Abstract: Along with the increase in the international business, international business negotiation has gained more and more attention. According to the theory of Politeness Principle in language communication, the politeness principle should be followed in international business negotiations. And the appropriate language strategies should be adopted in the process of negotiation. However, many researchers on the pragmatic strategies in international business negotiations still linger on the theory of the language use or the importance of the pragmatic strategies. Few scholars analyzed the phenomenon of language misuse in the process of a specific international business negotiation. Therefore, this paper tries to analyze the flexible use of euphemism, humorous language, vague language and questioning in the Politeness Principle based on a conversational data of a specific negotiation between China Corporation and Nigeria Corporation. The tactful of those strategies could guarantee the success of international business negotiation. Studying the pragmatic functions of these languages can provide reference information for negotiators, so as to improve the efficiency of the negotiations and to achieve mutually beneficial and win-win situation.

Key words: international business negotiation; pragmatic strategies; case analysis

CONTENTS

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction.1

1.1 International Business Negotiation

1.2 The Politeness Principle

2. Pragmatic Strategy2

2.1 Definition

2.2 Classification

3. Case Analysis6

3.1 Euphemism

3.2 Humor

3.3 Vagueness

3.4 Questioning

4. The Importance of Pragmatic Strategy in Negotiation.9

5. Conclusion10

Bibliography.11

Acknowledgements12