UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

COURSE SYLLABUS

Course unit title: BUSINESS WRITING

Course materials:

[1] Banks, T. (2012). Writing for Impact. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- Supplementary Materials:
[2] Ashley, A. (1992). A Correspondence Workbook. China: OUP.
[4] Lougheed, L. (2002). Business Correspondence – A Guide to Everyday Writing –
Intermediate. England: Longman Pearson ESL.
[5] McCarthy, M. (et. a) (2009). Grammar for Business. Cambridge: CUP
[6] Trappe, T & Tullis, G. (2007). Intelligent Business - Style Guide: Pre-Intermediate. England:
Pearson Education Limited.
[7] Whitby, N. (2013). Business Benchmark – Pre-intermediate to Intermediate.
Cambridge: CUP.
[8] Wilson, M. (1987). Writing for Business. U.K: Nelson ELT.
[9] Cambridge BEC Preliminary (2005). Cambridge: CUP.
Assignments:

Students are required to fulfil all the writing tasks assigned for each unit by the teacher and to do as
much independent study as possible.

Assessment Methods
- Class Attendance and Class Participation: 10%
- Student Writing Performance: 20%
- Mid-term Test: 10%
- Final Exam: 60%
Planned learning activities and Teaching methods:
The learner-centered approach is applied during the course where the student-student and teacher-
student interactions occur regularly. In terms of teaching methodology, task-based teaching is employed
so as to enable students to learn through engagement in interactive processes that involve purposeful and
meaningful communication.
Language of Instruction: English

Work placement (s):

Class schedule/Course contents

Dates Topics/activities Learning objectives

Unit 1A: Introductions, requests, enquiries - Introduce yourself in emails and

letters
- Consider greetings, opening lines and
endings

Unit 1B: Introductions, requests, enquiries - Make enquiries in emails and letters
- Make requests in emails and letters

Unit 2A: Notes and minutes - Practise and develop note-taking skills
- Write minutes of meetings
Weeks
1-4
Unit 2B: Notes and minutes - Review the purpose of meeting
minutes
- Compare and evaluate different styles
of meeting minutes

Unit 3A: Invitations and letters - Write invitations

- Accept and decline invitations

Unit 3B: Invitations and letters - Analyse when letters are used
- Look at formats for business letters

Week 5 Mid-term Test

Weeks Unit 4A: Preparing a report - Ana lyse what makes a report effective
6-9 - Identify sections of reports

Unit 4B: Preparing a report - Find out about the process of writing
- Practise preparing and making notes
for a report

Unit 5A: Making your case in a report - Write the Introduction of a report
- Consider the language for expressing
objectives

Unit 5B: Making your case in a report - Present information

- Describe data

Unit 6A: Getting the tone right - Find the right style for emails
- Make sure the style is culturally
appropriate

Unit 6B: Getting the tone right - Apologise in emails and letters
- Thank in emails and letters