1、 Contents Abstract . i 摘 要 . ii Introduction . 1 1.1 The Importance and Function of Business Letters . 1 1.2 Principles of Business Letters . 2 Politeness Principle . 3 2.1 Why to Study Politeness Strategies in English to co-ordinate and to make decisions. The behavior of the members of an organizat
2、ion can have a far-reaching effect on the reputation and ultimate success of the company. Therefore, communicating effectively can contribute in a variety of ways to the development of the business organization because successful messages can eliminate unnecessary-disputes, save time and expense, cr
3、eate favorable impression, enhance goodwill, and help to increase the companys profit. However, all those require one to be quite familiar with the recipients culture to behave properly while doing business. Otherwise one would be considered impolite or rude, leading to unexpected failure in the pro
4、cess of doing business. Therefore, it is important not only for the Chinese to know about the foreign cultures, for example, the English-speaking countries, but also for those foreigners to know about Chinas. In a word, the impression created by a politely written business letter can be a crucial 太原
5、科技大学外语系 2007 毕业论文 2 factor in successful communicating with our business counterparts. It is concerned with the successful transfer of an idea from one to another, which is a vital factor in making our business communication run smoothly and effectively. Business communication may take many forms, s
6、uch as letters, reports, telegrams, cables, telexes, resumes and printed forms that are used for special goals. Here, we will concentrate on the letters, because the purpose of the study is to facilitate international business communication. Moreover, letter is the main form used to exchange informa
7、tion between business organizations. Therefore, choosing letter can make the results of the study more representative and more helpful. In addition, it will be easy to collect data for the study. 1.2 Principles of Business Letters Consideration Try to put yourself in his or her place to give conside
8、ration to his or her wishes, demands, interests and difficulties. Find the best way to express your better understanding and present the message. That enables a request to be refused without killing all hope of business or allows a refusal to do favor to be made without harming friendship. Correctne
9、ss Correctness means not only proper expressions with correct grammar, punctuation and spelling, but also appropriate tone which is a help to achieve the purpose. It is likely to convey the real message in a way that will not cause offence even if it is a complaint or an answer to such a letter. Bus
10、iness letters must be factual information accurate figures and exact terms in particular, for they involve the right, the duties and the interest of both sides often as the base of all kinds of documents. Therefore we should not understate nor overstate as understatement might lead to less confidenc
11、e and hold up the trade development. While over statement throws you into an awkward position. Completeness As you work hard for completeness, keep the following guidelines in mind: Why do you write the letter, what are the facts supporting the reasons, whether you have answered all the questions as
12、ked or not and what the reader is expected to do. 太原科技大学外语系 2007 毕业论文 3 Concreteness What the letter comes to should be specific, definite rather than vague, abstract and general. Take, for example, some qualities or characters of goods that should be shown with exact figures and avoid words like sh
13、ort, long or good. Give specific time (with date, month, year and even offer hour, minute if necessary). But avoid expressions such as yesterday, next month, immediately and etc. Conciseness Conciseness means complete message but briefest expression with no sacrificing clarity or courtesy. A good bu
14、siness letter should be precise and to the point. Single words are more efficient than phrases. Wordy languages and redundancy require more time and money to type and to read. They are not what modern business people want. Clarity Keep constantly in mind what you want to say in your letter. It is we
15、lcomed if you express yourself clearly and directly in the simplest language. Plain, simple words are more easily understood. A properly paragraphed message is required for the purpose of clarity. For instance, we use semimonthly instead of bimonthly for two times a month., because bimonthly may mea
16、n both two times a month and once every two month. Courtesy Courtesy means to show tactfully in your letters the honest friendship, thoughtful appreciation, sincere politeness, considerate understanding and heartfelt respect. Answer letters in good time and write to explain why if you fail to do it
17、promptly. Even if you dont think the recipient is right, you should still respond tactfully and politely. Sometimes it is a help to use you-attitude instead of I-attitude. Politeness Principle As we all know, politeness phenomena pervade in all human societies, and all human interactions. Since diff
18、erent societies enjoy different cultures, and different cultures have different norms, values, points of view, habits, conventions, customs, etc., differences in their criteria for judgments and their linguistic means in realizing politeness may inevitably exist. 太原科技大学外语系 2007 毕业论文 4 A good knowled
19、ge of those differences and behaving politely will do much help in accomplishing the communicating business goals between nations. 2.1 Why to Study Politeness Strategies in English I) The maxim of self-denigration and other-elevation, 2) The maxim of using address terms. 3) The maxim of refinement.
20、4) The maxim of agreement 5) The maxim of virtue, words and deeds. (Cai Xiane 2002:10) To discuss the politeness strategies, one should first make clear what constitutes “face” 太原科技大学外语系 2007 毕业论文 6 and “FTAs” in the two cultures, for they play a crucial part in strategic choice of certain verbal fo
21、rms in communication. “Gu Yueguo says that face is the essential element of politeness, to be polite is to be face-caring: face and politeness hold a means-to-end relation between them ” (Cai Xiane 2002:10). According to Brown Example 1: Excuse Forgive me. Pardon Example 2: Accept my thanks. Accordi
22、ng to Brown while Gu Yueguo proposes five maxims and maintains that the Chinese hold dear to such values as respectfulness, modesty, attitudinal warmth and refinement. In this dissertation we are going to analyze how those business letters written under the stated politeness principles achieve die c
23、ommunicating goals by skillful employment of those politeness strategies and maxims. Representation of Politeness in Business Letters 3.1 Politeness Positive Representation in Business Letters Generally speaking, politeness strategies totally include Approbation, Sympathy, Agreement, and Intimacy in
24、 business correspondence. 3.1.1 Approbation In Brown and Levinsons viewpoint in the business correspondence, Approbation is such a strategy that it helps meet audiences requirement. It is communication activator. It helps satisfy the audiences amour-propre by using compliment and fair words so that
25、the audiences attention and interesting is aroused. Using appropriate words can bring happiness and satisfactions in life in different occasion, and make the friendship better. In business correspondence, it is necessary to praise the addressee usually, but not over praising. Even if the addressees
26、reputation, products, and technology is worthy of being praised, we also need to keep the praising words in control, and avoid the over magnified words. “Too much water drowned the miller.” So while writing business letters, the writer must obey Politeness Principle and try to apply the Approbation as much as possible, besides, the writer also need to praise the addressee by appropriate words. The following sentence is a classical example:
