Politeness In English For Business CorrespondenceWord文档下载推荐.docx

Politeness In English For Business CorrespondenceWord文档下载推荐.docx

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totheSchoolofForeignStudies

HefeiUniversityofTechnology

June2008

Acknowledgements

Firstly,IsincerelyexpressmygratitudetomyB.A.thesissupervisor—ProfessorRenJingsheng.Duringmypreparationformythesis,hehasgivenmemanyprecioussuggestions.

Secondly,Ialsowanttothankalltheotherteacherswhohaveevertaughtmeandadvisedmeduringmyfour-yearcollegestudy.Undertheirconsiderateinstructions,IhavegainedbetterknowledgeofEnglish,whichishelpfultomythesiswriting.

Lastbutnottheleast,thankstoallmyfriendsandclassmatesfortheirencouragementandadvice.

PolitenessinEnglishforBusinessCorrespondence

Abstract:

Asanimportantmeansofcommunicationinbusinessactivities,Englishforbusinesscorrespondenceplaysacrucialroleininternationalbusinesscommunication.Acourteousandappreciativelettercanhelptobuildafavorablebusinessimageforthecompanyandleadtoasuccessfulbusiness.However,aletterwithoutcourtesycannotonlyleadtothefailureofthebusinessbutdestroytheimagewhichthecompanieshavebuiltup.Therefore,showingpolitenessinbusinessletterisveryimportant.Thispaper,inthelightofG.Leech’sPolitenessPrinciple,brieflydiscussesthepragmaticprinciplesofpolitenessforbusinesscorrespondencethroughmanysamples.

KeyWords:

Politeness;

EnglishforBusinessCorrespondence;

PragmaticPrinciples

外贸函电中的礼貌研究

摘要：

作为商务活动中一个重要的信息媒介，外贸函电起着重要的作用。

一封礼貌的信函能为公司建立良好的形象。

相反，不仅会导致交易的失败而且还会损坏公司已经建立的形象。

因此，在外贸信函中表现适当的礼貌是必要的。

论文以利奇的礼貌原则为指导，主要通过分析例子来讨论外贸函电中的礼貌原则的应用。

关键词：

礼貌，外贸函电，语用原则

Contents

Acknowledgementsi

Abstract（English）ii

Abstract（Chinese）iii

Contentsiv

ChapterOneIntroduction1

ChapterTwoTheImportanceofPolitenessinEnglishforBusinessCorrespondence2

ChapterThreePrinciplesofPolitenessAdoptedinEnglishforBusinessCorrespondence4

3.1IntroductiontoPolitenessPrinciple4

3.2TactMaxim4

3.3ModestyMaxim6

3.4AgreementMaxim7

3.5SympathyMaxim8

ChapterFourSeveralAspectsonHowtoAdoptPolitenessPrinciplesProperly10

4.1KeepingEqualStatus10

4.2ConsideringDifferentCulturalBackground11

ChapterFiveConclusion12

Bibliography13

ChapterOneIntroduction

AfterChina’sentryintoWTO,internationaltradebetweenChinaandothercountriessoars.Englishforbusinesscorrespondence,asanimportantmeansofcommunicationinbusinessactivities,drawsmoreandmoreattentiongradually.Thus,howtowriteaneffectiveletterbecomesaheatedtopic.

Businessletterhasbeenenjoyinggreatpopularityamongscholarsfromthefieldsoflinguistics.Manyresearchersconductresearchesintobusinessletterwritingfromtheaspectsofwording,stylisticfeatures,sentencestructure,andsoon.Scholarslearnhowtowritebusinesslettereffectivelyunderatheoreticalguidance.Theyalsoputforward‘threec’principles—clearness,conciseness,courtesy,whichweshouldabidebywhenwritingbusinessletter.Asamatteroffact,however,itseemsthatwetendtopaymoreattentiontothefirsttwoprinciplesthanthelastone.Still,courtesyisoverlookedbyanumberofwriterstosomeextent.

Inbusinesscommunication,aletteronlywithflowerywordingisnotample.Itistheletterthatrealizesthegoalsthewriterswanttoachieveisaneffectivebusinessletter.Ifamessageistoarriveatitsgoal,itstonemustbecourteousandsincere.Thus,courtesyshoulddrawmoreattention.

Inthispaper,politenessinEnglishforbusinesscorrespondenceintegratedwithpolitenessprinciplesisdiscussedanditisindicatedthatpolitenessissubjecttosuchfactorsassocialdifferencesandculturaldifferences.Alsohowtoadoptpolitenessprinciplesproperlyisanalysedinordertoimproveourwritingskillsfortheresultofeffectivebusinesscommunication.

Thepaperisarrangedinfiveparts.ChapterOnebeginswithanintroduction.ChapterTwoillustratestheimportanceofpolitenessinEnglishforbusinesscorrespondence.ChapterThreemainlyanalysesseveralprinciplesofpolitenessadoptedinEnglishforbusinesscorrespondence.InChapterFour,severalaspectsareputforward,onhowtoadoptpolitenessprinciplesproperly.ChapterFiveisconclusion.

ChapterTwoTheImportanceofPolitenessinEnglishforBusinessCorrespondence

Whatispoliteness?

Asitisknowntous,noteveryonehasthesameviewaboutpoliteness.Bypoliteness,wemightsayitisshowingrespectandfriendlyconsiderationtootherpeople,acknowledgingthem,andnotimposingunnecessarilyonothers.AccordingtoHeZhaoxiong,“politenesscanbeunderstoodasasocialphenomenon,andanormimposedbyconventions”.（WangLi110）

Viewedfromdifferentcultures,politenesscanbeexplaineddifferently.Theactualmanifestationsofpoliteness,thewaystoexpresspolitenessaredifferentindifferentcultures.Suchdifferencesshouldbetracedtotheoriginofthenotionofpoliteness.InmodernChinese,politenessisbelievedtohavebeeninvolvedinhistoryfromthenotionof“li”,whichreferstoself-denigratingandother-respecting.Onthecontrary,undertheinfluenceofphilosophyandChristianity,politenessisusedtostresstheequalstatusofthespeakersintheWest.“AftertheanalysisofthedifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishcultures,L.R.MaoconcludesthatpolitenessreferstoidealsocialidentityintheChinesecultureanditreferstoidealindividualautonomyintheEnglishculture.”（Net.1.）

Formanyresearchers,politenessisafeatureoflanguageinuse,ameanstoachievegoodinterpersonalrelationship.WhenappliedinEnglishforbusinesscorrespondence,politenesscanexpresstheattitudeofthewriteraswellasharmonizingrelationshipmorethanabove-mentionedfunction.Acourteousbusinesslettermeansfriendlyattitude,fairtransaction,cooperativewill,theresultofwhichisabetterclimateforsolvingbusinessproblemandfordoingbusiness.

Correspondenceinbusinessmeansmorethanexchanginginformationalone.Youalsoneedtocommunicatecertaineffect.Oneofsucheffectsyouneedtocommunicateisgoodwilleffect.Buildinggoodwillthroughlettersisgoodpracticeinthatitstrengthensthereader’sfavorablefeelingforthewriter,thusleadingtopotentialbusinessprofits.Gettingsucheffectislargelyamatterofskillfulwriting.Itinvolveskeepingcertainattitudeinmindandusingcertainwritingtechniques.Furthermore,afriendlyandpleasanttoneincommunicationcanhelptobuildagoodwill.

Moreover,businessletterisalsoagoodwillenvoyofanenterprise.Acourteousandappreciativebusinesslettercanhelptobuildafavorablebusinessimageforthecompanyandleadtoasuccessfulbusiness.However,abusinessletterwithoutpolitenesscannotonlycausethefailureofthebusinessbutalsodestroytheimagewhichthecompanieshavebuiltup.Thus,politenessinEnglishforbusinesscorrespondenceisveryimportant.

ChapterThreePrinciplesofPolitenessAdoptedinEnglishforBusinessCorrespondence

3.1IntroductiontoPolitenessPrinciple

Ontheprinciplesofpolitenessincross-culturalcommunication,manypredecessorsconductedalotofstudies.In1967,PaulGrice,anAmericanphilosopherandlogician,madeanattempttoexplainthecourseofnaturalconversation,thenputforward“CooperativePrinciple”.Thispactofcooperationtouchesonfourareasofcommunication,eachofwhichcanbedescribedasamaxim.Thatis,“themaximofquality,themaximofquantity,themaximofrelation,themaximofmanner”.（DaiWeidong92）In1980s,onthebasisofCooperativePrincipleandabsorptionofConversationalImplicative,G.Leech,anEnglishlinguist,proposedthefamousPolitenessPrincipletosupplementGrice’stheoryfromtheangleofstylisticsandrhetoric,thecoreofwhichis:

stressingwhatisgoodtotheaddresseeanddiminishingwhatisunwelcometoobtainfavorableimpressionoftheotherside,urgethecommunicationmoreeasily,makeselfgainmorebenefitfromit.

Althoughitalsosuffersfrommethodologicalinadequacies,Leech’sproposalismoreelaboratethanCooperativePrinciple.Itisdividedintosixdifferentmaxims:

“Tactmaxim,Generositymaxim,Approbationmaxim,Modestymaxim,Agreementmaxim,Sympathymaxim”.（Jaszczolt314）

Theusualobjectusedtostudypolitenessphenomenonisverbalcommunication,butthetheoryandresultsarealsoapplicableinwritingform.Inbusinessletterwriting,thedisplayofpolitenessprinciplesisobvious.InthefollowingparagraphspolitenessstrategiesadoptedinEnglishforbusinesscorrespondencewillbediscussedandanalysedincombinationwithLeech’smaxims.

3.2TactMaxim

Tactmaximconsistsoftwosub-maxims—“minimizingcosttoothersandmaximizingbenefittoothers”.（Jaszczolt315）Businessletterisbeyondacarrierofbusinessinformation.Intheproceduresoftrade,suchasquotation,enquiry,offer,thepurposeofthelettervaries.Propercommunicatingstrategiesareneededtoreachtheirgoalsindifferentstages.Quotationisoneofthemostimportantlinksininternationaltrade.Whetherthewordingistactdeterminesthepossibilityoffurtherbusiness.Lookattheletterbelowwhichadoptsthismaximskillfully.

DearSirs

Weareverypleasedtoreceiveyourenquiryof15thJanuaryandencloseourillustratedcatalogueandpricelistgivingthedetailsyouaskfor.Alsobyseparatepostwearesendingyousomesamplesandfeelconfidentthatwhenyo