Conjunctions in some english and vietnamese newletters

Aims of the study The research firstly aims to study conjunctions used in English and Vietnamese marketing newsletters and then explore the similarities and differences based on the syn

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ HOÀNG HUẾ

CONJUNCTIONS IN SOME ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

NEWSLETTERS: A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS

(PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU LIÊN TỪ TRONG MỘT SỐ BỨC THƯ NGỎ

TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT)

M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS CODE: 60.22.15

HA NOI- 2012

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ HOÀNG HUẾ

CONJUNCTIONS IN SOME ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

NEWSLETTERS: A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS

(PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU LIÊN TỪ TRONG MỘT SỐ BỨC THƯ NGỎ

TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT)

M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS CODE: 60.22.15

SUPERVISOR: PHẠM THỊ THANH THÙY, Ph.D

HA NOI- 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Declaration ……… i

Acknowledgements ……… ii

List of tables……… iii

Abstract ……… iv

Table of contents ……… v

PART 1: INTRODUCTION ……… 1

1 Rationale for the study ……… 1

2 Aims of the study ……… 2

3 Scope of the study ……… 2

4 Methods of the study ……… 2

5 Design of the study ……… 3

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT……… 4

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND……… 4

1.1 An overview of Newsletters……… 4

1.1.1 Definitions of Newsletters……… 4

1.1.2 Types of Newsletters……… 4

1.1.3 Formats of Newsletters……… 5

1.1.4 English and Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters……… 7

1.2 English and Vietnamese Conjunctions……… 7

1.2.1 English conjunctions……… 7

1.2.1.1 Definitions of English conjunctions……… 7

1.2.1.2 Classifications of English conjunctions……… 8

1.2.2 Vietnamese conjunctions……… 15

1.2.2.1 Definitions of Vietnamese conjunctions……… 15

1.2.2.2 Classifications of Vietnamese conjunctions………… 16

1.3 Related studies ……… 18

1.4 Summary……… 19

CHAPTER 2: CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF CONJUNCTIONS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE MARKETING NEWSLETTERS………

20 2.1 Introduction……… 20

2.2 Contrastive analysis of conjunctions in English and Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters………

20 2.2.1 Frequency of using conjunctions in English and Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters………

20 2.2.2 Similarities and Differences in conjunction usages in English and Vietnamese ………

25

2.2.2.1 Similarities……… 25

2.2.2.2 Differences……… 31

2.3 Summary……… 34

PART 3: CONCLUSION……… 35

1 Recapitulation……… 35

2 Implications……… 36

2.1 Implications for EFL teaching and learning……… 36

2.2 Implications for translating……… 38

3 Contributions of the study……… 39

4 Limitations of the study……… 39

5 Suggestions for further research……… 40

REFERENCES ……….……… 41 APPENDICES

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

In the world of cooperation and development, English has become an international language and effective means of communication bringing nations throughout the world close together English is said to have played a very important role in the development of commerce, trade, education, technology, economics, etc

in almost every country especially in Vietnam’s integration into the world Therefore, it is necessary to know how to use English correctly and communicatively In the process of learning English, having good knowledge of English grammar is of great importance, for one can express his/her ideas, feelings

or emotions not only by separated words but also by meaningful sentences formed grammatically Thus, the importance of grammar is the researcher’s first reason for choosing this topic

The second reason the writer chooses conjunctions to study is that when grammar is under discussion, most people tend to appreciate the significances of tenses, aspects, voices, order of clause elements rather than conjunctions Conjunctions, functioning as connectors and transition signals, actually play an important role in linking sentences, paragraphs, or clauses each other Apart from this, thanks to conjunctions, various kinds of grammatical sentences are formed such as compound sentences and complex sentences

One more reason that has inspired the researcher to the topic is her deep interest in English Commerce, especially in newsletters The fact is that, a newsletter is regarded as a form that many companies use to promote their products

It serves as a smaller version of the newspaper to create good relationships with customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders It goes without saying that newsletters contribute towards the overall success of the business Newsletters are also known

as consultant letters, so they need to have the logic and coherence to attract customers Besides, conjunctions are seen as an essential means of linking so as to

increase the persuasion in newsletters Therefore, studying and finding the similarities and differences in conjunction usages in English and Vietnamese Newsletters will be of great help to the writer in teaching economic students at Hoa

Lu University where the author is working

2 Aims of the study

The research firstly aims to study conjunctions used in English and Vietnamese marketing newsletters and then explore the similarities and differences based on the syntactic and semantic features between them At the end of the study, some implications for teaching, learning and translation will be covered as useful resources To fully achieve these aims, the study should answer the following questions:

1 How frequent are conjunctions in English and Vietnamese Newsletters?

2 What are the similarities and differences in conjunction usages in English and Vietnamese Newsletters?

3 Scope of the study

Many topics relating to conjunctions as well as lots of types of newsletters in different fields need to be exploited For the feasibility of a minor M.A thesis, the writer narrowed the scope of the paper The main focus is on the descriptive and contrastive analysis of conjunction usages in English and Vietnamese marketing newsletters with respect to the syntactic and semantic features

4 Methods of the study

The study has been carried out based on a combination of different methods,

among which the main method is contrastive analysis In fact, according to Carl

James (1980), contrastive analysis (CA) is defined as a linguistic enterprise aimed at producing inverted two-valued typologies (a CA is always concerned with a pair of languages), and founded on the assumption that languages can be compared For the contrastive analysis method, English is considered to be the target language and Vietnamese - the source language - a means to contrast The author has taken 40

samples of both English and Vietnamese marketing newsletters (20 English and 20 Vietnamese ones) to compare and contrast This method involves two steps: describing the syntactic and semantic features of conjunctions in English and Vietnamese marketing newsletters, then comparing and contrasting to point out the similarities and differences between these two languages Together with this method, the writer also uses the quantitative method that is based on data to examine conjunctions used in both English and Vietnamese Supporting techniques such as reference to the publication, consultation with the supervisor, discussion with colleagues, and personal observations are also of great significance

5 Design of the study

The study consists of three main parts organized as follows:

Part 1 entitles “INTRODUCTION” outlining the background of the study in

which a brief account of relevant information such as rationale, aims, scope, methods, and designs of the study will be presented

Part 2, the “DEVELOPMENT” is subdivided into two chapters Chapter 1

– Theoretical background, as its name suggests, covers a series of concepts about

English and Vietnamese conjunctions and an overview of newsletters The writer also introduces some famous studies related to conjunctions as a source to develop

this thesis In Chapter 2, the researcher focuses on “Contrastive analysis of conjunctions in English and Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters” The author

analyzes and contrasts how to use conjunctions in English and Vietnamese marketing newsletters based on the syntactic and semantic features to find out the similarities and differences in the two languages

Part 3, the CONCLUSION, is the last part of the study which summarizes

what has been done, what has not been covered, accompanied by suggestions for further study Some possible implications for language teaching, learning and translation are given at the end of this part with a view to providing a new insight into a very important device of linking in English and Vietnamese

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1.1 An overview of Newsletters

1.1.1 Definitions of Newsletters

According to Edward A Hamilton (1996) in the book “Newsletters Design”,

a newsletter is an ambiguous term It is defined as a condensed periodical used to communicate specialized editorial information He explains briefly that

“condensed” means it is shorter than the average newspaper or magazine and provides lots of information in limited space; “periodical” means it is published regularly; “specialized” means it focuses not on a broad subject area such as

finance, but on a subject-within-a-subject such as real estate finance, not on organizations in general, but a specific organization

From the point of Nadeem Hussain’s views, in the article “Advantages and disadvantages of Newsletters” published on September 18th, 2008, a newsletter is defined as a form of advertising that is sent periodically It is considered as a popularly effective marketing tool, it provides relevant and updated information of the products or services of the organization for the existing clients or customers

In another persuasive definition written by Chuck Green (2002), a newsletter is one of the best ways to keep the company’s name in front of the eyes

of the clients, the associates, and others that may be in the company’s market target And sending newsletters to customers is a common marketing strategy which can bring many benefits for the company

1.1.2.Types of Newsletters

In his book “Design it Yourself Newsletters” written by Chuck Green (2002),

he describes three basic types of Newsletters or models of newsletters including

Marketing Newsletters, Relationship Newsletters, and Expert Newsletters The

author also shows that each type of newsletter has its own characteristics

The first type is Marketing Newsletters They are commonly used by

businesses to promote a product or a kind of service It is also known as a company newsletter The marketing newsletter tries to turn prospective customers into patrons

The second type is Relationship Newsletters Some examples about this type

are club newsletters, employee newsletters, church newsletters, and school newsletters They focus on the shared interests of the target audience or reinforcing

a relationship

The last type is Expert Newsletters This type can be very exclusive or be

paid These newsletters generally focus on a specific topic and the recipient is someone who has specifically requested the information in the newsletters and is willing to pay for the information

1.1.3 Formats of Newsletters

According to Janice Byer in the article “Newsletters are smart marketing”

published on August 12th, 2010, newsletters can be produced in several formats For businesses, the most economical and most readily acceptable newsletter formats are plain text emails, HTML emails, and HTML page on the website, PDF, and print The author also shows that each newsletter format has its own advantages and disadvantages and they are shown on the table below:

Plain Text

Email

formatting

Costs only your time HTML

Email

readers are online Allows for creativeness

HTML

Web Page

Room for lots of content & graphics Readers have to be online to view

Do not need to send as email attachment

Costs only your time

PDF

Endless possibilities for design The larger the format, the longer to

produce Room for lots of content & graphics Need to have the full version of

Adobe to produce or a PDF printer driver

Can send only a text email with a link to the page

Readers can save to their computer and read at their leisure

Endless possibilities for design Costly to print and mail Room for lots of content & graphics

Determining which model fits the types of newsletters to use and publish is

to depend on the user’s purposes Having the same opinion with Janice Byer, Ladan

Lashkari in the article “Newsletter Formats – How to easily choose the perfect format for your newsletters”, published on January 19th, 2007 also gives three basic

formats of Newsletters They are HTML, plain text, and PDF She states that HTML

is a good format because it is more professional than plain text and easier to create than PDF It allows extensive use of graphics and text links Using graphics and

product pictures in newsletters can really attract customers’ attention Plain text is

the easiest format to create, but it does not sound professional because no technical

knowledge and special software are required as well PDF is not used as commonly

as the two above newsletters formats It is quite difficult to produce because the writer needs to build each issue in Microsoft Word first and then convert it into PDF with special software

In comparison with English newsletters formats, the writer realizes that HTML and PDF are the widely used formats in Vietnamese newsletters

1.1.4 English and Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters

One of the biggest tasks of many business companies today is gaining and keeping prospective customers Accordingly, most companies use marketing newsletters as an effective way to promote their products and services, and English

and Vietnamese companies are no exception

According to Nadeem Hussain (2008), marketing newsletter is a form of advertising that is sent periodically It is a document that notifies, reminds, advises, communicates and advertises about a business to its target audiences and customers

In addition, it is also a good way to build an effective connection with clients Companies can motivate customers to buy their products through informative

marketing newsletters

Both English and Vietnamese marketing newsletters are being widely used

by many companies with a view to promoting their businesses However, there is still a slight difference that English marketing newsletters content is often longer than that in Vietnamese

1.2 English and Vietnamese Conjunctions

1.2.1 English conjunctions

1.2.1.1 Definitions of English conjunctions

Conjunction is a word rooted from two Latin oniunctio or coniunctions meaning “to join together” (Mc Arthur, 1992) English conjunctions are defined

as words which typically join sentences and elements within sentence” (Berk, 1999) According to him, we can always add one structure to another by joining two

or more elements with a conjunction

Rodney Huddleston (1944) defines conjunction as uninflected word that used

to connect clauses or sentences, or to coordinate words in the same clause Another

definition by Ann Cole Brown (1987), conjunction is a word that connects individual words or groups of words In fact, a conjunction literally means the act of

joining or combination

And in a word, it is worth viewing the most adequate definition by Richard

Mallery (1967) that “a conjunction is a word or a pair of words used either to connect words, phrases, clauses or sentences or to show how one sentence is related to another.” Many definitions of conjunctions are arrived at by other

grammarians However, they generally defined the concept of conjunction in the light of emphasizing on its main function concerning the combination of words, clauses or sentences

1.2.1.2 Classification of English conjunctions

According to Chalker (1967), the word-class conjunction is a traditional one

which can be divided into coordinating and subordinating conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions join grammatically equal elements whereas subordinating conjunctions link a subordinate “dependent” clause to a main clause

Also, he points out conjunctions consist of single words (because, however, so), compound conjunctions (as long as, so that, surprising that, provided that) and correlative ones (both… and)

However, from many grammarians’ points of view such as Carol Ann Bergman (1989), Ann Cole Brown (1987) and Quirk and Greenbaun (1973),

English conjunctions include coordinating conjunctions (or more simply coordinators), subordinating conjunctions (or subordinators) and correlative conjunctions (correlatives)

In “Grammar, rhetoric, and composition” (Mallery, 1967), conjunctions can

be arranged into three principal groups: coordinating, correlative and subordinating conjunctions With correlative and subordinator groups, the writer merely states their definition together with the list of words belonging to both groups However,

apart from common correlatives (both … and, either … or, neither … nor, not only

… but also) the writer recommends others: though … yet, whether … or, so … as, if

… then, as … as

Another research provided by Chalker (1967), conjunctions are traditionally

divided into coordinating and subordinating conjunctions According to him and,

or, but, so, yet, for, neither … nor, either … or, both … and, not only … but also

belong to the coordinator group They are used to join two equal parts of the sentence whereas the subordinating conjunctions are used to link a modifying clause

to a main clause

To sum up, there are many different ideas about types of conjunctions The author would like to take three types of conjunctions including coordinating, subordinating and correlatives into consideration as follows:

(i) Coordinating conjunctions

 Definitions and functions of coordinators

Based on Quirk’s viewpoint (1973), explicit indicators of coordination are

termed coordinating conjunctions And coordination is analyzed as the process of

joining units which are in equal status In other words, coordination involves the linking of units which are constituents of the same level Virtually, the process of conjoining equal status units must be attended by a coordinator which is a word which joins elements that are grammatically equal (Chalker, 1967)

In “A reference English Grammar”, R.A Close (1975) stresses the

coordination of separate parts of clauses caused by coordinating conjunctions A specific explanation about separated parts of a clause shows that more than two parts of the subject, object, etc can be further added Sometimes, coordination prompts ambiguous meaning What is more, coordinators can join more than two clauses in order to form a compound sentence

In terms of function, Michael Swan (1995) states that the basic function of coordinators to join pairs of clauses that are grammatically independent from each other

From Ann Cole Brown’s point of view, the function of coordinators is more elaborative She gives three main functions: First of all, a coordinating conjunction may connect nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases and other sentence elements Each coordinating conjunction shows a different relationship between the words that it connects Secondly, a coordinating conjunction may connect two of independent clauses which are groups of words that can stand by themselves as complete sentences Thirdly, a conjunction helps to avoid repetition

by bringing separate items into one sentence

 Syntactic features of coordinators

Quirk and GreenBaum in “A University Grammar of English” (1973)

introduced six syntactic features of coordinators as follows:

a Restricted to

initial position

“and”, “or” and “but”

are restricted to initial position in the clause:

John plays the guitar, and his sister

plays the piano

*John plays the guitar; his sister and

plays the piano

of clauses

They are living in England or they

spending a vacation here

*Or they are spending a vacation there,

they are living in England

c.Conjunctions

preceding

“and”, “or”, “but”,

“for”, “so that” do not

allow another conjunction

to precede them

d Ellipsis of subject The coordinators allow

ellipsis of the subject of the clause they introduce

if the subject is referential with that of the

co-preceding linked clause

I may see you tomorrow or (I) may

phone later in the day

than two clauses

“and” and “or” can link

more than two clauses

John might take them by car, Mary

might go with them by bus, or I might

order a taxi for them

(Source: Quirk and GreenBaum in “A University Grammar of English” (1973))

 Kinds of coordinators

As a matter of fact, there have been classifications of coordinators For

instance, Collin Cobuild (1990) lists the most common coordinators: and, nor, but,

or, then, for Nevertheless, according to Oshima Alice and Hogue Ann, for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so are called FANBOYS in order to help learners easier to

remember these coordinators

In short, not all grammarians have been able to provide readers a consistent classification of coordinators Therefore, the occurrence of various classifications is inevitable To be more precise and to understand coordinators more clearly, it is likely that Quirk’s classification of coordinating conjunctions (1973) should be

taken into account: and, or, but, for, yet, so with the functions as follows:

the groom’s guests sit on the right

so uses to combine clauses

whose second clause is the result of something described

in the first

I had no car, so I hired one for the journey

cause

The days were short, for it was now December

(ii) Subordinating conjunctions

 Definitions and functions of subordinators

Mallery (1967) gives a clear definition about subordinating conjunctions that

“subordinators are words being used to indicate that one element is subordinated to another in a sentence.”

According to Quirk and Greenbaum in “A University Grammar of English” (1973), “subordination is a non-symmetrical relation holding between two clauses

in such a way that one is a constituent or part of the other.” In other words, a

subordinate clause is always introduced by a subordinating conjunction A subordinating conjunction connects elements in the sentence that are of unequal value

In terms of functions, subordinating conjunctions usually express relations of time, reason, condition - consequence, concession and purpose They are presented

in the below table:

as, before, until, when

After the sun rises, we will set out on

our journey

car broke down

whereas, rather than only a mediocre actor

They whispered in order that no one could hear their conversation

Providing (that) the weather is fine, we

shall go on a picnic on Saturday

Ending

with “as”

as far as, as long as, in so far,

as soon as, so as (to + infinitive)

You can borrow my car as long as you promise not to drive too fast

She prefers to wear skirts rather than wear dresses

promise

c Correlative subordinators

If … then, (al)though … yet, so … as, whether … or, the … the, more/less … than, as … as, such … as, such … that, no sooner … than

In addition, borderline subordinators are mentioned and divided into three borderline categories: habitual combinations of subordinators (just as, if only), participle form (supposing…) and expression of time (directly, immediately …)

What is more, Quirk also suggests other indicators of subordinations including wh-elements, subject-operator inversion, nominal clause with and without that and comment clauses, besides the main subordinating conjunctions

As above-mentioned definitions, subordinators are identified as connectors

of unequal elements or an independent with a dependent clause to make a complex sentence Therefore, subordinating conjunctions usually come at the beginning of

the subordinate clause (e.g I went out, although it was snowing) or probably start the first clause of the sentence (e.g Because it rained like dogs and cats, he

couldn’t go out.)

(iii) Correlative conjunctions

A correlative conjunction consists of two or more words that work together

as a set Correlative coordinators’ function likes coordinating conjunctions because they connect words that perform equal functions in a sentence (Ann Cole Brown,

1987)

Cobuild (1990) arrives at the definition of a correlative conjunction that a coordinating conjunction used in pairs in parallel contraction However, based on Mallery’s definition (1967) that correlative conjunctions are those used in pairs or

in a series, the following list including the popular correlatives is given:

not only but also neither … nor as … as

though … yet both … and so … as

Whether … or either … or if … then

As one of the correlative pairs, “neither … nor” can be separated, that means neither and nor are used as single correlative conjunctions without being a

correlative pair

e.g She doesn’t love him Neither does he

“I can’t remember his name” “Nor can I”

Being the English conjunction; thus, correlatives are to do with the combination of clauses and elements And we can realize the most prevalent position of correlatives which often appears right before the combined items In

other words, they are always placed in front of the first word group (e.g Either you apologize or I will never speak to you again.)

1.2.2 Vietnamese Conjunctions

1.2.2.1 Definitions of Vietnamese conjunctions

Vietnamese conjunction is an interesting topic that many Vietnamese

linguists have concerned about In the dictionary “Bách khoa Việt Nam, tập 2”

published in 2002, conjunctions serve as connectors which link words, phrases, and sentences to denote the significance of the relationships such as alternative, contrast, concession, etc

According to Hoàng Trung Thông (1998), conjunctions are words expressing

the grammatical relations used to join the components in sentences or in phrases Conjunctions do not make sense in terms of vocabulary and grammar, especially

they never keep functions as subject or predicate in a sentence

Having the same opinions with Hoàng Trung Thông, Nguyễn Hữu Quỳnh in

“Tiếng Việt hiện đại” (1994) also defines that conjunctions are words which refer to

the grammatical relations used to connect parts of sentences or the elements in the phrase

Another definition written by Hoàng Thế (1990) shows that conjunctions are considered as joiners to connect two clauses together and Nguyễn Lai (2006) also agrees that conjunctions are words with the function to adhere words having the same syntax roles in sentences or to link the same functional components, sentences, paragraphs in which the conjunctions represent certain semantics’

functions

Although each author gives the different definition, their contents come to a high agreement It can be said that like English conjunctions, Vietnamese conjunctions are the glue to combine words, word phrases, paragraphs, sentences, etc The linguists really help readers to understand deeply about conjunctions The following part is detail classifications of Vietnamese conjunctions

1.2.2.2 Classifications of Vietnamese conjunctions

There are many ways of classifying Vietnamese conjunctions, but the one mostly applied is according to the parts of utterances that they link together From the view of Diệp Quang Ban (1993), Vietnamese conjunctions are arranged into two principal groups: subordinating and coordinating conjunctions Subordinating conjunctions are used to combine subordinate constituents with super-ordinate constituents, while coordinating conjunctions are used to link words, word phrases, and sentences

According to Nguyễn Lai (2006), like English conjunctions, Vietnamese conjunctions can also be categorized into two types: conjunctions connecting coordinated clauses (coordinators) and conjunctions connecting dependent clauses (subordinators)

e.g Chợ họp giữa phố vãn từ lâu Người về hết và tiếng ồn ào cũng mất

(Market in the city centre has disbanded for a long time Everyone comes back home

and noise is also lost.) (Cited in “Hai đứa trẻ” (1938) - Thạch Lam)

According to grammatical meanings, conjunctions of this type have three main meanings or functions in sentences

The first function is conjunctions expressing listing, for instance,

coordinators “và”, “với”, “cùng” simply link clauses to indicate enumeration and

consecutive or simultaneous events

e.g Tôi đến nhà An nhiều lần và trở thành người thân của cả gia đình

(I went to An’s house many times and became the intimate of the whole family)

(Cited in “Ngữ pháp tiếng Việt, tập 1” (1993) - Diệp Quang Ban)

The next function is conjunctions showing alternative “hay”, “hay là”,

“hoặc là”, “hoặc…hoặc…” An example of this type can be seen in:

e.g Ngoài ra, ông vẫn thường đi xếp hàng mua gạo hoặc nhu yếu phẩm

(In addition, he often stands in a queue to buy rice or necessities.)

(Cited in “Giấc mơ ông lão vườn chim (1970) – Anh Đức)

The last function of conjunctions is that they are used to express contrast

such as “nhưng”, “song”, “còn”, for example “Hắn nghiến răng vào mà chửi cái đứa

đã đẻ ra Chí Phèo Nhưng mà biết đứa nào đã đẻ ra Chí Phèo?

(He gritted his teeth to verbal child that spawned Chi Pheo But know who has spawned

(ii) Subordinators

The other set of conjunctions is used to link dependent clauses, and there are

usually couple conjunctions to describe these relationships such as “tuy…nhưng…”,

“vì …nên…”, “do…nên…”, “bởi…nên…”, “dù…nhưng…”, “nếu…thì…”

In dependent clauses, there are four smaller types of relationships:

+ Conjunctions expressing reason: “vì…(cho) nên/ mà…”, “tại…(cho) nên/ mà…”, “do….(cho) nên/ mà…”, “nhờ…(cho) nên/ mà…”, “bởi…(cho) nên/ mà…”

e.g Từ khóc như mưa bởi vì Từ chẳng còn biết trông cậy vào ai

(Tu cried bitterly because she did not know whom she could rely on.)

(Cited in “Đời Thừa” (1943) – Nam Cao) + Conjunctions expressing condition-consequence: “nếu (như)…thì…”, “hễ (mà)…thì/ là…”, “giá (mà)…thì…”, “ví…thì…”, “nhỡ…thì…” These conjunctions

are used in conditional sentences

e.g Nếu thị không vào thì hắn vẫn cứ nghĩ vẩn vơ mãi

(If she does not come, he still thinks miscellaneously.)

+ Conjunctions expressing concession: “tuy…nhưng/ vẫn…”, “dù…nhưng/ vẫn…”, “mặc dù…nhưng/ vẫn…”

e.g Tuy những tiếng quen thuộc ấy hôm nào chả có, nhưng hôm nay hắn

mới nghe thấy

(The familiar noise is always appeared every day, but today he hears that.)

(Cited in “Chí Phèo” (1946) – Nam Cao) + Conjunctions expressing purpose: “để…(thì)…”

e.g Hắn tìm một người bạn thân để nói chuyện văn chương

(He is looking for a close friend in order to talk literature.)

(Cited in “Đời Thừa” (1943) – Nam Cao)

1.3 Related studies

As shown above, opinions about conjunctions, newsletters in general and English and Vietnamese ones in particular are given by many different researchers Closely related to this thesis, there are some researches In the Graduation Paper

named “A contrastive analysis of English coordinators “and/or/but” and Vietnamese equivalents” Le Thi Bich (2000) merely contrasted the typical coordinating conjunctions “and/ or/ but” in English and Vietnamese equivalents

At the end of the study, the author came to a conclusion that there are similarities

and differences of using the conjunctions “and/ or/ but” in English and in

Vietnamese equivalents based on semantic and syntactic perspective Another research concerning conjunctions by Nguyen Thanh Huong (2002) in her

graduation paper, she provided an overview of all kinds of English conjunctions More importantly, in this paper, the author listed some difficulties faced by Vietnamese learners in understanding and using conjunctions At the end of the graduation paper, some suggested solutions to Vietnamese learners’ difficulties in learning conjunctions were given as an effective source for learners

1.4 Summary

In this chapter, by elaborating on the key terms, the researcher has briefly reviewed the theoretical background of the study More importantly, the writer provides an interesting insight into English and Vietnamese conjunctions and newsletters As a matter of fact, there is a close relationship between marketing newsletters and conjunctions Marketing newsletter is regarded as an effective way

to promote their products and services It is a form of advertising which attracts customers; therefore, it requires logic and coherence Consequently, conjunctions are used mostly in newsletters to gain this aim of newsletters

CHAPTER 2: CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF CONJUNCTIONS

IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE MARKETING NEWSLETTERS

2.1 Introduction

This chapter sets out to delve into providing a contrastive analysis of conjunction usages in English and Vietnamese marketing newsletters The data used for analysis are extracted from forty samples of marketing newsletters in the two languages (including 20 in English and 20 in Vietnamese) to compare and contrast

The researcher collected the samples from the book “Oxford Handbook of Commercial Correspondence” published by Oxford University Press in 2003,

written by A Ashley and from reliable web addresses of English and Vietnamese companies or organizations They are sources that were accessible at the time of conducting this research

The first step in the analysis the writer synthesizes the frequency of occurrence of conjunctions in English and Vietnamese marketing newsletters Then, the author lists a corpus of English and Vietnamese conjunctions in Appendices 1,

2, 3, and 4 Based on these data, the researcher compares to find out the similarities and differences in conjunction usages in terms of syntactic and semantic features in

N0 English Newsletters No of

words

No of conjunctions

Percentage (%)

Table 2.1: English conjunctions in English marketing newsletters

N0 Vietnamese Newsletters No of

words

No of conjunctions

Percentage (%)

1 Thai Son Tien Phong Company’s

Newsletter

5 Seabird Tours Company’s Newsletter 306 12 3.9%

9 Hong Ngoc Advertising’s Newsletter 315 8 2.5%

10 Lan Anh Computer Company’s

Newsletter

12 Trung Thuc Trade and Services

Limited Company's Newsletter

13 Sac Mau Printing and Advertising

Limited Company's Newsletter

15 Bao Tin Construction Company's

Newsletter

16 T&C International Travel Newsletter 388 14 3.6%

17 Anh Son Freight Services Newsletter 588 31 5.2%

18 Khang Nghi Package Printing Limited