商务英语坏消息信封中的情态分析

发布时间：2016-05-13 10:15

Chapter One Introduction

With the fast pace of economic booming era, international business in today’sworld plays a significant role and pushes a driving force in human civilization. Since theinternational business activities rely on the successful exchange of information, theessential communicative skills are recognized as the key points by all the businesscommunities. In terms of the information transmission, there has been a large number ofcommunicative ways of negotiating business, such as business facsimile, telephone on-line, business visit, face-to-face bargaining and business letters. So, selecting one of thebest ways of communication has been a heated topic among many people. This chaptercan be divided into four parts: firstly introducing the research background; secondlystating the significance of the study; thirdly putting forward the research questions;finally designing the steps of studying. With the fast pace of economic booming era, international business in today’sworld plays a significant role and pushes a driving force in human civilization. Since theinternational business activities rely on the successful exchange of information, theessential communicative skills are recognized as the key points by all the businesscommunities. In terms of the information transmission, there has been a large number ofcommunicative ways of negotiating business, such as business facsimile, telephone on-line, business visit, face-to-face bargaining and business letters. So, selecting one of thebest ways of communication has been a heated topic among many people. It is regardedthat business languages within the written or the oral form should not only be the toolsfor the two parties involved but also the evidence to achieve their mutual benefits in theprocess of the negotiation in order to avoid the tough possible problems in a very strictand formal way. Meanwhile, business letters, among the above tools of communication,remain an indispensable part in the exchanging of business information in differentnations. Including selling products and doing services, making a request and answeringthe inquiries, maintaining public relations and sorting the various business data,business letters never fail to set up the goodwill between clients, creditors, suppliers,and other public groups. English, as the world universal language, nowadays has beenan effective and proper way to achieve a business goal in both oral and written communication. Thus, how to use this language to promote and negotiate becomes aheated topic in the study of discourse analysis.While receiving the messages, the letter receivers are not always showing thevery satisfying attitudes to the contents owing to the delaying of the letters delivered insuch a long distance and the possibilities of receiving bad news sometimes, so scholarsconclude several key points in the commercial intercourse, which are relevant withsome characteristics of those letters, like politeness, properness and accurateness toexpress clear and concise meaning. Also, it is not too hard to understand that writing ina polite way and walking in others’ shoes to show the writers’ respect and theirconsiderable understanding contributes to the passing on of the information, and thatselecting proper words, phrases and sentence patterns to state accurately straight to thepoint is another way to maintain sound relationship among letter senders and letterreceivers. To attain this, some writing techniques are expected to be used when themessages are sent to their counterparts.Because of the communicative skills included, business English letters are beingpaid too much attention among a large number of scholars both at home and abroad, andthey make great efforts to search all the possible meanings contained in this corpus,especially the interpersonal meaning from the deep structure instead of that from thesurface structure only.According to the systemic functional grammar, Halliday (1985) applied with asystemic-functional approach to the study of language and provided a great deal oflearners with three meta-functions to make further explanation of human language usedin different fields.
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Chapter Two Literature review

2.1 A review on modality in different fields
Since the studies on modality all have their own research significances and focuson different areas, which may include traditional and transformational-generativegrammar approach, semantic approach, pragmatic approach and systemic functionalapproach, the heated debate on the concept and classification of modality still does notcome to an agreement to many philosophers, logician and linguists both in China andabroad.From the perspective of the origin of modality, Aristotle mainly focused on thenotion of possibility, necessity and impossibility. Though he made studies on therelations between the three notions and drew the inspiration for the later studies, theresearch itself limited to the philosophical area.From a cognitive perspective, Sweester (2002) pointed out that modality refers toa special vocabulary area displaying the synchronic ambiguity between the internal andexternal world, which extends the concept from the domain of real world to the speechacts and from the sociophysical domain to epistemic domain.In traditional and transformational-generative grammatical approach, modality isconsidered as the meaning expressed by a series of modal auxiliaries. Scholars focus onthe syntactical and lexical levels. From the former level, linguists from traditionalgrammar discuss the morphology of the modal auxiliaries in interrogative sentence,affirmative sentence and negative sentence. As to lexical level, modality is realized inmeaning, which can be proved in the categories of modality, including possibility,necessity and willingness.Radford (1988) distinguished the modal auxiliaries from verbs according to threeforms of verbs: participle form, gerund form and the third person singular form.According to Zhang Zhenbang (1997), traditional grammar mainly took modality as themodal auxiliaries. He believed they have a syntactic role. This can be better proved intheir classification of the modal auxiliaries: primary auxiliaries, modal auxiliaries andsemi-auxiliaries . Quirk et al (1985) considered modality as the expressions showed by the modalauxiliaries like can, will, shall, may, and their deformation of tenses. Quirk (1985)pointed out there are three ways to classify modals on the meaning of modality(obligation-necessity, permission-possibility and volition-prediction) and two types(intrinsic modality and extrinsic modality) to be concerned with them.Under the influence of it, scholars emphasize their studies on modal operators andauxiliary verbs to make studies on the speaker’s attitudes and viewpoints. However,traditional linguistics paid too much emphasis on the form, logic, conception and therelative issues and they neglect the real language.Linguists in semantics area initially studied the modal logic, which are dealingwith various propositions containing the semantic expressions, such as necessity,possibility, and impossibility. At the very beginning of 20th centuries, Americanlogician Lewis uses mathematical logic theory to make a systemic research to modallogic and contributes to a new development. Based on the modal logic theory, Wright(1951) classified modality into four subcategories: alethic modality, epistemic modality,deontic modality and existential modality. His contribution made significant effects onthe later studies, especially epistemic modality and deontic modality which both areinfluential in today’s research. According to Perkins (1983), based on the proposal that aproposition can be said to be true in one particular (real or imagined) world and false inanother, the studies of modality came to a new stage.Under the dichotomy of philosophy, Lyons J (1996) indicated that modality playsthe role as the notion of necessity and possibility for the truth of proposition. Lyons(1977) regarded that the definition of modality cannot be only limited to the modalverbs, and that the expressions like frankly, fortunately, possibly, wisely all belong tothe category of modality. He also stressed that the subjectivity of language plays mostsignificant role in the understanding of language modality.In his studies, epistemic modality and deontic modality are of the vital importance.Lyons (1977) showed his interests on the distinction between epistemic modality anddeontic modality in general semantics. According to his studies, he further discussedthat the latter is related to the necessity or possibility of acts performed by morallyresponsible agents while the former is concerned with the truth of propositions. Thedeontic modality’s intrinsic futurity is the key point to be differentiated from epistemicmodality. He classified the epistemic modality into the objective and subjective interpretations, which both depend on the proposition content.Lyons was not the only one in the researches of the subjectiveness of modality.Palmer (1986) also mentioned the subjective nature of modality and defined modality asthe grammarization of speaker’s attitudes and points of views. According to Palmer(2001), modality is embodied as the speakers’ subjective attitudes and viewpoints ingrammatical realization. He stressed that modality is sorted into two broad types:propositional modality (speakers’ may have different judgments of a proposition) andevent modality (speakers’ various attitudes toward future event). According his studiesin typological approach, Palmer (2001) firstly regarded mood and modality as two equalparts but later on he modified his theory and pointed out that modality consists of moodsystem and modal system. In his theory, mood system contains indicative mood andsubjuncted mood; moreover, modality is first divided into propositional modality andevent modality, then into a further detailed classification: episdemic modality andevidential modality for the former, deontic modality and dynamic modality for the latter.It is also proved by him both the deontic and dynamic modality are subject-oriented.In pragmatic way, modality can be interpreted as modal operators like possibleand probable. Austin (1962) defined the Speech Act Theory, indicating that language isnot only to inform but also to perform. Searle (1969) divided illocutionalry acts intoassertive, directives, commissives, expressive, and declarations. According to theprevious theories, many scholars devote to explore the implication in modals inpragmatics. In order to search the relationship between semantic information andpragmatic meanings, Papafragou (1998) found out that modal verb relates itsmonosemous meaning with different pragmatic information, so it leads to variouscontext explanations. Levinson also proved that there are different scalar implicaturesarranged from higher informatives to the lower one. For example, words like must,should, may, are in different scalar implicatures from the high level to the low level. Ifthe speaker stresses by using the comparatively low level form in one scale, taking“should” as an example, he or she means that the strong form “must” in the scale doesnot obtain.

2.2 Previous studies on modality in systemic functional grammar
The basic function of language is to describe the world knowledge and adjustgood human relations. While standing in the sea of infinity, each individual cannotalways acquire a full understanding about everything. So, people are tending to expressthemselves clearly without definitely affirmative information to allow for theunforeseen circumstances. That is to say, when people are communicating with eachother, they give and receive their attitudes and feelings, but sometimes, a euphemisticway to keep sound relationship among them.In systemic functional grammar, there are two parts involved: systemic grammarand functional grammar, which together consist Halliday’s theory. Language is anetwork of interrelated and multi-layered systems of options in meaning ( Halliday &Matthiessen, 2004:24). The semantic stratum is significant for socio-linguistic contextwhile there are three elements including the ideational, the interpersonal and the texualin it.In Halliday’s modality system, modality together with mood is the importantsubsystem in Interpersonal Function. There are two broad categories: modalization andmodulation. The former refers to a proposition where the meaning of the positive andnegative poles is asserting and denying (Halliday, 2000:89), while the latter stands for aproposal where the meaning of the positive and negative poles is prescribing andproscribing. To be more exact, modalization contains the expressions of probability andusuality, whereas modulation concludes obligation and inclination. Thompson alsostressed the necessity for scholars to pay attention to modality because it can beinstrumental to analyze the discourse analysis.Eggins and Slade (1997) analyzed the interpersonal meaning of conversationsusing the systemic functional grammar. According to their book Analyzing CasualConversation, they discussed how people make use of mood and modality system incasual conversation.Leonardo and Recski (2005) investigated the American thesis defenses to discussthe interpersonal meaning , and they revealed the fact that modal certainty gets a fairamount of use in academic spoken texts.

Chapter Three Theoretical Framework................................ 19

3.1 Halliday's interpersonal function in systemic functional grammar ................... 19

3.2 Modality in Halliday’s interpersonal function ................................................... 20

Chapter Four Modality Analysis of the Business English Letters of BadNews........................... 29

4.1 An overview of the collected letters ......................... 29

Chapter Five Conclusion ............................49

5.1 Major findings ...........................49

Chapter Four Modality Analysis of the BusinessEnglish Letters of Bad News

4.1 An overview of the collected letters
As stated in the previous chapters (2.3.2), business English letters of bad news canbe categorized into two broad types: refusal letters and non-refusal letters. The authorchooses 34 letters all together to make further study on the expressions of interpersonalmodality, with 17 for each. Owing to the daily frequency and the importance of Englishin business, this paper is based on a wide consideration on the international businessletters for all occasions. To be more exact, refusal letters contain request refusal, creditrefusal, claim refusal, adjustment refusal during all the processes of the ongoinginternational business. As to non-refusal letters, they include threesub-types asreminders, claims and complaints, and announcing the mistaken operations. This letter is a very formal kind of business English letters of bad news. Throughthe letter, the writer conveys the information of refusing a request for agency. In thissample we can see there are four steps well organized of a refusal letter.The first paragraph is an opening to make the letter receiver know the subjectclearly without either a yes or a no. The writer refers to the issue of the receiver’srecommending being the agent in Demark for business.The next two paragraphs contain two steps, as the positive explanation in the wholeof the second paragraph and the former two sentences, and the following bad news inthe last sentence. In the second step of the whole letter, namely, the positive explanationof the delivering of bad news, the writer expresses his thanks firstly and points out thatit is not the proper time for both two parties involved to consider the issues relevantwith agency. In order to show it more acceptable and justifiable, the writer uses somewriting techniques, which actually belong to the modal expressions, to show hisattitudes and judgment positively, for example, “we are of the opinion that”, “it wouldbe better that” and “it would be necessary that”, etc. Since the ideas are conveyed insuch a reasonable and polite way, the bad news, which consists the third step of writingbad news, are shown more naturally and logically. In this process, the expression “wethink it advisable to...” also contributes the possible understanding between the letterwriter and the receiver.Finally, a positive ending expressed through the words like “will” indicating somesort of willingness should not be neglected, as, generally, a good piece of suggestion, ora considerable providing of goods and services, which is possibly beneficial to theaddressee, is supposed to be written at the very end of the letter, with the aim ofmoderating any possible resistance from the reader.

4.2 Modal expression
According to the above figures, we can find that in the four processes of writing abusiness English letters of bad news, the modal operators mainly appear in the last threestages. To be more specific, the expressions conveying possibility are used mostsignificantly, followed by that of willingness and obligation. Features of each processcan be concluded as follows: neutral opening: hardly any modal operatorpositive explaining: more expressions of probability usedbad news: more expressions of probability used, outnumbering that of obligation andinclinationpositive ending: more expressions of probability and inclination used than the otherthree stagesNow that there is a higher frequency of probability than that of inclination inpositive explaining and telling bad news, and a higher frequency of probability andinclination in positive ending than other three stages, an example of a reminder letter isshown below to tell us how the expressions of possibility and willingness function inthe four stages:Example :Dear Sirs,[neutral opening]We enclose a copy of one of our statements.[positive explanation]You will(1) see that your account has been outstanding for a longtime and has now become delinquent. We have written to you on three occasions andhave not received a reply. We cannot understand why you have taken no action to settleyour account. [bad news]We regret to inform you that unless we receive full paymentwithin thirty days, your account will(2) be cancelled and your credit terminated.[positive ending]We hope you will(3) understand the situation and look forward to anearly reply.Yours faithfully(from: International Business Correspondence for All Occasions)In positive explanation, the main purpose is to provide convincing justification forthe bad news , so the writer always expresses himself in a positive way to tell the truthand moderate the resistance. "will (1)" means " are probably to ". The writer, on the onehand, uses this modal operator to inform the reader of the objective previous situationthat the reader has probably already known; On the other hand, he gives expression tohis own feelings that he really does not understand the reader's action through the othermodal operators "cannot". Then he delivers the bad news accordingly and justifiably.During this process, "will (2)" is a way of informing message to warm the reader that he will probably considers to cancel the account and terminate the credit. Finally, "will (3)"in positive ending shows the reader "is expected” by the writher to understand thesituation and thus belongs to willingness. So it is not surprised that in positiveexplanation there are more expressions of possibility than that of willingness owing toits nature: giving reasons, which belongs to the exchange of "information"( modalization), whereas in positive ending, more providing or requiring of "goods andservices" (modulation).

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Chapter Five Conclusion

5.1 Major findings
The aim of this research is to show the characteristics of modality systems in thebusiness English letters of bad news and further explore interpersonal meaning revealedin modality use. Through the analysis of the distribution of modality on all the collectedletters and a contrast analysis on the two subcategories of those letters, the majorfindings are shown as follows: Generally speaking, when a piece of bad news is conveyed, the writer of the letteralways adopts some techniques in the organization of the contents to avoid the reader'sinner resistance. That is to say, a neutral opening, positive explanation, telling bad news,and positive ending should be organized in a proper order. Besides, to achieve a goodcommunicative purpose, the usage of the expression of attitudes and judgments shouldbe also considered. Naturally, various kinds of modality expressions are of the issue,including finite modal operator, modal adjunct, expansion of predicator and metaphor ofmodality, and thus the interpersonal meanings in the letter exchanging are finallyrealized.To be more specific in study in modal expressions, we can find that there are somedifferences in use in the four stages and in the two kinds of letters.Firstly, through the overall analysis, it is found that finite modal operator andmodal adjunct are the most commonly used in the collected business English letters ofbad news, while metaphor of modality and expansion of predicator also play asupporting role in the expression of writer’s views and attitudes. Turning to one of thesubcategories of modality system, namely, the values, we can find modal operator withmedian value are the most commonly used, as it can make the message or therequirements delivered neither too intensely nor too understated.Secondly, in terms of the four stages, hardly can we find the occurrence of modalexpressions in the neutral opening owing to the fact that the opening of a bad-news letter should have the function of making the receiver know the overall subject of therelevant events neutrally, without mentioning either a yes or a no. In positiveexplanation, bad news, and positive ending, there appears a high frequency, especiallyin the stage of bad news. It is not hard to explain that the modal expression can show theseriousness of the bad news with proper attitudes and thus it will be more acceptable.Thirdly, we can find from the data collected in the previous chapter that there is anecessity in making a contrast analysis on the two subcategories of bad-news businessEnglish letters. Similarly, the writer of both two kinds of letters uses nearly the samequantity of modal expressions to exchange information or goods and services. Incontrast analysis, more expressions of inclination and modal operators with high andmedian value are used in refusal letters to achieve a better communicative purpose.While it is clear that the writer of the non-refusal letters will list out plentifuljustifications very positively to show the reasons why he or she makes the decisions totell the bad news like reminders, mistaken behavior announcement, claims andcomplaints to the letter receiver, so within this point of view, the writer might use moreexpressions of obligation to state the responsibility to be assumed which is employed bythe comment adjuncts like "please"(entreaty) to make a requirement.

5.2 Limitations of the current study
Due to the limited time and resources, this paper only adopts 34 business Englishletters of bad news as its analytic materials, which are not so plentiful. In common dailylife, bad news is covered every corner, while in this study, we mainly focus on someletters from international business. Although the author wants to include businessEnglish letters of bad news from all the fields but it is not possible, because of time andevery shortage. The author only collects letters from the possible range of internationalbusiness, while letters like applications, resignation and so on are not included into thecorpus.Furthermore, a letter containing bad news is not always written with a rationalmind, as the writer may sometimes lose his temper and cannot calm down under somespecially unexpected situation. In this case, the four stages are not always organized in asound order or even thorough. In this study, we only select formal letters, notconsidering all situations, so maybe there is a long way to go under this.Besides, sometimes the letter writer may use different expressions to express his orher feelings according to different cultures and different situations about the dealings.Thus, more data should be collected in the future research so as to have moregeneralized results. And some other ways of interpersonal meaning realization leftuntouched, such as person and tense.The thesis hopes to contribute to business English letters of bad news. As theauthor’s knowledge and experience is limited, this research and its conclusion aredefinitely welcome to criticism and correction.
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