Rhetorical and pragmalinguistic features of business correspondence

The case of sales letters in intercultural business communication in Kazakhstan

Authors

  • Aliya Aimoldina L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University
  • Sholpan Zharkynbekova L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.30632

Keywords:

business correspondence, intercultural business communication, national and cultural features, pragmalinguistic analysis, rhetorical analysis

Abstract

This paper explores the rhetorical and pragmalinguistic features of sales letters written in English by Kazakhstani business professionals and their native Englishspeaking international business partners based in the USA and the UK. The analysis focuses on 115 authentic texts, consisting of 65 non-native English speakers’ and 50 native speakers’ letters collected from international, national, and foreign companies in Kazakhstan. The research findings indicate that the analyzed sales letters not only reflect language variations, but also contain a number of culturally specific features which make them valuable ‘indicators’ of the writers’ cultural and social backgrounds. The most remarkable aspect is the imbalance between the Kazakhstani business professionals’ intention to maintain long-term business partnerships by adding a special introductory move and their inability to choose communication strategies adequate to native English-speakers’ writing style.

Author Biographies

  • Aliya Aimoldina, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University

    Aliya Aimoldina is a Senior Lecturer in the Philology Faculty at L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Kazakhstan. Her main research interests are crosscultural communication, specifically, intercultural business communication and business discourse in the Kazakh, Russian, and English languages in the context of multilingual and multicultural Kazakhstan. She is a member of the Association for Business Communication and a participant in an international research project on issues relating to Kazakh–Russian bilingual interactions.

  • Sholpan Zharkynbekova, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University

    Sholpan Zharkynbekova is a Professor at L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University in Kazakhstan, where she teaches cross-cultural communication, sociolinguistics, cognitive linguistics, cultural linguistics, contrastive linguistics and other subjects. Her main research interests include language contacts, ethnolinguistic identity, and verbalization of ethno-specific concepts in different linguacultures.

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Published

2016-10-18

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Aimoldina, A., & Zharkynbekova, S. (2016). Rhetorical and pragmalinguistic features of business correspondence: The case of sales letters in intercultural business communication in Kazakhstan. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 10(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.30632

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