礼貌策略

Politeness Strategies and Its Application inGood-news English Business LettersQin Ming(School of Foreign Languages, Jinggangshan University, Ji‟an, Jiangxi，343009)Supervisor: Li XiulianAbstract：With the continuous development of economic globalization, good-news English business letters have played more and more important role in business communication activities. Politeness and politeness strategies are main motivating principles in business letter writing. This paper first the provides some overviews of business letters and politeness strategies in business letters, then we try to explore the appropriate application of politeness strategies in good-news English business letters, guiding people in the business world to achieve communication goals successfully and we also want to give a further insights into the learning and teaching of English business letters in China.Key words: politeness; application; politeness strategy; Good-news English business letters礼貌策略及其在好消息英文商务信函中的运用秦铭(井冈山大学外国语学院，江西吉安，343009)指导老师：李秀莲摘要：随着经济全球化的不断发展,好消息英文商务信函在商务交往活动中发挥着越来越重要的作用。

礼貌和礼貌策略也是商务信函写作中值得倡导的主要原则。

因此本文首先对商务信函和礼貌及礼貌策略概述做一个介绍，然后探索好消息英文商务信函中礼貌及其策略的体现和运用，从而启示人们怎样顺利地在好消息英文商务信函中更有效地使用它并达到交际意图,除此之外，也对在中国学习及从事英文信函教育的人提供一些更深层次的探索。

关键词：礼貌；运用；礼貌策略；好消息英文商务信函；1. IntroductionAs we all know, politeness is the symbol of human civilization and also an important criterion of human social activities. Moreover, politeness is not only universal but also unique as different cultures have different understandings. As the differences of politeness strategies are always embodied in languages, it is inevitable for the researchers to investigate specific linguistic realizations to achieve politeness in particular languages. Thus politeness is considered to be of great significance in the writing of business letters and has been attracting more and more scholars to research from many perspectives, such as lexicon, syntax and semantics .And the study of it is mainly based on Grice's Cooperative Principle, Leech's Politeness Principle, Brown and Levinson's Face Theory, which can in some way shed light on certain use of words or sentences in business letters to be more polite.With the rapid development of the world economic globalization and the constant increase of China's foreign trade with other countries, business communication between nations becomes more and more frequent. As one of the most important and effective means in business communication, English business letters especially good-news English business letters are playing an increasingly important role in doing business with foreign companies, and they are taken as successful only when having good effect either on maintaining good business relationship or business letters realizing the deal of certain business. To some degree, how to write a piece of polite and efficient good-news English business letter is a key factor that relates to the success or failure of transactions and the professional image in the first international trade activities. The present research presents an analysis of the linguistic realization of the politeness strategies in English business letters in terms of lexicon, syntax and discourse with an emphasis on the most frequently used positive strategies. However, these principles are not satisfactory to explain the phenomenon why these seemingly impolite expressions according to the above principles occur regularly in English business letters, especially good-news English business letters. Thus, some appropriate certain politeness strategies are still retaining the importance proved to be helpful to the effective exchange of information and successful establishment or maintenance of business relationship.2. Literature Review2.1 An Overview of Business LetterThe business letter is the basic means of communication between two companies. It is estimated that close to 100 million business letters are written each workday. It is a document typically sent externally to those outside a company but is also sent internally to those within a company. Business letters are regarded as the lifeline in business communication, therefore, it is necessary to write them successfully, and politeness should be paid more attention to the business letters.2.1.1 Definition of Business LetterBusiness is the activity conducted by organizations of paid people working together to produce and market goods and services for profit.(Sorrels,1984) Letter refers to a kind of communication by means of written letters or the letters which pass between correspondents who are commonly described as the writer and the reader. Therefore, Business letter means the formal written style used within or external commercial organizations and clients in business transactions to establish business relations such as making inquiries, giving replies, offering, negotiating and ordering goods.2.1.2 Types of Business LetterFrom different angles and various intentions, the most common adopted ways of business letters may be as follows:1) Classification is made according to the content of the letters given: The letters can be classified in the following categories: letters for request, letters for answering requests, letters for claim and adjustment, letters for credit and collection, sales letters, employment letters, and social business letters, etc. (Stewart,1984:380-381).2) Classification is made according to the functions the letters perform in the process of a business transaction: This classification emphasizes the functions that the business letters perform in different phase of commercial activities. Business letters can be classified into letters for the establishment of business relations, and enquiryletters, offering letters, negotiating letters, ordering letters order confirmation letters, payment letters, shipment and insurance letters, receipt letters for acknowledgment, claim letters and adjustment letters, etc. (Shi RuiFen,1993,12)3) Classification is made by the nature of the information given: Stewart (Stewart, 1984: 382) summed up four different kinds of information in terms of its effect on the reader's needs: good-news letters, bad-news letters, neutral-news letters and persuasive letters. Accordingly, there are usually three broad categories of business letters, namely ①routine letters (letters carrying good news and neutral news such as request, reply and win good-will letters) ②negative news letters (letters carrying bad news such as refusal, complaint letters) ③persuasive letters (letters carrying the persuasive intentions such as persuasion and sales letters).For the consideration of the degree to which the classifications are related to politeness and for the sake of brevity and clarity of the thesis, the last type of classification named good-news letters is adopted in this thesis.2.1.3 Characteristics of Business LettersThere are 7Cs (courtesy, consideration, completeness, clarity, conciseness, concreteness and correctness) to guide English business letter writing. Based on 7Cs, we can analyze characteristics of business letters as follows:Lexical Level:first, it is more frequently to use business terms, abbreviations and semi-professional general words.1) Business terms2) AbbreviationsIn the business activities, business talents use acronyms extensively to improve efficiency. The characteristic of abbreviations is concise, easy to use, containing alarge amount of information. There are many forms of abbreviations. It mainly has three kinds. Namely: acronyms, clipping words, blending words.3) Semi-professional general wordsThere are many general words used in professional words in Business English. Some common English words change in the Business English. So it has no longer the common explanation. Only by understanding and mastering these words and expressions can we handle them very skillfully, accurately and flexibly.Syntactic level: Business English, especially in business contracts, use short sentences and passive sentences. This is determined by the characteristics of Business English. Business English‟s writing requires tight close, strong logic, coherence, and to convey the large amount of information.Textual level: In terms of discourse, Business English has the characteristics of complete, concise, specific, accurate, clear, polite and considerate. What is more, business documents can be expressed by using accurate meaning in order to highlight the theme, be readable. Besides we need to understand each other's needs, desires and feelings more from the perspective of the other party2. 2 An Overview of Good-news English Business Letters2.2.1 Definition of Good-news English Business LettersIn Wayne and Dauwalder's definition (Wayne&Dauwalder, 1994:201)，letters that present messages for pleased readers are good-news business letters. Good-news English business letters refer to creating favorable impression, enhancing goodwill among readers and helping to increase the company's profit in future business cooperation.2.2.2 Layout of Good-news English Business LetterGenerally, good-news English business letter is gradually formed a fixed format with stylistic application which usually includes the following parts: 1) the Letterhead;2) the Date; 3) the Insi de address (including recipient‟s name, company name and address; 4) the Salutation; 5) the body of the letter; 6) the Comlipmentary Close: 7)Signature; 8)Complementary Parts of a Business Letter (including attention line, the subject line and enclosure notation etc.) Normally, there are three layouts of good-news English business letters: block style, indented style and semi-block style with indented style. Of the three styles, block style is most widely adopted. However, no matter what style people prefer, the basic layout of good-news business letter is as follows（胡进平, 2010:12）CANBINET INTERNATIONALImport(er) /Export(er)/Representative56 Madison Ave, SuiteMorristoewn, N.J. 07960Tel 201-377-5788; Fax 201-745-0027E-mail:canbinet@ix,Our Ref.No.A53/29Your Ref.No.TC388Jan 3, 2006Miss Xiaoming TangExport Managing DirectorMeihua Canbinet Group Co.4/F 2A Tianyi Plaza#829 Gudun Street, Hangzhou, 310000ChinaDear Mr. Jameson,Filling system cataloguesWe should be grateful for those copies of your current catalogues.We are particularly in filling cabinets.Look forward to your kind coop.Yours sincerely,B. D. DavisB. D. DavisManaging DirectorDEPT./CO.Encl: As above.P.S.: Other terms as usual.CC: Mr. Karter2.3 An Overview of Politeness strategiesEarlier in the sixtieth of the twentieth century, a new trend that some philosophers appeared to reveal the logical structure hidden in language. These scholars have attempted to approach the difficult politeness with pragmatic means. 2.3.1 Grice’s Cooperative PrincipleGrice put forward the Cooperative Principle by delivering the paper entitled Logic and Conversation. And he considered that a successful intercourse works well under the condition that the participants in a conversation always need to effort together to achieve one or set of purposes by observing a set of conversational maxims principles which named the Cooperative Principle. Then Grice developed the following maxims further (Grice, 1975:45-47):QUANTITY: 1. Make your contribution as informative as is required for the current purposes of the exchange.2. Do not make your contribution more informative than is requiredQUALITY: 1.Try to make your contribution one that is true.2. Do not say what you believe to be false.3. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidenceRELATION: Be relevant.MANNER: Be perspicuous.1. Avoid obscurity of expression.2. Avoid ambiguity.3. Be brief.4. Be orderly.The presentation of the Cooperative Principle plays an important function of conversations and has intolerable theoretical value and practical meaning even reflects many of principles in context of good-news English business letters.2.3.2 Lakoff’s View of PolitenessOn the basis of Grice's Conversational Principle, Lakoff was regarded as the firstone to explain politeness and study politeness from the conversational-maxim point of view. Lakoff holds politeness is "a device used in order to reduce friction in personal interaction" through the way to avoid conflict between clarity and politeness, she states:Politeness is usually considered more important in a conversation to avoid offence than to achieve clarity. This makes sense, since in most informal conversations; actual communication of important ideas is secondary to merely reaffirming and strengthening relations. (Lakoff, 1973:297-298)Lakoff develops Grice's Cooperative Principle in the following two rules of Pragmatic Competence: 1.Be clear, equals to Grice's maxims, and 2. Be polite, which is detailed into three rules of politeness: 1) Don't impose (used when Formal/Impersonal Politeness is required); 2) Give options (used when Informal Politeness is required); 3) Make hearer feel good (used when Intimate Politeness is required) She points out these are in opposite position to each other, and notes that the degree of politeness depends on the speaker's assessment of certain situations. In order to make them more brief and explicit, she later reformulates the rules of politeness as follows: a. Formality: Keep aloof; b. Deference: Give options; c. Camaraderie: Show sympathy.Although Lakoff‟s views politeness exist some limitation, the three rules lay the foundation for Leech‟s Politeness Principle2.3.3 Leech’s Politeness Principle“Politeness is a matter of degree. Different kinds and degrees of p oliteness are called for in different situations". (Leech,1983:104). Leech put forward the Politeness Principle on the basis of Grice's Cooperative Principle to supplement why people deliberately flout Cooperative Principle and four maxims and why they express their ideas implicitly rather than explicitly.Leech's Politeness Principle can be stated as follows: other things being equal to, 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 tothe hearer. Leech developed six maxims and specified each maxim with two sub-maxims as follows (Leech, 1983:132):1 .Tact Maxim: Minimize benefit to self and Maximize benefit to other.2. Generosity Maxim: Minimize cost to other and Maximize cost to self.3. Approbation Maxim: Minimize dispraise of other and Maximize praise of other.4. Modesty Maxim: Minimize praise of self and Maximize dispraise of self.5. Agreement Maxim: Minimize disagreement between self and other and Maximize agreement between self and other.6. Sympathy Maxim: Minimize self and other and Maximize antipathy between sympathy between self and other.According to Leech, politeness Principle can be used to interpret the guidelines of business letter writing as a way of explaining how politeness operates in conversational exchanges. At the same time, he pointed out that Of all the six maxims, Tact Maxim appears to be a more powerful constraint on conversational behavior than Generosity Maxim, and Approbation Maxim is more powerful than Modest Maxim (Leech,1983:104). In fact, Tact Maxim is the primary base to apply differences of Politeness Strategies into good-news English Business letters since it needs to be good manners and to delivery information or to make good preparations in conflicts.2.3.4 Brown and Levinson's Face TheoryBrown and Levinson's face theory has been considered as still one of the most influential and best known researches on politeness up till now. The theory is based on Goffman's definition on …face‟-“the public self-image that every member wants to claim for himself”. They published the paper named Universals in language usage: Politeness Phenomena,which clearly explains this face theory means "something emotionally invested, and that can be lost, maintained, or enhanced, and must be constantly attended to in interaction". (Brown&Levinson 1987:61)Their face theory includes positive face and negative face. Positive face means one wants to have one's public self-image accepted, appreciated, understood, andratified by others, to be thought of as a normal, contributing member of society. However, negative face refers to each one's self-image is expected to be free from imposition and distraction, unimpeded by others and the want of independence and freedom of action is to be guaranteed within one's own territory. These two emphasize on differently under different cultures background that exists various misunderstandings among the speaker and the hearer when in embarrassment of losing face. To avoid conflict and lower the possibility of face-losing, the following is the brief introduction on strategies:1. To perform the face-threatening act `on record' without any redress: the speaker expresses his/her utterance baldly, with little or no concern for face. This is suitable to be used in a relaxed and comfortable environment with intimate persons like close friends and family.2. To perform the face-threatening act using `positive politeness' strategies: Positive politeness strategies (Brown&Levinson, 1987:101) are divided into three types of strategies which are described as "claim common ground", "focus on cooperation", and "fulfill receiver's wants". This is suitable to be used to make the speaker and hearer closer by using redress (usually complimentary words) to keep the addressee's positive face.3. To perform the face-threatening act using `negative politeness' strategies: with redress towards the hearer's negative face which appeals to the hearer's desire not to be impeded or to be left free to act as he/she chooses. Negative politeness strategies (Brown&Levinson, 1987:129) have a narrower scope and operate in relation to the central FTA on the sentence level which is semantically categorized into three broad groups as "give freedom of action", "minimize imposition" and "dissociate Sender/Receiver from act".4. To perform the face-threatening act using 'off-record' strategies: the opposite of bald record, by which the speaker expresses his/her utterance ambiguously (formulated as a hint, for instance), and its interpretation is left to the addressee. This is suitable to be used to prohibit the face threatening act when the risk of loss of face is great but have the possibility.5. Don't do the FTA. It means when the risk is too great, the speaker have better not to say anything at all.By analyzing face, positive face and negative face, Face-threatening Acts, Brown and Levinson's Face Theory appears to give a more complete and systematic presentation on politeness will provide theoretical framework for this study.3. Application of Politeness Strategies in Good-news English Business LettersAccording to the classification of English business letters in the previous part, as one of routine letters, good-news English business letters are the interpersonal that aims to build goodwill among readers and promote future business cooperation. While most speech acts are potentially face-threatening acts, any rational agent will adopt certain strategies to seek to avoid or minimize FTAs. So it is necessary to take positive politeness into consideration in good-news English business letters. Combining the above mentioned politeness strategies, this part will focus on the lexical, syntactic and discourse study of positive politeness strategies in good-news English business letters.3.1 Application of politeness strategies at the lexical level.The study begins at the basic level-lexical level in this thesis, since the communication of good-news English business letters is affected by the choice of words and expressions. The same meaning words may have different functions in the conveying of politeness. Hence, how to choose the words and expressions plays a significant role in presenting politeness strategies in good-news English business letters.3.1.1 Using concrete words and specific wordsWhen reply to a good-news English business which is full of pleasant messages, concrete words are often used to express and emphasize an idea as they will convey clearer meanings. That's the reason why the positive politeness strategies are used more frequently in good-news English business letters. Here are two sentences:(1)Congratulations on your promotion.(2)Congratulations on your being the manager of the company.Both two sentences appear in a letter of congratulations. By comparison, Sentence (1) is too abstract to be effective to enhance the reader‟s positive face by using the abstract word `promotion'. Although this speech act (congratulation) is inherently polite, the word `promotion' is too abstract to fulfill the reader's positive face. Additionally, guided by Leech's Approbation Maxim, we should try our best to maximize praise of other. Sentence (2) is more effective and tactful in terms of face-enhancing force, and maximizes praise of the addressee. Those words of the manager are more concrete and direct to express congratulations and compliments. This sentence enhances the reader's positive face in the way that the reader is made to know that he or she is liked and appreciated by being complimented and congratulated on his or her recent promotion to the post of a manager.When the letter act is a favor to other, the more direct and concrete it is, the more polite and appropriate it will be as concrete words are easily efficient to grasp and get the useful information. Therefore, concrete words are so welcomed to enhance the addressee's positive face and promote positive politeness in good-news English business letters.3.1.2 Using positive wordsPositive words present the receiver's self-worth that satisfies the reader's positive face and express the will to establish future business relationships. According to Brown and Levinson's model of politeness strategies, Positive words like please, thank and appreciate are used to seek agreement between the writer and the reader and arouse the positive response from the reader. And this also coincides with L eech‟s Sympathy Maxim. There are several sentences listed:(1)Thank you for your inquiry of 18th December.(2)We hope we can conclude contact before long and await your prompt reply.From the above sentences we can see that those positive words show the reader's mind a favorable image of the writer and his or her firm and enhance the reader'spositive face.3.1.3 Avoiding sexist languageTo some degree, avoiding sexist language in the business letter is very important and sensitive thing for inappropriate usage may be possible to be FTA. Guided by Leech's Sympathy Maxim, people should maximize the sympathy between self and other. And according to Brown and Levinson's Face Theory, people had better not do the FTA. Therefore, it is greatly possible to distinguish carefully from sexist language in different business activities. For example, we‟d better use …Dear Sir or Madam‟ instead of …Dear Sir‟ and even third person pronoun rather than just using `he' or `him in some cases. Appropriate use of person pronoun is effective in business communication.3.1.4 Using you-attitude languageTo achieve transaction purpose in a win-win situation and maintain friendly cooperation relationships, people should take others into consideration through Leech‟s Tact Maxim and Generosity Maxim.(1)You will get special offers of no less than 1 000 dozens at a time.(2)You can choose from a very good selection of winter clothes at the China‟s Autumn Export commodities Fair.From sentence (1), we can see you-attitude suggests that the benefit should be maximized to readers. Meanwhile, Brown and Levinson propose that hearer's positive face should be satisfied in the Face Theory. From the sentence (2), we can choose appears politeness has been shown to the reader.Actually, you-attitude focuses on …you‟ (the reader) instead of …I‟ or …we‟ (the writer) on the basis consideration principle.3.2 Application of politeness strategies at the levelThe sentences types used give the first impression on the reader other than the meaning of the sentences in English business letters since sentences are the principal carrier of the meaning that counts crucial importance in making successful and effective business communication. Compared with other stylistic form, businessletters have the characteristic of using active voice, short sentences as well as affirmative sentences3.2.1 Using active voiceThe active voice is form of the active verb that the subject of a sentence acts is the doer of action. And active verbs allow readers to visualize the action in a sentence more readily than do passive verbs.Good-news English letter is often written in a more direct and forceful way, which can fulfill the reader's positive face as people usually prefer sentences in active verbs forms to passive verbs forms.(1) I'm glad to accept the invitation.(2) Your invitation is accepted.By comparison in terms of maximizing the favorable beliefs, the first sentence is more emphatic and polite in conveying the good message of acceptance while the latter one is more impersonal.According to optimistic principle of Brown and Levinson's positive politeness, effective good-news English business letters is welcomed active constructions with straightforward language and the smooth-flowing rhythm of normal speech rather than passive constructions of roundabout language, and they lack the smooth-flowing rhythm .3.2.2 Using short sentencesIn order to satisfy reader's needs and wants, a piece of favored good-news business letters should be presented in a direct and forceful way to emphasize pleasant news by using an independent clause or a simple sentence instead of a complex sentence and avoid wordy sentences. For instance:(1) I'm very glad to inform you that a favorite discount of 10% is for the size of the order.(2) A favorite discount of 10% is for the size of the order.Compared to each other, the important ideas seem more direct, vivid and polite. In this way, the directness and the positive politeness strategy will come to its own. 3.2.3 Using affirmative sentencesBased on Leech's Tact Maxim and Brown &Levinson‟s …fulfill H‟s wants‟, the benefit should be maximized to readers. In order to keep the reader's positive face wants, we should adapt affirmative sentences in good-news English business letters to convey appreciation and keep good relations. Examples are followed:(1) Thank you very much for your efforts in the promotion of the subject goods in Europe Market.(2)We shall appreciate it if you will send us detailed such as price-list, catalogues, as well as samples.From the examples we can see that affirmative sentences emphasize on the positive and pleasant aspect in a more friendly and polite tone. Therefore, affirmative sentences like appropriate compliment should be adopted in Good-news Business Letters3.3 Application of politeness strategies at the discourse levelThis part concentrates on the structure of the English business letters in terms of the discourse level. According to Leech‟s and Brown and Levinson‟s polite principle, how to organize the good-news business letters and how to convey the good-news in a tactful way can greatly affect to enhance the reader's positive face in the business communication.People usually take two ways to organize business letters: one is the deductive way (direct approach) and another inductive way (indirect approach). Which one should be used in English business letters depends on the messages delivered. Good-news English business letters prefer for a positive emotional reaction on the reader‟ part, so the direct-deductive approach is usually presented for it more directly and clearly to express the main point in good-news messages. Specifically, in the direct-deductively organized discourse consisting of the following three steps (Mo Zaishu, 2006):1) Begin with the main point. If the writer has something good to tell the recipient, he will state it right away without beating around the bush.2) Present necessary explanation or cover the remaining part of the objective. If。