Business English pragmatic errors and their cultural interpretation

Abstract: Business English writing is a cross-cultural communication skill. Some authors often refer to Chinese business culture and pragmatic rules to express their thoughts when writing, causing pragmatic errors to varying degrees and affecting the normal development of international business activities. This article conducts a comparative analysis of some business English pragmatic errors from the perspective of Chinese and English cultures. It believes that the teaching of business English letter writing cannot be divorced from business culture, and students must not only teach students to master English expressions Skills, but also to teach them to master the cultural connotation and pragmatic rules of business English, so that students can be competent in cross-cultural business English communication

work.

Keywords: business writing; pragmatic errors; cross-cultural communication

Most people believe that as long as you master business English professional knowledge and basic writing skills, You will be fully competent in foreign-related business work. In fact, the truth is not that simple. If the author does not understand the contextual differences between English and Chinese business cultures and their pragmatic rules, there may be various unexpected pragmatic errors in letter writing, which will affect the success of business activities. Carry out normally. However,

because business English pragmatic errors are very subtle and not as easy to identify as grammatical or semantic errors

so it is generally difficult to attract people's attention and attention

View. Therefore, it is quite common that English correspondence writing teaching emphasizes language ability training (perhaps unconsciously) and neglects the cultivation of business English cultural awareness and pragmatic ability. In the past, people's research on business English writing errors

generally stayed at the level of language form and writing methods. So far, it is rare to see business English writing discussed from the cultural perspective. Pragmatics

Articles on the phenomenon of errors. The author believes that only by analyzing these pragmatic errors from a cultural perspective rather than

simply from a linguistic form level,

can we understand the author's pragmatic errors through superficial language phenomena. Psychological cultural

orientation and its thinking trajectory. This will be helpful to improve the quality of business English writing teaching and enhance students' business English cultural awareness and pragmatic ability.

1. Business pragmatic errors and cultural psychological differences

When talking about English pragmatic errors, it is necessary to involve pragmatics

(Pragmatics) An important branch of linguistics. It is an independent new discipline established and developed by Western scholars in the 1970s and 1980s. It studies how to correctly geography in different communication environments< /p>

The science of understanding and using language.

In the past, people only paid attention to the form or function of language, that is, they paid attention to the study of grammatical and semantic functions of language. [1] But the use of language is not just about the correctness of words and sentences, but more importantly, whether the language is used appropriately and appropriately. Pragmatic errors in this article refer to the inappropriate and inappropriate language used by communicators, which has obvious Chinese cultural thinking and pragmatic characteristics. Language and culture are inseparable, and culture and philosophy are

closely connected. Both have a profound impact on the nation's thinking patterns, language behavior and

these. To discuss the phenomenon of pragmatic errors in business English, we must involve the traditional philosophy of language that is inextricably linked to national culture and the cultural attributes of both English and Chinese languages.

From the perspective of language philosophy, Chinese language philosophy is about governing the world.

It aims to achieve "the unity of nature and man, and the unity of words and deeds" through governance. [2] Taoism

and Confucianism advocate that people should "...not speak but be good at responding", "be cautious in speaking, and

refrain from speaking", etc. Western philosophy and language concepts are creationist, and their culture prefers language behavior and believes in its creativity. Individual-oriented Western culture

believes that language is a tool to extend oneself and transform others, so

Westerners are accustomed to expressing themselves, speaking straightforwardly, and being willing to express their inner feelings

p>

The world reflects the self-centered behavioral values ??of Westerners.

Chinese people who are oriented towards group values ??tend to be introverted and speak tactfully

Euphemistically and implicitly, they do not easily reveal their inner world and rarely antagonize others. Instead

< p>Reflects the Chinese people's moderate way of life. Obviously, in addition to the factors of innate talent, traditional culture has a very important influence on people's attitude towards life and language behavior.

From the perspective of language and cultural attributes, Chinese culture belongs to humanistic culture,

Western culture belongs to scientific culture. Chinese culture emphasizes synthesis over analysis

and emphasizes comprehension over words. Scientific culture emphasizes materiality and neglects human ethics. It emphasizes analysis and neglects synthesis. It emphasizes concepts and avoids generalizations. Its value orientation is based on utilitarianism. [3] The main differences in the way of thinking between humanistic culture and scientific culture are shown in the following aspects:

First of all, Chinese people value intuition and concreteness, while Westerners value rationality and < /p>

Logic is expressed in language as the image of Chinese vocabulary and the functionality of English vocabulary

. Second, Chinese people value the whole, while Westerners value the individual.

This is reflected in the fact that the meanings of Chinese words are generally more general, while the meanings of English words are generally more specific

. The meaning of Chinese is relatively vague, while the meaning of English is relatively precise.

Thirdly, Chinese emphasizes ideas while English emphasizes form. This is mainly reflected in the fact that Chinese

sentences are connected by semantic logic, while English attaches great importance to sentence form

< p>Connection. The psychological and cultural differences between English and Chinese have a ubiquitous impact on language,

which has caused many obstacles to cross-cultural communication.

2. Psychological and cultural analysis of pragmatic errors in business English

Business English belongs to English for Special Purposes (English for Special

Purposes), and its language has distinctive Industry characteristics and unique language

style. The two languages, English and Chinese, are rooted in different cultural soils. The difference is not only reflected in the way of expressing thoughts, but also in the pragmatic communication rules restricted by implicit culture. When learners are not aware of the existence of such

cultural differences or have not mastered the pragmatic rules

of their specific cultural context, they are likely to unconsciously refer to The Chinese cultural context and pragmatic

rules are used for writing, thinking and expression, and as a result, various pragmatic errors that are difficult to detect

will be made. The phenomenon of Chinese expressions in English caused by cultural factors is multi-layered. They can appear at all levels of business English expression, including vocabulary level, sentence level, paragraph and even chapter level. The author

selects one or two and analyzes them briefly.

1. Improper use of personal pronouns

The influence of culture on language is ubiquitous. In English and Chinese, even common personal demonstrative pronouns have different usage rules.

[4] Statistics show that Chinese uses more first-person and second-person pronouns than English, while the third-person pronoun is used more frequently in English than in Chinese. This reflects the subtle psychological and cultural differences between the English and Chinese nations. Chinese people's communication and attention are more focused on "I" and "you", and they talk less about third parties. This reflects the characteristics of language behavior under a cultural convention. In English business culture, whether it is business letter writing or business negotiation, the choice of person should generally follow the Politeness Principle. The pragmatic principle of the use of person in English

is: when expressing positive and positive attitudes, opinions or wishes,

generally use the first person. But when it comes to requests and promises, in order to

show that you value the other person and start from the other person's point of view or interest, you generally use the second person Y OU. However, excessive use of the first person will have the negative effect of ignoring the other person's Y OU, which will make the words lose their appeal and make it difficult to get an enthusiastic response from the other party. Perhaps influenced by the pragmatic rules of Chinese person

Chinese authors have many choices of person in English writing and tend to use the first person.

Try to compare:

1a. Wewillag reetogiveyou5%discountifyouincreaseyour

order to 15,000 pieces.

If you can increase the order quantity to 15,000 pieces, we agree. Giving you

a 5% discount.

1b.Y ouw illg et5%discountifyouincreaseyour order to

15000pieces.

If you can increase the order quantity to 15000pieces, you can get 5%

p>

Discounts.

Example 1a The subject is in the first person, highlighting and emphasizing the position and attitude of the writer

The expression is not euphemistic enough. In contrast, Example 1b uses the

second person, highlighting the other party's status and interests, and giving people a feeling of consideration and respect

. Some Western textbooks even believe that good writers must adopt "your style of writing". On the other hand, the use of the second person also depends on the specific context. If you do not look at the specific occasion or object and abuse the second person, it will also have negative effects. For example:

2a.

2b.I'm p leased to tellyouth atyour application for credit as

beenapproved.

I am pleased to inform you that your application for a credit loan has been approved.

Example 2a For native English speakers, they may feel that the letter writer

has an arrogant, condescending, and arrogant tone, which can easily lead to "You are so lucky, you are" Our company has approved your application"

the negative mentality. Example 2b uses the first person, which can convey another positive connotation: "We are very happy that you are our customer."

It makes the other party feel that the person writing the letter is polite and courteous. , sincere and simple feelings.

2. Improper use of modifiers

As mentioned above, Chinese people generally value intuition and concreteness, while Westerners value rationality and logic, so Chinese word meanings are generally more general

It is broad, while the meaning of English words is relatively clear and specific. For example, the use of adjectives and adverbs in Chinese is not as strict as in English, and there is often repetitive semantics or a lack of logic. This is directly related to the Chinese people's emphasis on "harmony of meaning" over "harmony of form". British and Americans pay great attention to conciseness and logic when using adjectives and adverbs, which reflects the Westerners' emphasis on "form" and logic in language expression. For example, in business English letters written by Chinese people, we can often see the redundancy phenomenon influenced by the expression of Chinese thinking.

3a.Importsofforeignautom obileshavedeclinedsh arplythis

year.

The number of foreign imported cars has dropped sharply this year.

3b.Im portsofautom obileshavedeclined sharplyth isyear.

The number of imported cars has declined sharply this year.

For English learners, Example 3a does not seem to be a problem

[5] However, native English speakers believe that the logical connotation of "imported car"

The meaning must be "imported from abroad", there is no need to use the word foreign

.

In addition, the redundancy phenomenon may also be affected by the philosophical thought of "gold mean" in Chinese culture, which emphasizes the beauty of phonological balance and ignores the semantic logic and simplicity of word production. For example, Chinese expressions pay attention to rhetoric and rhetoric, and use a large number of four-character phrases. Chinglish is often seen in Chinese people's writings, such as serious d isaster (serious disaster), final

com pletion (finally completed), etc. Logically speaking from English semantics,

the disaster itself is serious, otherwise it would not be called a disaster. If you need

to describe the extent of the disaster, you can use big, great, m Modifiers such as ajor

. "Completion (completion)" must be the last, there is no need to use the word final.

In addition, Chinese people are not very particular about the tone of emotional expression. This may have something to do with the Chinese culture's language behavior rule of "it is not strange to be polite to many people". [6]But British and Americans are very careful about the use of modal particles

. In business letters, you must be very careful when using modal words that express degree, such as v e r y,

highly,

highly,

extremely, and greatly. Improper use may give people the impression of exaggeration or insincerity.

feeling. Please see the following example:

4a. business relationships.

4b.We'll be pleased to develop businessrelations with you

on th ebasisofequality and m utualbenefits.

We are (very) happy to work with you on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. Establish business relationships on the basis of

Example 4a uses the adverb of degree quite, with the purpose of expressing

the urgency of establishing a business relationship to the other party, but for foreigners, its

The objective effect may be counterproductive. Establishing a business relationship is just a wish

and whether it will succeed or not is not yet known. There is no need to be so "quite happy", it makes people feel a bit exaggerated or "show-off" " means. There is no modifier quite in 4b

, but the Chinese translation has to add the word "very"

, omitting the word "very", which makes the reading not so smooth and natural.

The word "very" obviously has no practical meaning in the sentence and only plays the role of harmonizing syllables

But this kind of function word may have a negative impact on Chinese people learning English

Having some negative effects, it is easy to bring this expression habit or cultural psychology

tendency into English expression.

3． Improper use of voice

The difference between English and Chinese is also reflected in the use of voice. [3]27

Chinese culture has the concept of the unity of nature and man. Therefore, Chinese people pay great attention to theme awareness when expressing their thoughts

and often use personal pronouns as subjects and multi-purpose

p>

Active voice and subjectless sentences, but the use of passive voice is very widespread in English.

According to statistics from some linguists, passive voice accounts for at least 1/3 of all finite verbs in English science and engineering textbooks. Of course, business English and scientific English belong to different styles. Business letters generally use active voice, so people call active voice business voice (voice of business). However, when it comes to negative news, existing problems, or the responsibility or fault of the other party, in order to avoid the language being too direct, English letters often use the passive voice, so the passive voice The voice is also

called business appropriate voice (voice oftact).

In the same context, Chinese generally uses the active voice, and mood

adjustment is mainly achieved with the help of other functional words. When writing business letters

, Chinese authors are not aware of the cultural connotation and pragmatic significance of English passive voice in specific contexts.

Under the influence of consciousness, we generally tend to use English active sentences. Please see

the following example:

5a. We promised to deliver the goods within one week, but due to the long delay, you

have caused us great inconvenience.

5b.Th eg oodsw ereprom ised tobedelivered with inaw eek,

and weh avebeenputtoconsiderableinconveniencethroughthelong

delay.

The goods are agreed in one Delivery within a week, such a long delay brings us great inconvenience

. In Example 5, Sentence A uses the active voice, directly expressing blame and dissatisfaction with the business partner, which seems not tactful enough, while Sentence B uses the passive voice. Voice, focus the information on the actual problems

and deliberately hide the responsible party to give the other party some face. This is a pragmatic strategy for business

cultural communication. The purpose of giving face to the other party is to get the other party's support and cooperation when solving practical problems.

4. Improper use of tone

The difference between English and Chinese language is also reflected in the tone of the sentence. From a grammatical level, English has indicative mood and subjunctive mood, and is expressed by using the subjunctive form of verbs. Chinese is an analytical language, and virtual meaning is mainly reflected through related words such as "if/if...then". Chinese

has far fewer subjunctive expressions than English, which makes

it difficult for Chinese people to master English subjunctive concepts and pragmatic rules.

The subjunctive mood in English has two major functions: one is to express hypothetical propositions, and the other is to make the expression euphemistic and polite. Tone can reflect the personality and style of the writer. It can also convey goodwill and solidify business relationships between both parties. Similarly, a wrong tone can turn a pleasant letter into something that is boring or even angry. For example, Chinese authors do not know enough about the pragmatic meaning of the English subjunctive mood, and tend to use the indicative mood in contexts where the English subjunctive mood should be used. See the following example:

6a.Ican'tacceptyourinvitation.

I cannot accept your request.

6b.Iw ish I could accept your invitation.

I hope I can accept your invitation.

Example 6 is that the writer refuses the other party’s invitation. Sentence A is in the indicative mood. It adopts the indicative mood and negative sentence pattern. The way of rejection seems clumsy and rude

and is offensive. Sentence B is in the subjunctive mood and adopts the affirmative mode. Refuse

in a tactful and polite tone that will not have any negative impact. Of course

Of course, the use of the subjunctive mood also depends on different occasions and objects.

For example

If you are requesting a price list from the other party as a buyer, you do not need to use "Would

youbesokind astodousafavorbysending usthepricelist

ofour latest products". The buyer's request for a price list is the seller's request. For a good thing that is not expected, being so polite seems to be too humble.

5. Improper cohesion of sentence relationships

The difference in the way of thinking expression between the English and Chinese nations is also reflected in the inter-sentence relationship

relational plane. Intersentential relations belong to the category of semantic function research in linguistics,

and also belong to the category of discourse analysis. English has outstanding text structure features. Sentences have cohesion in form and coherence in semantics, while Chinese emphasizes sentence semantics. Logical cohesion

and coherence, less emphasis on formal explicit (overtness) cohesion

. Chinese sentence paragraphs are mainly composed of plate structures, arranged in a scattered manner, with the topic

as the main axis of the idea, and the spirit driving the shape, so they lack formal constraints. English

segments are organized around the morphology (of the verb) as the main axis. The structure is rigorous and

interlocked. The semantic connection of Chinese sentences is like a freehand painting of Chinese flowing water, while the connection of English sentences is like a realistic painting of Western style, which is meticulously carved with every detail. Consider the following example:

7a.Your representative,Alan Powers,called on me

in late April.He told me that you were offering a

special price of$177 on the Plymouth Deluxe stove.I

ordered twelve.I received your invoice.However, it

showed amount due$2280----a difference of$156.

p>

Your sales representative, Alan Powers, visited me at the end of April. He

told me that the Primus deluxe electric stove was on sale for $177 each. I ordered 12

units. I received your offer, the amount is US$2,280, which is an extra US$156

.

7b.When your representative,Alan Powers,called

on me in late April, he told me that you were offering

a special price of $177 on the Plymouth Deluxe stove.

I ordered twelve, but the invoice(that)I received

showed the amount due as$2280---a difference of$156.

< p>When your company's business representative, Alan Powers, came to visit at the end of April, he told me that Plymouth luxury electric stoves could give me a special price of US$177 each, so I

I ordered 12 units, but the total price on the delivery note I received was US$2,280, which was US$156 more.

Example sentence 7a*** has 5 sentences, mainly parallel sentences, including one

complex sentence. Most of the sentences lack grammatical and logical connectives, and the structure

is loose, showing the characteristics of Chinese flowing sentences. The semantic and logical connection between sentences

mainly relies on the temporal sequence of things happening. to reflect. 7b*** has 3 sentences

mostly complex sentences and one simple sentence.

The surface structure of the sentence

is tightly cohesive, and the underlying semantic logic is tightly coherent. The sentence structure has distinct

hierarchical and main-subordinate sentence characteristics, reflecting the emphasis on "form combination" in English< /p>

Sentence pattern characteristics.

6． Improper arrangement of chapter structure

The cultural differences between English and Chinese are also reflected in the way of thinking and expression of the two nations in the layout and planning of articles.

Western scholars believe that the Chinese people's thinking mode is spiral, while the thinking mode of the British and Americans is linear. This difference

is not groundless and exaggerated. [7] Discourse is organized according to a certain thinking pattern (th oug h tpattern). Differences in thinking modes will inevitably be reflected in the structure of discourse. Chinese emphasizes literary twists

and does not get straight to the point, while English articles point out the main point of the paragraph at the beginning, and then develop the narrative around the theme. English paragraph writing generally requires a topic sentence (topic sentence), a supporting sentence (supporting sentence) or a concluding sentence (concluding sentence), and requires inter-sentence language.

The language has cohesion in form and coherence in semantics

Coherence. [8] The surface connection constitutes the tangible network of the discourse, and the underlying semantics Coherence constitutes the invisible network of the chapter. The entire chapter has a rigorous structure, a blend of form and spirit, and a seamless whole. Chinese takes the topic as the main idea, short sentences as the main sentence pattern, and the verb as the core of the sentence. The arrangement is scattered, the form is scattered but the spirit is gathered. The sentence pattern characteristics of "type" form a sharp contrast with the "gathering type" sentence pattern in English.

British and American people often feel puzzling or uncomfortable with English articles or business negotiations

expressions in Chinese text mode, and even Chinese people

talk in a roundabout way. , misunderstandings that are not frank and forthright. Please look at the following example:

8 a. Business letter 1

DearMr.Black,

Recentlym anyofm ycustom ersh avebeenasking m eabout

bookson tape.Th eyarealw aysasking m eto help th em,butIdon't

know whattodo.Iknow nothing aboutthisnew product.Ith inkth is

taped booksm aybeasplendid item form ystore.I'd likenotonlyto

know which booksareavailableontape,butalsowanttoinquiretape-

playbackequipmentthateith eryoucarryorknow about.

If you could send m ealiteratureconcerning th isproduct,I'llbe

grateful .

Cordiallyyours,

Dear Mr. Black:

I have had a lot of clients ask me about audiobooks lately. They

asked for my help and I didn't know what to do. I don't know anything about this new product. I think this type of audiobook might do well in my store.

Not only audiobooks, but I also want to know if you have or know about the relevant

playback equipment.

I would be very grateful if you could send me a product manual.

Sincere regards!

8b.Business Letter 2

DearMr.Black,

Please send me information about bookson tapesw ell

asinform information youh aveonplaybackequipm ent.< /p>

Th ankyou.

Very truly yours,

Dear Mr. Black:

Please send me your company’s audio books and related playback Device information.

Thank you.

Sincere regards!

Comparing the above two letters, we can easily see that the first letter

was written by a Chinese author. The article does not directly request

request for information at the beginning of the article. Instead, it states the reasons first to pave the way for the final request

and finally points out the topic. This way of thinking and expression

reflects the implicit and euphemistic language behavior characteristics of the Chinese people.

In the author's opinion, Chinese people do not speak straight to the point,

but follow a kind of underlying psychological and cultural rules of language behavior

This means that asking others for help will cause trouble to others, and I am embarrassed to say it directly.

Looking for some objective reasons that prompt you to ask for help may send the message to the other party:

I I don’t mean to cause trouble to you, but objectively

The situation forces me to beg you.

The discourse characteristics and information distribution of the second letter are completely different.

The author directly requests the other party for information at the beginning, and the language

The words are concise and clear, and neither state the reason for requesting information nor

make the slightest apology for causing trouble to you. This obvious difference in the way of thinking and language

behavior is completely consistent with the individual-oriented cultural value judgment of the British and Americans.

It is worth mentioning that pragmatic analysis is generally limited to the sentence level

and business English letters with Chinese cultural thinking patterns and expressions

Letter is a pragmatic error remains to be further studied. However, there should be no doubt that Chinese-style business English letters are influenced by Chinese psychological culture and thinking expression methods.

3. Conclusion

Business English letter writing is a kind of cross-cultural communication, it is not

The expression of thinking in the context of Chinese business culture in the English language Simple conversion on symbols

. Learners must be proficient in business English communication skills. They must not only master its complex language expressions, but also understand its deep cultural connotations and be familiar with the pragmatic rules of business communication. , in this way

Only in order to avoid no or few pragmatic mistakes in expression. [8] American foreign language teaching expert Winston Brembeck said: "Using a teaching method that only teaches language but not culture can only cultivate big fools who are fluent in language."

Of course, the barriers of cultural differences are not completely insurmountable. If business English writing teaching organically combines the cultivation of expression ability and business cultural pragmatic ability

then students’ cross-cultural business English communication ability

It can achieve the level of accuracy and ease of use.

(Editor: Song Xiaohui, proofreader: Peng Haihe)

[References]

[1] He Ziran. Pragmatics and English Learning [M] Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1997: 2-6.

[2] Jin Huikang. Cross-Cultural Communication Translation [M] Beijing: China Translation Publishing Company, 2003: 11-24.

[3] Chen Hongwei. Basics of Chinese-English Translation [M] Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Publishing House, 1999: 18-39.

[4] Zhao Shikai. A Comparative Theory of English-Chinese Grammar[M] Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2001: 17-20.

[5]Pinkham Joan, The Translator's Guide to

< p>Chinglish[M]Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2000:

48-56.