英语论文Language Features of Business English.docx

英语论文Language Features of Business English.docx

《英语论文Language Features of Business English.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《英语论文Language Features of Business English.docx（15页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

英语论文LanguageFeaturesofBusinessEnglish

LanguageFeaturesofBusinessEnglish

1.Introduction2

2.SelectionofwordsinbusinessEnglish3

2.1Usingshortandfamiliarwordsandexpressions4

2.2Choosingsimplewords5

2.3Avoidingoldwords5

2.4Selectingprecisewords5

2.4.1Chooseaccuratefactsandfigures6

2.4.2Statewhatpeoplewillsaymatter-of-factly6

2.4.3Understandthecommercialtermscorrectly7

2.4.3.1Termsforprices7

2.4.3.2Termsforshipments7

2.5Usinglogicalexpressions8

2.6Usingconcretewords8

3.ConstructionofeffectivesentencesinbusinessEnglish9

3.1Usingshortsentences9

3.1.1Limitingsentencecontent10

3.1.2Economizingonwords10

3.1.2.1Avoidclutteringphrases10

3.1.2.2Eliminatesurpluswords11

3.1.2.3Avoidunnecessaryrepetitionofwordsorideas11

3.2Arrangingsentenceemphasis12

3.3Givingthesentenceunity13

3.3.1Avoidunrelatedideas13

3.3.2Avoidunnecessaryrepeat14

3.3.3Avoidillogicalconstructions15

3.4Usingactivevoiceandpassivevoiceproperly16

3.5Usingconcisesentences17

3.6Usinglotsofformulas17

4.DevelopmentofparagraphsinbusinessEnglish18

4.1Fivewaystodevelopaparagraph18

4.1.1Byillustration18

4.1.2Bycomparisonorcontrast19

4.1.3Bydiscussionofcauseandeffect19

4.1.4Byclassification20

4.1.5Bydiscussionofproblemandsolution20

4.2Professionalplanforparagraphdevelopment21

4.2.1Primaryideas21

4.2.2Relatedsentences21

4.2.3Othersentences22

4.3Achievingparagraphcoherence22

4.3.1Repetitionofkeywordsorkeyideas22

4.3.2Usingtransitionalexpressions23

5.CreatingpositivelanguageinsteadofnegativelanguageinbusinessEnglish23

5.1Stateinformationpositively24

5.2Eliminatenegativelanguageandlanguagewithnegativeconnotations24

6.Conclusion25

References27

1.Introduction

BusinessEnglishisabranchofEnglishlanguagesystem.ItreferstothespecialEnglishthatservesforinternationalbusinessroutines.ThespecialwayofinformationtransmittinginbusinessactivitiesaccountsforthespecialfeaturesofbusinessEnglish.Alongwiththerapiddevelopmentofglobaleconomyintegration,China’sentryintoWTOandtheapproachofBeijing2008Olympics,peoplefromallovertheworldpayavisittoourboomingcountry,theexchangesofpolitics,economy,educationandculturebetweenChinaandothercountriesbecomemorefrequentthanbefore.Asalanguagetoolforinternationalresources’share,businessEnglishhasbeenanewtypeofcomprehensivesubject.Itplaysavitalroleinournationaleconomicreformandinnovation.Inaddition,businessEnglishisregardedasabridgeconnectingeachotherinspecificlanguagecircumstance.Therefore,theresearchonlanguagefeaturesofbusinessEnglish,tosomeextent,maystrengthen,improveandpromotetheinformationalinterchangeamongChinaandotherdistricts.

It’safactthatbusinessEnglishissuchacommonlyusedlanguageininterculturalbusinessactivitiesthatitinvolvesallwalksoflife.Nowadays,China’smarketgoesdeepintotheinternationaleconomicsociety.Inrecentyears,avastmajorityofforeign-ownedfirmsandmultinationalcompanieslandinChina,there’sanincreasingneedofbusinesstalents.Underthetendencyofeconomicglobalization,undoubtedly,peopleshouldhavestrongawarenessofbusinessEnglishandseekeverypossibleopportunitytomasteritinordertomeettheseriouschallengeofbusinessera.Ononehand,ithelpsbusinessEnglishlearnerstobemorefamiliarwiththegeneralknowledgeofbusinessEnglish,andthentheyarecapableofmakinguseoflanguageskillfully.Ontheotherhand,itenablespeopleengaginginbusinessaffairstoenhancetheirabilitiesofbefittingapplyingbusinessEnglish,whichassiststheminfreelyandproperlytakingadvantageofthelanguagetoolwhiledoingbusinessathomeandabroad,andnurturesalargenumberofelitesspeakingfluentbusinessEnglishtomeettheneedofcompetitivebusinesstalents.Peoplewanttobesuccessfulwhiledealingwithbusinesstasks,it’sobviousthatjusthavingsomecommonEnglishlanguageknowledgeisincompetentatajob,it’sfarfromenough.Thus,it’sworthanalyzingthelanguagefeaturesofbusinessEnglishfromwordsselection,sentenceconstructionandparagraphdevelopmentsoastobequalifiedwiththetask.

2.SelectionofwordsinbusinessEnglish

Themajorpartofadaptationisselectingtherightwordsandexpressions.Therightwordsandexpressionsarethosethatcommunicatebestandhaveclearmeaningsinreader’smind.Selectingtherightwordsdependsontheabilitytouselanguageandgoodjudgment.

2.1Usingshortandfamiliarwordsandexpressions

Shortwordsandexpressionstendtobefamiliaronesthataredaily-usedwords.Usingfamiliarwordsandexpressionsmeansusingthelanguagethatmostofthenativespeakersuseineverydayconversation.It'sbettertoavoidthedifficultwordsthatdonotcommunicateveryprecisely.Forexample,it’sbettertouse“end”insteadof“terminate”,prefer“use”to“utilize”and“stop”to“discontinue”.

Thesuggestionofusingshortandfamiliarwordsdoesn’truleouttheuseofsomedifficultwords.Oneshouldusethemiftheirmeaningsfitthepurposebest.Thebestsuggestionistowritethewordsandexpressionsbusinesswritersarefamiliarwith.

Thefollowingexampleswillillustratetheeffectofusingshortandfamiliarwordsandexpressionsincommunication.Forexample:

（1）a.WewishtoacknowledgereceiptofyourletterofMay2withthecheckfor$200enclosedandwishtothankyouforthesame.

b.ThankyouforyourletterofMay2andthecheckfor$200yousent.

Antherexample:

（2）a.Companyoperationsfortheprecedingaccountingperiodterminatedwithasubstantialdeficit.

b.Thecompanylostmuchmoneylastyear.（廖瑛,2002:

49）

Thelattersentencesofthetwoexamplesusingshortandfamiliarwordsandexpressionsexpressthemeaningmuchclearer.NowthatbusinessEnglishismainlyconcernedwithclear,concise,andaccuratelanguage,peopleshouldemphasizewordsandexpressionsthatarefamiliarandshort.

2.2Choosingsimplewords

Sincebusinessmenmakeefficiencytheirpriority,simplewordsareapplicabletoachievethisgoal.Anotherreasonisthatthewayofinformationtransmittinginbusinessroutineshasbeenregardedasthemostimportantpartofbusiness;usingsimplewordsisalsogoodforpeopletocommunicate,tocatchthewordsimmediately,whilecomplexandrarewordsarehardtounderstand.Soit’sadvisableforbusinessmentousesimplewordsratherthancomplexwordsorrarewords.

2.3Avoidingoldwords

Asalanguagetoolinpresent-daybusinessera,businessEnglishshouldkeeppacewithchangesinmodernsociety.It’sobviousthatobsoletecommercialjargonsaregraduallybeingreplacedbymodernEnglishintheEnglish-speakingworld.

Out-of-datecommercialjargonsModernEnglish

AcknowledgereceiptofThankyoufor…

Duetothefactthatas,becauseorsince

atyourearliestconvenienceassoonasyoucan（王乃彦,2005）

2.4Selectingprecisewords

PracticalEnglishwritingforinternationalbusinessmustbecorrect;otherwisetheymaybemisunderstood.PracticalEnglishwritingforinternationalbusiness,especiallybusinesslettersarebasesforvariouscommercialdocumentssuchascontracts,agreements,sotheyarerelatedtotherightsandobligationofthetwopartiesofatrade.

“Precisenessrefersmuchmorethanthatofgrammar,punctuation,andspellingofwords,whicharethefundamentalelements”（Frailcy,1989:

147）.Alettermaybeperfectlyspeaking,butstillitattimesdoesn’tachievedesiredeffect.ToguaranteethecorrectnessofbusinessEnglish,thewritershouldalwaysbearinmindthefollowing:

2.4.1Chooseaccuratefactsandfigures

Businesslettersarerelatedtotherightsandobligationsofthetwopartiesofatrade.Thustheaccuratefactsandfiguresshouldbechosentomeettheneedofthebuyerandtheseller.Forexample:

（3）Youaskveryshortdeliveryforyourorder.

Thephrase“shortdelivery”refersto“short-weight”notto“quickdelivery”,sothesentenceshouldbechangedinto:

“Yourequirequick（prompt）deliveryofyourorder.”

（4）Alloffersbytelegramareopenforfivedays.

Theabovesentencedoesn’tclearlyexplainoraccountforspecific5days,andshouldbechangedinto:

“Alloffersbytelegramareopenfor5daysinclusiveofthedateofdispatch.”

2.4.2Statewhatpeoplewillsaymatter-of-factly

Inordertomakesurethatthereaderhasagoodunderstandingonwhatthebusinesswriterintendstoexpress,peopleshouldnotoverstateorunderstate.Eitheroverstatingorunderstatingmaydestroypreciseness.Forexample:

Oneshouldn’tsay:

Itisthelowestpriceavailabletoyou.Weassureyouthatthiserrorwillneveroccur.

Oneshouldsay:

Itisthelowestpricewecanoffernow.We’lldoallwecansothatwemaynotrepeatsuchanerror.

2.4.3Understandthecommercialtermscorrectly

2.4.3.1Termsforprices

Inthecourseofbusinessnegotiationandcontractconclusion,appropriatetradetermsforreasonablepriceshouldbechosen.Becausedifferenttradetermstelldifferentprices,it’scrucialforpeopletopreciselycomprehensethem,andthenproperlyusethemininternationalbusinesspractice.

EXW（Exworks）,FOB（FreeonBoard）,CIF（Cost,InsuranceandFreight）…,forexample:

（5）What’sthebasisarewetooffer,FOBorCIF?

（黎孝先,2000:

25-30）

2.4.3.2Termsforshipments

Shipmentreferstothecarriageofthegoodsfromthesellertothebuyer,andit’srealizedbytransportationservices.Thetermsforshipmentmakegreatdifferencetotheachievementofinternationalbusinesstransactions.Therefore,thee