英语论文Analysis of Politeness Language in Business Correspondence.docx

英语论文Analysis of Politeness Language in Business Correspondence.docx

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英语论文AnalysisofPolitenessLanguageinBusinessCorrespondence

AnalysisofPolitenessLanguageinBusinessCorrespondence

1.Introduction1

1.1.Generaldescriptionofthecurrentresearch1

1.2.Organizationofthethesis2

2.Anoverviewofbusinesscorrespondence3

2.1.Thedefinitionofbusinesscorrespondence3

2.2.Theclassificationofbusinesscorrespondence3

3.Politenesslanguageandrelatedtheoreticalfoundation4

3.1.Whatispolitenesslanguage?

4

3.2.Politenessprincipleandpolitenesslanguage5

3.2.1.Leech’spolitenessprinciple5

3.2.2.Leech’spolitenessprincipleandpolitenesslanguage5

3.3.Face-savingviewandpolitenesslanguage6

3.3.1.BrownandLevinson’sfacetheory6

3.3.2.Faceandpolitenesslanguage6

4.Politenesslanguageandbusinesscorrespondence7

4.1.Significanceofpolitenesslanguageinbusinesscorrespondence8

5.Presentationofpolitenesslanguageinbusinesscorrespondence9

5.1.Positivepolitenesslanguage9

5.1.1.Praiselanguageandsampleanalysis9

5.1.2.Modestylanguageandsampleanalysis11

5.1.3.Closerrelationship13

5.1.3.1.Congratulationlanguageandsampleanalysis13

5.1.3.2.Sympathylanguageandsampleanalysis16

5.2.NegativePolitenessLanguage18

5.2.1.Apologylanguage18

5.2.1.1.Directapologylanguage19

5.2.1.2.Indirectapologylanguageandsampleanalysis21

6.Conclusion23

References24

1.Introduction

1.1.Generaldescriptionofthecurrentresearch

Withtheincreaseandenlargementoftheglobaleconomiccooperation,businesscorrespondence,asanimportantwayofcommunication,isplayingasignificantroleindevelopingnewtransactions,establishingandmaintaininggoodrelationshiporpromotinginformationintercourse.Somearticleshavebeenpublishedaboutthetopicofpolitenessandbusinesscorrespondence.Liushuang（2007）exploredtheapplicationofpolitenessstrategiestogood-news,bad-newsandpersuasiveEnglishbusinesslettersandalsomadeacomparisonamongthethreetypesofbusinesslettersinthehopethatthefindingswillprovideafoundationforthepracticalbusinesswriting.Gaohuan（2007）focusedonbusinessletterwithpolitenesstheoryrelevanttodifferentbusinesssituation.Huangdongmei（2003）triedtofurtheranalyzetheapplicationofthepolitenessstrategiesinChinesebusinessletters.

Thestudiesonthetopicofpolitenessandbusinessletterareplentiful,andagreatdealofpracticalandtheoreticalachievementshasbeenmade.

1.2.Organizationofthethesis

Thisthesistriestoexplaintheimportantroleofbusinesscorrespondenceplaysintoday’smodernbusinessworld,andalsoexplainthesignificantrelationshipbetweenpolitenesslanguageandbusinesscorrespondenceatthebeginning;thenillustratehowallkindsofwritingtechniquesareemployedtoembodyvariouspolitenessstrategiesbymeansofsamplesanalysisfromdifferentaspectsofpolitenesslanguage:

languageofpraise,modesty,sympathy,congratulation,apologyandcriticism.Throughthosepolitenesslanguages’analysis,writingtechniquestodifferentsituationsofbusinesscorrespondenceareclearlyexplainedandrepresented.Therefore,ifyourbusinesscorrespondenceisconcise,pragmaticandefficient,itcanhaveyousucceedinbusiness.

2.Anoverviewofbusinesscorrespondence

2.1.Thedefinitionofbusinesscorrespondence

Intoday’shighlydevelopedandtoughlycompetitivesociety,communicationbetweenindividualsandgroupsisbecomingincreasinglyfrequentandimportant.Itservestopassoninformation,toexpressideasortoexchangefeelings（Liaoying,2003:

4）.Businesscorrespondenceplaysasignificantroleincommunication.Generallyspeaking,thefunctionofabusinesscorrespondenceistogetortoconveybusinessinformation,tomakeortoacceptoroffer,todealwithvariousbusinesses.

Therelationshipbetweenbusinesspersonandcustomerisoneofthemostimportantoneindoingbusiness.Thebusinesscorrespondenceistheprincipalmeansusedbyabusinessfirmtokeepintouchwithitscustomers.Oftenenoughbusinesscorrespondenceistheonlyoneandthecustomersformtheirimpressionofthefirmfromthetoneandqualityofthelettersitsendsout（Lantian,2004）.

2.2.Theclassificationofbusinesscorrespondence

BusinessCorrespondencehasavarietyofclassificationsfromdifferentstudyangles.Accordingtothecontentsofthecorrespondence,therearerequest,claimandadjustmentcorrespondences,sales,creditandcollectioncorrespondence.Bythenatureoftheinformationgiven,fourdifferentkindsofinformationintermsofitseffectonthereader’sneedsweresummedup:

goodnews,neutralnews,badnewsandpersuasivecorrespondences.Sincebusinesscorrespondenceshavesomanytypes,inthisthesis,theabovetwotypesofclassificationaregiventoexplainwhatkindsofactivitieshappeningbetweenthecompanyanditsbusinesspartnersorcustomers;andalsoexplainhowthebusinesscorrespondencehelpsprovidinginformationandenhancingbusinessrelationshipbetweenbothparties.

3.Politenesslanguageandrelatedtheoreticalfoundation

3.1.Whatispolitenesslanguage?

Formostofus,wehaveknownandunderstoodtheconceptofpolitenessveryclearly.Inmostofthecountries,saying“thankyou”tothepersonwhohasofferedyousomehelpisbeingcourteousorbeingpolite.Thisinterestingpolitenessphenomenahasbeenstudiedsystematicallysince1950s.Variousdefinitionshavebeengivenbywell-knownlinguists.

BrownandLevinson（1987）definepolitenessasaredressiveactiontakentocounter-balancethedisruptiveeffectofface-threateningacts.AndHeZiran（2003）viewedthatpolitenessplayinganimportantroleinregulatingparticipant’scommunicativebehaviorinsociety,becausepolitenessgivesremindingoftakingthefeelingsofothersintoconsiderationamongparticipants（theinterlocutoraswellasathirdpartynotnecessarilypresent,withanemphasisontheformer）.Itisnecessarytothinkabouttheirfeelingsastoestablishlevelsofmutualcomfortandpromoterapport,whichinturnaccelerateandfacilitatehumancommunication.Oneofthefunctionsofpolitenessistocreate（ormanifest）adistancebetweentheinterlocutors,asinthecaseofsocial-hierarchicalplacementsthathavetobemaintainedthroughlanguageuse（Mey,J.2001:

81）.

Therefore,wecouldcometoaconclusionthatpolitenesslanguageisakindoflanguageusedtoshowconsiderationsforothersandcreateinterpersonalharmonyasameansofcommunicationtoconveyinformationandhelptoestablishandmaintainsocialstatus.

3.2.Politenessprincipleandpolitenesslanguage

3.2.1.Leech’spolitenessprinciple

Leech（1983）proposedthemaximsofthepolitenessprinciple,whichare1）TactMaxim,2）.GenerosityMaxim,3）.ApprobationMaxim,4）.ModestyMaxim,5）AgreementMaxim,6）.SympathyMaxim.

Thisprincipleformsthefoundationofthefollowingsamplesanalysis.

3.2.2.Leech’spolitenessprincipleandpolitenesslanguage

Leech’spolitenessprinciplegeneralizesthatwhatpolitenesslanguageisandhowtobeactedpolitely.Thesixmaximsareimportantforpeopletoconducttheirbehaviorsindailylife,sotheharmonyandclosedrelationshipamongpeoplecanbebuiltup.AndpolitenesslanguagepresentsLeech’spolitenessprincipleespeciallyintheaspectimprovingtherelationshipinbusinessactivitiesnowadays.Minimizinghimselforherselfbenefitsandmaximizingother’sbenefitsareexactlytheessenceofpolitenesslanguagethatpolitenesslanguageisusedtobenefitothers,praiseothers,agreewithothersandhavesympathyonothers.

3.3.Face-savingviewandpolitenesslanguage

3.3.1.BrownandLevinson’sfacetheory

BrownandLevinson（1978）provideacomprehensivetheoryofpolitenessphenomenaincludingbothverbalandnon-verbalbehavior,thoughtmostoftheirdiscussionconcentratesontheformer.Basictotheirmodelaretwokindsof“face”.Viewingtheneedto（partially）satisfyfaceasabasichumanwant,theyproposefivepolitenessstrategiestospeakersforperforminga“face-threateningact（FTA）”,thechoiceofstrategydependingontheestimated“riskoffaceloss”tothespeakerorreader.Thefivepolitenessstrategiesareasfollows:

（1）baldonrecord;

（2）positivepoliteness;（3）negativePoliteness;（4）off-record,and（5）don’tdoFTA（HeZiran,2003）.

3.3.2.Faceandpolitenesslanguage

Politenesslanguagecanbeemployedasthemeanstoshowawarenessofanotherperson’sfaceandcanbeaccomplishedinsituationsofsocialdistanceorcloseness.Inconclusion,politenesslanguageplaysanimportantroleinmaintainingaharmoniousrelationshipamongpeopleanddefendingtheirfacesifthreatened.Politenesslanguagetriestosavepeople’spositivefaceornegativefacebypresentingdifferentkindsoflanguageindifferentoccasionsiftheirfacesarethreatened.

4.Politenesslanguageandbusinesscorrespondence

Withrapiddevelopmentoftheworldeconomy,businesscommunicationisbecomingfasterandmorefrequent.Businesscorrespondence,asamajorformofcommunicationintoday’smodernbusinessworld,playsasignificantroleinestablishingandoperatingabusiness.Businesscorrespondencehasbeenregardedasthelifelineofmodernbusiness.Therefore,itisveryimportanttowritelettersinapoliteandtactfulwaytoreachanintendedgoal,andcatchthereader’sattention.

Intoday’ssocietycharacterizedbyspeedandefficiency,businesscorrespondencehasagreatinfluenceoncompany’sbusinessactivities.Acourtesyanddescentbusinesslettercanhelptobuildafavorablebusinessimageforthecompanyanddogoodbusiness.However,aletterlackofcourtesycannotonlyleadtothefailureofthebusinessbutalsodestroytheimagewhichthecompanieshav