Chinese and English discourse in business communication: A case study of a U.S. executive of a multinational corporation in China

Abstract

This case study is an examination of business communication forms both in Chinese and English discourse from the perspective of a U.S. executive of multinational corporation in one business working day in China. Forms of oral communication and written communication provide a basis for understanding the executive's business activities in real business practice, as opposed to only written communication. The theoretical framework for this study is provided by Louhiala-Salminen (2002), focusing on the investigation of discourse activities in business communication. The data were collected through use of a business daily activity protocol questionnaire and a longdistance interview. The participant is a native English speaker and uses Chinese as a business lingua franca, as a vice-general manger with five-year working experience in a technological multinational corporation.

The findings roughly revealed the amounts of English and Chinese uses that the executive employed in a typical working day: 52.1% of his business communication was conducted in English and 47.9% ofhis business communication was conducted in Chinese. Findings showed the different usage of oral communication: group meeting, face-to-face communication, office phone and cell phone. The findings revealed that there were some differences in the use of reports, email, letters and fax, but there is no use of telexes, a traditional way for written communication in the business world.

Date of Award	2005
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	Eastern Illinois University
Supervisor	Mark Borzi (Supervisor)