台灣國際農業公司的商務英語溝通-個案研究

103年01月  

研究生：陳可新

指導教授: 白查理 博士

台灣國際農業公司的商務英語溝通-個案研究

Business English Communication at an International Agricultural Firm in Taiwan-A Case Study 

摘要:

     隨著國際貿易在國際間越活絡，英語也在商務溝通中扮演起重要角色。此探索性個案研究，旨在探討台灣農業公司涉及國際貿易的職場英語使用情形。

     研究資料採以半結構式訪談、和數值化的電子郵件通信，取得期間為2012到2013年之間。本研究共有八名來自農友種苗公司國外部-市場推廣科的業務專員參與這項研究。電子郵件數據來自參與者 (P8) 常規的一週。此外，其他參與者 (P2、P4和P5) 的旺季和淡季電子郵件數據也進行分析。半結構式訪談採用質性分析。另一方面，電子郵件數據則使用量化描述性統計分析。

     從這項研究中顯示出，招聘新員工時，口說和書寫的審量方式被予以採用。同時擁有專業技能和高階的語言能力在職場較受青睞。此外，語言能力在薪資中扮演相當重要的角色。該公司補助員工去教育機構學習語言，以彌補公司內部沒有提供語言培訓課程。最主要和最頻繁的工作任務和技能是讀寫電子郵件。大多數參與者將閱讀未列為自身最好的語言技能，然而，說和寫被半數參與者評列為最差的技能。語言使用的問題如下: (1) 母語非英語者的腔調，(2) 說話速度、(3) 專業術語使用 、(4) 英式用詞、(5) 文法使用、(6) 包裝及出口項目的表達、以及(7)法律術語。然而，對多數的參與者而言，口說技能是最需要被改善的。

     另一方面，業務專員一個星期大約發送二十四封電子郵件。這些電子郵件大部分: (1) 發送至外部讀者、(2) 為回覆信函、(3) 內文為英語、以及(4) 對象多為既有客戶。在同一主題下，數個回覆電子郵件被頻繁使用。主旨自述傾於簡短，卻意義不大且不夠有效率。

     這項研究的結論提供英語如何在工作場所使用。基於此結果，此研究涵蓋結論與意義的討論，並提供了未來研究的建議。也希望教師、學生、和相關業界能受益於這些研究結果。

關鍵詞: 商務通用英語，電子郵件，專業英語，國際商務英語，語言獎勵金

Abstract:

     As international trade has become active across countries, English has also played an important role in business communication. This exploratory case study aims to investigate the workplace English use of a Taiwan agricultural company which deals with international trade.

     The data collected from semi-structured interviews and email correspondence between 2012 and 2013. A total of eight members from the staff of the Marketing Section of the International Department from Known-You Seed Company have taken part in the project. The email data from participant (P8) were collected from an “ordinary” week, and the email data of the other participants (P2, P4, and P5) were examined in their busiest and lowest time periods. Qualitative analysis was adopted for the semi-structured interviews. On the other hand, email data was analyzed using quantitative descriptive statistics.

     Results of this study showed that oral and written methods of evaluation were adopted when recruiting new employees. Owning professional skills and mastery of languages are highly welcomed in the company. Furthermore, language competence plays a role in the wage policy. The company provides a subsidy for employees who learn language in an educational institution to compensate for the sake of in-house language training courses. Reading and writing email is the major and the most frequent task and skill. Most of the participants ranked reading as their best skill while half of them ranked speaking as their worst skill followed by writing. Language use problems were as follows: (1) accents from non-native English speakers, (2) speech rate, (3) technical jargon use, (4) British word knowledge, (5) grammar use, (6) packing and exporting expressions, and (7) legal terms. Nevertheless, most participants believed that speaking is the most needed skill to improve upon.

     The sales representatives sent on average approximate 24 emails in a week. Of the emails, the majority were (1) sent to external entities, (2) replied messages, (3) English language content, and (4) dealt with existing customers. Multiple reply email communication was often used on the same topic thread. Subject line titles tended to be short, but not very meaningful or effective.

     The conclusions from this study provide insight as to how English is being used in the workplace. Based on the results, the study concludes with a discussion of implications and offers suggestions for further research. It is hoped teachers, students, and businesses can gain benefit from these findings.

Keywords: business English lingua franca, email message, English for specific purposes, international business English, language incentive