Presents information, compiled in a 1971 survey, about the business communications offerings of graduate schools of business in the United States. (RN)

Argues that although "plain English" (or "readability") is important, more compelling imperatives, such as a genuine belief in honest, responsive communication, need to be central to a company's values and culture. States that a company needs to implement policies to insure that plain English is the mainstay of healthy…

Investigates English departments in fifty US high schools and outlines current practices in the teaching of business English. (MH)

Applies speech act theory to professional writing. Argues that speech act theory supports the use of an explanation in composing negative messages and also provides a useful classification of such explanations based on five universal strategies for politely refusing requests. Notes that this classification illuminates novice writers' problems in…

Investigates the effectiveness of the prose communication in contemporary corporate annual reports. Indicates that a sample of 65 Canadian annual reports for 1984 were classified as "difficult" to "very difficult" and beyond the fluent comprehension ease of 92 percent of the adult population and 56 percent of the investor…

Surveyed business communication educators and found widespread confusion about the existence and nature of Plain English laws. Concludes that legally compelling business to use plain language in consumer documents may be futile. (PD)

Describes the process of rewriting a poorly-written document into plain English. The process includes redefining the audience, altering the content, reorganizing the content, changing the verbal and visual style, and retaining the document's legal force. (JMF)

Discusses the narrow range of stylistic choice presented as acceptable to students in typical Business Communication courses by examining a number of prominent instructional sources for business writers. Presents an expanded version of the Plain Style of business prose that allows for a repertoire of dictional, syntactic, and figurative choices to…

Investigates whether business executives and business communication academics were bothered by examples of perceived errors in grammar or usage. Finds usage elements that troubled readers most were basic sentence-structure errors (run-ons, fragments, nonparallel structure, and danglers); several usage errors may be in transition to acceptability;…