PHÂN t ÍCH DIỄN NGÔN báo cáo TIẾN độ KINH DOANH TIẾNG ANH ỨNG DỤNG ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG TÍCH hợp

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Rationale

As the business environment grows in its complexity, the importance of skillful

communication becomes essential in the pursuit of institutional goals. Without

communicating ideas and thoughts it would be impossible to identify common objectives

and purposes necessary for successful operations. Without communication the chances for

a successful outcome of any business endeavor are significantly reduced. Communication

in business is carried out via oral and written documents. These written documents, or

business correspondence, cover a wide range of genres including business letters, business

contracts, memos, and reports. Given the importance of communication, it should come as

no surprise that the primary purpose of a business report is to convey factual information

regardless of which kind of report it is. Whatever the reason and whatever form they may

take, reports have become an integrate part of our business society. The report plays the

great role in the planning and organization of the business house. But it is not the planning

and organization of the business alone which come under the review of a report; it is the

whole of business which benefits by it.

Business reports are required in disciplines such as accounting, finance, management,

marketing and commerce. Writing business reports is one of fundamental business writing

skills. Business reports here are defined as “ documents that present information on a

specific topic for specific purpose” ( Boone, 1986: 308). One common kind of business is

progress reports which are written to inform the reader what work has been done and what

work remains to be done. A progress report provides the reader with detailed information

regarding ups and downs of business through producing a record of a certain period of time

such as a month, a quarter, or a year. Progress reports represent not only the writer's work

but the writer's organizational and communication skills. To acquire these skills, report

writers should gain deep insights into the discourse of progress reports. Specifically, they

must have a good understanding of the common structure and linguistic features pertaining

to a progress report. Therefore, a thorough study of the discourse of English business

progress reports obviously promises a helpful and interesting research. It not only helps

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businessmen in their work but also students and teachers in the course of learning and

teaching business reports.

1.2. Aims of the study

This study aims at analyzing English business progress reports. The specific aims of the

research are as follows:

• To investigate registers of the discourse of business progress reports in terms of

parameters of registers, use of grammar, and use of vocabulary.

• To examine the factors creating coherence of the discourse of business progress

reports that is relevance and discourse structure.

• To provide some suggestions for writing better business progress reports.

1.3. Scope of the study

Due to the scope of a minor M.A. thesis, 10 English business progress reports are selected

for the investigation. The English language used in these documents is authentic and is

named in the Sources of data. Within the frame of a minor M.A. thesis, the analysis is

confined to registers and factors creating coherence in English business progress reports at

initial steps only. The limitations of this work would be good starting points for further

studies on the issue.

1.4. Significance of the study

The study adopts an integrated approach to investigate the discourse of business progress

reports. It is an attempt to find out registers, and coherence employed in this kind of

official documents. It makes a contribution to the study of business documents in general,

and that of business reports in particular. It not only helps businessmen in their work but

also students and teachers in the course of learning and teaching business reports.

1.5. Research methods used in the study

To achieve the aims mentioned above, the study adopted an integrated approach to

discourse analysis. Naturally, this is a functional approach regarding discourse as a process

of interactive communication among members of the society (Nguyen Hoa, 2003). This

approach looks into the concerned discourse in terms of registers and coherence. Firstly, all

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the 10 reports collected were analyzed in terms of registers. Then, two variables of

coherence including relevance and discourse structure were examined. To do this, all the

reports were examined to find out all the relevant factors. And finally, discourse structure

was identified.

1.6. Organization of the thesis:

The thesis is divided into five chapters.

Chapter 1 is the Introduction which presents the rationale for conducting the study, the

scope of the study, its significance, aims as well as research methods.

Chapter 2 provides a theoretical framework for the study, including the notion of

discourse, registers, coherence, and a brief description of English business progress

reports.

Chapter 3 reports the methodology used in the research including the subjects of the study,

data collection methods, and data analysis procedure.

Chapter 4 presents and discusses the results of discourse analysis in terms of registers and

relevance.

Chapter 5 is the last part of the study, “Conclusion”, that summarizes what is addressed in

the study, points out the limitations, provides some suggestions for writing business

progress reports, and for further study.

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CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter aims at establishing the framework of investigation. The first section presents

briefly the notion of discourse and text, and distinguishes spoken and written discourse. In

the next section, the concept and parameters of registers are reviewed. What comes after

that is Coherence which involves the two constituting factors: relevance and discourse

structure. The last section provides a general description of English progress reports

focusing on definition and properties.

2.1. Discourse

2.1.1. Discourse and text

For some linguists, the two terms “discourse” and “text” are sometimes be used

interchangeably. According to Crystal (1992), discourse is seen as “a continuous stretch of

(especially spoken) language rather than a sentence, often continuing a coherent unit, such

as a sermon, argument, joke or narrative” and text is defined as “a piece of naturally

occurring spoken, written or signed language identified for purposes of analysis. It is often

a language unit with a definable communicative function, such as a conversation, a poster.”

However, it is important to make clear the difference between the two terms “discourse”

and “text”. Basically, there are two approaches to text (Nguyen, H, 1998: 10). The first

approach regards text as: “the verbal record of a communicative act” (Brown and Yule,

1983:6). Sharing this view Widdowson, 1984: 100 considers text as the linguistic product

of a communicative process. In the second approach, text is seen as a semantic or

communicative category. Following this approach are Halliday and Hasan , and De

Beaugrande and Dressler. Text is viewed by Halliday and hasan, 1976 as a “semantic unit”

characterized by cohesion or a framework that is logical and general. Meanwhile, De

Beaugrande and Dressler (1981:3) defines text as follows:

communicative occurrence which posses seven constitutive conditions of textual communication,

viz., cohesion, coherence, intentionality, acceptability, informativity, situationality and

intertextuality.

The difference and the interrelationships between the two terms is captured by Widdowson

(1984: 100) by the following: