nghiên cứu giao văn hóa việt mỹ về hành vi phi ngôn từ của giáo viên dạy tiếng anh khi tương tác với sinh viên việt nam

1 Part I - INTRODUCTION I Rationale Since 1986, when the open - door policy and doi moi began to be applied in Vietnam, the country and its people have witnessed significant changes in many aspects of life People from other countries have started to come in with investments The presence of multinationals in Vietnam, in particular, has created an appetite for learning English and communicating in the language In the light of globalization, language and communication cannot be separated from our daily lives (Marley, 2001) It is omnipresent that, in communication, we express our emotions and attitudes more nonverbally than verbally One study in Anglophone countries showed that in the communication of attitude, 93 percent of the message was transmitted by the tone of the voice and by facial expressions, whereas only seven percent of the speaker’s attitude was transmitted by words Birdwhistell (1997), who deserves most credit for awakening interest in serious nonverbal studies, has also estimated that at most only about 30 percent of what is communicated in a conversation is verbal People observe us to see HOW we are saying things and what we are DOING, more than they actually LISTEN to the WORDS used If we smile, they relax and smile; if we scowl at them, they tense up and become defensive Likewise, if we stand rigidly behind, tether ourselves to the lectern and scarcely move, they become rigid – physically and mentally Hence it is safe to assume that non - verbal behaviour is undeniably important in communication, within a culture and across cultures Considering the facts given above, we can see that in English language classrooms, teachers frequently conduct direct communication, which serves as a fundamental skill not only in university teaching but in real life as well Among the many direct communication forms, making presentations, delivering speeches and explanations, giving lectures, reports and briefings in class have become a compulsory part of teachers' tasks Nonverbal behaviour including gesture, posture, facial expression, gaze, and distance is tightly weaved in all these skills There are various chances or occasions when Vietnamese learners of English are taught by native teachers, and Vietnamese teachers attend or observe their classes It is for this reason that both Vietnamese learners and teachers of English should develop a thorough understanding of non – verbal behaviour performed by native teachers of English While a case may be made that they will grasp the meaning and the use of native speakers’ nonverbal behaviour after extensive and prolonged exposure to the target culture, perhaps through immersion in the host culture, this is a luxury enjoyed by only a small minority of language learners and teachers Most Vietnamese foreign language learners and teachers may never have the chance to observe and absorb the subtle nuances of non - verbal communication at first hand Therefore, Vietnamese - Anglophone cross – cultural studies of English language teachers’ nonverbal behaviour in interacting with their Vietnamese students appear vital and useful in this way Furthermore, the relationship between the Social Republic of Vietnam and the United States has been enhanced with the expansion of mutual concern whereas failure in communication due to culture shock, cultural conflicts, communication breakdown, etc has been reported in recent research works For those reasons stated, ‘a Vietnamese – American cross – cultural study of English language teachers’ nonverbal behaviour in INTERACTING WITH THEIR Vietnamese STUDENTS’ is deemed academically and practically worthwhile ii Objectives of the study The research is conducted with the objectives of a Investigating the frequency of nonverbal behaviour performance of American and Vietnamese teachers of English and specific situations in which teachers use the nonverbal cues in interacting with their Vietnamese students b Comparing and contrasting nonverbal behaviour in the two cultures in order to clarify the similarities and differences in the way Vietnamese and American teachers of English perform nonverbal behaviour in interacting with their Vietnamese students, setting forth a number of underlying cultural factors that rule over these similarities and differences as well as the way they affect the English language teaching process in Vietnam in the view of the thesis writer herself c Contributing to raising cross – cultural awareness of Vietnamese students and teachers of English of potential areas of culture shock and cross –cultural communication breakdown in interacting with American teachers of English in particular and American communicating partners as a whole iii scope of the study The study of the nonverbal behaviour of American and Vietnamese teachers of English is merely confined to classroom interaction with Vietnamese students American teachers surveyed are those who have been teaching English in Vietnam for a certain amount of time Vietnamese teachers are all from Division I – English Department College of Foreign Languages – Vietnam National University They are equivalently teaching pre – intermediate leveled students The paper is intended to cover three factors of non – verbal behaviour namely eye contact, posture and distance The situations to be discussed are the most common and typical ones in classroom setting and they are generalized into the four following situations:  You are lecturing on a topic or giving instructions  When organizing group - work or pair work for students, you are sitting down with one group or one pair and joining the activity they are doing  Students not understand your points and raise questions  Students are doing their presentations iv methodology The major method to be employed is quantitative Additionally, contrastive analysis is used All the considerations, comments and conclusions in the thesis are therefore largely based on the following methods: • Reference to relevant secondary research, • Survey questionnaires, • Statistics, descriptions, and analysis of the collected and selected data, • Personal observations and experience, • Consultations with supervisor, • Discussions with Vietnamese and foreign colleagues home and foreign publications in both primary and v Design of the study This study consists of three major parts Part I: Introduction I Rationale II Aims of the study III Scope of the study IV Methodology V Design of the study Part II: Development Chapter I: Theoretical Preliminaries Chapter II: Nonverbal Behaviour in Focus Chapter III: Research Design Chapter IV: Data Analysis and Findings Part III: CONCLUSION I Summary of main findings II Implications for the avoidance of culture shock and cross – cultural communication breakdown III Suggestions for further research Part II - Development CHAPTER - THEORETICAL PRELIMINARIES 1.1 Culture 1.1.1 What Culture? In considering the term Culture, scholars and linguists have based their conclusions on many different criteria and arrived at different definitions which can be classified into one group or more To a language teacher and in this thesis also, theories and definitions of culture which identify culture on grounds of establishing and emphasizing on one or more constituting factors of culture itself are believed to be the fittest working definitions because they illustrate the relationship among social members or social groups, their communication and behaviour In the first place, UNESCO (1996:108) launches the formal definition focusing on the character of culture as follows ‘Culture is a set of symbolic systems which regulate the behaviour and enable the mutual communication of a plurality of people, establishing them into particular and instinct community.’ Ferrando (1996:18) considers Culture according to the nature of human beings’ possession, perception and action: Culture is everything that one has, thinks, and does as a member of a society Possessio n Perceptio n Realizatio n CULTURE Figure - Ferrando’s definition of culture Levine and Adelman (1993:58), on the other hand, look at the visible and invisible nature of constituting factors of culture The definition they put forth may be the most imaginative definition of all In their view, as for an iceberg, we can hardly see most of the influence of culture on an individual The risen part of culture is not always which that causes difficulties in cross – culture; the hidden aspects of culture exert meaningful influences on one’s behaviour and interaction with others Food Language Beliefs Attitudes Appearance Values Customs Perceptions Traditions Taboos Communication style Figure - Levine and Adelman’s definition of culture As a matter of fact, various definitions of culture reflect different theoretical concepts of what culture is It is, however, necessary for the researcher to adopt one that best guide her study Therefore, the thesis author finds the definition offered by Sikkema and Niyekawa (1987: 27) useful because of its influence on communication Culture is defined as the sum of total ways of living, including values, beliefs, esthetic standards, linguistic expressions, patterns of thinking, behaviour norm and style of communication which a group of people has developed to assure its survival in a particular physical and human environment A number of researchers, for example, Robinson (1985: 9) and Samovar, Porter and Stefani (1997: 36) also share their view when they hold that culture is a concept referring to ways of acting, believing, valuing and thinking which are shared by members of a community (social group) and which are transmitted to the next generation When people of a community communicate with people of other cultures, their culture will shape the communication It can be seen from the definition that culture is viewed as a process of transaction rather than as a body of facts, which puts forth a convincing argument for introducing culture into second, or foreign language learning The writer is personally interested in this definition as among different cultural descriptions, those factors clearly shown to affect intercultural and cross - cultural communication are absolutely the main concerns of classroom practices in second and foreign language 1.1.2 Characteristics of Culture It is undoubted that there are various ways in identifying the characteristics of culture However, most researchers including Nguyen Quang (forthcoming: 19) generally agree on the six - characteristics paradigm as follows  Culture is not innate, but a product of the process of acquisition  Culture is able to be propagated widely  Culture is dynamic  Culture is optional  Culture is a perfect whole with intertwined and related factors  Culture is ethnocentric 1.1.3 Place of Culture in English Language Teaching in Vietnam As mentioned from the very beginning of the research, English has regained its position of importance from Russian and French after suffering years of neglect English schools and centres have been mushrooming all over the country, especially in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, the two most populous cities in Vietnam In the light of globalisation, language and culture cannot be separated from our daily lives (Marley, 1996:17) It is also undeniable that language plays an essential role in the perpetuation of culture (Kramsch, 2000:52) Therefore, an overview of how cultural factors affect the learning and teaching of English in Vietnam should undoubtedly be included in this research Towards this end, the influence of Confucianism and more modern philosophies needs to be investigated to get a picture of the classroom culture in which the target language is taught and learnt, as language needs to be understood within the particular context in which it is used (Pennycook, 1997:35) To elaborate on the current situation of learning and teaching English, the thesis author will address two issues concerning the effects of Confucianism: the traditional method of teaching and the implementation of communicative language teaching (CLT)  The Vietnamese people have a long tradition of appreciation of educational achievements However, Tong (2000:46) points out that the remaining traditions not always represent the most beautiful aspects of the people but may contain elements to hinder progress and create inappropriate attitudes toward improvement One aspect of this tradition is reflected in the hierarchy of both the society and education systems The highest institute of education is the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), which decides all the activities of the whole education system School authorities, teachers and students have almost no power at all Their success is usually assessed by the results of exams and passing exams shows their mastery of knowledge Respect paid to teachers is another piece of evidence of how Confucianism has left its stamp on classroom culture Phuoc (1975, cited in Ellis, 1995:10) notes that ‘the Confucian model is teacher – centered, closed, suspicious of creativity, and predicated on an unquestioning obedience from the students.’ The compulsory book recitation in the old days accounts for the popularity of the translation and grammar method in learning and teaching English today Ellis (1995:58) writes that teaching and learning styles are mainly decided by the value orientations of a particular society He believes that communicative activities, unfamiliar to Vietnamese learners, may not be welcome Other researchers, such as Le (1999:69), report that Vietnam is where English is taught as a decontextualised subject These researchers point out that choral repetition is a common practice and learners avoid interrupting, asking for clarification, or challenging each other  So far it seems that Vietnam is not a hospitable environment for the communicative approach Nevertheless, a closer look at the situation presents a different view While it is true that the grammar translation method is considered the basis for English teaching and learning, C.L.T, since first implemented in the early of 1990s, has gained certain favourable approval Although Jones (1995:102) observes that the culture of traditional Vietnamese education insists on quiet and subservient students, in another article, he points out that East Asian students are willing to take part in discussions within groups (Jones, 1995, cited in Littlewood, 1999:55) Pair and group work creates enough confidence for even weak students to join in following class discussion This conforms with the concept of individualism and collectivism in the findings of Hofstede (1991:24) Working in groups to achieve their goal gives Vietnamese learners a supportive relationship while striving for the target language competence The shift toward a new way of learning with more opportunity to use the target language, not only in the classroom but also in reality has brought a livelier atmosphere to learning and teaching English in Vietnam More language centres inside big cities now cater to more and more students living in the suburbs One of the reasons these students go such a long distance for their English studies is because they believe these centres can provide them with more communicative courses (Le Tran Hong Phuc, interview, 2001- an extract from the Internet) The need to use English in actual communicative contexts is beginning to emerge as learners realize that the traditional learning and teaching styles not help them communicate with foreigners, both native and nonnative speakers of English ‘ The way English was learned and taught at high school did not help me to speak and understand English at work’ (Phuc, interview, 2001- an extract from the Internet) Development in the society brings forth the demand of using English in the work place, especially in the field of computer and research sciences Another factor that urges learners to alter their traditional aversion to communicative learning is the annual availability of scholarships This altogether means the need for the application and enhancement of C.L.T in English teaching and learning Generally speaking, due to the culture influenced by the Confucian ideology, Vietnamese education still heavily centers around the traditional, grammar- translation centred methods Although there have signals of CLT approval, it is not adequate to confirm that CLT is so far the most successful method in Vietnam However, knowing that there is still a long way to go, it is justifiable to take an optimistic view of learning and teaching English in Vietnam 10 1.2 Communication 1.2.1 What Communication? There have been a great number of studies by scholars and linguists on communication who agree on one point that communication is an interactive or transactive process However, they hold different points of view so they give out various ways of classifying and defining the term Their definitions therefore have different emphases and factors The definition may focus on the meaning of the conveyed message According to Rudolph, F Verderber (1989:4), ‘communication may be defined as the transactional process of creating meaning A transactional process is one in which those persons communicating are mutually responsible for what occurs.’ In Saville – Troike’s words (1986:9), ‘communication is also considered the process of sharing or exchanging information between people both verbally and non – verbally.’ It can easily be seen from this definition that the writers concentrate more on the information sent rather than anything else Communication Saundra Hybels and Richard L Weaver H (1992:5) have a different identification of communication, which says ‘Communication is any process in which people share information, ideas, and feelings that involve not only the spoken and written words but Verbal communication Non-verbal communication also body language, personal mannerisms and style, the surrounding and things that add meaning to a message.’ This is perhaps the most comprehensive out of the three definitions because it focuses altogether on the information, concept, attitude and emotion of the message Intralanguage sent Paralanguage Extralanguage In terms of communication categories, Toth (1997: 6) argues that ‘communication can take place in many different ways Generally speaking, two categories of communication Lexicon Vocal characteristics can be defined The first is verbal communication; that is communication using language Rules of grammar + Pitch and Rules of phonetics or exchange Volume speech to share + information The second is non – verbal communication: that is use Rules of language communication without the use of language but depending rather + Rate and interaction such as body language, vocal quality physical appearance, attitude skills Types of eye contact, on other channels Vocal interferences distance and physical contact.’ Silence Sharing the same perspective, Nguyen Quang (2004: 292) stresses upon the components of verbal communication and non – verbal communication The following diagram can be highly regarded as a scientific and generalised source of approach to communication in its crucial interrelationship with language and culture (figure - 3) Body language/ Kinesics Eye contact Facial expressions Gestures Postures Touch/ Haptics/ Tactile Object language Clothing Jewellery Accessories Make-up Artificial scents Flowers Gifts Environmental language Setting Conversational distances/ Proxemics Time/ Chronemics Lighting system Colour Heat 67 organizing activities for students and joining them American and Vietnamese informants keep public distance most when their students are doing presentations (American – 8/40, Vietnamese – 10/40) 68 Differences American and Vietnamese informants perform four types of distance with different frequencies and the situations in which they keep these distances also have a number of differences - 4/40 more American informants always or frequently keep intimate distance in the classroom So American teachers seem to be more frequent in performing this distance However, 4/40 more Vietnamese informants sometimes keep the distance than American informants Furthermore, in terms of the situations given, it is likely that Vietnamese informants perform this distance more: American Vietnamese S1 < 4/40 (5 percent higher) S2 20/40 < 38/40 (45 percent higher) S3 16/40 > 10/40 (15 percent lower) S4 - 2/40 0/40 < 4/40 (10 percent higher) 12/40 more American informants frequently keep personal distance in interacting with students Hence, it seems that American teachers perform this distance more in their teaching However, 8/40 more Vietnamese informants always keep the distance American informants keep the distance with the second largest percentage (30/40) when they are organizing activities for students and joining them whereas that is when Vietnamese informants are giving lectures or instructions It seems that American informants perform the distance more in the situations discussed: American Vietnamese S1 = 24/40 (equally) S2 30/40 > 8/40 (55 percent higher) S3 32/20 = 32/20 (equally) S4 - 24/40 6/40 < 14/40 (25 percent lower) 6/40 more American informants always or frequently keep social distance in the classroom It is then likely that American teachers perform this distance with higher frequency than Vietnamese informants However, 4/40 more Americans rarely or never that in interaction with students and 10/40 more Vietnamese informants sometimes keep social distance in their classroom American informants generally keep social distance more in classroom situations than Vietnamese informants: American S1 28/40 Vietnamese > 20/40 (20 percent higher) PUBLIC SOCIAL PERSONAL INTIMATE FREQUENCYLEVELS OF 69 S2 0/40 0/40 S3 14/40 8/40 higher) S4 DISTANCE 12/40 higher) Always Frequently Sometimes Rarely Never - 10% 35% 30% 25% 0% 0% 80% 20% 0% 0% 5% 30% 30% 30% 5% 0% 5% 15% 25% 55% = (equally) > (15 30/40 percent > (45 percent 2/40 more Americans frequently keep public distance in the classroom but 2/40 more Vietnamese sometimes keep the distance There is not much difference in terms of the performance of this distance in the situations discussed In a nutshell, the data analysis has shown that the percentage rate of American informants who always or frequently keep any type of the four distances is higher than that of Vietnamese informants but with a narrow margin There are especially few differences between two groups as regards the performance frequency and the performance in specific situations of public distance It should also be noted that American informants have a wider choice for all levels of frequency ranging from always to never, and the percentage of Vietnamese informants who chose sometimes item is always higher than that of American informants Moreover, the figures show that American informants keep personal and social distance more in the situations discussed but that is the Vietnamese who perform intimate distance more in those situations, maybe because the Americans keep the distance more in other situations rather than those surveyed Therefore, it is hard to draw a concrete conclusion about the preference of American and Vietnamese informants as regards the distances However it can be concluded that American teachers are more flexible in changing their distance when interacting with their students than Vietnamese teachers This can be explained by the fact that the Communicative Language Teaching Method has been applied in the American educational system for long, so various activities and different kinds of interaction are undoubtedly frequently carried out in the classroom whereas the learning and teaching of English in Vietnam traditionally mostly center around the teacher who is deemed to be strict and exemplary, hence should keep certain distance from students This is the point where Confucianism leaves the greatest stamp on the Vietnamese society especially the educational system 70 INTIMATE PERSONAL SOCIAL INTIMATE PERSONAL SOCIAL PUBLIC INTIMATE PERSONAL SOCIAL PUBLIC S1 S2 S3 S4 5% 50% 40% 0% 60% 75% 80% 15% 70% 0% 35% 75% 10% 0% 5% 20% FREQUENCYLEVELS DISTANCE OF FREQUENCYLEVELS OF FREQUENCYLEVELS OF DISTANCE PUBLIC Table -9: Frequency of distance performance of American teachers of English 15% 20% 40% 25% 0% 20% 50% 25% 5% 0% 0% 20% 55% 10% 15% 0% 0% 20% 50% 30% S1 S2 S3 S4 Table - 11: Distance performance of American teachers of English in classroom situations Table – 12: Distance performance of Vietnamese teachers of English in classroom situations 4.2 Analyses of parameters informants’ Believing that the informants’ parameters are relatively useful in finding the underlying factors affecting their choice of nonverbal DISTANCE Always Frequently Sometimes Rarely Never Table - 10: Frequency of distance performance of Vietnamese teachers of English 10% 95% 25% 10% 60% 20% 80% 35% 50% 0% 20% 30% 10% 0% 0% 25% 71 behaviour, the researcher has requested American and Vietnamese informants to provide their personal information As she sees it, age, sex and living area are of certain importance, therefore she intended to discuss the influences of these items on the performance of eye contact, posture and distance among American and Vietnamese teachers of English As regards age, an absolutely overwhelming number of the informants from both groups are at or below the age of 35 (36/40 Americans and 40/40 Vietnamese) Similarly, in terms of living area, 95 percent of American informants (38/40) and 100 percent of Vietnamese informants (40/40) have spent most of their time in urban area for the last five years These figures entail that there are neither different age groups nor living area groups for the analysis of the influences of these two factors Although this means that the researcher will not be able to analyze the parameters, the homogeneity in the figures has at the same time ensured the reliability of the data collected on the frequency of performing nonverbal cues and the performance in specific situations in 4.1 With regard to sex, 70 percent of American informants are male whereas up to 90 percent of Vietnamese informants are female With this disproportion, the thesis writer believes that it is unwise to insist on analyzing the effect of sex on the performance of nonverbal cues as the analysis may result in inaccurate findings Furthermore, she believes that gender is not one of the decisive factors in language teaching process In wind, the thesis author has to admit that at first she had an intention of taking these factors into account However, after considering collected data and studying ideas of eminent scholars and researchers, she has decided to the survey on wider groups of informants and save the analyses of the informants’ parameters in her further studies 4.3 Concluding remarks In considering the similarities and differences discussed above, I shall` relate the discussion to the hypotheses postulated in chapter Hypothesis states that American teachers of English generally maintain types of direct eye contact with higher levels of frequency and they perform these types more in all classroom situations given whereas Vietnamese teachers of English generally maintain types of indirect eye contact with higher levels of frequency and they perform these types more in all classroom situations given The data found supports this hypothesis in the sense that American informants tend to perform direct eye contact more frequently and Vietnamese informants tend to maintain indirect eye contact with higher level of frequency However, in terms of the situations given, the figures only show that American informants perform types of direct eye contact more in the four situations; they fail to support that Vietnamese informants maintain types of indirect eye contact more in those situations There is a possibility that Vietnamese informants perform indirect eye contact more in some other classroom situations 72 Hypothesis states that American teachers of English generally perform relaxed postures with higher levels of frequency and they perform the postures more in all classroom situations given whereas Vietnamese teachers of English perform formal and defensive postures with higher levels of frequency and they keep these postures more in all the classroom situations given The data analyses suggest that the first half of the hypothesis is definitely true American informants perform relaxed postures more frequently, specifically in classroom situations discussed However, for the other half, the case is only true to formal postures It is evidenced that Vietnamese informants keep formal postures with higher levels of frequency, and they perform the postures more in classroom situations discussed The data analyzed not persuasively support the supposition about defensive postures as data on leg – cross posture are not very clear about the preference of the informants from both groups However, at least in the sphere of this research, Vietnamese informants tend to be more in favour of this kind of posture Hypothesis states that American teachers of English maintain intimate and personal distances with higher levels of frequency and they keep these distances more in all classroom situations given; Vietnamese teachers of English reversely maintain social and public distances with higher levels of frequency and they keep these distances more in all classroom situations given This hypothesis is not well supported by the questionnaire data The only safe conclusion should be made is that American teachers of English are more flexible in adopting appropriate distance in interacting with their students 73 part iii - conclusion I summary of main findings The data analyses have shown a number of habits of American and Vietnamese teachers in conducting their nonverbal behaviour in interacting with their Vietnamese students The researcher would like to review here the findings and together with this, explain the reasons why teachers from the two countries adopt different nonverbal behaviour patterns She would try to set forth underlying cultural factors of the differences suggested by famous scholars and researchers and with her own view and personal experience, discuss the way these differences affect the process of English language teaching and learning in Vietnam I.1 Eye contact Eye contact is an aspect of nonverbal behaviour that is especially complex, subtle, and important The point is when you are talking to someone, where you direct your eyes? There are marked cultural variations in people’s answers to that question As evidenced from the previous chapter, American teachers of English tend to perform direct eye contact more frequently while Vietnamese ones tend to maintain indirect eye contact with higher level of frequency Gary Althen (1988: 143) gives an explanation shared by many other researchers This is, as he puts it, precisely because Americans are socially trained to distrust people who not ‘look them in the eye’ when talking with them However, Americans in fact not gaze continually into the eyes of people they are talking to unless they share an intense romantic relationship They make direct eye contact when beginning to speak then look away, and periodically look again into the partner’s eyes When they finish their turn or complete a point in the conversation, they keep direct gaze again Americans will look for longer periods into the other person’s eyes when they are listening Things happen exactly in this way in any American language classroom Vietnamese teachers and students of English, whose habit is not to look frequently into the eyes of a person they are talking to, will find it uncomfortable to interact with an American teacher This difference stems from the fact that Confucianism has left its heavy stamp on Vietnamese classroom culture, in which respect paid to teachers is a piece of evidence Students show their quietness and subservience by not performing direct gaze to their teachers, and teachers express their highness, superiority and power also by not looking directly into their students’ eyes As American teachers and students have never been under the influence of such ideology, this is the point where the two cultures may conflict together However, nowadays, when Communicative Language Teaching has proved itself to be an effective and appropriate method in English Language Teaching, more interactions are inevitably made between students and teachers As a result, maintaining direct eye 74 contact seems to be unavoidable and in fact reasonable way for teachers to draw students’ attention and for students, the center of the lesson, to express themselves I.2 Posture The way one stands indicates clearly what he thinks of the audience, the subject, and perhaps most importantly, himself Good posture is extremely important if one wishes to take control of the situation It is evidenced from data analyses that American teachers perform relaxed postures more frequently and defensive and formal postures less frequently than Vietnamese ones In Americans’ belief, people who keep their hands and arms still or very close to their bodies while they talk are likely to be regarded as ‘too stiff’, ‘too formal’, ‘up – right’, or ‘too polite’ They often think of Eastern people, particularly females in this way (Althen, 1988: 142) As stated earlier, in a society of openness and freedom, American teachers with this belief find it not necessary to be too formal during their teaching, and in fact, relaxed postures help their students feel more comfortable in interacting with them In contrast, it is undoubted that Vietnamese people consider relaxed postures like putting hands in the pocket, or hands on hips as somehow impolite and should not surely be performed in many cases In the language classroom, the Confucian model is teacher – centered, closed, suspicious of creativity, and predicated on an unquestioning obedience from the students, which means that students sit silently and absolutely obey teachers’ instructions and commands while teachers stand formally often on the dais to show their strictness and seriousness Though lots of progressive educational changes have been carried out in Vietnam, this is still a common practice across the country In my informal observations, I have personally come to realize that my Vietnamese students feel easier, more comfortable and open to interact with their American teachers as well as take part in different activities organized by them because these teachers are more relaxed with their own hands, legs, and bodies Luckily enough, more and more young Vietnamese teachers of English are fully aware of this and they have, in fact, paid more attention to providing learners of English with free and open studying atmosphere by freeing themselves from stiff and too formal postures Back to the line, holding the contrastive views on different kinds of postures, American teachers and Vietnamese teachers and students in the role of communicating partners may misunderstand each other and communication breakdown therefore easily occurs I.3 Distance Another aspect of nonverbal behaviour that culture strongly influences has to with space and distance It is left unclear from the findings whether American or Vietnamese teachers maintain closer distance to their Vietnamese students In fact, distance is far more difficult to be 75 judged compared to eye contact and posture If the two latter nonverbal cues depend mostly on the situation and the communicators, the former is controlled greatly not only by these factors but by the setting as well However, it is evidenced that American teachers are actually more flexible in adopting an appropriate distance Althen (1988: 144) puts forth an interesting illustration for this as follows It can be amusing to watch a conversation between an American and someone from a culture where habits concerning conversational distance are different If an American is talking to a Greek, a Latin, or an Arab, the American is likely to keep backing away because the other person is likely to keep getting ‘too close’ On the other hand, if the conversation partner is Japanese, the American will keep trying to get closer because the Japanese insists on standing ‘too far away’ Conversation partners in these situations might move clear across the room as one gets closer and the other backs away, each trying to maintain a normal conversational distance All the while, both people are vaguely uncomfortable and are likely to be making negative judgments about each other: cold and unfeeling, pushy and overbearing This is easily understandable as regards the language classroom alone As mentioned earlier, communicative activities, unfamiliar to Vietnamese learners, may not be welcome Vietnam is traditionally not a hospitable environment for the communicative approach In fact, the grammar translation method, in which the teacher is the center and normally stands on the dais to draw students’ attention, is considered the basis for English teaching and learning It is believed that if the teacher changes his distance to the students frequently, he will surely disturb their study In an American language classroom, on the contrary, various interactions and communicative activities are undoubtedly carried out, hence that the teacher varies his distance to students is a must However, in Vietnam today, the need to use English in actual communicative contexts is beginning to emerge as learners realize that the tradition learning and teaching styles not help them communicate with speakers of English This poses a challenge to teachers who have to adopt new teaching methods to satisfy the need of their students A good sign is that Communicative Language Teaching Method has been formally utilized in the educational system in different levels Sooner or later Vietnamese teachers will surely be more flexible in adjusting their distance to students in interacting with them In the meantime, when this has not become a common practice in the language classroom countrywide, Vietnamese students may still get shocked by the way American teachers vary their distance to them In a nutshell Facing those differences in terms of eye contact, posture and distance, Vietnamese teachers and students will still hopefully be more aware of the nonverbal behaviour patterns that American teachers adopt in the language classroom This is due in part of the fact that the whole world is now becoming a global village, in which cultures have experienced interferences People from different cultures have come to know more and more about one another Differences in maintaining direct or indirect eye contact, in performing formal, relaxed or defensive postures, in keeping intimate, personal, social or public distance will, to a certain extent, be understandable among communicators To help Vietnamese teachers and learners of English to ward off unexpected shocks and communication breakdown 76 when having an American teacher, the thesis author is going to present in the next part a number of implications which she finds worthwhile II implications for the avoidance of culture shock and cross cultural communication breakdown These implications are deemed for Vietnamese teachers and students of English in interacting with American communicating partners who come to Vietnam as English language teachers Some people find cultural differences interesting and exciting They are mentally and physically stimulated by encounters with people from other cultures, and they want more They are most likely to have constructive experiences with people from other cultures Other people not have that reaction In the presence of people from different cultures they feel discomfort, confusion and anxiety They have a strong tendency to judge or evaluate other people and to reach negative conclusions about them The Vietnamese in general and Vietnamese teachers and students of English in particular cannot expect to acquire all of the Americans’ nonverbal bahaviour patterns especially those American teachers perform in their classrooms However, basing on the suggestions of Althen (1988: 146), the researcher would like to put forth here a number of tips that can help them minimize effects of differences i) Remember nonverbal communication is the umbrella term covering a wide range of human actions and reactions which are mostly culturally based ii) Try to study as much as possible American nonverbal communication habits and practise these cues For example, keep in mind that American teachers of English are likely to look directly at their communicating partners with different types of direct eye contact rather than indirectly They will also tend to perform more relaxed postures in the classroom Give all these a relaxing view in an understanding way and to be better practise them if possible iii) Do not exaggerate the idea of the effects of differences in terms of nonverbal communication It is undoubted that nonverbal cues are important in communication but they are not the only things sent from the communicating partner The verbal ones can actually be resorted to in understanding the message conveyed iv) Do not use what are believed to be the social norms in nonverbal communication to interpret what others mean and judge their behaviour For example, it has been mentioned earlier that Americans vary their distance when talking to people from different countries because in their belief, this is the right thing to in communicating with those people 77 Their preference for nearer or further distance can not be translated into either impoliteness or coldness The more one can learn about how Americans interpret each other’s nonverbal behaviour, the more constructively he will be able to interact with them III Suggestions for further research Though the research has been done with all might and main, some shortcomings may still arise unexpectedly due to the researcher’s limited ability Yet she hopes that it would be of some help to Vietnamese teachers and students of English in particular, and to Vietnamese people as a whole in interacting with English language teachers from the United States After generally looking at the nonverbal behaviour of Vietnamese and American teachers of English in interacting with their Vietnamese students, the thesis author believes that there remain many other dimensions of the subject which may serve as 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amount of time Vietnamese teachers are all from Division I – English Department College of Foreign Languages – Vietnam National University They... (American) and 22/40 (Vietnamese) American teachers look downward most when lecturing or giving instructions (22/40), and so Vietnamese informants (20/40) American and Vietnamese teachers look... nonverbal behaviour The data of nonverbal behaviour of American and Vietnamese teachers of English are going to be analyzed in two aspects namely the frequency of performing the nonverbal behaviours