the following presentation basically explains how a letter is written and also what should be followed. it also includes authentic tasks that can help learners and educators with constructing a well developed letter.

1. Letter Writing
“Meeting and talking in person on the phone is very helpful,
but letter writing helps put something concrete in hand that
helps you iron out a position or reinforce something you may
have talked about.”
NV LANGA
UNIVERSITY OF
JOHANNESBURG

2. Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the learning sessions I
should be able to:
 Write a formal letter and an informal
letter.
 Know the different language used in
letter writing.
 Use Microsoft Word to type my letters.
18 SEPTEMBER
2015
201224323 2

3. Definition of formal and informal letters:
• A formal letter is a letter
written to a business, a
college, or any
professional that are not
considered friends or
family.
• An informal letter is a
letter you would write to a
friend or family. You can
use contractions such as
can’t, I’m, won’t, you’re
and so on.
• For examination, DO NOT
use slang like, “Hey,
Wassup.” , “gonna” ,
“kinda”, “wanna”
18 SEPTEMBER
2015
NV LANGA 201224323 3

4. Authentic Task 1: In Pairs: 
(To be completed in 20 minutes)
1. Find a partner in class.
2. Analyze these two types of different letters and underline the
differences that you can spot. (Each individual should analyze a
different letter with the help of the other)
3. With your partner decide which letter is formal or informal. You are not
allowed to use the internet for this class because it tests your previous
knowledge of the structure of letters.

5. At the completion of the previous task one of the following
should have occurred:
• Notice that the different letters address distinct individuals
• The language usage in both the letters in different
• The level of respect with regards to addressing the individual being written to
is different.
• The structures are also dissimilar.
18 SEPTEMBER
2015
201224323 5

6. 18 SEPTEMBER
2015
201224323 6

7. The following steps and rules provide you with guidance to writing a formal letter.
Learners need to now rectify any mistakes they made in the previous task.
Steps to writing a formal English letter:

8. Step 1:
Addresses:
• 1) Your Address
The return address should be
written in the top right-hand corner
of the letter.
• 2) The Address of the person you
are writing to
The inside address should be
written on the left, starting below
your address.
Date:
• Different people put the date on
different sides of the page. You can
write this on the right or the left on
the line after the address you are
writing to. Write the month as a
word.
18 SEPTEMBER
2015
201224323 8

9. Step 2
Salutation
1) Dear Sir or Madam,
If you do not know the name of the person you are writing to, use this. It is
always advisable to try to find out a name.
2) Dear Mr Jenkins,
If you know the name, use the title (Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms, Dr, etc.) and the
surname only. If you are writing to a woman and do not know if she uses Mrs
or Miss, you can use Ms, which is for married and single women.
18 SEPTEMBER
2015
201224323 9

10. Step 3:
• First paragraph
The first paragraph should be short and state the purpose of the letter- to make an
enquiry, complain, request something, etc.
• The middle paragraph/s
The paragraph or paragraphs in the middle of the letter should contain the relevant
information behind the writing of the letter. Most letters in English are not very long, so
keep the information to the essentials and concentrate on organizing it in a clear and
logical manner rather than expanding too much.
• The last paragraph
The last paragraph of a formal letter should state what action you expect the
recipient to take- to refund, send you information, etc.
18 SEPTEMBER
2015
201224323 10

11. Step 4
Ending a letter:
1) Yours faithfully
If you do not know the name of the person, end the letter this way.
2) Yours sincerely
If you know the name of the person, end the letter this way.
3) Your signature
Sign your name, then print it underneath the signature. If you think the person
you are writing to might not know whether you are male of female, put you
title in brackets after your name.
18 SEPTEMBER
2015
201224323 11

12. Authentic Task 2
1. Using the provided guidelines, make use of any magazine or newspaper
and write a formal letter to the editor regarding a certain article you have
read.(Write the rough draft only)
2. The letter should be put inside an envelop along with the article that you
have cut out from the magazine or newspaper. NB. (do not seal the envelop
until you have brought the letter to class to be assessed by your peer and
the teacher)
3. The letter will then need to be typed out neatly after it has been assessed.
18 SEPTEMBER
2015
201224323 12

13. What will be assessed:
• The structure of the letter
• Necessary information mentioned in the letter
• The relevance of the letter
• Language usage
18 SEPTEMBER
2015
201224323 13

14. Guidelines To Writing An
Informal Letter
The following steps outline the basics to
writing out an informal letter

15. STEP 1
Greeting
Dear ..
Hi/Hello ...
With an informal letter you can mention the name of the person you are writing
to and you can also be informal in terms of referring to them with a pat name of
some sort.

16. Step 2
Paragraph 1
• Say why you are writing to them (I’m just writing to let you know that….)
Paragraph 2
• Bullet point 1 and supporting details
Paragraph 3
• Bullet point 2 and supporting details
Paragraph 4
• Bullet point 3 and supporting details
Closing sentence
• Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
18 SEPTEMBER
2015
201224323 16

17. Step 3
Signing Off:
• If you are writing to your parents, you can sign of using:
• Your loving daughter,
• Yours lovingly,
• Yours affectionately
• If you are writing to friends or relatives, you can sign off using:
• Your friend,
• Yours sincerely,
• Yours faithfully,
• Your niece / nephew
18 SEPTEMBER
2015
201224323 17

18. Authentic task 3
18 SEPTEMBER
2015
201224323 18
1. Write an informal letter to your parents/guardian explaining to them the
lesson we had previously on writing a formal letter
2. In your letter you should not be formal meaning it should not be a lesson
being retold but the experience you had while the lesson was happening.
3. The letter can be handwritten and should be brought to class as soon as
your parents have read it and given you a response.

19. What will be assessed:
• The learner’s ability to write out an informal letter and following the necessary
guidelines
• The language usage
• Necessary information also provided on the letter
18 SEPTEMBER
2015
201224323 19

20. The resources used on the slides can be accessed through
• https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B3wZNzFsxsmYekpTeEwxcDRZZkU
18 SEPTEMBER
2015
201224323 20