Abstract

Nattinger & Decarrico put forward lexical chunks in early nineties of the 20th century. They called the words or phrases that are frequently used and highly accepted by people in their English learning lexical chunks. They thought that lexical chunks are patterned fixed phrases between sentences and words. They are always stored in memory and picked-out as a whole part which needn’t be produced or analyzed by grammar rules. business English correspondence is a special practical writing with its own style and characteristics. Present studies pointed out that lexical chunks were frequently used in business English correspondence and commonly accepted by writers. Although there are some studies on lexical chunks and business English correspondence, yet few studies were made on the application and functions of lexical chunks in business English correspondence. The author finds that lexical chunks in business English correspondence play an important role and can give a great help to complete a correspondence writing. Using lexical chunks in business English correspondence can help to promote the discourse organization, make the language expression more native, promote the accuracy and fluency. In order to write a native, decent, accurate and fluent business English correspondence we should cultivate our sense of lexical chunks and learn to use lexical chunks. This thesis focus on the application and functions of lexical chunks in business English correspondence in order to improve the writing level of business English correspondence.

Keywords:  lexical chunks  business English correspondence  writing  function

摘要

语块理论是Nattinger & Decarrico在20世纪90年代提出的，他们把人们常用的以固定形式存在的习惯用语称为语块。他们认为语块是介于句子和词汇之间的模式化的固定短语。它通常作为一个整体储存在记忆中，使用时直接提取，无需根据语法规则生成和分析。商务英语函电写作是一种特殊的应用文写作，有其特定的写作模式和特点。目前为止的研究发现，在商务英语函电中语块的使用频率很高，并且易为学习者所接受。但针对于词块在商务函电写作中具体的应用和功能研究的较少。作者经研究发现商务英语函电中的词块有很大的作用，适当运用语块将有助于提高商务英语信函的语篇组织能力，提高语言表达的地道性和真实性，有利于巩固词汇记忆和增强写作的信心。通过培养语块意识，学会运用语块才能写出地道，得体，准确，流畅的商务英语函电。本文集中于分析语块理论在商务英语函电中的具体应用和功能，提高商务英语函电的写作水平。

关键词: 语块；商务英语函电；功能；写作