Asociacion Europea de Lenguas para Fines Especificos
Abstract
This paper develops a theoretical framework based on genre analysis and crosscultural persuasion for comparing English and Chinese business faxes. Although extensive research has been done in genre analysis and second language writing, scarce literature can be found in cross-cultural genre study of business faxes. Specifically this paper compares faxes used in New Zealand and China. It has been found that English faxes and Chinese faxes are used differently in a number of areas, especially in persuasive orientations. Chinese faxes have a much stronger emphasis on affective aspect useful for building business relationships. This difference is also found in rhetorical structure and linguistic strategies. For example, logos has been identified as a major persuasive orientation in English faxes while both qing or pathos and li or logos were seen as important for Chinese faxes
