Analysis of Generic Structure of Business Letters Written by Native and Non- Native Employees: A Study in ESP Context

Abstract

The study aims at analyzing generic features of business correspondence transcribed by non-native and native employees. The purpose is to underscore mutual differences to develop business writing competence of the non-native employees presently working in a Pakistani organization but likely to be shifted in a foreign setting. The text comprised 20 Quotation call letters (hence forth, QC letters) collected from both present and target situation and analyzed by applying a genre-based approach established by Swales (1990) and Bhattia (1993). The specific moves and steps in both varieties of text were identified and classified separately. The rhetorical structure of QC letters written by Pakistani employees comprised three major moves: Quotation call - Item description - Terms and conditions, further realized in several steps. The rhetorical structure of QC letters of native variety consisted of four major moves: Quotation call - Item description - Technical specification - Terms and condition, and their realization in multiple kind of steps. Findings revealed remarkable dissimilarities in both varieties. QC letters written by native employees embraced more detailed, clear, and elaborated descriptions pertaining to the number and content of moves and steps, as compared to the Pakistani variety of text. The similarities and dissimilarities of the contextual patterns and strategies may be utilized systematically as ESP materials for the training of Pakistani employees.