Rationale
Communication is the interpersonal action which for exchanging the information among the members in a social community Communication action could be carried out in different ways However, communication through language is the highest and the most important communicative means of human beings Language is formed from the linguistic units such as morphemes, words, phrases, clauses and sentences As Crystal (1992: 212) claims that language is “the systematic, conventional use of sounds, signs, or written symbols in a human society for communication and self-expression”
Language does not occur in isolation, language and culture are believed to be interrelated Supporting that point of view, Goodnough (1957) states that “the relation of language to culture is that of part to whole” It is said that language and culture are interwoven with each other so one could not be properly understood or appreciated with out the knowledge of the other Unlike language, culture does not hold fixed rules
Culture is different from society to society, even from individual to individual Thus, what is acceptable in one culture may not be acceptable in another one Similar to the dressing, housing etc, language is also a way of making cultural identity On the other hand, culture influents the way in which language is used That is reason why language learners need acquire the linguistic system as well as aware of the cultural dimension of that language
In our country in the last few years, teaching and learning foreign languages in general and teaching and learning English in particular has become a topical issue drawing concerns of many researchers As Vietnam adopted an open-door policy, there are many people wishing to learn and master English to communicate with foreigners
However, the teaching and learning processes in Vietnam still seems to focus much on linguistic competence - producing correct utterances rather than social or contextual appropriate ones This is the reason why learners may be proficient in grammar and vocabulary, but still fail to communicate effectively because they lack of communicative competence
With an effort to improve learners’ communicative competence, a large number of English -Vietnamese cross - cultural studies concerned with the realization and the usage of such the sensitive speech acts such as requesting, inviting, thanking, greeting, giving and receiving compliments, etc This suggests a cross-cultural study of one of the most sensitive illocutionary act in English and Vietnamese that is joking This paper is hoped to be another contribution as it is a research on some English - Vietnamese similarities and differences in joking I have chosen the speech act of joking as the object to be investigated in my study with the hope that it will help avoid, or at least, reduce cultural conflicts in joking in cross - cultural communication.
Aims of the study
The aims of the study are:
- To investigate the ways of telling jokes
- To compare and contrast the range of telling joke strategies in the two languages in order to clarify similarities and differences in the way Vietnamese and English people telling a joke in their own language and culture
- To contribute to increasing cross - cultural awareness among foreign language teachers and learners in the speech act of telling a joke.
Scope of the study
- This paper is confined only to the verbal aspects of the act of joking Although the author is fully aware of the role of paralinguistic and non - verbal factors in real-life communication, they are beyond the scope of this study
- This study is aimed to investigate the English -Vietnamese cross - cultural interaction on speech act of joking between friends and relatives Its central focus is on which strategies used in joking in both languages English and Vietnamese
- The data are mainly taken based on conducting survey questionnaires that consist of six situations in which the act of joking occurs Recorded and videotaped face- to-face conversations are impossible due to limitations of time, geographical and financial difficulties.
Research questions
The study will focus on dealing with the following questions:
1 What are similarities and differences in the ways English and Vietnamese people telling jokes between friends and relatives in their own languages and cultures?
2 How is the application in using humour in the teaching of foreign language?
Methodology
The main method of this study is the quantitative one In order to set up the theoretical framework for the study, the author refers to both Vietnamese and English publications All the considerations, remarks, comments and conclusions in this thesis are based on following practical approaches:
+ conducting survey questionnaires + analyzing the data collection + consulting with supervisor + discussing with colleagues
Design of the study
This study is divided into three parts:
Part A: INTRODUCTION: All the academic routines required for an M A Thesis are presented
Part B: DEVELOPMENT: This part consists of two chapters
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Joking in English and Vietnamese culture
1.5.2 Joking in English and Vietnamese
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Description of the questionnaires
2.3.1 The informants’ awareness of the sense of humour and joking 2.3.1 Means realized in telling joke
2.3.2 Use of means in joking as seen from communicating partners’ parameters
2.3.2.1 English findings 2.3.2.1.1 In friend relation 2.3.2.1.2 In relative relation 2.3.2.2 Vietnamese findings 2.3.2.2.1 In friend relation 2.3.2.2.2 In relative relation
2.3.3 Use of means in telling jokes as seen from informants’ parameters
2.4 Major similarities and differences findings between English and Vietnamese 2.4.1 Similarities
2.4.2 Differences 2.5 Some implications in using humour in the teaching foreign language
2 Suggestion for further study References
Description of the subjects
2.3.1 The informants’ awareness of the sense of humour and joking 2.3.1 Means realized in telling joke
2.3.2 Use of means in joking as seen from communicating partners’ parameters
2.3.2.1 English findings 2.3.2.1.1 In friend relation 2.3.2.1.2 In relative relation 2.3.2.2 Vietnamese findings 2.3.2.2.1 In friend relation 2.3.2.2.2 In relative relation
2.3.3 Use of means in telling jokes as seen from informants’ parameters
2.4 Major similarities and differences findings between English and Vietnamese 2.4.1 Similarities
2.4.2 Differences 2.5 Some implications in using humour in the teaching foreign language
2 Suggestion for further study References
Data analysis
2.3.1 The informants’ awareness of the sense of humour and joking 2.3.1 Means realized in telling joke
2.3.2 Use of means in joking as seen from communicating partners’ parameters
2.3.2.1 English findings 2.3.2.1.1 In friend relation 2.3.2.1.2 In relative relation 2.3.2.2 Vietnamese findings 2.3.2.2.1 In friend relation 2.3.2.2.2 In relative relation
2.3.3 Use of means in telling jokes as seen from informants’ parameters
2.4 Major similarities and differences findings between English and Vietnamese 2.4.1 Similarities
2.4.2 Differences 2.5 Some implications in using humour in the teaching foreign language
2 Suggestion for further study References
PART B - DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1 Cross-cultural communication 1.1.1 What is culture?
Most people believe that it is impossible to master a language without having knowledge of its cultural background We often use the word “culture” in daily life however, when we try to define what culture is, it is indeed difficult In fact, different authors have different definitions of culture
One of the most widely known definitions of culture is Goodenough’s definition
The author states that culture is “a society’s culture consists of whatever it is one has to know or believe in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members, and to do so in any role that they accept for any one of themselves.”
Obviously, culture is an essential kind of knowledge which everyone needs to own to act within a society And this knowledge is gained through social actions that you take part in as a member of the society Furthermore, cultures are not the production of individuals They are the continuously evolving productions of people interacting with each others If you were the only human on earth, there would be no need for language or culture
Different culture groups think, feel, and act differently However, there are learned behavior patterns that are shared by all humanity collectively No matter where people live on the world, they share these universal traits For example, we all communicate by using a verbal language consisting of a limited set of words and grammatical rules; we all use age and gender to classify people, etc As Nguyen Quang (1998: 3) states that culture is “a shared background (for example, national, ethic, religious) resulting from a common language and communication style, customs, beliefs, attitudes, and values.”
In short, culture is a powerful human tool for survival It consists of the full range of learned human behavior patterns that we acquired in a society Different societies have different cultural characters These differences cause the variety of human languages and cultures
Kramsch (1998: 81) affirms that cross-culture is “the meeting of two cultures or two languages across the political boundaries of nation-states.” It is evidently that different societies also exchange and share culture Cross-cultural exchange often results in what scholars call acculturation when the members of one culture adopt features of another For example, Vietnamese Americans change their ways of life when they move from Vietnam to America They change their taste of food, types of dressing, ways of communication, etc., to get use to the new environment
Apart from that, cross-cultural communication is the “communication (verbal and non-verbal) between people from different cultures; communication that is influenced by cultural values, attitudes, and behavior; the influence of culture on people’s reactions and responses to each other.” (Levince, R.D & Adelman M.B, 1993: xvii) Normally, people know how to behave appropriately within their own culture and society However when they move to another country, this social behavior rules change For instance, it is quite usual for Vietnamese to greet by saying “where are you going?” On the other hand, such utterance may be perceived as annoying curiosity by native English speakers because for most Western cultures, the individual and personal privacy comes first Thus, it is necessary for Vietnamese people to avoid this way of greeting when moving to Western countries
1.2 Speech acts 1.2.1 Definition of speech acts
In order to carry out the purpose in communication, people not only produce utterances containing grammatical and lexicological factors, but also perform actions through these utterances These actions performed via utterances are called speech acts
For example, the following utterance: “I promise I will come tomorrow” not only conveys information but it also constitutes the act of promising
The British philosopher J L Austin in his book “How to do things with words”
(1962) is the first to draw attention to the functions performed by utterances as part of interpersonal communication John Austin (1962: 94) defines speech acts as the actions performed in saying something
Searle (1969: 16) affirms that when we speak a language we are performing speech acts, “acts such as making statements, giving commands, asking questions, making promises and so on” He suggests that these acts are performed suitable for certain rules for the usage of linguistic elements
Although two authors introduce two different definitions of speech acts, generally they share the common point that speech acts are the actions that are involved when one says something In brief, a speech act is simply an action performed by means of language
Author John Austin (1962: 109) in his book “How to do things with words” believes that a single act usually contains three related acts: Locutionary act, Illocutionary act and Perlocutionary act
+ Locutionary act is the action performed by uttering a well-formed, meaningful sentence
+ Illocutionary act is the communication force or intention of the speaker or writer which accompanies the utterance, e.g promising, warning, conceding, denying, etc
+ Perlocutionary act is the effect of the utterance on the hearer or the reader who may feel amused, persuaded, warned
Sharing the same point of view, Yule, G (1996: 48) also claims that whenever we produce an utterance, we perform three related speech acts: locutionary act, illocutionary act and perlocutionary act When we utter the sentence “It is very hot here”, we are likely to produce a locutionary act Moreover, we mostly do not make utterances without having any purpose In the example above, we do not simply say that sentence but also intend to require the listener to open the door or turn on the air - conditioner This kind of acts is called illocutionary act These acts are performed for communicative function
The third classification of speech acts, namely perlocutionary acts in the sentence “It is very hot here” is that we all wish the act of opening the door, turning on the air- conditioner to be done
After Austin, there are many other pragmatists who inherited and advanced his speech acts theory We have to mention Searle’s (1969: 70) classification It is one of the most influential and widely used classifications He provides five basic types of speech act as follows:
+ Declarations are those kinds of speech acts that bring about states of affairs, including namings, firings, hirings, pardons, etc
+ Representatives are those kinds of speech acts that state what the speaker believes to be the case or not including assertions, descriptions, reports, statements, etc
+ Expressives are those kinds of speech acts that state the speaker’s psychological state or attitude, including apologies, compliments, greetings, thankings, etc
+ Directives are those kinds of speech acts that attempt to get the hearer to do something, including questions, requests, orders, etc
+ Commissives are those kinds of speech acts that speaker commits themselves to some future act, including promises, threat, refusals, vow, etc
Similarly, Yule, G (1996: 55) presents five types of speech acts that are shown as in the table below:
Speech act types Direction of fit S = Speaker
Declarations Representatives Expressives Directives Commissives words change the world make words fit the world make words fit the world make the world fit the words make the world fit words
Table 1: The five general functions of speech acts (Yule, G 1996)
Furthermore, according to Yule, G (1996: 55), speech acts are classified based on the relationship between the structure and functions The author claims that there are three structural forms (declarative, interrogative, and imperative) and three general communicative functions (statement, question, command or request) They can be combined to create two other types of speech acts: direct and indirect speech acts Yule,
Major similarities and differences findings between English and Vietnamese…31
- Both the Vietnamese and the English informants employ Bon-mot at the highest rate
- Both groups are careful to employ Vulgarity in telling joke with friends and relatives
- The female, the married and the rural from both groups do not use the Vulgarity in telling joke
- The single from English informants and Vietnamese informants use Allusion with the same rate (8%) In addition, both the urban groups employ Bon-mot at 87%
- Urban, single and above 20 age prefer Allusion much more than rural, married and below 20 age
- English informants employ Bon-mot more frequently than Vietnamese informants in telling joke with friends and relatives
- None of the Vietnamese informants employ Vulgarity Contrast to the Vietnamese informants, the English ones use Vulgarity much more in daily joke The persuasible reasons lying on the careful language choice of Vietnamese informants in completing the survey questionnaires
- The Vietnamese informants tend to use Simile more than the English informants
- The male, urban and above 20 age of English group use Allusion much more than those of Vietnamese group (12% vs 7%, 9% vs 8%, 12% vs 5%).
Suggestion for further study
PART B - DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1 Cross-cultural communication 1.1.1 What is culture?
Most people believe that it is impossible to master a language without having knowledge of its cultural background We often use the word “culture” in daily life however, when we try to define what culture is, it is indeed difficult In fact, different authors have different definitions of culture
One of the most widely known definitions of culture is Goodenough’s definition
The author states that culture is “a society’s culture consists of whatever it is one has to know or believe in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members, and to do so in any role that they accept for any one of themselves.”
Obviously, culture is an essential kind of knowledge which everyone needs to own to act within a society And this knowledge is gained through social actions that you take part in as a member of the society Furthermore, cultures are not the production of individuals They are the continuously evolving productions of people interacting with each others If you were the only human on earth, there would be no need for language or culture
Different culture groups think, feel, and act differently However, there are learned behavior patterns that are shared by all humanity collectively No matter where people live on the world, they share these universal traits For example, we all communicate by using a verbal language consisting of a limited set of words and grammatical rules; we all use age and gender to classify people, etc As Nguyen Quang (1998: 3) states that culture is “a shared background (for example, national, ethic, religious) resulting from a common language and communication style, customs, beliefs, attitudes, and values.”
In short, culture is a powerful human tool for survival It consists of the full range of learned human behavior patterns that we acquired in a society Different societies have different cultural characters These differences cause the variety of human languages and cultures
Kramsch (1998: 81) affirms that cross-culture is “the meeting of two cultures or two languages across the political boundaries of nation-states.” It is evidently that different societies also exchange and share culture Cross-cultural exchange often results in what scholars call acculturation when the members of one culture adopt features of another For example, Vietnamese Americans change their ways of life when they move from Vietnam to America They change their taste of food, types of dressing, ways of communication, etc., to get use to the new environment
Apart from that, cross-cultural communication is the “communication (verbal and non-verbal) between people from different cultures; communication that is influenced by cultural values, attitudes, and behavior; the influence of culture on people’s reactions and responses to each other.” (Levince, R.D & Adelman M.B, 1993: xvii) Normally, people know how to behave appropriately within their own culture and society However when they move to another country, this social behavior rules change For instance, it is quite usual for Vietnamese to greet by saying “where are you going?” On the other hand, such utterance may be perceived as annoying curiosity by native English speakers because for most Western cultures, the individual and personal privacy comes first Thus, it is necessary for Vietnamese people to avoid this way of greeting when moving to Western countries
1.2 Speech acts 1.2.1 Definition of speech acts
In order to carry out the purpose in communication, people not only produce utterances containing grammatical and lexicological factors, but also perform actions through these utterances These actions performed via utterances are called speech acts
For example, the following utterance: “I promise I will come tomorrow” not only conveys information but it also constitutes the act of promising
The British philosopher J L Austin in his book “How to do things with words”
(1962) is the first to draw attention to the functions performed by utterances as part of interpersonal communication John Austin (1962: 94) defines speech acts as the actions performed in saying something
Searle (1969: 16) affirms that when we speak a language we are performing speech acts, “acts such as making statements, giving commands, asking questions, making promises and so on” He suggests that these acts are performed suitable for certain rules for the usage of linguistic elements
Although two authors introduce two different definitions of speech acts, generally they share the common point that speech acts are the actions that are involved when one says something In brief, a speech act is simply an action performed by means of language
Author John Austin (1962: 109) in his book “How to do things with words” believes that a single act usually contains three related acts: Locutionary act, Illocutionary act and Perlocutionary act
+ Locutionary act is the action performed by uttering a well-formed, meaningful sentence
+ Illocutionary act is the communication force or intention of the speaker or writer which accompanies the utterance, e.g promising, warning, conceding, denying, etc
+ Perlocutionary act is the effect of the utterance on the hearer or the reader who may feel amused, persuaded, warned
Sharing the same point of view, Yule, G (1996: 48) also claims that whenever we produce an utterance, we perform three related speech acts: locutionary act, illocutionary act and perlocutionary act When we utter the sentence “It is very hot here”, we are likely to produce a locutionary act Moreover, we mostly do not make utterances without having any purpose In the example above, we do not simply say that sentence but also intend to require the listener to open the door or turn on the air - conditioner This kind of acts is called illocutionary act These acts are performed for communicative function
The third classification of speech acts, namely perlocutionary acts in the sentence “It is very hot here” is that we all wish the act of opening the door, turning on the air- conditioner to be done
After Austin, there are many other pragmatists who inherited and advanced his speech acts theory We have to mention Searle’s (1969: 70) classification It is one of the most influential and widely used classifications He provides five basic types of speech act as follows:
+ Declarations are those kinds of speech acts that bring about states of affairs, including namings, firings, hirings, pardons, etc
+ Representatives are those kinds of speech acts that state what the speaker believes to be the case or not including assertions, descriptions, reports, statements, etc
+ Expressives are those kinds of speech acts that state the speaker’s psychological state or attitude, including apologies, compliments, greetings, thankings, etc
+ Directives are those kinds of speech acts that attempt to get the hearer to do something, including questions, requests, orders, etc
+ Commissives are those kinds of speech acts that speaker commits themselves to some future act, including promises, threat, refusals, vow, etc
Similarly, Yule, G (1996: 55) presents five types of speech acts that are shown as in the table below:
Speech act types Direction of fit S = Speaker
Declarations Representatives Expressives Directives Commissives words change the world make words fit the world make words fit the world make the world fit the words make the world fit words
Table 1: The five general functions of speech acts (Yule, G 1996)
Furthermore, according to Yule, G (1996: 55), speech acts are classified based on the relationship between the structure and functions The author claims that there are three structural forms (declarative, interrogative, and imperative) and three general communicative functions (statement, question, command or request) They can be combined to create two other types of speech acts: direct and indirect speech acts Yule,