1、298）. Politeness theory of Brown and Levinsons was originally published in 1978; they consider politeness as forms of behavior that allow communication to take place between potentially aggressive partners （Brown & Levinson, 1978）.Politeness plays such an important role in the whole process of the b
2、usiness communication and it is also the essential skill that all businesspersons should master. However, when we look into the writing process of business correspondence in China, we may find that much attention is paid to the informational function rather than the interpersonal function. So in the
3、 business English world the study of politeness is an imperative thing.1. An overview of politeness principlePoliteness, as a public activity existing in a lot of language communities, attracts great attention from the socialists and linguists. Due to the complex nature of politeness, it is very dif
4、ficult to give a universal definition to it. Linguists attempt to explain politeness from different angles and at various levels, thus, leading to a great number of unconnected studies. Fraser reviewed three approaches counting for politeness, including the social-norm view, the conversational-maxim
5、 view, and finally, the face-saving view.1.1. The social-norm view of politeness principleThe social-norm view is one traditional view regarding politeness as the social behavior in any society. According to Fraser （1990） “the social-norm approach has few adherents among current researchers.” This v
6、iew is about desirable language and behaviors when people make choices in actual language use.1.2 The conversational-maxim view of politeness principleThe Conversational-maxim view provides a set of principles to explain politeness. This view is mainly based on Grices Cooperative Principle. Lakoff a
7、nd Leech are the two main contributors to this view. They produce works similar to that of Grice.1.2.1 Grices cooperative principleAccording to Grice, a conversation takes place smoothly only when the speaker and the hearer totally recognize the rules that lead their language and behaviors, and also
8、 have the same reaction of each others words and acts. In his famous paper Logic and Conversation, Grice proposed that a set of maxims and sub-maxims that guide and limit people language and behaviors. The maxims include quality, quantity, relation and manner, each of which includes one or more sub-
9、maxims, so in a letter participants should know “relevantly, clearly and sincerely, while giving useful information”.1.2.2 Lakoff views on politenessLakeoff is the first researcher to explain politeness with Grices Conversational Principle and she contributes a lot in the development of politeness.
10、She studies politeness from the conversational-maxim point of view, which is, seeing politeness as the avoidance of offence.To be clear and to be polite are Lakoff （1973）s two rules of pragmatic competence. She argues that if the information being conveyed in the communication is noticeable, the spe
11、aker will focus on the clarity in a conversation; if not, the speaker will pay much attention to the social position of the hearer and other related factors in the conversation than the clarity.1.2.3 Leechs politeness principlePoliteness principle proposed by Leech is another important theory of pol
12、iteness. He agrees with Grices framework of Cooperative Principle but he suggests that it should be improved and expanded. In his opinion, politeness has nothing to do with “pragmatic progress”, but with “the attainment of social goals” （Watts, 1992）1.3 The face-saving view of politeness principle1.
13、3.1 The definition of faceFace-saving view is based on the rational person, who has certain state in the social communication. The concept of “face” is introduced by Erving Goffman, who defines “face” as the “the public self-image that every member wants to claim for himself” （Goffman, 1967）.Based o
14、n the notion raised by Goffman, Brown and Levinson have their own face-saving theory. According to them, “face” covers two aspects:（1） Negative face: the want of a person not to be appreciated, understood by others. （2） Positive face: the want of a person that his ideas, achievements, goals, etc. sh
15、ould be desirable to at least certain others.1.3.2 Face-threatening actsIn order to achieve their particular goal, rational people tend to minimize their loss of face and avoid confliction. However, it is quite likely that some people will act against the hearers willing and threaten their face. Tho
16、se speech acts are called Face-Threatening Acts （FTA） by Brown and Levinson.Brown and Levinson distinguish the face-threatening acts as follows:（1） Those that threaten the addressees negative face want, by indicating（potentially） that the speaker does not intend to avoid impeding the hearer freedom
17、of action, including: orders and requests, suggestions, advice, reminding, threats, warnings, dares, offers, promises, compliments, expressions of envy or admiration, expressions of strong emotions toward the hearer, e.g., hatred, lust;（2） Those acts that threaten the positive face want of the addre
18、ssee, by indicating that the speaker does not care about the addressees feelings, wants and so on.（3） Those that offend the speakers negative face, including: accepting the hearer s thanks or the hearer s apology, excuses, acceptance of offer, response to the hearer s faux pas, unwilling promises an
19、d offers and so on;（4） Those that directly damage the speakers positive face, including: apologies, acceptance of a compliment, self-contradiction, and confessions, admissions of guilt or responsibility and so on.1.3.3 Face-saving politeness strategiesIn order to have a more successful communication
20、 and achieve their goals, people always try to avoid face-threatening acts as mentioned above in the process of communication. But a lot of people have to say or do something undesirable to the hearer, and in these situations politeness strategies are needed to reduce the impact of the unfavorable w
21、ords and actions.On the basis of two aspect of negative face or positive face, politeness principle can be classified into three major forms: positive politeness, negative politeness and off-record politeness.（1） Positive politeness is oriented toward the face of the hearers desire, showing that the
22、 speaker recognizes hearers positive face want. Positive politeness strategies include: noticing to the hearers wants, exaggerating interest, intensifying interest, seeking agreement, assert knowledge of the hearer wants, be optimistic, give reasons, give gift to the hearer. （2） Negative politeness
23、is oriented toward the hearers desire to maintain claims of territory. Negative politeness strategies include: being conventionally indirect, questioning, being pessimistic, and giving deference. （3） Off-record politeness refers to the indirect strategies that avoid making any definite or clear impo
24、sition on the hearer. By going off record, there is more than one interpretation of an utterance, so the speaker cannot be held to have done the FTA and the hearers can choose not to understand. This thesis discusses politeness strategies from different aspects, including the social-norm view, the c
25、onversational-maxim view and the face-saving view. Thus, knowing how to use a language correctly just means being able to assess these values accurately and correlate them with certain language expressions, ways of speaking. The study of politeness principle can contribute to the accuracy of busines
26、s correspondence.2. An overview of business correspondence2.1 The definition of business correspondenceBusiness refers to all the activities of buying and selling goods and services. To most companies, business letters are the main means of establishing business relations with the outside world. As
27、one of the most popular means of communication in business activities, business correspondence plays an irreplaceable role in the fulfillment of business communication. Generally speaking, business correspondence can be defined as the correspondence used in business transaction.2.2 Functions of business correspondenceAccording to different contents and information, business correspondence has three functions.（1） To influence the readers attitude and action, such as sales letters for promoting products.（2） To inform the readers, such as letters placing orders, making compla
