英语商务报告写作.ppt

I have made this letter longer than usual only because I have not had time to make it shorterBlaise Pascal(French Mathematician)What is makes a good business report?Being Concise-Dont add in extra words to show you have an extensive vocabulary if they are not needed!Style and ToneIt should be persuasive but with the right level of formality.Be objective-Dont use“I”or“you”Considering the information,I think that -The information suggests that.You should try.-It would be beneficial to try.Be clear and concise-Dont use metaphors,idioms or sayings-They can be interpreted in different ways!eg.It is said that“There is no I in team”.DO NOT USEeg.Every coin has two sides./There are two sides to every coin.DO NOT USEBut there are limits on being concise!eg.In a word DO NOT USEStructureIntroductionMain Body(Organised in Paragraphs)ConclusionRecommendationsRead the report on Page 72 and note down the good and bad points Good PointsClearly OrganisedAddresses the points requestedBadDoesnt make clear recommendationsToo informalNo linking phrasesLinking Phrases Practice(pg 73)Linking phrases are very important to create a flow in your writing.However they can be over used.Remember you are using them to link ideas together,so make sure you choose the right one to define the relationship.Rewrite sentence 1-4 giving them the same meaning.Linking Phrases-Answers1a.In spite of/Despite being rich,hes unhappy.OR In spite of/Despite his wealth,Hes unhappy.b.Hes rich.Nevertheless,hes unhappy.2a.In addition to being complex,its(also)expensive.OR In addition to the fact that its complex.2b.As well as being complex,its(also)expensive.2c.Its complex.Furthermore,its expensive.Linking Phrases-Answers3a.After gathering all the evidence,they will produce a report.3b.(First)they will gather all the evidence.Subsequently they will produce a report.4a.The company went bankrupt on account of poor management/being poorly managed.4b.The company was poorly managed.Consequently,it went bankrupt.Common Grammatical Mistakes Articles:The,A,Anmake sure you know which one to use and use it!Most nouns need an article,but not all do!Remember it is The U.K and The Peoples Republic Of China but Britain and China.Use a dictionary to check.Common Grammatical Mistakes 3rd Person Singular addsIf you are using a verb to describe a person,theory or an organisation you usually add an s eg.Theory X acknowledges Theory X and Y acknowledge The author indicates that.The authors indicate that.Citing and Referencing-Why do we do it?To distinguish your own views from other peoples.To indicate the reliability of your statements.To show the depth of your research.Citing and Referencing-Why do we do it?You have limited business experience,if any.If you do not show me,I will assume that your opinions are NOT based on real world experiences or evidence.By referencing people who have research/real life experience,you are showing me that you have knowledge of what has worked or not worked in the real world and then used these to inform your own opinion.Critical thinkingWhat is critical thinking?Do not just passively accept what you read but actively question and asses it.The Exposure of Reinhart and Rogoff-An Example Of Critical ThinkingIn 2013 Reinhart and Rogoff,two Harvard Professors were exposed for errors within their 2010 paper“Growth In A Time Of Debt”Their paper indicated that a slowing of growth by 1%for the next 23 years would cause the U.S.economy to shrink by 25%This was used to inform several policy decisions by the U.S.Government.A Graduate student along with his professors analysed the paper and found mistakes within both the original figures of GDP in certain countries and in the excel formulas used to analyse the data and produce their results.It was shown that their results were a great exaggeration and many people had to re-evaluate the future of their business and the country.What Can We Learn From This?If research results provided by Harvard professors are erroneous,we need to consider the truth behind all sources we read.These mistakes were caused by human error but other mistakes could be caused by the authors own agenda/biases.They may let their own feelings get in the way of the truth or they may be being paid by a company to report results that make that company look good.The only way to know is to research deeper,look at the way they got their results and the results other people have produced.Do they all say the same thing?If not,why?Critical thinking-Check listWhat are the key ideas?Does the author have a bias?Does the evidence seem reliable?Is the argument similar to anything else I have read?Do I agree with the writers view?Should You Use Wikipedia When Writing A Report?An anonymous Wikipedia contributor who edited thousands of entries and claimed to be a professor of religion turned out to be a 24-year-old college dropout.By the time he was exposed as a fraud;He was so respected in the Wikipedia community that he had even been made an arbitrator(a person who judges other articles for validity)by Wikipedia and had been hired by Wikia Inc.Should You Use Wikipedia When Writing A Report?Yes and No.Yes,it can offer a useful overview.HOWEVER there are many mistakes!Scroll down the wikipedia page to the links at the bottom.Read these and judge if they are reliable.Plagiarism What is plagiarism?Discuss this in groups-write down a definition.Plagiarism Anything that is not common knowledge or your own ideas and research(published or not)must be cited and referenced.If you do not do this,you are plagiarising!If you reference but change the meaning or mis-quote statistics,you are plagiarising!It is an academic offence and will result in failure.If in doubt,cite the source(Way,2015).Report Writing-Common Mistakes of PhrasingGeneralisations:It is obvious that It is certain that/Certainly Everyone knows that Before you write one of these statements,stop and think!If it is certain,you do not need to tell some oneeg.It is obvious that the world is round.-The world is round.If it is not certain,you need to cite where you got the information from.What is Common Knowledge?-To Cite or Not To Cite?1.“Helsinki is the capital of Finland”2.“Jerusalem is the Capital of Israel”3.Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States”4.The population of Finland has been about 5 million for the past several decades”5.The population of Finland in July 1999 was 4,992,311FactCite it or not?1.”Helsinki is the capital of FinlandDont cite it;the fact that Helsinki is presently the capital,and having been so throughout Finnish independence,can be assumed to be either(a)commonly known by educated individuals even outside of Finland,or(b)a fact that can be easily looked-up even if one does not know,and most importantly,a fact which is not subject to contention.2.”Jerusalem is the capital of IsraelCite it;its open to contention,even though the government of Israel calls it“fact.”3.”Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United StatesDont cite it;regardless of who does and doesnt know that Lincoln was the U.S.As 16th president,the info.is easily found,is not changeable,and thus can be assumed to be common.4.”The population of Finland has been about 5 million for the past several decadesDont cite it;it is a general statement that,while not well known by those outside Finland,could be confirmed by looking in any almanac or atlas over the past 30 years.5.”The population of Finland in July 1999 was 4,992,311Cite it;it is so exact that it must have come from a specific source which must be cited.Such a specific number would almost automatically be open to argument(as to how it was determined,if nothing else)How to Use Other Peoples Ideas and ResearchOnce you know that you should cite the information,you then need to put it into an appropriate form.This involves quoting,paraphrasing or summarising Short QuotesShould be integrated into the sentence using reporting words.You should site the author,the year and the page,line or paragraph,depending on the source.Should use double quotation marks“”Eg.According to Princeton Writing Centre(2009,para.7),direct quoting should only be used to provide support for academic argument for a“compelling”reason and the choice to quote may be because“you want your reader to be able to see,in full,what someone else has said”before you go on to analyse the statement.Long QuotesLeave NO SPACE above and below the long quoteMake the text size the same as the essay text sizeIndent approximately one centimetre to the rightDO NOT use quotation marksStudents often misunderstand the role of quotations in writing and overdo the strategy:Students include four quotations where one would do.This can give the impression that you dont have enough to say and are using quotations to take up space a common strategy for some students.Also,the excessive use of quotes.may be taken to indicate that you dont understand the position well enough to explain it in your own words.(Dartmouth,2008,para.11)Moreover,there are a number of technical rules that students need to learn to use quotations correctly in their writing.ParaphrasingOriginal from Allen,J.(2009)The cause of the industrial revolution,Oxford University Press:UK;“There has been much debate about the reasons for the industrial revolution happening in 18th Century Britain,rather than in France or Germany”Paraphrased:Why the industrial revolution occurred in Britain in the eighteenth century,instead of on the continent,has been the subject of considerable discussion(Allen,2009)Can you identify the key features of an effective paraphrase?Paraphrasinghas a different structure to the originalhas mainly different vocabularyretains the same meaningkeeps some phrases from the original text that are in common use eg.industrial revolution or eighteenth centuryParaphrasing PracticeYou are writing a report comparing changes in manufacturing and cultural attitudes in the West.You read this and think the ideas would be good to use in your essay.The growth of the car industry parallels the development of modern capitalism.In the 1920s Alfred Sloans management theories helped General Motors to become the words dominant car company.(Bailey,2013)“The growth of the car industry parallels the development of modern capitalism”1.First look for synonyms of key words:The growth of the car industry parallels the development of modern capitalism.change it to:The rise of the automobile industry directly corresponds to the progress of contemporary capitalism.2.Then change the structure but keep the same meaning:There is a direct correspondence between the progress of contemporary capitalism and the rise of the automobile industry.3.Cite the original text:There is a direct correspondence between the progress of contemporary capitalism and the rise of the automobile industry(Bailey,2013).In the 1920s Alfred Sloans management theories helped General Motors to become the worlds dominant car company.1.First look for synonyms of key words:2.Then change the structure but keep the same meaning:3.Cite the original text:In the 1920s Alfred Sloans management theories helped General Motors to become the words dominant car company.1.First look for synonyms of key words:In the 1920s Alfred Sloans management theories helped General Motors to become the words dominant car company.In the 1920s Alfred Sloans managerial theories assisted General Motors become the global dominant automobile company.2.Then change the structure but keep the same meaning:In the 1920s,with assistance from the managerial theories of Alfred Sloan,General Motors dominated the global automobile market.3.Cite the original text:In the 1920s,with assistance from the managerial theories of Alfred Sloan,General Motors dominated the global automobile market(Bailey,2013).ReferencingYou can use any system you prefer as long as you stay consistent.Organise your References in alphabetical order.I use Harvard but it is a personal preference.You can look up the different styles on the internet,there are even websites that will create the reference for you if you type in the details such as author,date of publishing,title.Author(Date)Title of paper,Title of Journal.Issue,Vol,Publisher.check out or just type reference generator into Bing!