英文商务信函感谢信（通用8篇）
英文商务信函感谢信 篇1
英文商务信函－感谢信
Dear Mr/Ms,
Thank you for your letter of June 4, enclosing an account of the organization and work of your Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
We are very grateful for such a detailed account of your activities. This information is certain to help increase our future cooperation.
Yours faithfully
尊敬的先生/小姐：
谢谢您六月四日的来信及随信附上的说明书，该说明书描述了你们工商总会的.工作与组织结构。对给我们一个你们活动如此详细的描述，我们表示非常感谢。这一信息一定能帮助促进我们未来的合作。
你诚挚的
英文商务信函感谢信 篇2
What importance does this concept of a double messagehave upon our writing and translating?Considered in its most fundamental terms, a business letter may be defined as a message that attempts to influence its recipient to take some action or attitude desired by the sender.This desired result may be of immediate importance, such as the collecting of a bill, or just an intangible attitude like goodwill.Therefore, we must make sure that the business letter is usually more formal than the other social letters stylistically.Considerably, a translated business letter should first be clear, stating its purposes so directly that there is no possibility of its being misunderstood.Secondly, the translated version should be exact, containing every detail which is necessary for translating the business letters in hand.Thirdly, a translated business letter should be concise.And the finally, a well-translated business letter should be courtesy.Here are the details that how a qualified translator of business letters should abide by.
1 Clarity
Dear Ms.Rutt,
Mr.Liver yesterday called our agent David saying that the mistake was his.As a result, his insurance has acquiesced.Therefore, we shall be repaired the full amount of our subrogation interest in his matter.
If this is satisfactory to you, please sign the attached release and forward it along with the copy of our accident report.
Yours sincerely,
F.Middleman
Version One
Dear Ms.Rutt,
Mr.Liver yesterday admitted his blame for your accident on January12.As a result, his insurance company had agreed to repay us the full amount ($2, ooo) for your collision damage.We are quite pleased at their willingness to settle out of court.
If this offer sounds acceptable to you, please sign the enclosed release and return it to us, along with the copy of our accident report.
Yours sincerely,
F.Middleman
Version Two
A business letter, the original, is effective only when it communicates the necessary ideas to its reader with clarity, so is the translated version.This seems to be a simple quality, but it is often ignored in actual practice.Let’s take a look at the following sample rendered from the Chinese version, which are some sentences abstracting from the business letters. (Cao Ling, 2003:23)
(1) The statement in version one, “Mr.Liver yesterday called our agent David saying that the mistake was his.”who does this“his”refer to?Mr.Liver or David?Checking it again in the original, we find that rendering in version two“Mr.Liver yesterday admitted his blame for your accident on January 12.”is just the meaning.
(2) The last sentence is another example:“...and forward it along with the copy of our accident report.”But to whom?The insurance company or writer?So the first translated version is not clear at all.Then the second translated is much better.
(3) The most important event about how to compensate is left out in the first version, as we all know, if a writer or translator leaves out something the reader should know in doing something or forming certain opinion, the clarity of the business letter diminishes.In translated version one, Mr.Middleman did not mention the amount of money the insurance company will pay.So only the amount of compensation is laid out in version two, can Ms.Rutt accept it satisfactorily?
(4) Some others can also make the translated version not clear, just as quoting some jargon (e.g.subrogation interest) , which the reader may not understand easily;the irrelevant information (e.g.agent David) , which not only makes the letter less clear, also does the letter less concise.
2 Correctness
According to the characteristics of business letters (thesource text or language) , the diction must be neat, accurate and easily to read in order to attain success of business instead of some unnecessary frictions or lawsuits.The principle, correctness, is same as the criterion“faithfulness”for any other types of translation;i.e., “faithfulness”—to be faithful to the content of the original” (Liu Zhongde, 2003:24) , and it is the most important in the translation.So is for the translation of business letters.The ideas of the rendered version must be as exact as ones of the original, even more accurate than the latter.Let us see the examples:
(1) 相信阁下业已收到司徒先生的通知:须藤先生意同佐藤先生在原址组建东京商行, 并继续同类业务的合作。
译文1:You will probably have received a notification from Mr.Sudo, he will build a new company named Tokyo Shokai with Mr.Sato and continue in the same line of business in the old premises.
译文2:You will probably have received a notification from Mr.Sudo to the effect that he intends to continue in the same line of business in the old premises, forming a new partnership with Mr.Sato, under the title of the Tokyo Shokai. (qtd.Gong Xueping)
It is obviously to see that the first version can not express the exact ideas of“在原址组建”, the implied meaning which the formerly partnership has been dissolved;“并继续同类业务的合作”the partnership with Mr.Sato is under the title of the new company“东京商行”, not under the style of the other companies especially, the old company.
(2) 兹任命原大和商行的股东——山岛先生为该公司的帐务清算人, 他将负责清偿一切负债并收回该公司的所有欠款。
译文1:Mr.Yamagata, formerly a partner, who has been appointed the liquidator, will discharge all liabilities, and all accounts must be paid him.
译文2:Mr.Yamagata, formerly a partner, who has been appointed the liquidator of the late firm, will discharge all liabilities, and all accounts due to the late firm must be paid him. (qtd Gong Xueping)
A Chinese linguist points out“If you want to make the text concise, the pronouns can not be used any more;if you want to make the text accurate, the nouns should be repeated.”So the translator of the second version adding the phrases“of the late firm”and“due to the late firm”makes the idea more accurate closer to the original.Just as the mentioned above, the exactness is the most important criterion for the translation of business letters.Furthermore, using“big words” (archaism or the elegant and formal words) instead of the“small words”to limit the semantic meanings is still for the purpose of exactness. (Wang Zuoliang, 1987:290) “liquidator”, “liabilities”are more suitable than“receiver”and“debt”to express the business relationships, also prove the view.
3 Conciseness
To be conciseness is to express a message completely in as few words as possible.In business correspondence, this means increased effectiveness and decreased costs.Wordy expressions and redundancies are the major blunders to overcome to communicate concisely.Because English and Chinese are the two different languages, the former is hypotactic, like a tall tree with lots of branches and leaves;but the latter is paratactic, like a flourished flower with many petals.Thus, getting the conciseness, the translators should endeavor to convert the structure from a“flourished flower”into a“tall tree”during the translating of business letters by the means of avoiding wordiness and redundancies (except the repetition used for emphasize, redundancy should be avoided in business letters.
1. 他重复强调, 我们应该遵守规定。
译文1:He repeated again that we should follow the rules.
译文2:He repeated that we should follow the rules. (Sue Kay, 2003:65)
2. 请问误期会有什么后果。
译文1:Please be kind enough to advise us what will happen in the event of a delay?
译文2: (Could you) Please tell me what will happen if there is a delay. (Sue Kay, 2003:66)
3.我公司已召开了关于销售指数的会议。
译文1:Our company has called a meeting to hold a discussion about the sales figures.
译文2:We have called a meeting to discuss the sales figures.
(3) :兹通知阁下:经双方一致同意, 即日解散与贵公司合伙组织的大和商行。 (qtd.Gong Xueping)
译文1:After reaching the mutual agreement, we inform you that the partnership existed between us under the style of the Yamato Shokai has been dissolved.
译文2:We inform you that the partnership hitherto existed between us under the style of the Yamato Shokai has this day been dissolved by mutual consent.
Comparing the each two versions, we can be certain of that the second one is much better in keeping the characteristic of conciseness on the condition that the meaning must be accurate Because, particularly in business, people do not have the time to spend reading long, rambling letters or trying to decipher difficult writing (translated business letters) .And it is worthy to mention that it is better to use one sentence for each paragraph to lay out one subject although the original (Chinese) is full of short sentences of phrases to correct and concise information. (see the example3)
In one word, the principles for Chinese-English translation of business letters are the same as the ones for the other types:faithfulness and closeness, as well as more concise, correct and clearer in order to correspond to the features of the original.Of course, there still existed the other principles, like courtesy, consideration, and completeness, etc, for the translation of business letters.But the three discussed in the essay are basic principles.Only a translator does these well, can he reach the aim of helping people to communicating each other efficiently in the era of business transaction by the means of business letters.
4 Courtesy
To be polite is a basic principle for business letter, so is one of its translation principles.Wherever necessary, do not forget to say“thank you, ”“would you please...”, “we would appreciate it...”etc.however, courtesy in business translation is more than just a well-timed“thank you”or“would you please...”A welltranslated courteous letter should be polite, considerate and tactful.To accomplish this goal, several blunders during the translation should be avoided.
1.Avoid suspicion (避免怀疑)
Phrases like“if what you said is true...”, if...as you allege...”may result in the impression that you seem suspicious of reader’s integrity.This is no good to evoke a favorable reaction.Compare the following examples:
Version A:We received the letter in which you claimed that the timer was defective at the time of purchase. (poor)
Version B:We have noticed in your letter that the timer was defective at the time of purchase. (better)
Version A:If the goods were damage in shipment, as you allege, we... (poor)
Version B:As you mentioned the goods were damaged in shipment, we... (better)
2. Avoid accusation (避免指责)
Whenever you wish to evoke a favorable reaction from the reader, do not accuse or reprimand him or her.Phrases like“you neglected”, “you forgot”, “you omitted”may risk offending your reader with accusation.Try to compare the following pairs of examples and think about your possible reaction if you are the reader.
Version A:You obviously ignored our request that you return the report by registered mail. (Poor)
Version B:We did request that you return the report by registered mail. (Better)
Version A:You did not read the operating instruction for the machine carefully. (Poor)
Version B:To enjoy the full benefits of the new machine you should follow the operation instruction carefully. (Better)
3. Avoid talking down (避免居高临下)
In the translation of business letters, the tone of superiority usually has destructive effects, if the writer and the reader aim to cooperate on an equal basis.Please compare the following pair examples:
Version A:In an establishment as large as ours, we seldom.. (Poor)
Version B:Please notice that it is not our common practice to... (Better)
Version A:We shall allow you to... (poor)
Version B:We shall be glad to have you... (better)
Version A:You may call me at... (poor)
Version B:Please call me at...
摘要：加入世界贸易组织极大地刺激了我国与世界其他国家商务交易的一致性。因而, 商务信函的翻译越来越体现出它的重要性。商务信函的翻译也是一种语言转换, 要求翻译工作者不但要遵循其他文本翻译的标准, 而且更要注重精确、精练、清晰和礼貌等原则。该文作者试图探讨上述原则在商务信函汉英翻译中运用。
关键词：商务信函,翻译,原则
参考文献
[1] Cao Ling.English Business Letters[M].Beijing:Foreign Lan guage and Research Press, 2003.
[2] Chen Zhongcheng.Conciseness for Translation of Legislation [C]//Fang Mengzhi, Ma Bingyi.Chinese- English Translation. Tourism Education Press of Bejing, 1996.
[3] Gong Xueping.Translation of Business English[Z].Lecture handout.Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, 7 September, 2012.
[4] Sue Kay.Practical Business writing: A Guide to Improving Writing in English[M].translated by Wang Xiaoming.Beijing: Beijing Institute of Technology Press, 2003.
也谈如何撰写英文商务信函 篇3
商务信函是一种“推销”函，可以说，你的“推销”是否成功，关键取决于你信函中信息的表达方式和内容。信函写得好，就可能为你赢利新的业务，有助于促进和发展你同客户的关系，也能够消除彼此间的误会，缩小分歧；反之，你也可能因此招致新的矛盾，失去原有客户。因此，我们可以这样说，良好的商业往来，从一封好的商务信函开始的。
一、英文商务信函的构成要素
英文商务信函的构成大体上可分为两个部分：必需部分和增加部分。必需部分指在一般情况下不可缺少的部分；增加部分指根据对象、内容的实际需要而增加的部分。在下面表格中带“*”号的为必要部分，其余为可增加部分。
1.信头（Letterhead）*
2.发信日期（Date）*
3.编号 （Serial Number; Reference Number ）
4.封内收信人地址（Inside Address）*
5.指定收信人姓名（Attention Line）
6.称呼（Salutation）*
7.事由（Subject Line or Heading）
8.开头语（Opening Sentence）
9.正文（Body）*
10.结尾语（Closing Sentence）
11.客套结束语（Complimentary Close） *
12.签名（Signature）*
13.主办人代号（Identification Mark）
14.附件注明（Enclosure Notation）
15.附笔（Postscript）
16.复本注明（Carbon Copy Notation）
二、各构成要素的写作技法
1.信头（Letterhead）
信头又信端，一般包括公司名称、地址，也可含电报挂号、电传挂号、传真号码、电话号码、网址（Web Site）、电子邮件地址（E-mailAddress）等内容。通常采取印刷方式或打字方式。如：
2.发信日期（Date）
有英美之分。英式的写法常把日期写在月份的前面，而美式的写法常把月份写在日期的前面，是期常用基数词，也可用序数词。年份之前的逗号可省略。如:３rd April,1999或３April199（英式）；May24th，1999或May24 1999美式）。
3.封内收信人地址（Inside Address）
一般在信箋的左面，沿左面边线写起。书写时要注意语序与中文恰好相反：小的单位放前，大的单位放在后，如：
Mr. Robert Keats
Director of Personnel
Windsor Knitting Mills Inc.
295 Magnolia Avenue
Spartanburg, South Carolina 29301
The United States of America
4.称呼（Salutation）
称呼是写信人对收信人的称呼，其位置在封内地址下两至三行。称呼后英式写法常用逗号，美式多用冒号。特别应该注意的是“Gentlemen”这一称呼用于泛称已多年，但今天已被认为有性别歧视，用“Ladies and Gentlemen”代之已呈趋势。
5.正文（Body）
正文是信函的主体，表达写信人的具体愿望、要求、看法等，最好一段表达一个意思。需两页或更多信纸时，应在续页上注明收集人名称、页数、日期。
6.客套结束语（Complimentary Close）
客套语是写信人对收信人的一种谦称，写法很多，写信人可根据与收信人的关系来选用不同的说法。如：
(1)亲密式:Cordially,Cordially Yours,Intimately Yours,
(2)普通式:Sincerely, Sincerely Yours,Yours Sincerely,
Very Sincerely Yours,
(3)正式:Your truly,Very truly yours,yours Very truly,
yours faithfully, Faithfully yours
(4)(最正式:Respectfully,Respectfully yours,Yours respectfully,
Very respectfully
(5)随意式:Love,Cheers! With love, Best wishes, Best regards,
Warmest regards,Your devoted friend, See you in Phoenix!等
6.签名（Signature）
签名要在结束语下面签，这样能使人感到对方重视此事，严肃认真，也能使对方感到亲切。
总之，商务信函作为一种“推销”函，在商务活动中有着举足轻重的地位。可以说，良好的商业往来，是从一封好的商务信函开始的。要想撰写出一封好得商务信函，除了我们上述介绍的一些写作手法以外，还需要我们具备相关的业务知识，掌握好法规和条款，具备扎实的语言基础。
英文商务信函写作格式 篇4
英文信函分为混合式和齐头式。
混合式：每一段的首行缩进两格。落款在信末中间靠右下的位置。
齐头式：信的所有内容都靠左，段与段之间空一行。
英文信函的习惯用法，由以下几个方面组成：
(1)信头 The heading
信头是指信纸上印刷或打印的企业名称、厂称、地址、电话号码、电报挂号、主管人姓名等。通常情况下，公司都会专门印制带有信头的信笺纸，包括发信人的姓名，地址，电话，传真等。当我们撰写传统信件时，直接使用这种信笺纸就可以。
(2)编号和日期 The reference number and the date
方便以后查信使用。Your ref:（你方编号）Our ref:（我方编号）
日期通常打印在信头的右下方位置，或在寄信人姓名和地址的下方位置。日期的英式写法是日、月、年；美式写法是月、日、年。为了避免误解，日期、年份用数字表示，月份则用英文表示，第一个字母要大写，也可用缩写。比如May，1998(美式写法)；1，May，1998(英式写法)。
(3)信内地址 The inside address
与信封上的收信人名称和地址相同，通常打印在信纸的左侧，低于日期位置2—4行，也可在签字位置下2—4行。
书写收信单位名称时，应特别尊重对方的习惯，不能随意增删公司名称前的冠词The，也不能随意改用繁写及缩写，如Company与Co.之间不能互换，否则会被认为是不礼貌的行为。收信人地处的书写格式与信封相同。
(4)称谓 The salutation
在英文信函中，相同于“阁下”、“先生”等类礼貌性称谓，常用Dear sirs”；称呼企业，公司的妇女组织常用Madams，Ladies；无具体收信人姓名用Dear Sir or Madam 称呼收信者。
收信人是个人，就应在收信人姓名之前加称谓，如Mr.(先生)，Mrs.(夫人)，Miss(小姐)，Hon(用于称呼市长、部长、大使等)，Pres.(总经理、会长、总统等)，Prof.(教授)等等。
(5)开头语The open sentences
开头语没有统一的格式，但习惯上先用客套的语句把收到对方来信的日期，主题及简单内容加以综合叙述，使对方一目了然这是答复哪一封去信的。如果是第一次通信，也可以利用开头语作必要的自我介绍，并表明目的要求。开头语一般与正文分开，自成一节，要求简单明了。
(6)正文 The body of the letter
正文的地位和内容与中文书信相同。在英文商业信函中，信文从称谓下两行起书写，行间相距一行，段落间空两行。信文以占信纸的四分之三为宜，四周留出一定空白，每一行左起第一字要取齐，右起第一字不必一律取齐，但尽量要考虑到整齐美观。
(7)结尾语The closing sentences
结尾语一般用来总结文本所谈的事项，提示对收信人的要求，如“希望来信来函定货”，“答复询问”等，另外也附加一些略带客套的语气。正文结束后，另起一段写结尾语。
(8)结束语 The complimentary close
英文商业信函的结尾是写信人的谦称，相当于“敬上”的意思。若收信者为公司，谦称则常用：Yours Truly，Truly Yours，Yours faithfully等；若收信者为个人，则常用：Yours sincerely，Sincerely yours等。需要注意的是，结尾的谦称后必须加逗号。
(9)签署 The signature
签署由两部分组成，一是写信人的签名，二是打印出的写信人的姓名。签名用钢笔或圆珠笔写在结尾谦称下5行的位置内。尽量不要用印章，用印章的话，说明该信件并非本人亲自过目，只是通函而已，不为人重视。为易于辨认，在签名下还应打印姓名，有时还将职衔一并打印。常见的职衔有：Chairman of the Board of directors(董事长)，President或Genera1 Manager(总经理)，Director(董事)，Stand Director(常务董事)，Manager(经理)，Head of Department(职员)，Manageress(女经理)，Head of a Department(处长)，Section chief(科长)等。
需要指出的是，写信人如要代表企业单位或代理签署时，应在结尾谦称下打印出全部大写的企业单位名称，然后才签署，以表明该信不是以写信人个人身份写的，信由所述事宜均由企业单位负责。（10）、附件 Enclosure
如果信中有附件，应在左下角注明Encl.或Enc.。
例如：
Encls: 2 Invoices Enc.: 1 B/Lading(11)其它
商业信函除上述内容外，还经常遇到以下情况：
①写信人提请对方特定人员注意时，可在信内姓名及地址的下面或在称呼同一行之右侧说明，并加上Attn.(Attention的缩写)字祥，也可在字下划横线表示。
②写信人为使对方迅速、正确地理解信所谈的主题与目的，常在信内列出“事由”项，记在信文的上方，并在Subject底下划横线，以提醒对方注意。
③为便于商业信函留存查阅并分清责任，书信下部注有发信人及打字员姓名的第一个字母，位于署名下两行的左下方。
④为说明信所附附件，便于收信人清点，可在发信人及打字员姓名的字母下行加注。
⑤如信文写完后需要补充一点，或加附与信文主题无关的简短内容时，可在信文末尾附件下加附言，用P.S.(Postscript的缩写)引导。
对国外商业业务往来信函的结构格式举例如下：
日期 May,20,1998,收信人 Mach &.Welson，地址340 Camedle Ave Kemlworttl，N.T, 注意 Attn：Mr.Jack G.Johnson
SCHARFMAN BROS.INC
CABLE ADDRESS Export一Manufacturers TELEPHONES 信头 HEMPSTS Representatives一Importers(516)292一1750
Sauco 393 FRONT STREET
TELEX: 96-7725 HEMPSTED
NEW YORK 11550 称呼 Dear Sirs。
Thank you for your interest in the MEYLAN line Of stopwatches，timing device，etc。
信文：
We are leased to inform you that we act as extensive export representatives for MEYLAN CORP。
P1ease advice if you are interested in receiving our full catalog and price list。
信尾谦称 Very truly yours，公司名称 SCHRTFMAN BROS.INC.签 字
写信人姓名 Michael Seharfmah
写信人职务 Manager
发信人及打字员 MS／am
附 件 Encl.One
样信一：
1、收信人的邮箱
2、发信人的邮箱
3、写信日期：写日期时，请注意以下几点： a.年份要写完整，不能用03代替2003。
b.月份要写英文名称，不能用数字来代替，如31/3/03 不能在正式的信件中出现。但是可
以用英文缩写，比如用Aug.代替August。
4、时间
5、主题
6、称呼
7、正文
8、结束语
9、签名
10、联系方法：
商务信函中英文 篇5
贵公司20xx年x月x日函收悉。函中所诉20xx年1月7日《购买电脑桌合同》中，所收的35套黄花牌电脑桌部分出现接口破裂一事，深表歉意，此事已引起我方高度重视，现已就此事进行调查。
经有关邵门查实：我厂生产的xxxx型黄花牌电脑桌，出厂时，经质检部门检验全部为优质产品。函中所提的部分电脑桌出现接口破裂，是由于我方工人在出仓时搬运不懊造成的。衬贵公司的损失，我公司再次深表歉意，并请贵公司尽快提供电脑桌受损的详细数字及破损程度，以及公证人证明和检验证明书，我介司将以最快的速度按实际损失给予无条件赔偿。 对此，我们将引以为戒，查找工作中存在的问题和不足，制仃改正措施杜绝此类事件的发生。 希望能够得到责公司谅解，继续保持良好的贸易往来关系。
候复
英文商务信函－通知对方接到来信 篇6
Dear Mr/Ms,
We have today received with thanks information concerning transactions on the New York Wheat Exchange which will be made full use of by our research department.
We look forward to further cooperation with you.
Yours faithfully
尊敬的先生/小姐：
我们今天收到了有关纽约小麦交易所的业务信息，非常感谢，我们的研究部门将充分利用这些信息。
期待与你进一步合作。
英文商务信函感谢信 篇7
关键词：体裁,体裁教学法,英语商务信函,促销信
English business letter writing has generally been considered as one of the essential activities in business communication.Different from other writing, English business letter has high structural formation, language features and specific communicative purposes.However, the traditional teaching is incapable of reaching a satisfactory result in English business writing.In most Chinese colleges, more emphasis will be laid on the analysis and correction of vocabulary, sentence structure and grammar instead of conducting students from the perspective of the discourse of the English business letter.Therefore, the genre-based teaching approach is introduced in English business letter writing.
Genre approach is relatively a new concept which mainly studies linguistic variations, communicative purposes and linguistic strategies.Emerging in 1980s, its purpose is to instruct students that different discourses have different genres which convey different discourse structures and communicative purposes.It also hammers at leading students to get hold of the schematic structure of a discourse, and thus comprehend the process of constructing a discourse in a certain genre or context.
In the following chapters, the author will further introduce the related literature on genre-based teaching approach and English business letter, also the application of genre-based teaching approach on English business letter will be touched upon.
1 Genre-based Teaching Approach
Genre-based teaching approach, having communicative purpose as its foundation, was originated in 1980s.By applying the genre theory and genre analysis to the classroom and developing teaching activities according to the text, this approach is mainly on the basis of the genre analysis.According to different theoretical and pedagogical orientations, Hyon (1996) first distinguished three schools in this area, they are:English for Specific Purpose (ESP) , New Rhetoric and Australian School.
1.1 English for specific purpose
Researchers in ESP regard genre as a tool to analyze and teach the non-native speakers with the spoken and written language in academic and professional settings (Bhatia, 1993;Flowerdrew, 1993;Gosden, 1992;Hopkins&Dudley-Evans, 1998) .They also take genres as oral and written text types which are defined by their features and their communicative purposes in social context.
In their analyses of texts, a number of ESP scholars emphasize more on the formal characteristics of genres instead of on the specialized functions of texts and their social contexts.Many researchers have used move analyses to describe discourse structure of certain genres such as experimental research papers (Swales, 1981, 1990a) .Some have paid more attention on such grammatical features as verb tense and passive voice.
1.2 New rhetoric school
Another school is New Rhetoric which is supported by those who work on writing studies, rhetoric and professional writing in North America.Unlike ESP, researchers in New Rhetoric School have focused more on the contexts, the social purposes and the realization of the genres in these situations (Bazerman, 1988) .According to Bazerman, if a person understand more about the fundamental assumptions and aims of the community, he will be better at evaluating whether the rhetorical approaches to the task are appropriate and effective.Compared with the other two schools, New Rhetoric advocates have been concerned more with the role of genre theory in helping college students acquaint the social functions of genres and the context in which these genres are used (秦秀白, 2000) .
1.3 Australian school
Different from ESP and New Rhetoric researchers, Australian school favorers focus more on such non-professional texts as primary and secondary school genres instead of on academic and professional writing.Scholars in this area have developed"curriculum genre"which means teacher and students shall work through a sequence of stages in order to achieve a particular goal.
In summary, ESP, New Rhetoric, and systemic functional scholarship offer different approaches to defining and analyzing spoken and written genres.And these different theoretical perspectives will be reflected in the genre-based teaching applications developed in the following section.
2 Studies on English Business Letter
2.1 Introduction to English business letter
Business English is a combination of English and business knowledge which includes finance, law, advertisement, secretary and so on.Since it involves different fields of knowledge and different styles of writing, it is not an easy thing for us to teach and learn.Generally speaking, business letter is to receive and transmit business information, to give or accept an offer, and to address business affairs, etc..
2.2 Previous Approaches to Business Letter Writing
2.2.1. The product approach
The product approach was first used with the emphasis on the form, grammar and syntax (Nordin, 2006) .Students being instructed with the product approach are required to complete the writing task through stimulating a provided pattern.Product approach generally pays more attention on the accuracy of language points used in written production rather than on the process of writing, which overlooks the writing processes and in favor of the process approach.
2.2.2. The process approach
In the 70s, the process approach was introduced to help students to write in stages.Unlike the product approach, process approach focuses on a process sequence of prewriting, drafting, evaluating and revising.However, the process approach has also received much criticism in recent years.Atkinson (2003) expresses his disagreement by pointing out that it fail to consider the social and cultural factors.Xuan (2013) also indicates that the biggest limitation of process approach is its neglection of the variation of the genres in different texts.
Consequently, a new approach in English writing is needed to put forward and promote, and genre-based approach is such an appropriate approach which improves the weakness of the two approaches.
3 The Application of Genre-based Teaching Ap-proach to English Business Letter
In light of the theory of genre analysis and recent pedagogic practice of genre approach, the author attempts to design a genrebased model in the teaching of English business letter writing by taking sales promotion letter as an example.
3.1 Self-directed analysis and learning stage
This stage is designed to help students have a initial understanding of sales promotion letters.There are two steps in this stage.First, students are required to finish an assignment at the beginning of the class.After finishing the assignment, the students will have a model study comparing with the compositions they just write.Meanwhile, teacher, giving proper guidelines, will try to encourage students to ponder over the following questions:
1) What is sales promotion letter?
2) What is the communicative purpose of the promotion letter?
3) What is the structure of the promotion letter?
In this stage, students will have a more impressive understanding on the structure and will thus find out what their shortages are when composing a sales promotion letter.
3.2 In-depth analysis stage
This stage is designed to confirm the answers of the questions in the first stage and give students a deeper analysis of language and style of the genre.This stage will be realized by the following steps.
Step one:What is sales promotion letter and what is its communicative purpose?
As a sub-category of business letters, sales promotion letter refers to“an unsolicited letters addressed to a selected group of prospective customers in order to persuade them to buy a product or service” (Bhatia, 1993) .From the definition we know that sales promotion letters is persuasive, in this sense.It aims to elicit a specific response from its readers.
Step two:What is the structure of the promotion letter?
In this step, a basic move structure of sales promotion letter will be instructed to the students, in order to establish a basic framework in students’mind, together with the analysis of the sample sales promotion letter.
Bhatia argues the move structure of sales promotion letter is as follows Table 1 (Bhatia, 1993) .
Based on Table 1, the teacher will further analyze the move structure of the model composition, aiming to help students understand the structure of the letter.
Next the teacher will further analyze in detail how the moves achieve the communicative purpose in the sales promotion letter.
Step Three:Analyze the lexical-grammatical features of sales promotion letter
1) Use of the concise and positive words
For the feature of customer-targeted, the words in sales promotion letter should be correct and concise so as to introduce and attract the prospective customers.
2) Use of compound modifiers
As for arousing customers’attention and keep conciseness at the same time, there are more modifiers putting before the noun, for the reason of expressing more essential information with structural simplicity.
3) Use of positive voice
In sales promotion letter, more positive voice sentences are used rather than passive ones.This is supposed to be related to the psychology of customers, for more positive voice sentences will making them feel positive and thus actively buy the good or service.
4) Use of present tense and present perfect tense
Present tense sentence indicates the usualness and habituation of the action, the present state and even the truth.In sales promotion letter, present tense is usually used to imply the durability and immutability of the goods or services.
Step Four:Analyze cohesive device
As for the fluency of the letter, the writer should apply come kinds of cohesive devices to achieve the coherence.The cohesive device mainly used includes reference, substitution, ellipsis and conjunction. (Haliday&Hasan, 1976)
3.3 Imitative Writing Stage
This stage is designed to help students put what they’ve learned into practice and thus be familiar with the generic structure and language of genre.In this stage, three steps are devised and arranged;they are prewriting, writing and revision.
4 Conclusion
In the above chapters, the thesis analyzes the application of genre-based approach in teaching English business letter by giving specific stages and steps in teaching English business letter.When applying genre approach to English business letter teaching, students will not only write in accordance with certain situation, but also can learn both the knowledge about language and the writing skills by means of the procedures mentioned above.The author hopes that the research could shed some light and offer guidance to English teachers and students.
参考文献
[1]Hyon S.Genre in three traditions:implication for ESL[J].TESOL Quarterly, 1996, 30 (4) , 693-722.
[2]Bhatia V K.Analyzing Genre:Language Use in Professional Settings[M].London:Longman, 1993.
[3]Flowerdew J.An educational, or process, approach to the teaching of professional genres[J].ELT Journal, 1993, 47:305-316.
[4]Gosden H.Discourse functions of marked theme in scientific research articles[J].English for Specific Purposes, 1992, 11:207-224.
[5]Hopkins A, Dudley-Evans T.A genre-based investigation of the discussion sections in articles and dissertations[J].English for Specific Purposes, 1988, 7:113—121.
[6]Swales, J.M.Aspects of article introductions (Aston ESP Research Report 1) [R].Birmingham, England:University of Aston in Birmingham, Language Studies Unit.1981.
[7]Bazerman C.Shaping Writing Knowledge:The Genre and Activity of the Experimental Article in Science[M].Madison:University of Wisconsin Press, 1998.
[8]秦秀白.体裁教学法评述[J].外语教学与研究, 2000, 32 (1) :42-46.
[9]Nordin S M.Mohammad N B.The best of two approaches:process/genre-based approach to teaching writing[J].The English Teacher, 2006, 35 (6) :75-85.
[10]宣小菁, 金黎明.浅谈商务英语专业学生写作课中题材教学法[J].海外英语, 2012 (12) :94-95.
英文商务信函感谢信 篇8
【关键词】英文商务信函 模糊表达式 关联翻译理论
一、引言
自从中国加入WTO以来，中国的对外贸易日渐频繁。在中国的对外贸易过程中，商务信函作为一种重要的沟通手段，用词应该准确得当，避免使用模糊语以免发生争端。但在实际的调查中发现，商务信函中存在着大量的模糊表达式，正是由于这些模糊表达式的存在，使得话语更为严谨，更易达到沟通交流的目的。
二、文献回顾
1.模糊表达式的国外研究现状。美国加利福尼亚大学的教授、自动控制专家札德最早提出模糊理论。1965年，他在《信息与控制》杂志上发表的题为“模糊集”的文章，开创了模糊语言学这一新的学科。1994年舍奈尔出版《模糊语言》一书，详细阐述了其对模糊语义学的研究，将语用学的原理应用于模糊语言。
2.模糊表达式的国内研究现状。1979年，北师大伍铁平教授，在Foreign Language上发表论文“模糊语言初探”中最早运用模糊理论对语言模糊性进行研究，并于1998年将该篇文章收录于他的著作《模糊语言学》一书，开创了我国模糊语言学的先河，标志着模糊语言学在中国的诞生。1990年，何自然发表论文“浅论语用含糊”，在其论文中提出语用含糊这一概念，指出在语用中，话语的命题是非离散型的。
3.英文商务信函中模糊表达式翻译的研究现状及存在的问题。笔者通过检索中国知网，从2000年至今仅有7篇文献是研究英文商务信函中模糊表达式的翻译策略，由此可以看出前人对该领域的研究具有一定的局限性。
三、理论框架
丹·斯珀伯和迪尔德丽·威尔逊在《关联：交际与认知》一书中提出的关联理论。1991年，威尔逊的学生恩斯特·奥古斯特.格特发表了博士论文《翻译与关联：认知与语境》，提出了关联翻译理论，从一个全新的角度对翻译进行了研究。
依据格特的理论，在翻译过程中应以最佳关联原则为指导，以受众认知能力期待为准则，采取合适的翻译方法帮助译文读者找到原文与译文语境之间的最佳关联，引导受众以最小的努力获得最大的语境效果。1994年，林克难在《中国翻译》发表《关联与翻译》的书评，首次把关联翻译理论介绍给我国读者。1999年，赵彦春发表论文“关联理论对翻译的解释力”，文章中他指出，交际的成功取决于两个条件，一是交际双方的“互明”，二是最佳认知模式——关联性。要确定交际者的暗含意义，受体就要寻找话语和语境之间的最佳关联。语境效果好，推理时所付出的努力就小，关联性就强；语境效果差，推理时所付出的努力就大，关联性就弱。
四、关联翻译理论指导下英文商务信函中模糊表达式的翻译方法
根据关联翻译理论，翻译是一种交际行为，注重交际者的意图和听者的期待。译文是依据交际者的意图和期待来进行取舍的。译者从原交际者明示的交际信息中寻找最佳关联性，再把这种关联性传递给受体。以这种翻译模式为切入点，针对不同种类的模糊表达式，我们可以总结出以下翻译方法：
1.直译法。例1：Favorably impressed with the fine quality of our products and the reasonable price， many customers have kept placing substantial orders with us.
由于我方产品质地优良、价格合理而给客户留下了良好印象，所以许多客户不断向我方大量订货。
例1中存在模糊的表达，Favorably impressed，fine quality，reasonable price，many和substantial orders，这几种模糊的表达分别译成留下了良好印象，质地优良，价格合理，许多和大量订货。译者采用这种翻译方法，更符合中国人的语言表达习惯，认为该价格可能会低于其他供货商的价格。
2.增译法。例2：As compared with rival makes， your product is better.
和竞争者的制品相比，你的产品略胜一筹。
例2中存在模糊表达式better，译者将better增译为四字格短语“略胜一筹”，更符合汉语言的表达习惯，增词“略”准确传达了发信人的意图，达到了最佳的交际效果。
3.省译法。例3：Our cost of raw materials has risen sharply in the past three months and it is impossible for us to reduce the price by 20% as you requested.
近三个月来原材料的涨幅极大，因此我方无法把价格消减到20%这个水平。
例3中存在模糊表达as you requested，译者将“如你方要求”直接省略，不仅符合英文商务信函语言简洁的这一特点，且不影响收信人领会发件人的表达意图。
在翻译英文商务信函的过程中，译者要掌握两种语言的表达习惯，根据最佳关联的原则，正确推理出原文作者的意图，恰当地使用直译、增译和省译法，向译文读者明示该意图，到达交际目的。
参考文献：
[1]兰天.外贸英语函电[M].大连：东北财经大学出版社，2004.
[2]姜望琪.语用学——理论及应用[M].北京：北京大学出版社， 2000.