论文总字数：31598字

摘 要

随着经济全球化背景下的国际跨文化商务谈判日益激烈,中美贸易联系日益密切。由于不同的历史背景、文化价值观等国家之间的差异,语言交际的方式也会有所不同。中美商务谈判中言语策略的差异也会影响谈判的结果。因此,如何在商务谈判中实现语言的互补,优化言语策略的运用,实现互利共赢,引起了学者们的广泛关注和研究。相应地,谈判双方言语策略的比较研究也变得越来越重要。

本文将从商务谈判中的语用原则出发,详细分析中美商务谈判中的言语策略,然后分析双方谈判策略的差异和原因,并提出一些应对策略。这有利于促进中美经贸谈判取得互利共赢的结果,有利于维护和巩固双方的友好关系。

关键词：中美商务谈判；言语策略；应对策略建议

Content

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Background of the Study 1

1.2 Organization of the Study 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. Pragmatic Principles in Business Negotiations 2

3.1 The cooperative principle 3

3.2 The politeness principle 4

3.3 Speech act theory 5

4. American and Chinese speech strategies in Business Negotiation 5

4.1 American speech strategies 5

4.2 Chinese speech strategies 6

5. The factors of different speech strategies in Sino-US business negotiations 8

5.1 Historical factors 8

5.2 National Character 8

5.3 Cultural values 9

6. Methods to Improve Sino-US business negotiation speech strategies 10

6.1 Building cross-cultural awareness 10

6.2 Being well prepared for the negotiation 11

6.3 Cooperative strategy 11

6.4 Politeness strategy 12

7. Conclusion 13

Works Cited 14

1. Introduction

Cross-border business negotiations has occupied a pivotal position. With the continuous development of the global economy, business negotiations between the same country and region are no longer dominated, and international business negotiations have occupied half of the country. In cross-cultural business negotiations, the negotiation and verbal communication methods of national negotiators are closely related to their respective cultural backgrounds. The strategic use of verbal communication will greatly increase the chances of successful business negotiations. In business negotiations, representatives of various countries mainly rely on different pragmatic strategies for negotiation, that is, the discourse mode chosen by the negotiators for the purpose of communication. That is to say, the negotiators must choose the best way of speech communication, strategic. The outcome of the negotiations depends to some extent on the use of the negotiator"s verbal communication strategy in the process of communication. There is no doubt that the success of negotiations is inseparable from the proper use of verbal communication strategies. In international business negotiations, the negotiator chooses which verbal communication mode to change with the change of the negotiation situation. Thus, in cross-cultural business negotiations, the effective use of pragmatic strategies can help negotiators achieve their stated goals, thereby increasing the chances of successful negotiations.

This paper starts from the pragmatic principles in business negotiation, compares the differences between Sino-American business negotiation strategies , and then analyzes the reasons for its emergence and puts forward some constructive opinions to improve cross-cultural business negotiation strategies.

2. Literature Review

The 21st century is an era of economic prosperity and technological advancement. Cross-border commerce and trade are becoming more frequent. Lakoff(1973)proposed politeness principles. Later, people discovered an interesting phenomenon. “Sometimes, in order to achieve politeness, people would deliberately violate or destroy the relevant guidelines in some cooperation principles .”, quoited from Lakoff. Zaidman used discourse analysis to study cultural decoding and verbal communication strategies in cross-cultural business negotiations. The local language system is the basis for negotiators to choose a verbal communication strategy. He pointed out that because of the different cultural decoding and language systems, the language strategies used by negotiators are different(Leech 266). Xie yi(25) pointed out that language is a tool for negotiation strategies, so a reasonable speech communication strategy is of great significance. He believes that in the process of business negotiation, fuzzy strategy, humorous strategy and authoritative strategy play a key role. Negotiators should rationally apply different language strategies at different times during the negotiations.

By reviewing relevant theories, there are still some limitations in the study of verbal communication strategies in international business negotiations at this stage. It is also a top priority to study the common language strategies of Sino-US business negotiations. Next, let"s focus on the pragmatic principles in business negotiation

3. Pragmatic Principles in Business Negotiations

Negotiation is a relatively common activity, which means exchanging opinions and resolving differences with others in a harmonious atmosphere. Negotiations essentially indicate their position and willingness to something through dialogue, and strive to persuade each other in order to realize target and achieve acceptable results from both sides(Leech 266).

Business negotiation means that domestic and international parties negotiate in terms of goods, services, funds, technology, etc., in order to achieve certain economic goals, and repeatedly adjust the conditions proposed by the two sides to bridge the differences between each other and ultimately. A series of activities such as an agreement acceptable to all parties involved(Guo 48). However, people have their own historical and cultural backgrounds, business negotiations can be regarded as cross-cultural negotiations to a certain extent. It is a negotiation that belongs to different modes of thinking and codes of conduct. Therefore, in addition to basic negotiation skills, understanding cultural differences and corresponding negotiation skills has become very important(Yi 17).

The principle of language use is a common requirement for language users. Their existence and application are to ensure the smooth progress of communication. Human language is complicated, and the purpose and occasion of communication are also dynamic. Each pragmatic principle cannot cover all communicative behavior. Therefore, understanding the content, function, and limitations of each pragmatic principle is particularly important in modern business negotiations. The following chapters describe several typical pragmatic principles.

3.1 The cooperative principle

The cooperative principle was formally proposed by American philosopher Grice(1967). Under normal circumstances, the communication between people is composed of a series of organized words(Li 33). The reason is that the participants in the conversation understand that they have one or more in a certain sense. The goal, therefore, requires the rapper to abide by some common principles, that is, the words spoken by both parties in the conversation must conform to the accepted purpose or direction of the conversation.

When Grice(1967) constitutes its category system, it divides the four categories of “quantity”, “quality”, “relationship” and “method”, and uses these four relevant criteria:

Guidelines for quantity: The words should contain enough information, neither below nor beyond, Quality guidelines: Make sure that what you say is true and that the evidence is sufficient, Means of the Code: It should be concise and well organized to avoid ambiguity and ambiguity, and Relevance criteria: Negotiations must be crucial, and the spoken words should be related to each other.

In actual business negotiations, the topics discussed are generally related to the above or occurring events. Negotiators cannot say topics that are not of interest to the other party, nor can them frequently transfer the other party"s topics, or avoid them. However, in the actual verbal communication, people sometimes deliberately violate this principle according to different situations, leading to the creation of extra-verbal meaning, which is enough to explain how people understand the meaning of the words based on the meaning of the surface of the discourse.

3.2 The politeness principle

The polite principle was proposed by the British linguist Leech(1983). He pointed out that the cooperative principle still has some shortcomings, especially why the rapper must abide by this principle, and sometimes it must deliberately violate it. To this end, Leach proposed the principle of politeness. From the perspective of rhetoric and stylistics, Leach divided his polite principles into six categories, as follows:

1. Decent criteria: reduce expressions that are not conducive to the opinions of others.
2. Generosity Guidelines: Reduce the expression of self-interested views.
3. Praise Code: Reduce the expression of derogatory opinions.
4. Humility Guidelines: Reduce the expression of praise for your own views.(Jia 24-27)

The politeness principle makes the meaning of the conversation more perfect, which explains to some extent the problem that the principle of cooperation can"t be explained. Just as many praise principles actually use euphemistic indirect methods to express opinions that they don"t like, and because of this, the principle of cooperation and the principle of courtesy complement each other. When it is applied to non-English speaking languages, its connotation or cultural values may be biased, but we still cannot deny the value and contribution of the politeness principle itself.

3.3 Speech act theory

Speech act theory is called the first complete theory of everyday linguistics research by scholars. This theory has a long history. In his masterpiece "General Linguistics Tutorial", the Swiss linguist Saussure(1916) divides "verbal activities" into "language" and "speech" and systematically explains their concepts. The linguists after Saussure(1916), such as Chomsky and Bloomfield, have largely recognized and inherited this view. The term "verbal behavior" was proposed by the British anthropologist M.MarlinoVski. When talking about the original meaning of speech, he pointed out:"The original meaning of language is not opposed to thought, but as a kind of "The way of behavior." "He believes that language is a way of human behavior, not a tool for thinking, it can connect human behavior. So he formally proposed the concept of speech act."

"The American philosopher Searle(1969) developed this theory and discovered the relationship between verbal content and illocutionary behavior. Some sentences surfaced objective facts, but in fact there are "warning" or "reminder". The speech act type is the main means to judge the true meaning expressed by the rapper in the actual communication process, and thus is considered as the real carrier of the communicative intention. By interpreting discourse, you can find out the true intentions of speech in many possible semantics. Whether it is when you interpret your opinions or listen to the opinions expressed by the other party, it is the core content to show and discern the true intentions, so that you can correctly grasp the progress in business negotiations and be able to do it with ease.

American and Chinese speech strategies in Business Negotiation

4.1 American speech strategies

Americans are good at adopting a competitive strategy in the beginning of the negotiation, expressing their strong posture by words or actions, thereby gaining psychological advantages, winning enough attention from the opponents, and making the negotiations develop in the direction they need. When it is found that the other party is also aggressive, the Americans will not immediately compromise, and will defend their rights and interests in the same strong posture. Even if the negotiations will be deadlocked, they must strive for the maximization of their own interests. Below is a speech example of the strategy:

"This is our first and last offer." This kind of competitive strategy is often to get a strong position in the opening, but it may also be a deadlock in the negotiations.

This approach has some similarities to the compromise strategy, and of course there are obvious differences. There is no need to cater to the interests and actions of the other party in the avoidance strategy, but sometimes it is necessary to sacrifice their own interests in the cooperation strategy. This behavior can be seen as a temporary compromise in order to start again to get the desired result. Cooperation sometimes involves some concessions from one"s own side. Americans are good at making compromises on themselves, but they involve concessions on one aspect of the other party"s core interests in order to grasp the initiative of the negotiations and strive for their core. Benefits are not affected.

“The evasive strategy is to deal with differences by neglecting or denying its existence. The avoidance is mainly to avoid a stalemate. Whether it is a disagreement or an emotional confrontation caused by excessive tension, the avoidance strategy can be said to be sometimes, one party will take the initiative to adopt an avoidance strategy, emphasizing the coordination of mutual interests, and avoiding possible contradictions.(Wang 101)

4.2 Chinese speech strategies

The influence of Confucianism, respect for the elderly, and the cultivation of harmonious and good interpersonal relationships will all be reflected in the negotiations of Chinese participation. China has always been called the state of etiquette. In the negotiations, it is more polite and appropriate to use it. “Politely using language means using language strategically.”(He 65) The courtesy of communicative speech is polite, smooth and sleek. The main function is to eliminate the sense of distance between the two parties and create a relaxed and atmosphere to ensure negotiation.(Liu 8)

Therefore, how to adapt and master the balance becomes even more important. International business negotiation is a rich social and economic activity. Typical examples of speech in this regard are as follows:“Long time, I am much honored to meet you here!’’ 、“Without you, this negotiation will not go so smoothly.”、“Your arrival makes the house shine.” .

The Chinese have used the art of speech to the fullest. In the negotiations, they often do not directly express their views. Instead, they retain half of their artistic conception and rely on others to try to figure it out. This is considered to be a manifestation of the negotiator’s elegant wisdom and a respect for each other. “This strategy can be used for criticism, dissuasion, and rejection. It makes the language expression more flexible and leaves room for it.(Wen 249-250) It can ease the contradiction and avoid the deadlock. It is also a polite consideration.(Bai 74) What are the reasons for the differences between Chinese and American language strategies?

The factors of different speech strategies in Sino-US business negotiations

5.1 Historical factors

Historical factors have great influence on negotiation psychology, and further influence the use of verbal strategies by both sides. The United States played the role of war winner for most of the modern history, which also made it occupy a dominant position in the post-war negotiations. As a world power, the United States has become accustomed to taking a strong attack in the negotiations. The strategy occupies the initiative of the negotiations, and will not easily make concessions. The speech strategy is naturally a habitually competitive and uncompromising speech strategy. Although it is now a win-win model for international business negotiations, the negotiating habits of American negotiators for many years will not be easily changed. The brand of past political talks will easily appear in business negotiations.

In contrast, China"s international status in modern history is very different. After the 1870s, the Western powers stepped up their invasion of China and successively used force to force China to compromise in the negotiations and sign an unequal treaty. China has almost completely lost its status in these negotiations, and the requirements for foreigners are almost fully satisfied. This long-standing weak position has made the Chinese to be used to makeing concessions and compromises in the negotiations and rejecting others indirectly. The other party chooses to avoid the problem. The five basic principles put forward after the founding of New China and the win-win model that the 21st century strongly advocated in business negotiations are even more eager for China to see a vision of equal status for anyone and everything.

5.2 National Character

National Character also plays an important part on Speech Strategies in Business Negotiation. China is famous for its Confucian culture, and is very sensitive to words. The character of the Chinese nation is known for its inclusiveness, emphasizing the idea of “harmony for others” and “going to others” and prefers a certain morality. The standard rope is constrained, but it is a smooth and sleek world. It is not accustomed to directly rejecting or denying others. Everything likes to adopt a compromise attitude. These typical national characteristics are reflected in the speech strategy of the talks, which is the habit of praising each other, paying attention to leaving room for themselves in the speech expression, in case there is a change after the event, even if the negotiation is unsuccessful.

Americans are heroic, enthusiastic and good at talking. They are sometimes indifferent to strangers, but they have great trust in their acquaintances. The national pride of Americans is also world famous. Whether it is the history of world wars or the world-famous writers, scientists or artists, Americans always believe that they have made outstanding contributions to world culture. These national characteristics make Americans like to get to the point in verbal communication. When they are in contact with business partners, they tend to be polite and discreet at first, then they pay attention to the cultivation of interpersonal relationships. Also, even if Americans are not in a dominant position at the beginning of a business meeting, they will take the initiative and refuse to make concessions.

5.3 Cultural values

The right culture determines the social relations and further influences the language strategies in business negotiations. Power distance refers to the acceptability of unequal distribution of power among members of a society.Specifically, "power distance refers to the degree to which the members of a country"s institutions or organizations (including families, schools and communities) who have relatively less power are acceptable to the phenomenon of unequal distribution of power (Hofstede 28)". American is a country with low power distance cultures,There are few symbols of status and authority, and no trace of superiority over others.Bosses and employees.The gap between the two is not obvious. Everyone has a voice and can participate in discussions before making important decisions on protecting your own interests.Under the influence of such cultural consciousness, everyone has a strong sense of equality.If you find yourself being treated unfairly, you will be ready to negotiate with relevant personnel to improve the current situation. For example, they call a person a priest, a professor, or a supervisor by his or her first name；The distinction between "you" and "you" is not obvious, especially in the United States, where only "you" is used.

China is a country with a high power distance culture, and there is a clear hierarchy. People value hierarchy and authority.Subordinates rarely make their demands to their superiors, let alone publicly refute or criticize their superiors" instructions.The superior plays the role of calling the shots and the subordinate often lets it go. When addressing others, people tend to add titles that match their status, such as professor Wang or boss Li.Not by first name. Elders and teachers are usually addressed as “you” instead of “you”.

It can be seen that the communicative mode under the background of high power distance culture is greatly different from that under the background of low power distance culture. So what can the the two parties do to improve to promote the communication negotiatio?

Methods to Improve Sino-US business negotiation speech strategies

6.1 Building cross-cultural awareness

International business negotiators are often unaware of how their behavior is affected by values and cultural customs, and often use their own standards to explain and judge the culture of other nations consciously or unconsciously in international business negotiations.In international business negotiations, it is necessary to establish a sense of cross-cultural negotiation, and grasp the law of "entering the country asking questions and doing as the Romans do". Realizing that different negotiators have different needs, beliefs, learn to understand, accept and respect each others’ culture, and be good at viewing a problem in a logic way, making your own negotiating style which is suitable for the different culture type of negotiations. To Americans, for example, we must adopt an outward-looking communication style and try to express ourselves in a simple, clear and frank way. For Chinese people, warm and indirect language is often used to save the face of both sides, groups or others.

6.2 Being well prepared for the negotiation

It is an important process to know the background of the other party"s negotiators, including the negotiation venue and layout, the number of participants in the negotiation, negotiation etiquette, negotiation language and other aspects. The determination of the negotiation site and the question of how to arrange the site must consider the values of freedom and equality in American culture. By catering to their character, they will feel respected, and of course will return the respect to the Chinese side in the negotiations, fully considering their different opinions.The preparatory work before the negotiation is the premise for the smooth progress of the negotiation.In particular, for those issues to be discussed in the negotiations, it is necessary to fully analyze and demonstrate before the negotiations, comprehensively analyze various factors, and make at least two sets of plans in case of emergency. Of course, it is unrealistic for the final agreement to be in full conformity with our opinions. Therefore, we should make concessions where necessary.

6.3 Cooperative strategy

In the process of negotiation, both parties choose the strategies of verbal communication under the guidance of the cooperative principle proposed by Grice(1967). Firstly, in business negotiations, both Chinese negotiators and American negotiators should strictly follow the rules of association in communication. After the questioner asks a question, the other person"s answer should be closely related to the questioner"s question and not related to the topic. Secondly, strictly follow the quantitative principle in the cooperation principle.We should learn to restrict the amount of discourse of both sides in the negotiation process, and require that the amount of information given by both sides in the negotiation process should be neither more nor less than the negotiation requirements. Thirdly, both sides of the negotiation must strictly abide by the qualitative principles in the cooperation principle. The information provided by both sides of the communication must be true and accurate, and there must be sufficient evidence to prove the validity of the information provided. China and the United States should accurately grasp and rationally apply the principles of cooperation. Be careful to provide information in a concise and concise manner to ensure efficient problem solving.

6.4 Politeness strategy

Firstly, use the compliment principle of politeness reasonably . Praise strategy is a very important strategy in leech"s(1983) politeness principle. Praise strategy refers to the negotiation between two parties in order to create a harmonious negotiation atmosphere, a negotiation strategy of pleasant communication with the other party, which is conducive to the final win-win negotiation. Leech"s code of praise(1983) calls for doing your best to minimize conflict with others, and doing your best to expand agreement with others. In line with the principle of maximum praise others, to create a good atmosphere for negotiations. Compliment the person on their good qualities first, then ask the real question. This tactic of praise is a roundabout way to get the other negotiator to accept the question without bringing the negotiation to a dead end. Secondly, the right use of generosity in negotiations is to give the other party a choice that puts the other party in a good position and the other party in a bad position.It emphasizes the interests of the hearer, makes the hearer very comfortable, and benefits both sides to carry out further cooperation.(Qiu Yang 208)

7. Conclusion

Speech strategy is a kind of speech act that is consciously and actively implemented during communication. Some speech strategies are straightforward and can be explained by typical pragmatic principles. Other speech strategies are not, speech is known as a tool for expressing thinking, and such speech strategies often hide the true intentions of the speaker and are an important way to direct the conversation in a particular direction. In business negotiations, negotiators mostly try to control the complex and volatile negotiation situation through different speech strategies. Therefore, the study of speech strategies in business negotiation will help to achieve the desired outcome of the negotiations. This paper intends to summarize the speech strategies of Sino-US negotiations, deepen mutual understanding, and promote win-win results.However,the research depth is not enough, and it is not enough to provide sufficient details to the business negotiators in China and the United States. A proposal that can advance the progress of the negotiations. I hope that in the future study and practice, I can further understand the relevant speech strategies and their applications in business talks, and deepen the research on related speech strategies.

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