MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU LIÊN VĂN HÓA VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG MỘT SỐ CỬ CHỈ ĐẶC TRƯNG CÓ NGUỒN GỐC TỪ PHƯƠNG TÂY BỊ TOÀN CẦU HÓA CỦA SINH VIÊN ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI

The thesis completed by Trương Thị Minh Phúc, 10E16, ULIS-VNU, explores an intercultural study on some typical globalized Western gestures done by the students at Vietnam National University Hanoi The research is conducted purposefully with the hope of clarifying how VNU students use and perceive the finger gestures in general, five mentioned finger gestures (V-sign, Thumb-up, OK sign, The middle finger and Beckoning) in particular among its various global meanings. Moreover, the study is undertaken as an attempt to take a deeper look at the tendency of using finger gestures in communicating of VNU students. The method employed in this study is that of survey research which mainly are survey questionnaire and observation. The investigation involves the participants of a hundred students coming from four different universities of VNU responding to the thoroughly designed questionnaire. Besides that, they are observed randomly and objectively for the purpose of valid data. By figuring, calculating, combining, comparing and generalizing, the data collected through research instruments is then analyzed carefully and discussed in-depth, so that relevant and worthy findings can be found. The results and findings of the study truly help to answer the research questions. It allows the realization of the differences in using and perceiving finger gestures of the students from four surveyed universities as well as the reflection of their attitude towards using these finger gestures. Then, it also shows how much globalization has effects on how VNU students practice the finger gestures in their communicating.

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

GRADUATION PAPER

AN INTERCULTURAL STUDY OF SOME TYPICAL GLOBALIZED WESTERN GESTURES DONE BY THE STUDENTS AT VIETNAM NATIONAL

UNIVERSITY, HANOI

Supervisor: Ngô Hữu Hoàng, PhD

Student: Trương Thị Minh Phúc

Course: QH2010.F1.E16

Hanoi - 2014

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU LIÊN VĂN HÓA VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG MỘT

SỐ CỬ CHỈ ĐẶC TRƯNG CÓ NGUỒN GỐC TỪ PHƯƠNG TÂY

BỊ TOÀN CẦU HÓA CỦA SINH VIÊN ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA

ACEPTANCE

I hereby state that I: Truong Thi Minh Phuc, from group 10E16, English Department, HULIS, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction

of the paper.

Signature

Date: May 5th 2014

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First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere appreciation and mydeepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Ngô Hữu Hoàng, for his precious guidance,insightful comments, unconditional invaluable materials as well as his hugeencouragement from the initial to the final step for the accomplishment of this study.Secondly, my big thank is extended to respectable lecturers of Faculty of EnglishLanguage Teacher Education in University of Languages and International Studies fortheir motivation and devotion to every lesson during my four years at the university,which inspired me a lot to write this paper It is also my honor to say thank you to thefacilitation and frequent remind from the Department so that my study could be inright process

Then, I am in debt my profound thankfulness to my beloved family, my closefriends and my colleges who are always beside me, wholeheartedly count on me, give

me their constant supports and help me overcome difficulties

Besides, I wish to thank the students at University of Languages and InternationalStudies, University of Economics and Business, University of Engineering andTechnology and International School, who enthusiastically participated in my datacollection process for their valid information But for their assistances, I would nothave completed this paper

After all, from the bottom of my heart, I would like to acknowledge all of thosewho supported me in any respect during the completion of the study

Truong Thi Minh Phuc

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The thesis completed by Trương Thị Minh Phúc, 10E16, ULIS-VNU, explores anintercultural study on some typical globalized Western gestures done by the students atVietnam National University Hanoi

The research is conducted purposefully with the hope of clarifying how VNU studentsuse and perceive the finger gestures in general, five mentioned finger gestures (V-sign,Thumb-up, OK sign, The middle finger and Beckoning) in particular among its variousglobal meanings Moreover, the study is undertaken as an attempt to take a deeperlook at the tendency of using finger gestures in communicating of VNU students The method employed in this study is that of survey research which mainly are surveyquestionnaire and observation The investigation involves the participants of a hundredstudents coming from four different universities of VNU responding to the thoroughlydesigned questionnaire Besides that, they are observed randomly and objectively forthe purpose of valid data By figuring, calculating, combining, comparing andgeneralizing, the data collected through research instruments is then analyzed carefullyand discussed in-depth, so that relevant and worthy findings can be found

The results and findings of the study truly help to answer the research questions Itallows the realization of the differences in using and perceiving finger gestures of thestudents from four surveyed universities as well as the reflection of their attitudetowards using these finger gestures Then, it also shows how much globalization haseffects on how VNU students practice the finger gestures in their communicating

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACEPTANCE ……… …i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……… ii

ABSTRACT……… iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS………iv

ABRRIVIATION ……….v

LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS &FIGURES……….………….vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study……….1

2 Aims of the study and statement of research questions……… 2

3 Significance of the study……….2

4 Scope of the study……… 3

5 Design of the study……… 4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITURATURE REVIEW………5

1.1 Theoretical background……… 5

1.1.1 Verbal and non-verbal communication ……… 5

1.1.1.1 V erbal communication………7

1.1.1.2 Non-verbal communication ……… 7

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a Gestures……….8

b Origin and global meanings of the five listed finger gestures… 9

i “V” sign (Outward & inward)………9

ii OK sign……… 10

iii Thumb- up gesture ……….11

iv The middle finger………12

v Beckoning ……….……… 14

1.2 Previous studies……… 15

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY……….…… 17

2.1 Research instruments……….17

2.2 Procedures of data collection……… 18

2.3 Procedures of data analysis……… 19

CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY……… 21

3.1 VNU students with finger gestures used in communicating……… 21

3.1.1 The awareness of the finger gestures’ origins……… 21

3.1.2 Evaluation on the role of using finger gestures in communicating.……….22

3.1.3 The frequency of using the finger gestures in communicating ……….24

3.1.4 The communicative partners with whom VNU students use the finger gestures to talk……….25

3.2 VNU students with the five listed fingers in communicating……… ….……

26 3.2.1 The awareness of the total five listed finger gestures……… …… 26

3.2.2 The awareness of the five listed finger gestures’ origins……….27

3.2.3 The frequency of using the five listed finger gestures……… 28

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3.3 VNU students perceive and employ the five listed finger gestures in their

communicating………29

3.3.1 “V” sign……… 29

3.3.2 OK sign……… 32

3.3.3 Thumb-up……… …33

3.3.4 The middle finger……… .33

3.3.5 Beckoning……… …… 34

PART C: CONCLUSION 1 Conclusions of the findings……….37

2 Implications……… 38

3 Limitations of the study……… 39

4 Suggestions for further studies……… 40

REFRENCES……… 41

APPENDIX………44

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VNU: Vietnam National University

ULIS: University of Languages and International StudiesUEB: University of Economics and Business

UET: University of Engineering and Technology

IS: International School

&: And

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LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS & FIGURES

1 How often VNU students use finger gestures in communicating 24

2 Who VNU student use finger gestures to communicate with 25

3 VNU student’s notice of origins of some widely-used finger

gestures

27

4 The frequency of using five listed finger gestures by VNU students 28

1 Notice of origins of finger gestures used in their conversations 21

2 How important using finger gestures in conversations is 23

3 VNU student’s awareness of the total five listed finger gestures 26

4 The awareness of differences in meanings between the two V-sign

gestures (inward & outward)

30

5 The awareness of differences in meanings of the two beckoning

gestures (upward & downward)

35

2 President Wilson Churchill (1874-1965) 10

8 Posing with outward and inward V-sign 32

9 Upward and downward beckoning 34

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PART A- INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

In the context of comprehensive integration and strong globalization as it is nowadays,

it is unavoidable that all aspects of human being’s life, especially in terms of cultureand communication are inevitably affected Because intercultural communication isencouraged and cultural differences among nations are reduced, the communicationstyles of all countries are now being interacted Vietnam- a country opening its door tointegrate wide-deeply into the world therefore cannot be out of the trend

As a student learning foreign languages and international studies, in my point of view,globalization has large effects on not only Vietnamese verbal but also non-verbalcommunication Then, its impacts on the non verbal cues seem to be important, owing

to its ability of proving intercultural features happened in the country for the timebeing Of many nonverbal cues, gestures used in conversations clearly reflect culturalinteractive features and play a significant role in communicating Thanks toglobalization, Vietnam has chance to import and practice common gestures, most ofwhich originate from Western countries, in “Vietnamese way” Interestingly, thoseglobalized gestures have been mainly absorbed by the young in general, the students incities in particular The way that these specific gestures are used and perceived inVietnam has both similarities and differences with other cultures using the same signs.Accounting for a large part of the gestures, finger gestures which do not originate fromVietnam but are exotic gestures are used and appeared the most in conversations of theyoung in Vietnam nowadays

Aware of this context, I choose the topics “An Intercultural study of some typical globalized Western gestures done by the students at Vietnam National University, Hanoi” to study Among the non-verbal cues often used when Vietnamese

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young people are in touch, I focus on the some typical finger gestures, whose majority

is exotic, because it is the most noticeable signs

2 Aims of the study and statement of research questions

Firstly, this research is conducted purposefully with the hope of helping VNU studentrealize and enhance their knowledge about culture differences in general Then, it alsoprovides the target students with a deeper look in the difference of meanings of thefive listed global finger gestures used in different cultures, especially in Vietnam.Hence, VNU student is expected to be able to avoid culture- shock as well as be able

to use these ones appropriately in communicating with their partners Moreover, thestudy is undertaken as an attempt to help identify the communicating style and thetendency of using finger gestures in communicating of VNU students From that, theresearcher can partly suggest some solutions to help them communicate efficiently The research on some typical globalized Western gestures done by the student atVietnam National University Hanoi (VNU) focuses on clarifying some questions:

1 What are VNU students’ perceptions of using five listed finger gestures incommunicating?

2 How does globalization affect the use of some typical finger gestures done byVNU students?

3 Significance

In my point of view, the research of some typical globalized Western gestures done bythe student at Vietnam National University, Hanoi is very interesting, useful andpractical Finger gestures are very fascinating and diversified, and without them, ourspeech would be static and colorless In Vietnam, using finger gestures incommunication is more and more popular Its density in conversations is getting

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higher and higher and its efficiency in expressing emotions or reinforcing words isobvious

Currently, communication culture of Vietnamese young people is attracting largeconcern of society The way they talk, interact; get in touch with others hasconsiderable effects on Vietnamese culture in general, on Vietnamese communicatingculture in particular Especially, the way they use and perceive some typical globalizedWestern finger gestures somehow shows the effects of globalization, mostly Westerncultures on Vietnamese young people’s communicating style as well as theVietnamizating process of these finger gestures of the young Hence, the study helps toclarify how strong globalization influences the way they communicate with othersusing finger gesture and partly predict their communicating trends

Besides that, once having been completed, the study would serve as one of the sourcesproviding us with an overview of the functions of finger gestures in communicating inVietnam nowadays; so that we can balance confused aspects of these gestures caused

by globalization It means that we can diversify our communicating style by adaptinggood features and avoid unsuitable ones As a result, we can both enrich and protectour culture uniqueness Finally, it would be my pleasure if my humble piece of workcan be able to contribute to the development of research in the field of cultures

4 Scope of the study

Gesture, which is part of non- verbal cues, is a large aspect and it takes a lot of timeand effort to do research As a result, it is very hard for the researcher to cover allaspects of this issue Additionally, due to time constraint, resources, the researcher’sexperience and knowledge, the research is set specific scope to study Of many fingergestures, these five ones: O.K” sign, Thumb-up gesture, The middle finger, “V”gestures (outward& inward) and the beckoning gestures are the most widely used incommunicating in Vietnam by the young, especially the student Therefore, the

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primary focus of the study will be on these five finger gestures Owning to someobjective and subjective reasons, the researcher decides to choose students of VNU asthe target participants to study The researcher could not also deliver the questionnairefor all students of VNU which has seven universities as members Therefore, in themost convenience, all the participants come from the four out of seven universities ofVNU: University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS), University ofEconomics and Business (UEB), University of Engineering and Technology (UET)and International school (IS)

5 Design of the study

In order to make it clear and easy to follow, the structure of the study is mainly dividedinto following sections:

Part A: Introduction establishes the rationale of the study, the aims, the research

questions, the significance, the scope and the design of the study

Part B: Development- which includes three chapters:

 Chapter 1: Literature Review points out some previous studies on the same

field, the comprehensive review of theoretical background on verbalcommunication, nonverbal communications, the gestures and the origins as well

as its global meanings of the five listed finger gestures

 Chapter 2: Methodology represents the selections of data collection

instruments, procedures of data collection and data analysis

 Chapter 3: The study analyzes the data collected from informants to bring

about the findings and results that helps to answer the research questions

Part C: Conclusion includes four sub parts such as conclusions of the findings,

implications, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further studies

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PART B – DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Theoretical background

1.1.1 Verbal and non-verbal communication

Communication is one of the most important aspects in human beings’ life Withoutcommunication we cannot interact with the world and show them our view, our

expression According to Beisler (1997), communication is “the transmission from

one person to another of a message which is understood by the receiver as the sender intended” As Samovar and Porter (1991) put it “communication is complete only when the intended behavior is observed by the intended receiver and that person responds to and is affected by the behavior” In sum, communication is the transfer of information

from one person to another or others It is evidently accepted that communicationconsists of two common categories: verbal and non-verbal as Levine and Adelman

(1993) say: “Communication is the process of sharing meaning through verbal and

non-verbal behavior”

The definition above is supported diagrammatized by Nguyen Quang (2004:58)

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1.1.1.1 Verbal communication

In Ronald D Smith’s words, “Verbal communication occurs through written and

spoken words” (2005:142) In sum, verbal communication is an act of conveying

messages, ideas, or feelings through the use of mouth Verbal communication is themain way of communicating face-to-face Among the key components of the verbalcommunication are words, sound, speaking, and language It is obvious that a specificlanguage assigns meanings to messages through a particular system of words.Conventionally, verbal communication fulfills three main functions: (1) informing theperson of others’ thoughts and feelings, (2) stimulating the receiver of message bytriggering a response and (3) serving a descriptive function by imparting informationand sharing observations, ideas, inference and memories (Watzalawick, et, al, 1967)

1.1.1.2 Non-verbal communication

When communicating, people not only use verbal cues but they also practicenonverbal messages such as body languages, gestures, postures, etc in order to colorizetheir conversations and show their expression lively According to a research ofMehrabian and Wiener (1972), only 7% of the speaker’s attitude is transmitted byword, whereas 93% of the social meanings may be carried in actions or non-verbalcommunication elements

Non-verbal communication is the process of communication through sending andreceiving messages wordlessly In other words, non- verbal communication includesonly the events, behaviors that we perceive and give meaning to, and it transcendsspoken or written words

In fact the way of using non-verbal cues in communicating is not the same as othercountries; therefore, it is important to know some values of other cultures and so of

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other ways of communicating for, first of all, avoiding some misunderstandings andthen knowing better some aspects of different cultures

a Gestures

Among many non-verbal cues, gestures play a flagship role in communicating process.Sometimes subtle gestures can express a feeling more graceful than words (Nancy

Armstrong &Melissa Wagner) “It is gestures that use us as their instruments, as their

bearers and incarnations”- Milan Kundera, Immortality (1991)

According to Do Mai Thanh & Dao Thu Trang (2006: 80) gestures, which are madewith a part of the body, especially hands, arms and fingers, are used to emphasize ordescribe It differs from physical non-verbal communication that does notcommunicate specific messages, such as purely expressive displays, proxemics, ordisplays of attention It allows individuals to communicate a variety of feelings andthoughts, from contempt and hostility to approval and affection, often togetherwith language in addition to words when they speak to reinforce The gestures are notclearly planned and no one is taught to use the gestures but everyone uses them It maysimply add emphasis to audible messages, as when a speaker uses chopping motion ofthe hand every time he or she stresses a word with the voice; or gestures may conveymore elaborate meanings to different observers, depending on the context of themessages As a matter of fact, the gestures have different meanings depending on thecircumstances and cultures and of course, they have specific connotations in certaincultures

Often, there are four general categories of gestures

b Origin and global meanings of the five listed finger gestures

i “V” sign (outward &inward)

Figure 1: Outward V-sign Inward V-sign

Source: image4555172

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-letter-v-sign-language-Based on the view of the author of “ Two fingers up to English history…” posted on

http://bshistorian.wordpress.com/ as well as other reliable sources [Verification Massey University,etc], the “V” sign was first used, as far as we know, by BritishLongbowmen after winning the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 The French bowmen hadthreatened to cut off the first two fingers – those that hold the arrow in place – of theBritish bowmen After the battle, the British archers flashed their first two fingers toshow that they were still intact; and it was used to mock the defeated French army It isthe origin of “V” gesture with the palm facing toward the body From the ideas ofhistorians collected from encyclopedia and specially Ranman of “Hands that carry

-information” posted on http://thinkingouttabox.wordpress.com/, the palm- out “V”

gesture is believed to be discovered by a Belgian lawyer named Victor De Lavelaye

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who aimed to find a symbol that could be used for the international Nazi- resistancemovement in the 1940s as well as replaced for the letter “R.A.F” – used to insult theGermans until that time In order to achieve his aim and not to confuse international,

he came up with the letter “V” because it was not only the English word for “victory”but also the Flemish and French

In 1941 Winston Churchill made what we now know as the 'V-for-Victory sign'famous He made no distinction between the inward and outward V sign until the latterpart of the war when someone probably pointed out he was telling the masses to, "pissoff"

ii “OK” sign

There are many theories about the origin of the “O.K” sign Firstly, in the 1830s therewas a rash of comic misspellings and shortened communications For example, NG

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commonly read to mean, “No go.”; SP meant “small potatoes”, and OK stood for “OllKorrect.” From other different source, OK is explained by a story that no soldier(Zero- O) was reported killed (K) in the battle In other words, it means “Everything isfine” Another theory is that the symbol represented American president Martin VanBuren, often referred to as “Old Kinderhook.” Others say that French soldiers duringthe American Revolution would invite girls to meet them “aux cayes,” down at the

docks (Jamie Frater, 10 Symbols Whose Origins Have Been Forgotten, 2009)

In fact, many years underwent and now, this gesture is very popular all over the worldbut it is not perceived in the same ways among countries

Figure 3: OK sign Source: http://populis-info.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/signe-d-ok-de-main-de-

femme-2110301.jpg

In some Western countries and America, the sign is to say that everything is “great”

“Alright!”, “fine”, “Let do it”, etc In France, this gesture is read as “Zero” or

“Worthless” Maybe not the message you want to convey in a French restaurant, if youhad a fine meal Using this gesture in other cultures, Turkey for instance, you're sayingthat the other person is gay In Japan, on the hand, people use the “OK” sign toindicate money In Brazil, the circle that you make with your thumb and your indexfinger can mean “asshole”, “You’re nothing”; it is even roughly equivalent to thefinger in the US The example of this is when US President Nixon visited Brazil in the1950′s He got off the plane and gave the welcoming crowd a big “fuck you” and it

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created a huge anger Interestingly, in Thailand, Some say it's very offensive, while

others contend it's more childish than obscene, like sticking your tongue out

iii Thumb-up gesture

According to Marquis Canaday- the author of “The origins of Thumbs up or down”

posted on his blog (https://suite.io/), the genesis of thumbs up or down can be traced asfar back to ancient Rome, Egypt and Etruria, where it was well-known for thegladiator – styled battles In a bloody gladiator matches often occurring inside thecoliseums of Rome as amusement, the masses of people would linger for the life ordeath indication by thumbing their finger up or down Every so often, a thumbs upwould signal his death

Figure 4: Thumb-up Source: mentalfloss.com

In Western countries, The "Thumbs up", is generally accepted as a sign to showsomeone that they've done well In the US and part of Europe, hitch-hikers also usethis gesture to ask for a lift but with the hand extended right out so that people in carscan see In Australia, it means “Up yours!”

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In many cultures putting your thumb up (especially when moving the hand up) is avery rude gesture, similar to extending the middle finger for example in Nigeria In theMiddle East, you give the thumbs-up sign with your thought of saying “"Ayyyyy! I'mthe fuckin' Fonz!", but the people here may receive your message as "Ayyyyy! I'mgoing to jam my thumb in your anus!”

iv The middle finger

This gesture is believed to be an insulting gesture and be one of the most popular ones

in the world The middle finger is a phallus symbol, a sign mimicking a penis andtesticles So where did the middle finger originate?

presented the middle finger by Strepsiades*** And even then it was considered a rudeand indecent gesture, mimicking the penis and testicles Today, obviously, it has stillused as a symbol to say that the other person is sexually inferior The Romans called

the middle finger the digitus impudicus or indecent finger (dirty finger) However,

despite its beginning as a phallic symbol insult, it has lost much of its sexual meaning

* Aristophanes (450BC-338BC): a famous Greek playwright and philosopher who wasdeeply interested in Greek philosophy and current events and was highly celebrated byGreek Society He is supposed to write around 40 plays during his lifetime, with 11complete plays surviving to the modern day, one of these is “The Clouds”

** Socrates: a personification character represents a composite of several current philosophers and sophists in the play “The Clouds”

*** Strepsiades: the anti-hero character in the play “The Clouds”

and has evolved into one of the more widespread displays of anger and insolence Themiddle finger gesture can really enrage the other person

Source: http://www.simplybodylanguage.com/middle-finger-gesture.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_(gesture)

Whether held up or down, the extended middle digit is generally regarded as a phallicsymbol In Western countries or in American slang, it sends a very strong and clearmessage: extending the middle finger (either on its own, or along with the indexfinger in the United Kingdom) is an offensive and obscene gesture, colloquially known

as "flipping the bird", "flipping someone off", or simply "giving the finger" Thegesture is usually used as a form of insult to the person it is directed to Even it meansf**k you However, in many Asian countries, especially Japan, the middle finger is

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