Language Differences in Formal and Informal Business Correspondence 第2页
摘 要 II
1 Introduction 1
1.1The Communicated Function of Business Correspondence 1
1.2 Language Style of Business Correspondence 1
1.2.1 Courtesy 2
1.2.2 Consideration 2
1.2.3 Clarity 3
1.2.4 Completeness 3
1.2.5 Conciseness 4
1.2.6 Concreteness 4
1.2.7 Correctness 5
2 How to Distinguish the Formal and Informal Business Correspondences 6
2.1 An Analysis of Modern Informal Business Correspondence (E-mail) 6
2.1.1 Layout 6
2.1.2 Linguistic Features 7
2.2 An Analysis of Formal Business Correspondence’s Linguistic Features 8
2.2.1 Use Professional Items and Use Abbreviations. 9
2.2.2 The Differences of the Meaning 9
2.2.3 The Choice of Prepositions of Time 10
2.2.4 The Use of Written Language 10
2.2.5 Use of Periphrasis 11
3 Language Differences in Formal and Informal Business Correspondence 第2页 13
3.1 The Salutation: 15
3.2 Subject Line: 15
3.3 The Choice of Language Style: 15
3.4 Signature: 16
3.5 Titles: 16
3.6 Complimentary Close: 16
4 What You Need to Grasp Correctly When Writing Formal and Informal Business Correspondence 17
4.1 Familiarity 17
4.2 Tone 17
4.3 Word Choice 18
4.3.1 Use Personal References 19
4.3.2 A Conversational but Professional Tone 19
Conclusion 20
References 21
Acknowledgement 22
1 Introduction
Business English correspondence can be defined as a message that attempts to influence its recipients to take some action or attitude desired by the sender. In other words, the correspondent tries to get his or her reader to agree with him/ her. This attempt at agreement should always be part of the letter, whether the desired result is of immediate importance, such as the collection of a bill, or whether it is an intangible attitude like goodwill. Any type of letter can be judged in terms of how successfully it gains agreement from the reader.
Although business English writing usually belongs to “formal English style”, informal business English correspondence is still used widely as well. The type of writing style we should use in business letters depends on the relationship between the companies, or, more exactly, depends on the familiarity between the writer and the reader. The important point we should bear in mind is to write the correspondence in accordance with the relationship.
1.1The Communicated Function of Business Correspondence
The aim of business correspondence is to resolve the specific affairs during the process of foreign trade. All the letters go on with the start, development and end of business activities. In the different phases, business correspondence plays different roles. For example, establishment of business relationship, sales promotion, claim for compensation, bargaining, transmission of information, transaction of a variety of documents, application and etc. All those functions can be divided into four categories. The first category is message requests and responses, such as status investigations, inquiry, offer and the various messages of the business development. The second category is negotiation of business affairs, such as price, commission, discount, quality; terms of payment, packing, insurance, time of shipment, all the bargaining for the terms belong to this category. The third category is establishment of cooperative relation. This kind of correspondence does not resolve specific affairs. It just commends its company to other companies by showing off their intelligence, capability, outstanding achievement and good faith. The fourth category is claim. Request the other side to commit the loss when they disobey contract. Pragmatic functions of business correspondence decide its language style.
1.2 Language Style of Business Correspondence
Business correspondence is different from the personal correspondence. Therefore we need to grasp its language style correctly. They are written for information exchange. As we know, the most effective letter should be easy to read and easy to understand. We should bear in mind a point that business letters play an important role in the development of friendly business relationships. Generally speaking, we call them seven “C” principles: courtesy, consideration, clarity, completeness, conciseness, concreteness and correctness.
上一页 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] 下一页
Language Differences in Formal and Informal Business Correspondence 第2页下载如图片无法显示或论文不完整，请联系qq752018766
