Chakorn, Ora-Ong (2002) Contrastive rhetoric of English persuasive correspondence in the Thai business context : cross-cultural sales promotion, request and invitation. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This research focuses on the contrastive analysis of authentic persuasive business
correspondence written in English by Thai speakers and native English speakers in the
Thai business context. Three types of persuasive correspondence - sales promotion,
request, and invitation - were analysed from contrastive text linguistic and pragmatic
perspectives. The purpose was to examine, compare and contrast their rhetorical
structures, functions and linguistic realisations as well as persuasive and politeness
strategies, and to compare these features to those found in textbook samples of
persuasive letters in order to investigate the extent to which those samples represent
the authentic, real-life correspondence.
The findings report on cross-cultural variations which differentiate the persuasive
writing patterns and strategies of Thais and native English speakers. Despite some
shared writing conventions, the findings reveal diversity in some rhetorical moves,
linguistic realisations, rhetorical appeals and politeness strategies. The diversity
includes some cultural-bound discourse patterns and cultural-specific textual features,
many of which can be traced to interference from the Thai language and culture. An
exploration of the nature of sales promotion, request, and invitation letters presented
in one American and two Thai textbooks on Business English writing reveals that
their letter samples reflect the characteristics of the authentic corpus in the business
contexts to which they belong.
The implications of this research are twofold. First, it has implications for the
teaching of English business letter writing especially in the Thai context and the
innovation of more advanced materials and methods for this pedagogical purpose.
Second, it raises an awareness of differences in persuasive writing across languages
and cultures, worth noting for developing cross-cultural understanding and
communication strategies for effective intercultural business interactions in the
dynamic business environment of the 21st century.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce P Language and Literature > PE English
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Commercial correspondence -- Thailand, English language -- Foreign countries, English language -- Rhetoric
Official Date:	April 2002
Dates:	Date Event April 2002 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Centre for English Language Teacher Education
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Gardner, Sheena ; Bloor, Meriel, 1934-
Sponsors:	Sathāban Bandit Phatthanabōrihānsāt (Thailand) [National Institute of Development Administration] (NIDA) ; Thailand
Extent:	xiii, 349 leaves
Language:	eng

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