CONDOLENCE STRAGIES USED BY AMERICAN SPEAKERS OFENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE SPEAKERS OF ENGLISHIN OFFICE SETTING

Based on the theoretical background of cross-cultural communication, thisstudy aims at investigating the similarities and differences in condolence offeringstrategies used in office sett

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDY FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

BA THESISCONDOLENCE STRAGIES USED BY AMERICAN SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH

IN OFFICE SETTING

Supervisor: Lai Thi Thanh Van, M.A.

Student: Nguyen Ban Mai

Course: QH-2008

HA NOI – 2012

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA TIẾNG ANH SƯ PHẠM

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆPCHIẾN LƯỢC CHIA BUỒN BẰNG NGÔN NGỮ ANH CỦA NGƯỜI MỸ

VÀ NGƯỜI VIỆT TRONG BỐI CẢNH VĂN PHÒNG

Giáo viên hướng dẫn: ThS Lại Thị Thanh Vân

Sinh viên: Nguyễn Ban Mai

Khóa học: QH-2008

HÀ NỘI – NĂM 2012

RENTENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I: Nguyễn Ban Mai, 08.1.E15, being a candidate for thedegree 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 inthe library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, inaccordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care,loan or reproduction of the paper

Nguyễn Ban Mai

May 2012

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Ms.Lại Thị Thanh Vân, MA for her continuously support, patience, encouragement andvaluable and thorough feedback.

I would also like to send my heartfelt thanks to my close friends and myclassmates at University of Language and International Studies, who have stayed by

my side and supported me every time I need

I also wish to express my special thanks to Ms Lê Thị Huyền and her friendsand family, who have helped me in delivering the questionnaires to Americanspeakers

I cannot forget to acknowledge the important assistances of both Vietnameseand American participants, whose names cannot be mentioned in the thesis Theircontributions are highly appreciated

Finally, I owe an enormous debt to my family for their continuous support andunfailing love and encouragement

ABSTRACT

Based on the theoretical background of cross-cultural communication, thisstudy aims at investigating the similarities and differences in condolence offeringstrategies used in office setting by Vietnamese English speakers and American Englishspeakers It focuses primarily on the popularity and preference of condolencestrategies in different situations.

To succeed in doing such research, the author of the study takes informants’social parameters such as age, sex, marital status, living area, and occupation intoconsideration Besides, their surveyed responses are carefully analyzed to build aframe, a common set of strategies in the field

The conclusion is drawn from data analysis and findings are presented andcompared in a brief and concise way Some common examples of condolenceextending strategies used by both VSE and ASE from the data are also presented andillustrated with the hope of partially helping avoid cultural shock and communicatingbreakdown

TABLE OF CONTENTS

RENTENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS……… i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……… ii

ABSTRACT……… iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS……… iv

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES……… vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS……… viii

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

2 Aims and objectives of the study……… 2

3 Scope of the study……… 3

4 Significance of the study………. 3

5 Organization of the study……… 4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 1 Chapter 1: Literature Review………. 6

1.1. Communication and Cross-cultural Communication……… 6

1.1.1 Communication……… 6

1.1.2 Cross-cultural communication………. 7

1.2. Speech acts……… 9

1.2.1 Definition of Speech acts……… 9

1.2.2 Classifications of Speech acts……… 10

1.3. Politeness……… 12

1.3.1 Definition of Politeness……… 12

1.3.2 Politeness principles……… 13

1.3.3 Politeness strategies……… 14

1.4. Definition of Condolence ……… 19

1.5. Realization of politeness strategies in extending condolences to the

relative of the deceased in office setting……… 19

2 Chapter 2: Methodology……… 23

2.1. Research methods……… 23

2.2. Participants and participant selection method……… 23

2.3. Data collection instruments……… 24

2.4. Procedure……… 27

2.5. Data analysis procedure……… 28

3 Chapter 3: Results and Discussions……… 29

3.1. Realization of condolences extending strategies in American English and Vietnamese English……… 29

3.1.1 Realization of condolences extending strategies in American English…… 29

3.1.2 Realization of condolences extending strategies in Vietnamese English…. 37 3.2. Major similarities and differences……… 47

3.2.1 Similarities……… 47

3.2.2 Differences……… 48

PART C: CONCLUSION………. 51

1. Review of the major findings……… 51

2. Limitations of the study ……….……… 52

3. Suggestions for further research……… 52

REFERENCES……… 54

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1 The five general functions of speech acts (Yule, 1996: 55)

Table 2 The percentages of condolence strategies used by ASE toward the

boss Table 3 The percentages of condolence strategies used by ASE toward the

colleague Table 4 The percentages of condolence strategies used by ASE toward the

employee Table 5 Use of strategies as seen from American participants’ parametersTable 6 The percentages of condolence strategies used by VSE toward the

boss Table 7 The percentages of condolence strategies used by VSE toward the

colleague Table 8 The percentages of condolence strategies used by VSE toward the

employee Table 9 Use of strategies as seen from Vietnamese participants’ parametersTable 10 Comparison of preferences of strategy between American

and Vietnamese informantsFigure 1 Diagram of communication process (Shukla, 2011: 2)

Figure 2 Nguyen Quang’s table of communication components (2004:292)Figure 3 Possible strategies for doing the FTAs (Brown & Levinson, 1978:

65)Figure 4 Nguyen’s schema of possible strategies for doing the FTAs

Figure 5 Questionnaire’s extract

Figure 6 Frequency of strategies used by ASE in terms of age

Figure 7 Frequency of strategies used by ASE in terms of gender

Figure 8 Frequency of strategies used by ASE in terms of marital statusFigure 9 Frequency of strategies used by ASE in terms of residence

Figure 10 Frequency of strategies used by ASE in terms of occupationFigure 11 Frequency of strategies used by VSE in terms of age

Figure 12 Frequency of strategies used by VSE in terms of gender

Figure 13 Frequency of strategies used by VSE in terms of marital statusFigure 14 Frequency of strategies used by VSE in terms of residenceFigure 15 Frequency of strategies used by VSE in terms of occupation

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS

ASE: American speakers of English

CP: Communicating Partner

FSA: Face-saving Act

FTA: Face-threatening Act

Tech-sci: Technical & scientific

TEFL: Teaching English as a foreign language

VSE: Vietnamese speakers of English

PART A

INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study:

Communication, undoubtedly, has become one of the most essential parts inhuman’s daily life When people communicate, meaningful information as well asthoughts and ideas, emotions and expressions are created and exchanged mutually As

a matter of fact, it is crucial to know not only what information to exchange but alsohow the information is going to be conveyed The available speech acts with a suitablesystem of strategies have supported the ways people communicate quite effectively.Communicators in their own mother tongue find it natural to speak and express theirminds in the way they normally do with the help of their existing “social norms andconventions” (Thơm Thơm, 2005: 1) In intercultural communication, however, thereare real differences between cultural groups Misunderstandings happen because of thedistinctness of strategies in the corresponding speech acts, which lead tocommunication breakdown, confusion, shock and even disgust and hostility As theresult, the intercultural communication studies as well as speech acts’ studies are,indubitably, crucial in order to, somehow, “negotiate these differences and similaritieswith insight and skill” (Martin & Nakayama, 2010: 84)

Nowadays, English is widely considered the most common and powerfulspoken language In Vietnam context, thanks to the open policies and strong supportfrom the government, the number of learners of English has increased dramatically AtFaculty of English Language Teacher Education - University of Languages andInternational Study (FELTE – ULIS), students are English majors, many of whom willwork with speakers of English in the future Hence, understanding the cultures ofEnglish-speaking countries is very essential in order to communicate appropriately, asHall (1959: 186) once stated: “Communication is culture and culture iscommunication” For many years, Intercultural communication has been included inthe syllabus to provide students with background knowledge about how people fromdiffering cultural backgrounds communicate However, within a short time it cannot

provide learners with every aspect of a specific culture Thus, it is important to providestudents with comprehensive knowledge of communication in daily life situations,especially delicate ones like funerals in which condolences play an indispensable part.

Condolences are quite common in every language and culture They are amongthe most “sensitive” areas of politeness in intercultural communication as well.Additionally, offering condolence strategies have not been received much attentionfrom researchers as it should be, especially in terms of an intercultural communicationapproach From all the above reasons, the researcher would like to conduct a study onthe topic:

“Condolence strategies used by American speakers of English and Vietnamese speakers of English in the office setting.”

2 Aims and objectives of the study

The main aims of this study are:

• To investigate how the Vietnamese speakers of English (VSE) verbally performthe act of extending condolences to the deceased’s relatives as defined inrelation to the social factors assigned in certain situations;

• To investigate how the American speakers of English (ASE) verbally performthe act of extending condolences to the deceased’s relatives as defined inrelation to the social factors assigned in certain situations;

• To find out if there are any prominent similarities and differences between theways the VSE and the ASE use verbal condolence strategies in relation to thesocial factors assigned in the situations studied

3 Scope of the study

The overall aim of this thesis is to investigate the intra-linguistic factors ofextending condolences, i.e the verbal expressions of giving condolences employed by

VSE and ASE Therefore, the paralinguistic and extra-linguistic factors are beyond thescope of the study

Moreover, to study the act of offering verbal condolences in a wide range ofsocial contexts is quite challenging for the researcher As the result, the office setting,where the verbal aspect is emphasized more strongly than other means ofcommunication, is chosen

Additionally, the language investigated is English, which are the foreignlanguage to Vietnamese speakers and the mother tongue to American ones

4 Significance of the study

Once it is accomplished, the thesis paper is expected to contribute severalbenefits First of all, it demonstrates the ways verbal condolences are extended inEnglish by Vietnamese and American speakers Secondly, the comparison of condolingstrategies is conducted On so doing, the researcher hopes that this paper will raise theawareness of cross-cultural factors in expressing verbal condolences in such a delicateoccasion as a funeral and help learners of English who are either working withAmericans or living in the United States avoid cultural misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication Last but not least, this research can be a reliable linguisticsupport for many Vietnamese learners of English who still have difficulty inexpressing verbal condolences in English

5 Organization of the study

The study is divided into three main parts as follows:

Part A: Introduction – introduces the rationale, aims, scope, significance and

methods of the thesis

Part B: Development

Chapter 1 – Literature Review– provides the background knowledge about

cross-cultural pragmatics by explaining major concepts of the subject, namelyCommunication, Cross-cultural Communication, Speech Acts, Politeness and athorough review of the previous studies in the field

Chapter 2 – Methodology – presents the methods which are used in this study

and the procedures that researcher follows to conduct the study Then the researchdesign including data-collection instruments, subject selections and data-gatheringprocedures are all introduced

Chapter 3 – Results and Discussion – produces the results and discussions of

the findings

Part C: Conclusion – ends the research by summarizing the main findings,

pointing out limitations as well as giving suggestions for further studies

In addition, Appendices, in which the study’s sample questionnaires are attached, and References are also included in this thesis.

PART B:

DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1: Literature Review

1.1 Communication and Cross-cultural Communication

1.1.1 Communication

Communication is an integral instinct of all living things and it has played avital part in the development of human civilization The term “communication” hasbeen defined in various ways “Communication” has been derived from the word

“communis” in Latin which means “to share” According to Dorn (?), “communication

is defined as a process by which we assign and convey meaning in an attempt to createshared understanding” Sharing the same opinion, Oxford Advanced Learner’sDictionary defines communication as “the activities or process of expressing ideas orfeelings or of giving people information” It is understood that communication isrelated to the process of exchanging information, ideas, and feelings in order to create

a mutual commonality This communication process involves a sender (speaker) orcommunication source, the subject matter of communication, expressions used forcommunicating (encoding), the medium of communication, receiver(s) (hearer) of thecommunication and the interpretation (decoding) and feedback The diagram belowcan demonstrate this process clearly:

Figure 1: Diagram of communication process ( Shukla , 2011: 2)

In this process, the last part, i.e FEEDBACK is crucial in determining whetherthe information understood by the receiver is in the same light with the sender’sintention Also, the subject matter of communication or the information is impartedfrom the sender to the receiver by not only verbal means such as speeches, or songsbut also non-verbal ones like facial expression, body-language, touch, etc Goingfurther, Nguyen Quang (2004: 292) has designed a diagram to introduce a thoroughoverview of communication’s concept (see figure 2)

SENDER >> MESSAGE >> ENCODING >> MEDIUM >> RECEIVER >> DECODING >> FEEDBACK

Moreover, in Spencer-Oatey’s (2008: 66) perspective, communication isconsidered as a form of “social interaction” and through this process, the “production”and “interpretation” of “the communicator's intentions” are manifested as well.Therefore, the social factors also play an indispensable role in a successfulcommunication

In the nutshell, communication is seen as a tool with which human being use toexercise their influence on others, bring out changes in their attitudes with each other,establish and maintain their relationships Communication is a major element ofhuman’s active life and a social activity which is pursued verbally through speech andwriting or nonverbally through behaviours

1.1.2 Cross-cultural communication

Nowadays, due to the process of globalization, especially in the increase ofglobal trade, it is quite natural that people from different cultures have interactionswith each other Therefore, in order to make the communication process operatesmoothly and to avoid the cultural shock, many studies on cross-culturalcommunication have been carried out Defined by Levine & Adelman (1993: 94),cross-cultural communication is “communication (verbal or nonverbal) betweenpeople from different cultures; communication that is influenced by cultural values,attitudes, and behavior, the influence of culture on people’s reactions and responses toeach other”

From the same point of view, Clarke & Sanchez (2001: 1) defined the term as

“a process of exchanging, negotiating, and mediating one's cultural differences through

Figure 2: Nguyen Quang’s table of communication components (2004:292)

Environmental language Object language

Body language / Kinesics

+ Volume + Rate Types of vocal quality

Vocal interferences Silence

Gifts

Setting Conversational distances/ Proxemics Time/ Chronemics Lighting system Colour

Heat

…

language, non-verbal gestures, and space relationships It is also the process by whichpeople express their openness to an intercultural experience.”

Misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication is unavoidable, since thedifferences between cultural backgrounds and communication styles always exist.People tend to act and interpret others’ actions as well as speeches based on their owncultural convention; hence, the more distinct differences the two cultures have, themore easily the communication failure may occur For instance, an American womaninvites her neighbor, who is a Japanese woman, to attend her birthday’s party at theweekend The Japanese woman politely refuses the invitation and, to the Americanwoman’s surprise, she announces that her husband has just passed away with a smile

In this situation, there is a misunderstanding because of the lack of cross-culturalcommunication knowledge In America, people often express their ideas, thoughts andfeelings openly and directly, but in Japan, they tend to hide the negative feelings such

as anger or sadness with a smile Therefore, if someone who doesn’t know this factencounters such an experience, they may feel surprised, confused, or even worse, theymay have disgusting or hostile feelings toward the communicating partner, whichleads to communication breakdown or cultural shock

In short, in order to have a successful communication with people from othercultures, it is necessary to enrich ones’ own background knowledge of differentcountries and have a positive attitude when experiencing cultural differences

1.2 Speech acts

1.2.1 Definition of Speech acts

The speech acts theory is constantly viewed as a “compelling” component ofpragmatics Numerous studies and discussions about the notion of speech acts have

been carried out since Austin first initiated the concept in How to do things with words

(1962) - his most influential work

According to Yule, speech acts are “actions performed via utterances” and arecommonly given more “specific labels” like complaint, request, apology, invitation,etc To be more specific, in Austin’s (1962) point of view, an action performed byproducing an utterance will consist of “three related acts”, i.e the “three dimensions”

of aspeech act: locutionary act, illocutionary act and perlocutionary act

• A locutionary act is the act of making a meaningful utterance

• An illocutionary act is performed with S’s intention or purposedelivered in the utterance

• A perlocutionary act is the effects that H received from the utterance

As an example, consider the following utterance:

Hey, I have a new album of S.E.N.S., would you like to borrow it?

The action of performing this utterance is the locutionary act since the utterancehas meaningful linguistic expression Its illocutionary function is an offer, whereas itsperlocutionary effect might be H’s act of borrowing that album from S

1.2.2 Classifications of Speech acts

Austin (1962) divided speech acts into 5 distinct classes:

• Verdictives: offer a certain state of facts as true (describe, declare not guilty)

• Exercitives: convey a motive or inclination for a certain kind of behaviour (command, advise)

• Commissives: commit S to a certain activity (promise, guarantee)

• Expositives: offer a certain view or position in an argument (agree, negate, illustrate)

• Behabitives: reactions to the behaviour of other persons (apologize, congratulate, swear)

Austin’s classification is considered as an “attempt” to give a general picture ofillocutionary act, which is S’s intention when performing utterances Searle (1975) hadanother way to classify speech acts He also divided it into 5 major categories, butunlike Austin, his classification concentrates on the way H responds after hearing theutterance:

• Assertives = speech acts that commit a speaker to the truth of the

expressed proposition, e.g reciting a creed

• Directives = speech acts that are to cause H to take a particular action,

e.g requests, commands and advice

• Commissives = speech acts that commit a speaker to some future action,

e.g promises and oaths

• Expressives = speech acts that express S's attitudes and emotions towards

the proposition, e.g congratulations, excuses and thanks

• Declarations = speech acts that change the reality in accord with the

proposition of the declaration, e.g baptisms, pronouncing someoneguilty or pronouncing someone husband and wife

Yule (1996: 55), based on Searle’s classification, has summarized the fivegeneral functions of speech acts as the table below:

Speech act types Direction of fit S = Speaker, X = Situation

Declarations Words change the world S causes X

Representatives Make words fit the world S believes X

Expressives Make words fit the world S feels X

Comissives Make the world fit words S intends X

Table 1: The five general functions of speech acts (Yule, 1996: 55)

1.3 Politeness

1.3.1 Definition of Politeness

Politeness, in terms of culture, is best expressed as the practical application ofgood manner or etiquette As a “culturally-defined phenomenon”, what is consideredpolite in a certain culture can become rude in another and vice versa In order to makethe notion of politeness clear, the concept of face needs to be clarified Yule (1996: 60)has given a general definition of face:

“As a technical term, face means the public self-image of a person It refers tothat emotional and social sense of self that everybody has and expects everyoneelse to recognize.”

It is understood that face refers to the value that one individual has forhim/herself and one maintains such self-esteem in not only social but also personalsituations Moreover, in everyone’s daily social interaction, people generally expectthat their “public self-image”, or their “face wants”, is respected by others If someonesays something which may cause a threat to another individual’s self-esteem, thisaction will be described as a “face threatening act” (FTA) In that case, if another sayssomething that might lessen the threat then that action is called the “face saving act” orFSA

Based on face’s concept, Yule (1996: 60) states that: “Politeness, in aninteraction, can be defined as the means employed to show awareness of anotherperson’s face In this sense, politeness can be accomplished in situations of socialdistance or closeness”

Also based on the notion of face, Mills (2003: 6) proposes her opinion indefining politeness: “Politeness is the expression of Ss’ intention to mitigate face

threats carried by certain face threatening acts toward another.”

Nguyen Quang (2006: 44), however, has his own definition of politeness whichemphasizes on communicative acts: “Politeness refers to any communicative act(verbal and/or non-verbal) which is appropriately intended to make others feel better

• Formality: Don’t impose/ Remain aloof

S avoids imposition by asking permission or apologizing when asking H

to do something For example:

Could you possibly bring this document to Mr Smith for me?

• Hesitation: Give H his/her options

S gives options and let H make up his/her mind For example:

I wonder if you could bring this document to Mr Smith for me.

• Camaraderie: Make H feel good

S expresses his/her appreciation to H For example:

I highly appreciate your support.

It can be seen clearly that the three rules above emphasize on individualism,which means they are suitable to use in low-context cultures such as the US or Westerncountries In high-context cultures in the East, especially Vietnam where community ishighly valued, on the other hand, these rules are not always appropriate Hence, theymight not be the universal politeness principles

Leech (1983: 132) introduces his politeness principles with 6 maxims:

• Tact maxim: Minimize cost to other; maximize benefit to other.

• Generosity maxim: Minimize benefit to self; maximize cost to self.

• Approbation maxim: Minimize dispraise of other; maximize approval of

other

• Modesty maxim: Minimize praise of self; maximize dispraise of self.

• Agreement maxim: Minimize disagreement between self and other;

maximize agreement between self and other

• Sympathy maxim: Minimize antipathy between self and other; maximize

sympathy between self and other

Leech’s maxims concentrate on the “cost” and “benefit” of speakers andhearers; however, these notions themselves, as well as “minimize”, “maximize”, areambiguous in some particular cases

1.3.3 Politeness strategies

Brown & Levinson (1978) use a schema to show their ideas:

Figure 3: Possible strategies for doing the FTAs (Brown & Levinson, 1978: 65)

In their schema, there are five major components which are numbered from 1 to

5 and thus, decide the levels of possibility of face loss

1 S goes on record: baldly performs the act without redressing action (such

as apology or mitigation) For example, S may give a command to H:

“Clean up this mess.”

2 S goes on record, performs the act with positive politeness strategywhich is “appropriately intended to show S’s concern to the addressee,thus, enhancing the sense of solidarity between them” (Nguyen, 2005:27) For example: “Let’s clean up this mess, shall we?”

3 S goes on record, performing the act with negative politeness strategywhich is “appropriately intended to show that S does not want toimpinge on the addressee’s privacy, thus enhancing the sense of distancebetween them” (Nguyen, 2005: 30) For example: “I wonder if you couldpossibly clean up this mess.”

4 S goes on off record, performs the act with implicature which meansusing the utterance that are indirectly addressed to hearer For example:

Nguyen’s schema of possible strategies for doing the FTAs

Negative politeness

Without redressive action

3 Off record

Unlike Brown & Levinson’s schema in which the negative politeness areconsidered more polite than the positive ones, in Nguyen Quang’s schema, negativeand positive politeness are equal

1.3.3.1 Positive politeness and strategies

There are two distinct categories in the concept of face which the researcher hasmentioned above, one of which is the positive face According to Yule (1996: 62), aperson’s positive face is “the need to be accepted”, to be considered as “a member of agroup” and to acknowledge that his/her wants are “shared by others” Thus, a FSAwhich is aware of an individual’s positive face tends to show “solidarity”, emphasizethat both speakers have “a common goal” And this is called positive politeness

Nguyen Quang (2005: 27) has concluded that:

“Positive politeness is any communicative act (verbal and/or nonverbal) which

is appropriately intended to show S’s concern to the addressee, thus, enhancingthe sense of solidarity between them.”

In his research, Nguyen Quang (2005) has come up with 3 main mechanisms ofpositive politeness; each includes different strategies:

• Mechanism 1: Claim common ground

Strategy 1: Notice, attend to H

Strategy 2: Exaggerate

Strategy 3: Intensify interests to H in S’s contribution

Strategy 4: Use in-group identity markers in speech

Strategy 5: Seek agreement

Strategy 6: Avoid disagreement

Strategy 7: Presuppose, raise, and assert common ground

Strategy 8: Joke to put H at ease

• Mechanism 2: Display the sense of cooperation

Strategy 9: Assert or presuppose knowledge of and concern for hearer’s wantsStrategy 10: Offer, promise

Strategy 11: Be optimistic

Strategy 12: Include both speaker and hearer in the activity

Strategy 13: Give or ask for reasons

Strategy 14: Assert reciprocal exchange or tit for tat

• Mechanism 3: Satisfy hearer’s wants

Strategy 15: Give gifts to hearer

Strategy 16: Console and encourage

Strategy 17: Ask personal questions

1.3.3.2 Negative politeness and strategies

Another category in face’s concept is negative face Normally, whenmentioning “negative”, people usually think of something “bad”, but in this case,

“negative face” is just the opposite extreme of “positive face” Therefore, whereas thepositive face is the need to be connected with other, the negative one is the need to beindependent, to have “the freedom in action and not to be imposed by others” So, theFSA for negative face will show “deference”, emphasize the importance of other’stime or concern, and may even include an apology for the interruption of S, which iscalled negative politeness

Nguyen Quang (2005: 30) also proposes his own definition of negativepoliteness:

“Negative politeness is any communicative act (verbal and/or nonverbal) which

is appropriately intended to show that S does not want to impinge on theaddressee’s privacy, thus enhancing the sense of distance between them.”

There are five main mechanisms in this type of politeness, which are realized by 11strategies:

• Mechanism 1: Be direct

Strategy 1: Be conventionally indirect

• Mechanism 2: Don’t presume/ assume

Strategy 2: Question, hedge

• Mechanism 3: Don’t coerce hearer

Strategy 3: Be pessimistic

Strategy 4: Minimize the opposition

Strategy 5: Show respect

• Mechanism 4: Show speaker’s reluctance to impose on hearer’s

Strategy 6: Apologize

Strategy 7: Avoid mentioning speaker and hearer

Strategy 8: State the FTA as an instance of a general rule

Strategy 9: Norminalize

Strategy 11: Avoid asking personal questions

• Mechanism 5: Redress other wants of hearer’s

Strategy 5: Show respect

Strategy 10: Go on record as incurring a debt, or as not indebting hearer

1.4 Definition of condolence

“Condolence” has been derived from Christian Latin “condolere”, which is thecombination of prefix “con-” (means “with, together”) and “dolere” (“suffer, grieve”)

According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, condolence is the “expression ofsympathy with a person who is suffering sorrow, misfortune, or grief” Hence,

“extending condolences to the relatives of the deceased”, in Thơm Thơm’s (2005: 21)viewpoint, is “the act of giving comfort or sympathy to those whose relative (has)passed away”

1.5 Realization of politeness strategies in extending condolences to the relative

of the deceased in office setting

In terms of positive politeness, extending condolence is a speech act which isintended to show the concern of S toward H, therefore enhancing the sense ofsolidarity between the two The S’s concern can be expressed through the closenessand the comfort S wish to give the unlucky one On the other hand, with regard tonegative politeness, offering condolence in office setting is also a speech act which isintended to show that S does not want to disturb H’s privacy, thus enhancing the sense

of distance between them In this case, the S’s concern is apparently “up to commonand conventional social norms” (Thơm Thơm, 2005: 54)

Moreover, condoling is a complicated speech act When performing the act ofcondoling, S may employ “a set of strategies” (Vân, 2010: 29) rather than a single one.For example, one VSE offers her condolence toward her colleague whose spouse has

suddenly passed away: “I’m so sorry for your loss (formal condoling) I know this is a hard time for you (showing understanding and sympathy), but your children really need you now (reminding responsibility) You need to be strong for their sake (giving advice) I can help anyway I can (offering help) ” Therefore, for the sake of

convenience in analyzing condoling utterances, instead of investigating whethercondolences are more positive politeness or negative politeness, this study will focus

on analyzing the data based on condolence strategies

When S extends his/her condolences to the relatives, his/her sympathy isexpressed not only through verbal words of consolation but also the way of condoling

In her study, Thơm Thơm (2005: 55) suggests 6 condoling strategies:

• Strategy 1: Formal Condoling

• Strategy 2: Comforting/Encouraging

• Strategy 3: Giving Advice and Reminding Responsibility

• Strategy 4: Showing Concern

• Strategy 5: Offering Help

• Strategy 6: Expressing Surprise/ Regret

Farnia (2011: 4) has another way of categorizing condolence strategies:

• Strategy 1: Expressing condolence

• Strategy 2: Expressions of regret and grief

• Strategy 3: Praying for God’s mercy and forgiveness

• Strategy 4: Expressions of positive feelings and compliments about thedeceased

• Strategy 5: Using poems, saying, proverbs

All in all, the researcher decides to adopt the following strategies to use in thispaper:

• Strategy 1: Formal Condoling

• Strategy 2: Comforting/Encouraging

• Strategy 3: Expressions of positive feelings and compliments about thedeceased

• Strategy 4: Giving Advice and Reminding Responsibility

• Strategy 5: Showing Concern

• Strategy 6: Offering Help

• Strategy 7: Expressing Surprise/ Regret/ Grief

• Strategy 8: Praying for God’s mercy and forgiveness

• Strategy 9: Using poems, saying, proverbs

After collecting and analyzing the data, there are some typical examples of eachcondolence strategy

• Strategy 1: Formal Condolences

S expresses his/her consolation directly and conventionally This strategy ismuch like automatic utterances with available “formula” It is employed by those whoseem to lack condoling experience or who wish to keep a certain distance because ofthe influence of social factors such as age, gender, power status, etc For example:

- I am so sorry for your loss

- Please accept my most sincere/heartfelt condolence on the death of your family.

- Our heartfelt condolences go out to you and your family.

• Strategy 2: Comforting/Encouraging

This strategy is used to soothe H and make H feel “less bad” It is employed bythose who want to show their solidarity and understanding of H’s feelings Forexample:

- May the peace that comes from the memories of love shared comfort you now and in the days ahead.

- Just know that my arms are wrapped around you during this time of loss.

- May the sorrow you feel in your heart lighten by the love that surrounds you.

• Strategy 3: Expressions of positive feelings and compliments about the deceased

This strategy is employed to help H to be less pessimistic and to show S’spositive feelings toward the deceased For example:

- S/he will always live on in our hearts.

- S/he was a lot of things to many people and will be missed tremendously.

- I’ll always remember that s/he was so active and intelligent.

• Strategy 4: Giving Advice and Reminding Responsibility

According to Thơm Thơm’s (2005: 57), by performing this strategy, S wants to

“express his sincerity and share his own experience to overcome the difficulties offacing the death loss.” For instance:

- I know that it is a hard time, but you need to be strong for the sake

of your children.

- Think of your children and be strong They really need you now.

• Strategy 5: Showing concern

When performing this strategy, S may want to show his/her concern to the otherfamily member For example:

- How is your mother now?

- I don’t know how that illness took her away.

• Strategy 6: Offering help

Using this strategy, S wants H to know that s/he wish to be a “shoulder” that Hcan depend on For instance:

- During this excruciating time, we want you to know we are here for you.

- Is there anything I can help?

- If you need anything, just tell me, ok?

• Strategy 7: Expressing Surprise/ Regret/ Grief

This strategy is employed for the purpose of expressing S’s true feelings whenreceiving the bad news For example:

- Words can't express how saddened we are to hear of your loss.

- I was so shock to hear about your tragic loss.

- I can't imagine the sadness you must be feeling from your loss.

• Strategy 8: Praying for God’s mercy and forgiveness

- He was always in God’s hands, wasn’t he?

- His soul rests in peace.

- May God's grace and strength be with you.

• Strategy 9: Using poems, saying, proverbs

- Those people whose names are mentioned in good faith are always alive.

- Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted

Chapter 2: Methodology

The main aims of this study are:

1 To investigate how the VSE verbally perform the act of extending condolences

to the deceased’s relatives as defined in relation to the social factors assigned

in certain situations;

2 To investigate how the ASE verbally perform the act of extending condolences

to the deceased’s relatives as defined in relation to the social factors assigned

in certain situations;

3 To find out if there are any prominent similarities and differences between the ways the VSE and the ASE use verbal condolence strategies in relation to the social factors assigned in the situations studied.

2.1 Research methods:

In order to answer these research questions above, this paper would be designed

as a piece of survey research, which would employ both quantitative and qualitativemethods including questionnaires to find out and examine the results According toMatveev (2002), using both methods of inquiry in future intercultural studies ensures