| Author: | Klintworth, Carene |
| Title: | Is the style of writing currently being taught at an adult centre for language learning appropriate for the business context in which it needs to be used? |
| Degree: | M.A. |
| Year: | 1996 |
| Subject: | English language -- Rhetoric -- Study and teaching -- China -- Hong Kong English language -- Business English -- Study and teaching -- China --Hong Kong Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Department of English |
| Pages: | iv, 81, [12] leaves : ill. ; 30 cm |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | This study attempted to find out whether Hong Kong private enterprise find the style of writing taught in an adult centre for business English suitable for business needs. The research attempted to address this question by taking some documents written by adult learners of business English to non-native and native speaker Hong Kong business managers, and native speaker teachers with and without business work experience, to consider their feedback in the light of questions about clarity and acceptability; vocabulary, tone, style, language, presentation and grammar. The qualitative research for this study was based on the data gathered from non-native-speaker business managers, native-speaker business managers, native-speaker teachers with business work experience and native-speaker teachers without business work experience, the three main groups of people involved in the production of company documents who were asked to give their feedback on four writing samples written by four different adult learners of business English. The responses of non-native speakers in business management; native speakers in business management and teachers of the courses were recorded at interview and compared intergroup and intragroup. Analysis of the responses showed that while feedback intragroup was similar, an intergroup comparison showed collectively no one group's response was like another. The non-native speaker group were the most critical while the teachers themselves were the least critical. The writing taught at a centre for business English was appropriate for some documents, meaning that the document was acceptable for practical purposes; and could be said to be inappropriate for other documents for reasons related primarily to questions of tone and language. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b12465215.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 3.16 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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