Luận văn phân tích Đối chiếu các Đặc Điểm văn hóa Điển hình trong các truyện ngụ ngôn tiếng anh và tiếng việt nói về triết lý cuộc sống

Another reason that inspires the author to carry out this study is the attractiveness of fables, in this case, fables in English and Vietnamese, Fables arc onc type of folk Tilcrature wi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST — GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYÊN VĂN NGHĨA

TYPICAL CULTURAL FEATURES IN ENGLISH AND

VIETNAMESE FABLES ABOUT PIILLOSOPIIY OF LIFE:

A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS

PHẦN TÍCH ĐÔI CHIẾU CÁC ĐẶC DIEM VAN HOA BIEN HINA TRONG CÁC TRUYỆN NGỰ NGON TIEN I VA TLENG VIET

NOI VE TRIET LÝ CUỘC SÓNG

M.A MINOR THESIS

Ficld: English Linguistics

Code: 61 22 15,

HANOI -— 2010

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, ILANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST —- GRADUATE STUDIES

TYPICAL CULTURAL FEATURES IN ENGLISH AND

VIETNAMESE FABLES ABOUT PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE:

A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS

PHAN TiCH DOL CHIEU CÁC ĐẶC ĐIÊM VĂN HÓA ĐIỂN HÌNH

TRONG CÁC TRUYỆN NGỤ NGON TIENG ANH VA TIENG VIET

NOI VE TRIET LY CUỘC SÔNG

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 60 22 15

Supervisor: PHAM XUAN THO, MA

SURMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF REQUIREMENTS,

FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN LINGUISTICS

HANOI — 2010

1.1 Rationale of the study

1.2 Aims and research questions

1.3 Significance of the study

1.4, Scope of the study

1.5 Organization of the study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE VIEW

1.1 Culture

2.2, Fables asa type of Hterature

2.2.1 Fable

Page

ABBREVIATIONS

TCF: Typical oullurel features

CA; Fables with characters as animals

CHA: Fables with characters as humans and animals

CH, Fables with characters as humans

DA; Domestic animals

NDA: Non-domestic animals

vi

Characters as animals

4.2.3 Features of the language

4.2.4 Features of the way the philosophies of life are expressed

4.3 The simliarities and differences of the TCT% in Engilsh and Vietnamese fabtes abont

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1, Rationale of the study

The first thing to mention when it comes to choosing the topic of this thesis is that culture itself is a broad and complicated subject matter ‘'here are plenty of aspects in this field As usual, cach of tham is touched upon individually from different angles, depending on the interests of certain authors, Therefore, it is not surprising that different authors give different definitions of cule In addition, it is agreed that gettng a deep understanding about any aspect of cullure is a rzally hard job This is because cullure is not tangible, and it is only perceptive to human sense, For different individuals, the perceptions are not the same, Thus,

there is a variety of presentations on the subject matter

However complicated it is, cullure is still an important factor irr our tifs It distinguishes humans fiom animals, The way people behave and treat cach other makes them different from other living beings It is also agreed that although the world is coming toward common standards in many Gickds like scicnce, tcelmtology and business, there are by no mcans a uniform in culture among the regions or nations in the world It is cultural identities that distinguish groups of peuple Nowadays, in the world of integration, humans are searching for

a common understanding of one another, Culture is really a bridge that brings people closer together, The need to discover certain cultures has become more urgent than ever before

Another reason that inspires the author to carry out this study is the attractiveness of fables,

in this case, fables in English and Vietnamese, Fables arc onc type of folk Tilcrature with stories containing characters as either animals or humans, Stories of this type tell a variety of subject matters like the explanations of phenomena in real life or the teasing of bad habits of Inmnans, Each story is a moral Jesson and through the words and behaviors of characters, we can craw certain philosophies of life The readers become thoughtfill after reading such a fable

Among fables of varius themes, those about philosophies of fife appear to be the mos!

remarkable These are the most attractive of all types of fables The world of animals or

features The audience will get a deep understanding abont the similarities and differences between Vietnamese culture and Westem one, For Jeamers of English as a second language, the study helps them become aware of cultural elements in the process of leaming, which has not been paid much attention to so far Meanwhile, this is very important m Lnglish learning

‘because learners arc able to porecive why speakers or writers use differant, language irr different contexts Being aware of cultural elements is also a good way to avaid cultural shocks when they communicate with people from English — speaking countries

1.4 Scope of the study

‘As stated eatlier, culture is a broad field with various aspects This sindy, however, only focuses on the T'CES in a limited number of fables in English and Viemamese l† is also known that fables consist of lots of themes Yet, due to the shortage of snch factors as time, materials and finance, this study only exploits those about philosophy of life, which are very common in the world of fables

1.5 Organization of the study

‘The thesis consists of five chapters The first chapler is the inlroduction, which includes the rationale, aims and research questions, scope as well as the organization of the study The second chapter is the literature view in which the author presents an overview of the publications related to the topic of the tesuarch The methodology uscd in the study is presented in the third chapter It includes a description of the data collection and data analysis procedures used in the study ‘The findings of the study are presented in the fourth chapter, Results

and Discussions The final chapler presents » summary of the findings, limitations of

‘the study as well as suggestions tor further research,

‘humans - mosily in the past, speaks of the moral lessons which are still relevant in present Fife

‘Apart fiom the moral lessons, another attraction in fables is the cultural features embedded in cach story The settings, characters, language, and the way characters treat one another reveal the cultural identities of certain nations, regions and these are the most attractive parts of

fabics

1.2 Aims and research questions

Conducting the stndy, the author sets several limited aims First of all, the stdy is to find out tho typical cullural features (TCEs) in fables in Rryglish as well as in Vicinamnase, As a

suatter of fact, there are a number of cultural features in fables, but the author’s focus is only

on the typical ones ‘hat is, only the most remarkable features are taken info account ‘The second thing this study has to do is to contrast these typical cultural features in the fables in the two languages, finding out the similarities and the differences In order to do so, the study will have to search for the answers to the following research questions:

1 Wha aro the typical cultuzal (catnres int English fables about philosophy of life?

2 What are the typical cultural features in Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

3 What are the similarities of the typical cultural features in English and Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

4, What are the differences of the typical cultural features in English and Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

1.3 Significance of the study

The siudy is of greaf significance to not only cullure researchers bul those whose interests are in applied linguistics as well To those who are interested in cultures, the findings of the study will manifest the TCTs in the fables in two languages, namely English and Vietnamese The readers and thc Icarncrs of English language will have a chance to perecive the TCFs in each language In addition, the study also presents a contrastive analysis between these

‘humans - mosily in the past, speaks of the moral lessons which are still relevant in present Fife

‘Apart fiom the moral lessons, another attraction in fables is the cultural features embedded in cach story The settings, characters, language, and the way characters treat one another reveal the cultural identities of certain nations, regions and these are the most attractive parts of

fabics

1.2 Aims and research questions

Conducting the stndy, the author sets several limited aims First of all, the stdy is to find out tho typical cullural features (TCEs) in fables in Rryglish as well as in Vicinamnase, As a

suatter of fact, there are a number of cultural features in fables, but the author’s focus is only

on the typical ones ‘hat is, only the most remarkable features are taken info account ‘The second thing this study has to do is to contrast these typical cultural features in the fables in the two languages, finding out the similarities and the differences In order to do so, the study will have to search for the answers to the following research questions:

1 Wha aro the typical cultuzal (catnres int English fables about philosophy of life?

2 What are the typical cultural features in Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

3 What are the similarities of the typical cultural features in English and Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

4, What are the differences of the typical cultural features in English and Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

1.3 Significance of the study

The siudy is of greaf significance to not only cullure researchers bul those whose interests are in applied linguistics as well To those who are interested in cultures, the findings of the study will manifest the TCTs in the fables in two languages, namely English and Vietnamese The readers and thc Icarncrs of English language will have a chance to perecive the TCFs in each language In addition, the study also presents a contrastive analysis between these

vi

Characters as animals

4.2.3 Features of the language

4.2.4 Features of the way the philosophies of life are expressed

4.3 The simliarities and differences of the TCT% in Engilsh and Vietnamese fabtes abont

features The audience will get a deep understanding abont the similarities and differences between Vietnamese culture and Westem one, For Jeamers of English as a second language, the study helps them become aware of cultural elements in the process of leaming, which has not been paid much attention to so far Meanwhile, this is very important m Lnglish learning

‘because learners arc able to porecive why speakers or writers use differant, language irr different contexts Being aware of cultural elements is also a good way to avaid cultural shocks when they communicate with people from English — speaking countries

1.4 Scope of the study

‘As stated eatlier, culture is a broad field with various aspects This sindy, however, only focuses on the T'CES in a limited number of fables in English and Viemamese l† is also known that fables consist of lots of themes Yet, due to the shortage of snch factors as time, materials and finance, this study only exploits those about philosophy of life, which are very common in the world of fables

1.5 Organization of the study

‘The thesis consists of five chapters The first chapler is the inlroduction, which includes the rationale, aims and research questions, scope as well as the organization of the study The second chapter is the literature view in which the author presents an overview of the publications related to the topic of the tesuarch The methodology uscd in the study is presented in the third chapter It includes a description of the data collection and data analysis procedures used in the study ‘The findings of the study are presented in the fourth chapter, Results

and Discussions The final chapler presents » summary of the findings, limitations of

‘the study as well as suggestions tor further research,

vi

Characters as animals

4.2.3 Features of the language

4.2.4 Features of the way the philosophies of life are expressed

4.3 The simliarities and differences of the TCT% in Engilsh and Vietnamese fabtes abont

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1, Rationale of the study

The first thing to mention when it comes to choosing the topic of this thesis is that culture itself is a broad and complicated subject matter ‘'here are plenty of aspects in this field As usual, cach of tham is touched upon individually from different angles, depending on the interests of certain authors, Therefore, it is not surprising that different authors give different definitions of cule In addition, it is agreed that gettng a deep understanding about any aspect of cullure is a rzally hard job This is because cullure is not tangible, and it is only perceptive to human sense, For different individuals, the perceptions are not the same, Thus,

there is a variety of presentations on the subject matter

However complicated it is, cullure is still an important factor irr our tifs It distinguishes humans fiom animals, The way people behave and treat cach other makes them different from other living beings It is also agreed that although the world is coming toward common standards in many Gickds like scicnce, tcelmtology and business, there are by no mcans a uniform in culture among the regions or nations in the world It is cultural identities that distinguish groups of peuple Nowadays, in the world of integration, humans are searching for

a common understanding of one another, Culture is really a bridge that brings people closer together, The need to discover certain cultures has become more urgent than ever before

Another reason that inspires the author to carry out this study is the attractiveness of fables,

in this case, fables in English and Vietnamese, Fables arc onc type of folk Tilcrature with stories containing characters as either animals or humans, Stories of this type tell a variety of subject matters like the explanations of phenomena in real life or the teasing of bad habits of Inmnans, Each story is a moral Jesson and through the words and behaviors of characters, we can craw certain philosophies of life The readers become thoughtfill after reading such a fable

Among fables of varius themes, those about philosophies of fife appear to be the mos!

remarkable These are the most attractive of all types of fables The world of animals or

features The audience will get a deep understanding abont the similarities and differences between Vietnamese culture and Westem one, For Jeamers of English as a second language, the study helps them become aware of cultural elements in the process of leaming, which has not been paid much attention to so far Meanwhile, this is very important m Lnglish learning

‘because learners arc able to porecive why speakers or writers use differant, language irr different contexts Being aware of cultural elements is also a good way to avaid cultural shocks when they communicate with people from English — speaking countries

1.4 Scope of the study

‘As stated eatlier, culture is a broad field with various aspects This sindy, however, only focuses on the T'CES in a limited number of fables in English and Viemamese l† is also known that fables consist of lots of themes Yet, due to the shortage of snch factors as time, materials and finance, this study only exploits those about philosophy of life, which are very common in the world of fables

1.5 Organization of the study

‘The thesis consists of five chapters The first chapler is the inlroduction, which includes the rationale, aims and research questions, scope as well as the organization of the study The second chapter is the literature view in which the author presents an overview of the publications related to the topic of the tesuarch The methodology uscd in the study is presented in the third chapter It includes a description of the data collection and data analysis procedures used in the study ‘The findings of the study are presented in the fourth chapter, Results

and Discussions The final chapler presents » summary of the findings, limitations of

‘the study as well as suggestions tor further research,

2.2.2 Fables about philosophy of life

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Subjects

3.1.1 English fables

3.1.2 Viemamese fables

3.3 Data collection and data analysis procedures

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS:

4.1, Typical cultural features of English fables about philosophy of life

4.1.1 Leatures of the settings and objects

4.1.2 Features of the characters

4.1.3 the features of the language used by the characters

4.14 Features of the ways the philosophy of life is expressed

42 The )

in Viclaamese lables about plilosophy of le

4.2.1 Features of the settings and objects

4.2.2 Features of the characters

23

24

22

26 26

‘humans - mosily in the past, speaks of the moral lessons which are still relevant in present Fife

‘Apart fiom the moral lessons, another attraction in fables is the cultural features embedded in cach story The settings, characters, language, and the way characters treat one another reveal the cultural identities of certain nations, regions and these are the most attractive parts of

fabics

1.2 Aims and research questions

Conducting the stndy, the author sets several limited aims First of all, the stdy is to find out tho typical cullural features (TCEs) in fables in Rryglish as well as in Vicinamnase, As a

suatter of fact, there are a number of cultural features in fables, but the author’s focus is only

on the typical ones ‘hat is, only the most remarkable features are taken info account ‘The second thing this study has to do is to contrast these typical cultural features in the fables in the two languages, finding out the similarities and the differences In order to do so, the study will have to search for the answers to the following research questions:

1 Wha aro the typical cultuzal (catnres int English fables about philosophy of life?

2 What are the typical cultural features in Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

3 What are the similarities of the typical cultural features in English and Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

4, What are the differences of the typical cultural features in English and Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

1.3 Significance of the study

The siudy is of greaf significance to not only cullure researchers bul those whose interests are in applied linguistics as well To those who are interested in cultures, the findings of the study will manifest the TCTs in the fables in two languages, namely English and Vietnamese The readers and thc Icarncrs of English language will have a chance to perecive the TCFs in each language In addition, the study also presents a contrastive analysis between these

2.2.2 Fables about philosophy of life

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Subjects

3.1.1 English fables

3.1.2 Viemamese fables

3.3 Data collection and data analysis procedures

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS:

4.1, Typical cultural features of English fables about philosophy of life

4.1.1 Leatures of the settings and objects

4.1.2 Features of the characters

4.1.3 the features of the language used by the characters

4.14 Features of the ways the philosophy of life is expressed

42 The )

in Viclaamese lables about plilosophy of le

4.2.1 Features of the settings and objects

4.2.2 Features of the characters

23

24

22

26 26

‘TC's of characters in Vietnamese fables

Features of the language in the conversations of Vietamese fhbles Features of the ways the philosophy of life is expressed in Vietnamese fables

‘humans - mosily in the past, speaks of the moral lessons which are still relevant in present Fife

‘Apart fiom the moral lessons, another attraction in fables is the cultural features embedded in cach story The settings, characters, language, and the way characters treat one another reveal the cultural identities of certain nations, regions and these are the most attractive parts of

fabics

1.2 Aims and research questions

Conducting the stndy, the author sets several limited aims First of all, the stdy is to find out tho typical cullural features (TCEs) in fables in Rryglish as well as in Vicinamnase, As a

suatter of fact, there are a number of cultural features in fables, but the author’s focus is only

on the typical ones ‘hat is, only the most remarkable features are taken info account ‘The second thing this study has to do is to contrast these typical cultural features in the fables in the two languages, finding out the similarities and the differences In order to do so, the study will have to search for the answers to the following research questions:

1 Wha aro the typical cultuzal (catnres int English fables about philosophy of life?

2 What are the typical cultural features in Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

3 What are the similarities of the typical cultural features in English and Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

4, What are the differences of the typical cultural features in English and Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

1.3 Significance of the study

The siudy is of greaf significance to not only cullure researchers bul those whose interests are in applied linguistics as well To those who are interested in cultures, the findings of the study will manifest the TCTs in the fables in two languages, namely English and Vietnamese The readers and thc Icarncrs of English language will have a chance to perecive the TCFs in each language In addition, the study also presents a contrastive analysis between these

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1, Rationale of the study

The first thing to mention when it comes to choosing the topic of this thesis is that culture itself is a broad and complicated subject matter ‘'here are plenty of aspects in this field As usual, cach of tham is touched upon individually from different angles, depending on the interests of certain authors, Therefore, it is not surprising that different authors give different definitions of cule In addition, it is agreed that gettng a deep understanding about any aspect of cullure is a rzally hard job This is because cullure is not tangible, and it is only perceptive to human sense, For different individuals, the perceptions are not the same, Thus,

there is a variety of presentations on the subject matter

However complicated it is, cullure is still an important factor irr our tifs It distinguishes humans fiom animals, The way people behave and treat cach other makes them different from other living beings It is also agreed that although the world is coming toward common standards in many Gickds like scicnce, tcelmtology and business, there are by no mcans a uniform in culture among the regions or nations in the world It is cultural identities that distinguish groups of peuple Nowadays, in the world of integration, humans are searching for

a common understanding of one another, Culture is really a bridge that brings people closer together, The need to discover certain cultures has become more urgent than ever before

Another reason that inspires the author to carry out this study is the attractiveness of fables,

in this case, fables in English and Vietnamese, Fables arc onc type of folk Tilcrature with stories containing characters as either animals or humans, Stories of this type tell a variety of subject matters like the explanations of phenomena in real life or the teasing of bad habits of Inmnans, Each story is a moral Jesson and through the words and behaviors of characters, we can craw certain philosophies of life The readers become thoughtfill after reading such a fable

Among fables of varius themes, those about philosophies of fife appear to be the mos!

remarkable These are the most attractive of all types of fables The world of animals or

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1, Rationale of the study

The first thing to mention when it comes to choosing the topic of this thesis is that culture itself is a broad and complicated subject matter ‘'here are plenty of aspects in this field As usual, cach of tham is touched upon individually from different angles, depending on the interests of certain authors, Therefore, it is not surprising that different authors give different definitions of cule In addition, it is agreed that gettng a deep understanding about any aspect of cullure is a rzally hard job This is because cullure is not tangible, and it is only perceptive to human sense, For different individuals, the perceptions are not the same, Thus,

there is a variety of presentations on the subject matter

However complicated it is, cullure is still an important factor irr our tifs It distinguishes humans fiom animals, The way people behave and treat cach other makes them different from other living beings It is also agreed that although the world is coming toward common standards in many Gickds like scicnce, tcelmtology and business, there are by no mcans a uniform in culture among the regions or nations in the world It is cultural identities that distinguish groups of peuple Nowadays, in the world of integration, humans are searching for

a common understanding of one another, Culture is really a bridge that brings people closer together, The need to discover certain cultures has become more urgent than ever before

Another reason that inspires the author to carry out this study is the attractiveness of fables,

in this case, fables in English and Vietnamese, Fables arc onc type of folk Tilcrature with stories containing characters as either animals or humans, Stories of this type tell a variety of subject matters like the explanations of phenomena in real life or the teasing of bad habits of Inmnans, Each story is a moral Jesson and through the words and behaviors of characters, we can craw certain philosophies of life The readers become thoughtfill after reading such a fable

Among fables of varius themes, those about philosophies of fife appear to be the mos!

remarkable These are the most attractive of all types of fables The world of animals or

ABBREVIATIONS

TCF: Typical oullurel features

CA; Fables with characters as animals

CHA: Fables with characters as humans and animals

CH, Fables with characters as humans

DA; Domestic animals

NDA: Non-domestic animals

features The audience will get a deep understanding abont the similarities and differences between Vietnamese culture and Westem one, For Jeamers of English as a second language, the study helps them become aware of cultural elements in the process of leaming, which has not been paid much attention to so far Meanwhile, this is very important m Lnglish learning

‘because learners arc able to porecive why speakers or writers use differant, language irr different contexts Being aware of cultural elements is also a good way to avaid cultural shocks when they communicate with people from English — speaking countries

1.4 Scope of the study

‘As stated eatlier, culture is a broad field with various aspects This sindy, however, only focuses on the T'CES in a limited number of fables in English and Viemamese l† is also known that fables consist of lots of themes Yet, due to the shortage of snch factors as time, materials and finance, this study only exploits those about philosophy of life, which are very common in the world of fables

1.5 Organization of the study

‘The thesis consists of five chapters The first chapler is the inlroduction, which includes the rationale, aims and research questions, scope as well as the organization of the study The second chapter is the literature view in which the author presents an overview of the publications related to the topic of the tesuarch The methodology uscd in the study is presented in the third chapter It includes a description of the data collection and data analysis procedures used in the study ‘The findings of the study are presented in the fourth chapter, Results

and Discussions The final chapler presents » summary of the findings, limitations of

‘the study as well as suggestions tor further research,

ABBREVIATIONS

TCF: Typical oullurel features

CA; Fables with characters as animals

CHA: Fables with characters as humans and animals

CH, Fables with characters as humans

DA; Domestic animals

NDA: Non-domestic animals

2.2.2 Fables about philosophy of life

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Subjects

3.1.1 English fables

3.1.2 Viemamese fables

3.3 Data collection and data analysis procedures

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS:

4.1, Typical cultural features of English fables about philosophy of life

4.1.1 Leatures of the settings and objects

4.1.2 Features of the characters

4.1.3 the features of the language used by the characters

4.14 Features of the ways the philosophy of life is expressed

42 The )

in Viclaamese lables about plilosophy of le

4.2.1 Features of the settings and objects

4.2.2 Features of the characters

23

24

22

26 26

‘humans - mosily in the past, speaks of the moral lessons which are still relevant in present Fife

‘Apart fiom the moral lessons, another attraction in fables is the cultural features embedded in cach story The settings, characters, language, and the way characters treat one another reveal the cultural identities of certain nations, regions and these are the most attractive parts of

fabics

1.2 Aims and research questions

Conducting the stndy, the author sets several limited aims First of all, the stdy is to find out tho typical cullural features (TCEs) in fables in Rryglish as well as in Vicinamnase, As a

suatter of fact, there are a number of cultural features in fables, but the author’s focus is only

on the typical ones ‘hat is, only the most remarkable features are taken info account ‘The second thing this study has to do is to contrast these typical cultural features in the fables in the two languages, finding out the similarities and the differences In order to do so, the study will have to search for the answers to the following research questions:

1 Wha aro the typical cultuzal (catnres int English fables about philosophy of life?

2 What are the typical cultural features in Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

3 What are the similarities of the typical cultural features in English and Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

4, What are the differences of the typical cultural features in English and Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

1.3 Significance of the study

The siudy is of greaf significance to not only cullure researchers bul those whose interests are in applied linguistics as well To those who are interested in cultures, the findings of the study will manifest the TCTs in the fables in two languages, namely English and Vietnamese The readers and thc Icarncrs of English language will have a chance to perecive the TCFs in each language In addition, the study also presents a contrastive analysis between these

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1, Rationale of the study

The first thing to mention when it comes to choosing the topic of this thesis is that culture itself is a broad and complicated subject matter ‘'here are plenty of aspects in this field As usual, cach of tham is touched upon individually from different angles, depending on the interests of certain authors, Therefore, it is not surprising that different authors give different definitions of cule In addition, it is agreed that gettng a deep understanding about any aspect of cullure is a rzally hard job This is because cullure is not tangible, and it is only perceptive to human sense, For different individuals, the perceptions are not the same, Thus,

there is a variety of presentations on the subject matter

However complicated it is, cullure is still an important factor irr our tifs It distinguishes humans fiom animals, The way people behave and treat cach other makes them different from other living beings It is also agreed that although the world is coming toward common standards in many Gickds like scicnce, tcelmtology and business, there are by no mcans a uniform in culture among the regions or nations in the world It is cultural identities that distinguish groups of peuple Nowadays, in the world of integration, humans are searching for

a common understanding of one another, Culture is really a bridge that brings people closer together, The need to discover certain cultures has become more urgent than ever before

Another reason that inspires the author to carry out this study is the attractiveness of fables,

in this case, fables in English and Vietnamese, Fables arc onc type of folk Tilcrature with stories containing characters as either animals or humans, Stories of this type tell a variety of subject matters like the explanations of phenomena in real life or the teasing of bad habits of Inmnans, Each story is a moral Jesson and through the words and behaviors of characters, we can craw certain philosophies of life The readers become thoughtfill after reading such a fable

Among fables of varius themes, those about philosophies of fife appear to be the mos!

remarkable These are the most attractive of all types of fables The world of animals or

‘humans - mosily in the past, speaks of the moral lessons which are still relevant in present Fife

‘Apart fiom the moral lessons, another attraction in fables is the cultural features embedded in cach story The settings, characters, language, and the way characters treat one another reveal the cultural identities of certain nations, regions and these are the most attractive parts of

fabics

1.2 Aims and research questions

Conducting the stndy, the author sets several limited aims First of all, the stdy is to find out tho typical cullural features (TCEs) in fables in Rryglish as well as in Vicinamnase, As a

suatter of fact, there are a number of cultural features in fables, but the author’s focus is only

on the typical ones ‘hat is, only the most remarkable features are taken info account ‘The second thing this study has to do is to contrast these typical cultural features in the fables in the two languages, finding out the similarities and the differences In order to do so, the study will have to search for the answers to the following research questions:

1 Wha aro the typical cultuzal (catnres int English fables about philosophy of life?

2 What are the typical cultural features in Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

3 What are the similarities of the typical cultural features in English and Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

4, What are the differences of the typical cultural features in English and Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

1.3 Significance of the study

The siudy is of greaf significance to not only cullure researchers bul those whose interests are in applied linguistics as well To those who are interested in cultures, the findings of the study will manifest the TCTs in the fables in two languages, namely English and Vietnamese The readers and thc Icarncrs of English language will have a chance to perecive the TCFs in each language In addition, the study also presents a contrastive analysis between these

features The audience will get a deep understanding abont the similarities and differences between Vietnamese culture and Westem one, For Jeamers of English as a second language, the study helps them become aware of cultural elements in the process of leaming, which has not been paid much attention to so far Meanwhile, this is very important m Lnglish learning

‘because learners arc able to porecive why speakers or writers use differant, language irr different contexts Being aware of cultural elements is also a good way to avaid cultural shocks when they communicate with people from English — speaking countries

1.4 Scope of the study

‘As stated eatlier, culture is a broad field with various aspects This sindy, however, only focuses on the T'CES in a limited number of fables in English and Viemamese l† is also known that fables consist of lots of themes Yet, due to the shortage of snch factors as time, materials and finance, this study only exploits those about philosophy of life, which are very common in the world of fables

1.5 Organization of the study

‘The thesis consists of five chapters The first chapler is the inlroduction, which includes the rationale, aims and research questions, scope as well as the organization of the study The second chapter is the literature view in which the author presents an overview of the publications related to the topic of the tesuarch The methodology uscd in the study is presented in the third chapter It includes a description of the data collection and data analysis procedures used in the study ‘The findings of the study are presented in the fourth chapter, Results

and Discussions The final chapler presents » summary of the findings, limitations of

‘the study as well as suggestions tor further research,

vi

Characters as animals

4.2.3 Features of the language

4.2.4 Features of the way the philosophies of life are expressed

4.3 The simliarities and differences of the TCT% in Engilsh and Vietnamese fabtes abont

vi

Characters as animals

4.2.3 Features of the language

4.2.4 Features of the way the philosophies of life are expressed

4.3 The simliarities and differences of the TCT% in Engilsh and Vietnamese fabtes abont

ABBREVIATIONS

TCF: Typical oullurel features

CA; Fables with characters as animals

CHA: Fables with characters as humans and animals

CH, Fables with characters as humans

DA; Domestic animals

NDA: Non-domestic animals

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1, Rationale of the study

The first thing to mention when it comes to choosing the topic of this thesis is that culture itself is a broad and complicated subject matter ‘'here are plenty of aspects in this field As usual, cach of tham is touched upon individually from different angles, depending on the interests of certain authors, Therefore, it is not surprising that different authors give different definitions of cule In addition, it is agreed that gettng a deep understanding about any aspect of cullure is a rzally hard job This is because cullure is not tangible, and it is only perceptive to human sense, For different individuals, the perceptions are not the same, Thus,

there is a variety of presentations on the subject matter

However complicated it is, cullure is still an important factor irr our tifs It distinguishes humans fiom animals, The way people behave and treat cach other makes them different from other living beings It is also agreed that although the world is coming toward common standards in many Gickds like scicnce, tcelmtology and business, there are by no mcans a uniform in culture among the regions or nations in the world It is cultural identities that distinguish groups of peuple Nowadays, in the world of integration, humans are searching for

a common understanding of one another, Culture is really a bridge that brings people closer together, The need to discover certain cultures has become more urgent than ever before

Another reason that inspires the author to carry out this study is the attractiveness of fables,

in this case, fables in English and Vietnamese, Fables arc onc type of folk Tilcrature with stories containing characters as either animals or humans, Stories of this type tell a variety of subject matters like the explanations of phenomena in real life or the teasing of bad habits of Inmnans, Each story is a moral Jesson and through the words and behaviors of characters, we can craw certain philosophies of life The readers become thoughtfill after reading such a fable

Among fables of varius themes, those about philosophies of fife appear to be the mos!

remarkable These are the most attractive of all types of fables The world of animals or

‘humans - mosily in the past, speaks of the moral lessons which are still relevant in present Fife

‘Apart fiom the moral lessons, another attraction in fables is the cultural features embedded in cach story The settings, characters, language, and the way characters treat one another reveal the cultural identities of certain nations, regions and these are the most attractive parts of

fabics

1.2 Aims and research questions

Conducting the stndy, the author sets several limited aims First of all, the stdy is to find out tho typical cullural features (TCEs) in fables in Rryglish as well as in Vicinamnase, As a

suatter of fact, there are a number of cultural features in fables, but the author’s focus is only

on the typical ones ‘hat is, only the most remarkable features are taken info account ‘The second thing this study has to do is to contrast these typical cultural features in the fables in the two languages, finding out the similarities and the differences In order to do so, the study will have to search for the answers to the following research questions:

1 Wha aro the typical cultuzal (catnres int English fables about philosophy of life?

2 What are the typical cultural features in Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

3 What are the similarities of the typical cultural features in English and Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

4, What are the differences of the typical cultural features in English and Vietnamese fables about philosophy of life?

1.3 Significance of the study

The siudy is of greaf significance to not only cullure researchers bul those whose interests are in applied linguistics as well To those who are interested in cultures, the findings of the study will manifest the TCTs in the fables in two languages, namely English and Vietnamese The readers and thc Icarncrs of English language will have a chance to perecive the TCFs in each language In addition, the study also presents a contrastive analysis between these

‘TC's of characters in Vietnamese fables

Features of the language in the conversations of Vietamese fhbles Features of the ways the philosophy of life is expressed in Vietnamese fables

‘TC's of characters in Vietnamese fables

Features of the language in the conversations of Vietamese fhbles Features of the ways the philosophy of life is expressed in Vietnamese fables

features The audience will get a deep understanding abont the similarities and differences between Vietnamese culture and Westem one, For Jeamers of English as a second language, the study helps them become aware of cultural elements in the process of leaming, which has not been paid much attention to so far Meanwhile, this is very important m Lnglish learning

‘because learners arc able to porecive why speakers or writers use differant, language irr different contexts Being aware of cultural elements is also a good way to avaid cultural shocks when they communicate with people from English — speaking countries

1.4 Scope of the study

‘As stated eatlier, culture is a broad field with various aspects This sindy, however, only focuses on the T'CES in a limited number of fables in English and Viemamese l† is also known that fables consist of lots of themes Yet, due to the shortage of snch factors as time, materials and finance, this study only exploits those about philosophy of life, which are very common in the world of fables

1.5 Organization of the study

‘The thesis consists of five chapters The first chapler is the inlroduction, which includes the rationale, aims and research questions, scope as well as the organization of the study The second chapter is the literature view in which the author presents an overview of the publications related to the topic of the tesuarch The methodology uscd in the study is presented in the third chapter It includes a description of the data collection and data analysis procedures used in the study ‘The findings of the study are presented in the fourth chapter, Results

and Discussions The final chapler presents » summary of the findings, limitations of

‘the study as well as suggestions tor further research,