OE1-1.3 Business Correspondence & Technical Articles
You can write sales, quotation, claim and adjustment letters, and describe the nature, significance and elements of journal articles and conference papers.
Each letter type has a conventional shape because each does a predictable job, and the adjustment letter is the one worth real care — it responds to a complaint, so tone decides whether you keep the customer. On the academic side, the distinction between a journal article and a conference paper is length, review depth and permanence, and knowing which you are writing changes what you include. The elements of a technical article are a checklist you will use if you ever publish.
Work through these
Sales letters
The letter that has to persuade, which is the least engineering-like writing in the course. It is here because the same clarity rules apply under different pressure.
Letters of quotation
The letter that states a price and its conditions. Precision here is not a style question: an ambiguous quotation is a contract dispute.
Claim letters
The claim letter, written when goods arrive damaged or a service falls short. Its whole job is to state the facts and the remedy sought without heat, which is harder than it sounds.
Adjustment letters and the role of tone
The reply to the letter above, where tone does most of the work. Granting and refusing both have conventions, and getting them wrong costs a customer.
Technical articles: nature and significance
Moving from correspondence to publication, and why a technical article exists at all. It is written to be found and cited rather than read straight through.
Types of technical articles
The kinds of article and what each is for. Choosing the wrong kind is a common reason a paper is rejected without review.
Journal articles and conference papers
The two main venues, and how they differ in length, review and speed. Knowing which suits a piece of work is part of doing the work.
Elements of a technical article
The standard parts, in the standard order. The structure is a convention that lets a reader find what they need without reading everything.
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