(first draft)

Foreign trade correspondence is the most basic and important means of communication in international trade. With China's entry into WTO, the development of foreign trade business makes foreign trade correspondence play an irreplaceable role in foreign trade activities. How to achieve one's expected goal in the case that the two sides have never met each other often depends on the appropriateness of foreign trade correspondence language.

Therefore, the writing principle of foreign trade correspondence ensures the smooth progress of business activities from a small aspect and determines the infinite business opportunities of future trade from a large aspect.

First, the historical development of research

There are several views on the writing principles of foreign trade correspondence:

1. Three "C" principles

Concise, clear and polite, which is the earliest principle in academic circles. In Gao's article Three C Principles of Foreign Trade Correspondence Writing, the author compares these three principles through idioms, phrases, word selection, sentence patterns and examples to illustrate their importance.

In Wang Yuanyuan's article "On the Linguistic Features and Several Important Principles of Foreign Trade Correspondence Writing", she put forward three new "C" principles of "appropriateness, politeness and cooperation" and expounded the importance of "appropriateness" from the cultural background and writing objects of different countries.

2. Four "C" principles

In Wang Jun's article Linguistic Features of Business Letters in Foreign Trade English, the conventional politeness has been deleted. Concise "principle, also put forward the principle of" accurate and positive ". Through the correspondence between "concrete words" and "abstract words", the use of modifiers and cohesive devices, the importance of meticulous and accurate expression is explained. The necessity of using positive words is illustrated by powerful and vivid wording, attractive language and the proportion of verbs used.

Xiong put forward four detailed principles in Several Principles of Foreign Trade Correspondence Writing, namely, the principle of "positive beginning and friendly ending"; The principles of straightforward narration and tortuous euphemism; The principle of using proper words and avoiding cliches; Modesty and customer-oriented principles. "From the beginning, content to the end, through a large number of examples, the influence of wording and attitude on letters is explained in detail.

3. Six "C" principles

Chen Guifeng pointed out six principles of "clarity, conciseness, correctness, politeness, completeness and conversational tone" in "Misunderstandings and Countermeasures in Foreign Trade English Correspondence Writing", and pointed out that euphemism should be used, big words should be avoided, and ambiguity of meaning should be avoided through overall understanding of writing to ensure structural integrity.

4. Seven "C" principles

"Politeness, thoughtfulness, completeness, clarity, conciseness, concreteness and accuracy" are the seven basic principles commonly used in foreign trade correspondence writing, which synthesizes various opinions and explains the principles that should be followed in business correspondence writing from a broader perspective. Starting from these seven points, Chen Yan demonstrated the importance of these principles with examples from different angles in articles such as Seven C Principles and Skills of Business English Letter Writing by He Lining and Ma Jing, and reached the conclusion: "In business English writing, we must pay attention to readers' business psychology and psychological acceptance process, highlight the characteristics of business writing, and follow the writing styles and principles that are easy to understand, concise, complete, clear and correct. Conclusion.

Second, the research status

At present, the study of writing principles of foreign trade correspondence is mainly the study of politeness principle. An elegant, generous and humble letter will set a good image for our company and make the other party happy to conclude a deal with you. The use of passive voice, subjunctive mood and general interrogative sentences makes the article appear cordial and generous, thus promoting the transaction. The use of vague language can express disagreement tactfully, implicitly and politely, thus alleviating embarrassment. Zheng Ling pointed out the application of the "Praise Principle" in his article and noticed the "horizontal communication" between the two sides. Zhang Qingsong and Chi-Kin Leung also put forward their own views on the politeness principle.

Third, study the existing problems.

From the historical development of research, although people have discussed the writing principles of foreign trade correspondence from a broader perspective, it is still incomplete and there are still omissions, such as the study of "cooperative principle". In the late 1960s, Grice, an American philosopher, set out from the differences between formal logic and natural language logic, and put forward a guiding principle of human conversation-cooperative principle. He explained the problems of "what to say" and "how to say it" from four categories.

At present, people's research is biased to some extent, but some small but equally important aspects are ignored. Therefore, the writing principles of letters and telegrams need to be further explored.

Fourth, research topics

Through the analysis of the research history, present situation and prospect of the writing principle of foreign trade correspondence, it is found that there are some omissions in this principle. This paper aims to further explore the use of "positive principle", "cooperative principle" and vague language on the basis of previous academic research.

refer to

Grice, H.P. Comment on Philosophy of Meaning [J], 1957

Taylor, S. (1993). Business communication. (second edition). London: Pitman Press

Su Kai. Practical business writing [M]. Beijing institute of technology press 35 (200 1)

Chen Guifeng's Errors and Countermeasures in Foreign Trade English Correspondence Writing [b] Journal of Fujian Education College 7 (2002): 97-99

Lu International Business Correspondence [M]. Beijing: University of Foreign Trade Press 200 1

Wang Jun's Analysis of the Language Features of Business Letters in Foreign Trade English [a] Journal of Teaching and Research 3 1 (2004): 43-45

Wang Haiyan's Analysis on the Application of "Your Attitude" in Foreign Trade English Correspondence [J] Journal of Sichuan University of Commerce 3 (200 1)

Wang Yuanyuan on the Language Features and Several Important Principles of Foreign Trade Correspondence [a] Journal of Guangdong Youth Cadre College No.5 (2007): 93-95.

Xiong foreign trade correspondence cooperation principle [A] Journal of Xiangtan Normal University11(2006):11-12.

Zhangyan's Seven C Principles and Skills in Business English Letter Writing [b] Journal of anhui science and technology university 5 (2005): 44-47