Politeness strategy in Business Letters.docx

Politeness strategy in Business Letters.docx

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PolitenessstrategyinBusinessLetters

ABriefAnalysisofPolitenessstrategyinBusinessLetters

Abstract

EnglishBusinesslettersareanimportantmeansandplayasignificantroleinbusinessactivities.Englishbusinesslettersareregardedasthelifelineofmodernbusinesscommunication.Thequalityofthebusinessletterwillmakeagreatimpactonthecommunicationincommercialworld.ThesignificanceofEnglishbusinesslettersdeterminestheapplicationofpolitenessstrategies,thatis,whatlanguageformsareusedtopresentthepolitenessoftheEnglishbusinessletters.

ThisthesisintroducesLeech’sPolitenessPrincipleandBrown&Levinson’sFace-savingTheoryfromatheoreticalperspectivefirst.Second，thisthesisstatestheclassificationofbusinessletters,includinggood-newsbusinessletters,bad-newsbusinesslettersandpersuasivebusinessletters.Next,itstatesthattheapplicationofpolitenessstrategyinEnglishbusinesslettersfromlexicallevelandsyntacticallevelbasedonsystematicanalysisandcomparison.Meanwhile,itusesspecificexamplestoshowtheimportanceofthepolitenessappliedinthebusinessletter.

Throughthecomparisonandanalysis,wecanconcludethatsomepolitenessstrategiesareappliedtotheEnglishbusinessinordertogetsuccessfulcommunication.However,theapplicationofpolitenessstrategiesisvariouslymanifested,amongwhichsimilaritiesanddifferencescoexist.Hopefully，thisthesiscangivesomehelptobusinesspeople.

Keywords:

politenessprinciple;businessletters;politenessstrategy;application

内容摘要

英文商务信函是商务交际的一种重要方式，在商务活动中发挥着重要的作用，并被看作是现代商务交际的生命线。

信函写作的好坏将会直接影响双方在商务交际中的沟通。

英文商务信函的这一重要作用决定了在英文商务信函中必须注重礼貌策略的运用，即采取何种语言形式来使信函表现得更加礼貌。

本文首先从理论方面论述了利奇的礼貌原则及布朗和列文森的面子保全论。

然后对信函进行分类，主要分为好消息信函、坏消息信函和说服性信函，最后通过大量实例的比较，从词汇和句法等方面来论述英语商务信函应坚持的礼貌原则，以实例来论证礼貌策略在商务信函交流中的重要性。

通过对比分析得出结论，在各类商务信函中，为了达到成功交际的目的，人们往往采用一定的礼貌策略，但礼貌策略在这三种信函中的应用却不尽相同，既有共同点，也有差异。

希望这篇文章对人们的交际起到一定的帮助。

关键词:

礼貌原则；商务信函；礼貌策略；运用

Contents

Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………

Abstract（English）…………………………………………………………..……………...……..

Abstract（Chinese）………………………………………………………………………..…….

1.Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………..……...

2.AbriefreviewofpolitenessandEnglishbusinessletters…………………………….……….1

2.1Abriefreviewofpoliteness ……………………………………………………..………...2

2.1.1Leech’sPolitenessPrinciple …………………………………………….………….2

2.1.2BrownandLevinson’sFaceTheory……………………………………………….3

2.2AbriefreviewofEnglishbusinessletters………………………………………………….4

2.2.1Definitionofbusinessletters……………...…………………………...…………..5

2.2.2ClassificationofEnglishbusinessletters…………………………….……………..5

2.3Therelationshipbetweenpolitenessprincipleandbusinessletters……………….………..6

3.Applicationofpolitenessstrategyinbusinessletters……………….....……………………….6

3.1Astudyonpolitenessstrategyingood-newsletters……………….………………………6

3.1.1Usingspecialwords…………………………………………………………………..7

3.1.2Usingyou-attitudelanguage…………………………….………..………………..…7

3.1.3Usingshortsentences……………..………..…………...……………………………8

3.2Applicationofpolitenessstrategyinbad-newsbusinessletter…………………………….8

3.2.1Usinggeneralword………………………….....................………………………….8

3.2.2Avoidingyou-language…………………………….…………………………………9

3.2.3Usingcomplexsentence………………..……………………………………………9

3.3Applicationofpolitenessstrategyinpersuasivebusinessletters……………….………...10

3.3.1Usingyou-attitude…………………………………………………………………...10

3.3.2Usingfactualtone………………………………………………………………......10

3.3.3Usinginterrogativesentences…………………………………………………...….11

 4.Conclusion…………………………………………….………………………………...........11

 WorksCited…………………………………………………………………………………….13

1.Introduction

Withtheglobalizationofworldeconomy,thepopularityoftheInternet,Englishbusinesscorrespondence,includingnotonlytraditionallettersbutalsoemailsandfacsimiles,iswidelyused.Especially,asmostbusinessorganizationssetuptheirbusinessrelationshipthroughbusinessletters,thequalityoftheletterswilldecidetheimpressionofthetwopartiesmakeoneachother.Therefore,wecansaythatbusinessletterisreallyanimage-makerinbusinesscommunication.Itisaneffectivewaytoexchangeinformationbuildupandmaintainharmoniousbusinessrelationships.Inshort,awell-writtenbusinessletterwithgoodmannersshowssincerity，considerationandgoodwilltothebusinesspartner,whichbuildsandenhancestheharmoniousbusinessrelation,thusfacilitatesthebusinesscommunication.However,apoorlywrittenbusinessletterwithbadmannersmayimpressthebusinesspartnerasinsincere,arrogantandlackofrespect,whichdoesharmtotherapportandatlastdamagesthebusinessrelation.Soweshouldpaymoreattentiontobusinesscorrespondence.

Well,inbusinessletters,politenessisamostimportantmotivatingfactorofchoosingwhatkindoflanguageshouldbeusedandwhatkindofapproachestoarrangetheletter.Agooduseofthepolitenessstrategycanhelppeoplemakeasuccessfulbusinesscommunication.Inotherwords,politenessplaysaveryimportantroleinacceleratingeffectiveandsuccessfulbusinesscommunication.Therefore,weshouldpayattentiontothepolitenessappliedinbusinessletters.

Thisthesisisorganizedintofourchapters.

Chapteroneisanintroduction,whichmakeageneraldescriptionofthestudy.

Chaptertwoistheliteraturereview,includingabriefreviewofpolitenesstheoryandbusinessletters.

Chapterthreemakesadetailedanalysisontheapplicationofthepolitenessstrategyindifferenttypesofbusinesslettersfromlexicallevelandsyntacticlevel.

Thelastpartistheconclusionofthethesis.

2.Abriefreviewofpolitenessandbusinessletters

Withtherapiddevelopmentofworldeconomy,businesscommunicationisbecomingmoreandmorefrequent.Andduringthisprocess,Englishbusinesslettersasamajorformofcommunicationplayasignificantroleinadministrationandoperationofbusiness.So,apoliteandwell-designedlettercannotonlyconveythedesiretodealwiththeotherparty,butalsocanpromotetherelationshipofbothparties.Asaresult,wecan’tignoretheimpactofpolitenessstrategyusedinthebusinesscommunication,especiallyinthedailybusinessletters.

2.1Abriefreviewofpoliteness 

Politenessisoneofthemajorsocialconstraintsonhumaninteractionwhichregulatesparticipant’scommunicativebehaviorbyconstantlyremindingthemtotakeintoconsiderationthefeelingofothers（theinterlocutorasathirdpartynotnecessarypresent,withanemphasisontheformer）becauseitisnecessarytoconsidertheirfeelingsoastoestablishlevelsofmutualcomfortandpromoterapport,whichinturnaccelerateandfacilitatehumancommunication.Politenessisalinguisticuniversal.Insimpleterms,politenessisthepossessionofgoodmannersandconsiderationforotherspeople.

Whenwecometothetheoreticalframeworkfortheanalysisofpolitenessstrategiesappliedinbusinessletters,it’sverynecessaryforustobrieflyreviewsomeimportantpolitenesstheoriesinrecentyears.Next,wewillmainlydiscussLeech’sPolitenessPrincipleandBrownandLevinson’sfacetheories,whicharethemaintheoreticalframeworkofthisthesis.

2.1.1Leech’sPolitenessPrinciple 

PolitenessPrincipleproposedbyLeechisaninfluentialtheoryofpoliteness.Leechholdsthatmostofthetimetheactismotivatedbythedesireofpayingattentiontopoliteness.Inhisopinion,politenessdoesnotseemtohaveanythingtodowith“pragmaticprogress”,butratherwith“theattainmentofsocialgoals”（Watts7）suchasachievingthemaximumbenefitforthespeakerandheareratfileminimumcost,theultimategoalofcomity.Certainly,LeechalsoinsiststhatCooperativePrincipleisnottheonlyprinciplethatguidesandcontainshumaninteraction.PolitenessPrinciple“rescues”CooperativePrinciplebyhelpingexplainwhypeopledeliberatelyviolatetheconversationalmaximsandchoosetoexpressthemselvesinaround—aboutway.

Leech’sPolitenessPrinciplecanbestatedasfollows:

otherbeingequal，minimizetheexpressionofbeliefsthatareunfavorabletothehearerandatthesametime（butlessimportant）maximizetheexpressionofbeliefsthatarefavorabletothehearer.WecansummarizeLeech’sPolitenessPrincipleasfollows:

（1）TactMaxim,appliedinorderandpromise,aimedtominimizecosttoother,alsomeantomaximizebenefittoother

（2）GenerosityMaxim,appliedinorderandpromise,aimedtominimizebenefittoself,alsomeantomaximizecosttoself.

（3）ApprobationMaxim,appliedinexpressionandstatement,aimedtominimizedispraiseofother,alsotrytomaximizepraiseofother.

（4）ModestyMaxim,appliedinexpressionandstatement,aimedtominimizepraiseofself,alsotrytomaximizedispraiseofself.

（5）AgreementMaxim,appliedinstatement,aimedtominimizedisagreementbetweenselfandother,alsomeantomaximizeagreementbetweenselfandother.

（6）SympathyMaxim,appliedinstatement,aimedtominimizeantipathybetweenselfandother,alsomeantomaximizesympathybetweenselfandother.

AccordingtoLeech,TactMaximappearstobeamorepowerfulconstraintonconversationalbehaviorthanGenerosityMaxim.Infact,amongthesixmaxims,TactMaximisofprimaryimportanceas‘tact’istheessenceofpoliteness.Besides,TactMaximismainlyperformedinnegative,andwhorequiresthehighestrankofpolitenessandmanifestpolitenesstothegreatestextentamongallillocutionaryacts.

2.1.2BrownandLevinson’sFaceTheory

BrownandLevinson’stheoryofpolitenessisalsocalled“theface-savingview”.Itisconsideredtobethemostinfluentialandbestknownoftherecentapproachestoanaccountof