语用原则在商务英语信函中的应用.docx

语用原则在商务英语信函中的应用.docx

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语用原则在商务英语信函中的应用

TheApplicationofPragmaticPrinciplesinBusinessEnglishCorrespondence

语用原则在商务英语信函中的应用

1ABriefIntroductionofthePaper

Astechnologyadvancesandtradeandexchangesbetweencountriesincrease,itisbecomingmoreandmoreimportanttounderstandbothspokenandwrittenEnglishinmanysituationssuchasface-to-face,onthetelephone,inbusinessmeetings,lectures,speeches,television,andsoon.

TherehavebeenalotofbooksandstudiesrelatedtotheBusinessEnglishCorrespondence.SomeofthemstartwithintroducingtheimportanceandinfluenceofBusinessEnglishCorrespondenceandthebasictypesofBusinessEnglishCorrespondence.SomefocusoninstructingChinesereadersonhowtowritebusinesscorrespondenceinEnglishbyanalyzingthelanguagecharacteristics.SomediscussalotonBusinessEnglishCorrespondencebypresentingthefrequentlyusedtechniquesbygeneralmeansorprovidingnecessarybackgroundinformationforsomefrequentlyseenBusinessEnglishCorrespondence.

AlthoughBusinessEnglishCorrespondenceisalwaysincludedintheabove-mentionedstudies,theydon’tseparateitfromotherformsofwriting.Besides,thestandardsforbusinesswritinghavebeenchangingallthetime.

Atpresent,withtherapiddevelopmentofeconomicglobalization,peoplehavemorechancestocontactwiththeoutsideworldandconductbusinessuniversallythroughInternet,broadcastingandBusinessEnglishCorrespondenceaswell.TheBusinessEnglishCorrespondence,asaparticularsortofmedia,isacomplexblendofnational,social,economicandlinguistictradition.Thus,varietiesofproblemsoftenarisewhenpeopleconfrontwritingBusinessEnglishCorrespondence,especiallyinaforeignlanguage.

Generallyspeaking,PeoplemayhavenoproblemincompletelyunderstandingBusinessEnglishCorrespondence;however,innowaycanonewriteoutagoodpieceofBusinessEnglishCorrespondencewithoutstudyingthegeneralknowledgeofpragmaticprinciples.ProblemsexistingnowinBusinessEnglishCorrespondencearehowtoensurethesuccessoflettersandwhatcanmakeaBusinessEnglishCorrespondenceaqualifiedone.Consequently,theanalysisofBusinessEnglishCorrespondencetodevelopEnglishwritingskillsisreasonableandpractical.

Forinstance,inwritingtopersuadereadertoacceptanunfavorableoffer,thetechniquesofpersuasionareused.Inapplyingforajob,onecanusetechniquesthatemphasizehisorherqualifications.Andintellingbadnews,onecanusetechniquestoworkthemintoyourletters.

Businessstyleislessdescriptiveandimaginativethanliterarystylebecausebusinessworldisconcernedwithpracticalandimmediatesituations.Thepragmaticprinciples,whichplayavitalroleinBusinessEnglishCorrespondence,mainlyconsistofPolitenessPrincipleandCooperativePrinciple.Bymeansofappropriateuseofthem,thepragmaticstrategiescanbeappliedeffectivelytobusinesscorrespondencediscoursestoachievedesiredefforts.

Inthefirstchapterofthisthesis,abriefintroductionofthepaperwillbepresented.Inthesecondpartofthethesis，theauthorattemptstodiscussthemainprinciplesofthepresentBusinessEnglishCorrespondence.Inthefollowingchaptertheoriesregardingpragmaticprincipleswillbepresented.ChapterFourpresentstheapproachestoapplypragmaticprinciplestoBusinessEnglishCorrespondencebycontrastingexamples,sothatreaderscanfindoutthedifferenceseasily.ChapterFivemainlydiscussesthecharacteristicsofdesiredBusinessEnglishCorrespondenceandhowtoachievetheeffectsbypragmaticprinciplesfromthepointviewofbothlanguageandfunction.Intheconcludingchapter,implicationsofthestudyarediscussed.

2TheMainPrinciplesofWritingBusinessEnglishCorrespondence

EarlyEnglishbusinesswritersborrowedheavilyfromtheformallanguageoflawandfromtheflowerylanguageofthenobility.Fromthesetwosourcestheydevelopedastyleofletterwritingthatbecameknownasthe“languageofbusiness”,whichwaswritteninthedriestpossiblemannerandinlanguagesostiltedandformalthatthetruepersonalityofthewriterwascompletelyhidden.Itwasacold,stiff,andunnaturalstyle.Unfortunately,thatroleasthe“languageofbusiness”wasneverabolished,andevennowitwasgenerallyacceptedthroughouttheEnglish-speakingworld.Thisproblembecomesmoreseriousincross-culturalcommunications.Admittedly,thereissomethinginthewritingprinciplesofbusinesslettersasfollowed.

2.1Courtesy

Businessprotocolisanessentialpartforbusinessmen;wethencanimaginehowimportantthecourtesyisforabusinesscorrespondence.However,courtesynotonlymeanspoliteness,butalsoreferstothinkingaboutthereader’sinterests.Thereader’sdesires,problems,emotionsandpossiblereactionstotherequest,allofthesedetailsneedtobetakenintoconsideration.Themessageandinformationexpressedbythecorrespondencerepresentstheimageofthepersonandhisorganization.Therefore,itiscertainthatothersonlycanestablishandmaintainbusinessrelationshipwiththoseofhighqualityofcourtesyduetothefactthattheycanfeelbeingrespectedbythesender.

Beingcourtesy,firstly,suspicionshallbeavoided.Becauseoncethesenseofsuspicionisexpressedinthecorrespondence,otherswillfeelthatthesenderdoesn’tbelievethereceiver,whichdoesharmtothesender.

Comparethetwosentencesasfollows:

（Polite）WehavereceivedwithmanythanksyourletterofOct7,andwetakethepleasureofsendingyouourlatestcatalog.Wewishtodrawyourattentiontoaspecialofferwhichwehavemadeinit.

（Courtesy）Youwillbeparticularlyinterestedinaspecialofferonpage5ofthelatestcatalogenclosed,whichyourequestedinyourletterofOct7.

Courtesyhasthefunctionofmakingthereceivercomfortableandrespected.Theeffectwill,ofcourse,enablebusinesstobecompletedsmoothlyandsuccessfully.

2.2Consideration

Considerationreferstothinkingforcustomers,includingtheirrequirements,wishesandfeelings,etc.Thoughtfulconsiderationenablesustobetterunderstandthecustomersandreceivegoodreactionsfromthem.Forthispurpose,you-attitude,whichmeansputtingourselvesinthepositionofcustomers,isadvocatedbymanyscholarsandresearchers.Whenwritingaletter,keepthereader'srequests,needs,desires,aswellashisfeelingsinmind.Planthebestwaytopresentthemessageforthereadertoreceive.

Whenusingyou-attitudeinbusinessletters,insincerityshallalsobeavoided.Weshallrememberthattheobjectiveistotreatpeoplecourteously--thewaytheyliketobetreated.Itistheattitudethatplacesthereaderinthecenterofthings,itsometimesjustinvolvesbeingfriendly.Itinvolvesskillfullyhandlingpeoplewithcarefulchosenwordstomakeadesiredimpression.

Thefollowingpointsarenecessaryforwritingalettertoembodyconsideration:

A:

You-attitude:

Compare

Weallow2percentdiscountforcashpayment.

Wewon'tbeabletosendyouthebrochurethismonth.

Youearn2percentdiscountwhenyoupaycash.

Wewillsendyouthebrochurenextmonth.

B:

Focusonthepositiveapproach.Compare:

（Positive）Wefeelsurethatyouwillbeentirelysatisfied.

（Negative）Wedonotbelieveyouwillhaveanycausefordissatisfaction.

（Positive）Perhapsnexttimewecansendyouwhatyourequire.

（Negative）weregretourinabilitytoserveyouatthistime.

2.3Completeness

Abusinesslettershouldincludeallthenecessaryinformation.Itisessentialtocheckthemessagecarefullybeforeitissentout.Allofthereader’squestionsshallbeansweredtomakesurethatthereadercangainenoughinformationtoevaluatethemessagesandtakeactionaccordingly.Businesscorrespondence,tosomeextent,isakindofcontractregulatingthetwopartiesinvolved.Unnecessarydisputeswillcomeintobeingwithoutcompletenessoftheletters.Forexample,lossofgoodwill,salesandpotentialcustomers,andmoretimeandenergytomakesenseoftheincompleteinformationwillbecausedduetotheincompleteletters.

Thecompletenessofbusinesscorrespondenceshouldincludeallthenecessaryinformationanddate.Acorrespondenceofcompletenesswillbringthesenderagoodresultandthereceivergoodwill.Totheopposite,acorrespondencewithoutcompletenessmaycauseincreasedcostsofcommunication.Generallyspeaking,5“W’s”-who,what,when,where,andwhyorhowareusedtodeterminewhetherthecorrespondenceiscompleteornot.

2.4Clarity

Thewritermusttrytoexpresshismeaningclearlysothatthereaderwillunderstanditwell.Toachievethis,heshouldtryto:

A:

Avoidusingthewordsthathavedifferentunderstandingorunclearmeaning.B:

Payattentiontothepositionofthemodifiers.C:

Payattentiontothesentencestructure.D:

Paragraphcarefullyandproperly.

2.5Conciseness

Toachieveconcisenessistouseconcisesentencesandfewestwords,withoutlosingcompletenessandcourtesy,toexplainthemeaningofaletterclearly.Sincesuccessfulbusinesscorrespondenceshallsavethereader’stime,thereisnodoubtthatthecorrespondenceshouldmakestatementconcise.Longsentencesshallbewrittenshortly,thewriter,meanwhile,shallavoidunnecessaryrepetition.Toachievethispurpose,thewritershallwriteinthefewestpossiblewords,becauseawordymessageneedsmoretimeforthereadertoread.However,attentionshouldbepaidthatconcisenessonlycanbeeffectivewithoutsacrificingthecompleteness,clearness,andcourtesyaswellasaccurategrammar,orthereaderwillfeelthatitisrude.

Toreachthegoalofconciseness,we,firstly,shouldmakeanefforttoavoidwordiness.Shortwordsandphrases,