A cross-cultural stydy of pauses and time-fillers in some American and Vietnamese films

A cross-cultural stydy of pauses and time-fillers in some American and Vietnamese films Nghiên cứu giao văn hóa về việc sử dụng các quãng lặng và các yếu tố khỏa lấp trong một số bộ phi

A cross-cultural stydy of pauses and time-fillers in some American and Vietnamese films Nghiên cứu giao văn hóa về việc sử dụng các quãng lặng và các yếu tố khỏa lấp trong một số

bộ phim Việt Nam và Mỹ Nguyễn Thị Hồng Nhung

University of Languages and International Studies M.A Thesis English linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15

Supervisor : Nguyễn Quang Pr.Dr

Năm bảo vệ: 2012

Abstract The present study is a comparative and exploratory study of the use of

silence/pauses and time-fillers in American and Vietnamese films Its aims are to investigate: (i) How the Vietnamese characters perform silence/pauses and time-fillers

in the contexts studied, (ii) How the American characters perform silence/pauses and time-fillers in the contexts studied, and (iii) What the major differences between American and Vietnamese characters in performing silence/pauses and time-fillers are Data are collected from four Vietnamese and four American films They are analyzed against the three reference points of availability, proportionality and manifestability to find out major similarities and differences between American and Vietnamese characters (and hopefully, the American and the Vietnamese) in using silence/pauses and time-fillers The results show that American and Vietnamese characters have different preferences for using silence/pauses and time-fillers in the films under investigation They are significantly different not only in the number of pause and time-filler occurrences, but also in the duration and location Moreover, the variables

of power such as ‘high-to-low’, ‘low-to-high’, or ‘equal’ tend to have a significant influence on the occurrence, the duration and the location of silence/pauses and time-fillers for both groups

Keywords Giao văn hóa; Tiếng Anh; Ngôn ngữ học

Content

The study consists of three parts:

Part I Introduction, which provides the rationale, scope, aims and methods of the sudy

Part II Development, which consists of three chapters

Chapter 1 Theoretical preliminaries This chapter covers the relationship

between language and culture, language and communication, cross-cultural communication, high-context and low-context culture, non-verbal communication and paralanguage

Chapter 2 Silence/pauses and Time-fillers This chapter reviews the issues

relevant to the study including silence/ pauses and time-fillers Then the notions of silence/ pause and time-filler definitions and usages are discussed

Chapter 3 Findings and Discussions The strategies of using silence/pauses and

time-fillers are identified and major cross-cultural differences and similarities discussed

Part III Conclusion, in which the main findings are reviewed, the implications for cross-culture interactions, the limitations of the study pointed out and suggestions for further research offered

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Vietnamese film: Mùa lá rụng

Vietnamese film: Lập trình trái tim

Vietnamese film: Phía trước là bầu trời

Vietnamese film: Cô gái xấu xí – Tập 69

American film: Enchanted

American film: Smart people

American film: The ugly truth

American film: 27 dresses