Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/54806
Weak business writers could be limiting their progression from students to professionals, professionals to managers, and managers to executives. 6. Add "science" to "English." To help business students understand why good writing is so impor- tant, I provide quick overviews of research that's been published in academic literature. Students appear most impressed with two studies: one about how business managers react to weak writing, and one about the most common types of writing errors made in freshman com- position classes. Students realize they can systematically learn the rules of writing just as they learn the science underlying the management theories they study in their business courses. Writing References Articles "Ethos and Error: How Business People React to Errors" by Larry Beason in the September 2001 issue of College Composition and Communication. This research shows how pro- fessionals view substantive, recurring writing errors. "Mistakes Are a Fact of Life: A National Compara- 7. Add discipline-specific vocabulary words to exams. I include four or five vocabulary words on at least one multiple-choice exam, usually at the end of the semester. To reinforce relevance, I draw from the terms and phrases that students identify as difficult or unknown in the reports they write about organizational behavior books located in our campus library. I post the terms and phrases from prior semesters on a public Web page, ocw.smithw.org/mgt360/ vocabulary-builder.pdf. This list of terms and phrases also helps ELL students prepare themselves for upper-division management classes. tive Study" by Andrea and Karen Lunsford in the June 2008 College Composi- tion and Communication. By identifying which writ- ing errors are made most frequently, this paper helps faculty pinpoint where students need help. "CEO Broadens Vistas at LG" by Evan Ram- stad in the May 21, 2008, edition of The Wall Street Journal. The CEO of this Korean firm believes strong English skills are essential for his employees if the com- pany is to flourish as a multinational corporation. News articles from the practitioner press help me highlight the importance of communication issues in business. Handbooks Effective Writing: A Hand- book for Accountants by Claire May and Gordon May (Prentice Hall). Many books target specific business disciplines. I use this one, which focuses on accountants, for its ideas on prose. A Writer's Reference by Diana Hacker (Bedford/ St. Martin's). This is my preferred handbook. The Longman Guide to Revising Prose by Richard Lanham (Pearson/Long- man). I use this prose- based text not only to help students improve their skills, but to reaffirm the joys of good writing. Additional resources: The Fight for English: How Language Pundits Ate, Shot, and Left by David Crystal (Oxford University Press). A brief, accessible history of the fractious and chaotic evolution of the English language. "Second Draft," a semi- annual informal publica- tion from the Legal Writing Institute. Issues are avail- able online at no charge at www.lwionline.org/ the_second_draft.html. Interested faculty also can see the materials I provide my students by visiting this Web page: ocw.smithw.org/ 2010 spring/bus302-12590 /#writingmaterials. 46 BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2011