Written Communication across Cultures

A sociocognitive perspective on business genres

Yunxia Zhu | University of Queensland, Australia

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027253842 | EUR 105.00 | USD 158.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027294104 | EUR 105.00 | USD 158.00

Winner of ABC's award for Distinguished Publication for 2006

This 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.

[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 141] 2005. xviii, 216 pp.

Publishing status: Available

https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.141

Table of Contents

List of figures | p. xi

List of tables | p. xiii

Notation conventions | p. xv

Preface | pp. xvii–xviii

1. Introduction and outline | pp. 1–7

2. Communication across cultures | pp. 9–25

3. Conceptual framework: A dual perspective | pp. 27–60

4. Research design | pp. 61–69

5. Comparing English and Chinese sales letters | pp. 71–99

6. Comparing English and Chinese sales invitations | pp. 101–122

7. Comparing English and Chinese business faxes | pp. 123–154

8. Cross-Cultural genre teaching: Actions and implications | pp. 155–176

9. Summaries and conclusions | pp. 177–188

Appendices | pp. 203–208

Name index | pp. 209–211

Subject Index | pp. 213–215

“Zhu Yunxia's book is a high-level scholarly work, which is a must for every reader who is interested in the research of Chinese business communication and intercultural issues.”

Daniel Z. Kadar, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary, on Linguist List, Vol. 17.1510 (2006)

Cited by (41)

Cited by 41 other publications

Order by:

Жирова, И.Г. & Чжан, Ц.

2024. Adaptive translation of A.P. Chekhov's short stories from Russian into Chinese. Modern scientist :5 ► pp. 68 ff.

陈, 美含

2024. A Comparative Study of Discourse in Cross-Cultural Business Communication. Modern Linguistics 12:07 ► pp. 174 ff.

GÜVENDİ ULUTAŞ, Ümit

2023. Göstergelerarasılık Bağlamında Resim Sanatı ve Medya İlişkisi: Alex Gross’un Eserlerinin Paradigmatik ve Sentagmatik Eksende İncelenmesi. Tykhe Sanat ve Tasarım Dergisi 8:14 ► pp. 175 ff.

Zharkynbekova, Sholpan & Aliya Aimoldina

2023. The Impact of Socio-cultural Context on Composing Business Letters in Modern Kazakhstani Business Community: A cross-cultural Study. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research 52:1 ► pp. 56 ff.

Graham, Steve, Tien Ping Hsiang, Amber B. Ray, Guihua Zheng & Michael Hebert

2022. Predicting Efficacy to Teach Writing. The Elementary School Journal 123:1 ► pp. 1 ff.

Savchenko, Elizaveta & Teddy Lazebnik

2022. Computer aided functional style identification and correction in modern russian texts. Journal of Data, Information and Management 4:1 ► pp. 25 ff.

Taboada, Maite

2021. Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis. In Introducing Linguistics, ► pp. 356 ff.

Duggan, Jennifer

2020. Critical Literacy and Genre Pedagogy. In Handbook of Research on Cultivating Literacy in Diverse and Multilingual Classrooms [Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design, ], ► pp. 288 ff.

Biber, Douglas & Susan Conrad

2019. Register, Genre, and Style,

Kachru, Yamuna

2019. Speaking and Writing in World Englishes. In The Handbook of World Englishes, ► pp. 349 ff.

Skrynnikova, I V & E G Grigorieva

2019. Enhancing foreign language communication skills in international business environment. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 483 ► pp. 012026 ff.

Zhang, Grace & Vahid Parvaresh

2019. Elastic Language and Impact Factors. In Elastic Language in Persuasion and Comforting, ► pp. 259 ff.

Zhu, Yunxia, Laikun Ma & Ruochen Jiang

2019. A cross-cultural study of English and Chinese online platform reviews: A genre-based view. Discourse & Communication 13:3 ► pp. 342 ff.

Du-Babcock, Bertha

2018. Business Communication Research and Theory Development in Asia: Past, Present, and Future Prospects. Business Communication Research and Practice 1:1 ► pp. 4 ff.

Huang, Ying & Kate Rose

2018. You, our shareholders: metadiscourse in CEO letters from Chinese and Western banks . Text & Talk 38:2 ► pp. 167 ff.

Kiernan, Patrick

2018. Introduction: Exploring Language, Identity and Cycling in the New Media Age Through Systemic Functional Linguistics. In Language, Identity and Cycling in the New Media Age, ► pp. 1 ff.

Sobkowiak, Paweł

2018. Toward an Integrated Model of Teaching Business English in Tertiary Education. In Challenges of Second and Foreign Language Education in a Globalized World [Second Language Learning and Teaching, ], ► pp. 117 ff.

Terkourafi, Marina & Dániel Z. Kádár

2017. Convention and Ritual (Im)politeness. In The Palgrave Handbook of Linguistic (Im)politeness, ► pp. 171 ff.

Zhang, Zuocheng

2017. Discursive Construction of Professional Identity. In Learning Business English in China, ► pp. 145 ff.

Zhang, Zuocheng

2017. Introduction. In Learning Business English in China, ► pp. 1 ff.

Zhang, Zuocheng

2017. Towards a Model of Learning Business English and Professional Identity Construction. In Learning Business English in China, ► pp. 225 ff.

Aimoldina, Aliya, Sholpan Zharkynbekova & Damira Akynova

2016. Investigating Pragmatic Failures in Business Letters of Kazakhstani Professionals. Procedia Economics and Finance 39 ► pp. 65 ff.

Grzybek, Joanna

2016. Mediation in Different Areas of Chinese Legal Reality – Parametrisation of Selected Terminology. Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric 45:1 ► pp. 175 ff.

Skorczynska, Hanna & Rosa Giménez-Moreno

2016. Variation in Letters to Shareholders from British, Polish and Spanish Companies - A Comparative Study. Journal of Intercultural Communication 16:1 ► pp. 1 ff.

Chow, Mei Yung Vanliza

2014. The movements of the economy. Metaphor and the Social World 4:1 ► pp. 3 ff.

Łyda, Andrzej & Krystyna Warchał

2014. Introduction. In Occupying Niches: Interculturality, Cross-culturality and Aculturality in Academic Research [Second Language Learning and Teaching, ], ► pp. 1 ff.

Ghezeljeh, Fatemeh Heidari & Mohamad Raouf Moini

2013. The Importance of Cross-Cultural Awareness in Writing Sales Promotion Letters. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 70 ► pp. 771 ff.

Jack, Gavin, Yunxia Zhu, Jay Barney, Mary Yoko Brannen, Craig Prichard, Kulwant Singh & David Whetten

2013. Refining, Reinforcing and Reimagining Universal and Indigenous Theory Development in International Management. Journal of Management Inquiry 22:2 ► pp. 148 ff.

Kankaanranta, Anne & Wei Lu

2013. The Evolution of English as the Business Lingua Franca. Journal of Business and Technical Communication 27:3 ► pp. 288 ff.

Zhu, Yunxia & Francesca Bargiela-Chiappini

2013. Balancing Emic and Etic: Situated Learning and Ethnography of Communication in Cross-Cultural Management Education. Academy of Management Learning & Education 12:3 ► pp. 380 ff.

Zhu, Yunxia & Herbert W. Hildebrandt

2013. Effective Persuasion of International Business Sales Letters. Management International Review 53:3 ► pp. 391 ff.

Kádár, Dániel Z.

2012. Relational ritual. In Handbook of Pragmatics, ► pp. 1 ff.

Nickerson, Catherine

2012. English for Business. In The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics,

Wang, Junhua

2010. Convergence in the Rhetorical Pattern of Directness and Indirectness in Chinese and U.S. Business Letters. Journal of Business and Technical Communication 24:1 ► pp. 91 ff.

Zhu, Yunxia & Catherine White

2009. Practitioners’ Views About the Use of Business Email Within Organizational Settings: Implications for Developing Student Generic Competence. Business Communication Quarterly 72:3 ► pp. 289 ff.

Yunxia Zhu

2008. From cultural adaptation to cross-cultural discursive competence. Discourse & Communication 2:2 ► pp. 185 ff.

Zhu, Yunxia

2008. New Zealand and Chinese Managers’ Reflections on Language Use in Business Settings: Implications for Intercultural Communication. Language and Intercultural Communication 8:1 ► pp. 50 ff.

Zhu, Yunxia

2009. Philosophical Underpinnings for Equilibrium of Values and Implications for Management Education: A Response to Harold Leavitt. Academy of Management Learning & Education 8:2 ► pp. 290 ff.

Zhu, Yunxia

2009. Managing Business Relationships in New Zealand and China. Management International Review 49:2 ► pp. 225 ff.

Zhu, Yunxia & Herbert Hildebrandt

2007. Developing a Theoretical Framework to Measure Cross-Cultural Discourse and Cultural Adaptation. SSRN Electronic Journal

Zhu, Yunxia, Pieter Nel & Ravi Bhat

2006. A Cross Cultural Study of Communication Strategies for Building Business Relationships. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 6:3 ► pp. 319 ff.

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 october 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Subjects