《商务英语写作》电子教案.docx

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1、商务英语写作电子教案Part Two Basic Requirements for Business WritingUnit 1 Functions Essential Qualities of Business Writing 1. Functions of Business Writing Generally speaking, the functions of business writing are: (1) to inform, (2) to influence and (3) to entertain. 1.1. The First FunctionTo Inform Messag

2、es to inform are used to convey the large amount of information needed to complete the day-to-day operations of the business, such as explaining instructions to employees, announcing meetings, acknowledging orders, accepting contracts. The major purpose of most of these messages is to have the recei

3、ver understand a body of information and concentrate on the logical presentation of the content. 1.2. The Second FunctionTo Influence A business message must also influence the readers’ attitudes and actions. These messages might include letters promoting a product or service and seeking suppo

4、rt for ideas and worthy causes presented to supervisors, stockholders, customers/clients, and others. 1.3. The Third FunctionTo Entertain To secure the desired response, it is necessary to have an adequate knowledge of the English language and an understanding of human nature. The writer should have

5、 an acquaintance with the particular interest and, if possible, the emotions of the reader. It seems easy enough, for example, to ask payment of a bill, but it is quite difficult to secure payment without offending the reader and losing his or her future patronage. No communication is wholly success

6、ful unless it retains the reader’s goodwill. 2. Essential Qualities of Business Writing Effective business writing has five characteristics, which can be summed up in the Five C’s, i.e. 1)Correctness; 2) Clearness;3) Completeness; 4) Conciseness and 5) Courteousness. 2.1. CorrectnessCorr

7、ectness means using standard grammar and spelling. It meanschoosing suitable stationary and a format acceptable for the situation. It means avoiding obvious erasures or corrections. Certainly, it means choosing the exact word, selecting the appropriate sentence structure, and creating careful paragr

8、aphs. Above all, it means accuracy of facts and figures. In short, every effort should be made to ensure the correctness of business messages in all respects. 2.2 Clearness Clearness is the keynote of the other four characteristics. Clarity relates most directly to the effectiveness of business writ

9、ing. A business message does not fulfill its function if its reader does not understand it. So a business message must be clear so that it will be understood the first time it is read. You achieve clarity by thinking before you write, by defining your purpose and by using clear, plain language, avoi

10、ding jargon and fancy words. They will only conceal the meaning of the message. Dont puzzle your reader with long, involved sentences and make sure that what you have written cannot be misunderstood. But you should include necessary details for the reader to understand the subject completely. Inclus

11、ion of pertinent information is necessary to make the meaning clear. Good, straightforward, simple English is what is needed for business writing. 2.3. Completeness In addition to clarity, business message must be complete. Completeness refers to providing enough information so that the intention of

12、 the message is understood by the reader. Business writing that leaves out necessary essential information invariably leads to extra work, extra letters, extra memos - hence extra cost - to add information that should have been included in the original. The businessman who forgets to include any rel

13、evant details in his message will make a poor impression on his reader. An incomplete message is almost worse than none. Exclusion of pertinent information is exasperating. Compare the following notices: Incomplete: All sales representatives will meet at 9:00 on Monday. Complete: All sales represent

14、atives will meet at 9:00 on Monday, February 27, in Conference Room C. Be Sure you include all the details that will be needed by the reader of your message. Say every thing that must be said but do not waste your readers time. 2.4. Conciseness Conciseness is the soul of business writing. In a busin

15、ess message every word counts and every sentence carries the message. Business people receive many messages every day. If youoverburden them with unduly long expressions and tire their eyes with excess words, they might just toss your message in the nearby wastebasket. To make your message as concis

16、e as possible, you must: (1) get to the heart of the message immediately and stick to the point. For example, instead of saying I would like to take this opportunity to, begin with the information you want to convey. (2) Strike out extra words and omit words that repeat. Never use several words when

17、 you can say the same thing with a single word. For instance, the words underlined can be omitted in the following. during the year of 1994 costs the sum offull and complete details (3) Avoid phrases that say nothing, such as I think, I feel and I believe, for your reader will know that the message

18、contains your thoughts, feelings, or beliefs.(4) Use simpler constructions to save the readers time. Use a word instead of a phrase and a phrase instead of a clause for the same thing. (5) Discuss each point in a separate paragraph. Business writing can be made clearer, easier to read and more attra

19、ctive to look at by careful paraphrasing. A paragraph for each point is a good rule. Be concise without sacrificing courtesy. 2.5. Courteousness Finally, business message must show courteousness. People respond positively to those who treat them with respect and kindness. Nothing can take the place

20、of words like please and thank you. It should be remembered, however, that true courtesy requires more than the use of polite words and phrases. For instance, timely information with the desire to be helpful and useful is a genuinely courteous message. It will please your customer who dislikes waiti

21、ng for a long time before he gets a reply to his inquiry. A friendly and sincere tone transmits courteousness and opens the way to the pleasant transaction of business. You may list other attributes of effective writing (creativeness). But if you can master the above mentioned Five Cs: correctness,

22、clarity, completeness, conciseness and courteousness, youll be a competent writer of business messages. Exercise 1. Rewrite the worn-out, trite and wordy phrases in the following sentences with fresh, more concise ones. 1. In the event that we cannot meet the deadline, we will refund your money.2. W

23、e are reluctant to commit to that date due to the fact that our plant closes for vacation July 411. 3. It is not within our power to obtain the letter he has in his possession. 4. We will write to you at an early date. 5. We will furnish all the required documents. 6. Consequent upon the changes mad

24、e, you will be in charge of the general office. 7. We are in receipt of your remittance in the sum of US $ 7890. 8. We hope to receive your catalogue by return mail. Thanking in advance. 9. We have duly received your order No. 68 dated March 5, for which please accept our thanks. 2. Read the followi

25、ng letter and tell what is used by the writer to achieve accuracy. Dear Sirs, Sub. Children’s Leather Shoes We have received your letter of March 12, 2003 and the enclosure requesting quotes for the captioned shoes. As requested, we are submitting our quotation in triplicate and are anxious fo

26、r your placing your orders with us as early as possible because we have a large backlog. We await your decision. Yours faithfully, Unit 2 Basic Writing SkillsSimply learning the Five Cs does not make you a skilled business writer. To master the Five Cs or to be able to write business messages contai

27、ning all these characteristics, you must study business writing techniques or skills and practice them. Needless to say, good English is the important foundation of the writing skills we discuss. 1. Create an Appropriate Tone Tone may be defined as the overall impression or feeling a message conveys

28、 to its reader. In writing business messages you should match tone to purpose. Try to strike a balance between being formal and being familiar. Be confident, but not aggressive. Be courteous but not stuffy. Try to sound natural without becoming too chummy. Try to create a friendly and sincere tone s

29、o that your readers will understand that yousincerely wish to be of service. Your purpose in writing is to persuade them to agree with you. Therefore, adopt a tone that will allow you to be convincing. Remember what is said is often not as significant as how it is said. Compare: (1) a. We received o

30、ur order No. CL 818 yesterday. But when we turned on the machine, it did not work. Because of this bad experience, we doubt your companys ability to make high quality products. (Angry tone) b. I am writing with reference to order No. CL 818 which we received yesterday. When we turned on the machine,

31、 it did not work. It seems that the machine was not tested before dispatch. Please let us know what you intend to do in this matter. (Better tone) (2) (When turning down an offer) a. Unfortunately, we got a better offer. (Poor tone) b. We were pleased to receive your offer, but . (Better tone) From

32、the above examples, you can see clearly how a poor tone can offend your reader. 2. Cultivate the You Attitude Effective business writing should show you, the reader, what the writer can do for you- how you will profit and why. The business message written from the point of view of the reader is know

33、n as the you attitude. If you can see things from the point of view of your reader and express your ideas in terms of his experience, you can most readily create an appropriate tone and produce a favorable impression. Therefore, the purpose of the message will be achieved. Employ the you attitude an

34、d stay away from the I attitude by emphasizing such words as you, your and yours, to make your message more effective. For example, a. The I attitude: I need a lot of information on the way business people react to the current crises in our colleges, and I selected you and some others to send this q

35、uestionnaire to because your names were mentioned in the newspapers. b. The You attitude: You and several other prominent business people were recently quoted in the newspapers concerning the current crises in our colleges and your comments so interested me that I decided to send this questionnaire

36、to you. 3 Consider the Level of Diction Diction may be defined as the manner or style of expression. Generally, there are four levels of diction: learned, popular, colloquial, and slang. While there are special times and places for all these levels, you will generally choose the popular level of dic

37、tion for yourbusiness writing. Popular diction is the language used by the mass media: TV, radio and newspapers. These are the words most often used in business world. Business people have given up the stiff, formal and obsequious style of past generations in favor of the natural, conversational, un

38、pretentious and inconspicuous modern style. The old-fashioned business language which made use of many ornate, formal phrases has become obsolete. Arranging plain English words in concise sentences that say clearly what you mean will leave a favorable impression. 4. Select the Appropriate Writing St

39、yle Essentially, two writing styles can be created: the personal and impersonal. The personal writing style places emphasis on the person who will receive the message, to create the you attitude. Since many business messages are written to assure a certain action on the part of the reader (whether i

40、ts buying from your company or granting you a credit), the personal style is preferred. You should use this style in memos, letters, and some kinds of reports, those in which you want the reader to feel a part of your activities. The impersonal writing style is used when more distance is needed in a

41、 message. For example, job descriptions, policy statements and many reports. Personal style is characterized by the use of first and second person pronouns I, we, us, ours, you, yours and so forth. The impersonal can be created in three ways: (a) the use of the impersonal pronoun one (This is seldom

42、 used in business because of its formality); (b) the use of third person pronouns: he, she, their, its and so on, and (c) the use of job titles such as electrical engineer, sales representative and so on. One final point should be made about writing styles: do not mix the two. The result will sound

43、garbled: friendly one moment, detached the next. 5. Outline and Organize the Material Before Writing If you want your writing to be clear and easy to follow, you should decide what you are going to say before you start to write. You cant let your readers get confused when you move from one point to

44、the next or when you change the direction of your ideas. In other words, your message should be so well organized that there is unity and coherence in it. A good method to achieve unity and coherence is to make a mental or written outline before writing. There are two basic patterns to follow in org

45、anizing yourideas. 5.1. Two basic patterns of organization Two basic patterns of organization are available for outlining ideas: inductive and deductive. Inductive organization is also known as the indirect pattern outline that means beginning with the specific facts that are obvious and moving to a

46、 general conclusion. The following example shows how this pattern functions. Facts: a. Today, the outdoor temperature is 33. b: The temperature in my office today is 30. c. No air is circulating in my office. Conclusion: The air-conditioner in my office isnt functioning today. Deduction organization

47、 is also called the direct pattern outline. This pattern begins with a conclusion, and works backward to try to find the facts on which the conclusions are based. For the same situation, the deductive pattern would be: Conclusion: The air-conditioner in my office isnt functioning today because .Fact

48、s: a. No air is circulating in my office. b. The temperature in my office today is 30. c. Today, the outdoor temperature is 33. There are many variations of the inductive and deductive patterns: the cause/effect development, the problem/solution development, the comparison/contrast development and s

49、o on. Here, we won’t analyze which pattern or which variation we will use. We simply know that for certain types of information, one pattern or variation is better than the other. For example, favorable messages follow the deductive or direct method, while unfavorable messages use inductive or indirect method. Be aware of the two basic patterns and variations and choose a suitable one in organizing your ideas to assure that your reader will understand how each idea relates to the others in your message. 5.2. Careful parag