Date of Award
1982
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Abstract
This study was conducted to determine what effect rewriting had on student achievement of positive message and negative message business letter-writing skills in a business communication course. It involved one hundred fourteen students at the University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, during the fall semester of the 1981-82 academic year. The experimental-control group, pretest-posttest design was used and each of the two experimental groups completed two positive (A-Plan) and two negative (B-Plan) letter rewriting exercises. There were no rewriting assignments in the control group. All pretest and posttest letters were graded by five business communication instructors. Experimental Group I was conducted using individual letter rewriting exercises and the lecture-discussion method; Experimental Group II was conducted using small-group letter rewriting exercises and the lecture-discussion method; the Control Group was conducted using only the lecture-discussion method. Analysis of covariance (with the significance set at the .05 level) was used to analyze the data collected. Adjusted mean posttest scores were examined using student English Grade Point Averages (EGPA), overall Grade Point Averages (GPA), and pretest scores as covariates. Results of the analysis of covariance on A-Plan and B-Plan letters showed significant differences among group means. The Scheffe Procedure was used to examine differences between means. When students in Experimental Group I and Experimental Group II were compared to students in the Control Group, there were significant differences in achievement of A-Plan and B-Plan business letter-writing skills favoring the two experimental groups. There was no significant difference in student achievement between students in Experimental Group I and Experimental Group II. The results of this study indicated that individual rewriting letter exercises and small-group rewriting letter exercises were more effective than the traditional lecture-discussion method in increasing student achievement of positive message and negative message business letter-writing skills.
Recommended Citation
House, Beverly Ann, "An Evaluation of Two Methods of Teaching Business Letter-Writing Skills." (1982). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 3722.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/3722
Pages
98
DOI
10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.3722