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Article published In:
Australian Review of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 20:1 (1997) ► pp.133–149

Examining the native speakers’ understanding of communicative purposes of a written genre in modern standard Chinese

| Australian National University
This study aims to examine the different attitudes of the native speakers in understanding a written genre of Modern Standard Chinese—sales letters. The examination mainly focuses on the use of formulaic components as they appear in real Chinese sales letters and to compare these with the prescribed advice given in textbooks. To do this, 100 business students and 100 managers were surveyed for their views on appropriate business writing. The divergence of the views of these two groups of native speakers indicates that there is a gap between business teaching and business writing practice. The managers had a good understanding of the communicative purposes of the sales letters, while the students lacked this kind of understanding, which indicates the gap between business teaching and business writing practice.
Published online: 1 January 1997
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.20.1.07yun
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Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Chu Ng, Po & Alexander Seeshing Yeung
2011. A multi-sensory approach to enhancing Chinese writing. International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning 6:3 ► pp. 206 ff. DOI logo
Yunxia, Zhu
1998. Using a combined approach to teach Chinese business writing. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 21:2 ► pp. 43 ff. DOI logo
Yunxia, Zhu
2000. Business Writing in Mainland China: A Look at the Development of Sales Genres. Journal of Intercultural Communication 2:1 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

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