Abstract

Owing to the rapid development of the global economic integration and the adoption of open-up and reform policy, foreign trade has played a more and more important role in the development of economy. At the same time, business English correspondence, as one of the most important and effective bridges for multinational communication, has a great influence on the success of foreign trade. Thus it is crucial for a corporation to write a successful business English letter, which can not only promote the communication and understanding between the senders and receivers, but also strengthen the bilateral foreign trade relationship. Therefore, how to write a successful business English letter has become an essential question for the participants in international trade.
This thesis consists of three parts. It firstly introduces the Grice’s Cooperative Principle (CP), followed by the definition of Cooperative Principle and the four maxims of Grice’s Cooperative Principle. Then it introduces briefly the Business English Correspondence, covering the definition of Business English Correspondence and its main characteristics. Finally, the paper discusses the application of CP in business English correspondence by some specific examples. Through the analysis, it can be concluded that businessmen in a business company will benefit a lot from the proper application of CP in business correspondence writing.

Key words: Cooperative Principle; Business English; correspondence; application

摘  要

由于全球经济一体化的迅速发展和改革开放政策的实施，对外贸易在经济发展中扮演着越来越重要的角色。与此同时，商务英语函电作为跨国交流最为重要和有效的桥梁之一，对外贸的成功有着巨大的影响。因此，对一家外贸公司而言，写作成功的商务英语函电是至关重要的。成功的商务函电不仅可以促进发信人与收信人之间的沟通和理解，同时也可巩固双方的贸易关系。如何写作一封成功的商务英语函电已然成为了对外贸易参与者的一个基本问题。
本文由三个部分构成。第一部分介绍格莱斯的合作理论，包括合作理论的定义以及格莱斯合作理论的四原则。第二部分简要介绍商务英语函电，包括商务英语函电的定义和它的特征。最后一个部分，通过一些具体的例子的论述合作理论在商务函电中的运用。通过分析，作者得出这样的结论：合作原则在商务英语函电写作中的准确地运用，能使外贸从业人员从中获益良多。

关键词：合作原则；商务英语；函电；运用