Luận văn english business emails an analysis of errors made by vietnamese people working in foreign companies

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vinh university

foreign languages department

- -ENGLISH BUSINESS EMAILS

AN ANALYSIS OF ERRORS MADE BY VIETNAMESE PEOPLE WORKING IN FOREIGN COMPANIES

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summary of graduation thesis

FIELD: APPLIED LINGUISTICS

Supervisor: NguyÔn ThÞ Têng, M.A

Student : Vò ThÞ V©n

Class : 46 B1 - English

Vinh - 2009 Part a: introduction

1 Rationale of the Study

‘Human learning is fundamentally a process that involves themaking of mistakes Mistakes, misjudgements, miscaculations, and

erroneous assumptions from an important aspect of learningvirtually any skill or acquiring information’

(Brown, 1987:169)Many second language researchers have studied and investigatederrors in language learning They have attempted to describe and explainthe reasons why learners make errors in their language learning process.Error Analysis as the ways of dealing with errors has been worked out.Writing is the most difficult of the four main skills in learning asecond language, particularly English as a second or a foreign language

In these days, writing a business email has become a compulsory activity

in doing the business instead of handwritten letters Although the writerscan benefit the chance to learn how to write a good business email frommany books of business letter models published and broadband Internet,they can not create a professional and efficient email because writingstyle and contents vary according to audiences and purposes ‘Thepurpose of good writing is not only to make oneself understood, it is tomake oneself incapable of being misunderstood’ (White, 1979)

Standard English is the goal of any skills and any English learners.However, it is unavoidable to commit errors in learning English,especially in writing English business emails In fact, situations in doingbusiness are very various, much different from the ideal ones mentioned

in the published books Actually, searching business email models onInternet only gives out general ones, they are so different in the aspects

of each industry and company As a result, many errors and mistakeshave been found in these emails.

Having read many business emails in different companies helps theauthor realize that these emails appear to be informal and uncompleted inboth form and content This is the first reason to urge the author to dothis study

Moreover, it would be very useful for email writers in differentforeign companies to find out the errors and their causes and to correctthemselves during their work Because, the people who work in suchcompanies are too busy with their work, they have no time to attend anyEnglish class to improve their writing skill The solutions given in thestudy may provide email - writers some techniques to reduce errors and

to create a professional and efficient business email

2 Aims of the Study

The aims of the study are:

- To provide the writers the standard format of a business letter ingeneral and some techniques to write a professional business email inparticular

- To show some typical grammar errors and their causes found infifty collected business emails

- To suggest some practical solutions for email - writers to handlewith such errors

3 Scope of the Study

The study focuses on the analysis of errors in fifty collected businessemails Particularly, the study is confined to grammar errors only theauthor has analyzed and compared such errors between English andVietnamese to find out their causes and some efficient solutions Theground used for investigation in this study is the theoretical background

of Error Analysis suggested by some famous linguistic researchers such

as Corder, Richards, Diep Quang Ban, etc

4 Method of the Study

This study has been conducted under the quantitative method ofcollecting and analyzing data A survey based on fifty collected businessemails written by Vietnamese people working in different foreigncompanies has been carried out Common errors, mainly in grammarcategory, their causes and some suggestions to deal with such errors havealso been worked out It aims to help email - writers to improve theirwriting and to able to check and correct errors themselves during theirwork

5 Design of the Study

The study is composed of three main parts: the introduction, thedevelopment and the conclusion

The Introduction states the rationale, aims, scope, methodology anddesign of the study

The Development consists of three chapters:

Chapter one: Theoretical background

Chapter two: The study

Chapter three: Findings, discussions and suggested solutions.

The Conclusion reviews the study and gives some recommendationsand suggestions for further studies

Part b: development

CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

This chapter deals with the most general knowledge of errors andError Analysis The source of background knowledge is considered to bethe base for analyzing and discussing errors in the following chapters

Besides, characteristics of business letters and business emails as well assome techniques to write a good business email will be also presented

According to Richards (1992), error ‘in the speech of writing of asecond or foreign language learner, is the use of linguistic item (i.e aword, a grammatical item, a speech act, ect.) in a way which a fluent ornative speaker of the language regards as showing faulty as incompletelearning.’

James M H (1987) defines an error as an utterance, form andstructure that a particular language teacher seems unacceptable because

of its inappropriate use or its absence in real life discourse

Carl James (1980) gives the definition of error ‘as being instance oflanguage that is unintentionally deviant and is not corrigible by itsauthor’

In addition, intention plays an important part in the definition oferror because an error often arises when there is no intention to commit

1.2 Errors and Mistakes

In the 1960s, concept of errors became an attractive topic toresearchers in language learning process To make it clearer, thedistinction was drawn between the two items ‘error’ and ‘mistake’

Chomsky (1995) states that there are two different types of errors:one oginating from verbal performance factor and the other forminadequate language competence Corder (1967) developed Chomsky’spoint of view, a mistake, he says, is a ‘performance error’ and the term

‘an error’ is associated with failures in language competence

According to Ellis (1997), ‘error reflects gaps in learner’sknowledge They occur because the learner does not know what iscorrect Meanwhile, mistakes reflect occasional lapses in performance.They occur because, in a particular instance, the learner is unable toperform what he or she knows.’

As we know, mistakes are result of psychological or neurologicalfactors such as fatigue, lack of attention or lapse of memory Physicalstates are also causes of mistakes (i.e tiredness) (Corder, 1992:24) Onthe contrary, errors are caused by the incomplete understanding oflanguage competence

It is not easy to determine what an error is and what a mistake is.The learner’s intention in using a language also affects his making errors.James (1998) points out that error is an instance of language that isunintentionally deviant and is not self-corrigible by the learner.Meanwhile, a mistake is either intentionally or unintentionally deviantand self-corrigible

According to Norrish (1983), learner’s errors are themselvessystematic The term ‘systematic’ implies errors which are random orunintentional The opposition between systematic and non-systematic isvery important in distinguishing errors and mistakes He assumes thaterrors are ‘a systematic deviation when a learner has not learntsomething and consistently gets it wrong’ He adds that they aregenerally caused by learners of English as a second or foreign language.

In contrast, mistakes are characteristically unsystematic In addition, theyare made by native speakers as well as foreign language learners

Corder (1967) also shows that mistakes are not significant to theprocess of language learning because ‘they do not reflect a defect in ourknowledge’ and the learners are ‘normally immediately aware of them’and ‘can correct them with more or less complete assurance’ On theother hand, errors are very significant to the process of language learning(Richards, 1992)

In addition, mistakes can only be corrected by their agent if theirdeviance is pointed out to him or her In contrast, errors can not be self-corrected until further relevant (to that error) input (implicit or explicit)has been provided and converted into intake by the learner In otherwords, errors require further relevant learning to take place before theycan be self-corrected

To sum up, ‘a mistake’ is a performance error and ‘an error’ isassociated with failures in language competence And only errors can be

the object of study of Error Analysis Meanwhile, mistakes can not sincethey do not show the true state of learner’s knowledge.

1.3 Error Analysis

The Interlanguage Hypothesis by the late 1960s and early 1970semphasizes that making error is something inevitable in the process ofthe second language learning Error Analysis developed as a branch ofapplied linguistic in the 1960s

Richards (1971) points out there are two types of errors: interlingual and intralingual errors.

1.3.1 Mother Tongue Influence ( Interlingual Errors)

It is clear that, before learners learn any second language, they havehad the mother tongue already Moreover, a lot of habits of their mothertongue seriously affect their acquisition of the second language

‘They tend to transfer the form, meanings and the distribution offorms and meaning of their native language and culture to the foreignlanguage and culture’ (Lado,1957:2)

Another idea of transfer is also pointed out, ‘Transfer is the influenceresulting from similarities and differences between the target languageand any other language that has been previously acquired’ (Oldin, 1989)

In the first case, the learner benefits from positive first languagetransfer which makes learning easier and may occur when first languageand second language have something in common In the second case,they can get problem with negative transfer or interference which is theborrowing of the first language pattern or rule leading to an error or

inappropriate language usage Interference may be caused by thedifference between two languages.

1.3.2 Target Language Causes (Intralingual Errors)

Richards (1971:74) points out that intralingual errors reflect thegeneral characteristics of the learning and failure to learn conditionsunder which rules apply He adds that there are some causes of

intralingual errors such as: overgeneralization, ignorance of rule

restrictions, incomplete application of rules and false concepts hypothesized.

a Overgeneralization

It is a phenomenon applying a language rule which the learner hasacquired to all cases regardless of its exception

For example:

He can plays the guitar very well.

Last night, she dances with a stranger.

b Ignorance of Rule Restriction

It is clear that, Ignorance of Rule Restriction is a kind ofOvergeneralization This case occurs when the learner uses a previouslyacquired rule in new situation, he ignores the restrictions of existingstructures, that is, the application of rules to context where they are notapplicable

For example:

The boy who I met him.

c Incomplete Application of Rules

Richards assumes that Incomplete Application of Rules occurs whenthe second language learners are primarily interested in efficientcommunication without the need for mastering the rules

For example:

Teacher: Ask him why it is wrong.

Student: Why it is wrong?

d False Concepts Hypothesized

False Concepts Hypothesized indicates a class of developmentalerrors which drive from faulty comprehension of distinctions in thetarget language (Richards,1992)

For example:

He prefers play football than go for a walk.

1.4 Key Steps for Error Analysis

There are some steps which have been used for identifying learner’serrors as follows:

take the error in ‘Her wet lips gently kissed the sleeping child’ Does the

error line in the misselection of wet or drive from a failure to select

moist?

 Error Description

This is the third step after error detection and error location It aims

to reveal which errors are the same and which are different

 Error Classification

Error classification is the fourth major step in the Error Analysisprocedure In this step, we have some ways to organize a collection oferrors into different categories

 Error Taxonomies

Taxonomy is defined in the New Shorter Oxford Dictionary (Brown,1993) as ‘the branch of science that deals with classification’

1.5 The Writing of Business Letters

According to Wikipedia, a business letter is a letter written in formedlanguage, usually used when writing from one business organizationsand their customers, clients and other external parties The overall style

of letter will depend on the relationship between the parties concerned

In fact, a business letter is much different from a personal letter.Particularly, business letter’s purpose is to provide or requestinformation related to a group activities Even may of them are sent topeople writers do not know or have little contact with whereas thepersonal letter is often written with informal, conversational Englishstyle and little planning

1.5.1 The Roles of Business Letters

Nowadays, going with the tendency of globalization, communicationhas become an efficient medium to link people all over the world One ofthe important communicative mediums is correspondence letters,particular in the business world They reflect all of the relationships aswell as the effect of work while people conduct their business There are

a lot of types of business letters such as: letters of acknowledgement,claim adjustment letters, letters of inquiries, sale letters, thank youletters, etc

1.5.2 Techniques in Writing Business Letters

It is the fact that, the business letter format is very importantformally with a company The writers should not write in the samevoice as writing to a family or friends, a business letter needs to bemore formal

In the ‘Handbook of more business letters’ (Poe, 1998), Poestates that a correspondence letter in general business should be:

 Well planned and formatted

 Formal and polite

 Direct and straight to the point

be written in a formal language Besides, the write also shouldprovide the reader clear and specific information to understand hismessage.

There are two common styles of letter used in writing acorrespondence letter They are full block style and modified blockstyle Some differences between them have been presented asfollows:

Full block style Modified block style

All parts start on the left

margin

Place of heading, thecomplimentary close, and thesignificant are on the right

Paragraphs are not indented Paragraphs can be indented or

on the leftUsed in typing letters Used in handwriting or typing

letters

A business letter outline consists of the following parts:

 Heading: As usual, the heading is writer’s address and the date It can

be at the upper right or upper left of your stationary, depending on whichletter style you are using

 Letter head: It is at the top of the page It consists of the company’s

name, address and phone number These days, it is common to alsoinclude fax number and email address

 Date: It is the date the writer sends the letter.

 Inside address or Recipient’s address: It is the name and address of

the person or company whom you are sending the letter

 Attention line (optional): This is a reference line It starts with

either Attention, Sub or Re and is followed by a colon It can refer to aperson, a specific item, or the subject of the letter

 Salutation: Type the recipient’s name here The first word and all

the nouns in the salutation are in capital letters A comma, or a colonfollows the salutation Some common salutations are:

Dear Personel Director,

Dear Sir or Madam: (use if the writer does not know who he iswriting to)

Dear Dr, Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms Smith: (use if the writer knows who

he is writing to and has a formal relationship with)

Dear Frank: (use if the person is a close business contractor friend)

Introductory Paragraph: To have a good business letter, writers

must transfer their message to readers clearly The main points and thepurpose of the letter are placed in this part

Letter Body: This part consists of some paragraphs which provide

background information and supporting one Supporting informationshould give the answers to the following questions:

 Who?

 What?

 When?

 Where?

 Why?

 How?

This source of information is often used to develop paragraphs ofthe background and facts of the letter

Conclusion Paragraph: In this part, the writer will supply the readers

with a concise description of the results or effects of the events reported

as facts in the body paragraphs It sometimes concludes a request foraction

Complementary Close: What we type here depends on the tone and

degree of formality The first word of complimentary close is in capitalletter and is followed by a comma

Signature block: The writer’s name is written below the

complimentary close If the letter is handwritten, the name is printedunder the signature If the letter is typed, type the name under thesignature Title is optional depending on relevancy and degree offormality

CC: stands for courtesy copies (formerly carbon copies) list the

names of people to whom the writer distribute copies, in alphabeticalorder

1.5.3 Types of Business Letters

According to ‘How to write a formal business letter’ (2004), thereare different kinds of business letters, used for different purposes They

are divided into two types: the business to business type and the business

to client type.

1.6 The Writing of Business Emails

1.6.1 Concepts of email

Nowadays, the number one activity online is email even with thegrowth of broadband Internet and new Net tools such as podcasting AGallup Poll found over 67% of Internet users send and receive emailregularly and mail outranks other online activities including shopping,downloading music, or reading blogs

In fact, there are a lot of definitions of email According toWikipedia, some typical concepts of email have been presented asfollows:

‘Electronic email or email is the process of sending text messagesand files electronically using computer networks.’

‘Electronic email is a system of world wide electroniccommunication in which a computer user can compose a message at oneterminal.’

Or ‘Electronic email, often abbreviated to e-mail, email, or eMail, is

a store – and – forward method of writing, sending, receiving andsaving’

1.6.2 The Roles of Business Emails

Now in the Internet age, the email represents the new technology wemust master In fact, email is an electronic, computer – assisted onlinecommunication tool In the business world, it is used to transmit virtuallyevery type of correspondence the daily conduct of business requires

Emails may be simple messages, memos and letters, complexreports, tables of data, graphs and charts, blueprints, pictures, etc

Nowadays, updating and transferring information in doing businessare very important, so business emails have become an efficient tool tomeet every business requires

1.6.3 Techniques in Writing Business Emails

Writing a business email is not much different from writing ageneral business letter Now in the Internet age, the emails also representthe new technology we must master Therefore, some tips for writingemail are given in order to help businessmen have a professional andefficient email

First – Avoid sloppiness, it is unprofessional Poor grammar,

spelling, and sentence structure are no more acceptable in a businessemail Check twice for errors

Second – Capitalize the first letter in the beginning word of a

sentence and in all proper nouns

Third – Avoid shouting, the writer can be heard without raising his

voice Using all uppercase letters in a business email can appear prettyabrasive, like somebody screaming, even though it is often intendedsimply to emphasize a point

Fourth – Use abbreviations and acronyms sparingly

Fifth – Avoid using emoticons, they are too cute for serious business

email

Sixth – Answer the email, even if all the writer have time for is a

quick

However, in term of business email format, there are some thingsdifferent from general business letter Firstly, it is the heading whichconsists of up to six distinct information fields Each field in the template

is designed to hold specific information, the definitions of which arepreprinted on the left hand margin as follows:

Some of these fields are not always visible

The second difference focuses on business email body Emailprograms automatically format the body in single spaced, full block style

in order to ensure that the text of an email appears on the recipient’sscreen exactly as it does on the sender’s Moreover, short paragraphs arethe rules, particularly as online readers often just scan the text Longparagraphs may be hard on the eyes and more difficult to read

Thirdly, the signature block in a business letter does the work of theheading or letterhead found in the format of business letter In otherwords, it supplies the contact information belonging to the sender This

is the last item in an email It is always located on the left hand marginbelow the signature line A signature block should contain all the contactinformation a recipient might require in order to response to an email Itshould begin with the sender’s Name, Title, and Business Organization.

A physical location, Phone Numbers, Email Address, and Websiteshould follow Here is an example:

* * * * * * * * * * * *Peter Connor

Owner/ Managing Editor

The Write Company

Chapter II: The Study

In this chapter, fifty business emails written by Vietnamese peopleworking in different companies have been collected Many errors havebeen found in these emails, then they are classified into differentcategories

2.1 Subjects

The subject is based on English business emails gathered fromdifferent foreign companies such as: Delta Trading Construction