Written Communication across Cultures -- Editorial page -- Title page -- LCC data -- Table of contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- Notation conventions -- Preface -- References -- Introduction and outline -- The theoretical imperatives -- The rationale, aim, and research questions -- The outline of the book -- Note -- Communication across cultures -- Contrastive rhetoric -- Classical Greek and Chinese rhetorical traditions -- Intercultural communication -- Guanxi [intext]i07 and intercultural business communication -- Cross-cultural pragmatics -- Face and politeness behaviour -- Australian, New Zealand and the Chinese cultures -- Summary of the cross-cultural dimensions -- Conceptual framework -- Introducing the sociocognitive study of genre -- Genre as relevant "social stock of knowledge'' -- Genre and the sociocultural contexts -- Genre practice and the discourse community -- Genre as communicative events -- Genre and communicative purposes -- Genre and rhetorical structure -- Genre and intertextuality -- The Chinese genre approach -- Historical review of Chinese genre study -- Liu Xie's view on Chinese written discourse -- Liu Xie's approach to genre study -- Modern Chinese genre study -- Yingyongwen [intext]i26 and gongwen [intext]i27 genre study -- Proposing the model for cross-cultural genre study -- Research design -- The research method -- Data -- Questionnaire and interviews -- The participants -- The questionnaire -- The interviews -- Data analysis -- Comparing English and Chinese sales letters -- Sociocultural contexts for sales-letter writing -- The contexts and world schemata for English sales letters -- The contexts and world schemata for Chinese sales letters -- Communicative purposes and persuasive orientations of sales letters -- Comparing texts of sales letters.

Intertextuality and rhetorical structure in sales letters -- Different moves employed by English and Chinese sales letters -- Similar moves employed by English and Chinese sales letters -- Summary of the textual analysis -- The most effective English and Chinese sales letters -- The English letter -- The Chinese sales letter -- Conclusion -- Note -- Comparing English and Chinese sales invitations -- Contexts for writing sales invitations -- Other cultural factors: Politeness behaviour in invitations -- Communicative purposes and persuasive orientations of sales invitations -- Analysing the English and Chinese sales invitations -- Intertextuality reflected in sales invitations -- Intertextuality and rhetorical structure of sales invitations -- Analysing the most effective sales invitations -- Introducing the Expo and inviting the reader -- Advertising the Expo -- Offering incentives -- Inviting again -- Providing registration details -- Encouraging further contact -- Polite closing -- Summary of findings on sales invitations -- Comparing NZ and Chinese managers' views on sales invitations -- Managers' views on the English invitation -- Managers' views on the Chinese invitation -- Conclusion -- Comparing English and Chinese business faxes -- Data of the English and Chinese faxes -- Technological and sociocultural contexts for fax writing -- Introducing fax as a genre -- Persuasive orientations and communicative purposes of business faxes -- An overview of types of intertextuality identified in faxes -- Rhetorical structures identified in business faxes -- Greetings used in faxes -- Reference to previous communication/contact -- Establishing credentials -- Giving information -- Detailing the order -- Confirmation move -- Giving product details -- Complaint -- Threat to change terms -- Stressing cooperation -- Polite closing -- Good wishes.

The most effective English and Chinese faxes -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Cross-cultural genre teaching -- Issues relating to cross-cultural genre teaching -- Genre metaphors -- Genre teaching approaches -- Generic competence -- Applying the sociocognitive approach to teaching and learning -- Illustrating the five teaching and learning processes -- The experiment -- Learning and comparing the sociocultural contexts -- Learning persuasive orientations and communicative purposes -- Learning to write texts and incorporating peripheral participation -- Using authentic data and incorporating managers' views -- Learning the implications for cross-cultural generic competence -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Summaries and conclusions -- Defining genre from a cross-cultural perspective -- Summary of significant findings -- The framework -- Genre and sociocultural contexts -- Genre, persuasive orientations and communicative purposes -- Genre and its "deep semantics'' -- Genre and intertextuality -- Genre as collectively programmed by the discourse community -- Generic competence across cultures -- Implications for genre research and intercultural competence -- Further research -- Closing remarks -- References -- Appendix 1. The most effectives Chinese letters -- 1. The most effective Chinese sales letter -- 2. The most effective Chinese sales invitation -- 3. The most effective Chinese fax -- Appendix 2. Questionnaire form -- A. The English version -- Questionnaire on effectiveness of business writing -- B. The Chinese version -- Name index -- Subject index -- The Pragmatics & Beyond New Series.