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Business Communication Quarterly
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Exploring How Instruction in Style Affects Writing Quality

Kim Sydow Campbell

Dept. of Management and Marketing, Box 870225, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa AL 35487-0225

Charlotte Brammer

Dept. of Management and Marketing, Box 870225, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa AL 35487-0225

Nicole Ervin

Dept. of Management and Marketing, Box 870225, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa AL 35487-0225

Business communication instructors regularly teach word- and sentence-level style concepts to help students improve the quality of their writing. To support such teaching, all the textbooks we've seen discuss style at this level, usually in a chap ter on the topic, with additional discussion within other chapters dedicated to spe cific types of messages. We are hopeful but not certain about the impact of this instruction on the quality of our students' future writing. To measure that impact in at least a small way, we gathered empirical data in a single classroom of busi ness communication students. A panel of three writing specialists and three non- specialists rated holistically the quality of informative memos written by undergrad uate business students before and after instruction. In addition, three panelists analyzed the style of the memos. The memos written after instruction were of higher quality than those written before instruction. The students' styles changed for the better after instruction; higher quality memos had more appropriate style than lower quality ones.

Key Words: Style instruction • document quality • empirical measures • style

Business Communication Quarterly, Vol. 62, No. 3, 71-86 (1999)
DOI: 10.1177/108056999906200308
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