The business communication classroom vs reality: What should we teach today?

Louhiala‐Salminen, Leena

doi:10.1016/0889-4906(95)00024-0

Cited by 50 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…Earlier (Louhiala-Salminen, 1996), I introduced the term &dquo;faxier fax&dquo; by which I mean faxes that form a category of their own, with distinctive features that differentiate them from letters or other business documents. On the basis of the present results I argue that there is an overarching &dquo;umbrella-genre&dquo; of a business fax, which has several subgenres which vary from situation to situation and from one discourse community to another.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Genre of a Business Fax: A Finnish Case Study

Louhiala‐Salminen¹

1997

Journal of Business Communication

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The faxes sent and received during one week by a small Finnish company involved in international operations were analyzed to determine whether or not the business fax contains distinct features that warrant classifying it as a genre. Using a framework of critical discourse analysis, the study looked at a total of 69 faxes. The results suggest that the business fax is a distinct, dynamic genre that is constituted by and constitutive of the social practices within which it is situated. Five specific subgenres of the business fax — identified as specific information, specific requests, "for your information," first contact, and order — were also found. Some implications of English being used as the common language for faxes are also considered.Communicating in business has changed dramatically in the past two decades. The new communication media (computers, faxes, e-mail, voice mail) have affected the entire communication process: who communicates with whom, when, in what language, with what style, and through which channel. This is particularly true of international business where fax and e-mail reduce the impact of time zone differences, video conferences are organized instead of face-to-face meetings, and business people may take care of their daily correspondence while sitting at the airport by using a mobile phone and a laptop computer.The style and genres of written international business communication have been affected first by the computer revolution and word processing, then by the fax revolution. Within the next few years we may witness another revolution to come -that of electronic mail. While electronic mail is currently shaking the ground of communication practices in many corners of business communication, in international business communication it is not yet widespread enough to truly have the revolutionary impact that the present uses of faxes have had.The present paper examines the emerging style and genre of faxes in international business communication. In this arena the fax revolution is in full swing and has had a substantial impact.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Genre of a Business Fax: A Finnish Case Study

Louhiala‐Salminen¹

1997

Journal of Business Communication

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“…Further to this, a number of researchers (e.g. Angouri, 2010a;Louhiala-Salminen, 1996;Nickerson, 2002;Poncini, 2002Poncini, , 2006 explicitly discuss the applications and implications of their research and suggest ways for the findings to be integrated or to complement other material for training purposes. In addition, work where interactions from multinational workplace settings are analysed and the complexities of 'culture' are discussed (e.g.…”

Section: Implications and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 97%

‘If we know about culture it will be easier to work with one another’: developing skills for handling corporate meetings with multinational participation

Angouri

2010

Language and Intercultural Communication

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The current international nature of socio-economic activities is reshaping workplace settings and creating the need for large numbers of employees to perform successful communicative acts with a wider range of interactants than in the past, often using a language other than their mother tongue. Against this backdrop much emphasis has been placed on the need for training current and future employees in order to develop their work-related communication skills. In this context, the paper reports on an ongoing study into workplace discourse and its implications for pedagogic practice. I discuss here operationalisations of the concept of culture in pedagogic materials, and focus on the meeting event as presented through texts published in some widely used Business English textbooks in the UK. Special attention is paid to the underlying assumptions about culture and preferred norms for handling meetings which feature multinational participation Á as presented by the textbooks but also in relevant academic literature. The discussion also draws on data from multinational companies in Europe. The analysis shows that textbooks often take a macro-level view of culture and treat it as an entity with distinct boundaries. This paper closes by making a case for sociolinguistic research findings to feed back into the language classroom to complement language for specific purposes textbooks for further developing learners' socio-pragmatic skills.La caractère international des activités socio-économiques actuelles transforme la configuration du lieu de travail et entraîne ainsi le besoin d'un nombre important d'employés d'accomplir des actes communicatifs avec une palette d'interlocuteurs de plus en plus variée, et ce dans une langue souvent autre que leur langue maternelle. Sur cette toile de fond, l'emphase a été placée sur la nécessité de former les employés actuels et futurs afin de développer leurs compétences en matière de linguistique et de communication. C'est dans ce contexte que cet article établit le compte-rendu d'une étude en cours sur le discours dans le lieu de travail et sur les conséquences de celui-ci sur les pratiques pédagogiques. J'examine ici les 'opérationalisations' du concept de culture dans les matériels pédagogiques et me concentre sur l'évènement de la réunion telle qu'elle est présentée dans les textes publiés dans des manuels de l'Anglais des Affaires couramment utilisés au Royaume-Uni. Une attention particulière est portée aux hypothèses concernant la culture et les normes privilégiées afin de gérer les réunions à caractère multinational Á comme le présentent les manuels mais également les travaux universitaires sur le sujet. La discussion repose également sur des données provenant de compagnies multinationales en Europe. L'analyse montre que le point de vue des manuels sur la culture est souvent statique et traite celle-ci comme une 'unité' homogène avec des limites bien définies. Cet article se conclut *en défendant que les résultats des recherches sociolinguistiques pourraient être utiles dans les...

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“…Research often aims to enhance non-native language learning, teaching, and practice, including needs analyses to serve curriculum planning (e.g., Louhiala-Salminen, 1996;Luoma, 1992). The term &dquo;non-native&dquo; language is preferred in this context to &dquo;foreign,&dquo; because some European countries are bilingual or multilingual with two or more official languages in the country (e.g., Belgium with Flemish (Dutch) and French; Finland with Finnish and Swedish; and Switzerland with German, French, Italian, and Rheto-Romanian).…”

Section: Characteristics Of European Business Writing Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Europe: Business Writing

Yli-Jokipii

1998

Business Communication Quarterly

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The business communication classroom vs reality: What should we teach today?

Cited by 50 publications

References 1 publication

Investigating the Genre of a Business Fax: A Finnish Case Study

Investigating the Genre of a Business Fax: A Finnish Case Study

‘If we know about culture it will be easier to work with one another’: developing skills for handling corporate meetings with multinational participation

Europe: Business Writing

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