THE USEFULNESS OF TEACHING BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE

Horea Ioana
Universitatea din Oradea, Facultatea de ŞtiinŃe Economice, Catedra de Afaceri InternaŃionale, PiaŃa CetăŃii
nr.28, ap.45, Oradea, tel.: 0359 802490, e-mail: ihorea@uoradea.ro
A subject once much discussed but lately more and more neglected is that of business correspondence. Taught
intensively to students of economics, for a while, it now loses ground and tends to become extinct as a school
subject. The necessity of studying the way of laying out and the manner of writing business formal letters is
nevertheless unquestionable when it comes to the preparation and qualification of future economists.
Key words: Business English, written communication, types of business letters, standard elements and phrases

Oral and written communication in Business English

There is a big difference between oral and written communication in English, let alone in Business English. The
first step in preparing for writing business letters is understanding the importance of, and acquiring the skills of
correct spelling.
Accuracy is more relevant in writing than in oral communication, where mistakes can be even charming. Formal
letters are even less the place to be negligent or shallow.
Concise but complete, clear, concrete and correct, curt but still courteous are basic attributes to be pursued when
embarking for the production of written communication in Business English.
These letters are only effective if they are able to keep good relationships and at the same time to trigger some
desired action usually not very facile to acquire even in oral or informal communication.

Particularities of business letters

While in teaching Business English there is a major accent on the vocabulary and the specific structures used in
the economic fields, in general, the Business correspondence is somewhat different, implying a particularization,
in what it is concerned mostly with specific situations that make allowance for or require communication
through letters.
Teaching business correspondence has one complex and distinct objective: providing information on how to use
an already assimilated – and not exaggeratedly extended – business lexical material, in a tactful and official
manner, in accurate writing of complete, effective and correct formal letters, skilfully selecting the most
appropriate phrases and ways of addressing – from the several standard phrases that are to be well mastered – all
these with a view to produce an expected effect on the recipient of the letter (business partners or people with
whom the writer may be involved in the course of performing his/her business activities).
In business letters, there is a behavioural component that has to be highly considered - the accurate manner and
the need for tact and capacity of producing a meaningful and effective formal means of communication. Besides
this, there are some strict, concrete, aspects that are to be known and applied when engaging in writing a
business letter. Such are: the typical phrases that have to be used in certain situations, in typical circumstances,
and the necessary parts of the letters, precise elements baring particular functions, that must be positioned
flawlessly - as these official letters are supposed to follow a given format.
Here are some typical situations of business relationship that may have to be met at a point by any economist,
circumstances implying usage of certain phrases and conception of the letter accordingly: starting an initial letter
or a response letter, good news, bad news, requests, enclosures, complaints, apologies, orders, offers, payment
reminders, appointments, concluding. Each context requires peculiar formulae that have to be known by the
person appointed to write that letter, thus the need to learn the special phrases is doubtless.

The parts of a letter

As for the parts of the business letter here are, in a nut-shell (table 1), the constitutive elements of this sort of
correspondence and the components of the communication – of the body of the letter – in accordance to the
features of the letter (table 2):

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 Opening line
Heading First
Date Reply
Reference line Acknowledgement
Inside address Conveying message
Salutation Agreement
Subject line Disagreement
Body of the letter Closing
Complimentary close General
Signature Thanks
Initials and postscripts Wish for cooperation
Enclosures Recommendation
Apologies
Table 1 Table 2

Main topics of teaching business letters

Among the most important types of business letters some are to be marked as basic, they representing the main
topics of teaching this subject.

Prior to concluding contracts

First, there is the pre-contractual correspondence: inquiry letters, demand or order letters, offers and all the
subsequent letters that may drive from these. Business letters are widely used in the stages before concluding a
contract, in order to establish general facts about the products which shall constitute the subject of the contracts,
to introduce the various aspects necessary to be agreed upon and clarified in advance of that step, or to present
intentions of entering business from the various parts of the future partnership, in connection to the object of the
particular trade, for instance.

Such are, let’s say:

− the inquiry letters (asking information previous to demands, as requests for offers),
− the offer itself
o presenting new products to former customers or
o the market entrance of new companies, announcing all firms existent on the market in that
particular field of trade,
− or the letters sent in connection with orders
o the order proper, demanding certain products as previously consulted or seen in sample
catalogues, presentations or offer correspondence,
o the acknowledgement and
o the reply concerning the order letters.

Contractual clauses and alterations

Then, doing business is a dynamic activity this implying possible changes that have to be informed and notified
in order to maintain good relationship between partners and proper functioning of the business affairs. Hence,
clients or partners have to be announced of the modifications occurring and this is usually done by letters from
those entitled to certify this information. Thus, we may talk about letters of announcement or notifications.
On the other hand, there are contractual clauses that are often breached and consequently letters of complaints
will be quite frequent. There are different reasons for complaint and they will account for a classification of the
complaint letters.
According to the reason of the claim, there may be letters of complaint: about quality, quantity, packing,
carriage, damaged goods, delay in delivery, price, invoicing and letters of collection of overdue accounts or
reminders (first, second and third).
We shall note, nevertheless, that there are several types of letters concerning the subject, varying in accordance
with the sender and the content of the letter, inasmuch it may be a first letter or a response and, furthermore, the
latter may be a neutral, a positive or a negative one. In this respect there are:
− either sent by the customer or beneficiary:
o letters of complaint (the proper, simple letters stating the problem noticed)
− or sent in response, by the supplier:

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 o acknowledgement letters (not necessary in themselves - only stating the note of the problem
and the decision of seeing to the matter - but if they appear they are compulsorily followed or
completed by another, positive or negative, response)
o adjustment letters (giving positive solutions to the acknowledged fault)
o rejection letters (denying the alleged irregularities)
o confirmation letters (certifying certain facts)

Other specialized business letters

Correspondence is also needed in more specialized economic fields, as transportation, insurance and banks,
where cover letters accompany other documentation and are used in all the phases of the particular activities
characteristic to these domains. These are very much specialized and demand knowledge of a more peculiar
vocabulary and comprehension of the various factual situations implied.
As for the transportation, we may encounter letters concerning the following: shipping instructions, freight
discussion or inquiry, advice of dispatch, notifications from charterer to broker.
In what the insurance is concerned, the letters may be: requests for insurance, inquiry for insurance rate, letters
of indemnity a.s.o.
Banking operations can trigger correspondence such as: customer's requests of an overdraft, status inquiry,
mistaken account warning, asking for reference, the bank's replies to these, bills of exchange, payment orders,
documentary credit letters etc.
Finally, when applying for jobs, there are the application letters that need to be edited. Classified into objective
letters or highlight letters they may follow a functional or a thematic approach, but they all shall provide the
potential employee with the personal information he/she expects and needs to find, persuasively presented,
concisely conceived and accurately displayed. They have to accompany the CVs, but are less complicated and,
regularly, quite sufficiently discussed even in the stages before beginning the economic studies, as they are
needed for all but the most insignificant jobs.

Conclusion
An effective economic society, like the newly European integrated Romanian one, needs to be globally oriented
and based on solid and open business relationships, assuring valid channels of communication on the specific
matters, one of which being represented by the various types of letters.
In all fields of economy there may develop situations of such nature as to require, at a certain point, the
production of a business letter. Knowing the ins and outs of this activity is really useful for a future economist.

References:
1. King F.W., Cree Ann D., - "English Business Letters, Commercial Correspondence for Foreign
Students", revised by David O’Gorman, Longman House, Harlow, 1994.
2. Guillén-Nieto V., Williams J., - "Writing Strategies for Business Communication", Editorial Aqua
Clara, Alicante, 2004.
3. Horea I., - "Business Correspondence in Drills", Editura UniversităŃii din Oradea, Oradea, 2004.

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