ABSTRACT:With the rapid development of economic globalization and China’s boom in economy, an increasing number of Chinese companies have entered into global competition. English websites of Chinese companies play an important role in the international business communication and contribute to the promotion of products and services, the extension of overseas market, and the establishment of a sound corporate image. Although many companies have become fully aware of the importance of corporate English website, lots of problems still exist in the webpage design, which block the effective communication with potential customers in the international market. Therefore, this thesis analyzes Haier Group’s English website in the cross-cultural aspect and finds some cross-cultural elements influencing business English communication, like the different thinking patterns among the Chinese and the Westerners, in order to offer some feasible suggestions to other Chinese companies in the design of their corporate English websites.

Key words: Business English; Cross-cultural communication; Haier Group’s English website

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT

中文摘要

Chapter One  INTRODUCTION-1

Chapter Two  LITERATURE REVIEW-3

2.1 Review of Business English-3

2.2 Review of Cross-cultural Communication-3

2.3 Review of Researches on English Websites of Chinese Companies-4

2.4 Summary-5

Chapter Three  ANALYSIS OF CROSS-CULTURAL ELEMENTS OF CORPORATE ENGLISH WEBSITE IN THE LINGUISTIC ASPECT-6

3.1 A Brief Introduction to Company Profile-6

3.1.1 Defition of Company Profile-6

3.1.2 Functions of Company Profile-7

3.2 Analysis of Cross-cultural Elements in Haier Group Profile-8

3.2.1 Haier Group Profile-8

3.2.2 Analysis from the Perspective of Informative Function-10

3.2.3 Analysis from the Perspective of Public Relation Promotion-12

3.2.4 Analysis from the Perspective of Vocative Function-12

3.3 Summary-13

Chapter Four  ANALYSIS OF CROSS-CULTURAL ELEMENTS OF CORPORATE ENGLISH WEBSITE IN THE NON-LINGUISTIC ASPECT-14

4.1 Cultural Elements Influencing the Design of Corporate English Website-14

4.1.1 Aesthetic Values-14

4.1.2 Thinking Patterns-15

4.2 Analysis of the Homepage of Haier Group's English Website in the  Non-linguistic Aspect-15

4.3 Summary-17

Chapter Five  CONCLUSION-18

REFERENCES-20