Abstract
With the globalization of world economy and China’s entry into the WTO, more and more foreign enterprises have been targeting and investigating China as their market. Consequently, the effectiveness of communication cannot be over-emphasized.
As a major means of communication, the business report is playing an increasingly important role in business organizations. Therefore, this thesis is aimed at a constructive discussion of the basic principles and especially the linguistic requirements for successful business report writing.
Consisting of six chapters, this thesis presents a relatively complete study of report writing for business purposes.
Chapter One introduces the modern theory of communication and its intrinsic link with business report writing.
Chapter Two and Chapter Three provide a general introduction of business report writing, with details of the classification systems, functions, special requirements, and major ingredients of the business report.
Chapter Four, combined with Chapter Five, deals with the principles and the process of writing successful business reports.
Chapter Six, the heart of this thesis, lays out an elaborate discussion of the linguistic requirements for successful business report writing, ranging from word choice, through sentence construction, to paragraph design.
Contents
Chapter One Communication
1.1 What is communication? ———————————————-1
1.2 Communication process————————————————2
1.3 Effective communication and its obstacles————————–5
1.3.1 Effective communication————————————–5
1.3.2 Obstacles to effective communication———————–6
1.4 Effective business communication———————————-10
1.4.1 Business communication————————————-10
1.4.2 Importance of effective business communication———11
Chapter Two An Introduction of Business Reports
2.1 Definition of a business report—————————————14
2.2 Classification systems for business reports ————————15
2.2.1 Directional classification————————————-16
2.2.2 Contextual classification————————————-17
2.2.3 Functional classification————————————-17
2.2.4 Format classification——————————————19
2.3 Functions of business reports—————————————-20
2.4 Special requirements of business reports ————————–21
2.4.1 Purpose———————————————————21
2.4.2 Focus————————————————————22
2.4.3 Consideration of audience————————————22
2.4.4 Self-sufficiency————————————————22
2.4.5 Objectivity——————————————————23
2.4.6 Style————————————————————-23
Chapter Three Ingredients of Business Reports
3.1 Preliminary parts——————————————————25
3.2 Content of the report————————————————–27
3.2.1 Introduction—————————————————-27
3.2.2 Body————————————————————-29
3.2.3 Final section—————————————————-29
3.3 Appended parts——————————————————–30
Chapter Four Principles of Successful
Business Report Writing
4.1 Completeness———————————————————-31
4.2 Conciseness————————————————————32
4.3 Consideration———————————————————-34
4.4 Courtesy—————————————————————-35
4.5 Concreteness———————————————————–36
4.6 Clarity——————————————————————-37
4.7 Correctness————————————————————-38
Chapter Five Process of Writing Successful Business Reports
5.1 Planning—————————————————————–40
5.2 Collecting—————————————————————42
5.3 Designing—————————————————————42
5.3.1 Documenting—————————————————42
5.3.2 Sorting———————————————————-43
5.3.3 Interpreting—————————————————–43
5.3.4 Preparing final outline—————————————-44
5.4 Drafting—————————————————————–44
5.5 Editing—————————————————————— 45
5.6 Revising—————————————————————–46
Chapter Six Linguistic Requirements for Successful
Business Report Writing
6.1 Word choice————————————————————47
6.1.1 Using simple words——————————————-48
6.1.2 Creating vivid images—————————————–53
6.1.3 Choosing nondiscriminatory expressions——————58
6.1.4 Selecting words for precise communication—————59
6.2 Sentence construction————————————————-60
6.2.1 Keeping the sentence reasonably short———————60
6.2.2 Making the sentence effective——————————-62
6.3 Paragraph design——————————————————-66
6.3.1 Keeping the paragraph in a suitable length—————-66
6.3.2 Maintaining the paragraph unity—————————-66
6.3.3 Putting the topic sentence to good use———————-68
6.3.4 Making the paragraph move forward———————–70
Conclusion————————————————————-71
Bibliography———————————————————-72
