Although the resume and cover letter genre is widely discussed in both popular and scholarly publications, discussion thus far has failed to acknowledge that the process of creating a resume and cover letter has the potential for encouraging students' reflective and reflexive capacities. This article suggests that business communication educators…

Stallworth Williams introduces concepts of visual rhetoric and ethics for a classroom exercise in the analysis and revision of a sales letter. This article revisits Stallworth Williams's proposed teaching strategies, suggesting that not only do students need to be instructed in elements of visual design, but they must also be taught to link those…

This article presents selective findings from an ongoing study that investigates rhetorical differences in business letter writing between Vietnamese students taking an English for Specific Purposes course in Vietnam and business professionals. Rhetorical analyses are based on two corpora, namely, scenario (N = 20) and authentic business letters…

Presents British customs regarding forms of address (both formal and informal) for business purposes. Discusses how this information can be incorporated into various business-communication courses, including general business-communication courses and specialized international business-communication courses. (SR)

Argues that Thomas Sampson, author of the 1396 "Modus Dictandi," deserves attention because of his work as a teacher. Explains that Sampson was a practitioner and instructor of the art of letter writing. Contends that Sampson's work is a discursive artifact yielding multiple insights into the origins of business communication as taught…

Describes an assignment in which students write a letter of complaint, and discusses how this assignment aids students in seeing the importance of effective written communication to their daily lives. (SR)

Increasingly, employers require job seekers to submit their applications electronically. However, while most job seekers may be familiar with email and other modern communication technologies, they often wonder about the rhetorical strategies to be used in their messages. This article describes a case study of a job applicant to identify the…

Considers how approaching genres as knowledge structures provides a useful theoretical basis for teaching students to communicate across cultures. Presents an approach that is divided into four interrelated teaching stages: background information, communicative purposes, text structure, and the implications of genre comparisons. Finds teaching the…

Shows how students can use persuasive principles of communication (format and writer's purpose) and of classical rhetoric (organization, ethos, pathos, logos, and style) to improve their ability to analyze business letters. Shows how applying these principles to the analysis of business letters from other countries helps students write better and…

The format and structure of 150 Spanish-language letters written by business administrators in Guatemalan firms were analyzed to help determine how Latin American business writers organize and present information in various types of routine letters. Findings suggest that Latin American businesspeople follow some, but not all, of the format…

This article focuses on an extended, interactive, collaborative project in a junior/senior-level business communication class. The main goal of the project is to address a difficult task central to many college-level writing courses: teaching students to consider and to write for specific audiences other than the teacher. A second goal is to focus…

An online writing center developed at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, called Calliope, provides a modular platform aimed at enhancing learners' professional writing skills in five different languages: Dutch, English, French, German, and Spanish. It supports courses in business and technical communication. The current version includes modules…