語用原則在商務(wù)信函寫作中的應(yīng)用

1、本科學(xué)生畢業(yè)論文語用原則在商務(wù)信函寫作中的應(yīng)用黑 龍 江 工 程 學(xué) 院二一二年六月the graduation design for bachelors degreethe application of pragmatic principlesin writing business lettersheilongjiang institute of technology2012-06·harbin黑龍江工程學(xué)院本科生畢業(yè)論文摘 要商務(wù)信函是商務(wù)人士溝通信息的重要手段之一。商務(wù)英語信函作為商務(wù)活動中相互交流的一種重要方式，在國際商務(wù)交際中起著舉足輕重的作用。在商務(wù)溝通中，商務(wù)人士既要傳

2、遞好消息，又要傳遞壞消息。要寫好英文商務(wù)信函，除要求業(yè)務(wù)人員具有良好的英語基礎(chǔ)，掌握涉外應(yīng)用文體自身所擁有的固定格式外，還要注意語用原則在商務(wù)英語信函中所起的作用以及商務(wù)英語信函寫作過程中應(yīng)遵循的寫作原則。本文結(jié)合語用學(xué)的合作原則、面子理論和禮貌原則，探討語用原則在商務(wù)信函寫作中的應(yīng)用, 通過對商務(wù)信函進(jìn)行實(shí)例分析，發(fā)現(xiàn)語用原則在詞匯層面和句法層面存在的問題, 并提出相應(yīng)的解決策略，在詞匯層面體現(xiàn)為：使用積極語言、模糊語言、情態(tài)動詞和無人稱表達(dá)式；在句法層面體現(xiàn)為復(fù)雜句子、虛擬語氣、肯定句的使用。關(guān)鍵詞：語用學(xué)；語用原則；合作原則；面子理論；禮貌原則；商務(wù)信函abstractbusiness

3、letters, being a very important way of exchanging information among business people, send good news and bad ones. as an important means of communication in business activities, business english letters play a crucial role in international business communication. to write english business letters wel

4、l, businessmen not only need a good foundation in english and master the fixed format of the practical writing, but also pay attention to the roles of pragmatic principles in business english letters and the writing principles of business english letters writing.this thesis briefly discusses coopera

5、tive principle, face theory and politeness principle of pragmatics and the application of pragmatic principles in business english letters writing. by way of example analysis, it proves that there are several problems at lexical level and syntactical level. solutions to the problems include: using p

6、ositive language, hedges, modal auxiliaries and impersonal expressions at lexical level; using positive tones, complex sentences, subjunctive mood, and affirmative sentences at syntactical level.key words: pragmatics; pragmatic principles; cooperative principle; face theory; politeness principle; bu

7、siness lettersiicontents摘 要iabstractii. introduction1. related theory3a. definition of pragmatics3b. grices cooperative principle4c. brown and levinsons face theory5d. leechs politeness principle6. problems in business letters writing9a. problems at lexical level9b. problems at syntactic level10. ap

8、plication of pragmatic principles in dealing with the problems12a. using positive words and expressions121. using hedges132. using modal auxiliaries143. using impersonal expressions15b. using special sentences161. using complex sentences162. using subjunctive sentences173. using affirmative sentence

9、s17conclusion19works cited21references22acknowledgements2321. introductionmodern technology has driven the world into a new commercial era which requiring effective and efficient communication. for most companies and institutions, business letters writing is the primary means of external communicati

10、on. the quality of communication may result in the success or failure of a business transaction. therefore, many multinational and global corporations invest heavily in training their stuff for business communication. only when we are able to write a good letter, can we achieve what we expect. thats

11、 the reason why business letters writing is paid more and more attention from linguists and businessmen as well.communication requires us to listen to the needs and views of others accurately, because it is a two-way process. for example, sales representatives must listen to their clients as doctors

12、 must listen to their patients, and businessmen must listen to the changing needs of the marketplaces in which they compete.great communicators have an interactive style. with clear, well-defined goals for what is to be accomplished, they tailor their communication to the audience (the reader or the

13、 listener) or situation with tact. they are able to connect in such a way as to promote true two-way exchange. only through this process can we realize the full potential of professional growth and success, and increase the awareness of cultural diversity.no matter what words people are using in bus

14、iness communication with their counterparts, they have to make sure that every word is conveyed with goodwill. goodwill helps achieve harmonious business relationship, because successful and effective communication is always closely connected with communicators wills and attitudes. in order to achie

15、ve goodwill and favorable interpersonal relationship, every communicator is supposed to communicate with a right attitude, which determines his or her words and the way he or she delivers these messages.with chinas accession to the wto, business letters play a very important role in business communi

16、cation in a variety of scenarios. if businessmen lack the knowledge of business letters linguistic features，it will appear that the words fail to convey the meaning and cause misunderstanding, so that endanger the image and the benefit of enterprise. there are many principles which can be followed i

17、n business letters writing. cooperative principle, face theory and politeness principle are not only applied in oral communication, but also applied in written communication. we need the strategy of pragmatic principles to guide us to write business english letters well.at the first part, the thesis

18、 commits itself to the literature review including the theoretical background，the studies conducted on pragmatic principles and a general survey of business letters. besides, the thesis presents its purpose and significance at this part. at the second part, the thesis presents grices cooperative pri

19、nciple, brown and levinsons face theory and leechs politeness principle act as the theoretical background of the present study. besides，this chapter devotes itself to the exploration of the relation among cooperative principle, face theory and politeness principle. at the third part, the thesis pres

20、ents the pragmatic analysis in business letters. by way of example analysis, it proves that there are several problems at lexical level and syntactical level. at the last part, the thesis presents some strategies to the problems of using pragmatic principles. related theorystudies on business commun

21、ication have shown many effective and applicable principles to enhance the ability to do communication in business context. these principles help business professionals around the world, but pragmatic principles seems to go before them. pragmatic principles are the basic principles of language using

22、, which are universal. as a means of communication, business english letter writing is one aspect of the language using, which should be consistent with the pragmatic principles. pragmatic principles have important guiding significance in writing business english letters. this part is going to intro

23、duce pragmatics and pragmatic principles in business english letters writing.a. definition of pragmaticsbusiness communication generally falls into two categories written language and spoken language. no matter what words communicators are using in dealing with business, they have to make sure that

24、those words are conveyed with goodwill, which greatly helps achieve harmonious interpersonal relationship, because successful and effective communication is always closely connected with communicators good wills and attitudes.pragmatics is the study of meaning in context. it deals with particular ut

25、terances in particular situations and is especially concerned with the various ways in which many social context of language performance can influence interpretation rather than with the way language is internally structured. 何兆熊. 語用學(xué)概要 m. 上海: 上海外語教育出版社, 1997: 6-10. the concept of pragmatics was fir

26、st put forward by american logician (c morris) in his symbols theory. pragmatics studies “signs and symbols of the relationship between the users”. 曾文雄. 語用學(xué)的多維研究 m. 杭州:浙江大學(xué)出版社, 2009:1. pragmatics mainly includes the following content (1) delxis; (2) conversational implicature; (3) presupposition; (4

27、) speech act; (5) conversation analysis. cooperation principle, face theory and politeness principle are three important principles of pragmatics.language studies range is wide. as yule g thought “pragmatics is concerned with the study of meaning as communicated by a speaker (or writer) and interpre

28、ted by a listener (or reader).” yule, g. pragmatics m. london: oxford university press, 1996:3. business letter is an important part of business activities, which is a textual business dialogue by mail or other telecommunications. its very important to express right intentions through words to anoth

29、er party. thats to say, the words of business letter are critical to the harmony of international trade. therefore, in todays business era of prosperity, we should value the guiding significance of the pragmatic theories in business english letters writing.b. grices cooperative principlebased on gri

30、ces observation, a speaker communicates more than what his/her words say not by encoding them linguistically, but by providing evidence of his/her intention to convey them. in search of how such evidence can be provided by the speaker, grice found that human communication is, in fact, governed by ce

31、rtain norms and principles. zhao hongmei. the application of cooperative principle and politeness principle in business english letters j. keyuan monthly publication, 2010, (4): 55.in order to explain how the speaker can manage to convey what is actually meant and how the listener can arrive at the

32、speakers intended meaning, grice proposes that there is a set of assumptions guiding the conduct of conversation. grice begins by considering a certain subclass of non-conventional implication namely conversational implication. these are essentially connected with certain general features of discour

33、se, which arise from the fact that if our talk exchanges are to be rational, they must consist of utterances which are in some way connected to each other. what guarantees this connection is called cooperative principle: make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at whic

34、h it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged. they are quality maxim, quantity maxim, relevance maxim and manner maxim. grice, h.p. logic and conversation m. in cole. p. and morgan. j.(eds) syntax and semantics c. new york: academic press, 1975:45-4

35、6.1. quality maximquality maxim requires trying to make our contribution true. do not say what we believe to be false. do not say that for which lack adequate evidence. for example:0ur washing machine has its unusual designthis sentence should be changed into our washing machine has its unique desig

36、n. the word of unique expresses the ingenuity of the washing machine than unusual.2. quantity maximquantity maxim requires making our contribution as informative as is required for the current purposes of the exchange. do not make your contribution more informative than is required. for example:we h

37、ave received your 1etter of jan 5th and known that you wanted to purchase 100 dozen womens woolen sweatersyou will find our attached quotation for womens sweaters reasonable and we look forward to your early order3. relevance maximrelevance maxim requires making our contribution relevant. this maxim

38、 requires the reply should relevant to the last letter or to the questions. for example:we would like you to send us details of your various ranges, including sizes, colors， prices, and also samples of the different qualities of material usedreply: we are pleased to receive your inquiry and would li

39、ke to inform you that if you order in quantities of not less than 500 dozen of our products, we shall allow you a discount of 5%. your early order is expected4. manner maximmanner maxim requires perspicuous and specifically. this maxim needs businessmen to avoid obscurity and ambiguity. for example:

40、mr. smith wrote to mr. brown that he has received his letter of jan.5th. this sentence should be changed into “mr. smith wrote to mr. brown that he has received mr. browns letter of jan.5th”.cooperative principle is followed reasonably not compulsorily. as grice points out, each participant should t

41、ally with the goal or directions to the whole process of communication. people follow the cooperative principle and its maxims to guide effective communication. essentially, people who enter into communication with each other abide by these maxims. that is, both writer and reader are assumed to want

42、 the communication to work.business letters is a kind of written communication and the purpose of two parties is to realize the maximization of the interests of both sides through cooperation. it is used for commercial transactions. like face-to-face conversation, participants take turns to do the a

43、ddressee and the writer with integrity and cooperation. meanwhile, in order to achieve the smooth communication between the two sides, the following points should be considered: polite, articulate, accurate, specific, accurate, and complete. because the demands of cooperative principle are consisten

44、t with the writing characteristics of business english letters, we can clear the demands of business english writing which profit by cooperative principle and help us to write an accurate and practical business letters.c. brown and levinsons face theoryin order to explain why in many cases people fl

45、out the four maxims of the cooperative principle, brown and levinson advanced the face theory. according to brown and levinson, face is “the public self-image that every member wants to claim for himself/herself.” brown, p. and levinson, s. universals in language usage: politeness phenomena a. in go

46、ody, e.n. (ed). questions and politeness: strategies in social interaction c. cambridge university press, 1978:3. 3brown and levinson assume that all competent adult members of a society have “face wants”. in their framework, “face wants” has two components: negative face and positive face. 6 4 a pe

47、rsons negative face is the need to be independent of action and not to be imposed on by others. a persons positive face is the need to be accepted, even liked, by others and the need to know that his/her wants are shared by others. 6 4 a social interaction can be either face threatening or face savi

48、ng. a face threatening act refers to something representing a threat to another individuals expectations regarding self-image. a face saving act which is oriented to the persons negative face will tend to show deference, emphasizes the importance of the others time or concerns, or even include an ap

49、ology for the imposition or interruption. this is also called negative politeness. a face saving act which is concerned with the persons positive face will tend to show solidarity, emphasize that both speakers have common ground and have a common goal. this is also called positive politeness.“face”

50、also refers to the respect that an individual has for him or her, and maintaining that “self-esteem” in public or in private situations. from this sense, face is something that is emotionally invested, and that can be lost, maintained, or enhanced, and must be constantly attended to in interaction.”

51、 6 2 they also point out that in general, people cooperate (and assume each others cooperation) in maintaining face in interaction, such cooperation being based on the mutual vulnerability of face. that is, normally everyones face depends on everyone elses being maintained, and since people can be e

52、xpected to defend their faces if threatened, and in defending their own to threaten others faces, it is in general in every participants best interest to maintain each others face.as mentioned above, everyone has face wants. in business letter writing, the most important person is the reader who dec

53、ides whether the letter can achieve its expected purpose; therefore the readers “face” wants should be satisfied. in other words, face theory should be observed in business letter writing, since it shows the writers concern for the reader.d. leechs politeness principleleech put forward an important

54、pragmatic principle based on face theory, which is politeness principle. cooperative principle is prescriptive, while politeness principle is explanatory. it not only rescues cooperative principle, but also protects face theory, and explains the speakers intention to violate cooperative principle to

55、 express their true meaning, which is out of taking into account the words appropriate implicitly. this principle has a special significant meaning to the business english letters. everyone has “face”, if we do not give others “face” in the letter, it will lose the deals. conversely, respect others

56、rights, wishes and needs and meet others mental, it could produce a pleasant feeling, which led to the expansion of foreign trade. politeness principle includes the following maxims: tact maxim, generosity maxim, approbation maxim, modesty maxim, agreement maxim and agreement maxim. leech, g.n. prin

57、ciples of pragmatics m. london: longman group limited., 1983:12.1. tact maxim and generosity maximtact maxim and generosity maxim allow others to suffer the smallest lost and benefit the most, while accepts the maximum damage and the minimum benefit in business dealings. for example:1. send us a fax

58、, please.2. would you send us a fax?sentence 1 is an imperative sentence, which sounds like an order and hurts the benefit of the reader. sentence 2 is more polite. it allows the reader to suffer the smallest lost. 2. approbation maxim and modesty maximapprobation maxim and modesty maxim require trying to narrow the derogatory of the receiver, exaggerating the praise of the receiver, while minimize our own praise and exaggerate derogatory. this