BUSINESS ENGLISH BY OSCAR CHARLES GALLAGHER, A.M. AND LEONARD BOWDOIN MOULTON, A.B. COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY OSCAR C. GALLAGHER AND LEONARD B. MOULTON ALL RIGHTS RESERVED The Riverside Press U.S.A. PREFACE THIS book is planned and written for the pupil. It is based upon his experience and developed to fit his needs. Principles are presented clearly and definitely without lengthy, academic discussions. The arrangement and the character of assignments, particularly in the section on Practical Business, direct the pupil's work so that it is definite and progressive. In the first place, assignments under each new topic are given as soon as possible after a brief but comprehensive introduction. This plan closely associates the practical application with the discussion of principles. In the second place, the principles involved in each assignment are so analyzed that the pupil has a definite piece of work before him with specific directions as to how he shall do it. Practice in oral work is emphasized throughout the book. The section on Oral Composition is directly related to business and gives a variety of suggestive topics that have been found interesting to pupils in commercial courses. The discussion of Oral Salesmanship presents actual classroom work. Training in this is a valuable preparation for sales letter writing. Besides these special sections on oral work, oral exercises are provided in connection with the written assignments. The ability to dictate letters is of such importance in business that dictation assignments are connected with many of the exercises in letter writing. Nearly all the exercises in Sales Letters are followed by assignments in oral salesmanship. The book is divided into four parts: Business English, The Business of the School, Grammatical Forms and Sentence Structure, and Practical Business. The section on Business English gives the pupil an idea of the wide use of English in present-day business. It emphasizes the fact that the study of English for business is not confined merely to letter writing, but includes a study of all the essential forms of expression. The plan of assignments for collecting and discussing illustrations of description, narration, exposition, and argument as used in business is an interesting and instructive method of beginning the study of business English. The section on The Business of the School forms a natural approach to practical business. The spirit of actual business is applied to all forms of written work arising out of school activities and the relations between teacher and pupil. Such treatment of the business aspect of school life affords, in the light of simple and familiar experiences, a basis for the later interpretation of complex business problems. This grouping of exercises connected with the school gives the pupil a more definite point of view than he would get if they were distributed throughout the book. The section on Grammatical Forms and Sentence Structure is not meant to be exhaustive. It is a concise summary of applied grammar and a treatment of the common errors in grammatical forms and in sentence structure. The application of these principles is constantly kept in the mind of the pupil by specific review exercises connected with definite portions of the oral and written work. The section on Practical Business presents to the pupil actual business problems. Advertising is considered first because of its relation to succeeding topics. Oral salesmanship and sales letters are advertisements expanded, given individuality, and directed to a definite person. From this point of view the principles of salesmanship, whether oral or written, are more easily understood. Oral Salesmanship, as it precedes Adjustment and Collection Letters, prepares the pupil to incorporate in such letters the principles of selling. In this manner the problems of business are so related and analyzed that the knowledge acquired in solving one becomes an aid in solving succeeding problems. By this plan the pupil's knowledge is unified and progressive. The authors are glad to express their obligations to pupils, past and present, for many valuable suggestions, to various business houses for access to their files, and to the Boston Council of Teachers of English for a list of subjects. For the use of correspondence and advertising material they acknowledge their special indebtedness to the following firms: Willett, Sears & Company, Boston; Ivers & Pond, Boston; Joseph Campbell Company, Camden, New Jersey; Jordan Marsh Company, Boston; Harper & Brothers, New York; New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, Boston; International Silver Company, Meriden, Connecticut; National Commercial Gas Association, New York; The Henley-Kimball Company, Boston; Hotels Statler Company, Buffalo, New York; Arion Manufacturing Company, Boston; F. A. Webster Company, Boston; Rock River Cotton Company, Janesville, Wisconsin; The Pullman Company, Chicago; Armour and Company, Chicago; The Lincoln & Parker Company, Worcester, Massachusetts; Allied Wall Paper Industry, New York; Gilchrist Company, Boston; F. H. Thomas Company, Boston; The Enterprise Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Yawman & Erbe Company, Rochester, New York; Brown Durrell Company, Boston. |