Transactional Writing

Transactional writing includes e-mails, business letters, the writing tasks that are connected to professional meetings (making agendas, taking minutes); writing memos and making a CV or resume.

They are not 'academic' but they do need to be professional and carefully planned.

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Introduction

Purpose:

Transactional texts serve to communicate an intended message between individuals or organisations. Common examples include

• emails,
• business letters,
• meeting minutes, 
• memos and
• CVs or resumes.

Style:

The tone and style of transactional texts depend on their intended audience and purpose. Formality levels may vary – generally, they are written in clear, straightforward language.

Structure:

Transactional texts usually start with a salutation or an introduction, followed by the body containing the key message or information. They end with a closing, which may include a call-to-action, a closing remark or a sign-off.

emails: introduction

Style

Like all writing, e-mails should be in an appropriate format. Your tutor might encourage you to be informal, but you still need to know how to write formally.

Why do we use e-mails?

Can I use my personal e-mail?

No.

Using your UNNC e-mail account is secure (tutors can choose not to respond if you send an e-mail from a private e-mail account).

What are the potential problems with e-mails?

When would I need to write an e-mail?

There are several situations in which you would write an e-mail to your tutor:

Apologies

To apologise: If you forget to do something, or said something that your tutor didn't understand or was upset by, you might want to apologise. An apology is something that often starts an email even when you are asking for help, or complaining about something.

Example:

Dear Mr. Sturman,

I am writing to apologise for the late submission of my homework.

I am very sorry to have submitted my homework after the deadline. I became overwhelmed with school work and a personal family issue last week and I did not want to submit work that was not good enough. I finished it yesterday, but I'm afraid I was so tired that I fell asleep immediately and completely forgot to submit it.   

I am aware that this is entirely my responsibility and I will try to organise my time better in the future. I hope that you will understand and that you are still willing to look at my homework and give me some feedback on how to improve.

Best wishes,

Reagon

Gen LI 里揯 (Class A20, ID: 199042741)

Requests for help or clarification

To ask for help or clarification: If you need your personal tutor to sign a work application document, for example; or if you are not sure about what you have been asked to do for homework, you might write an e-mail to your tutor (but only after you've asked the other students!) 

Example:

Dear Mr. Sturman,

I am writing to ask for help with my coursework.

I am very confused about the difference between cohesion and coherence - the topic of lesson 4.3 last week. It seems to me that the two ideas are very similar and that in some cases may be the same. I wonder if you would be kind enough to point me towards some resource such as a website or book that explains these two terms in more detail.   

I have tried to look online for some information about this, but the websites I looked at were a little too complicated.  I hope this is not too much of an imposition and I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Reagon

Gen LI 里揯 (Class A20, ID: 199042741)
 

Complaints

To complain: Sometimes things go wrong. Tutors forget things (they are busy, I promise you). If, for example, you sent an email asking for help on something and you have not heard back from the tutor, you might write a gentle email reminding the tutor. If you still don't get a reply, then your e-mail goes up a level to a polite complaint. Tutors are expected to reply to students within 3 working days. If you send an email on a Friday night, you might not get a reply until Wednesday of the following week.

Example:

Dear Mr. Sturman,

This is a little embarrassing but I am writing to complain about the returned homework that you sent to me yesterday. 

I am afraid that you may have sent me the wrong file. The homework you sent to me was done by a different student (Gen Liu) and I suspect that you may have sent my homework to him. Our names are similar but our student ID numbers are very different.   

Could you please check your records and send me the correct homework?

Best wishes,

Reagon

Gen LI 里揯 (Class A20, ID: 199042741)

Parts of an e-mail

There are 7 parts to an e-mail.

Not every e-mail will include all of these, especially very short ones, but the principle applies to all e-mails.

emails - subject line

Email subject lines should convey the main point of your message. Therefore, be as specific as possible. One-word subjects such as “Hi,” “Question,” or “FYI” are not suitable.

Think of what the reader needs to know. Be concise and clear.

Be concise:

Be clear: 

emails - salutation

The salutation is determined by whether you know the person you are writing to or not, and how formal you need to be

When you do not know the person you are writing to

When you are writing to a department or office or when you do not know the people or person who will actually receive the email, you can use any of these:

When you do know the person you are writing to:

emails - purpose statement

The introduction should clearly state why you are writing, or what you are writing about. The majority of introductions use a 'to + verb' form which is known as an infinitive of purpose. It means 'this is the reason'. However, please note that the last two are different. 

emails - body

The body should be the details of your email. Typically it will include any or all of the 'W's (why, where, what, who, how). For example, it might include:
 

Of course, the actual content depends on what you are writing about. Try to stay with the same style throughout - do not be informal in part of the e-mail then very formal elsewhere.

emails - conclusion

The conclusion might be another 'thank you' or an expectation that the other person should respond:
 

It might include a polite instructions:

Or any further necessary information (such as details of attachments)

email - close

The closing statement depends on how formal you need to be and what you have written about

Avoid: 

email - signature

If you are friends, no problem - just use the name they know you by.

In more formal situations give your full name, identifying information (role, job title) and organisation:
 

Note that you can set up an automatic signature for all emails using Outlook: please watch the video below

...

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Outlook signatures

email - example

Self-Introduction email

email example - analyzed

Salutation:

Dear Mr. Sturman,

Introduction:

I am writing to introduce myself.

Body:

My name is Gen Li but please call me Reagon. I am from Shanghai. My father is a high school teacher and my mother is an accountant for an international trading company. My major is electrical engineering and I am particularly interested in computer games and website design. Although my high school in Shanghai has a very good reputation for English, I was never a particularly strong English student as I was more interested in Science topics and sport. I represented my school in the regional badminton competition and came third.  

Conclusion:

I am aware that my English needs to improve and that I might make mistakes when I speak or write in English. I hope that you will understand and point out what I can do to improve.

Close:

Best wishes,

Signature:

Reagon Gen LI 里揯 (Class A20, ID: 199042741)

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Gregg University Business letters: video

Gregg University Business letters: video (opens in a new window)

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Derek Callan Minute writing: video

Derek Callan Minute writing: video (opens in a new window)

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Writing an Agenda

Please note that this example is based on work that was done in the ITIT course 22-23 and that it was supposed to be amusing (you will see that one of the team members is a little difficult)

Writing an agenda example

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University of Minnesota Memo writing: video

University of Minnesota Memo writing: video (opens in a new window)

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Rene Delescen CV or Resume writing: video

CV or Resume writing: video (opens in a new window)

Websites for CV Writing

Please find out more at the two websites below

University of Wisconsin (opens in a new window)

Reed (opens in a new window)

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1. Introduction
2. emails
   1. email - introduction
   2. email - salutation
   3. email - subject line
   4. email - purpose statement
   5. email -body
   6. email - conclusion
   7. email - close
   8. email - signature
   9. email - example
3. Business letters -   Gregg University: video
4. Minutes
   1. Introduction: pdf
   2. Example: pdf
   3. Minutes writing - Derek Callan: video
5. Agendas
   1. Introduction: pdf
   2. Example: pdf
6. Memo writing  - University of Minnesota video
7. CV / Resume writing - Rene Delescen: video

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