Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin Chapter 7 Written Communication Patterns

Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin

Chapter 7

Written Communication Patterns


Upon Completion of This Chapter:

• Know the guidelines for writing international messages in English

• Be familiar with letter formats commonly use by U.S. business firms

• Understand how faxes are commonly used• Understand how writing tone and style vary

from culture to culture• Understand cultural differences in other

types of written correspondence


Correspondence in English

• What percent of outgoing international correspondence is sent in English?

• 97% ENGLISH• 1% in French, German, and Spanish • (Percentages for incoming correspondence are

similar.)• Many U.S. companies correspond with foreign

corporation; it is important to be aware of differences in the format, tone, and style of written communication

DeVries, Internationally Yours

Know Your Reader

In spite of all the trade between the United States In spite of all the trade between the United States and the Far East, Americans fail to study even and the Far East, Americans fail to study even common Asian customs and business practices. common Asian customs and business practices. Consider one of the most popular words in the Consider one of the most popular words in the English language - English language - youyou. U.S. people try to . U.S. people try to personalize writing by taking the “you approach.” personalize writing by taking the “you approach.” But in some other countries, such as Japan, people But in some other countries, such as Japan, people don’t like this personal touch. They believe that don’t like this personal touch. They believe that writers should refer to their company: “Would writers should refer to their company: “Would your companyyour company be interested in this plan?” Not: be interested in this plan?” Not: “Would “Would youyou be interested in this plan?” be interested in this plan?”


International English

• Three cultural factors that are important to effective communication include: understanding the business communication in the other culture, knowledge of how business communication is taught in the other culture, and knowing that content errors are more difficult to discern than language errors.

Riddle & Lanham


• Use the 3,000 to 4,000 most common English words. Uncommon words, such as onus for burden and flux for continual change, should be avoided.

• Use only the most common meaning of words. The word high has 20 meanings; the word expensive has one.

• Choose words with singular rather than multiple meanings.

Riddle & Lanham

• Select action-specific verbs and words with few or similar alternate meanings. Use cook breakfast rather than make breakfast; use take a taxi rather than get a taxi.

• Avoid redundancies (interoffice memorandum), sports terms (ballpark figure), and words that draw mental pictures (red tape).


Riddle & Lanham

• Avoid using words in other than their most common way, such as making verbs out of nouns (impacting the economy and faxing a message).

• Be aware of words that have a unique meaning in some cultures; the word check outside the U.S. generally means a financial instrument and is often spelled cheque.


Riddle & Lanham

• Be aware of alternate spellings in countries that use the same language; e.g., theatre/theater, colour/color, and judgement/judgment.

• Avoid creating or using new words; avoid slang.

• Avoid two-word verbs, such as to pick up; use lift.


Riddle & Lanham

• Use the formal tone and maximum punctuation to assure clarity; use no first names in letter salutations.

• Conform carefully to rules of grammar; be careful of dangling participles and incomplete sentences.

• Use more short, simple sentences than you would ordinarily use; avoid compound sentences.


Riddle & Lanham

• Clarify the meaning of words with more than one meaning.

• Adapt the tone of the letter to the reader if the cultural background is known; e.g., use unconditional apologies if that is expected in the reader’s culture.

• Try to capture the flavor of the language when writing to someone whose cultural background you know.



Remember also:

• To avoid acronyms (ASAP), emoticons (), and “shorthand” (4 representing for).

• That numbers are written differently in some countries; for example, 3,000 may be written as 3.000 or 3000.



What are Lexical Errors?

• Lexical errors are content errors—errors in meaning.

Examples of lexical errors:• We baste (based) this conclusion on our research.• Thank you for your patients (patience).• Our office will be closed on this wholey (holy)

day.• With your aide (aid), we will soon have our office

fully staffed.


• The results will be worth the weight (wait).• Since you plan to visit an ant (aunt) in New

York, perhaps we could meet at your convenience.

• According to the senses (census), the number of exported trucks has declined in the last decade.

What are Lexical Errors?


What are Syntactic Errors?

• Syntactic errors are errors in the order of the words in a sentence.

• Native speakers of a language will discover syntactic errors in a sentence more readily than lexical errors. – In Spanish, for example, the noun is given

first, then adjectives follow. Example: Paseo del Rio (River Walk)


Tone and Writing Style

• Tone and writing style are more formal and traditional in other countries than in U.S. companies.

• Good news messages in the U.S. use the direct approach.

• In the U.S. bad news messages use the indirect approach.

• Latin Americans avoid bad news completely.


• In France:– Use formal beginnings and endings; endings tend

to be flowery.– Apologize for mistakes and express regret for any

inconvenience caused. Most direct with bad news.– Use the indented style.– Place the name of the originating city before the date. – Type the surname in all caps.

• In Germany – The title (Herr) is on the first line and the full name on

the second line.– Letters tend to be more formal.

Letter Formats


• In Japan:– Begin letters with a comment on the season.– Present negative news is a positive manner.– Avoid bad news. Surname is place before the given

name like Chinese.• In the U.S.:

– End negative letters on a positive note.– Avoid apologies.– Preferred styles in the U.S. are Blocked and Modified

Blocked with standard or open punctuation. The title and full name are placed on the first line,

Letter Formats


Letter Formats

• The street name comes after the number in the U.S. but before the street number in Germany, Mexico, and South America.

• Dates are written differently also. In the U.S. dates are written month/day/year (May 5, 2---); in other cultures, they may use the 5th of May, 2--- or 5 May 2---.


• Salutations and closings are more formal in

many other countries. Salutations for German letters would be the English equivalent of Very Honored Mrs. Jones; complimentary closings would often be the English equivalent of Very respectfully yours.

• The Japanese have a traditional format beginning with the salutation followed by a comment about the season/weather; then comes a remark about a gift, kindness, or patronage; they close with best wishes for the receiver's health or prosperity.

Letter Formats


Examples of Japanese Seasonal Greetings

• March:- Spring has just begun, but the cold winds of winter are still with us.

• June:- Rice paddy fields are ready to be planted.

• August:- Indian summer is still around this week.

• November:- The tree on the boulevard is bare of leaves.


How an Address is Written Shows the Relationship:

• In Asian cultures, the family is the basic unit and society as a whole is the larger family:

JAPAN, Tokyo

Hachioji-shi

168-46 Shimoyuki

47-25 Nanyodai

Nakamura, Yoko

• In the West, the individual is most important and the self is the key:

Mr. John R. Smith

2350 Walnut Road

Memphis, TN 38152

U.S.A.


Facsimiles (FAX)

• Fax may be more dependable than the mail in many cultures.

• Fax would be written as you would write a letter.

• Use a transmittal sheet so the operator knows to whom the FAX is directed, the sender, and the total number of pages.

• Faxes are sent via telephone lines.


Electronic Mail (E-Mail)

• Use a memorandum format; no inside address.

• Observe proper e-mail courtesy, including addressing the receiver by name in the opening sentence.

• Keep messages concise and brief (maximum of two screens).

• Devising an electronic signature is recommended.

• Respond within 24 hours to e-mail messages.


Résumé and Job Search Information

• In the United States, a one- to two-page résumé is preferred; include personal information, job objective, educational background, work experience, references, and a cover letter. Exclude age, religion, gender, marital status, or a photo.

• In Germany, résumés are 20-30 pages including: copies of diplomas, photo, employment verification, names of parents, family, religious affiliation, financial obligations, and professional activities.


• In France, the résumé includes: a cover letter, photograph, family information, age, hobbies and foreign language expertise. Age discrimination is common and legal.

• In England, the résumé is one or two pages; it does not include a photo, family information, military service, or any other personal information.



• In Spain, the résumé is two pages in letter form including: chronology of experience, military service, education, family information, professions of parents, clubs, and professional objective; picture is acceptable.

• Canadians want résumés with educational background, work experience, skills, achievements, and references; need a cover letter; important to select key words and industry jargon.



• China’s résumés contain personal information • (date of birth, gender); then job objective, education,

and employment history; specialized training includes computer skills and language competencies and follows education.

• In The Netherlands, résumés include work experience and education; letters of recommendation may be requested later; personal questions may be asked during the interview.

• South Korea’s résumés include work experience and education; include details of achievements.



Topics Covered—Review Carefully

• International English

• Writing Tone and Style

• Letter Formats

• Facsimiles (Fax)

• Electronic Mail (E-mail)

• Résumé and Job Search Information

Case 1

• You work in the personnel division of a multinational organization. You have been asked to provide a list of potential candidates for a management position in the corporation’s German office. Because of their laws, you want a German national for the position. How would you go about obtaining resumes to review?


Case 2

• If you are dealing with a foreign corporation in which no one speaks English as a native or second language, what may be necessary for your corporation and the foreign corporation to work together? How does a U.S. corporation read when the other corporation does not speak in its language? If the corporation has the flexibility to deal with another company in which someone speaks its language versus one in which no one does, which company would receiver the order?


Case 3

A U.S. executive was working with a convention booth builder in England. The English were not working on the booth and would not give a date o completion for the booth or a shipping date to the United States. For six consecutive weeks, the U.S. executive called to inquire about the state of the booth. One day, the executive called and was given the usual litany of excuses, so he gave the English an ultimatum. The next week, the English had not acted on the ultimatum, so the U.S. executive informed the company he would have a trucking company pick up and ship the booth to the United States.


Case 3(continued)

Twice the trucking company went to pick up the booth and was told by the English company that they were not authorized to pick up the booth. The U.S. executive finally had to hire the advertising firm in England that had to hire the advertising firm in England that had originally hired the booth manufacturer to intervene and get the booth shipped. When the booth arrived in the United States, it had not been packed properly and required additional work. What cultural differences were involved in this situation? How could the executive have handled the situation differently?


Documents

Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin Chapter 7 Written Communication Patterns