The Renovated Writing Strategies of Business English Correspondence

罗芷扬?林旭涛

【Abstract】High quality of correspondence can promote the mutual understanding in business when achieving the expectation of communication and hence to make a deal effectively. This paper， combined with the authors personal working experience， sheds light on that a successful foreign trade English correspondence should be comprised of eight strategies with a newly discovered writing principle .

【Key words】foreign trade English correspondence; writing strategies; creditability

【作者簡介】罗芷扬，林旭涛（通讯作者），广东技术师范大学。

1. Introduction

With the development of global trade， foreign trade English correspondence is becoming a fast and efficient way to express the information of demand between buyers and sellers. Broadly speaking， there are eight writing strategies in foreign trade English correspondence， the first seven of them have been thoroughly described in present literatures， and the last one， creditability， was derived from my experience when working in a foreign trade company. Through the research， I discovered the remarkable significance of writing credible business letters.

2. The 8C writing strategies in foreign trade English correspondence

Conventionally， the seven commonly acknowledged writing strategies in foreign trade English correspondence are Courtesy， Clarity， Correctness， Completeness， Concreteness， Conciseness and Consideration. In addition， we should add the eighth strategy， Credibility， to increase the trustiness of correspondence so that the integrality of writing strategies can be achieved.

Courtesy is of great importance when writing a business letter. In this strategy， words selected cannot be rude or annoying. We should polish our words to make them persuasive so that customers may feel comfortable and trustful in what you said.     Clarity is also what we should focus when writing letters， we have to express ourselves as clearly as possible and choose the expressions that directly conform to writing intent without confusion. A case in point is from the essay of Honglin He， The Effect of Business English Correspondence in Foreign Trade. Here is the expression， “As to the steamer sailing from Shanghai to Los Angeles， we have bimonthly direct services.” In this sentence， “bimonthly” can be taken as “twice a month” or “once two months”， it creates a vague message that baffles the readers. Correctness is the essence of the entire foreign trade English correspondence. Firstly， grammar and words should be used correctly. Secondly， the information conveyed therein should be authentic and approved by the team leaders. The completeness of business correspondence means you should include all the necessary information and emphasize your professionalism and willingness of serving your clients to the best. Concreteness is a strategy that could not be neglected. Only the key information should be presented in letters to enhance the effectiveness of communication. Conciseness of writing indicates the ability that depends on how experienced you are in your work， such as the techniques of summarizing your views in brief expressions. Consideration in writing can be achieved by employing the You-attitude instead of We-attitude show more respect and make the readers feel privileged and focused.

Creditability is a lately discovered but indispensable principle in English business writing. First， the creditability in entrepreneurship represents the integrity in business world. The quotations based on similar but inaccurate products parameters for time saving will result in a false presentation of the orders and ultimately your customers will be lost. Its your credibility that ensures a sound and long-range business relationship. Second， the creditability in promises lays a foundation of mutual trust. Failing in replacing the faulty products will heavily damage a companys reputation and lose its market niche in the strong competition.

3. Conclusion

Under the circumstance of the growing international trade and continuous integration of the cultural environment， business English correspondence is supposed to update itself with the times and improve the level professionalism and skills to make sure that business trade can proceed and close successfully. The relating research still moves on and is always worthwhile for us to explore more in its writing strategies and language features.

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