A CROSS CHUTRAL STUDY ON THE WAY IN WHICH SPEAKER OF VIETNAMESE AND SPEAKER OF ENGLISH

TESOL CENTREA CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY ON THE WAY IN WHICH SPEAKERS OF VIETNAMESE AND SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH ISSUE, ACCEPT AND DECLINE SPOKEN INVITATIONS By: DANG THI HUONG A Study Project Repo

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TESOL CENTRE

A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY

ON THE WAY IN WHICH SPEAKERS OF VIETNAMESE AND SPEAKERS OF

ENGLISH ISSUE, ACCEPT AND DECLINE SPOKEN

INVITATIONS

By: DANG THI HUONG

A Study Project Report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) in the University of Canberra

( m o n t h ) (year)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Ms Helen Kirkpatrick,

Lecturer of TESOL Centre, Faculty of Education, University of

Canberra for her precious guidance, assistance, and

encouragement during the writing of this field study report

My sincere thanks also go to all the Staff of The TESOL Centre,

University of Canberra, especially Dr P Denham, Director of The

TESOL Centre and, Ms Ursula Nixon, Lecturer of The TESOL

Centre, and Ms Leonie Cottrill, Lecturer of The TESOL Centre,

for their useful suggestions and help

I am grateful to my colleagues, Vietnamese G Dip and ELICOS

students for their involvement in my research work

"In its primitive uses , language functions as a link in concerted

human activity, as a piece of human behaviour It is a mode of

action and not an instrument of reflection" (Malinowski 1923).

In this field study report, the author investigates behaviour

associated with inviting in order to see if there is any effect on the

language used across cultures due to factors such as status, age,

gender in actual social interactions.

Chapter one gives a brief introduction to the important role of the

English Language in the world in general, and in Vietnam

nowadays in particular, and a review of Teaching Methods which

have been used in Vietnam so far.

Chapter two will deal with the theoretical background, language

competences including linguistic competence, sociolinguistic

competence and communicative competence In addition, speech

act theory , face work, distance, power in relation to status, age

and gender as well as reviews research on the differences between

spoken and written are also discussed.

Chapter three defines the structure of an invite with its social and

cultural characteristics focussing on the natural structure of a

spoken invitation.

Chapter four describes research and data analysis of the issuing,

accepting and declining of spoken invitations used by Vietnamese

speakers of Vietnamese (VSV)

Chapter five contains the data analysis of the issuing, accepting

and declining of spoken invitations used by Australian speakers of

English (ASE)

Chapter six discusses the comparison of Vietnamese and

Australian spoken invitations, the main difference being found in

the use of much more direct forms used in VSV as opposed to more

tentative forms preferred by ASEs Directness of form, however,

does not reflect a lack of politeness, which is conveyed to a much

larger extent by other prosodic and paralinguistic features

Chapter seven is a brief cross-cultural investigation of the spoken

invitations of Vietnamese learners speaking English This shows

up a degree of cross-cultural interference and offers some

implications for the classroom

Chapter eight contains a summary and conclusion The results

of the study may suggest that Vietnamese learners of English need

to be taught not only linguistic competence but also communicative

competence with an emphasis on cultural and social factors

Spoken invitations which really have some function in actual

interactions need to be incorporated in the program for teaching

spoken English

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE Acknowledgements IV

Abstract V

Table of contents VII

List of abbreviations XI

1 INTRODUCTION

1 1 English as an International Language 1

1 2 The role of English in Vietnam 1

1 3 English Teaching in Vietnam 2

1 4 Problems of Vietnamese speakers of English 4

1 5 Aims of the study 5

1.6 Investigations 6

2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1 The meaning of competence 7

2.1.1 Linguistic competence 7 2.1.2 Communicative competence 7 2.1.3 Social and cultural competence 10 2.2 Speech Acts 12

2.2.1 Direct speech acts and indirect speech acts 13 2.2.2 Speech acts in discourse 15

2 3 Factors affecting degrees of formality 16

2.3.1 Politeness 16 2.3.1.1 Distance and power 19 2.3.1.2 Politeness in the Vietnamese Culture 21

V I I

2.3.3 Gender 25 2.4 Spoken and Written Language 27

3 SOCIAL INTERACTION AND INVITATIONS

3.1 The Nature of Invitations 33

3.1.1 Invitations as social rituals 33 3.1.2 The nature of invitations 34 3.2 The structure of an invitation 36

3.2.1 Issuing invitations 37 3.2.2 Accepting invitations 39 3.2.3 Declining invitations 42

4 RESEARCH METHODS AND DATA ANALYSIS OF

VIETNAMESE SPOKEN INVITATIONS

4.1 Research methods 46

4.1.1 Written invitations 46 4.1.2 Questionnaires 46 4.1.3 Role play 47 4.1.4 Subjects 48

4.2 Results: Formal written invitations 49

4.3 Results: Spoken invitations by Vietnamese to

Vietnamese 52 4.3.1 Issuing spoken invitations 52

a) Reasons for issuing invitations 52 b) The people to whom invitations are issued 53 c) The channel 53 d) The structure of the invitation 53 4.3.2 Accepting invitations 56

4.3.3 Declining invitations 61

4 3.4 Problems with invitations 64

a) Self- Invitations 64 b) Pseudo-invitations 66 c) Non- invitations 67 d) Who pays ? 67 4.3.5 Age , status and gender 68

5 DATA ANALYSIS OF AUSTRALIAN SPOKEN

INVITATIONS

5.1 Issuing spoken invitations 69

a) Reasons for issuing invitations 69 b) The people to whom invitations are issued 69 c) The channel 70 d) The structure of the invitation 71 5.2 Responses to spoken invitations 75

5.2.1 Accepting invitations 75

5.2.2 Declining invitations 78

5.3 Problems with Invitations 81

a) Self-invitations 81 b) Pseudo-invitations 81 c) Non-invitations 82 d) Who pays? 82 5.4 Status, age and gender 83

6 COMPARISON OF VIETNAMESE AND AUSTRALIAN

SPOKEN INVITATIONS

6.1 Issuing spoken invitations 84

a) Reasons for issuing invitations 84 b) The people to whom invitations are issued 84

c) The structure of the invitation 85 6.2 Issuing invitations 85

6.3 Accepting invitations 86

6.4 Declining invitations 87

6.5 Status, age and gender 88

7 CROSS CULTURAL STUDY AND IMPLICATIONS FOR

THE CLASSROOM.

7.1 Introduction 90

7.2 Invitations by Vietnamese Speakers of English 90

7.2.1 Issuing invitations 90 7.2.2 Accepting invitations 92 7.2.3 Declining invitations 93 7.2.4 Discussion of results 94

8 CONCLUSION

8.1 Review of the study 96

8.2 Suggestions for the teaching methods 96

8.3 Conclusion 98

BIBLIOGRAPHY 99

APPENDICES 107

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ASE Australian speakers of English

ELICOS English language Intensive course for Overseas

Students

F Female

FTA Face threatening act

G Dip Graduate Diploma

H hearer

HOC Hearer orientation concern

Ll First language

L2 Second/foreign language

M male

NS native speaker

NNS non-native speaker

S Speaker

TA term of address

TESOL Teaching English to speakers of other languages

VSE Vietnamese speakers of English

VSV Vietnamese speakers of Vietnamese