Chapter One Literature Review
In this chapter, main attention is focused on literature review of the previous studies onfeatures of business text and its translation. In the first part of the chapter, definition ofbusiness English and its text features are discussed. In the following part, previous overseasand domestic studies of business text translation are briefly reviewed. At last, the thesissummarizes limitations of the previous studies and current problems existing in businessEnglish text translation and then puts forward the primary research view: to applySkopostheorie to the translation of business text.
1.1 What is Business English?
In order to get a comprehensive understanding of what business English is, firstly thethesis will take a look at the definition of business English by means of analyzing thedifferences between business English and general English. Then the thesis tries to classifybusiness English texts into five categories based on their stylistic features. Definition of Business EnglishIt is quite uneasy to find an equivalent definition and business English is traditionallylimited in linguistic terms. Generally speaking, business English is a specific kind of Englishlanguage related to international trade, which is a part of English for Specific Purposes(ESP).Many non-native English speakers study the subject with the goal of doing business withEnglish-speaking countries, or with companies located outside the Anglosphere butnonetheless use English as a shared language or lingua franca. It can be inferred that businessEnglish fills up the gap between international business activities and English language itself.Business English functions as a bridge connecting business contents with linguistic form inthe context of business communication.An established corpus and terminology of business English was researched during the1960s. The lexis of business English is significantly different from that of “everyday” generalEnglish, and the lexis found in business English texts and published materials is also distinctchoose concise and clear language style, attaching importance to the messages conveyed inthe material; business report (market report, sales report, year-end report, business almanac,etc.), which often adopt informal style and simple language structure, attaching importance tomessages like news language; business document (memorandum, meeting agenda, minutes,etc.); business promotional literature (trademark, advertisement, product instruction,public-oriented materials, etc.), which unique features are application of various kinds ofrhetorical device, its aesthetic and persuasive functions and its target-audience-orientedeffects.From what are mentioned above, it can be seen that business English text embraces thefollowing characteristics: 1. It has definite purposes, for its expected aims are to conveycertain information to its target readers; 2. It attaches great emphasis to the audiences’ needsand expectations. Unlike readers of literary works who expect nothing more thanentertainment, readers of business English texts are more concerned about whetherinformation conveyed in it will be beneficial for them to do business or to achieve optimizedbenefits. 3. Language style of business English text is usually concise and clear to the point.As a pragmatic text, one marked feature of business English text is that it tries to fully conveybusiness message with the brief
