một số khác biệt giao văn hóa úc việt trong cách xưng hô của sinh viên với giáo viên

The success of a translation depends on the purpose forwhich it was made, which in turn reflects the needs of the people for whom it was made.To Vietnamese teachers, how to teach Vietnam

c¸ch xng h« cña sinh viªn víi gi¸o viªn)

Field: Linguistics

Code: 50409 Course: K11

M.A minor - thesis

Supervisor : Assoc Prof Dr NguyÔn Quang

Hai Phong, July 2005

Also I would like to thank Australian and Vietnamese colleagues and friends whospent their precious time completing the questionnaires.

I wish to thank my cousin, Tran Viet Cuong, who is living and studying at SydneyUniversity, NSW for his help to my questionnaires and surveys

Finally I owe the completion of this study to my husband, my parents and myclassmates who always encouraged me throughout the study and supported me witheverything I need

2 Aims of the study

3 Methods of the study

4 Scope of the study

5 Design of the study

Part II: Development

Chapter I : Theoretical background

I.1 Speech acts

I.2 Cross – cultural differences

I.3 Cross – cultural translation of address terms

I.4 Addressing systems

I.4.1 Addressing system in EnglishI.4.2 Addressing system in Vietnamese

Chapter II : Experimental research: Findings and discussions

II.1 The survey questionnaire

II.2 The informants

II.3 Statistics research

II.4 Data analysis: Findings and discussions

II.4.1 Responses in EnglishII.4.1.1 Considerations in selection of address termsII.4.1.2 Frequency of address terms

II.4.2 Responses in VietnameseII.4.2.1 Considerations in selection of address termsII.4.2.2 Frequency of address terms

Pag e

iiiiv11122344471011121417171818212121242525

II.4.2.2.1 The addressing dyad “thÇy/c«-em”

II.4.2.2.2 Other address terms used in the universityII.4.2.2.3 Vietnamese students’ use of address terms to their

teachers

II.4.3 Some problems of cross-cultural translation of the

English address terms into Vietnamese

II.5 Limitations of the study

Part III: Conclusion

1 Major Vietnamese-Australian cross-cultural differences

2 Some implications for English language teaching (ELT)

Bibliography

Appendices

26262729

30

3234343434343434353536

Abbreviations

In Vietnam, especially in Vietnamese Universities, teachers and students are aware

of the fact that a suitable address term can establish and maintain a good relationship Forsome international universities, it is all the more important because teachers and students of

different cultures can meet and work together The author herself has experienced suchproblems Thus, how to address appropriately will help us communicate successfully.

2 Aims of the study:

The aims of the study are:

- To investigate major differences in which Australian and Vietnamese teachers andstudents address in their own language

- To find out the linguistic basis that govern the addressing terms, especially thespeech acts in some specific circumstances

- To identify some categorical dimensions in cross-cultural communication, whichaffect the use of addressing terms

- To suggest cross-cultural translation of addressing terms between English andVietnamese in order to help learners of English avoid misunderstandings andmiscommunication

3 Methods of the study

The study begins by exploring some governing factors in addressing in general.They are believed to be the linguistic basis upon which addressing terms are to be analyzed.Speech acts, especially the illocutionary acts, is the first hypothesis that contribute toaddressing terms The second hypothesis is the cross-cultural categorical dimensions ofaddressing in which some are used effectively such as directness vs indirectness; positivepoliteness vs negative politeness Besides, interlocutors’ parameters (e.g age, gender,position, qualifications…) also affect strongly the use of addressing terms The last) also affect strongly the use of addressing terms The lasthypothesis is three categories of translation and levels of translation that help us make anexact translation version in addressing in each certain circumstance

With the data collected from Australia and Vietnam, we shall have necessarylinguistic input and information of addressing On that basis, differences are to be foundand discussed In this thesis, the author focuses on the address terms used in teacher-student interactions So, the investigation is centered on these informants only

Some Australian-Vietnamese cross-cultural differences in teacher-studentaddressing will then be compared The data analysis methods are taken from “DoingSecond Language Research” by James Dean Brown and Theodore S Rodgers

4 Scope of the study

The study focuses on the addressing terms used by two cohorts of teachers andstudents in Australia and Vietnam These addressing terms will be analyzed in somespecific situations in their universities How the teachers address the students and how thestudents reply are very different In the study, the author focuses on some main factors thatexercise their influence on the use of addressing terms such as age, gender, marital status,occupation, power, social status, situation of interaction, academic qualification and thespeakers’ preferences of addressing

Addressing is a vast area in cross-cultural communication Due to special andtemporal constraints, cross-cultural differences in ways of addressing will be roughlyanalyzed

5 Design of the study

The study will consist of three parts: introduction, development and conclusion Theintroduction addresses such issues as ‘Rational’, ‘Aims of the study’, ‘Methods of thestudy’, ‘Scope of the study’, and ‘Design of the study’ The second part, development,includes two chapters Chapter 1 prepares theoretical issues and provides conceptualframework to background the practical analysis that follows Chapter 2 begins with thediscussion of the survey questionnaires and the comments on informants The statisticsresearch serves as the basis for data analysis Data will be compiled and arranged intotables and some specific areas The study ends with the exposure of major differences andthe implications for ELT

Part II : development

Chapter I: theoretical background

i.1 Speech acts

According to Yule, G (1997) actions performed via utterances are generally calledspeech acts, and in English, are given more specific labels, such as apology, complaint,compliment, invitation, promise, request etc Also, the circumstances, in which, viautterances actions are perform to communicate are generally called speech events In manyways, it is the nature of the speech event that determines the interpretation of an utterance

as performing a particular speech act For example, on the merry occasion like parties orfestivals, the speaker meets a young lady wearing a beautiful red skirt, admires for a whileand produces the utterance “The color looks good on you!” This utterance is likely to beinterpreted as a compliment Changing the circumstance to an unhappy occasion, forexample a funeral service, with the same utterance produced, the meaning of this is likely

to be interpreted as a delicately sarcastic remark

If the same utterance can be interpreted as different kinds of speech, then obviously

no simple one utterance to one action correspondence will be possible It also means thatthere is more to the interpretation of a speech act than can be found in the utterance alone

It is useful at this point to draw from Austin’s analysis of speech acts He introduces

a classification of acts performed when a person speaks The first is a locutionary actproducing a meaningful expression For instance, if we make a simple sentence like “It’sterribly cold today”, we are likely to produce a locutionary act

Moreover, we mostly do not make utterance without having any purpose implied inthem Take the previous sentence as an example, we do not only simply say that sentencebut also have an implication of inquiring the listener or people around to turn on the centralheating or close the windows This kind of acts via utterances we produce with purposes inmind is generally known as illocutionary acts These acts are performed for communicativefunction

The third classification of speech acts given by Austin is named perlocutionary acts.

“In communicating, we do not simply create an utterance without intending to have aneffect.” (G, Yule-1997) For the sentence: “It’s terribly cold today”, we all wish the act oftaking an action to turn on the central heating or close the windows Once Hearerrecognizes the speaker’s intention, the act is generally known as having the perlocutionaryeffect

From the point of view of Yule, G (1997), of the three dimensions, the mostdiscursive one is illocutionary force Indeed, the term speech act is generally interpretedquite narrowly to mean only the illocutionary force of an utterance (1996:49) For instance,the utterance can represent different illocutionary force, such as an apology, a compliment,and an offer However, which illocutionary act is performed depends on how the utterancefits into the particular circumstance

Speech act classification:

According to Yule, G (1997) there is one general classification system that lists fivetypes of general functions performed by speech acts: declarations, representatives,expressives, directives, and commissives

Declarations are those kinds of speech acts that change the world via their

utterance The speaker has to have a special institutional role, in a specific context, in order

to perform a declaration appropriately For example: “Priest: I now pronounce you husbandand wife.”

Representatives are those kinds of speech acts that state what the speaker believes

to be the case or not Statement of fact, assertions, conclusions and descriptions areexamples of the speaker representing the world as he or she believes it is For example,

“The Moon goes round the Earth.” or “It is windy today.”

Expressives are those kinds of speech acts that state what the speaker feels They

express psychological states and can be statement of pleasure, pain, likes, dislikes, joy andsorrow For example: “What a great party!”

Directives are those kinds of speech acts that the speakers use to get the Hearer to

do something They express what the speaker wants For instance: “Stand up, please!” or

“Could you open the door?”

Commissives are those kinds of speech acts that speakers use to commit themselves

to some future action They express what the speaker intends For example: I’ll give onehand.” or “I’ll be back.”

Yule, G (1997) also presents a table showing speech acts classification:

Table 1: Speech Acts Classification

E.g.: Could I have a glass of milk?

The request can be understood in a structurally direct way to that the speaker needs

a glass of milk

Whenever there is an indirect relationship between a structure and a function, wehave an indirect speech act

E.g.: Do you have to stand in front of the TV? (Yule, G-1997)

It is not only used as a question but also a request, hence it is considered to be anindirect speech act

The usefulness of speech acts analysis is illustrating the kinds of things we can dowith words and identifying some of the conventional utterance forms we use to performspecific actions However, we need to look at more extended interaction to understand howthose actions are carried out and interpreted within speech events

However, to compare selected speech acts from two languages, the topic is still vastand couldn’t be treated exhaustively in any one work The cultural norms reflected inspeech acts differ not only from one language to another, but also from one regional andsocial variety to another So, different cultures find expression in different system of speechacts, and that different speech acts become entrenched, and, to some extent, codified indifferent languages.

In short, speech acts affect to all kinds of communication in which addressing plays

a fair position The illocutionary act of addressing makes it different from cultures

i.2 Cross cultural differences– cultural differences

According to Levine and Adelman (cited in Nguyen Quang, Intercultural

communication), culture is a shared background (for example, national, ethnic, religious)

resulting from a common language and communication style, customs, beliefs, attitudes,and values It refers to the informal and often hidden patterns of human interactions,expressions, and viewpoints that people in one culture share The hidden nature of culturehas been compared to an iceberg: most of which is hidden underwater Like the iceberg,much of the influence of culture on an individual cannot be seen The part of culture that isexposed is not always that which creates cross – cultural difficulties: the hidden aspects ofculture have significant effects on behavior and on interactions with others

Many of the factors that give rise to linguistic variation are sometimes discussed interms of cultural differences It is not unusual to find linguistic features quoted asidentifiable aspects of ‘working class culture’ or ‘Black culture’ Give the process of

cultural transmission that language is passed on from one generation to the next by which

it is acquired It makes a lot of sense to emphasize the fact that linguistic variation is tiedvery much to the existence of different cultures However, one quite influential theory ofthe connection between language and worldview proposes a much more deterministicrelationship

The term ‘cross-cultural’ usually refers to the meeting of two cultures or two

languages across the political boundaries of nation-states They are predicated on theequivalence of one nation – one culture – one language

There are many things that we do in our own culture that we never ask questionabout We do things without thinking about them because we have always done them in thesame way When we are in another culture or with people from a different culture, we see

that people do things in many different ways One of the first differences we notice is the

form of address that is used in the culture The language that people use to address each

other tells us many things about a culture For example, the language of addressing peoplegives cultural information about customs, relationships, and communication style, bothverbal and nonverbal You will learn mainly about addressing people in other cultures

Being polite is a complicated business in any language It is difficult to learnbecause it involves understanding not just the language, but also the social and cultural

values of the community There are two different types of politeness Positive politeness is

solidarity - oriented It emphasizes shared attitudes and values A shift to a more informalstyle using slang or swear words will function similarly as an expression of positive

politeness By contrast, negative politeness pays people respect and avoids intruding on

them Using title and last name (TLN) to your teacher is an example of an expression ofnegative politeness

In some languages, people often use address terms expressing solidarity semanticthat is one of in-group identity markers Vietnamese language has the same characteristicwith some relationships as mentioned by Nguyen Quang (2002:161)

- Circular relationship: is widely used in the society and the family to express theinequality, the respect and the solidarity

- Horizontal relationship – Type I: is used to express the power equals, thekinship terms or the solidarity among interlocutors

- Dynamic relationship – Type I: is used in addressing the higher position person

to express the respect

- Dynamic relationship – Type II: is used in addressing the lower position person

to express the respect (In this type, we specially pay attention to the age.)

Besides, there is one more in-group address term: a generic name that exists in othercultural-linguistic terms

In conclusion, to each culture, we have different address terms that are based on thedifferent characteristics of that culture Knowing about this can help us avoidmisunderstanding among people of different cultures.

i.3 cross cultural translation of address terms– cultural differences

‘Translation is the transformation of a speech product in one language into that ofother language keeping the content (or meaning) unchanged’ (L.S Barkhudarov 1975).The term ‘translation’ is the neutral term used for all tasks where the meaning ofexpressions in one language (the source language) is turned into the meaning of another(the target language), whether the medium is spoken or written It has several meanings: itcan refer to the general subject field, the product (the text that has been translated) or theprocess (the act of producing the translation, otherwise known as translating) The process

of translation between two different written languages involves the translator changing anoriginal written text in the original verbal language into a written text in a different verballanguage Jakobson (1959/2000:114) described three categories of translation as follows:

Intralingual translation would occur when we rephrase an expression or text in the same

language to explain or clarify something we might have said or written Intersemiotic

translation would occur if a written text were translated Interlingual translation is an

interpretation of verbal signs by means of some other language

That the translators can work fast depends upon such factors as the translators’experience, their familiarity with the subject matter, and whether they dictate the translation

or have to type it themselves There are three levels of translation:

- Word-for-word: Each word (or occasionally morpheme) in the source language

is translated by a word (or morpheme) in the target language The result oftenmakes no sense, especially when idiomatic constructions are used

- Literal translation: The linguistic structure of the source text is followed, but isnormalized according to the rules of the target language

- Free translation: The linguistic structure of the source language is ignored, and

an equivalent is found based on the meaning it conveys

The aim of translation is to provide semantic equivalence between source and targetlanguage This is what makes translation different from other kinds of linguistic activity.However, there are many problems hidden within this apparently simple statement, all to dowith standards of equivalence should be expected and accepted Exact equivalence is ofcourse impossible: no translator could provide a translation that was a perfect parallel to thesource text, in such respects as rhythm, sound symbolism, puns, and cultural allusions.Such a parallel is not even possible when paraphrasing within a single language: there isalways some loss of information The success of a translation depends on the purpose forwhich it was made, which in turn reflects the needs of the people for whom it was made.

To Vietnamese teachers, how to teach Vietnamese students of English translateaddress terms is not an easy work Some of them seem to understand it very simply andthey forget its culture What they focus on is only the comment of text Sometimes it isfunny to translate from English to Vietnamese when a student asks So, we not only look atthe literal translation, but also the cross-cultural translation It is one of essential parts ofunderstanding address terms across cultures

I.4 Addressing systems

According to Jack C Richards, J Platt and H Platt (1999:6), addressing systems(address form, address term) are understood as:

The word or words used to address somebody in speech or writing The way inwhich people address one another usually depends on their age, sex, social group, andpersonal relationship

For example, many languages have different second person pronoun forms, which are used according to whether the speaker wants to address someone politely or more informally, e.g In German Sie-du, in French Vous-tu, in Spanish Usted-tu and in Mandarin

in Chinese nÝn-ni (you).

If a language has only one-second-person pronoun form, e.g English you, other address forms are used to show formality or informality, e.g Sir, Mr Brown, Brown, Bill.

In some languages, such as Chinese dialects and Japanese, words expressing relationship,

e.g father, mother, aunt, or position, e.g teacher, lecturer, are used as address forms toshow respect and/or signal the formality of the situation, for example:

Mandarin Chinese: baba qing chi

Father please eat

Teacher / sir please !

The address forms of a language are arranged into a complex address system,

which its own rules that need to be acquired if a person want to communicate appropriately

I.4.1 Addressing system in English

In English, addressing system is not really simple With I-YOU, we cancommunicate without knowing about the age, gender, social status of the interlocutor, therelationships between the hearer and the speaker, attitudes or feelings …) also affect strongly the use of addressing terms The last Besides, thereexists many other address terms as follows:

- Title alone (T): E.g Professor, Dr., Mr., Miss …) also affect strongly the use of addressing terms The last

+ Social title: E.g.: Mr., Mrs., Madam …) also affect strongly the use of addressing terms The last

+ Career title: E.g.: Professor, Doctor …) also affect strongly the use of addressing terms The last

- Title with last name (TLN): E.g Mr Clinton …) also affect strongly the use of addressing terms The last

- Last name alone (LN): E.g Michael Nixon, Mary King …) also affect strongly the use of addressing terms The last

- First name (FN): E.g Michael Nixon, Mary King …) also affect strongly the use of addressing terms The last

However, there are only two main selections: first name and title with last name.When people want to show the solidarity semantic, they address the partners by first name.But when they show the power semantic, title with last name is used

These two address terms are divided into three groups:

- Nonreciprocal exchange of TLN and FN

According to Brown and Ford (1964), the two address terms are influenced by thetime the interlocutors know each other and the solidarity Wardhaugh (1986:262) states:

using first name of someone [ …] is not only expressed the solidarity FN can use among ] is not only expressed the solidarity FN can use among the close colleagues (even they do not like each other) FN even use for the officials, or when expressing the disdain or admiration.

Title (T) is an address term that can be used It is not very different from TLN.These address terms are used between people who haven’t known each other very well or

by a one-way relationship of the lower to the higher position person

In terms of multiple names (MNs), Brown and Ford (1964:238) explain: sometimes

we use TLN; sometimes we use FN, LN or Diminutives, or other variables of phonetics.

I.4.2 Addressing system in Vietnamese

Addressing system in Vietnamese, as many other Oriental languages, is verycomplicated

Wardhaugh (1986:262) when studied about kinship terms comments that :

In fact, some languages use the kinship terms as addressing forms.[ …] is not only expressed the solidarity FN can use among ] One person addresses the others by some address terms such as uncle , older sister , younger“ ” “ ” “

brother and so on Even I can be seen as a kinship term Therefore, in any or every” “ ”

social relation, the interlocutors have to manage to identify themselves and others, and use some factors such as the relation, social position and age to select the suitable addressing terms.

In Vietnamese addressing system, there is no equivalent to I-YOU in English that isused as a prefabricated unit The addressing term I-YOU itself does not imply age, gender,social power, attitudes and feeling in it While in Vietnamese, the addressing terms changeaccording to each factor

According to Nguyen Quang (2002:159), in the Northern dialect, there are 34kinship terms as follows:

Table 2:

STT Kinship terms as address forms

The first personal pronoun The second personal pronoun

- The higher vs lower positions

- The relatives vs relatives – in – law

- The father’s relatives vs the mother’s relatives

In social communication, address terms are used very actively with variousrelationships: Horizontal relationship – type 1,2; Dynamic relationship – type 1,2,3; andCircular relationship Besides, there are many other factors that affect addressing such asage, gender, social status, power, occupation, interactional situation or even the lexico-modal markers, paralinguistic factors, eye-contact, facial expressions and proxemics Allthese factors contribute to ways of addressing.

Chapter II: Experimental research:

Findings and discussions

II.1 The survey questionnaire

There are five survey questionnaires altogether, in which two first surveyquestionnaires are for Vietnamese students, another is for Vietnamese teachers of Englishand the last two are for Australian students who are native speakers of English

In the survey questionnaires, the author focuses on three main points: the factorsthat affect addressing; the frequency of addressing and the actual addressing in somespecific situations Then, in the last part, there is a comparison between English andVietnamese addressing, and the author also advances some implications for teachingaddressing terms to Vietnamese learners of English The information is taken from someVietnamese teachers’ experiences in the process of teaching English

The subjects are only teachers and students The setting is universities (inVietnam and Australia)

Also, the author designs the survey questionnaires with some clear tables andready parameters so that informants find it easier to tick or number Besides, there are openquestions to measure reactions by students and teachers All of these questions arecompiled on the basis of specific situations The informants can tick or give more opinionsabout the problems of addressing that they cope in their life in the universities

However, the survey questionnaire does not simply collect information frominformants, but also contains the considerations in addressing to find out the underlyingfactors that determine the choice of linguistic forms that have been used and somedimensions in cross-cultural communication, which govern the addressing terms.

II.2 the informants

The Australian informants were twenty in number: ten females and ten maleswho are the students of some faculties at Sydney university, aged between twenty andtwenty-four However, it should be noted here that Australia is a multi-cultural country.The informants might be influenced by those different cultures But they have been livingthere for a long time and have been adapted to Australian modes of addressing The authorintentionally includes their responses in the data and comments on any differences that theyevidenced from the perceived norm

The Vietnamese informants are divided into two groups The first group wasfifty-five in number who are all students of three big universities in Haiphong – the thirdlargest city in Vietnam: Haiphong university, Haiphong medical university and Vietnammaritime university The students are at the age of eighteen to twenty-four All of themwere born and brought up in Vietnam They have not been affected much by any othercultures So, it is convenient to compare and discover differences of addressing betweenAustralian and Vietnamese The second group was fifteen Vietnamese teachers of English:three are males and twelve are females Most of them are young but qualified and areteachers of some big universities and schools in Haiphong

The informants were asked to give their age, occupation, gender, and maritalstatus because these factors may affect their ways of selecting addressing forms Theinformation they supply is useful for the explanation of differences in the responses

ii.3 Statistics research

Research is an exploration of experience of one kind or another Statistics research

is very important in language education in which we put all the data together in one place toanalyze and understand it easier In the study, the author would like to consider the way toaddress in both Vietnamese and English, on the basis of statistics

In this part, a statistic foundation that is written in “Doing Second LanguageResearch” by James Dean Brown and Theodore S Rodgers that these survey questionnairesare based on will be given.

For the beginning, we need to understand some definitions of statistic research:According to J.D Brown and T.S Rodgers (2002:142), surveys are any proceduresused to gather and describe the characteristics, attitudes, views, opinions, and so fourth ofthe students, teachers, administrators, or any other people who are important to a study.Survey typically takes the form of interviews or questionnaires or both

Questionnaires (2002:142) are administered in writing to individuals or members

of a group They may include open-response items in the form of filling and short-answerquestions, but generally speaking, they are predominantly made up of more close-responseitems such as multiple-choice, yes-no, and ranking

Compiling research data (2002:6) means putting all the data together in oneplace in such a way that you can more easily analyze and interpret them This might meanputting numerical data in rows and columns on graphing paper, or it might meantranscribing taped interviews, or coding activities observed in a classroom

Analyzing research data (2002:7) is that the researcher need to undertake moredetailed linguistic analyses of the language, noting changes in vocabulary, grammar,punctuation, capitalization, letter format, and cohesion, and finding the differences inthoughts that the data is done The researcher should then organize these changes anddifferences in the form of a table Tables are often used not only to organize data analysis,but also used in research reports as a way of presenting results in a final form

Using tables (2002:34) is a process of analyzing the original data, organizing andreporting the results There are several things that worth noting in Henning Wode’ s paper

- The table and text are interlocked A table appears with accompanying textexplaining the table and highlighting points in that table the author wants thereader to focus on

- The author compromised here with transcription of the language data Hehimself decided on what data reporting form best suited his purpose

- The number of the participants was not reported It is used to show some generaltrends over a large number of mixed participants with mixed data.

The formulas are used:

Percentages are calculated by dividing the total number in one category by the total

number in all categories and multiplying the result by 100 Such percentage analysis couldwell be applied to the answers that participants give to the various items

a - a = number of a specific items

N

Mean, which is more commonly called the average, is the sum of all the values in a

distribution divided by the number of values

N - X = values

- N = number of values

Mode is the value in a set of numbers that occurs most frequently.

Median is the point in the distribution below which 50% of the value lie and above

which 50% lie

Central tendency can be defined as the propensity of a set of numbers to cluster

around a particular value

Dispersion: the degree to which the individual numbers vary away from central

II.4 Data analysis: findings and discussions

II.4.1 Responses in English

II.4.1.1 Considerations in selection of Address terms

When informants were asked to indicate what they take into consideration themost in addressing between teachers and students in English, each of them selected severalcategories So the percentage is based on the number of informants who select one categoryagainst the total

Table 3: (by percentage)

Category N M Age1 Gender2 Maritalstatus

3

Occupatio n 4

Power 5

The time you have known each other 6

Situation of interaction 7

Academic qualificatio n 8

His/Her own preferences of addressing 9

consideration (65%) Gender and situation of interaction are considered less important thanthe other factors.

The address terms may depend on how teachers and students are introduced orteacher’s preferences The ways students use address terms may reflect attitudes andfeelings towards their teachers because many teachers and students really care about howthey address the other interlocutor and how they are addressed

Besides, in addressing someone, supposedly a generation older, the Australianinformants almost unanimously use formal terms The data show that the students tend touse more formal terms towards their teachers For example, a male student would use FN toaddress a male teacher but would use TLN to address a female teacher However, femalestudents are found to formal to teachers of both genders The formality tends to remainthroughout both initial and later contacts Here, there is a selection in addressing betweenmale and female teachers that belongs to gender factor, is an evidence for theirdetermination in addressing terms

In the result for survey questionnaire 1, the situation of interaction is consideredless important than the other factors Some informants found it difficult to choose whetherthis factor is important or not In fact, in the limitation of the study, I only find the data in alimited place – the university – when the situations are formal and the participants’ rolesare clearly defined It is obvious that the situation of interaction is determined and it isn’tnecessary for them to pay attention

In response to how they address their teachers the most formal, the resultappears in the following table:

The Australian students in general use career title (100%) or social title (100%).However, when they were asked, career title is used more often than social title TLN is thenext selection (80%) It is obvious that power and academic qualification contribute theirparts to the students’ addressing The difference between the address terms for the formalsituation and the kinship terms used usually is an illustration.

II.4.1.2 Frequency of address terms

According to Ballard and Clanchy (1988), Australian society is “egalitarian” Peopletreat one another in a more friendly way and often use FN to address one another Thereason is that they are encouraged to do so by the teachers However, the female studentsfind reluctantly to do so They reveal that addressing the teachers by their FN soundsinformal

To investigate the Australian students’ reaction towards inappropriate forms ofaddress, three situations were given (Survey questionnaire 2) One was to test the students’reaction to be addressed by FN from the younger teachers; the other was when the teachersaddressed them by TLN; the last situation was the neutral addressing “you” to be used Thedata show that addressing by FN is the most common when the teachers address thestudents (100%) That can make all the students feel the same to each other in theuniversity When teachers change their way to address by TLN, they are making a politeaddress term to their students (100%) However, using the neutral addressing “you” isunacceptable Students feel to be not known by their teachers To some extent, they supposethat the teachers look down on them

When students were asked how the teachers address them in class, the result ofquestion 3, survey questionnaire 1 (see appendix 12) shows that FN and full name arechosen by all the informants Here, FN is used more often than the other terms ofendearment The terms TLN and “you” may sound a bit offensive, only when the teachersare angry or make fun of them LN is not used

It is obvious that teachers and students tend to address by FN to each other Thisaddress term show the equality and solidarity between them in class in the university

II.4.2 Responses in Vietnamese

II.4.2.1 Considerations in selection of Address terms

In Vietnamese culture, there exists a long – standing tradition of highlyrespecting teachers In the old societies, particularly before the move to independence in

1945 that brought about a drastic change in outlook, teachers were ranked and treated asequal to one’s parents In Vietnamese old address system, “thÇy” (teacher – theoccupational marker is used as an address term) is the way to address the teachers but alsothe way to address the father in the family This tradition still exists in present-day society,even there are many various changes in social norms and values Nowadays, “thÇy” (father)has still used in some parts of Vietnam, especially in the countryside

In response to what they take into consideration when students address theirteachers (see appendix 16), the Vietnamese informants indicate that the factor “age” playsthe most important role in their way to address their teacher (56%) It is not a strange thingbecause for most of Vietnamese people in the communicating environment, age is theirmode to address each other Moreover, as mentioned before, teachers can be treated asstudents’ parents at school So the relationship between teachers and students changes intoCircular relationship that often use in the family with kinship terms as address forms.Factor “Power” is evaluated the second consideration in the addressing of students toteachers (18%) The students argue that university is a working place where always dividesinto higher and lower levels of power

Besides, the table shows that “Gender”(10%) and “The time teacher and studenthave known each other” (20%) are either taken for granted or do not affect their prescribedway of addressing their teachers The other factors are sometimes used that depends on thespecific situations, especially outside class

From the data (see appendix 22), female students tend to address moresimultaneously Even in class or outside class, they suppose that the power has to pay mostattention So, “thÇy /c«” (teacher) and “em” (I) are usually addressed by them They do notcall the teachers according to their age, which is somehow different from the males Formale students, outside class, the change of address term “thÇy /c«” to “anh/chÞ” (to theyounger teachers) sounds closer (13.6%)

When the students are asked why they do not address by Professor or Doctor,8.5% answers sometimes but the rest explains that these address terms are not usual in theuniversities It sounds too much formal and can make the gaps among teachers andstudents It is not the term for routine life in the university.

In short, in all factors affect to the address terms, “age” is the most consideratenot only in social address forms, but also in the universities The other factors are arrangedand used according to the specific situations However, the address terms “thÇy /c« - em”are likely used popularly though there are any factors or situations

II.4.2.2 Frequency of address terms

II.4.2.2.1 The addressing dyad ThÇy/C« - Em“ ”

In all of the address terms investigated in the students’ preferences (59students), “thÇy /c« - em” takes the highest number of percentage (98%) (Questionnaire 5– question 2) For them, this is the most respectful way of addressing

There are many reasons that “thÇy /c« - em” is chosen by nearly all students.According to Austin’s analysis of speech acts, the address term “thÇy /c« - em” is obviously

a meaningful expression which make a locutionary act This addressing is understood by allthe teachers (the hearers) and accepted by them However, this address term also has itsillocutionary act – the implication for speech When Vietnamese students address “thathÇy”, there are many factors affect to their addressing “ThÇy” has the equal position to theparents (as analyzed in the consideration of addressing) So, “thÇy” is older than thestudents “ThÇy” must be respected This is very normal in Vietnamese tradition wherepeople in the social life always choose “age” as the first factor to address each other.Moreover, “ThÇy” also means “teachers” – the higher power people They are the oneswho teach students, correct them with the knowledge or even their life style If the studentsare good, they must obey and respect their teachers

In the university, teachers always have higher academic qualification whilestudents have lower one So, when students call “thÇy/c«”, they must have the higher andbetter qualification than them Besides, there is an obligation that all the students must obey

in the university in Vietnam They might not choose the strange address terms because theycan sound ironical, funny or rude.

According to Nguyen Quang (2002:161), this address term expresses thesolidarity semantic This marker belongs to one of strategies of positive politeness incommunication: the in-group identity markers that will be analyzed in the next part

II.4.2.2.2 Other address terms used in the universities

The data in the table 25 (see Appendix 18) suggests that students can choosesome more address terms to their teachers 44% choose title and first name as their secondfrequency, 20% for social title especially the males This change of addressing shows thatthe students want to express their solidarity or kinship to their teachers Males often findeasier to change than females There is an implication here that we can regard them as thefamily-orientation – one of the variables of dynamic relationship

There are some factors that never affect to Vietnamese students’ addressing tothe teachers such as the diminutives (61%), the last name (70%), full name (56%) and firstname (52%) These factors are very unusual in teacher-student addressing In fact, thediminutives often use among the equal-power people in the family or among best friends.Even though teachers and students have the closer relationship, they haven’t still addressedlike this Address term “last name” appears when Vietnamese people communicate with theworld and are affected by the foreign addressing Vietnamese people really pay no attention

to the last name of someone, except for identifying one person from the other with the samefirst name It is the same to explanation to addressing between teachers and studentsbecause university address terms are likely influenced by the social addressing when it isone part of the broad address system in a community

Full name can, to some extent, be used It expresses the respect of students totheir teachers This address term can be understood as the highly appreciation to theteachers who are well known in the university However, when the teachers address thestudents by full name, it might make the distances in communication

First name is never used when the students address their teachers in theuniversity in Vietnam The author herself was a student in Hanoi, and she is a teacher in

Haiphong, but never in her life, she has heard the students address the teachers by their firstname The same problem was given to the informants, and then the author got the sameopinions from them They only change their address term by “thÇy” and first name Theway to call the teachers by first name shows the rudeness.

In summary, the address term “thÇy /c« - em” is the most usual and popular inthe universities in Vietnam It is not only the respectful address term but also the closestaddress term in teacher-student relationship

II.4.2.2.3 Vietnamese students use of address terms to their teachers.’

When investigating the address terms between teachers and students in class,most of the students choose “thÇy /c« - em” as their frequency of addressing (72.9%) –(see appendix 22) This is the most usual address term in all of the universities in Vietnam.The students who have the lower position and are often younger tend to address “em” andcall the teachers by career title “thÇy/c«” to express their respect and politeness When thestudents are older than the teachers, the address term “em” can change into “t«i” and callthe teachers by title The address term “t«i – title” can create the two new relations calleddynamic relationships

However, to some extent, the older students still use the address term “em –title” The transference of “t«i – title” to “em – title” shows the self – abasement and thesolidarity among interlocutors

In the old society, the address term “em” was substituted by “trß” – the title ofthe learner This address term is the same to the one of modern society with its fullsignificance

This dynamic relationship can be mapped as follows:

the higher-position people to express the solidarity and respect According to Nguyen Quang (2002:172): The dynamic relationship include one relation in which the first personal pronoun t«i stays the same and the second pronoun“ ”

title varies

“thÇy/c« + first name” (10.2%) This expresses the solidarity process between teachers andstudents However, it does not reduce the respect and politeness in the addressing terms

Nguyen Quang (2002:172) also emphasizes that: In the two types of dynamic relationship, the dynamic factor can be the first personal pronoun t«i while the second“ ”

pronoun doesn t vary (dynamic relationship ’ – type 1) or the second pronoun varies correspondently to the first one (Variable of dynamic relationship – type 1). Theaddressing between teachers and students exists like this It is when students change theiraddress term “em” to “ch¸u/con” When informants are asked, they explained that: thechange was going to make the relationship closer And the teachers who are at the same agewith their parents can be regarded as their parents at school Obviously, in this situation, thecompromise was changed into another relation called “circular relationship” – the mostpopular relation in the communication in the family and social life in Vietnam

In the limitation of the questionnaire, the author tries to focus on the one-wayrelationship of the students to the teachers Here, the dynamic relationship – type 1 is veryeffective to analyze the data

II.4.3 Some problems of cross-cultural translation of the English address terms into Vietnamese

According to the results for survey questionnaire 3 (table 21 – see appendix14), most of informants chose “t«i” as the address term of the teacher to the student (80%for the first situation and 60% for the third situation) The other selection is for “thÇy/c«”(20% for the first situation and 40% for the third situation) Nobody addressed by otherterms So, the data shows that this address term of the teacher is very popular in manyuniversities in Vietnam

Investigating the same to the students’ addressing, the results were 10 students(66.7%) address their teachers by “em”, the next 5 students (33.3%) address by “t«i” Theother address terms do not mention

Obviously, all informants not only simply translated the words of address termsbut also cross-cultural transferred these address terms In English, the address terms, tosome extent, are different from the ones in Vietnamese The change of addressing fromEnglish to Vietnamese here expresses the differences between the two cultures.

The complex happens when students call their teachers In the target version, forthe first situation, the teacher suggested the students to address by his first name, and forthe third situation, the suggestion was title and last name When translating intoVietnamese, the results were amazing

Table 5: (by percentage)

Situations of

addressing

First name 1

Teacher and First name 2

Teacher and Last name 3

Teacher and Full name 4

Social title Mr.,Mrs., Madam

5

Social title and First name 6

Social title and Last name 7

Social title and Full name 8

Teacher ThÇy/C«

9

t«I 10

Career title 11

Em 12

Teacher's

preference 93,3 6,7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Student 0 0 46,7 0 6,7 0 0 0 46,7 0 0 0

S2: Teacher 0 6,7 0 33,3 6,7 0 0 13,3 13,3 0 26,7 0 Student 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 33,3 0 66,7

Student 0 20 33,3 0 6,7 13,3 20 0 6,7 0 0 0

In the figure, most of informants chose first name for teacher’s preferences(80%) and the other 20% was for teacher and first name The number of the third situationincludes 3 (20%), 5 (33.3%), 1 (6.7%), 2 (13.3%), 3 (20%), and 1 (6.7%) for teacher andfirst name, teacher and last name, social title, social title and first name, social title and lastname, and teacher respectively These changes of addressing are more abundant than those

in the survey questionnaire analysis above In reality, there are many address terms whichnever used when the students address the teachers in the university such as first name,

teacher and last name, social title and last name, or rarely used as social title, social titleand first name.

The informants seem to pay no attention to the difference of using first name orlast name When in English version, the student addressed Mr Thomas (title and last name)that rarely happens in addressing system in Vietnam The percentages collected consist of46.7% for teacher and last name, 6.7% for social title and 46.7% for teacher Althoughthere was the cross-cultural translation for these situations but quite different from pure-Vietnamese addressing system

To find an accurate translation is not easy because the English version tend toaddress by teachers’ preferences when in Vietnamese, there is a traditional norm thatcannot change from another language The selection of word-for word level translation andliteral translation are not suitable The equivalence is only expressed by free translationwhen meaning is conveyed but structure of the source language is ignored

II.5 Limitations of the study

The study is only investigated the address terms of students to their teachers andsome of their reactions when the teachers address them The focus is for the addressors –the students only It is the one-way address terms So it cannot express the full addressingsystem between teachers and students in the university

The investigation could not reach a wider group of informants because of timeavailable and distance of possible informants The informants for the survey questionnairesbelong to two groups The first group includes the top students of University of New SouthWales of some faculties The second group is the students of some big universities inHaiphong – one of the biggest cities in Vietnam Although they cannot represent for allthe speakers of English or Vietnamese, they have still contributed their precious opinions tothe addressing system in each country

Part III: Conclusion

1 Major Vietnamese-Australian cross-cultural differences:

1.1 Australian findings:

1.1.1 Factors affecting address terms

- In addressing, Australian students consider the teacher’s preference ofaddressing as the most important factor Age is another factor they mention butless important

- In class, the students tend to use FN to address the teachers

- The personal identification of the teachers in the initial situation is veryimportant to select a satisfactory address term for both teachers and students

- Female students tend to be more formal than male students

- The study is about a formal situation of interaction

- Power and academic qualification highly appropriate when it is the formalsituation

1.1.2 Frequency of addressing

- FN is the most frequent address term between teachers and students

- TLN is a polite address term of teachers to students.

- Neutral addressing “you” is never used in teacher-student interaction ofaddressing

1.2 Vietnamese findings

1.2.1. Factors affecting address terms

- Vietnamese students consider “age” as the most important factor in student addressing, like the address terms in the society Next, it is power

teacher The address term “thÇy/c«-em” (teacher-younger person) is chosen for thefrequency of addressing in class

- The change of addressing terms might appear in the interactional situation asoutside class, especially by the male students

- Academic qualification rarely appears in teacher-student interaction

- FN and LN are never used when students address their teachers

1.3 Major Vietnamese-Australian cross-cultural differences

Age is the first factor that makes the difference between English and Vietnameseaddressing While Australian informants select “age” as the second level of importance,Vietnamese informants choose it the most important that decide their way to address.Australian students can address their teachers even they do not know their age In fact, inthe initial interactional situation, they have introduced and known exactly the address termsthat satisfy both teachers and students Students in Vietnam choose “teacher” (theoccupational marker) as their address term for the first time But if they want to have acloser kinship term, they must know teacher’s age So, age is their first choice thatAustralian is not the same

Although the academic qualification is important in communicating someone, thecommon way of selecting it as an address term is different in each culture Australianinformants show their respect by using academic qualification directly Vietnamese don’t

do that It doesn’t mean that this factor isn’t important to them They respect the teacher’squalification, but in their opinions, addressing by this way can make the distance betweenteachers and students

Using the neutral addressing “you” in Australian address terms is unacceptablewhile it is used popularly in Vietnam It can be understood as the equality among students

in Vietnam when teacher calls each of them, but it can make offensive from Australianstudents when teachers do not know who they are

The frequency of address terms between Vietnamese and Australian languages isquite different When Australian informants choose FN as their common address terms inthe university, Vietnamese informants choose “teacher” (occupational marker) as theirusual address term The address term “teacher” can appear in Australian addressing system

in the lower level of education But it must change at the higher level This differencemakes the big difficulty in cross-cultural transference of address terms between Vietnameseand English for learners of English It is the reason why the study has been done

2 Some implications for English language teaching

The address terms take part in all of the communicative situations Theunderstanding for this matter is as important as the knowing of attitudes or feelings of theinterlocutors To the students of English, address terms can be seen as one of their learningparts in order to understand English

Vietnamese learners of English sometimes find difficult to understand thecommunicative situations One of the reasons is the address terms in these situations There

is no complete equivalence among address terms in Vietnamese and English So, to havethe understandings in this matter is necessary that the study has attempted to do Thatdifference lies in each situation of interaction and students themselves have to decide toselect the suitable address terms unanimously

Besides, to cross-cultural transfer the address terms in the two languages are onedemand of translation or interpretation Teachers and students cannot sympathize if they do