Abstract

With the prospective of foreign trade and the enduring growth of business activities, China has become one of the dominant economies in the world. Meanwhile, business communication has gained much popularity in China. As an important and specific method of communication with other foreign economies, English business correspondence is frequently used. The application of business correspondence determines the mutual communication of both sides and the realization of the transaction. Thus, it is widely believed that the research of business correspondence on the stylistic features will help improve the efficiency and quality of business communication. The present thesis aims to explore business correspondence from the perspective of stylistics and analyzes the stylistic features of business correspondence. What’s more, this thesis is expected to bring the role of business correspondence in business communication into full play and help the business correspondents better use this special communication tool.

Key words: English business correspondence; Stylistics; Stylistic Features 

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1 Introduction-1

2 Literature Review-2

2.1 Definition of Key Terms-2

2.1.1 Stylistics-2

2.1.2 Business Correspondence-3

2.2 Review of Previous Research-6

3 Lexical Features-7

3.1 Terminology of English Business Correspondence-7

3.2 Abbreviation in English Business Correspondence-8

4 Syntactic Features-9

4.1 Heavy Use of Literary Sentences-10

4.2 Massive Use of Long Sentences-10

4.3 Frequent Use of Varied Sentence Patterns-11

5 Discourse Features-12

5.1 Cohesive Ties in English Business Correspondence-12

5.2 Short and Pithy Space of English Business Correspondence-13

5.3 Active and Passive Voice in English Business Correspondence-14

6 Conclusion-15

References-17