Wishes on the occasion of birthday, wedding and new year’s holiday (or christmas) in british and vietnamese culture a comparative study

Nguyễn Văn Độ Năm bảo vệ:2010 Abstract: This thesis discusses some similaritties and differences in English and Vietnamese ways of extending a wish.. The focus of the analysis is on th

british and vietnamese culture: a comparative

study

Phạm Thị Anh Đào

Trường Đại học KHXH&NV Luận văn ThS Chuyên ngành: English Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15

Người hướng dẫn: Assoc Prof Dr Nguyễn Văn Độ

Năm bảo vệ:2010

Abstract: This thesis discusses some similaritties and differences in English and Vietnamese

ways of extending a wish The focus of the analysis is on the content of expressions used in wishing and non-verbal components of wishes, social factors having influence on extending a wish and some cultural differences in extending wishes in Vietnam and Britain The data for this analysis are provided by the survey questionnaires that elicit wishes on three occasions (birthday, wedding, and New Year/Christmas) to five different addressees, (a close friend, a colleague, an acquaintance, a brother/sister, and a boss) 50 informants (25 English and 25 Vietnamese native speakers) have taken part in this elicitation The content of expressions used in wishing has been analyzed in relation to social-cultural and social factors, such as age, occupation, gender, and living area The findings of the study indicate that the Vietnamese give the highest priority to family membership when they convey their wishes, whereas the English prioritize social relationships The analysis of the data has revealed differences in the rating of occasions for wishing; thus Christmas is the most special occasion

to the English for extending one’s wishes whereas to the Vietnamese such occasion is wedding The English and the Vietnamese also differ in the ways they complement their wishes; this varies depended on occasions and role relationships

Keywords: Văn hóa Việt; Văn hóa Anh; Lời chúc; Giao tiếp

Content:

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE

1.1.1 Speech acts and their classification 3

1.2 Politeness, face and wishing, a face-threatening act 7

1.3 Relationship of language, culture and communication 10

1.3 4 Relationship of language, culture and communication 12

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 14

2.3 Methods of data analysis 15

CHAPTER 3: DISCUSSION ON FINDINGS 16

3.2 VIETNAMESE FINDINGS FROM THE QUESTIONNAIRES 18 3.2.1 Comment on the content of Vietnamese wishes in three situations 18

3.2.3 Comment on social factors governing the way of extending a wish 27 3.2.4 Comment on components of the act of Vietnamese wishing 27 3.3 ENGLISH FINDINGS FROM THE QUESTIONNAIRES 28 3.3.1 Comment on the content of English wishes in three situations 28

3.3.1.3 English Christmas and New Year wishes 32

3.3.3 Comment on social factors governing the way of extending a wish 34 3.3.4 Comment on components of the acts of English wishing 35

3.4 COMPARISON OF THE ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE WAYS OF WISHING 35

3.4.1.3 Social factors governing the way of extending a wish 36

3.4.2.3 Social factors governing the way of extending a wish 37

CHAPTER 4: IMPLICATIONS FOR ELT 38

4.2.2 Some potential culture shocks in wishing 39

ENGLISH SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES

VIETNAMESE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES

PART A: INTRODUCTION

0 1 Rationale of the study

English nowadays is considered the international language; it is the most widely spoken language which is used in many fields such as economics, trade, tourism, diplomacy, politics, and press In Vietnam, as a result of the open door economic policy, the number of people learning English for various purposes is on the rise English is not only taught as an important subject at thousands of foreign languages centers but it is also a compulsory subject in various primary and high schools

Although English has been taught in Vietnam for many years, not until recently has the focus of improving linguistic competence for learners been on syntax, lexical and phonological components of the language Many people still believe that being good at English means being good at linguistic components Thus, cultural factors are paid little attention to

However, today, in our modern world in which globalization is expanding, the need of integrating and communicating across nations is indispensable Successful communication requires not only purely linguistic competence but also the knowledge of social norms, social values and relations between individuals known as communicative competence Communicative competence presupposes ability to use the language correctly and appropriately This pragmatic competence is as crucial as linguistic competence The lack of it may lead to impoliteness, misinterpretation, cultural shocks, and even communication breakdown

Hence, the knowledge about cross culture communication is really essential On this basis, this study is done to help Vietnamese learners of English to understand English ways of expressing wishes The focus of the study will be on similarities and differences between Vietnamese and English forms of wishing

0 2 Aims of the study

The thesis focuses on studying the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese ways of wishing in respect to the following aspects:

- To investigate the content of expressions used in wishing and non-verbal components

of wishes

- To find out social factors having influence on extending a wish and some cultural differences in extending wishes in Vietnam and Britain

- To help Vietnamese learners of English have more awareness of English wishing and

of how to use it appropriately

- To offer some suggestions to ELT (English Language Teaching)

0 3 Scope of the study

The study mainly focuses on verbal communication and the analysis of the data collected from the survey questionnaires on extending a wish Similarities and differences between the English and the Vietnamese in assessing the interference of social factors in wishing are discussed Also some common accompaniments and nonverbal cues together with wishing are taken into account

0 4 Methods of the study

The main method of the study is the quantitative one with techniques:

- Consulting reference books

- Discussing with teachers and friends

- Conducting survey questionnaire

- Studying relevant publications

- Resorting to personal observation

0 5 Design of the study: This study is divided into three main parts:

Part A: Introduction – including the reasons of the study, aims of the study, methods, scope

of the study and the design of the study

Part B: Development, including 4 chapters

- Chapter 1: Literature review

- Chapter 2: Research methodology

- Chapter 3: Discussion on findings

- Chapter 4: Implications for ELT (English Language Teaching)

Part C: Conclusion

REFERENCES

In English

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2 Brown, H D (1986), Learning a second culture in culture bound edited by Joyce Merril

Valdes, CUP

3 Brown, G and Yule, G (1989), Discourse Analysis, CUP

4 Do Thi Mai Thanh, (2000), Some English – Vietnamese Differences in Requesting, M.A

Thesis, CFU-VNU, Hanoi

5 Goffman, E (1967), Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face – to Face behaviours, New York:

Garden City

6 Ha Cam Tam, 1998, Requests by Australian native speakers of English and Vietnamese speakers of English M A, Thesis, La Trobe University, Australia

7 Jackson, H and Stockwell, P 1996, Investigating English Language-nature and function of Language, Stanley Thrones Publishers.Ltd

8 Lakoff, R (1973), The Logic of Politeness: Minding your P’s and Q’s in Discourse, Guy

Cook, 1990, CUP

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10 Nguyen Hoa, (2001), An introduction to Semantics, VNU, Publishing House

11 Nguyen (Van) Quang, (1998), Vietnamese – American cross – cultural differences in Extending and Encountering Compliment – as seen from communicative activities, PhD

Thesis

12 Nguyen (Van) Quang, (1994), Intercultural Communication, Hanoi National University,

College of Foreign Languages

13 Nguyen Van Do, 1996, Politeness Phenomena in Vietnamese and English culture and some implication in teaching languages, Hanoi Foreign Studies University

14 Richards, J C (1985), Speech acts and Language Learning In Richards(ed), 1985-The

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15 Richards, J C, Platt, J and Weber, H (1990) – Longman Dictionary of Applied

Linguistics, Longman

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Thomson Publishing House

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Cambridge University Press

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Interaction, New York: Mouton de Gruyter

20 Yule, G (1997), Pragmatics, Oxford University Press

In Vietnamese

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2 Phan Kế Bình (2001), Việt Nam phong tục, Nxb Văn hóa thông tin

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4 Cao Xuân Hạo (chủ biên) (19990, Ngữ Pháp Chức năng Tiếng Việt – Câu trong tiếng Việt,

Nxb Giáo Dục

5 Nguyễn Quang (2002), Giao tiếp và Giao tiếp giao Văn hóa Nxb Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội

6 Trần Ngọc Thêm (1996), Tìm hiểu về bản sắc văn hóa Việt Nam, Nxb Hồ Chí Minh

7 Trần Ngọc Thêm (1998), Cơ sở văn hóa Việt Nam Nxb Giáo Dục