Vague language in bad-news business English letters
Introduction
Many people hold such a belief that language should be used clearly and precisely. Hence, it is believed that vagueness should be avoided, so as to maintain smooth and successful communication. However, human communication is not quite such a case, no matter it is in written or spoken form. In fact, vague language is widely used in human communication. Vagueness is one of the important properties of natural language. Language which "results from nature and human" (Wittgenstein，1953: 18) can not and need not be clear and precise all the time, especially in human communication.
According to Wittgenstein's (1953) statement, that our communication needs vague expressions on many occasions may originally sound somewhat bizarre. However, suppose that we could do away with all sorts of vague language, through some commonly accepted limitations, we could find our means of communication so pale and expression limited to such a degree that our interchange is paralyzed. Since the publication of Fuzzy Set by Zadeh in 1965, many linguists have been aroused to carry out systematic and descriptive researches on vague expressions. They all agree that vague language plays an important role in the process of human communication. According to Zhang Qiao's(1998) argument, whether one can appropriately use vague language manifests one's language performance, because vague language is an inseparable part of language communication.
Bibliography
Bovee, C.L., Thill, J.V&Schatzman, B.E. Business Communication Essentials [M]. Beijing: China Renmin University Press, 2017.
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Burns, L.C. Vagueness:
An Investigation into Natural Languages and the Sorties Paradox [M]. London: Kluwer Academic Press, 1991.
Channell, J. Vague Language[M]. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.
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Abstract 4-6
摘要 7-12
Introduction 12-18
Chapter One Literature Review 18-36
1.1 Overview of Vague Language 18-30
1.1.1 Different Definitions of Vague Language 18-20
1.1.2 Sources of Vague Language 20-22
1.1.3 Relations of Some Related Terms 22-26
1.1.4 Review of Previous Studies of Vague Language 26-30
1.2 Overview of Bad-News Business English Letters 30-36
1.2.1 Nature of Bad-News Business English Letters 31-32
1.2.2 Types of Bad-News Business English Letters 32-33
1.2.3 Writing Strategies of Bad-News Business English Letters 33-34
1.2.4 Previous Studies of Bad-，英语论文范文，英语论文题目
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