Business Writing

 

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usiness Communication Quarterly  6 ; 5

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E H ro p e B n s in is s W ftth ig Hilkka Hil kka M. Yli Jo kipii University of   Turku

iniand

T H E R E H A S B E E N S O L I D I N T E R E S T i n r e ssee aarr c h o n b uuss i ness com m unic ation in Europe over the past fe few years. A sign sign of thi thiss is the creation of an official European Region of the ABC in 1996; membership in the region continues to grow. Even before this, European a cadem ics and othe r professi professionals onals interested iinn enhan cing business communication met regularly, for example, under the sponso rship of the Association for for Langua ge and Busine Business ss or the Network for for Busi Business ness Com mu nication and D evelopment (EN CoDe), which started informally in the late 1980s and now offers a well-established forum for discussing topics of mutual interest. These meetings, and the proceedings that publish some papers giv given en at them, help com pens ate for the llack ack ooff a Europ ean journa l dedicated to original ; research on b usiness com m unica tion (e. (e.g., g., Bennett,  1 9 9 5   Braecke Cuy ckens, t9 9 i; S ilcock, ilcock, 19 1989 89). ). M eetings of oth er org an izatio ns less directly direct ly ffocuse ocusedd on business com m unication als alsoo attract attract such researchers, for example, SIETAR Europa. In the the 19 1990s 90s,, universities have also provided ven ues for discussions of research . These include Uppsa la U nivers niversit ityy in Sweden , w hich spons ored the Internationa l Conference on Discourse and the Profe Professsions in 1992 1992 (see G un na rsso n, Linell,  No rdberg, 19 1995) 95),, an d th e U niversity of Duisburg in Germany, whose linguistic association (Linguistic Association of the University of Duisburg, LAUD) devoted its annu al m eeting to business com m unica tion in 1199 9966 ((see see Niemeier, Cambell,   Dirven, forthcoming). That same year, Ostfold College Coll ege in in Norway arranged a primaril primarilyy No rdic semina r on pragm ati cs and business comm unication (see Ne um ann   Billeau, 1997). Fu rtherm ore, the sem sem i-annual conferences conferences on Language and Eco nom ics at the Helsinki School of Eco nom ics and Business Ad m inistrati inistration on (HSEBA) in Finland have offered opportunities for business communication scholars to gather and discuss discuss research issues (s (see ee M ajapuro  

 

 

Nikk o, 199 1994; 4; Nikko Nu olijarvi, olijarvi , inalso press; 199 1992) 2).. Ad ditionall ditionally, y, the HSEBA h as un deNuolijarvi rtak en to hoTiittula, st the firs firstt ABC European Regional Conference in May   1 9 9 9   . M ore broadly, vari-

 

Forum : Internationai Persl Perslect ectiv ives es   o n  Business Communication Research 

ous European universities have hosted symposia for scholars interested in Languages Lang uages fo forr Specia Speciall Purposes Purpo ses  (LSP), including business communication.

Ch aracteristics aracteristics of European

usi usiness ness w ri ti n g Researc Research h

In European Europe an research environments, environmen ts, the term com m unication is frequently associated with language language.. Avid Avid interest in divers diversee languages in Europe shapes the methodologi m ethodologies es and prob problems lems that researchers researchers selectt to study and the varied selec varied theories from which such studies depart. dep art. M ore research research is devoted to spoken encoun en coun ters, primarily businesss negotiations, busines negotiations, than to w riting, riting, although there is a gro growing wing body of research on w riting. riting. Such research research also of ofte tenn has a second agenda: enh ancing the learning and teaching of languages, for examexamEnglish as a second or third language (L2 or L3). ple. Business English The range of research is  wide. A f  feew examples: examp les: Scholars Scholars at the Copenhagen School of Econom Economics ics in in Denm ark and at certain certain German universities emphasize terminological matters from an LSP orientation;; at the University of Antwerp, entation Antw erp, the focu focuss is on quan titative stylistic analyses (see Geluyckens   van Rillaer,  1996); at Uppsala University, Universi ty, a research group grou p has carried carried on o n the text linguistic linguistic trad ition in a project project on professi professional onal language  (e.g., G unna unnarsson, rsson, 199 1992a 2a,, 1992b). 1992b). Furtherm ore, recent recent research on business writing in E Europe urope frequently quen tly shows a multi-disciplinary m ulti-disciplinary profil profile, e, w ith elements elem ents fVom com m unication theory, contrasti contrastive ve rh rhetoric, etoric, sociolinguist sociolinguistics, ics, and the pragm atic end of discourse analysis. analysis. Teun Teun van Dijk' Dijk'ss (1980) 1980) theory of  i.e., the structures beyond the sentence found in a macrostructures, text; Brown and Brown a nd  Yule's  (  (19 1983 83)) treatise on discourse analysis, with w ith emphasis em phasis on w ritten discourse; and Bro Brown wn and Levinson's Levinson's (1 (198 987) 7) theory on politenes p olitenesss universals— universals— controversial controversial as it may have pr prov oved ed— — have influenced influenced research on business b usiness w writi riting ng as well. Fina Finall lly, y, st studies udies evolve from the concept of  genre, pr  primarily imarily along the theoretical foundations foun dations laid by Swale Sw aless (1990 (1990)) and Bhatia (1993) (1993)..

Research often aims to enhance non-native language learning, teaching, and practice, including needs analyses to serve ccurriculum urriculum planning  (e.g., Louhiala-Salminen, 1996;  Luoma, 1992), The term   non-native non -native language languag e is prefer preferred red in in this context contex t to foreig foreign, n, because bec ause some E uropean countries countries are bilingua bilinguall or m ultil ultilingual ingual with two or more official languages in the country  (e.g., Bel  Belgi gium um w ith Flemish F lemish

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usiness Com munication Quarteriy 

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Septem ber

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(Dutch) and French; Finland with Finnish and Swedish; and Switzerland with G erm an, French, Itali It alian, an, and Rheto-Rom anian).

Examples of Recent Research A brief review of some recent studies published in English may suggest the range of European research. They vary in subject, including explorations of cross-cultural and methodological issues as well as technical writing writing and tend tow ard discourse-based discourse-based analyses and treat business writing as a complex, inherently cultural activity.

Cross Cro ss cuiturai issue issues s At EN Co D e s fi first rst m eeting in Barce lona in 1198 989, 9, cross-cultural issues took center stage. Stijn Verrept (1989) emphasized empirical cross-cultural research based on systematic investigation of a large volume of data; Nigel Holden (1989) also called for empirical investigations of language as part of of co rporate c om m unica tion. In 19 1996, 96, LAU D in Germany organized an international seminar on cross-cultural issues, from which selected papers are being published under the title   T h e Cultural Context in Intemational  Business Communication  (see Niemeier. Campbell.   Dirve n, in press). Th e papers focusi focusing ng on bus iness w rit rit-ing include Cam pbell; Cheng   G run dy ; Vercken Verckens, s, de Rycker. Rycker.   Davis; an d Y li-Jokipi li-Jokipii. i. Technically Technically speak ing. Ca m pbell s as well as Cheng and G run dy s art articl icles es foc focus us beyond E urope, but thei theirr approac h is relevant to European business writing as well. My ow n research effo effort rtss ma y suggest tthe he kinds of cross-cultural issues of interest in European research on business writing (YliJokipii, 199 2,1996. in press b).  Requests  in  Professional Discourse:   Discourse:   CrossCultural Study of Briti British sh merican a n d  Finnish Business Writing (Yli-Jokipii (YliJokipii,, 1994 1994). ). w hich Co nn or (1996) cites as the first mo no gra ph on cross-cultural business writing, investigates how language is used in real real-l -lif ifee settings settings in business o rgan ization s in Fin land . Bri Britain, tain, an d the U nited States. Based on a corp us of 52 5255 letters an d telefax telefax m essages,, this work exam ined how requests are made in these sages these three cultures an d in two langua ges (Finn ish an d E nglish). Th e prof profil iles es arising from British and US practice were further compared with textbook descriptions. The study revealed that English and Finnish requests differed in the perception of power and that social distance and level of ac qua intanc e bring about linguis linguisti ticc variation in business business w riti riting. ng.

 

F o r u m : Inte rnationa l Perslecti Perslectives ves on Busi Busines ness s Com m unica tion Research Research 

In addition, it showed showed that   U S  textbooks are closer to real-life practice in the U S than are British British texts texts to British British practices. Businesss correspondence provided data for other studies of crossBusines crosscultural cultu ral dif differ ferences. ences. For exam ple, Bargi Bargiela ela and H arris s (19 (1996) 96) study confirmed confi rmed that the status of the interactan inte ractants ts is a relevant relevant factor factor in cross-cultural cross-cul tural requests, Ronald G eluyckens eluyckens and Gert Ge rt van Rill R illaer aer (1 (1996 996)) examined a database of business correspondence compiled at the U niversi niversity ty of Antwerp to compare native native and non-native w riting riting in English English and Du tch. U sing a concept derived derived from from Brown Brown and Levinson s (1978) politeness theory, they looked at strategies incorporated in  FaceThreateningActs Their preliminary results indicate that strategies diffe differ, r, both in the types employed em ployed and a nd in the relative fre fre-quencies of the use and, an d, flir flirthe ther, r, that som e of these diff differ erenc ences es can be attributed to first first anguage interfer   interference ence and language transfer transfer issues. In addition to these studies in cross-cul cross-cultural tural correspondence, correspond ence, other research focuse focusess m ore directl directlyy on rhetorical issues. rhetorical  issues. In  In a pilot study of the rhetorical strategies found found in the Chairm an s S tatements in Britis Britishh and Finnish Annual Ann ual R eports, fo forr exam ple, M irjali irjaliisa isa Lam pi (199 (1992) 2) identi ide ntifi fies es di diff ffer erenc ences es in how these tw o groups of writers organize their text and how they employ metatext. She furthe furtherr fou found nd that the Finnish w riters riters assume m ore shar shared ed knowledge knowledge between between the writer and the reader than do Brit Britis ishh w riters. These observations observa tions confir confirm m the results of studies based on other types of writing, such as student com positions (e.g., (e.g., Crismore, Crismore, M arkkanen,  Steffensen, 1993).   etho ology European interest in research methods involves both advocacy for certain approaches and the creation of conceptual frameworks by which wh ich business w writi riting ng problems can be investigated. investigated. For exa example, mple, Ludger Kremer  (1992a,  1992b)   advocates advocates historical historical m ethods in his studyy of Germ an busin stud business ess correspondence. correspondence. Based Based on my work on business com m unication, I ve developed a multi-dimensional frameframework w hich applies to both writt w ritten en and spoken discourse (Yli (Y li-Joki -Jokipii pii,, in press,  a).  Louhiala Louhiala-SS alminen (1995 1995)) looks at the fax as a new and unique organizational genre, distinctively different  fi fi om he memorand um , that deserves its own framewor frameworkk for study.  Whatever the m ethod, there is strong strong em phasis on studying authentic texts or w ritriting fr from professional or business practice. p ractice. But like like their  U S   colleagues

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usiness Com mu nication nication Quarterly  61 3   Septem ber 19 1998 98

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(Rymer,  1993;   Roge rs, 1993), Eu rop ean sch olars exp erien ce dif diffi ficult culties ies in securing large volumes of authentic material, a fact that may explain why there are not more studies like Geluyckens and van Rillaer s w ork. For exam ple, Alan Firth (19 1991 91)) reports that he w as able to find only one firm that allowed him to observe and record its communication realit realities. ies. Ye Yett Europ ean research ers, li like ke their US c oun terparts, advo cate the investi investigation gation of real-world texts. Technical

ommunication

The more technical side of business forms the core of several studies, including Jan M. Ulijn and Judith   B.  Strother (1995), (1995), wh ich stretches from psycholinguistics to international negotiation processes. Hiltunen and Nyman (1995) analyze the directive discourse in operating instruction s, while M ardsjo (199 (1995) 5) interviewed techn ical w riters in in five Swedish companies to find out how personal writing is restricted by formal standards and company culture. In con clusion , this bri brief ef article article merely suggests som e of the diverse activities taking place currently in different countries, in different languag es, and in diff differe erent nt acad em ic instutitions throu gh ou t E urope. Ye Yett a great deal of the interesting and valuable research produced in Europe remains outside the reach of international colleagues, including unpub lished M aster s theses which stud studyy business writi writing ng with considerable data and respectable scrutiny. References

Bargiela, F.,   Harris, S (1996). Requests and status in business correspondence. Journal of Pragmatics .2(5 (5)  (5).. 635-662 . B enne tt, J. J. (Ed.) (1995).  Towards tiie  tiie next milienium:  milienium:   Challenges and   and opportunities in language  training business and m ulticultural ulticultural contexts.  Proceedings of the 7th

Annual Conference of ENCoDe, 22-24 February, 1995 at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. University of St. Gallen.

B hatia , V. V. K. (1993).  Analysing  genre:   Language use in professional  settings.  L o n d o n a n d  Analysing genre: in professional settings.

New York: Longman. Braecke, Braec ke, C ,   Cuyckens, H. (Eds.) (1991).   usiness communication in  i n  multilingual  Supply and demand.  Proceedings of the 1990 ENCoDe Conference at Europe: Supply Europe: UFSIA, Universi University ty of Antwerp. Brown, G.,   Yule, G (1983).  Discourse analysis.  analysis.  Cam bridge: Cambridge Universi University ty Press. Brown, P.,   Le vin son , S. C. (1987). Politeness: Som e universals in in langua ge usage. C a m -

bridge: Cam bridge politeness: Universit Universityy Strategies Press. Fir First st published in on 1197 978 8 iinn E.N. Goody  (pp. 56-289 ). Ca m (E d.),   Questions and politeness: Strategies   in social interacti interaction bridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

F o r u m :  Intern ationa l Perslect Perslectives ives o n Busi Business ness Co m m un ication Resea Researc rch h 

Campbell,  C (in (in press).  The rhetorical ethos—a ethos—a bridge between high-context and  press). The low-context cultures. In  S Niemeier,  C Campbell,   R, Dirven (Eds,),  The  cul tural context in international business comm business comm unicati unication. on.  Am sterdam/Philadelphia: sterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins, Cheng, W Grundy, P, (in   (in press). Parallel texts and diverging cultures in Hong Kong: Implications for intercultural com mu nication. In S, Niemeier, C C,, Cam pbell,  R, Dirven (Eds,),  The  The cultural  context in international business communicabusiness  communica cultural context tion. Am sterdam/Philadelphia: Benj Benjami amins, ns,  U, (1996), Connor, U, Connor,  (1996), Contrastive  Contrastive rhetoric:  rhetoric:   Cross-cultural aspects aspects of  of second-language  second-language  writing. The C ambridge A ppli pplied ed Linguis Linguisti tics cs Series Series,, Cam bridge: Cam bridge University Press, Crismore, A,, Markkanen, R,,   Steffensen, M, S (1993), Metadiscourse in persuasive writing: A study of texts written by American and Finnish university students.  Written  Written Com  Com munication, 8 (1), 39-71, van Dijk, T (1980),  Macrostructures. Hillsdale, NJ: E rlbaum , Firth, A,  1991, Discourse at  work: Negotiating by telex,fax and phone .Unpublished Ph,D, Thesis, University of Aalborg, Denmark, Geluyckens, R,,   van Rillaer, G, (1996), Face-threatening acts in international business communication: A communication:  A quantitative investigation into business  writing. Paper read at the 22nd and 23rd LAUD Symposium, The cultural context in communication across languages, D uisburg, 26-31  M arch, 199  M 1996, 6, Gunnarsson, B,-L, (1992a), Message structure in LSP texts: a socially determined variation at diff different erent text levels levels.. In A,-C, Lindeberg,  N, E, Enkvist  K Wikberg (Eds,),  Nordic research on text an text  andd discourse,  discourse, Nordtext  Nordtext Symposium iggo Symposium  iggo (pp, 91-106), Abo, Finland: Abo Academ i Press, Gu nn ars son , B,B,-L, L, (19 (1992b) 92b),, St Studies udies in language fo forr specif specific ic pu rpos es,  F orskni orskningsngs[Studiess by the research gro up on gruppenfortext-ochfacksprdkstudier TEFA)2.  [Studie text and professional language], Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet, Gu nnar sson, B,B,-L, L,,, Linell Linell,, P,,  Nordberg,  B, (Eds,),  (Eds,), (1995),  (1995),  Text and talk in in profes professional contexts. sional  Select ected ed papers fr from om the international conference: Discourse  contexts. Sel and the professions, Uppsala, 26-29 August, 1992, The Swedish Association of Applied Linguistics, Hiltunen, R,,  Nyman, S (1995), Discourse in a technical-directive setting: The case of operating instructions. In B, B,--L, Gu nnarss on,  P, Linell,  B, Nordberg (Eds,), Text  Text an  an d talk in professional contexts. professional  contexts.  Selected papers from the international conference: Discourse and the Professions, Uppsala, 26-29 August, 1992  1255-13 136) 6),, Up psala: The Swedish Asso ciation of A ppli pplied ed Linguistics, (pp,  12 Holden, N (1989) 9),, The gulf between language studies and man agem ent studies:  N,, (198 Introducing communication competence as an interfacing concept. In   P, Sil  Silcock (Ed,),  Language teaming in business education. business  education. Proceedings from the 1st 1st ENC oDe C onfer onference, ence, Barcelona Barcelona,, Kremer,  L, (1992 (1992a) a),, M odern ization in G erma n bu siness correspon dence: A stereotype. In G, Kums (Ed,),  Crossings. A Liber Amicorum for for Denis  Denis Conlon (pp, Conlon  (pp, 73-81), Antwerpen, Kremer,  L, (1992 (1992b) b),, Zur Entwicklung der deutchen W irtschaftskorrespondenz: irtschaftskorrespondenz: (Stil-) Normen in Praxis und Unterricht, In  T Bungarten (Ed,),  Proceedings  Proceedings o  off the   Internationaler Internationaler Hamburger  Kongress zur Wirtschaftskommunikation Wirtschaftskommunikation iggi  Hamburger Kongress  iggi  (pp, 14716 161) 1),, To stedt: Attiko Attikonn Verla Verlag, g,  M , (1992 Lampi, M Lampi, (1992), ), Rh etorical strategies in Cha irman 's Statem ent sections iinn the annu al repo rts of F innish and Bri Briti tish sh co mpa nies: Report o n a pil pilot ot stud study. y. IInn P P,,

 

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Nuolijarvi  L.  Tiittula (Eds.), Talousja Kieli I [Language  an d Economics  an  i]  (pp. 127127-14 143) 3).. Helsinki School of Econ om ics and Business Adm inistration. Helsingin kauppakorkeakoulun julkaisuja D-169. Helsinki. Louh iala-Salminen , L. (1995) (1995).. Drop m e a fax, wil willl you?: A study of written business communication.  Reports  Reports   from the Department  of English  of English   1 0 . Jyvaskyla: University of Jyvaskyla. Louhiala-Salminen,   L. (1996). The business communication classroom vs. reality: W hat should we tteach each today?  English for for Specific  Specific Purposes   15 ,37-51. Luoma, S.  S. (1993).  Correspondence— korrespondens: W riti riting ng tasks in Englis Englishh and  (1993). Correspondence— Swedish in the marketing section of a middle sized Finnish manufacturing company. In K. Sajavaara   S. Takala (Eds.), Finns as learners  of English: Three English: Three studies (pp. studies  (pp. 1-18 . Jyvaskyla Cross-Language Studies  16. 16. Jyvaskyla: University of Jyvaskyla. Majapuro, M.,   Nikk Nikko,T. o,T. (Eds (Eds.). .). ((1994). 1994). Talousja kieli 2 [Language and economi economics cs  2 | . Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration. Helsingin kauppakorkeakoulun jul julkaisuj kaisujaa   D-211. Helsinki. Mardsjo, K. (1995). Writing in organizations: The technical writer as an example. In B.-L. B.-L. G un nar sso n,P . Linell Linell,& ,&   B. Nordberg (Eds.), Text  a  ann d talk in professional contexts.   Select Selected ed papers from the interna tional conference Disco urse and the Professions. U pps ppsala, ala, 26-29 Au August, gust, 19 1992 92 (pp. (pp. 137-148).  The Swedish Associa 137-148). The tion of Applied Linguistics. Neumann,   1. Neumann,  (Eds.). (1997).  og  Working Papers Reports. 1.,,  Billeau, J. (Eds.).  (1997). Sprik  Sprik og  Marked.  Marked. Ostfold Ostf old College. Halden , Norway. Niemeier,, S. Niemeier S.,, Campbell, C ,   Dirven, R. ((Eds.), Eds.), ((in in press).  The cultural cont context ext  in  i n international business comm business comm unicati unication. on. Amsterdam /Philadelphia: Benjamin Benjamins. s. Nikko, T ,   Nuolijarvi,  P. (Eds.),   (Eds.), (in press). Talousja kieli  3  [Language and Economics  [Language 3).   Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration Helsingin kauppakorkeakoulun julkaisuja, s.n. Nuolijarvi,  P.,  Tiittula, L. (E ds.). (1992) (1992)..  Talous ja kieli ja kieli    I [Language and Economics \[. \[ . Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration. Helsingin kauppakorkeakoulun julkaisuja. Rogers, Roger s, P(i99 3). How researcher researcherss gain acces accesss to organizations.   The  Bulletin, fi  fi66 \), 42. Rymer, J. (Ed .). (1993) (1993).. Doing Research Co lum n.  The  Bulletin, 5  422 .  56  6(1), 4  (1), Silcock,  P. (E d.), (1989) (1989).. Language learning in business  education.  Proceedings from th thee    st  1st EN CoDe Confere Conference, nce, Barcel Barcelona. ona. Swales, J.  J. (1990). Genre  analysis: English  analysis:  English  in  i n academic and research  settings. The Cam settings. bridge Applied Linguistics Series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ulijn, J.,   Strother, J. (1995). Communicating in technology and  business: From  business: From  psycholinguistic theory to  to  international practice. Bern: Peter Lang Verlag. Verckens,  J  J.. P., de   de Rycker, Rycker, T, & Davis, K. W. (in press). Experiencing sameness in differe dif ferences: nces: An intercu ltural bu siness w riti riting ng sem inar. In S.  S.  Niemeier, C  C.. Campbell    .R. Dirven (Eds.),  The cultural context  in  i n international bus business iness  comm unica unica-tion.   Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins.  S. (1989). A Verrept,  S.  proposal for concrete cross-cultural research within Europe. In  1

P.  Silcock  Silcoc d.), Language learning  i n business  education.  Proceedings from the  st ENCoD ekC(E onfer onference. ence. Barcelon Barcelona. a.  in Yli-Jokipii, H. (1992). (1992). Politene Politeness ss is not power. In   P. Nuolijarvi   Nuolijarvi  L.  Tiittula (Eds), Talousja Kieli   1.  [Language and Economics  ; ] ( p p . l o i - i 1 2) 2) . H e l s i n k i S c h o o l o f

 

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Economics and Business Administration. Helsingin kauppakorkeakoulun julkaisuja D-169. Helsinki. Yli-Jokipii,, H. 1994) Yli-Jokipii 1994).. Requests in prof professional essional disco urse: A cross-cultural study of riting. Annales   cademiae Scientiarum British, American and Finnish business w business w riting. Fennicae Dissertationes Humanarum Litterarum jl.  Helsinki: Suomalainen tiedeakatemia.  in n the Yli-Jokipii, Yli-Jokipi i, H. 199 1996). 6). An approach to contrasting languages an d cultures i  th e corporate context: Finnish, Brit British ish and A merican business letters letters and tel telefa efaxx messages.  Uultilingua ts  3 ), 305-327. Yli-Jokipii,, H. in press a Yli-Jokipii  Integrating ating language and context in research across cul a). ). Integr  A multi-dimensional approach to studying business writing. In T  Nikko tures: A tures:  T.. Nikko lijarvi Eds.), Talousja K ieli 3  [Language and Economics  3 ] Helsinki   P.   Nuo lijarvi School o  off Econo mics. Hels Helsingi inginn kauppako rkeakoulun julkaisuja, s. s.n. n. Yli-Jokipii, Yli-Joki pii, H. in press  b) . Po  Power wer and distance as cultur cultural al and contextual elements in Finnish and Engli English sh business w riting. riting. IInn  S N iemeyer, iemeyer, P. Cambell,  R. Dir S..  N ven Eds.),  The cultural  comm unicat unication ion Amster cultural  context in international business comm dam /Philadelph ia: Benj Benjami amins. ns.

University ity o   ddr ddres esss correspondence  to the author, Univers  off Turku, Department o  off English, Center for for Translati Translation on ooutu.fi and Interpreting Interpreting, , Tyki Tykistst-katu katu 4,  4 , FIN-20520 TURKU, Finland em ail: hhilkka.yl ilkka.yli-j i-jokipii okipii utu.fi  ).

  p n Shun itsu Nakasako Chuo  University Tokyo Japan T HI S A RT I C L E discusses discusses research developments developments in business communication in Japan from the initial stage in early 1900 until now. Papers from the Annual Studies published by The Japan Business English Association, provided much of the information, particularly Shigeru Sh igeru Ozaki' Oza ki's s (19 (1981) paper pape r titled titl ed The Study of Business English and the Course of History of The Japan Business English Association. Reviewin Reviewing g both historical and current curr ent research trends and noting related pedagogical developments become the basis for projecting where Japanese research endeavors seem to be headed.

Early in te re st in

usi usiness ness English English

Two interrelated public initiatives contributed to interest and research in business communication: the work of The Japan Business English Associati Associ ation, on, beginning in 193 1934, and the t he institut inst itution ion of the Off ffic icia iall Examinations of Business English, which began in 1956. Under the

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