Full Description
Writing Business: Genres, Media and Discourses offers an analysis of the genres and functions of written discourse in the business context, involving a variety of modes of communication. The evolution of new forms of writing is a key focus of this collection and is only partly attributable to the ever increasing application of technology at work. Alongside machine-mediated texts such as electronic mail and computer-generated correspondence, the contextualised analyses of both traditional genres such as facsimiles and direct mailing, and of lesser studied texts such as invitations for bids, contracts, business magazines and ceremonial speeches, reveal a rich complexity in the forms of communication evolved by organisations and the individuals who work within them, in response to the demands of the social, organisational and cultural contexts in which they operate. This rich textual variation is matched by a discussion of a range of methodological approaches to the development of business writing skills, including rhetorical analysis, organisational communication analysis, social constructionism, genre analysis and survey and experimental methods. Using authentic data and benefiting from a fresh, interdisciplinary approach, the volume will be of interest to students and researchers of business communication, Language for Specific Purposes (LSP), English for Specific Purposes (ESP), and sociolinguistics.
Contents
1. Business writing as social action - Francesca Bargiela-Chiappini and Catherine Nickerson
Part I: Electronic Media and Writing in Organisations
2. The use of English in electronic mail in a multinational corporation - Catherine Nickerson
3. E-mail: uses, issues and problems in an institutional setting - Joan Mulholland
4. The mass production of unique letters - David Sless
Part II: Identities, Discourse Communities and Rhetorical Styles
5. Discourse community, culture and interaction: on writing by consulting engineers -Karl-Heinz Pogner
6. Meaning creation and genre across cultures: human resource management magazines in Britain and Itay - Francesca Bargiela-Chiappini
7. Words of women: a study of executives' rhetorical strategies - Carol David
Part III: Business Genres and their Language
8. 'Can we count on your bookings of potatoes to Madeira?' Corporate context and discourse practices in direct sales letters - Miriam van Nus
9. Towards a new genre: a comparative study of business faxes - Didar Akar and Leena Louhiala-Salminen
10. Homing in on a genre: invitations for bids - Leila Barbara and Mike Scott
Part IV: The Business of Relating: Effectiveness, Adaptation and Emotion in Writing
11. Spanish language billboard advertising in the US: are there effects on Anglos - Ellen E. Touchstone, Pamela M. Homer and Scott Koslow
12. English as a lingua franca in written corporate communication: findings from a European survey - Sonja Vandermeeren
13. Exploring aspects of context: selected findings from the Effective Writing for Management project - Florence Davies, Gail Forey and David Hyatt
Epilogue: At the Intersection between Writing and Speaking
14. Intertextual networks in organisations: the use of written and oral business discourse in relation to context. - Eugène Loos
General Index
Name Index
