English Language Teaching in its Social Context

204ANNE BURNST:L:T:L:T:L:T:LL:T:L:LL:T:L:T:L:LL:T:OK . . . to whom and the address.Then ‘Dear Sir or Madam’. Why did we put ‘Sir orMadam’?Because I don’t know man or woman.You don’t know if it is a man or a woman, ‘Re: Receptionist’s job’. What does ‘re’mean?About. . . about. . .‘I am writing to apply for the job of the reccptionist advertised inThe Sydney MorningHerald today.’ So the first thing you should say in the letter is what the letter is about.‘I’m writing to apply for the job. I have worked as a receptionist for three years in adentist’s consultancy and I am very experienced in answering the phone, writing lettersand preparing accounts. So, the second part, what is that . . .?Experience. . .Right. Two is the experience (writing on board next to number 2). What was one?What would you put for one?(Umntelligible)What is the first thing in the letter? ‘I am writing . . .’?Address?No ... no.. .‘I am writing to apply . . .’What could we put there?The problem. . .Not a problem . . .No . . . informationNo. . . about me. . .The main information in the letter . . . OK? (writes on board next to number 1).As can be seen from this extract, the teacher builds up a description of the schematicstaging of the text by eliciting from the learncrs metalinguistic labels, which they can drawup to guide their own construction of a similar letter and to increase their awareness of thetext as an object of study. Although the dcscriptions of the staging may not be very sophisticatedat this level of language proficiency, they provide a guiding framework which is accessible tothe learners. The result was the following description of the schematic structure:Text 2: Schematic structure of job application letter12345678910111213AddressDateWho to and addressDearRe (about)Main InformationExperienceAbout me (relevant to job)EndingReferenceContactYours sincerelySignature.The teacher followcd this by discussing with the learners some of the distinctive features