Verb Use in Business Letter Writing: Determining Linguistic Features in a Letter of Complaint

Abstract

This paper investigates the use of verbs in letters of complaint in English. The analysis focuses on verb-related features, in terms of processes, tense, aspect, polarity, modality, and voice, and demonstrates semantic and pragmatic implications. Moreover, these features reflect contrastive and erroneous patterns arising from transfer between L1 and L2 practices, both nationally and internationally, at the tertiary level in the ESL context. While previous research has explored verb usage in general English and academic contexts, limited studies have addressed verb use in business communication, particularly in South Asia. This research bridges that gap by analysing a corpus of complaint letters written by students from diverse language communities at the Faculty of Business Studies, University of Vavuniya. The analysis classifies the error types and implications in the complexity of verb use in terms of lexical diversity, morphological, and syntactic features. How Sri Lankan university students use verbs affects subject-verb agreement, predicator, complement functions, and discourse strategies. It identifies the mistakes and their kinds and analyses them in relation to the genre's discourse structures and the mental schema and social cognitive learning related to L1 and L2 acquisition or learning. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses of the texts, derived from a systematic examination, contribute to the methodology. The findings distinguish typical features of Sri Lankan development and deviation in the use of English as a second language and their implications. This paper finds that Sri Lankan students need greater competence and performance in using verbs, which govern the morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of English. The students need to gain applicable skills in the internal division and the structure of the verb, and in the lexical and grammatical morphemes that constitute verbs, determining references to different morphological and syntactic constructions. This paper stresses the importance of targeted pedagogical strategies to enhance verb usage, improve morphological and syntactic competence, and address transfer-related errors. The findings contribute to the broader understanding of ESL challenges in business communication and highlight the need for context-specific teaching techniques in South Asia. Ultimately, this research provides valuable insights for developing effective instructional practices to support English language learning in the region.