News: Telephone and Writing Skills
Writing skills training: Businesses 'using more formal English'
23 February 2009
Business communications are increasingly containing standard English rather than more casual forms of expression, which could signal a need for writing skills training.
Lucy Kellaway, a columnist for the Financial Times, claims the tendency towards informal language has been replaced with correct usage.
In a relaxed comparison of 100 recent emails she had recently received and a similar number examined in 2000, she found formal English has become more predominant.
She states that a quarter of emails she received in 2000 did not use capital letters, compared to a single instance in the most recent batch, with a return to using surnames also apparent this year.
Ms Kellaway asserts: "The results prove beyond reasonable doubt that the pendulum has swung away from slouchy informality towards correct usage."
She emphasises the importance of writing skills training, saying attempting to use formal language and doing so incorrectly can be destructive.
Last month, Richard Wainer, head of education and skills at the Confederation of British Industry, claimed poor writing skills are impacting on customer service performance at a third of UK firms.
