English 1 Pre-final Exam Coverage (1st Semester SY 2020-2021)

I. Identification (study definitions and characteristics of each) (25 pts.)

A. Types of Business Letter / Documents

1. Sales Letter – A sales letter is a piece of direct mail which is designed to persuade the reader to purchase a particular
product or service

2. Application Letter – A letter of application, also known as a cover letter, is a document sent with your resume
to provide additional information on your skills and experience

3. Letter of Inquiry - is written to ask for specific information regarding a particular subject matter.

4. Order Letter – An order letter, also known as a purchase order or PO, begins the paper trail of a specific
purchase. The objective is to provide the vendor with detailed instructions for fulfilling an order. It also serves
as a legal record of the transaction and, consequently, should be written with care

5. Adjustment Letter - is a response to a letter of claim.

6. Letter of Claim - is usually used in legal matters to assert some kind of wrong doing..

7. Invitation Letter - is a type of letter written to an organization or an individual for their participation or

presence in an event or an occasion

8. Memo or Memorandum (review the structure of this letter compared to other types of letters) - is a written
message which serves as a reminder for particular matter.

9. Minutes of the meeting (take note of the parts of this type of office document) - A meeting is a gathering of
people to discuss, plan, make decisions and resolve issues together.

10. Bio-data (other names: Curriculum Vitae, Personal Data Sheet, Resume) - Biodata is an abbreviation for the term
biographical data. As a document format, it’s typically one to three pages long and is used to apply for
employment.
B. Parts of a Business Letter
1. Heading / Letterhead (includes person’s or company’s name, address and contact #s/e-mail ads)
2. Dateline (reflects the actual date when the letter was written and not when it was sent or estimated to be
received)
3. Inside Address (should reflect exactly the same details seen in the envelop of the letter)
4. Salutation or Greeting (in business, use a colon: ex. Dear Sir/Madam: or Dear Ms. Martinete:)
5. Body
6. Complimentary close (Sincerely yours, Truly yours, Respectfully yours, Sincerely, are the most businesslike)
7. Signature line (contains 2 parts: the printed name and the pen name which is the actual signature written
above the printed name)
8. Enclosures (indicates any attachments to the letter like resume, certificates, receipts, etc.)
9. Other parts: Initials, cc which stands for carbon copy/copy furnished, P.S. which means post script)

C. Parts of a Memo (see attached sample memo)

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D. Letter Formats (Full-block, Modified-block, Semi-block formats)
E. Sources of Misunderstanding (ambiguity, performance-related misunderstanding, language-related, gaps in
world knowledge and local context)
Sources of Misunderstanding
Kaur (2016) cites the following as the sources of misunderstandings:
1. Ambiguity- lack of explicitness on the part of the speaker. This may be in the form of
problematic reference and ambiguous semantics in which an utterance is open to
different interpretations.
2. Performance-related misunderstanding- slips of the tongue and mishearing which
may be due to utterances spoken quickly and unclearly.
3. Language-related-misunderstanding- ungrammaticality of sentences.
4. Gaps in world knowledge- gaps in content rather than language.
5. Local context- the turns within sequences produced by the participants themselves,
and the orientation of the participants as well as the repair moves that follow the
displayed understanding (p. 147).
D. Oral and Written Communications: Their Definitions, Purpose, Types, Principles and Practices
Oral Communication
- is the functional exchange of ideas and thoughts that aims to be interactive.
- is anchored on different technological advancements. Through technological tools, oral
communication is no longer limited to real-life encounters since people are now able to
communicate through gadgets, social media and other online platforms.
Oral communication is the process of verbally transmitting information and ideas from one individual or group to
another. Oral communication can be either formal or informal.
Examples of informal oral communication include:
Face-to-face conversations
Telephone conversations
Discussions that take place at business meetings

More formal types of oral communication include:

Presentations at business meetings
Classroom lectures
Commencement speeches given at a graduation ceremony

Ten Commandments of Oral Communication

1. Believe in what you say.

2. Believe in the people to whom you speak.
3. Live what you say.
4. Know when you say it.
5. Know why you say it.
6. Know how to say it.

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7. Have fun saying it.
8. Show it as you say it.
9. Say it so people can own it.
10. Say it so people will do it

E. Types of Speeches
(1) accdg to Purpose - Expository or Informative, Persuasive-, Entertainment

(2) accdg to Delivery (study both their strengths and limitations)

Types of Speeches According to Delivery

1. Reading from a manuscript- This is the most formal type of delivery and the most
effective in achieving the greatest control on how the speech is worded.

Strengths
a. Guarantees refined, polished and stylized language done with preparation
b. Facilitates word-for-word reading for phrases embellished with stylistic elements

Limitations
a. Takes time to prepare
b. Delimits the spontaneity and conversational dynamics that effective speaker want to
achieve
c. Creates artificiality of getting to the point if not read well

2. Memorized Speech- This is the most challenging and is best used when introducing
speakers or making announcements; for speakers trained and practiced to memorize
long passages of text; and for presenting the same ideas a number of times (e.g.,
preachers and teachers).

Strengths
a. Allows maximum eye contact with the audience
b. Allows gestures and free movement for the speaker

Limitations
a. Adds to anxiety of forgetting what to say
b. Sounds unnatural or lacking in spontaneity
c. Lessens ability to make on-the-spot adlibs

3. Impromptu Speech- This is delivered with little or no preparation usually about a topic
that the speaker knows well. It is “thinking on one’s feet” or “speaking off the cuff” for it
is usually presented with no guide notes or outline and with only a little time of advance
notice for preparation.

Strengths
a. Allows maintained direct eye contact with the audience
b. Sounds genuine for its formality

Limitations
a. May likely leave out important information if preparation is hasty
b. Might lack logical organization due to minimal preparation

4. Extemporaneous Speech- This is researched and planned ahead of time but exact
wording is not scripted. It may make use of notes or an outline for guidance on key
ideas, structure and delivery cues.

Strengths

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a. Easiest to prepare with notes as prompter
b. Does not require lengthy preparation unlike having a memorized speech, or reading
directly from a manuscript.
c. Does not need much practice to be effective; sounds interactive giving the
impression that the shared ideas of the speaker are created as he or she structures
the speech from his or her notes.

Limitation
a. Takes time for preparation
b. Takes skill to deliver it well

Principles of Effective Speech Delivery

1. Articulation- producing clear and distinct sounds
2. Modulation- adequate volume of the voice accompanied by the appropriate pitch level
and good voice quality
3. Facial Expressions, gestures, and movements- appropriateness and proper timing
4. Stage presence- naturalness, composure and confidence before the listeners
5. Rapport with the audience- attentiveness to reactions or shifts in listening patterns;
openness to questions raised
6. Silence- room for pauses and silence

F. Technical Writing: its Definition and characteristics (research on the meanings of each of its features to fully understand how they
apply to technical writing)

Technical Writing
- is a form of written communication used mainly as correspondence
and in the production of written outputs valuable to an organization. As an act of writing in the
work place, it pertains to written communication present in all kinds of organizations, jobs and
professionals.

Features of Technical Writing

1. Accurate
2. Clear
3. Formal
4. Graphical
5. Objective
6. Practical
7. Procedural
8. Specialized
9. Diverse
10. Straightforward
11. Authoritative
12. Presentable

II. Identification of Types, Formats, or Parts of a Business Letter (15 pts.)

- include the primary and ultimate aims of an Application Letter, Parts of a Bio-data/Resume, and Non-verbal Types of
communication such as chronemics and proxemics, etc.
parts of biodata:

Objective: Let the recipient know your overall career/life objective, and why you should be considered for the
position.
 Personal Details: Includes general information such as your name, postal address, date of birth, gender,
parents’ names, religion, etc. Also list your hobbies, interests, passions, strengths, characteristics and anything
else that helps the recipient understand who you are and what you want to accomplish in life.
 Educational Background: List, in chronological order, your academic profile and achievements,
particularly those that are relevant to what you are applying for.

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 Experience: List, in chronological order, your occupational history, as well as skills obtained, awards
received and other professional achievements.

7 Aspects of Nonverbal Communication

 Facial Expressions.
 Body Movements.
 Posture
 Eye Contact.
 Paralanguage
 Proxemics
 Physiological Changes

III. Grammar Review: Subject-Verb Agreement (again, study the rules on this) (15 pts.)

IV. Rearranging series of sentences to form a logically arranged paragraph and underlining the topic sentence among them. (25 pts.)
Example:
__3__ The ant screamed for help as the water was too strong.
__2__ Suddenly, it fell inside the river.
__1__ One hot day, an ant was walking near a river bank.
Reminder: Not all topic sentence are always the first sentence of a paragraph, so analyze in which sentence can be found what is
exactly being talked about in the whole paragraph.

V. Rearranging and Naming Parts of a Letter (make sure you name a part correctly; writing simply ‘date’ instead of ‘dateline’ is wrong
or ‘closing statement or remarks’ instead of ‘complimentary close’ is wrong. Wrong spelling is wrong, of course! (20 pts.)

Parts of a Traditional Memo

 MEMO HEADINGS – Begin 2” from the top of the page. Typed in bold (including the colon). Press tab
after the colon
 MEMO TO– Name of recipient – separate name & title with a comma
 FROM: Name of writer
 DATE: month, day and year the memo was typed
 SUBJECT: Subject of the memo
 BODY:  Usually begins 2 lines below the subject heading.  This is your main body text for the memo.
 TYPIST INITIALS:  Self explanatory.
 ATTACHMENT:  Notation that there is an attachment

Traditional Memo Example

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Source: https://officeskills.org/blog/create-traditional-memo-attachment/

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