Eng104.business communication.lecture2

THE IMPORTANCE
OF BUSINESS
ENGLISH

Business English
• pertains to the grammar and
vocabulary that anyone needs to
know to communicate effectively
in the business world
• covers complex economics terms
THE IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS
ENGLISH

• Today, Business English focuses on
teaching people how to communicate
properly in the international business
world
- how to conduct (and sit for) an
interview,
- how to make a sales call,
- and how to recognize and use
complex business related terms.

Business English vs. General English
 Business English is professional,
proper, and polite. It is used with our
boss.
 General English is conversational,
more relaxed, and less articulate. It is
used with your friends.

When you are communicating with a
clientele, it is very important to:
 be polite (address someone as Mr. or
Mrs., Sir or Ma’am; say please, thank
you, sincerely even in emails)
 observe proper grammar
 use good vocabulary (do not use
slang or informal words)

Advantages using professional and
articulate Business English:
 job opportunity advantage
 job permanency &
recommendation for promotion
 more connections or linkages

Tips to Improve Your Business
English:
 increase your vocabulary
 search for formal letter writing
techniques
 practice regularly (with friends)

Business English:
 used for business
to run companies
 practical purpose
(to make money)
 dealing with
commercial
concerns
Literary English:
 literary nature
used in writing
books and related
art
 no interest for
profit
 more on aesthetic
or idealistic
concerns

Business English:
 pertaining to
financial,
accounting and
economics
terminologies for
business
 contained concise
and simple
sentences
Literary English:
 uses much
broader diction
for wider range of
matters
 key style form is
more elevated
with long flowing
sentences

Business English:
 speakers’
rudiments are
enough to discuss
basic business
ideas
 rigid analysis
service often
utilizes numbers
and statistics for a
conclusion
Literary English:
 speakers’ advanced
knowledge (at the
very least) must be
acquired through
diligent study
 rarely uses
numbers, more
subjective and
emotional

 popular – both flourished over the
past century
 Ÿglobal – both prominently grew
worldwide carrying on cultural and
economic exchange
 relationship - connect people
 Ÿliteracy – both must be learned, the
ability to read, write and converse
using any language

The Anglo-Saxon base
• Germanic settler tribes (Angles,
Saxons, Jutes and Frisians) entered
Britain in AD 449 onwards and
displaced the original Celtic-speaking
inhabitants using the original Anglo-
Saxon lexicon concerned about basic,
down-to-earth matters (short &
concrete) due to their nomad nature
thus they were not very literate or
sophisticated.
The sources of English words

Grammatical words such as be, in, that while
others are lexical words like sing, live, go
including common names of:
 parts of the body
 natural environment
 the domestic life
 the calendar
 animals
 common adjectives
 and common verbs
 some poetry, music, culture & heroic
components

Celtic borrowings
• (Welsh & Scottish) kept separate
from the Anglo-Saxon speakers but
result to weak dialectal influence
such as cumb (deep valley) or loch
(lake), clan, slogan, whiskey.

Scandinavian borrowings
• (Vikings) Influence on Britain can be
thought of in terms of three episodes
(periods 750–1016, 1016–1050 & 1050–
1480) thus have a massive influence
of the English languages, in both
grammar and vocabulary, the same
Germanic racial, cultural and
linguistic stock originated from the
Anglo-Saxon lexicon.

French borrowings
• (Normans) Latin was the language
for record keeping, learning and
the church. French was the
language of the Norman
aristocracy and therefore also the
language of prestige, government
and polite social intercourse.
English was the language of the
common folk and menials.

Latin borrowings
• (Romans) Latin, being the
language of the Roman Empire,
had already influenced the
language of the Germanic tribes
even before they set foot in
Britain.

Greek borrowings
• (Greeks) Greek was also a
language of learning, and Latin
itself borrowed words from Greek.
Indeed the Latin alphabet is an
adaptation of the Greek alphabet.

Other borrowings
• As a result of empire and trade
contacts, the lexicon of English
continued to acquire terms from other
languages including the following:
• American
• Australian
• Arabic
• Persian
• Japanese
• Other Asian regions

Summary
• The vocabulary of English has
vastly increased in size during the
last 1,500 years as language
reflected historical events, social
and cultural factors.

Summary
• Language contact and cultural
domination has greatly influenced
the word stock of English. Social
and cultural changes are
accordingly clearly reflected in
changes in vocabulary.

Summary
• From the social point of view, more
interesting than the mere addition of
new words is the change in the
character of English word stock, from
one which can be called Germanic to
one that is also partly Romance –
French and Latin, which have been
associated with domains of power
and prestige.

Summary
• There have also been fundamental
developments in the principles of
word-formation (borrowing of
prefixes and suffixes as well as
words from French, Latin and
Greek) and its social
consequences

1. CONCISENESS
- Convey your message in the
fewest number of words and
sentences as possible is
called the “brevity rule” or
20-second rule.
Making a good Business Letter

2. CLARITY
- The reader must understand
your thought in no time.
Precise and familiar words
are always best.

3. CONSIDERATION of the reader
- Understand the needs of your
reader. Write from their
point of view and how they
will benefit from the content
of the message as some
prefer personalized policy.

4. COMPLETENESS
- is presenting in the letter all
the facts that the reader
needs, to make a sound
decision on your message.

5. CONCRETENESS
- being specific rather than
vague and general
information; use specific
facts and figures.

6. COURTESY
- always remain respectful as
you are representing the
company or organization
whose name is at the top of
the letter.

7. COHERENCE
- means correctly arranging the
content for ideas to flow logically
and smoothly. Every statement
must move the ideas forward.
- Start with the reason of writing
- Contain information needed
- Always invite the recipient to respond
- Include important info such as contact
name, number & address
- Always close with thanks

8. CORRECTNESS
- Check the accuracy of facts
and figures, names and
dates, and of course, spelling
and grammar.

9. CREDIBILITY
- refers to the status of the
communicator, whether as a
person or as representative of
the company.
- As a message sender, you must
write information that is true
and believable. The letter must
sound sincere and
honest, enhancing the company
or organization's and your own
reputation.

10. CONSISTENCY
- Uniform of tone and style within
a letter reflects the writer's
responsibility and reliability.
- Use only one tone (light or
serious) and one style (formal
or informal). A shift in tone or
style can indicate a lack of
consistency and reliability of
the writer.

Eng104.business communication.lecture2

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