Systemacy and Dynamism of Business English Discourse: Functional-Synergetic Aspect

The aim of this article is a brief review of the synergetic theory of Business English discourse as both systemic and dynamic phenomenon. It focuses on the ability of discourse to evolve at the level of a separate utterance as well as at the level of business communication in general. Using the conception, suggested by E.V. Ponomarenko, the author describes Business English discourse as a self-optimizing system of speech properties, which is influenced by the external environment (the communicative situation and interlocutors’ mind). The mechanism of functional non-linearity of discourse, or the ability of the functional field of discourse to synergistically form structures which surpass the mere sum of semantic components, is of paramount importance for effective verbal communication. Linguosynergetic methodology gives an opportunity to reveal trajectories of system evolution towards the communicative purpose (attractor) and find out the role of certain speech units and their correlation in this process. The author comes to a conclusion that successful business communication depends on how effective the interaction between the discourse and its external environment is. All the theoretical points are illustrated with the help of examples, taken from authentic English sources

Business English discourse, functional linguosynergetics, functional non-linearity of discourse, business communication, rhetoric