the language used.  This is followed by controlled practice of the highlighted features.  At the end of the learning process, students should be able to use the skills, structures, and vocabulary they have been taught to produce the product.

All homework and tests will be done online through Moodle.  All tasks, exercises and activities during class will be done on a keyboard, so students will be required to bring a computer to class every lesson.

This course is best suited for students who:

  • have TOEFL scores between 425 and 459
  • are comfortable taking instruction and participating in English
  • are happy to perform pair and group work
  • are keen work hard to develop more native-like writing skills

Instructions:

  • In addition to regular participation both in class and on-line, students must complete all assignments (and complete them in a timely manner) to pass the course.
  • Students must pay attention to this university’s attendance regulations in this class.
  • Some or all of the homework for this course will be online, and or uploaded in digital format. Students enrolling in this course will require access to a computer or at least a smart phone, and the internet. On occasion, students may be required to bring a computer to class.
  • As 30% of the grade for this course comes from participation, students enrolling in this course will be required to actively participate in pair work and small-group discussion and be prepared to talk in class.

Feedback:

Feedback for this course will be provided by the instructor verbally during class, online through Moodle, or by e-mail. Homework will be checked and graded, and feedback given automatically through Moodle or from the teacher either by e-mail or verbally. The final test will be an online quiz graded automatically by Moodle and manually by the teacher. Periodic updates on each student's grade condition will be provided by the instructor.


Objectives:

This course will focus on helping learners develop and practice techniques for writing business e-mails and letters in the right format, in the right tone and in the right register.

Other objectives include:

  • increasing vocabulary
  • improving grammar
     


Attendance and Participation: 30%
Homework: 50%
Final Achievement Test: 20%


1

Session 1 (Tue. 6 Oct. ‘20)

Course Introduction, Class Rules, and Moodle Enrollment

2

Session 2 (Tue. 13 Oct. ‘20)

Writing Effectively and Accurately

3

Session 3 (Tue. 20 Oct. ‘20)

Business Letter Format and Structure

  • Homework 1

4

Session 4 (Sat. 24 Oct. ‘20)

E-mails and Netiquette

  • Homework 2

5

Session 5 (Tue. 27 Oct. ‘20)

Common E-mail Greetings, Opening Sentences, and Closings

  • Homework 3

6

Session 6 (Tue. 3 Nov. ‘20)

Inquiries

  • Homework 4

7

Session 7 (Tue. 10 Nov. ‘20)

Replies

  • Homework 5

8

Session 8 (Tue. 17 Nov. ‘20)

Suggestions, Opinions, Agreement, and Disagreement

  • Homework 6

9

Session 9 (Tue. 24 Nov. ‘20)

Complaints

  • Homework 7

10

Session 10 (Tue. 1 Dec. ‘20)

Apologies

  • Homework 8

11

Session 11 (Sat. 5 Dec. ‘20)

Congratulations and Thanks

  • Homework 9

12

Session 12 (Tue. 8 Dec. ‘20)

Formal Reports

  • Homework 10

13

Session 13 (Tue. 15 Dec. ‘20)

Proposals, Informal Reports, and Memos

14

Session 14 (Tue. 22 Dec, ‘20}

Final Test

15

Online Session - Assignment (Due by 12:40 on Tuesday, 22 December 2020)

Editing


This is a writing course, so there will be a lot of writing, but I am sure that you will also have some fun.  There is opportunity to practice some of your speaking skills, and as this course is computer based, you are able to review lessons at home very easily. Some of the learning for this course is done through sharing connections with other students. It is possible for a learning exercise, even a writing task, to become an opportunity for social interaction and further learning through others’ experiences.