Oral Slips and Their Countermeasures in Business English Negotiation.doc

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1、Oral Slips and Their Countermeasures in Business English Negotiation商务英语谈判中的口误及其对策AbstractWith the rapid development of global economic integration, cross-cultural business negotiation is becoming increasingly frequent. Business English negotiators face new challenges, particularly the understanding

2、 and use of English. Because of cultural divergences and some other reasons, oral slip is inevitable and may prevent the business proceeding on smoothly. Therefore, avoiding oral slips and dealing with them in an appropriate way is very important.This thesis mainly discusses oral slips and counterme

3、asures in business English negotiations. Firstly, it introduces four types of oral slips in business English negotiation: mistakes in pronunciation and intonation, mistakes on lexical and syntactic level and taboos; secondly, it analyzes the negative effects caused by oral slips; then, it analyzes t

4、he reasons for oral slips, including Freuds explanation, negative transfer, improper teaching in classroom and cultural divergences; finally, it puts forward some countermeasures to deal with oral slips: overcoming psychological stress, increasing negotiators awareness of cultural differences, learn

5、ing English with the help of pragmatic knowledge, cultivating negotiators communicative competence and explanation. All in all, through case analysis, the thesis presents a comprehensive analysis of oral slips and their countermeasures in business negotiation, in the hope of giving business English

6、negotiators a correct guidance so as to improve their ability of negotiation and guarantee trade proceeding smoothly. Key words: business English negotiation; oral slips; countermeasures摘 要随着全球经济一体化的迅速发展,跨文化商务谈判变得更加频繁。商务英语谈判者面临着新的挑战,尤其是对英语的理解和运用。因为文化差异和其他原因,口误是不可避免的，而且可能阻碍贸易顺利进行。因此避免口误和正确处理口误是非常重要的。

7、本文主要探讨商务英语谈判中的口误及其对策。本文首先简要介绍商务英语谈判中口误的四种类型：发音和语调错误，词汇错误，句法错误和禁忌语；接着分析了由口误所引发的负面影响；然后分析了口误的原因，包括弗洛伊德的解释，负迁移，不当的教学和文化差异；最后提出处理口误的对策：克服心理压力，增强谈判者的文化差异意识，学习英语语用知识，培养谈判者的交际能力和解释说明。总之，本文通过案例分析，对商务谈判中的口误及其对策做了全面的分析，以期给予商务英语谈判者一个正确的指导，提高他们的商务谈判能力，从而确保贸易顺利进行。关键词:商务英语谈判; 口误; 对策ContentsAbstracti摘 要iiIntroduct

8、ion11. Classification of Oral Slips21.1 Mistakes in Pronunciation and Intonation21.2 Mistakes on Lexical Level31.2.1 Use of Wrong Words31.2.2 Use of Fuzzy Words31.3 Mistakes on Syntactic Level41.4 Taboos42. Negative Effects of Oral Slips42.1 Negative Effects on the Development of a Company52.2 Misun

9、derstanding Between the Concerned Parties53. Reasons for Oral Slips63.1 Freuds Explanation63.2 Negative Transfer73.3 Improper Teaching in the Classroom73.4 Cultural Divergences73.4.1 Different Linguistic Habits and Features83.4.2 Different Business Practices83.4.3 Different Ways of Thinking94. Count

10、ermeasures of Oral Slips in Business English Negotiation94.1 Overcoming Psychological Stress94.2 Increasing Negotiators Awareness of Cultural Differences104.3 Learning English with the Help of Pragmatic Knowledge104.3.1 Politeness Strategy104.3.2 Euphemistic Strategy114.4 Cultivating Negotiators Com

11、municative Competence114.5 Explanation12Conclusion12Acknowledgements13Endnotes14References15 15Oral Slips and Their Countermeasures in Business English Negotiation商务英语谈判中的口误及其对策IntroductionBoomer & Laver points out that oral slip is a deviation from what the speaker has in mind to say, while Zhang L

12、ing regards oral slip as an accidental and usually trivial mistake in speaking, expressing a meaning deviated from the original one in speech, semantically or grammatically.1 Some language experts think this kind of mistakes as a kind of speech error.People begin to notice and study oral slip from t

13、he late 19th century. They gather thousands of examples of oral slip, and then analyze and classify them. In the beginning of 20th century, the study of oral slip focuses on psychological aspect discussing its causes. It is until 60s of the 20th century that slip of tongue gets more attention of lin

14、guists who study the social reasons for the slip of tongue. Furthermore, experts in different spheres step into the study of oral slip.2It is obvious in business world as the global economy progresses, that the international transactions are becoming increasingly common. With the adoption of open-up

15、 and reform policy, in order to keep abreast with the world, Chinese enterprises are establishing business relationship with foreign companies. They negotiate in the hope of coming to a contract in a win-win situation, thats to say, both sides feel that they have got a successful deal and walk away

16、satisfied. Negotiation plays a basic part in conclusion of a contract and has direct influence on the conclusion and implementation of a contract, and also has a great bearing on the economic interest of the parties concerned.3 However, during the process of negotiation, because of cultural divergen

17、ces, language barrier and some other objective reasons, the negotiators may say something not in line with their initial thought. Speakers of other languages tend to make some specific errors that are uncommon among native speakers. Those errors are called oral slips, which are potentially influenci

18、ng whether the negotiation is successful or not. In consequence, it is advisable for the negotiators to know how to avoid oral slips and how to deal with them when they actually occur.Actually, business people throughout the world have realized the crucial impact of oral slip on cross-cultural busin

19、ess English negotiation, and made great effort to reduce the possibility of negotiation failure as a result of oral slip. As to the problem, linguists and psychologists have made a large collection of oral slips in daily life for further research. Although they have exploited some way to prevent ora

20、l slip, there is still a long way to go to eliminate the adverse influence of oral slip. However, some oral slips intentionally produce word-plays or puns.1. Classification of Oral Slips In recent years, one of the most significant progress in the study of slip of tongue is to do the research in sev

21、eral aspects. The classification is the aspect with considerable results. The majority of oral slips can be interpreted in different ways, so there are also different ways of classifying. This thesis focuses on the following way. 1.1 Mistakes in Pronunciation and IntonationIn ordinary life, oral sli

22、p in pronunciation doesnt happen frequently. However, during the business English negotiation, the number of this kind is not small, because of different languages. In oral English, the speech is always changing, which is a serious problem, confronting with Chinese negotiators. On one hand, in Engli

23、sh there are some words with similar pronunciation. Chinese people speak English as a second language and without doubt, they will confuse about them particularly under a pressure situation as negotiation.English is a stress-timed rhythm language different from Chinese, a syllable-timed rhythm langu

24、age. There is a very important difference in English between strong and weak syllable.4 When you quote to the foreign party, a special attention should be paid to the numeral part of price. For example, if you want to say the price will be thirty U.S. dollar. per metric ton but it is very likely for

25、 you pronounce thirty as thirteen. If you realize the mistake at negotiation table, you can correct it immediately. If so, you will lose nothing, but if not, you will be taken advantage of by the foreign party. Oral English has intonation, which enables us to express emotions and attitudes as we spe

26、ak, and which adds a special kind of meaning to spoken language. Though the literal sentence is the same, the expressed connotation would vary due to the different intonation. Intonation involves the occurrence of recurring fall-rise patterns, each of which is used with a set of relatively consisten

27、t meanings, either on single words of varying length.5 A Chinese negotiator always speaks in a falling instead of a rising tone, and then there comes the problem. The foreign counterpart may become angry and give up the opportunity to reach a contract. Even recent years a lot of understanding elemen

28、ts have been added to the process of negotiation, negotiation is still a serious matter; we can not be too careless. 1.2 Mistakes on Lexical LevelIn cross-cultural communication, most of oral slips happen on this level where many people think it is the least possible. They can be divided into three

29、types.1.2.1 Use of Wrong WordsIf translated into Chinese literally, some English words, whose meaning are contrary to what they originally mean. During the process of language develops, the meaning of word is always changing. The following is the example of such mistakes:York: We have sent several s

30、ample machines to you, how do you think about them after testing? Can you place your order now?Peter: we have tested the machines carefully and there is no any error. I think your products are goldbricks. (Thumb up)York: what are you meaning? Not only have you defamed our products, also thumbed up.

31、It is mockery and frame. We wont order any more.Peter: angry? I am praising your products. (Confused) 6The failure of this contract is due to the use of the word goldbrick. The origin of the word is dated back to 19th century when the gold rush happened. For the convenience of gold transport, people

32、 form gold as bricks, so the word goldbrick comes out. However, the meaning of goldbrick becomes to fake when a fraud case happens in American. Sadly, Peter still thinks goldbrick meaning something valuable. Besides, owing to different ways of expression between Chinese and English, some expressions

33、 are deep-rooted in Chinese peoples mind, they are used to express their though in their way. For instance, a Chinese negotiator may mistake 90% discount as 九折.1.2.2 Use of Fuzzy WordsUse of fuzzy words means using words which have different understandings or unclear meanings so that the connotation

34、 of whole sentence is confused. At the negotiation table, everything must be as precise as possible, otherwise, the company may lose a lot as a result of a miller mistakes. The negotiators should express their meaning clearly and avoid ambiguity, so that the listener will understand it well. For exa

35、mple, Chinese：If the price of raw material is 500$ per ton, we will order 150 ton. This expression is ambiguous because they use ton as the weight unit. In weight system, a metric ton equals 0.9842 long tons, 1.1023 short tons. There are still many other examples of this kind slip in the items of qu

36、antity and price. A special attention is worthwhile in this case. Because of cultural divergences and the development of language, there are many words with an ambiguous meaning. The word bimonthly is an example in the sentence: As to the steamers sailing from Hong Kong to San Francisco, we have bim

37、onthly direct services. The word bimonthly has two meanings: twice a month, or once two months. The listener will feel puzzled about the meaning.1.3 Mistakes on Syntactic LevelMistakes on this level happen mainly because Chinese negotiators dont know proper English native expressions and borrow Chin

38、ese expressions ignorantly. Usually, Chinese tend to use complete sentences, but sometimes, English complete sentences contain a certain meaning, which is impolite. For instance, if a foreign negotiator said: “Could you tell us your terms of delivery?” Chinese counterpart said slowly and clearly tha

39、t: “we could tell you our terms of delivery”. Suddenly, the foreign part said: “we dont think we could reach agreement”.7 There is no grammar mistake in Chinese negotiators sentence, but the whole sentence in this situation expresses a meaning of impatience, unwilling to answer the question. 1.4 Tab

40、oosDifferent cultures have a great number of taboo topics. Those words, phrases, numbers and topics which imply something bad or unrefined, cannot be used in cross-cultural communication. It is commonly known that privacy, income, as well as religion are sensitive topics in cross-cultural communicat

41、ion.In western countries, Christianity plays a decisive role in the life of westerners. So when you communicate with Christians, captious numbers as 13 and Friday should also be avoided to use. What is more, different regions have different religious etiquette. Thus, their norms and customs related

42、to their religious should be respected.2. Negative Effects of Oral SlipsOral slip will certainly produce ambiguity. Sometimes, the audience can recognize those slips and correct them automatically. There is no need for the speaker to correct the slip. But some oral slips will result in great ambigui

43、ty, which convey diffferent meanings to the listener, in consequence, they will block the negotiation from proceeding on. If there is no big grammar mistakes in the ambiguity statements, it is very hard for the listener to decide whether there is oral slip or not. Misunderstanding is under way.2.1 E

44、ffects on the Development of a CompanyThe follow is a failure example：York: It is said that you have provided ABC Company a large discount, is that right?Peter: Yes, it is the same discount as we gave you. We can offer a 90% discount for orders over 10,000 pieces. You should know that. (Complacently

45、)York: What? The price you offered to us is several times of that! What do you mean? (Angrily)Peter: Its ridiculous. We gave both of you 90% discount. If the mistake can not be corrected at that time, it is very possible for York to cancel their contract that they have settled at a discount of 10%.8

46、 Moreover, for example, in business negotiations, a negotiator mistook fool as full. The influence of this kind of oral slip is very bad. Although native non-English speaker thinks this is oral failure, some native speakers do not think so. They think you are intentional or malicious. Last, if you m

47、ispronounce thirty as thirteen when you quote to a foreigner business partner, it is possible for him/her to grasp your mistake and ask for a reduced price, even though he/she knows that is your oral slip. If an oral slip can not be realized and settled promptly, it is very likely for the company to

48、 lose a client. In china, most important business cannot occur until relationship is sound. The business relationship is hard to form, but long lasting. Once the sound relationship is broken for an unconscious oral slip, it is not easy to establish a relationship as concrete as that one.2.2 Misunderstanding Between the Concerned PartiesOne effect of oral slip is misunderstanding, which in turn may result in conflict between cultures. With the rapid development of globalization and frequent contacts among different