Integrating Product-Process Considerations in Teaching Business Letter
Writing
Benny P. H. Lee
National University of Singapore
This article demonstrates and discusses how product
consideration can be integrated into a process approach to the teaching of a form
of writing which is traditionally considered formulaic and model-based. Firstly,
it is argued that the apparent resistance to a process approach to teaching formulaic
writing has to do with certain historical reasons. The article then demonstrates
how product consideration can be incorporated into a two-hour process writing
lesson on business letter writing involving three tasks: a brainstorming and planning
activity; a writing relay; and an editing/ proofreading task. It is argued that
the use of model exposure, rather than model imitation, better facilitates the
writing process, and is more adaptive to the needs of the working world which
requires students to respond to novel writing situations which may not be taught
in the classroom.
