Abstract: Lexical chunk refers to a special multi-word unit which has features of both grammar and vocabulary. Lexical chunk can increase the cohesion of English business letter because of its nature so that it plays an important role in English business letter. Based on the data from corpus, this paper tries to explore the characteristics of lexical chunk in English business letter together with its roles and functions. 

Key words: Business English;Lexical chunks;corpus

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-2

2.1 The Introduction to the Lexical Chunks-2

2.2 The Introduction of the English Business Letters-5

3. Research Methodology-8

3.1 Instruments-8

3.2 Data Collection-10

3.3 Research Question-11

4.Result and Analysis-11

4.1 The General Characteristics of the Use of Lexical Chunks in English Business Letters-11

4.2 Role of Lexical Chunks in Constructing the Structure of English Business Letters-13

4.3 Functions of Lexical Chunks Perform in English Business Letters-14

4.4 Lexical Chunks and Writing Principles of Business English Letters-15

5. Conclusion-17

References-21