On the Politeness Principle in Business Correspondence Writing.doc

毕业论文(设计)On the Politeness Principle in Business Correspondence Writing1. Introduction22. Politeness principle and the relevant theories32.1 Definition of politeness32.2 Pragmatic scales of politeness42.2.1 Brown and Levinsons Face Theory42.2.2 Leechs Politeness Principle and its Maxims52.3 Politeness strategy73. Application of politeness principle in business correspondence83.1 Application of Brown and Levinsons face-threatening acts (FTASs) in different types of business correspondence83.2 Application of Leechs politeness principle in business correspondence113.2.1 Application of Tact Maxim113.2.2 Application of Generosity Maxim133.2.3 Application of Approbation Maxim143.2.4 Application of Modest Maxim163.2.5 Application of Agreement Maxim183.2.6 Application of Sympathy Maxim194. Strategies of realizing the politeness principle in business correspondence writing214.1 Grammar strategy214.1.1 Passive voice sentence pattern214.1.2 Using affirmative structures224.1.3 Interrogative clause234.1.4 Conditional sentence244.1.5 Past tense and progressive tense254.1.6 Subjunctive mood264.2 Lexical strategies274.2.1 Positive words instead of the negative ones274.2.2 Soft words294.2.3 Hedging words and phrases304.3 Strategy of “You-Attitude”315. Conclusion33References341. Introduction With the globalization of world economy, business communication is becoming more and more important. Business correspondence, as a major form of communication in the commercial world, plays a significant role in the administration and operation of a business activity. Nowadays business operations are not restricted to any locality state or nation. Business correspondence has been increased because of the vast expansion of business, increases in demand as well as the supply of goods. Therefore, to improve the quality of business correspondence is very important.“Politeness, which is a social phenomenon, touches upon every aspect of life. It is of great concern with sociologists, sociolinguistics, social anthropologists and social psychologists.” (Chen, 2005). In business correspondence, politeness is the most important motivating factor of choosing what kind of language should be used and what kinds of approaches to arrange the letter (Lan, 2004: 3). How we say something is as important as what we say since the content and the form are two sides of the same object. That is to say, politeness accounts for most of the deliberate use of certain structures, organizations and selections of specific linguistic forms in business letter writing. In this paper, it focuses on several aspects to analyze the politeness principle in business correspondence writing. In order to give a firm theory foundation from the points of the definition of politeness and its pragmatic scales, the thesis basis on Brown and Levinsons face theory and Leechs politeness principle and six maxims. Through analyze the manifestation of politeness principle of the above theory in the correspondence to expatiate the application of politeness principle in business correspondence. On the base of the above theory and cases study, the thesis summarizes and put forward some strategies which are connected with predecessor and innovation of the paper to improve the quality of business correspondence, such as grammar strategies, lexical strategies and “You-Attitude” strategy, which can realize the quality of correspondence. Through these analyses the paper aims at helping understand the importance of politeness in business field and use politeness strategies in more effective way and helps those who involved in business affair do business smoothly and successfully. 2. Politeness principle and the relevant theories2.1 Definition of politeness According to the Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, politeness is defined as the combination of interpersonal consideration and linguistic choices affecting the form and function of linguistic interactions (Richard, 2000:352). Brown and Levinson (Brown and Levinson, 1987: 52) define politeness as a redressive action taken to counter-balance the disruptive effect of face-threatening acts (FTAs). Layoff (Layoff, 1973: 124) holds that politeness is a device used in order to reduce friction in personal interaction. In the foreword for the book Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage by Brown and Levinson (Brown and Levinson, 1987: 76), Gumperz says that politeness is basic to the production of social order and a precondition of human cooperation. Watts (Watts, 1992:50) believes that polite behavior is “social-culturally determined behavior directed towards the goal of establishing and/or maintaining in a state of equilibrium the personal relationships between the individuals of a social group, whether open or closed, during the ongoing process or intention”. According to Sell, all languages operate within politeness parameters and politeness or sensitivity to politeness considerations is mankinds patent, sleepless superego (Watts, 1992: 114). In addition, Holmes (Watts, 1992:285) points out that being linguistically polite is often a matter of selecting linguistic forms which express the appropriate degree of social distance or which recognize relevant status differences. The above mentioned definitions contribute to the essence of politeness. On the whole, politeness is not merely recognized as a means of conveying information, but also an equally important means that helps to establish and maintain social bonds with others in communication, whether an oral or written one. In another word, politeness is a set of patterns to show considerations for other and to create interpersonal harmony. 2.2 Pragmatic scales of politeness2.2.1 Brown and Levinsons Face TheoryThe face theory is developed by Brown & Levinson. They propose that everyone has a face want in conversations. Face is “the public self-image that every member wants to claim for himself. It is emotionally invested and that can be lost, maintained, or enhanced and must be constantly attended to in interaction” (Brown and Levinson, 1987:58). There are two aspects of the face: Positive Face and Negative Face.A persons positive face indicates the need to be accepted, even liked, by others, to be treated as a member of the same group, and to know that others share his/her wants, while a persons negative face refers to the need to be independent, to have freedom of actions, and not to be imposed on by others. Generally speaking, all the parties involved in communications should try their best to save each others faces, for the loss of face of one party may result in the loss of the other. Brown and Levinson considered that all the speech acts are face-threatening acts (FTAs). Thats to say, a persons speech can be interpreted as a threat to anothers face or his own face. The face-threatening acts always presents a threat to peoples speech communication. Therefore people must handle it appropriately by using some effective measures and strategies. The polite language is the best pragmatic strategies (He, 1997:105). It can deal with FTAs much better than anything else so that people would be able to communicate successfully, especially in the commercial communication. How to apply FTAs theory properly will benefit a lot in the business correspondence writing. 2.2.2 Leechs Politeness Principle and its MaximsLeechs Politeness Principle can be stated as follows: other things being equal minimize the expression of beliefs which are unfavorable to the hearer and at the same time(less important) maximize the expression of beliefs which are favorable to the hearer. Modeling himself after Grices Cooperative Principle, Leech (Leech, 1983:132) sum up six maxims of the Politeness Principle as follows:(i) TACT MAXIM (a) Minimize cost to other(b) Maximize benefit to other(ii) GENEROSITY MAXIM(a) Minimize benefit to self(b) Maximize cost to self(iii) APPROBATION MAXIM(a) Minimize praise of self(a) Maximize praise of other(iv) MODESTY MAXIM(a) Minimize praise of self(b) Maximize dispraise of self(v) AGREEMENT MAXIM(c) Minimize disagreement between self and other(d) Maximize agreement between self and other(vi) SYMPATHY MAXIM(a) Minimize antipathy between self and other(b) Maximize sympathy between self and otherAccording to Leech, Tact Maxim is the most important maxim in English speaking countries. Since the primary language used in the international business correspondence is English, Tact Maxim is thus of special significance. In conflict situations, the function of the Tact Maxim is a negative one: it is a means of avoiding conflict. The action of this maxim is to cause us to suppress, to play down, to hedge, beliefs which are costly to the reader of hearer (Leech 1983:104). Each maxim has two sides of a problem: the former is other-centered. The six maxims are often used in interpersonal communication. In the following parts in this paper, itll mainly adopt some of these maxims in the analysis of business correspondence.2.3 Politeness strategyBrown and Levinson suggest some politeness strategies to save face, such as positive politeness strategy, negative politeness strategy and off-record politeness strategy. (Brown and Levinson, 1987:121)Positive politeness strategy leads the requester to appeal to common goal, and even friendship, via expressions (George, 2003:64). It orients to preserving the positive face of other people. Informal pronunciation, shared dialect, slang expressions, nicknames, more frequent reference to speaker and hearer as we and less indirect requests are the common ways of the positive politeness strategy. For example:(1) As far as the samples are concerned, well be ready as soon as possible. Negative politeness strategy: it orients to preserving the negative face of other people. This is more likely if there is a social distance between the speaker and the hearer. Then nicknames, slang and if formal pronunciation tends to be avoided and requests tend to be more indirect and impersonal, often involve “could you”, or “could I ask you to.”, or even refer to the hearer in the third person. For example: 2) Audience is asked to turn off their cell phones in the concert.Negative Politeness also involves more frequent use of the expressions like “please”, “possibly”, “might”, “Im sorry but” etc. Off-record politeness strategy: through which the hearer is not directly addressed. The speaker does not have to ask for anything. He can hint his need or express his needs equivocally and generally (George, 2003:64). For example: 3) The soup is a bit bland. (=Pass the salt.) 4) What a hot day! (=How about a drink?)All the above can be applied in the business correspondence. The following parts in the paper, will mainly contribute to the application of the main theories and principles mentioned above in this field.3. Application of politeness principle in business correspondence3.1 Application of Brown and Levinsons face-threatening acts (FTASs) in different types of business correspondenceAccording to Brown and Levinson, most of the speech acts are intrinsically face threatening, but defer in degree, which decides whether they are polite or not and to what extent they are polite. Based on the face theory, Riley & Mackiewicz(Riley & Mackiewicz, 2003: 65) classify the business correspondence according to the effect of the business letters on the readers face. According to them, routine business letters are face-neutral, good-news business letters are face-building, bad-news business letters threaten the readers positive face, and persuasive business letters threaten the readers negative face. The detailed discussion of the face effects of the four types of business correspondence is as follows.Routine business letters threaten neither the positive nor the negative face of the reader, as most of the letters of this type aim at conveying information other than conducting the readers behavior or even criticizing the reader. Besides, most of the messages delivered in the letters are uncontroversial routine information and are presupposed to be necessary and helpful for the readers.Good-news business letters convey favorable messages to the reader, which is intended to be beneficial to the reader, thus will attend to the readers both positive face and negative face. The following example is properly arranged in a good-news business letter: Dear Mr. Jones,I am very pleased to enclose our check for RMB Yuan 5,000, which is our financial aid to your Earth Protection Program. I would appreciate your sending us a receipt for the money at your earliest convenience.This financial aid shows our increased support of your research. I believe that this aid, together with the financial support from your other benefactors, will do you some help in your future research for protecting our earth.We are always ready to help you when necessary. Sincerely yours, (Guan, 2006:19)This letter firstly presents the most important information in a positive way. Secondly, it specifies the who, what, where and how related to the action you are going to take. Thirdly, it ends the letter confidently and politely. These three points generally convey positive information to the reader. Thus it attends to the readers positive face. Bad-news business letters threaten the positive face of the readers by showing some kind of disagreement on the reader or bringing some bad news that will do harm to the readers benefit. Most of the bad news letters, for example letters declining a counteroffer or letters of delaying delivery, fall into this type. Some bad-news letters like complaints and claims threaten the readers positive face by posing explicit criticism on the reader. There are several aspects that should be paid more attention to when the bad-news business letter is written.(1) Do not imply further problems. For example, dont write the following sentences which may bring about more trouble:Should you have anything we assist with, please let us know.(2) Do not repeat or refer to the refusal. For example, the following repetition is unwise and unnecessary:We hope that you might understand why we have to refuse your request.(3) If possible, the writer may make some recommendations for the solution of the problem. For example, suggesting some other ways to help the reader accomplish his goals:We suggest, therefore, that you lodge a claim with the insurance company; we will assist you wherever possible to process the claim (Guan, 2006:20).Persuasive business letters threaten the negative face of the reader, as they impede on the readers freedom of action by delivering information that will not bring benefit automatically to the reader.3.2 Application of Leechs politeness principle in business correspondence 3.2.1 Application of Tact MaximAccording to Leech, Tact Maxim is the most important maxim. Since the primary language used in international business correspondence is English, Tact Maxim is thus of special significance (Leech, 1983: 104). Tact refers to the manner and the way that speakers or appliers adopt for the purpose of reaching the goals in communication. Business correspondence is mainly for its information transmission to conclude a business. Every correspondence has its specific purpose, such as inquiry, offer, order, contact, shipment, insurance etc. They are definitude information, which require appropriate strategies for different aims in different periods.A quotation is a promise to supply goods on the terms agreed upon by both parties. But it can not be seen as an offer because it lacks an express promise to sell. Thus the prospective buyer is not obliged to purchase the goods for which a quotation is requested, while the seller does not have to sell what has been previously quoted for. A quotation is not an offer in the legal sense, because the seller can withdraw it. Therefore, whether the language used is decent or not plays an important role in the success of foreign trade. E.g.:Jan. 10, 2001Dear : Thank you for your inquiry of December 23rd, 2000. Enclosed is our price list. A catalog has been airmailed to you under separate cover. This company has exported carpets for years to your country, Canada, England and other European countries. You may be sure that your order will be profitable. Also, because our yearly production is about 30 000 piecesthe largest of all the carpet manufacturers in Chinaour prices are always lower than others. We look forward to receiving your reply. Sincerely, John SmithEncl: a copy of price listThis correspondence aims at transmitting information to the buyer. In the reply, the most important thing is to offer quotation and hope the other side accepts the price. For reaching the aim, the addresser adopts the Tact Maxim associating the principle of “minimize cost to other.” In the letter, beside the quotation sheet and catalog, the addresser offers other information, such as the exported history, exported countries, production competence of the company. In addition, the letter gives a definite tone to addressee for bringing large profit in this order “you may be sure that your order will be profitable.” Therefore, the letter not only make the buyer trust the addressers profession but also considerate the buyers interest. Using language tactfully means to use it politely (He, 1998:118). Correspondence should, accordi