A study on how to improve customercomplaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company Limited

A study on how to improve customercomplaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company Limited A study on how to improve customercomplaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company Limited A study on how to improve customercomplaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company Limited A study on how to improve customercomplaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company Limited A study on how to improve customercomplaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company Limited A study on how to improve customercomplaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company Limited A study on how to improve customercomplaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company Limited A study on how to improve customercomplaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company Limited A study on how to improve customercomplaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company Limited A study on how to improve customercomplaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company Limited A study on how to improve customercomplaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company Limited A study on how to improve customercomplaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company Limited

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY ENGLISH FACULTY - -

GRADUATION PAPER

TOPIC:

A STUDY ON HOW TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER-COMPLAINT RESPONSE WRITING SKILLS FOR STAFF AT JET DELIVERY

LOGISTICS VIETNAM COMPANY LIMITED

HANOI - 2021

Over hundreds of years of development and integration, English has become a popular language and it is internationally recognized, used as a common language Currently, if graduates want to have a well-paid job, they have to learn English This

is an important factor in Viet Nam

In order to complete the graduation paper, the author had a chance to intern in JDL Vietnam Limited Company, where the author found the current situation of using business correspondence as well as errors of employees Therefore, the author

decided to choose the study “A study on how to improve customer-complaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company Limited”.

Based on the results from the study, the author would like to analyze

problems, reasons and give some recommendations, suggestions, and work outright solutions to deal with the difficulties in customer-complaint response writing skills The author hopes that students will have awareness of the customer-complaint response writing skills and find new ways to overcome all the difficulties faced during intern as well as work at the company in the future

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor– Mrs Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc - one of the enthusiastic lecturers for the valuable guidance and encouragement Mrs Ngoc, along with her sharing and feedbacks, has been my inspiration as well as motivation to overcome all the obstacles and

difficulties during the process Without any help of her, I can hardly finish this graduation thesis

Secondly, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the

teachers of English Faculty at Thuongmai University, who have imparted golden knowledge to me From these supports, I can improve my English skills and have good background to achieve my dreams, finish my graduation paper successfully Moreover, I owe sincere and earnest thankfulness to all the employees in Sale Department at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd who helped me with valuable information by completing interview questions and email

Last but not least, millions of thanks go to my beloved family whose financial support and spiritual encouragement contribute a significant part to the completion

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

LISTOF ABBREVIATIONS v

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS vi

CHAPTER I: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Previous studies 2

1.3 Aims of the study 3

1.4 Research subjects 3

1.5 Scope of the study 4

1.6 Research methodology 4

1.7 Organization of the study 5

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Business corespondence 6

2.1.1 Definition of BC 6

2.1.2 The purposes of BC 7

2.1.3 Parts of the formal business correspondence 8

2.2 Complaint letter 11

2.2.1 The definition of complaint letters 11

2.2.2 Some types of complaint letters 11

2.2.3 Replying to letters of complaints 12

2.2.4.Points to be kept in mind while writing reply letters to complaints 13

2.3 Errors 14

2.3.1 Errors in the Use of Punctuation 14

2.3.2.Sentence Structure Errors 15

2.3.3 Preposition Errors 17

2.3.4 Conjunction errors 17

2.3.5 Other errors 18

2.4 Essential techniques in writing English reply customer-complaint 19

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS 21

3.1 Research methods 21

3.1.1 Participants 21

3.1.2 Instrument 21

3.1.3 Data collection procedures 22

3.1.4 Data analysis methods 23

3.2 Findings 23

3.2.1 Errors in the Use of Punctuation 23

3.2.2 Sentence Structure Errors 25

3.2.3 Preposition Errors 29

3.2.4 Conjunction Errors 31

3.2.5 Verb – form Errors 32

3.2.6 Other Errors 34

3.3 Summary 35

3.4 Suggested solutions given by staff in JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd 35

3.4.1 Apply more policies to motivate improve skill writing reply English correspond business 36

3.4.2 Hire English - major or English certificate owner employees 36

3.4.3 Professional training courses 36

CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 37

4.1 Limitations of the study 37

4.2 Recommendations and suggestions for staff 37

4.1.1 Suggestion on improving vocabulary 37

4.1.2 Suggestion on improving grammar structures 38

4.1.3 Suggestion on improving writing skill 39

4.3 Suggestions for the company 39

4.4 Suggestions for further studies 40

CONCLUSION 41

REFERENCES 41 APPENDIX I

2 BC Business corespondence Thư Tín Thương Mại

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

Table 2.1 Complementary close in business correspondence 9

Table 2.2 Format of a business letter 10

Table 3.1: Punctuation errors in collected customer complaint response letter 24

Table 3.2: Sentence structure errors in collected customer complaint response letter 26

Table 3.3: Preposition errors in collected customer complaint response letter 29

Table 3.4: Conjunction errors in collected customer complaint response letter 31

Table 3.5: Verb - form errors in collected customer complaint response letter 33

Table 3.6: Other errors in collected customer complaint response letter 34

Chart 3.7 The percentage of common errors in customer complaint response letter .35

CHAPTER I: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

1.1 Rationale

As the trend of integration is growing, human relations as well as work

cooperation are not only confined within Vietnam but also to the international environment English, one of the international languages, has been acting as a means of communication between countries, between cultures, between companies, international organizations and between communities It can be said that, in the current globalization trend, English has become a prerequisite for each country to integrate into the world In Vietnam, English plays an important role in all fields such as science, technology, aviation, international sport, diplomacy and so on.English is used in a majority of countries in the world as it is one of the most important languages for international communication such as many schools,

colleges, universities, and companies Being an international company, JDL

Vietnam Co., Ltd requires a high level of English especially speaking and writing skills In addition, employees are taught basic writing and communication skills in their training Of the skills, many employees consider writing the most difficult because it requires not only specialized knowledge but also professional use of grammar and lexis to write business correspondences as well as custom procedures

To deal with customer, good writing skills of business correspondence is very important, which contribute to the development of JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd

Improving customer-complaint response writing skills will be the second

opportunity for individuals and businesses to regain sympathy for scoring points in the eyes of customers as well as alleviating the stress of customer with enterprise Inspite of the importance, it has not really been taken care of and has not really given priority to improve skills of writing business correspondence Whenever customers take order or respond to product, the employees must reply immediately However, most of them have average expertise and only a few of them have both professional and language skill to work well Therefore, this is an urgent matter that needs to be solved to overcome difficulties as well as improve writing skill to write business correspondence more effectively

Therefore, I choose the topic: “A study on how to improve

customer-complaint response writing skills for staff at Jet Delivery Logistics Vietnam Company Limited.” The aim of this paper is to focus on writing reply to

complaint letter and the research object is employees in Sales Department at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd The study is feasible and useful for employees in this department

I hope that through the study will be a useful reference to help improve writing skills for not only all employees at the company but also all students who interested

in the job related to commercial documents

1.2 Previous studies

In the world, there are many business correspondence documents as well as many studies related to business correspondence I have consulted it and selected some good ideas from the following studies:

In 2014, Shafa Firda Nila (Management and Accounting, Indonesia)

implemented the study “Problems in writing English business letter: Errors and Factors” In this study, “the data were collected from the English business letter written by third semester of Bina Bangsa Economics students majoring in

Management and Accounting The students were asked to respond a complaint letterfrom a customer of the given situation The error category is based on Ferris and Hedgcock model (2005) The researcher identified the problems of error found in the letters and explained the factors that caused the problems to draw the

conclusion”

A study by Jerraselan Gnanaselan (English Teaching Unit, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka) stated that using a native language in business communication limited the opportunities and investments throughout countries and abroad He also marked “making great business correspondence is a must in international trading period”

Another study by Aliya Aimoldina, SholpanZharkynbekova and

DamiraAkynova (Philology Department, L.N Guimilyov Eurasian National

University, Kazakhstan) on BC, which examined Pragmatic Failures, is also fairly interesting to discuss here In this study, the trio identified a number of reasons for pragmatic failures in communication through BC, ‘a mixture of different genres in

one business text with a combination of several communicative purposes, a lack of language skill of the authors of business letters in English, etc”.

In addition to the research of famous scholars over the world, in Vietnam, there were also many studies related to this issue“An analysis of some techniques toimprove writing English business letters” by Vu Thi Huong Giang (2010 - Foreign Language Department of Hai Phong Private University).The study aimed to give theoretical background of definition, importance, purpose, business letter format and some types of business letter Besides, it found out some common mistakes in writing an English business letter Then the author conducted an analysis of the results and suggested some techniques in order to have good will in writing English business letter

In general, in my opinion, the mentioned studies could help people have a full understanding of business correspondence and point out the way to write these kinds of letters more effectively I also hope that my study can allow employees, especially employees at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd to realize their popular errors in writing reply letters to complaints and, therefore, they can find out the most suitablesolutions to improve their skill

1.3 Aims of the study

The study aims at finding the errors of the staff at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd in writing English reply correspondence Moreover, the study tries to find solutions to this issue in order to limit the faults and tries to determine some ways that would improve this essential skill

This study aims to answer the following research questions:

- What are the common errors do staff at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd when writing customer complaint response letter ?

- What are the solutions to improve customer complaint response writing skills for staff at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd?

1.4 Research subjects

The subject of the study is thirty staffs at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd

Accompanying study subject is thirty staffs who had little previous English-writing experience in their previous study in Sale Department at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd

Working for the company, they were trained through two basics ( include Write Professional Emails in English and Secret Sauce of Great Writing), writing courses focused mainly on English customs procedures, business correspondences, bills, so far and so on They were involved in composing an email and tell the author how customer-complaint response writing skills.

The author also collected data from the company’s stored documents The author read over fifty business correspondences made by JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd staff and summed up data for the study

1.5 Scope of the study

To deal with customers, good writing skills of business correspondence is veryimportant, which contribute to the development of the company Moreover, because

of limited time and knowledge, the study only concentrates on finding out the most common problems made by all employees of Sales Department at JDL Vietnam Co.,Ltd when they reply complaint response The study is carried out within doing my internship (lasting from February 24th to April 16th, 2021)

Sales Department takes responsibility of planning, developing, implementing marketing strategy and creating the company’s brand to the customer, in charge of

PR activities It can be seen that the employees usually work in international

environment and business documents However, their abilities of writing business correspondence are not absolutely good Through the research, the author hopes thatthey can improve their skill and connect effectively with customer

1.6 Research methodology

This study is implemented in two steps: collect data and process data

• Step 1: In this first step, the author will collect secondary data resources collected from websites, textbooks, and social media channels Besides, it also includes useful information that the author consulted from other data resources as well as from the instructor to complete this study the author will read and

synthesize the related materials needed for the study These materials provide

suggestions to help identify the problem and form the basis of the research To realize the errors in writing customer complaint response made by all staff in the Sale Department at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd Fifty collected business emails from this company Thus, the author can find out the errors they often made while writing customer complaint response In addition, the author also interviewed five people at

the company about solutions to improve the skills of writing complaints and

respond to complaints, everyone enthusiastically answered, the author collected the results obtained After this step, the author will have preliminary information on the theoretical issues related to the study and sample emails written by staff in the Sale Department at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd, and then process the data in the next step

• Step 2: In this step, the author will process the collected data In this

Graduation Paper, the author method the author would like to use is the quantitative method of collecting and analyzing data The author will analyze and find out all theerrors staff in the Sale Department at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd usually made in writingcustomer-complaint response from the collected data in step 1 After processing the data the author will make conclusions about the errors they often made while

writing English reply business email at the company mainly based on the plurality that they made In addition, the author also offers solutions to improve the skills of writing complaints about complaints that collected from the interviewed staff It aims to help writers improve their writing and to able to check and correct errors themselves during their work The author would analyze the collected data by using calculation and synthesis tools and then display the analysis results in the form of tables and percentages

1.7 Organization of the study

The graduation paper includes 4 parts as following:

Chapter 1: Overview of the study

The introduction of the study including rationale, aims of the study, scope of the study method of study and organization of the study

Chapter 2: Literature review

Theoretical background supplies the readers with the theoretical background including the theory of academic writing, business correspondence, errors and techniques

Chapter 3: Research findings

The current situation of using business correspondence as well as the common skills used, problems and causes of these frequently-made errors errors of the employees in the company Besides, the main part of research findings is proposing effective solutions as well as techniques to improve the skills

Chapter 4: Recommendations and suggestions for further studies.

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the author focuses on presenting basic information as well as analyzing all of the relevant aspects of errors and business corespondence The literature review is started with an overview ofbusiness corespondence, errors, types

of errors, some popular types The literature review is considered an important foundation to help people learn characteristics, qualities, and the importance of the business email

2.1 Business corespondence

2.1.1 Definition of BC

First of all, according to Johan (2014), Business English is different from international English and it is typically related to international trade It is a part of English for specific purposes It may focus on language and skills needed for typicalbusiness communication, such as presentations, negotiations, meetings, small talks, socializing correspondence and report writing

Secondly, Frendo (2012) said that Writing is a key part of day-to-day activities

of business We can simply understand that writing skills means the ability to

convert thoughts into words, with proper standards and punctuations, grammar and other important aspects of writing One of the subjects in the Business English course is Writing Business Letters Gilling (2013) said "All the business writing must be clear and concise with simple straightforward language It should be noted that in writing business emails should be clear, concise, and avoid of slang and jargon"

Lastly, communication aims to conveying feelings, thoughts, etc through exchange of letters is known as correspondence A businessman also writes and receives letters in his day-to-day transactions, which may be called business

correspondence Business correspondence or business letter is a written

communication between two parties Businessmen may write letters/emails to suppliers of goods and also receive letters from the suppliers Customers may write letters/emails to businessmen seeking information about availability of goods, price,quality, sample ete or place order for purchase of goods Thus, business

letters/emails may be defined as a media or means through which views are

expressed and ideas or information is communicated in writing in the process of business activities

2.1.2 The purposes of BC

Each person will have different purposes when writing business emails The most basic and essential purpose is that business letters are written to gain an effect that will promote the business interests of the writer (Harrison McJohnston, 1918).Along with the development of the world, the business is also becoming more modern and faster thanks to a series of support tools Business email is one

according to a wealth of analysis, business letters are used for these following aims:

Firstly, for conveying information Business emails are written to share

information regarding the business activities of a company Information can be transmitted through business emails to customers, suppliers, financial institutions, banks, and insurance companies, and any other parties related to the business Through business email, business organizations collect and exchange business-related information It is a handy tool if you need to inform all employees of a new office policy or to inform the partner of the changes of the coming launching

program No one can deny that a business letter is such a quick and effective means

of communication

Secondly, for negotiations Email is a useful method of communication for

sharing figures and negotiating with another party It is a convenient method

because it is quicker than regular mail and provides an easy way to keep a record of the proceedings If you want to see exactly what is included in a quote, it's easy to sort through your e-mail archives to find the information you need And you know that both parties have a copy of the same information All these things can be done without wasting any time moving from here to there

Thirdly, for marketing and advertising Business correspondence, especially,

commercial email often beats out print media marketing and advertising You can easily reach your audience, personalize the email message with the recipients' names, and include a link to your organization's Web presence These emails are called sales emails and it is a form of new advertising It's quick, convenient, and

effective when a businessman wants to use a business email to introduce customers

to a new product This new advertising form can create new markets for their

products

2.1.3 Parts of the formal BC

“The quality of a good business letter will be maintained if we give proper attention to each and every part of the letter There are some different parts of a business letter According to Ashley, (2007) The essential parts of a business letter are as follows:

- Heading: The heading of a business letter usually contains the name and

postal address of the business, E-mail address, Web-site address, Telephone

Number, Fax Number, Trade Mark or logo of the business (if any)

- Date: The date is normally written on the right hand side corner after the

heading as the day, month and years Some examples are 15th Feb., 2020 or Feb

15, 2020

- Reference: It indicates letter number and the department from where the

letter is being sent and the year It helps in future reference This reference number

is given on the left hand corner after the heading For example, we can write

reference number as AB/FADept./2019/27

- Inside address: It includes the name, full address of the person or the

company to whom the letter is to be sent It is written on the left side, below

reference number Letters should be addressed to the responsible head e.g., the Secretary, the Principal, the Chairman, the Manager etc

- Subject: The subject is a brief statement and indicates the matter of the latter.

The Chief Manager,State Bank of IndiaUtkal University CampusBhubaneswar,

It can help the reader know the main content of the letter and attract the

receiver’s attention immediately For example:

Subject: Quotation of Homeware crafts lampshade

Subject: Inquiry about hot trend coconut bowls

- Salutation: This is placed below the inside address It is usually followed by

a comma (,) Various forms of salutation are:

+ Sir/Madam: For official and formal correspondence

+ Dear Sir/Madam: For addressing an individual

+ Dear Sirs/Dear Madam: For addressing a firm or company

- Body of letter: This comes after salutation This is the main part of the letter

and it contains the actual message of the sender It is divided into three parts

+ Opening part: It is the introductory part of the letter In this part, attention of the reader should be drawn to the previous correspondence, if any For example- with reference to your letter no 326 dated 12th March 2003, I would like to draw your attention towards the new brand of television

+ Main part : This part usually contains the subject matter of the letter It should be precise and written in clear words

+Concluding Part : It contains a statement the of sender's intentions, hopes or expectations concerning the next step to be taken Further, the sender should alwayslook forward to getting a positive response At the end, terms like Thanking you, With regards, With warm regards may be used

- Complementary close: It is merely a polite way of ending a letter It must be

in accordance with the salutation

Salutation Complementary close

Dear Sir/Dear Madam Yours faithfully

Dear Mr Raj Yours sincerely

My Dear Akbar Yours very sincerely (express very informal relations)Table 2.1 Complementary close in business correspondence

- Signature: It is written in ink, immediately below the complimentary close

As far as possible, the signature should be legible The name of the writer should betyped immediately below the signature The designation is given below the typed

name Where no letterhead is in use, the name of the company too could be includedbelow the designation of the writer

- Enclosures: This is required when some documents like cheque, draft, bills,

receipts, lists, invoices etc are attached with the letter These enclosures are listed one by one in serial numbers

- Copy circulation: This is required when copies of the letter are also sent to

persons apart of the addressee It is denoted as C.C

- Post script: This is required when the writer wants to add something, which

is not included in the body of the letter It is expressed as P.S

Format of a business letter

Tel Name of the firm E-mail:

Fax Postal Address Website:

Based on Ashley (2007) Ford Handbook of Commercial Correspondence, brings a vast knowledge about complaint letter, types of complaint letters, replying

to letters of complaints and points to be kept in mind while writing reply letters to complaints

2.2.1 Thedefinition of complaint letters

According to Ashley, (2007) A complaint letter is a type of business letters written by purchasers when purchasers do not find the goods up to his satisfaction It is used to inform the seller and complain that he/she has receives wrong, detective, damaged goods or receives incorrect quantity of goods Complaint letters are used to raise the supplier’s concern or any parties or announce of detective or damaged goods and seek a productive outcome

2.2.2 Some types of complaint letters

 Depending on the level of an organization or an individual, complaint letters can be divided into two types (according to Ashley, 2007)

 Personal complaint letters: when a letter written at a personal level by an individual it is called Personal complaint letters These letters are written by

consumers to get a refund, replace a product etc

 Professional complaint letters: when letters which are written on behalf of

an organization are called Professional complaint letters These letters are mostly related to professional items and services

 Depending on the content of complaint letters, complaint letters can be divided into some following types:

 Complaint letters of wrong delivery

 Complaint letters of damage: when the goods are damaged, customers want

to know the main reason for this problem as well as want to receive a solution to deal with this Complaint letters in this case are used frequently

 Complaint letters of bad workmanship: When bad workmanship is involvedthe customer can only complain as the fault occurs But they still should complain immediately

 Complaint letters of non-delivery: Sometimes, the delivery is not on time astwo parties discussed Therefore, when non-delivery happens, the customer can write a letter to complain about this

2.2.3 Replying to letters of complaints

+ Opening

In this part, you have to acknowledge that you have received the complaints ofcustomers Therefore, at least, before mentioning other things, you should thank your customers for informing you (according to Ashley, 2007)

“Thank you for your letter of 7 April informing us that…”

“We would like to thank you for informing us of damaged lampshades you bought from us last month.”

+ Body part

+ Getting time to investigate the complaint

Customers can complain about many things such as damaged good, delivery, late delivery, etc Meanwhile, there are some matters you cannot deal with immediately, so do not leave your customer waiting, but tell him what you are doingstraight away

non-“Due to the complicatedness of this matter, I have to check with logistics company and promise to reply you immediately once having answer.”

“Would you please return damaged products you received yesterday, and I will send them to our factory for tests?”

+ Explaining the mistake

After justifying the complaint, you should explain why and how the mistake happened It is important to remember that you should not blame your staff and takeresponsibility for their actions

“The mistake occurred during the process of delivery…”

“It is unusual for this kind of error to arise but we have dealt with that

problem.”

+ Solving the problem

Having acknowledged your responsibility and explained the reason of the mistake, you must suggest solutions to tackle the problem

“The bamboo bowls have been painted with the colors you want, and I will send them to you within this week.”

“The material you complained about has now been withdrawn We have replaced by a new brand material which is popular in the market.”

+ Rejecting a complaint

In case you think the complaint of customers is unjustified, you can be firm and polite to informcustomers Although the mistake is not your responsibility, you should try to explain the reason customers to understand.

“After checking with our factory, we inform you that the mistake occurred due

to the wrong maintenance If you look at instruction booklet on machine that we sent you, you will see that it is vital to take care of….”

2.2.4.Points to be kept in mind while writing reply letters to complaints.

According to Ashley, (2007) If you have received a complaint letter from any person who is complaining about the poor customer services in his/her letter then it becomes your responsibility to reply to such a person So in order to mitigate the damage done and retain the loyalty of your customer, you must have points to be kept in mind while writing reply letters to complaints

Firstly, the main purpose of complaint letters is the request of correcting

mistakes or faults as well as knowing the reason why the problems happened Therefore, you should write calmly, clearly and present all the information related

to customers’ complaints and make some suggestions to put the matters right

Secondly, when answering a complaint, it is necessary to apologize for the

mistake and thank customers for informing you Besides, you must explain the reason why the mistake occurred but do not blame for your staff

In case you need more time to find out the reason and solutions, please let

your customers know If the complaint is unjustified, you should inform them in a polite way but sympathize with the inconvenience it has caused

 More importantly, whether your customer’s complaints are right or wrong,

they are still your customer and their comments about you to other people when working with you can either improve or damage your reputation

2.3 Errors

According to Merriam Webster, error is the amount of deviation from a

standard or specification Error is the state or condition of being wrong in conduct

or judgment Error analysis is a type of linguistic analysis that focuses on the errors that learners make (Faisyal, 2015) Moreover, Saville-Troikke (cited in Faisyal, 2015) stated that error analysis is the first approach to the study of the second language acquisition which includes an internal focus on the learner’s creative ability to construct language Ellis and Barkhuizen, (cited in Sychandone, 2016) described error analysis as a set of procedures for identifying, describing, and explaining learner’s errors; it is like the process of determining the incidence, nature, cause, and consequences of unsuccessful in language.

2.3.1 Errors in the Use of Punctuation

According to Byrne (1988: 16), the fact that punctuation has never been standard to the extent as spelling, makes it is problematic Similarly, Carrol and Wilson (1995: 191) state "students' writing encounter punctuation problems as thereare no universal rules of punctuation."

Punctuation is the set of marks used to regulate texts and clarify their

meanings, mainly by separating or linking words, phrases, and clauses The word comes from the Latin word punctuare meaning "making a point."

Marks of punctuation include ampersands, apostrophes, asterisks, brackets, bullets, colons, commas, dots, dashes, diacritic marks, ellipsis, exclamation points, hyphens, paragraph breaks, parentheses, periods, question marks, quotation marks, semicolons, slashes, spacing, and strike-throughs

- The comma is used to show a separation of ideas or elements within thestructure of a sentence Additionally, it is used in numbers, dates, and letter writingafter the salutation and closing

- The dots (.) is placed at the end of declarative sentences, statements thought

to be complete, and after many abbreviations

As a sentence ender: Jane and Jack went to the market.

- The exclamation is a punctuation mark used at the end of a sentence to

indicate a lot of emotion, such as happiness or sadness

An example of an exclamation point is the "!" at the end of the sentence: "I am having a baby!

The use (and misuse) of punctuation affects meaning—sometimes

dramatically—, as seen in this "Dear John" letter, where the change in punctuation from one to the next drastically alters the meaning

Dear John:

I want a man who knows what love is all about You are generous, kind, thoughtful People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior You have ruined me for other men I yearn for you I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart I can be forever happy—will you let me be yours?

Jane

Dear John:

I want a man who knows what love is All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you Admit to being useless and inferior You have ruined me For other men, I yearn For you, I have no feelings whatsoever When we're apart, I can be forever happy Will you let me be?

additional information needs to be added they include: The sentence lacks the

subject, the sentence lacks the main verb, the sentence lacks the wording and main verb

Examples:

Incorrect - Although the result of the study was inconclusive

Correct - Although the result of the study was inconclusive, the committee decided to implement the policy

- Choppy Sentences

Sentences are too short and have many repeated words Choppy sentences are sentences that are too short and often repeat the same words They should be

combined to make longer sentences (according to the Shafa Firda Nila,2007)

For example: I like dogs Dogs make good pets Dogs are friendly and loyal They sentences do not have good style

- Run-on sentences

A run-on sentence occurs when two independent clauses (of two complete thoughts) are blended into one without proper punctuation (according to the Shafa Firda Nila,2007)

Examples:

The survey shows that more than 80% of the population agrees that racism is rife however only 12% of the population admits that they are racist

More than 80% of the population agrees that racism is rife, 12% of the

population admits that they are racist

- Stringy Sentence

A stringy sentence is made up of several complete thoughts strung together with words like 'and', 'so', or 'but' Stringy sentences are so long that the reader forgets the beginning of the sentence before reaching the end (according to the Shafa Firda Nila,2007)

To fix a stringy sentence, you can break the sentence into two or more

sentences turn some of the complete thoughts into phrases or subordinate clausesLook at the examples below

Stringy: My best friend's name is Vutha and he lives next door and so we do

many things together.

Revised: My best friend's name is Vutha He lives next door We do many

of similar phrases or clauses that have the same grammatical structure.The

application of parallelism affects readability and may make texts easier to process

2.3.3 Preposition Errors

Preposition: (according to the Shafa Firda Nila,2007) A preposition is a part ofspeech that shows the relation of a noun or pronoun to another word A preposition connects nouns and pronouns and serves to provide necessary details that tell the reader when, where, or how something occurred For example, the most common prepositions are: of, in, to, for, with, on

Incorrect: I have not played cricket since a long time

Correct: I have not played cricket for a long time

When reckoning from a particular date we use ‘since’ Examples are since last Friday, since May, since morning, since July 8th But note that we always use ‘for’ for a period Examples are: for a week, for a long time, for two hours etc

Incorrect: I cannot agree to you in this situation

Correct: I cannot agree with you in this situation

2.3.4 Conjunction errors

A conjunction is the glue that holds words, phrases and clauses (both

dependent and independent) together There are three different kinds of

conjunctions coordinating, subordinating, and correlative each serving its own, distinct purpose, but all working to bring words together (according to the Shafa Firda Nila,2007)

A subordinating conjunction always introduces a dependent clause, tying it to

an independent clause A dependent clause is a group of words that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence An independent clause, by contrast, can stand alone as

a complete sentence

‘So … As’ is used in negative sentences, whereas ‘as … As’ is used in

affirmative sentences

Example: He is not so tall as his brother.

‘Other’ is followed by ‘than’

Example: He has no other claim than his wealth.

The word ‘reason’ is not followed by ‘because’, but by ‘that’

Example: The reason why he did not go to the party was that his mother was ill.

‘Because’ denote reason

‘In order’ that denotes purpose

Example: He went to the doctor because he was ill.

Another example: He went to Delhi in order that he might see Mr Bose.

2.3.5Other errors

-Verb-form errors

Verb form errors occur when writers fail to use the finite (time-included) and nonfinite (timeless) forms of verbs in correct combination The nonfinite forms are the verbals: the base form, the past participle, and the present

participle According to the Shafa Firda Nila,(2007), Errors include incorrect formation of simple present verbs (e.g., using an auxiliary where none is needed);incorrect formation of negative verbs, question forms, and verb phrases with modals; faulty formation of passive, conditional, and subjunctive forms; use of incorrectly formed verbals; use of incorrect verbals after causative verbs and verbs of perception; and incorrect choice of an infinitive or gerund

While verb form errors are a separate category from verb tense errors, they reflect limited mastery of the verb tense system and of the various uses of

verbals

- Capital Letter

A capital letter is the bigger, taller version of a letter, as opposed to the smaller version, which is called a lowercase letter(according to the Shafa Firda Nila,2007)

Capital letters are also called uppercase letters or simply capitals

In English, capital letters are used at the beginning of words for a few

different reasons It is considered a standard rule of English to use a capital letter

to start proper nouns (which are nouns that refer to specific people, places, or things—meaning one’s that have specific names), such as Jess, Mexico, and Nintendo

Using a capital letter at the start of a word can change the way the reader interprets its meaning, as in the case of polish (a verb meaning to make something

shinier) and Polish (an adjective describing someone from Poland) or apple (the fruit) and Apple (the company).

-Spelling

According to the Shafa Firda Nila,2007, Spelling problem due to the influence

of other languages, variant pronunciations and other historical reasons, the English spelling system which has become inconsistent is complex for students

- Oveuse of abbreviations

Abbreviations are shortened forms of words or lengthy phrases (according to the Shafa Firda Nila,2007) You'll find them in almost every discipline and area of life, from commonly used abbreviations in names or titles, such as Mr for Mister orPres for President, to less commonly used abbreviations, such as the short version

of the word abbreviation itself, which is abbr

There is more than one type of abbreviation An acronym is a new word created from the initial letters of a long name or phrase, for example, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) An initialism is where a long phrase is abbreviated toits initial letters but the letters are pronounced individually, not spoken as a word - for example, FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) An initialism can be considered

a type of acronym

For example “TQ" (Thank you); “BR” (Best regards), ASAP (as soon as possible), FYI (for your information)

2.4 Essential techniques in writing English reply customer-complaint

Writing a customer-complaint response letter is not much different from writing a general business letter In the developed Internet age, emails also representthe new technology we must master Therefore, some tips for writing emails are given to help businessmen have a professional and efficient email According to Vũ Thị Hương Giang (2010), there are some techniques that improve customer-

complaint response writing skills

First, avoid sloppiness, it is unprofessional We shouldn't have poor grammar, spelling, and sentence structure These are no more acceptable in an English

business email

Second, capitalize the first letter in the beginning word of a sentence and all proper nouns.

Third, avoid using all uppercase letters in a business email It can appear pretty abrasive, like somebody screaming, even though it is often intended simply toemphasize a point

Fourth, avoid using a lot of abbreviations that the reader can’t understand.Fifth, avoid using emoticons They aren't suitable for serious business emails

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS

Throughout chapter II of this research, we have had an overview of the

concept, the definition, and importance of business Correspondence, and errors related and some tips of techniques

In this chapter, the author collected fifty business emails were written by staff

in the Sale Department at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd Many errors have been found in these emails Then the author will analyze and find out the common errors of staff

in the Sale Department at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd when writing customer complaint response letter As mentioned in part 1.6 of Chapter I, I will conduct a collection of fifty business emails and some reply interview of staff in the Sale Department at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd

Generally, most of the staff in each company has graduated from different

departments in Vietnamese universities They have to pass the B level English test

or have English certifications at the request to enter the company Although they have to write emails every day, they still get some errors Furthermore, they always think that sending emails is not only for general communication but also for their work efficiency Therefore, emails are written without tidiness and carefulness As aresult, a lot of errors have been found in these emails

beliefs and attitudes of individuals towards national trends or policies.” There are two following instruments:

+ Qualitative method:Sampling Process : The sampling process means that

the researcher does not conduct a comprehensive survey of all units of a whole but only investigates on a number of units in order to save time and costs of research The researcher's efforts and research during the investigation process Researchers often rely on the characteristics and characteristics of the sample in order to deduce the characteristics and properties of the whole

+ Interview is a method of data collection that involves two or more people

exchanging information through a series of questions and answers The questions are designed by a researcher to elicit information from interview participants on a specific topic or set of topics

In this Graduation Paper, the author use a combination of the two to obtain research results These are great instruments that help the author survey easily and fastest

3.1.3 Data collection procedures

First of all, the author will collect secondary data resources from websites, textbooks, and social media channels In addition, the author also read the previous studies of many different authors to identify useful information for my study Then, the author will synthesize and select the suitable factors to use for research

Besides, as the author mentioned, the author use two instruments including collect emails and interview to collect data for the findings of the study:

+ Qualitative method:Sampling Process

The author contacts the Sale Department at JDL Vietnam Co., Ltd where the author had an internship a month earlier With the consent of the manager, the author collects fifty emails conducted by staff in the Sale Department at JDL

Vietnam Co., Ltd After collecting a sufficient number of emails The author begins

to research, all data are presented across tables and have a clear percentage

+ Interview

In addition, the author also uses the interview method to find the answer to thequestion: