英語(yǔ)商務(wù)信函中的禮貌原則英語(yǔ)畢業(yè)論文

1、<p>　　Politeness Principle and Its Presentation </p><p>　　in Business Letters</p><p><b>　　Contents</b></p><p>　　Abstracti</p><p><b>　　摘 要ii<

2、;/b></p><p>　?、馡ntroduction1</p><p>　　1.1The Importance and Function of Business Letters1</p><p>　　1.2Principles of Business Letters2</p><p>　　Ⅱ Politeness Prin

3、ciple3</p><p>　　2.1 Why to Study Politeness Strategies in English & Chinese4</p><p>　　2.2 Politeness: Chinese & Western Models5</p><p>　　2.3 Politeness Principles and Bus

4、iness Letters6</p><p>　?、?Representation of Politeness in Business Letters7</p><p>　　3.1 Politeness’ Positive Representation in Business Letters7</p><p>　　3.1.1 Approbation7<

5、/p><p>　　3.1.2 Sympathy8</p><p>　　3.1.3 Agreement8</p><p>　　3.1.4 Intimacy9</p><p>　　3.2Politeness’ Negative Representation in Business Letters9</p><p>　　

6、3.2.1 Euphemism10</p><p>　　3.2.2 Respect10</p><p>　　3.2.3 Apology11</p><p>　?、?How to Apply Politeness Strategies in Business Letters12</p><p>　　Ⅴ Conclusion20<

7、/p><p>　　References21</p><p><b>　　Abstract</b></p><p>　　Through a comprehensive and systematic analysis and comparison of English business letters, this paper argues that

8、the Principle of Politeness in English business letters should be upheld. Also presented in this paper are several aspects of politeness in English business letters. With the development of economy, business letters have

9、 become an important way to communicate. By sending business letters to each other, we can exchange information, contact business, negotiate and solve the problems e</p><p>　　Key words: Business Letters, Pol

10、iteness Principle, Representation</p><p><b>　　摘 要</b></p><p>　　本文通過(guò)系統(tǒng)分析和大量實(shí)例的比較，論述商務(wù)英語(yǔ)信函應(yīng)堅(jiān)持的禮貌原則，歸納出當(dāng)代商務(wù)信函中的禮貌表現(xiàn)。隨著社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)的迅猛發(fā)展，商務(wù)信函逐漸成為人們?cè)诮?jīng)濟(jì)領(lǐng)域內(nèi)的一種重要的交際手段，通過(guò)它人們可以交流信息、聯(lián)系業(yè)務(wù)、商談貿(mào)易、磋商、處理問(wèn)題

11、、傳遞友誼等。商業(yè)信函的特點(diǎn)和功能決定了商業(yè)信函中必須注重禮貌策略的表現(xiàn)。商務(wù)英語(yǔ)信函是國(guó)際貿(mào)易雙方進(jìn)行書面商務(wù)信息溝通的重要手段,其撰寫的成功與否對(duì)企業(yè)的業(yè)務(wù)有著極其重要的影響。一封禮貌有加、措辭得體的商務(wù)信函可以幫助一個(gè)公司建構(gòu)起良好的商業(yè)形象,進(jìn)而做成一筆好生意；反之，一封禮貌欠佳、用語(yǔ)不當(dāng)?shù)男藕瘎t會(huì)給一個(gè)公司帶來(lái)負(fù)面的評(píng)價(jià)，使之弄砸了生意不說(shuō)，還有可能毀了公司苦心經(jīng)營(yíng)的形象?？梢?，禮貌在商務(wù)信函中的作用不容忽視。</p&g

12、t;<p>　　關(guān)鍵詞: 商務(wù)信函, 禮貌原則, 表現(xiàn)</p><p>　?、馡ntroduction</p><p>　　Business correspondence is a basic activity involved in trade, and remains a very important form of communication even nowadays

13、. They deliver their companies’ images to the public. Business letters are often arrangements or regarded as evidence of a contract. They are written for information exchanging and bridge over the desires between buyers

14、and sellers. The most effective letter should be easy to read and easy to understand. It must be friendly and courteous. We should bear in mind the point</p><p>　　1.1The Importance and Function of Business

15、Letters</p><p>　　Business refers to the buying and selling of both goods and services, including all those activities involved in providing the goods and services needed or desired by people. International b

16、usiness communication is a process by which an oral or written message is exchanged between individuals or organizations of different cultures through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior, with a view to produc

17、ing actual effects in business.</p><p>　　Effective business communication is the lifeblood of every business organization. Any business organization cannot function without business communication, since a bu

18、siness organization is a group of people organized for business, whose activities require those involved to interact and react to exchange information, ideas, plans, and proposals; to co-ordinate and to make decisions. T

19、he behavior of the members of an organization can have a far-reaching effect on the reputation and ultimate succes</p><p>　　In a word, the impression created by a politely written business letter can be a cr

20、ucial 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 smoot

21、hly and effectively. Business communication may take many forms, such as letters, reports, telegrams, cables, telexes, resumes and printed forms that are used for special goals. Here, we will conce</p><p>　　

22、1.2Principles of Business Letters</p><p>　　Consideration</p><p>　　Try to put yourself in his or her place to give consideration to his or her wishes, demands, interests and difficulties. Find t

23、he 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.&l

24、t;/p><p>　　Correctness</p><p>　　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

25、 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. Business letters must be factual information accurate figures and exact terms in particular

26、, for they involve the right, the duties and the interest of both sides often as the base of all kinds of documents</p><p>　　Completeness</p><p>　　As you work hard for completeness, keep the fol

27、lowing guidelines in mind: Why do you write the letter, what are the facts supporting the reasons, whether you have answered all the questions asked or not and what the reader is expected to do.</p><p>　　Con

28、creteness</p><p>　　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 figu

29、res and avoid words like short, long or good. Give specific time (with date, month, year and even offer hour, minute if necessary).</p><p>　　But avoid expressions such as yesterday, next month, immediately a

30、nd etc.</p><p>　　Conciseness</p><p>　　Conciseness means complete message but briefest expression with no sacrificing clarity or courtesy. A good business letter should be precise and to the poin

31、t. 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.</p><p><b>　　Clarity</b

32、></p><p>　　Keep constantly in mind what you want to say in your letter. It is welcomed if you express yourself clearly and directly in the simplest language. Plain, simple words are more easily understood

33、. 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 mean both two times a month and once every two

34、month.</p><p><b>　　Courtesy</b></p><p>　　Courtesy means to show tactfully in your letters the honest friendship, thoughtful appreciation, sincere politeness, considerate understandin

35、g and heartfelt respect. Answer letters in good time and write to explain why if you fail to do it promptly. Even if you don’t think the recipient is right, you should still respond tactfully and politely. Sometimes it i

36、s a help to use you-attitude instead of I-attitude. </p><p>　?、?Politeness Principle</p><p>　　As we all know, politeness phenomena pervade in all human societies, and all human interactions. Sin

37、ce different 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 m

38、eans in realizing politeness may inevitably exist. A good knowledge of those differences and behaving politely will do much help in accomplishing the communicating business goals b</p><p>　　2.1 Why to Study

39、Politeness Strategies in English & Chinese </p><p>　　One of our socialization goals is to learn how to behave politely, linguistically or otherwise. Therefore, politeness and politeness strategies may ha

40、ve a direct influence on one’s choice of verbal forms and sentence patterns in achieving his/her end. Moreover, politeness can be taken as a social phenomenon, a social constraint, the study of which can inevitably revea

41、l the cultural characteristics of a certain language. The ability to overcome obstacles in communicative interactions is termed as</p><p>　　The idea emerges that it may be helpful to explore the differences

42、and similarities between the use of politeness and politeness strategies in business letters in Chinese and English cultures, and make known to those in need of the results to conduct their business interaction — to faci

43、litate international business communication.</p><p>　　It is based on this background that the following study is conducted to examine if there is significant difference between the mean frequencies of the Ch

44、inese/English politeness maxims/strategies in business negotiation letters in the conflict stage, with the hope to discover insights for those who want or need to use business letters to communicate and to provide some i

45、nsights to verify Brown & Levinson’s and Gu Yueguo’s politeness models.</p><p>　　2.2 Politeness: Chinese & Western Models</p><p>　　Brown & Levinson assert that face refers to ‘public

46、 self-image’ and consists of both positive and negative face. To maintain others’ face is to recognize and respect the referred members of society with each other in the interaction. They claim that most of the things th

47、at we do with words are potentially face threatening, including ordering, advising, offering, promising, criticizing, contradicting, etc. As to written language, such as business letters, FTAs may include stating a claim

48、, deny or</p><p>　　At home, serious study of politeness within the linguistic circles did not begin until the early 80s. In 1990, Prof Gu Yueguo traced the origin of the notion of politeness as “a public ima

49、ge” in the Chinese culture in his article titled Politeness phenomena in modern Chinese. He has also formulated, which he thinks are more suitable to the Chinese cultural environment a set of politeness maxims; I) The ma

50、xim of self-denigration and other-elevation, 2) The maxim of using address terms. 3) The max</p><p>　　To discuss the politeness strategies, one should first make clear what constitutes “face” and “FTAs” in t

51、he two cultures, for they play a crucial part in strategic choice of certain verbal forms in communication.</p><p>　　“Gu Yueguo says that ‘face is the essential element of politeness, to be polite is to be f

52、ace-caring: face and politeness hold a means-to-end relation between them’ ” (Cai Xian’e 2002:10). According to Brown & Levinson, such behaviors as offer promise, compliment, apology, gratefulness are all FTAs — impo

53、lite acts. Let’s read the following examples;</p><p>　　Example 1:</p><p><b>　　Excuse</b></p><p>　　Forgive me.</p><p><b>　　Pardon</b></p>

54、;<p>　　Example 2: Accept my thanks.</p><p>　　According to Brown & Levinson, example 1 and example 2 should be considered as FTAs or impolite acts. But the Chinese equivalents “對(duì)不起” “請(qǐng)?jiān)彙?“請(qǐng)包涵” “請(qǐng)

55、接受我的謝意”, are intrinsically polite acts in the Chinese culture. So there are great cultural differences in the interpretation of FTAs and politeness between Chinese and English.</p><p>　　2.3 Politeness Princi

56、ples and Business Letters</p><p>　　The function and purpose of language is to communicate, verbal or non-verbal, written or oral. In the context of business letter communication, if the communication tool —

57、language is properly used, it will be have great help in achieving our goals. Otherwise, unfavorable results will be brought to our business communication. To make our business communication effective and bring reciproca

58、l results, we should be careful, correct, polite, appropriate and tactful in using the language. Such effect</p><p>　　Politeness principle contributes a lot to our business communication. It is to minimize t

59、he expression of impolite beliefs and maximize the expressions of polite beliefs. As we know that politeness exists in all languages and is viewed as one of the major social constraints on human interaction that regulate

60、s participants’ communicating behavior by constantly reminds them to take into consideration the feeling of others’. It’s necessary to consider their feelings so as to establish levels of mut</p><p>　　Ⅲ Repr

61、esentation of Politeness in Business Letters</p><p>　　3.1 Politeness’ Positive Representation in Business Letters</p><p>　　Generally speaking, politeness strategies totally include Approbation,

62、Sympathy, Agreement, and Intimacy in business correspondence.</p><p>　　3.1.1 Approbation</p><p>　　In Brown and Levinson’s viewpoint in the business correspondence, Approbation is such a strategy

63、 that it helps meet audience’s requirement. It is communication activator. It helps satisfy the audience’s amour-propre by using compliment and fair words so that the audience’s attention and interesting is aroused. Usin

64、g 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 addre</p><p>　　The following

65、 sentence is a classical example:</p><p>　　We find both quality and prices are satisfactory and are pleased to place an order with you for the following: … (Wu Qin yan,2002:1)</p><p>　　This prai

66、sing sentence makes the addressee feel comfortable, without magnified. </p><p>　　3.1.2 Sympathy</p><p>　　Chinese think that both of sentiment and sympathies are very important, people often thin

67、k of the others and comprehend them, especially when someone is unhappy or suffered from disaster. And Chinese will express sympathies and send regards to those people who are unhappy or suffered from disaster. This is n

68、amed Sympathy.</p><p>　　An old says “A friend in need is a friend indeed.” It is also fit for being along with business friends. When friends are unhappy or suffered from adversity, it will make the friends

69、feel touching if writers express sympathies and send regards to the friends, in spite of helping friends or not. And this kind of behavior shows that the writer is very kind and polite. For example,</p><p>　

70、　We acknowledge receipt of your letter dated the 3rd this month enclosing the reprography of the insurance policy,we are regret for your loss.</p><p>　　This is a letter about a company talking on delivery ti

71、me with the other company, which is suffering losing. In the letter, the writer expresses sympathies and regards to the addressee. This makes the addressee think that “A friend in need is a friend indeed.” and it is wort

72、h of doing business with the writer.</p><p>　　3.1.3 Agreement</p><p>　　In business correspondence, Face Threatening Acts is represented when the writer can not agree with the addressee’s viewpoi

73、nt or the addressee’s request is unwilling to be satisfied. In order to save the addressee’s face and reputation and avoid deny the addressee’s viewpoint straightly, the writer need to avoid expressing the disagreement d

74、irectly. For example, </p><p>　　We sincerely recommend you to accept our proposal as our stocks are getting lower and lower day and day, and we are afraid we shall be unable to meet your requirements if you

75、fail to let us have your confirmation by return.</p><p>　　In the example, it will act against the politeness strategies if the writer changed the word “recommend” into “advice”. The word “advice” can be unde

76、rstood as commanding. It seems as the addressee has to accept the advice, otherwise, the addressee will suffer losses. Actually, whether the addressee accepts suggest or not, it’s up to the addressee. The writer has no r

77、ight to force the addressee to accept it.</p><p>　　In a word, when both parties’ standpoints can’t unify, the writer should comprehend first and respect the standpoint of the addressee. But the writer can ar

78、gue on the basis of reason in the ordinary time, explain the writer’s viewpoint if the addressee’s suggestion is unreasonable or the addressee criticizing the writer is unfair, pay attention to the politeness, and avoid

79、using the language offending nature.</p><p>　　3.1.4 Intimacy </p><p>　　In business correspondence, if the writer and addressee’s friendship is very well, the writer can show the friendship to th

80、e addressee by calling the addressee geniality by using words like “us” , “we”, “our”, etc, or taking certain suggestion into consideration on the addressee’s position. This is called Intimacy. For example,</p>&l

81、t;p>　　In view of our longstanding business relationship that we make you such an offer. (Huang Dongmei,2003:24)</p><p>　　In the example, using the word “our” skillfully shows that the writer takes address

82、ee as partner. Using this kind of amiable words helps writer save the addressees’ face, and make the purpose of mutual benefit come true.</p><p>　　3.2 Politeness’ Negative Representation in Business Letters&

83、lt;/p><p>　　In Brown and Levinson’s, negative face is stated as someone hope not to force upon the other people, and to be out of the other people’s interference, or baffling. Negative face of politeness strate

84、gies is that the writer wants to do something to satisfy the addressee’s Negative face wants. For instance, as soon as the request, command and advice referred to, the addressee’s private space will be intervened. In ord

85、er to save the addressee’s face and reputation, the writer need to use the politen</p><p>　　In business correspondence writing, politeness’ negative representation totally includes Euphemism, Respects, and A

86、pology.</p><p>　　3.2.1 Euphemism</p><p>　　Euphemism is the way to cut down face threatening acts, even avoid it. When referring proposal, requirement and criticizing, the writer will use certain

87、 expression to cut down the particle or relax so that the addressee can accept and avoid face threatens. For example,</p><p>　　Excuse me, I was wondering if you could possibly send us your latest sample mach

88、ine?</p><p>　　In the indirect requirement, pragmatics, which needs to be put into the leading post and maintained, has difference in different culture. For instance, Individualism Orientation makes people ta

89、ke Face Threatening Acts into consideration first in English and America. In Chinese culture, “face” is very important. Chinese is particular about “shang Lian”, and abstain from”Diu Mian Zi”. Chinese values makes the Ch

90、inese take the both parties’ “Lian” and “Mian Zi” into consideration and make the doubl</p><p>　　3.2.2 Respect</p><p>　　Respect is stated to feel or show honor or esteem for; hold in high regard

91、; to consider or treat with deference or dutiful regard.（Agnes, M. 2001:1221）</p><p>　　In the politeness principle, Respect is that the writer utilizes the humble words to reduce itself or raises the address

92、ee to reveal that the both parties’ statuses are difference. It means that the writer do respects to the addressee. The writer maintains and saves the addressee’s negative face and reputation by using words to promote ad

93、dressee’s status, and lower an own status in order that the writer avoids the latent conflicts and achieves the goals of communicating with the addressee succes</p><p>　　“You-attitude” unassertively, is embo

94、dying on attitude. And try to use “you”, “I” as much as possible. Not only should the writer stand on the own position in writing business letters, but also the writer should always stand on the addressee’s position to c

95、alculate everything. If the writer tries to use the “you” “your” “your business”, “your needs” instead of “I”, “we”, “my” as much as possible, It will make the addressee think that the writer does respects to the address

96、ee, takes the addressee</p><p>　　A Your error caused the damage of the goods and you will be responsible for what have happened…</p><p>　　B We are regretted to find that the goods has been

97、 damaged and we would like to have our representative to look into it.</p><p>　　The tune of sentence A is so strong that the addressee couldn’t accept. Sentence B which is modified according to the sentence

98、A avoids referring addressee’s DAMAGE, saves the addressee’s face and reputation and avoids the latent conflicts with the addressee.</p><p>　　3.2.3 Apology</p><p>　　Apology is a statement saying

99、 that an apologizer is sorry for doing something wrong or cause trouble. (Chen Meiwei, 2002:44)</p><p>　　Generally, it includes direct apology and indirect apology.</p><p>　　In order to save the

100、 addressee’s face and reputation, and compensate for the addressee’s loss and make the addressee forgive the writer, writer can apologize for the mistake or offense and promise to reasonability for it. Usually, a busines