Analysis On Art And Techniques Of Business English Conversations

In order to get the arts and techniques used in business English conversations, this dissertation applies speech act theory and conversational implicature theory to analyze the 20 programs of conversations in the book BBC Starting Business English by Christine Johnson & Jack Lonergan, by using four research methods, which include synchronic analysis, comparative study, quantitative analysis, and case study.First, according to John.R.Searle's typology of speech acts, the author classifies all sentences in the 20 programs into five types: Assertive, Directive, Expressive, Commissive, and Declarative, and counts the number of sentences in each type, in which way statistics for this research are obtained. Then, by analyzing these statistics with quantitative analysis and comparative study, the author finds that the two elements that influence the use of language are sex and job level or power. In addition, the research concludes the differences in the usage of speech acts not only between male and female, but between participants in high and low job levels. In the last part of the research, by combining the speech act theory and conversational implicature theory, it analyzes nine passages of conversations as typical cases that contain conversational implications. Through thorough analysis, the author finds that techniques applicable and useful in business English conversations include: (1) using an appropriate tone, (2) making the right sequence of utterance, and (3) adjusting properly the role of participants.