Zhu Yunxia. Written Communication across Cultures

John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2005. — 236 p. — (Pragmatics & Beyond 141). — ISBN: 90-272-5384-6This book explores effective written communication across cultures both theoretically and practically. Specifically it conceptualizes cross-cultural genre study and compares English and Chinese business writing collected from Australia, New Zealand and China. It is also one of those inspired by contrastive rhetoric but has contributed innovatively and uniquely by incorporating research findings from genre analysis, in particular, the sociocognitive genre perspective into this cross-cultural study.On the one hand, the endeavor represents an in-depth theoretical exploration by considering not only discourse community and cognitive structuring, but also the deep semantics of genre and intertextuality, while broadening genre study by integrating insights from cross-cultural communication as well as the Chinese perspectives. On the other hand, the book also addresses pragmatic issues. As a particular feature, it solicits professional members’ intercultural viewpoints; thus confirming the shared social "stock of knowledge" employed in the culturally defined writing conventions.
Last but not least, this book explores the implications for genre education and training, and develops an appropriate model for cross-cultural genre learning, which encourages learning through legitimate peripheral participation and intercultural learning in business organizations.Introduction and outline
The theoretical imperatives
The rationale, aim, and research questions
The outline of the bookCommunication across cultures
Contrastive rhetoric
Classical Greek and Chinese rhetorical traditions
Intercultural communication
Guanxi and intercultural business communication
Cross-cultural pragmatics
Face and politeness behaviour
Australian, New Zealand and the Chinese cultures
Summary of the cross-cultural dimensionsConceptual framework: A dual perspective
Introducing the sociocognitive study of genre
Genre as relevant social stock of knowledge
Genre and the sociocultural contexts
Genre practice and the discourse community
Genre as communicative events
Genre and communicative purposes
Written Communication Across Cultures
Genre and rhetorical structure
Genre and intertextuality
The Chinese genre approach
Historical review of Chinese genre study
Liu Xie’s view on Chinese written discourse
Liu Xie’s approach to genre study
Modern Chinese genre study
Yingyongwen and gongwen genre study
Proposing the model for cross-cultural genre studyResearch design
The research method
Data
Questionnaire and interviews
The participants
The questionnaire
The interviews
Data analysisComparing English and Chinese sales letters
Sociocultural contexts for sales-letter writing
The contexts and world schemata for English sales letters
The contexts and world schemata for Chinese sales letters
Communicative purposes and persuasive orientations of sales letters
Comparing texts of sales letters
Intertextuality and rhetorical structure in sales letters
Different moves employed by English and Chinese sales letters
Similar moves employed by English and Chinese sales letters
Summary of the textual analysis
The most effective English and Chinese sales letters
The English letter
The Chinese sales letterComparing English and Chinese sales invitations
Contexts for writing sales invitations
Other cultural factors: Politeness behaviour in invitations
Communicative purposes and persuasive orientations of sales invitations
Analysing the English and Chinese sales invitations
Intertextuality reflected in sales invitations
Intertextuality and rhetorical structure of sales invitations
Analysing the most effective sales invitations
Introducing the Expo and inviting the reader
Advertising the Expo
Offering incentives
Inviting again
Providing registration details
Encouraging further contact
Polite closing
Summary of findings on sales invitations
Comparing NZ and Chinese managers’ views on sales invitations
Managers’ views on the English invitation
Managers’ views on the Chinese invitationComparing English and Chinese business faxes
Data of the English and Chinese faxes
Technological and sociocultural contexts for fax writing
Introducing fax as a genre
Persuasive orientations and communicative purposes of business faxes
An overview of types of intertextuality identified in faxes
Rhetorical structures identified in business faxes
Greetings used in faxes
Reference to previous communication/contact
Establishing credentials
Giving information
Detailing the order
Written Communication Across Cultures
Confirmation move
Giving product details
Complaint
Threat to change terms
Stressing cooperation
Polite closing
Good wishes
The most effective English and Chinese faxesCross-cultural genre teaching: Actions and implications
Issues relating to cross-cultural genre teaching
Genre metaphors
Genre teaching approaches
Generic competence
Applying the sociocognitive approach to teaching and learning
Illustrating the five teaching and learning processes
The experiment
Learning and comparing the sociocultural contexts
Learning persuasive orientations and communicative purposes
Learning to write texts and incorporating peripheral participation
Using authentic data and incorporating managers’ views
Learning the implications for cross-cultural generic competenceSummaries and conclusions
Defining genre from a cross-cultural perspective
Summary of significant findings
The framework
Genre and sociocultural contexts
Genre, persuasive orientations and communicative purposes
Genre and its deep semantics
Genre and intertextualityGenre as collectively programmed by the discourse community
Generic competence across cultures
Implications for genre research and intercultural competence
Further research
Closing remarksAppendix
Name index
Subject index