The Formal Letter That Sounds Like a Text Message
Thirty-five candidates write a 100–120 word letter in Arabic to the school principal requesting a weekly Arabic speaking club. The rubric is format 2, content 2, language 1. Three openings appear: «مرحبًا يا مدير، بدي نعمل نادي» ; «حضرة مدير المدرسة الفاضل، تحية طيبة وبعد» ; «إلى من يهمه الأمر». One draft closes with «باي» and another with «وتفضلوا بقبول فائق الاحترام». A candidate also includes a paragraph complaining that another teacher «لا يعرف يشرح» and asks the principal to replace him. The class has practised both formal and informal letters, and the textbook model uses MSA. The invigilator gives a 12-minute warning. The candidate must decide what to keep, what to cut, and which register to use, without turning the letter into a chat message.
1. Choose the opening and closing that fit the task, and explain the register signal each sends.
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Use «حضرة مدير المدرسة الفاضل، تحية طيبة وبعد» and close with «وتفضلوا بقبول فائق الاحترام». «حضرة» plus the title and «تحية طيبة وبعد» signal formal MSA address; the closing is the standard formula for a request to a superior. «مرحبًا يا مدير، بدي» is dialectal and chat-like, and «باي» is a transliterated informal farewell. «إلى من يهمه الأمر» is not grammatically wrong, but it is impersonal when the principal is known and the letter is a school request. Register is part of the format mark, so these choices are not cosmetic.
2. Should the complaint paragraph stay? Decide and rewrite it in one formal sentence if it should.
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Cut it. A formal request letter should not attack a named colleague; it weakens the case and may be treated as inappropriate content. If the underlying need is more speaking practice, generalize the request rather than personalizing it: «نرجو من سيادتكم توفير حصص تدريب على المحادثة بالعربية». This keeps a relevant content point and protects the language mark from emotional, colloquial phrasing. The letter's purpose is to request a club, not to evaluate a teacher.
3. The candidate's middle sentence is «نحن نحب العربي بس ما عندنا فرصة». Rewrite it in two formal MSA sentences and state the language mark you are protecting.
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Rewrite: «نحن مهتمون باللغة العربية، ولكننا لا نجد فرصة كافية لاستخدامها في المحادثة. لذلك نرجو من سيادتكم الموافقة على إنشاء نادٍ أسبوعي للتحدث بالعربية». This protects the 1 language mark by replacing dialect «بس ما عندنا» with MSA connectors «ولكننا» and «لذلك», and by using a formal request formula. The content remains the same: interest, lack of opportunity, and a specific request. It also keeps the letter within the 100–120 word range because the rewrite is compact.