The Analysis of Business Letter Writing Principles.doc

The Analysis of Business Letter Writing PrinciplesI. IntroductionBusiness letter plays a very important role in international trade. It is the most commonly used communicating method between importers and exporters. Business letter does not call for the elegant language of the poet, but it does require us to express ourselves accurately in plain language that is clear and easily understood. There are some principles for business letter writing, namely: correctness, clarity, completeness, concreteness, conciseness, courtesy and consideration.With the development of globalization and Chinas access to the WTO, the communication with foreign countries has been increasing day by day. As many of the business relations are conducted in the form of letters, business letters become more and more important. People need to grasp principles of business letter writing. In the aspect of theory research, many scholars have focused on business letters. “Business Letters tend to be more formal in content, style and format”(31). written by Qi Shouhua in Success in Advanced English Writing A Comprehensive Guide in 2001. “A good business letter should be short and to the point, yet courteous”(24). written by Chen Qingbo and Wang Jingxian in Communication and Dialogues for International Financers and Bankers in 2002. Since more and more people will be interested in business letter writing with the increase of business activities, it will become a popular field to study.In 1975, American philosopher Grice proposed “Cooperative principle”, it contains four maxims: the maxim of quality, the maxim of quantity, the maxim of manner and the maxim of relation. The important point of this thesis is to analyze the seven principles of business letter writing (namely: correctness, clarity, completeness, concreteness, conciseness, courtesy and consideration) with the four maxims of the cooperative principle (namely: the maxim of quality, the maxim of quantity, the maxim of manner and the maxim of relation) through specific examples and contrast. The thesis is composed of four parts. Part one is the introduction; part two is an overview of business letter; part three analyzes seven principles of business letter writing; part four is the conclusion. An Overview of Business LetterA. Definition of Business Letter A letter can be defined as a direct or personally written or printed message addressed to a person or a business or an organization. Some dictionaries also define it simply as a written or a printed message. Business letter refers to the letter used in business transactions. Communication in business is of vital importance for keeping the world economy advance smoothly. And business letter is the most frequently used means in business communication by business firms to keep in touch with their customers.Business letter is a special kind of communication. Without them, much of the ordinary activities of business would not be possible. Business letters are used to sell products or services, request information and maintain good public relations. B. Four Maxims of the Cooperative Principle in Business LetterThe successful communication needs effort of buyer and seller. People will communicate with customers by observing the cooperative principle, as well as its maxims. The cooperative principle given by Grice consists of four maxims: the maxim of quality, the maxim of quantity, the maxim of manner and the maxim of relation. The maxim of quality means not to say what you believe to be false and not to say what lack enough evidence. It embodies correctness, clarity and conciseness in business letter writing. The maxim of quantity means what you have said should include the information of demand and what you have said should not exceed the demand. It embodies completeness and concreteness in business letter writing. The maxim of manner advises people to use polite expression. It embodies courtesy and consideration in business letter writing. The maxim of relation suggests making your language relating to the subject. It ensures the conversation be coherent. This thesis analyzes the seven business letter writing principles with the maxims by way of examples and contrast.C. Various Principles of Business Letter WritingBusiness letters are the major means of written communication between two parties in the international trade. Based on the cooperative principle there are seven principles, commonly calls seven Cs, because the seven words all begin with the English letter C. They are conciseness, clarity, courtesy, correctness, completeness, concreteness and consideration. The word concise according to Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, means giving a lot of information in a few words. In business letter writing, conciseness means to write in the fewest words and without sacrificing the quality of the letter. Clarity means the writer must try to express his meaning clearly so that the reader will understand it well. If a letter is to arrive at its goal, its tone must be sincere. The efforts to create friendly and pleasant tone in business letters can help people to build goodwill. That is courtesy. Correctness means the expression in business letters must be correct, words and figures must be accurate and should not be overstated and understated. Completeness means the letters must contain all the necessary information to the readers and answers all the questions and requirements. Concreteness means the information of the letters should be concrete and specific enough. Consideration means try to put you in the readers place and to give the consideration to the readers demands, wishes and interests. All the principles are important for business letter writing. Business Letter Writing Principles with Four MaximsA. The Maxim of QualityTo achieve the maxim of quality business letters should be correct, clear and concise. Business letters must have correct information, clear expression and concise language. Therefore, the maxim of quality will produce huge effect in business letter writing, and the writer should pay particular attention to the choosing of accurate facts, words and figures. In business letter writing, principles “correctness”, “clarity” and “conciseness” just reach the requirement of the maxim of quality. Correctness means business letters must have factual information, accurate figures, correct terms, because they are concerned with the rights and obligations of the two parties. Writers can use many sentence structures and put information in logical orders to achieve clarity. Conciseness means we should clearly express what we would do in the fewest possible words without sacrificing completeness, concreteness and courtesy. So correctness, clarity and conciseness can reach the maxim of quality.1. Correctness in Business Letter WritingA correct business letter can embody the writers working attitude and cultural quality. It has advantage for writer to establish the good relationship of trade. Correctness means the letters must have correct statement, commercial terms, numerical expression and grammar.a. Correctness of StatementThe expression in business letters must be correct and should not be overstated or understated. Otherwise, the letter will lead to less confidence and hold up the trade development. Consider the following example:E.g. Improper: This product is absolutely the best one on the market. Proper: This product is the best one we can supply.In the example, it is very difficult to guarantee that this product is absolutely the best one on the market. While the second sentence just take a matter-of fact attitude to express the fact, so it is preferred in business letter writing. There are other examples as follow:E.g. 1. Improper: It is the lowest price available to you. Proper: It is the lowest price that we can offer you now. 2. Improper: We assure you that the error will never occur again. Proper: We will do all we can so that we may not repeat such an error.b. Correctness of Commercial TermsCommercial terms in business letter writing have great numbers and the new terms appear one after another, because of the international cooperation and contact enhanced day by day. Look at the following examples: E.g. 装运港船上交货 FOB free on board 成本，保险加运费 CIF cost, insurance and freight 运费付至 CPT carriage paid to 完税后交货 DDP delivered duty paid Above-mentioned commercial terms are short but making sense and the meaning is rich. These terms embody the feature of business letters. When the writer use the commercial terms they will express their function correctly.Some words have different meaning in different writing or sentence. The writer should pay attention to these words. Look at the following example:E.g. Chinese: 你方要求尽快交货。Improper: You ask very short delivery for your order.Proper: You require quick (prompt) delivery of your order.The word Short here dose not means lasting a little time but means not enough.c. Correctness of Numerical ExpressionAbsolute accuracy is very important for business letter writing. One small mistake (for example, 2,500 instead of 7,500 ) can make a difference of thousands of dollars. Even the smallest error can make you to loss your goodwill for your customers. So pay more attention to the following examples: E.g. 1. 以上，以下 50打以上 50 dozen or up, 50 dozen and upwards US$100以下 US$100 less, US$100 and below 一星期以内 one week or less 三十天以下 not exceeding a total of 30 days2. 为止 40磅为止 up to 40 pound inclusive 十月二十日为止 up to and including Oct.203. 从到为止 从星期一到星期五为止 from Monday through Fridayd. Correctness of GrammarCorrect grammar also important for business letter writing. The complete and accurate sentences could make the letter reads smoothly, and avoid the errors in understanding. That can promote the completeness of the business action and accelerate the transmittal of the business information. Look at the following example:E.g. Chinese: 我方多数客户认为价格差距太大，难以达成交易。Improper: Most of our customers think that the price gap is too wide and difficult to put the deal through. Proper: Most of our customers think that the price gap is too wide for them to put the deal through.When using tooto structure, the word difficult can be omitted. Correctness in business letter writing is important, because once you sign your name on the letter, it means you assume responsibility for everything on the letter: facts, figures and words. Therefore, after finishing a business letter, check it for correctness.2. Clarity in Business Letter WritingClarity is one of the main business letter writing principles, which means the writer must try to express his meaning clearly so that the reader will understand the main points without thinking deeply. We all know that a business letter does not fulfill its function if the reader can not understand the expression of the letter. Therefore, clarity is the writers very important responsibility in business letter writing. A business letter is effective when it communicates the necessary ideas with clarity. For the most part, avoiding ambiguity, needless jargons and slang, and keeping the sentences and paragraphs short is the main points of clarity. These ways can make the business letter writing clarity.a. Avoiding AmbiguityFirst, avoid using words which have unclear meanings. An ambiguous word is one that has more than one possible meaning in the same context. Consider the example as follow:E.g. As to the steamers sailing from Hong Kong to San Francisco, we have bimonthly direct services. The word bimonthly has two meanings: twice a month, or once two months. When reading the sentence the reader will be puzzled about the meaning of the sentence because of the use of the word bimonthly.The sentence can rewrite as:1. We have two direct sailing every month from Hong Kong to San Francisco.2. We have a direct sailing from Hong Kong to San Francisco every two months.E.g. Since we increased our price, sales have fallen sharply.In this example, the meaning of the word since is not clear, and this sentence can be interpreted in two ways:1. Because we have increased our prices, sales have fallen sharply.2. From the time we increased our prices, sales have fallen sharply.Second, pay attention to the position of the modifiers. In some cases, the position of the modifiers can affect the meaning of a sentence. Let us look at the following example:E.g.1. We shall be able to supply 10 cases of the item only. 2. We shall be able to supply 10 cases only of the item.In this example, the modifier only modifies two different words when appearing in different places in the two sentences. Therefore, the meanings of the two sentences are quite different. Let us look at another example:E.g.1. We sent you 5 samples yesterday of the goods which you requested in your letter of May 24 by air. 2. We sent you, by air, 5 samples of the goods which you requested in your letter of May 24 yesterday.The modifier by air appearing in different places bring the meaning of the second sentence is clearer than the first sentence.b. Avoiding Needless Jargons and Slang“A good business letter will be free from the kind of jargon illustrated and will use no more than a necessary to convey a clear and accurate message” (Chen and Wang31). Every field of business has its own special language. The correct use of special language can save time. Jargon basically consists of words that are unfamiliar and difficult to understand. If it is used too much, it will cause confusion in understanding. Noticing the confusion caused by the use of jargon in the first sentence of the following examples:E.g.1. Improper: The machine has a tendency to develop excessive and unpleasant audile symptoms when operating at elevated temperatures. Proper: The machine tends to get noisy when it runs hot. 2. Improper: Unless all parties of the contract interface within the same planning framework at an identical point in time, the project will be rendered inoperative. Proper: Unless we coordinate our efforts, the project will fail.In the first examples, jargon is used so much that it does not contribute to the conciseness and clarity, and also it makes the sentences quite difficult to understand. So in the business letter writing, jargon should be used correctly, and needless jargon should be avoided.Likewise, slang should be avoided in business letters in China. For example: 彻底去做 is to do it thoroughly rather than to go the whole hog, 全力以赴 is do the best rather than go for broke, 羊毛衫 is woolen sweater rather than jumper.c. Keeping the Sentence Length and Properly ParagraphingEffective business letters should have an average sentence length of 20 words or fewer, because of long sentences seems not clear. The following example shows us how the same ideas can be expressed with greater clarity:E.g. Chinese: 我方想知道贵方能否允许我们延长20天装船期，如可以，请尽快电告。 Improper: We would like to know whether you would allow us to extend the time of shipment for twenty days, and if you would be so kind as to allow us to do so, kindly give us your reply by cable without delay. Proper: Please reply by telegram immediately if you will allow us to delay the shipment until June 20.Properly paragraphing can also help to make the writing clearer. We have the following rules for paragraphing in business letter writing.First, we must keep the paragraphs short and one paragraph for just one point, for it avoids the confusion caused by sentence structures. In business letter writing we should try to avoid large paragraphs that contain many long sentences, because this kind of sentence seems boring and not clear. If the writer has many points to make, he should put these points in different paragraphs and make each paragraph for just one point.Secondly, the listed facts and numbers should begin with the new paragraph, which makes the business letter clearer and easier to read. Look at the following example:E.g. Chinese: OXHJ73091MC 合同下的硫磺由SANMING轮运卸上海，经中国上海进出口商品检验局检验，发现该批货纯度为99.81%，比合同规定的99.9%低0.09%；酸度为0.066%，比合同规定的0.01%高0.056%；碳水化合物为0.101%，比合同规定的0.07%高0.031%。现向贵方提出如下索赔： English: We wish to draw your attention to result of inspection make by CCIB Shanghai of sulphur under Contract No.OXHJ73091 MC shipped per s.s. “Sanming” and discharge at Shanghai: Purity: 99.81% which is 0.09% lower than 99.9% as stipulated in the contract; Acidity: 0.066% which is 0.056% higher than the contracted 0.01%; Hydrocarbon: 0.101% which is higher by 0.031% than 0.07% as stipulated in the contract.We file a claim against you for the following amountsd. Noticing Coherence of the LetterTo help improve the clarity of a business letter, the sentences and paragraphs need to be coherent. If the sentences and paragraphs seem incoherent, it means the business letter will fail to express its idea. The following suggestions will help achieve coherence:First, “when you have two or more similar (parallel) ideas to express, try to present them in the same grammatical pattern. The repetition of the pattern tells readers that the ideas are comparable, and it adds a nice rhythm to your message” (Xu30). Use parallel constructions when presenting a series of facts or ideas of equal importance. Look at the following example:E.g. Improper: Mr. Simms had been drenched with rain, bombarded with telephone calls, and his boss shouted at him. Proper: Mr. Simms had been drenched with rain, bombarded with telephone calls, and shouted at by his boss.Second, use conjunctions as and