1.1 The writing principles of business English letter
Courtesy not only means politeness, and not just some politeness phraseology, such as your kind inquiry, your esteemed order and so on. It is considered from a “you –attitude” point. In order to make business English letters more polite, the writer should avoid using the furious words, offensive words and disdain words.
The principle of consideration emphasizes the other party’s situation, instead of our own situation. It should embody a kind attitude of consideration for others, and it makes more allowances for the other party’s mood and situation .When writing the business English letters, we should remember the other party’s request, and we need to emote in heart, and then find the best way to deliver the message to the other party.
In writing the business English letter, complete information is very important, so the business English letter should include all the necessary information.
Clarity is the most important principle in writing business English letter. A letter with ambiguity and vague meaning will cause the misunderstanding and ambiguity. What’s more, it would cause the trade loss. A clear expression should include the correct, simple words and the correct sentence structure. Generally, writing business documents should express their meaning clearly, so that the other party can understand accurately.
Conciseness requires us to use the least language to express the richest content. “In writing, we should use the brief、intelligible、direct and plain English to avoid repeating and long-winded. Readers will not waste time on the difficult words.” [3]
Correctness means appropriate and grammatically correct language, factual information and accurate reliable figures. Concreteness makes your expression more accurate and vivid .When it relates to data or specific information such as time, address, or price, we should try to express it as concreteness as possible. That will make communication clearer and more helpful in business.
“The principle of correctness is not only the correctness of gamma, such as stop and spelling, but it also refers to the standard language, the suitable depiction, the exact numeral, and the correct understanding of business idiom.” [4]
1. 2 The maxims of politeness principle
American linguist H. P. Grice put forward cooperation principle at Harvard University in 1967, which is a great breakthrough in pragmatics investigation. But, people often disobey the cooperation principle in intercommunication. In other words, people don’t express idea in a direct way, but sell the dummy in an indirect way. They just let the other side talk in a roundabout way, and won’t explain to other part frankly. To explain such language phenomena, the politeness principle has been made by British linguist Geoffrey Leech and others as the supplement of Grice’s cooperation principle. Geoffrey Leech believed that speaker and listener should be maximizing the expression of polite beliefs and minimizing the expression of impolite beliefs in all language communication. This principle has a special significance for Business English Writing.
Human communication is used to achieve a certain purpose, so it must be follow some principles, which include the politeness principle. The letters in foreign trade activities also belong to a kind of language communication, so it should also follow the politeness principle.
Under the guidance of the politeness principle, business English letter could be written properly and guarantee the foreign trade activities to go with a swing. Business English letter, based on spreading business information, is used to reach a contract and to get profits, thus, it is necessary to use some appropriate politeness strategies when writing business English letter.
1.2.1 The application of tact maxim in politeness principle
Tact maxim: minimize cost to other; maximize benefit to other.
We need to consider on the other side's position, background, difficulties and desire, which can satisfy each other’s requirements, and expand each other's benefits. They will have the sense of benefit, which is in line with the psychos of businessmen to get profit. For example: We do not keep stocks but are willing to have the cashmere jumpers specially made for you. The application of “specially” in this sentence makes people feel that the seller makes a lot of concessions for the buyer's benefit; meanwhile, the buyer can clearly see the seller’s sincerity for business. So, the transnational business activities should use “you- attitude”, but not “self-attitude”. For example: We have a very good selection of winter clothes at the China’s Autumn Export Commodities Fair. This sentence is unassailable from phraseology, and it also expressed a good fact. But according to the politeness principle, the speaker emphasized particularly on the self but not the other side. If we use “You can choose from a very selection of winter clothes at the China’s Autumn Export Commodities Fair.” instead it, we have stressed that there is a variety of winter clothing for choosing, and stressed the proceeds of the hearer. It is more direct, friendliness.
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