Abstract
As Business English for International Trade and Transactions is subject to legal interpretation, it requires semantic consideration so that clear and correct expressions may be used. So far as Business English is concerned, "semantics" can be defined as a theory of strict correspondence of the meaning of an expression with the object it refers to. In this respect, when reading and writing Business English, we should grasp the semantic structure proper to English and eliminate thoroughly obscurities from each expression. In this report, based on a standpoint above mentioned, the present writer showed semantic matters instructors should attend to when they train the students in the practice of Business English. Generally speaking, expressions that can be obscure in Business English are classified into the following three types: (1) vagueness : expression whose application is not clearly defined (2) ambiguity: expression that can have more than one meaning (3) synonyms: words whose meanings are the same at the core level but delicately differ in their marginal portion; usually, foreigners cannot have a clear understanding of such a difference. I exemplified some expressions that belong to these types, and indicated concretely how to cope with them in the process of teaching Business English.
