uchebnik_dlya_aspirantov

COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICE

Discuss the topic for a new paper with your thesis advisor. Follow recommendations you have learnt in Unit 3. Write a paper and an abstract to it.

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MODULE 4. WRITING LETTERS

Unit 1. Letter Layout

There are some important parts in a typical standard letter: the sender’s address, date, the recipient’s address, salutation, the subject (optional), the body of the letter, complimentary close, signature, the name and the title of the sender, enclosure (optional).

The Heading or the Letterhead (the return address/the sender’s address) is usually placed in the top right-hand corner of the page. It bears all the necessary information about the sender: the name and address of the institution, organization’s identity, position, title and address of the sender, the telephone, telex, fax numbers, e-mail or any other details that may be required, such as reference numbers, codes, etc.

To avoid difficulties in writing Russian names and surnames the following information may be of use:

ё – io, yo, ie: Semionov, Semyonov, Semienov; ж –- zh: Zhukov;

з – z, s: Kuznetsov, Vosnesenskiy; й – ei, iy: Aliseichik, Bykovskiy; х – kh, h: Malakhov; Astahov;

ц – ts: Tsvetkov; ч – ch: Chugunov;

ш – sh: Timoshenko; щ – sch: Paschenko; ы – y: Bykov;

ь – ‘: Belen’kiy;

ю – yu, iu: Yurkov, Mavliukov; я – ja, ya: Slepian, Yakovlev.

The Date should be placed below the sender’s address usually one or two spaces lower. The date may be written as month-day-year (US style) 11/06/2014 or day-month-year (UK style) 06.11.2014 and the year written with all four digits. A comma should be put between the day of the month, and the year to separate the numerals and prevent confusion November 6th, 2014.

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The Inside Address (the recipient’s address) is always on the left margin, two spaces below the date. It includes the recipient’s name, job title, address and postal (zip) code or zone number.

The initials of the first name are placed in front of the surname.

The words street, road or avenue may be abbreviated: St., Rd., Ave., . The postal (zip) code or zone number is a geographical abbreviation. Be sure to put it in all addresses in countries that use it. In the United

States the zip code uses five numbers; some countries use numbers and letters.

The Salutation (the greeting) begins two spaces below the receiver’s address and is written with the margin on the left. In Great Britain the salutation is followed by a comma (Dear Sir,), in the USA – by a colon only in formal letters (Dear Sir:). The salutation is never followed by an exclamation mark or by a dash only.

The type of salutation depends on your relationship with the recipient, the purpose of the letter, the position that your correspondent holds. It normally begins with the word “Dear” and always includes the person’s last name.

A title, such as Prof. or Dr. is used only with the surname. In writing letters the following salutations are used:

A.formal salutations:

– Dear Sir

– Dear Madam /Dear Ms. (If the letter-writer is not sure whether the lady is married or unmarried)

B.less formal salutations:

–Dear Mr. Smith

–Dear Mrs. Smith (to married woman.)

–Dear Miss Smith (to unmarried woman.)

–Dear Dr. Smith

–Dear Prof. Smith

–Dear Colleagues

The Subject (optional) can help the recipient in dealing successfully with the aims of your letter. Subject line may be emphasized by underlining, using bold font, or all capital letters. It is usually placed one line below the greeting but alternatively can be located directly after the

“inside address,” before the “greeting.”

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The Enclosure. If you include other material in the letter, put

“Enclosure”,” ‘Enc.”, or “Encs”.

Layout of a Formal Letter

The Body of the Letter should begin two spaces below the salutation.The body of a letter is the main part because it contains the message for the recipient and should fulfill some requirements. The first paragraph of the letter should introduce the subject matter and either state or imply your purpose in writing. If there is more than one paragraph, each paragraph should focus on a separate aspect of the subject matter and there should be clear links between paragraphs. The final paragraph should leave the reader in no doubt about your attitude towards the subject of the letter. It should be positive and unambiguous. Regardless of format, skip a line between paragraphs or indent them. Short letters are usually double-spaced (two-lines); longer letters are single-spaced (one line) with double spaces between the paragraphs.

The Complimentary Close follows the body of the letter, about two or three spaces below it. Only the first word should be capitalized and a comma is placed at the end.

The traditional rule of etiquette in Britain is that a formal letter starting “Dear Sir or Madam” must end ‘Yours faithfully/ Faithfully yours”, while a letter starting “Dear Mr. Brown “ must end “Yours truly/Yours sincerely / Truly yours/ Sincerely yours”. It is customary for colleagues, especially among scientists, to write “Yours sincerely” rather than “Yours truly” or “Yours faithfully”.

The complimentary close of a letter may begin as follows:

–I look forward to hearing from you.

–I look forward to hearing from you in the nearest future.

–We look forward to a successful working relationship in the future.

–Thank you for your time/ effort/ help/ consideration.

–Please, contact me if you require further details.

–I trust that you will give this matter your urgent attention.

The Signature is written directly beneath the complimentary close. It is indented a little to the right. You should sign your first and last names. The first name can be written in full or with an initial. The signature line may include a second line for a title, if appropriate.

TASK:

1.Write the following dates which are placed below the sender’s address:

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the second of June, nineteen ninety-eight

the nineteenth of September, two thousand and two the twenty-fifth of October, nineteen eighty-one the third of January, two thousand and three

2. Correct the errors in the following dates:

3.Complete the following sentences by indicating the dates:

I have received your letter of …

Further information will be sent to you on … In your letter of …

I will attend the conference in Moscow on … The conference will last from … to …. Professor Jones is arriving in Rostov on …

4.Supply the letter below with your address, the date, some suitable complimentary close and your signature:

Dear Sir,

I would be grateful if you could forward me a copy of your reprint entitled “Synaptic Transmitter,” which was published in the Journal of

Biological Chemistry, vol. 2, № 3, 2012, pp. 290-300.

COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICE

TASK: Read the letter below. Make all the necessary changes to correct its layout:

Feb. 21, 2014

Assoc. Prof. Smirnov

Department of Physics Southern Federal University 5 Zorge St.

344090 Rostov-on-Don Russia

Dear Dr. Johnson I wish to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of April 6 and to thank

you for sending me the reprints.

I am now completing my experimental investigation and as soon as I

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obtain final results I will prepare another contribution and send it to you for publication.

Looking forward to further cooperation. Yours sincerely

V. Smirnov (signature)

Unit 2. Letters of Invitation

TASK: Read the samples of invitation letters and highlight the phrases, commonly used in such letters:

Letter 1

Dear colleague,

On behalf of the Organizing Committee may I invite you to be the Closing Keynote Speaker at the upcoming 2013 NEERI Conference. The theme of this conference is “Global Warming - a Major Environmental Problem”. It will be held at the Oceanfront Conference Center, San

Antonio, from December 3 to 5, 2013.

For your information, Susan Mcleen will be the opening Keynote

Speaker. The provisional title of her presentation is “Factors Contributing to Global Warming”. We will forward a complete draft speaker program to you in a couple of weeks to give you an idea of the specific subjects that will be covered by the other speakers.

We expect attendance this year to be the highest ever; in the area of 2,000 delegates and 150 speakers. This includes a large contingent from our new European Branch that is based in Geneva.

In closing, we would be pleased and honored if you would consent to be our closing speaker at the 2010 NEERI Conference.

I will call you in a week or so to follow up on this. Sincerely yours,

(Signature)

Name, Conference Chair Name, Local Committee Chair

Letter 2

Dear Dr. Angela Doe,

We are pleased to invite you to participate in the International

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Conference “New Information and Communication Technologies. Review and Perspectives” to be held on October 24-30, 2014 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This high level International Conference offers a forum for the professional exchange of knowledge and skills related to this topic. Over 2000 people are expected to be in attendance from over 50 countries. They will have the opportunity to learn from 1300 speakers via over 450 presentations including workshops, panels, and paper sessions.

The contributions of international attendees such as Dr. Doe enrich the program through enhancing the diversity of perspectives and content represented.

The working languages of the Conference are English and French. We would highly appreciate your participation in this event.

If you have any questions or concerns, or if I may be of assistance in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely yours, (Signature) Name

Program Committee Chairman

Letter 3

Dear …,

We would like to invite you to attend the workshop on

“The Origin of the Elements Heavier than Fe” in honor of the 75th birthday of Roberto Gallino 25th – 27th September 2013

in Torino, Italy

The aim of the workshop is to review the progress made on our knowledge of the origin of elements heavier than Fe in the past 50 years, and to indicate future research directions. At the same time, we will celebrate the 70th birthday of Roberto Gallino and acknowledge his contribution to the field of nuclear astrophysics.

The workshop will be held in the Torino’s hills at the new Planetarium of Torino - Museum of Astronomy and Space.

In particular, we would like to invite you to register for the conference by sending via email to m.a.lugaro@uu.nl by 30 June, 2013:

–your name and affiliation,

–if you wish to give an oral presentation or a poster, and

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– a title and an abstract for your presentation.

There will not be proceedings, but contributions will be available on the web after the workshop.

Accommodations options and some travel information can be found below and will be posted soon on the workshop website: www.fisica.unipg.it/ gallino70

We will send more information on this in the near future. Looking forward to seeing you in Torino.

Sincerely yours, (Signature) Name

Letter 4

Dear …,

It is a pleasure for me to invite you to collaborate in my Laboratory of Computational Cell Biology at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) between 08 November, 2010 and 23 December, 2010. As a guest researcher in my lab, it is my understanding you will focus on software development related to the modelling of metastasis in cancer. There will be no salary paid to you from TSRI. However, provided you have entered the country in WB (or B-1) status, we will reimburse you for your travel expenses and some incidental costs associated with your stay in La Jolla.

I am looking forward to hosting you. Sincerely yours,

(Signature) Name

How many phrases have you highlighted? Which of them do you find most helpful in letter writing?

Here are some more phrases used in letters of invitation:

–It gives me a great pleasure to invite you to attend the Jubilee celebration of …

–On behalf of the Organizing Committee may I invite you to participate in … .

–The Institute of Physics officially invites you to deliver a series of lectures on …

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