ABSTRACT This Graduation Paper deals with some common mistakes made by employees of Pullman Hanoi Hotel when replying business letters from their customers The paper is divided into four parts The fir[.]
ABSTRACT This Graduation Paper deals with some common mistakes made by employees of Pullman Hanoi Hotel when replying business letters from their customers The paper is divided into four parts The first part is the overview of the study The second part presents literature review of business correspondence The third part shows results of the research and final part is some suggestions for the problems The aim of this paper is to determine common mistakes in writing of Pullman Hanoi Hotel and give out solutions for them The methodology in this research is quantitative methodology with two data collecting techniques: questionnaire and document analyzing i Luan van ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor Ms Nguyen Bich Hong, who was really patient and supportive I would also like to thank Pullman Hanoi Hotel, especially all members of Front Office Department and Sales Department, who were willing to provide me with sample business correspondence for my analysis and supported me throughout my studies ii Luan van TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATION v LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vi CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Previous studies 1.3 Aims of the study 1.4 Research subjects 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Research methodology 1.7 Organization of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .5 2.1 An Overview of English Business Correspondence .5 2.1.1 The Definition of Business Correspondence .5 2.1.2 Meaning of Business Correspondence 2.1.3 Importance of Business Correspondence 2.1.4 Essential Qualities of a Good Business Correspondence 2.1.5 Format of a Business correspondence 2.2 Types of Business correspondence 13 2.2.1 Letter of Inquiry and Offer 14 2.2.2 Letter of changes and cancellation 14 2.2.3 Letter of complaint 14 iii Luan van 2.3 Common mistakes in replying to a business correspondence 14 PART 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS 16 3.1 Questionnaire 16 3.1.1 Participants 16 3.1.2 Purpose of survey questionnaire .16 3.1.3 Design of survey questionnaire .17 3.1.4 Data analysis 17 3.2 Document Analyzing 24 3.2.1 Analyzing results 24 3.2.2 Summary of the analysis 25 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 27 CONCLUSION 33 REFERENCES vii APPENDIX viii iv Luan van LIST OF ABBREVIATION Etc Et cetera Vân vân Vol Volume Tập No Number Số Sep September Tháng Pp Page Trang E.g Exempli gratia Ví dụ v Luan van LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES No Name Content Table 3.1 Table 3.2 Figure 3.1 The use of Salutation Clauses 19 Figure 3.2 The use of Complimentary Closes 20 Figure 3.3 Style of business letter 21 Figure 3.4 The use of Modal and Lexical verbs 22 Number of letters received by Pullman Hanoi Hotel Self- Assessment of English writing skills, basic grammar Page 16 18 The use of Complex and Simple Figure 3.5 sentences 22 Figure 3.6 The use of Passive and Active Voice 23 vi Luan van vii Luan van CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale Writing letter is a popular means of communication It appears in both formal types like letters of recommendation, resignation letters… and informal letters like Thank-you letters, regarding letters or even love letters Business letters in English are also popular in the world because English has become a global language and it is now used by many countries as the official means of communication Nevertheless, there is a fact that not everyone who speaks English can write a letter in English well, especially a commercial correspondence, because writing a letter requires the writer should make it natural, lively and persuasive Consequently, writing a successful letter is really a problem not only to students but also to employees in any enterprises During internship period in Pullman Hanoi Hotel, I realized that writing is a difficult skill It requires a basic background of English grammar and written experience In written English, writers always have to pay attention to many factors such as tenses, sentence structures, voice, etc Each of them plays an important role in making a correct letter As a result, I would like to conduct a research on some common mistakes made in commercial correspondence in Pullman Hanoi Hotel Moreover, I hope to find out solution for these mistakes to help employees improve their ability in dealing with customers and enhance the image as well as the quality of Pullman Hanoi Hotel 1.2 Previous studies There are some studies conducted on a similar subject Luan van Nguyen Linh Chi – FA1 – 99 of Hanoi University did an assignment on writing business letter In the research, she gathered some of the most useful techniques for writing a letterform in general and a commercial correspondence in particular Some common problems of students when writing a formal letter were shown (Mistake of format, Mistake of planning, Mistake of language usage) and she also given out recommendations to overcome those difficulties were also given out In another research of Larry Beason - Ethos and Error: How Business People React to Errors (College Composition and Communication Vol 53, No (Sep., 2001), pp 33-64), many variables were researched associated with negative reactions to errors appearing in business writing He examined how business professionals react to errors and came to a conclusion that although errors can hamper meaning, there is another important problem in how readers use errors to raise a negative image of a writer or organization 1.3 Aims of the study People write letters many times in their life: letters to friends, mother, father, letters of greeting, letters of congratulation, letters of consolation, etc However, when writing a formal letter, especially in English, they often encounter problems For this reason, I particularly want to make clear some common mistakes in my study with these following aims: Studying major types of business letters Indicating some common mistakes made by employees of Pullman Hanoi Hotel when writing business letters Finding solution for the mistakes to help them improve writing skill 1.4 Research subjects Subjects of this study are some common mistakes made in business letters written by employees from two departments of Pullman Hanoi Hotel: Front Office Luan van Department and Sales Department They are the ones who must reply letters form customers daily 1.5 Scope of the study Types of business letter in written English are rather various However, the research on all kinds of letters is too difficult for an undergraduate student like me Thus, in this research, I will concentrate on studying some common mistakes made in replying to three major types: Letters of Inquiry and Offer, Letters of Changes and Cancelation, Letters of Complaint They are three main types of business letter that Pullman Hanoi Hotel usually has to deal with 1.6 Research methodology This study is a quantitative research Two techniques used for collecting data are questionnaire and documents analyzing It was undertaken mostly in Front Office Department and Sales Department of Pullman Hanoi Hotel The questionnaire was distributed to 30 employees of the two departments about some common mistakes they often made in replying to business letters from their clients Other necessary information was taken from the textbook of Commercial Correspondence and various sources from the Internet 1.7 Organization of the study This paper provides a clear organization consisting four main parts: Chapter starts with an Overview of the study, including Rationale, Aims of the study, Research Subjects, Scope of the study, and Research Methodology and Organization of the study Chapter is Literature review which presents theories related to the study, consisting some main part as following: Luan van ... Inquiry and Offer 2.7.2 Letters of changes and cancelation 2.7.3 Letters of complaint Chapter shows data collected from Pullman Hanoi Hotel and Research Findings which are analyzed from the information. .. Rationale, Aims of the study, Research Subjects, Scope of the study, and Research Methodology and Organization of the study Chapter is Literature review which presents theories related to the study,... solution for these mistakes to help employees improve their ability in dealing with customers and enhance the image as well as the quality of Pullman Hanoi Hotel 1.2 Previous studies There are some