1. Learning intention: To understand why people would make complaints
SHHHHH! Silent reading please…
Complaint letters
Learning intention: To understand why people would make complaints

2. Vocabulary check: expressing a positive opinion
Working in pairs how many words can you generate for the table below?
Holidays can be wonderful! Can you remember your last wonderful holiday? Where was your last holiday? Think of some adjectives you could use to describe how it was.
Informal register
Formal register
Fab
Wonderful
Literacy extension activity:
Write one informal and one formal sentence to say that the food was nice at the hotel. Once you have written them, label the different word types e.g. noun, verb, adjective, adverb that you have used in your sentence.
If you are stuck, use a thesaurus and start with the word ‘nice’.

3. But sometimes holidays don’t go as planned…
If this happens, you might find your heavenly escape is actually a Holiday from Hell!
Perhaps the beach isn’t clean, sandy and picturesque.
What if your hotel room isn’t as luxurious as advertised?
Imagine if your ‘all inclusive’ buffet doesn’t meet your expectations.

4. Answer these questions
Watch the clip from the show and answer the questions in your draft books.
Holidays from Hell
Answer these questions
What are people complaining about?
What language do they use to convey their dissatisfaction? Write down some of the words and phrases used.
Do you notice any persuasive features?
Complaining about – accommodation, facilities, difference between the brochure and reality.
Language used includes a range of adjectives, similes, puns.
Persuasive features include emotive language, repetition, statistics (figures), anecdotes.

5. Vocabulary check: expressing a negative opinion
Working in pairs how many words can you generate for the table below?
Informal register
Formal register
Rubbish
Awful
Literacy extension activity:
Write one informal and one formal sentence to say that the food was bad at the hotel. Once you have written them, label the different word types (e.g. noun, verb, adjective, adverb) that you have used in your sentence.
If you are stuck, use a thesaurus and start with the word ‘bad’.

6. A little bit of drama
Working in pairs script a short conversation about a dreadful holiday experience. Try to use a range of vocabulary and incorporate some persuasive techniques. You could use one of these scenarios:
Complaining to a holiday representative about your accommodation.
Complaining to a hotel receptionist about the noise level at night.
Being participants on ‘Holidays from Hell’
Telling someone who has just arrived at your hotel about your experiences so far.

7. A little bit of drama
Let’s see some examples – what language features do you notice? Have they used the appropriate level of formality?
Complaining to a holiday representative about your accommodation.
Complaining to a hotel receptionist about the noise level at night.
Being participants on ‘Holidays from Hell’
Telling someone who has just arrived at your hotel about your experiences so far.

8. SHHHHH! Silent reading please…
Complaint letters
Lesson intentions:
To identify the features of letter writing and writing to express an opinion.
To plan an effective letter.

9. To start: Formal letter layout
The key layout features are missing from this letter. Where should they be?
Your address e.g.
Mr A Man
23 The Street
The Town
Post-code
The date
Greeting e.g. Dear Sir,
Sign off e.g. Yours faithfully, A Man
The address you are sending it to e.g.
Rainbow Holidays
1 The Street
The Town
Post-code

10. Formal letter layout Did you get them all correct? Your address e.g.
Mr A Man
23 The Street
The Town
Post-code
Copy this into your books!
The date
The address you are sending it to e.g.
Rainbow Holidays
1 The Street
The Town
Post-code
Greeting e.g. Dear Sir,
Body
Sign off e.g. Yours sincerely, A Man

11. So your letter could look like this:
As we read the letter, answer these questions:
What is the purpose of each paragraph?
What connectives are used?
What persuasive devices have been employed?
Is it formal or informal?
Select evidence to support each answer.
Extension: how could this letter be improved?

12. Planning your own letter of complaint
Step 1: Make your initial decisions.
Where did you go on holiday? What were the main problems with your holiday?
Step 2: Complete your planning grid
Step 3: Peer assess your partner’s planning grid

13. Self- evaluation
Do you understand the correct layout for a formal letter?
Are you ready to write next lesson?

14. Learning intention: To write a draft of your holiday complaint letter
SHHHHH! Silent reading please…
Complaint letters
Learning intention: To write a draft of your holiday complaint letter

15. Focused writing time
You now have this lesson to draft and edit your letter in your book.
You should invent the addresses – don’t spent too long on this as it is the layout and content of the letter which are important.
You have resources to help you:
Your planning sheet
Checklist and tick-sheet
Thesaurus and dictionary

16. Self-assessment: complete the check-list – glue into your books and complete.
Feature
Success criteria
Included
Layout: have you set your letter out correctly?
‘Dear Sir/Madam’ with ‘Yours faithfully’ or ‘Dear Mr Smith’ with ‘Yours sincerely’.
Two addresses (yours and theirs)
The date
Overview:
Have your explained what the letter is about?
Introduction
Have you said who you are and why you are writing?
Development
Have your described what was wrong and given examples?
Conclusion
Have you said what you want to happen now? e.g. compensation, apology, refund, replacement holiday.
Paragraphs
Is your letter organised into paragraphs?
Register
Have you used formal language and remained polite throughout?
Sentence variation
Have you used a range of simple, compound and complex sentences?
Rhetorical devices
Have you included some persuasive devices in your letter? (AAIPEFOREST)
Connectives
Have you used appropriate connectives?
Accuracy and literacy
Have you proof read carefully for errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar?

17. Due for homework
Your letter is due… with the self assessment sheet attached.