Employing face theory in understanding the linguistic differences in the concept of politeness between english and vietnamese m a

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE - EMPLOYING FACE THEORY IN UNDERSTANDING THE LINGUISTIC DIFFERENCES IN THE CONCEPT OF POLITENESS BETWEEN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE NGUYỄN XUÂN TRIỀU A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature in partial fulfilment of the Master’s degree in TESOL Supervised by LÊ HOÀNG DŨNG, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people deserve my thanks for helping me at various stages of this work, either at the professional or emotional level Firstly, I would like to thank my parents for their enduring of my long sedentariness during the writing of this thesis I want to send my deepest gratitude to Professor Phuong Thien for her great help with finding the subjects for the research I also want to express my gratitude to Dr Dennis F Berg, Emeritus Professor from California State University – Fullerton (CSUF) for his insightful comments on my questionnaire He helped me correcting both the wording and the layout of the instrument to make it more appropriate for eliciting data I want to express my deep gratitude to statistician Nguyen Hoang Vinh for his several weeks of sorting data and running the tests and also for his great help in instructing me how to interpret the results I still own him a big meal at an expensive restaurant as promised! Finally, this thesis would not be possible without the encouragement and meticulous guidance of Dr Le Hoang Dung I initially aimed for a lower target but Mr Hoang Dung was the one who encouraged me to pursue higher goal in expanding and renewing my thesis He literally took my research to a whole new level I am indebted to him not only professionally but also in life lessons I still remembered his skilful demonstration in splitting the fish on the dinner table one night of the field trip and his many pieces of advice for me He is not only my thesis supervisor but also my mentor THANK YOU! CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY This is to certify that the thesis entitled Employing Face Theory In Understanding The Linguistic Differences In The Concept Of Politeness Between English and Vietnamese submitted by Nguyễn Xuân Triều is a record of bona fide work carried out under the guidance of Lê Hoàng Dũng, Ph.D and the supervision at the Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities The thesis contains no materials previously published or written by others except where due acknowledgment All contributions made to the thesis are also explicitly acknowledged Ho Chi Minh City, 2015 NGUYỄN XUÂN TRIỀU TABLE OF CONTENTS Title page Acknowledgements Certificate of originality Table of contents List of tables and figures Abstract CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Thesis Statements 1.2.1 Rationale of the study -2 1.2.2 Research objectives 1.2.3 Research questions 1.3 Methodology -7 1.4 Theoretical and practical significance -7 1.5 Thesis structure CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 10 2.1 Preparation for a newborn: foundational theory of Austin -10 2.2 Grice’s cooperative principles -12 2.3 Lakoff ’s pragmatic competence -14 2.4 Leech’s general pragmatics -18 2.5 Brown and Levinson’s theory of politeness -24 2.5.1 Assumptions -24 2.5.1.1 Assumptions -24 2.5.1.2 Assumptions -26 2.5.1.3 Assumptions -27 2.5.1.4 Assumptions -27 2.5.1.5 Assumptions -28 2.5.1.5.1 Kinds of face threatened 28 2.5.1.5.2 Threats to H’s face versus threats to S’s -30 2.5.2 Strategies for doing FTAs -31 2.5.3 Factors influencing the choice of strategies 35 2.5.4 Politeness strategies -36 2.5.4.1 Positive politeness -36 2.5.4.1.1 Claim common ground -36 2.5.4.1.2 Convey that S and H are cooperators 38 2.5.4.1.3 Fulfill H’s wants for some X 38 2.5.4.2 Negative politeness 38 2.5.4.2.1 Be indirect -38 2.5.4.2.2 Don’t presume/assume 38 2.5.4.2.3 Don’t coerce H 38 2.5.4.2.4 Communicate S’s want not to impinge on H 39 2.5.4.2.5 Redress other wants of H’s 40 2.5.5 Criticism of Brown and Levinson’s face-saving theory -40 2.5.5.1 Rationality -40 2.5.5.2 The individualistic and Eurocentric nature of the theory 42 2.6 Literature review of instrument: Discourse Completion Test (DCT) -46 2.6.1 Discourse Completion Test (DCT) 46 2.6.2 Arguments for DCT 46 2.6.2.1 Weaknesses 46 2.6.2.2 Strengths -48 2.6.2.2.1 The observer’s paradox 48 2.6.2.2.2 Advantages of Discourse Completion test -50 2.7 Conclusion -54 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY -55 3.1 Informant community -55 3.2 Instrument 58 3.2.1 Structure of the instrument -58 3.2.2 Sample of actual instrument (English version) 63 3.3 Pilot test 63 3.3.1 Purposes -63 3.3.2 Instrument and participants of pilot test 64 3.3.3 Modifications 66 3.4 Procedure of data collection -67 3.4.1 Procedure of instrument application 67 3.4.1.1 Vietnamese group -67 3.4.1.2 American group -69 3.5 Coding 69 3.6 Procedure of data analysis -71 3.7 Conclusion -72 CHAPTER DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 73 4.1 Data analysis 73 4.1.1 General inter-group differences 73 4.1.2 Strategy-based inter-group differences 78 4.1.3 Correlation between three parameters and the use of linguistic strategies 84 4.2 Answers to research questions 88 4.2.1 Research question -88 4.2.2 Research question -89 4.3 Summary -90 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 94 5.1 Research précis -94 5.2 Some pedagogical implications -97 5.3 Limitations and recommendations for further study 97 REFERENCES 98 APPENDIX 104 Appx Questionnaire Pilot American 104 Appx Questionnaire Pilot Vietnamese -111 Appx Questionnaire American -117 Appx Questionnaire Vietnamese -122 Appx List of variable for coding -127 Appx Sample answers 130 Appx The case of hedging 152 Appx The case of salutations 155 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES CHAPTER Table 1.1 Summary of research’s rationales Table 1.2 Summary of research’s objectives and research questions CHAPTER Table 2.1 Lakoff ’s Politeness types .18 Table 2.2 Summary of literature review 23 Table 2.3 Summary of Brown and Levinson’s face theory 45 Table 2.4 Weaknesses and Strengths of DCT and the Research Focus 53 Figure 2.1 Lakoff ’s Pragmatic Competence 16 Figure 2.2 Leech’s General Pragmatics 19 Figure 2.3 Leech’s Scheme of Rhetoric 20 Figure 2.4 Negative and Positive Politeness 26 Figure 2.5 Strategies for doing FTAs 32 CHAPTER Table 3.1 Foreign Group respondents 54 Table 3.2 Vietnamese Group respondents 55 Table 3.3 Combinations of explanatory variables 60 Table 3.4 Inventory of situations according to contextual and sociological variables 61 Table 3.5 Stage of Pilot Test 63 Table 3.6 Stage of Pilot Test 65 Table 3.7 Questionnaire Delivery .67 Table 3.8 Process of Coding 69 Table 3.9 Summary of Data Analysis 70 CHAPTER Table 4.1 Chi-square test for general inter-group differences 71 Table 4.2 Mean differences in the use of politeness strategies between American and Vietnamese group 76 Table 4.3 ANOVA test for Mean differences in the use of politeness strategies between American and Vietnamese group 78 Table 4.4 Pearson Correlation test between Socio-parameters and choices of politeness strategies- American Group 82 Table 4.5 Pearson Correlation test between Socio-parameters and choices of politeness strategies- Vietnamese Group 84 Table 4.6 Summary of research questions and answers 88 Table 4.7 Summary of conclusions from statistical tests 91 CHAPTER Table 5.1 Comparison between Vietnamese and American hedges 94 employee has been rather down at work because his/her family got some problem This employee usually arrives late, sometimes up to hour, often fail the deadline and is rather rude to customers Other employees are very unhappy about this behavior and have reported to you As a manager, you are going to comment on this What are you going to say? [In your opinion, although both of you are close friends, commenting on someone’s working behavior especially at this critical time when he/she has to suffer from family’s problem could constitute a serious offense] Your response: I would say to him/her in private: “Hi [name] I want you to know that I’m here to support you And I’m worried about you You have been showing up to work late and have missed deadlines Do you want to take some time off? I know how hard this time is with your family Is there anything I can do?” Situation You are the manager of a division in a company X is an employee and also your close friend Today, you come to his/her office cubicle to assign a project You notice that his/her place is rather dirty with spills of coffee, breadcrumbs, and the rotten smell of the water in the flower vase You decide to tell your friend (and also your employee) about this because his/her dirty cubicle could make other neighboring workers feel uncomfortable What are you going to say? [In your opinion, commenting on a friend’s working place is not a serious offense at all] Your response: I would say, “Hi [name] Would you mind cleaning up your workplace a little bit when you get the chance? I can help change the water in the flower vase, if that would help?” Situation You are a local resident In your area, a new family has just moved in Your neighbor has a very ! 142! disrespectful teenager who has yelled at many elders, including your grandfather, in the area You are really unhappy about this and today, you determine to tell this to his/her parents What are you going to say? [In your opinion, telling the parents that their child is disrespectful is a big offense] Your response: I’m not sure I would tell his/her parents first I would try to tell the teenager directly first I would say something like, “Hi [name] I’ve noticed you’ve yelled at other neighbors recently, including my grandfather Is there something wrong? Could you try to be a little nicer to your neighbors?” If he/she continues to act up, I would them him/her that I would have to tell his/her parents if he keeps it up Situation You are a part-time employee in a tourist company The manager of your team is also your friend and both of you get on very well Today, there is a presentation on the total number of tourists in the last quarter Your team manager is the presenter During the presentation, he/she has made some mistakes on the statistics After the meeting, you decide to tell him/her about this What are you going to say? [In your opinion, commenting on statistical mistakes to the team leader is a normal act] Your response: I would say, “ Hi [name] Great job on the presentation overall! I noticed you misspoke a couple times on some of the statistics, however, and wanted to just let you know about it.” I would then point out the corrections Situation 10 You and your neighbor, Mr./Ms X are friends Both of you socialize a lot Today, X wants to repaint his/her house He/she told you that he/she wants to paint the house in yellow but you really think that this color does not fit well with the surrounding Blue is better You are going to comment on his/her choice of color What are you going to say? ! 143! [In your opinion, commenting on the choice of color to a neighbor that you get along with well is not an offensive act at all] Your response: I actually probably wouldn’t say anything How he/she colors the house is up to him/her, especially if it’s a normal color like yellow BUT if it was going to be like a neon yellow or crazy rainbow design, I might say something like, “That is a really ambitious choice of color! Are you sure it’s going to look OK? What if you don’t like it? Will you repaint it again?” or something like that Situation 11 You and Y are close friends Y has a boyfriend For the past few weeks, you know that the boyfriend of Y has been cheating on her because you see him dating with another girl You think that it is unfair for Y and you determine to tell her about this You not want to hurt Y at all What are you going to say? [Although you and Y are close friends, telling Y that her boyfriend is cheating her and is dating with another girl is a serious act that could offense Y] Your response: I would say, “Y, you know how much I care for you as a friend And I wanted to let you know something that is going to hurt, but if I were in your shoes, I would want you to tell me the same thing, so here it goes… I’m afraid your boyfriend might be seeing another girl Do you know anything about that? Has he told you about it at all? Situation 12 You are a boss of a company Today, you have a meeting with a new employee to assign the work Since this is your first time talking to this man, you not know him much You notice that he did not comb his hair before he went to the office, which is against the company’s policy that all employees must dress neatly and smartly You decide to comment on this What are you going to say? [In your opinion, commenting on an employee’s not combing the hair is seldom an offensive act] ! 144! Your response: As his boss, I might say something like, “Welcome to the company! We’re glad you’ve joined us I wanted to point out a couple policies here…” and then bring up the policy about combing hair and dressing nicely I’d then offer him a comb if he doesn’t have one already ! 145! University of Social Sciences and Humanities Ho Chi Minh City - Vietnam Discourse Completion Test FOR AMERICAN RESPONDENTS • This questionnaire is designed to elicit American responses to the indicated situations • All the informants are expected to act as naturally and realistically as possible • The responses should reflect to the greatest degree the verbal behaviors in real life • Qualified responses must contain a comment on the situation provided (i.e respondents must comment on the situation before giving other optional items (requests, suggestions, recommendations) based in each specific situations and deemed to be natural) The researcher guarantees that the information collected through this questionnaire will be used only for research purpose All the data will be preserved in the highest degree of confidentiality PERSONAL INFORMATION Age range [ ] 18-25 [ ] 26-35 [ x ]36-45 [ ] more than 45 Nationality: BRITISH PLEASE&TURN&TO&THE&NEXT&PAGE& ! 146! Instruction: there are 12 different situations In each situation, there is a description of the context/setting and space for your response Read the description carefully and respond to it as naturally and realistically as possible Situation You are a university student This semester, you have a class of literature which you love so much You want to have good result in this subject but the lecturer talks rather fast and you often cannot follow him/her Today, you decide to tell him/her about this However, you and your lecturer not socialize outside the class In fact, he/she might not even know you because the class is rather big What are you going to say? Your response: (if I say anything, it would be, and after checking with others that it wasn’t just me) Excuse me sir/ madame, I am finding it a little difficult to follow your lectures I wonder if you could slow down a bit There are few of us in class who are in the same situations Situation You are being in charge of a scientific project which is very important As a leader, you have all rights to organize your team Today, there is a newcomer but she dresses inappropriately which causes everyone in your team to feel uncomfortable Moreover, she often texts during the group discussion and you are not happy about that After today’s meeting, you decide to tell her about the expected behavior but you not want to be offensive or to make her feel sad You want to be as gentle and polite as possible Anyway, she is an expert in statistics which is vital for the project What are you going to say? Your response: (I would only comment on the texting, as long as her dress sense was not a health hazard e.g very high heel shoes) Ms X, I know you are new to this organization, but please limit your texts and private mobile use during work time We are funded to carry out our work within a certain time and we need to our best to complete this project ! 147! Situation You are currently a new part-time waiter/waitress at a restaurant Your group leader, at the training session, told you that you that everyone, including the leader him/herself, must be punctual However, after days of working, you notice that the leader is always late about 30 minutes and you have to cover the work for him/her You think that it is unfair and today, you determine to tell him/her about this So, what are you going to say? Your response: I wouldn’t say anything If I needed to be late I would try and fowarn of the likelihood Situation This is the beginning of a semester and you are assigned to a group of members who you not know before Your group is in charge of summarizing chapters in the book and you are the presenter Other members must read the materials and take good notes However, one member of your team has bad handwriting and his/her note is really hard to read You and that person not socialize together outside the class and this is your second group meeting In fact, both of you not know each other very well Today, you are going to comment on his/her hand writing Your response: Excuse me, we have trouble reading your notes, could you either type out your notes or try and write more legibly Situation You are a university student One of your lecturers is your very close friend Both of you socialize a lot outside the classroom However, the lecturer has bad body smell, which causes other students to be uncomfortable especially in class discussions when the lecturer joins the students in group works You know that the problem of the lecturer is not really serious and ! 148! could be treated by using deodorant Today, you determine to tell him/her about this What are you going to say? Your response: I wouldn’t Situation You are the manager of a division in a company One of your employees is your very close friend Both of you socialize a lot outside the company and have shared with each other many things, from personal to work However, you have noticed that for the past months, this employee has been rather down at work because his/her family got some problem This employee usually arrives late, sometimes up to hour, often fail the deadline and is rather rude to customers Other employees are very unhappy about this behavior and have reported to you As a manager, you are going to comment on this What are you going to say? Your response: Hey, things don’t seem to be good for you, is there anything I can do, perhaps you need to take some time off You don’t have to tell me, but if your minds not on the job, its not helping us here Situation You are the manager of a division in a company X is an employee and also your close friend Today, you come to his/her office cubicle to assign a project You notice that his/her place is rather dirty with spills of coffee, breadcrumbs, and the rotten smell of the water in the flower vase You decide to tell your friend (and also your employee) about this because his/her dirty cubicle could make other neighboring workers feel uncomfortable What are you going to say? Your response: I made some beer that smelt like that [water in the vase] once It didn’t much for my insides either Shall I chuck it for you ! 149! Situation You are a local resident In your area, a new family has just moved in Your neighbor has a very disrespectful teenager who has yelled at many elders, including your grandfather, in the area You are really unhappy about this and today, you determine to tell this to his/her parents What are you going to say? Your response: Hi, this is difficult for me, but I think you need to know that your son/ daughter has been shouting abuse at people, especially, for some reason older people It has upset a few people and I thought it best I let you know Situation You are a part-time employee in a tourist company The manager of your team is also your friend and both of you get on very well Today, there is a presentation on the total number of tourists in the last quarter Your team manager is the presenter During the presentation, he/she has made some mistakes on the statistics After the meeting, you decide to tell him/her about this What are you going to say? Your response: I think there may have been some mistakes in the statistics I can’t be sure, but we’d better check them Hopefully no one noticed, but if we send it out or anything, then we’d better correct it Situation 10 You and your neighbor, Mr./Ms X are friends Both of you socialize a lot Today, X wants to repaint his/her house He/she told you that he/she wants to paint the house in yellow but you really think that this color does not fit well with the surrounding Blue is better You are going to comment on his/her choice of color What are you going to say? Your response: Have you thought of Blue? ! 150! Situation 11 You and Y are close friends Y has a boyfriend For the past few weeks, you know that the boyfriend of Y has been cheating on her because you see him dating with another girl You think that it is unfair for Y and you determine to tell her about this You not want to hurt Y at all What are you going to say? Your response: Oh, hi, I’ve just seen your boyfriend downtown He was with _ /someone and I didn’t have time to catch up Say hi to him from me Situation 12 You are a boss of a company Today, you have a meeting with a new employee to assign the work Since this is your first time talking to this man, you not know him much You notice that he did not comb his hair before he went to the office, which is against the company’s policy that all employees must dress neatly and smartly You decide to comment on this What are you going to say? Your response: You’re lucky you’ve got hair to comb, so best comb it In a rush this morning? Must have been a goodnight out ! 151! Appx THE CASE OF HEDGING Professor Tran Ngoc Them noted in his 1995 publication that Vietnamese people prefer to sustain harmony in daily communication They tend to avoid direct confrontation, disagreement, disapproval or being too blunt in linguistic utterances More often than not, Vietnamese people display a preference for an ‘approach-from-far-way’ method in addressing certain topics There is even a Vietnamese proverb precisely describing this phenomenon “Vòng vo tam quốc” [beating about the bush] Face saving theory could explain this preference Since suddenness or abruptness in communication [Vietnamese: đường đột giao tiếp] is interpreted as a sign of offense or rudeness, people tend to seek ways to address the topic indirectly, starting from something/somewhere else, gradually leading step-by-step to the main point Positive face and ultimately positive politeness is of prominence here: agreement and harmony is cherished; disagreement can make people lose their faces Thus, what interlocutors when they choose indirectness is to be supportive, i.e it is an attempt by all participants to gain agreement for oneself and also to keep the face of both parties (speaker and hearer) On the contrary, negative face allows people to be direct and assertive because margins for rejection and disagreement have been ensured; so there is no need to hedge so carefully The Americans tend to initiate a conversation or a negotiation more directly; a matter is usually discussed right away without prior conventional act of claiming common ground Let us compare: Vietnamese hedges American hedges Tơi coi anh người nhà nên nói… As far as I know… Chị nói em đừng giận nhé,… I might be mistaken but… Tơi nói ơng bỏ cho, chứ… I’m not sure if this is right… Tao coi mày em nên nói… Là bạn thân nên tao nói người dưng tao bỏ I guess… To the best of my knowledge… It could be wrong but… Table 5.1 Comparison between Vietnamese and American hedges 152 The main difference between the two columns lies in the way people protect themselves prior to providing a piece of unpleasant information Vietnamese hedges could be classified mainly into groups: Claiming common ground/cooperators: Tôi coi anh người nhà nên nói…[I consider you my relative so that I tell you this…] Tao coi mày em nên nói…[I consider you my sister/brother so I tell you this…] Là bạn thân nên tao nói người dưng tao bỏ … [I see you as my close friend so I tell you this…] Seeking for approval/forgiveness prior to the message Chị nói em đừng giận nhé,… [I tell you this but please to take it offence…] Tơi nói ơng bỏ q cho, chứ….[Please forgive me telling you this…] These two groups are in fact two main strategies for seeking Positive Politeness It is apparent that the Vietnamese are prone to be steered by the positive face They seek harmony and approval from others mainly by claiming common ground or creating a close relationship with the other interlocutor(s) For example: “Tôi coi anh người nhà…”[I consider you as my relative…] conveys the implication that the speaker treats his/her interlocutor as a relative and thus there is a very close relationship existing between them This close link is expected to soften the rough edges of the following unpleasant information This is a way of claiming common ground Similarly, “Chị nói em đừng giận nhé…” asks for prior approval/agreement/tolerance from the hearer An analysis of the protective measure adopted by the Americans reveals another strategy All of the examples in the right column (American) are not designed to ask for agreement They are created to claim the right of the speaker to express ideas and, of course, the right to make errors/mistakes They are to claim the freedom of displaying thoughts without being inhibited by others 153 As can be semantically paraphrased, “As far as I know…”,or “I might be mistaken…” imply that “I have every right to be wrong and you not need to agree with me.” Here, the hedges are directed not to the hearers but towards the speakers (compared to Vietnamese hedges: directed to hearers to protect the speakers) There is no claiming for common ground, no desire to be agreed with Any disagreement is accepted and tolerated In brief, the Vietnamese hedges are directed towards agreement and approval That is why a Vietnamese person would be in a losing-face situation when he/she is not approved of or agreed with by others Public disagreement is to be avoided On the other hand, American hedges are designed to protect the speaker by claiming space for making mistakes and freedom of expressing ideas without external inhibitions Being governed more by negative face, the Americans are more tolerant of their ideas being rejected 154 Appx THE CASE OF SALUTATION Salutation is another interesting example in which the theory of Face could be a useful framework to explain the cultural peculiarities President Barack Obama in his Inaugural Address in 2009 began the speech with “My fellow citizens:  I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you've bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.” [italics added] These words we re t he n t r ansl ate d and p o ste d as fol l ow i ng on w w w http : / / vietnamese.vietnam.usembassy.gov/doc_obama-inauguration.html “Thưa đồng bào Tôi đứng hôm nay, nhỏ bé trước nhiệm vụ đặt trước mắt, cảm kích trước tin tưởng đồng bào, thấu hiểu hy sinh bậc tiền bối.” [italics added] The Vietnamese “đồng bào” denotes a meaning very different from the American “Fellow citizens”, not only in terms of lexical meaning but also in cultural assumptions “đồng” means “the same’’ or ‘shared’ and “bào” is “cell” The whole phrase “đồng bào” conveys the cultural assumption that the Vietnamese people are all brothers and sisters; we are brethren The sense of familyhood is pervasive in this phrase; the fact which is a typical example of Positive Politeness It is precisely this sense of family belonging that is absent in the “fellow citizens” which simply means ‘a citizen of the same state as the person speaking, writing, or being referred to” as explained in Collins Dictionary Thus, the translated “đồng bào” from “my fellow citizens” violates not only the lexical meanings but also the implicit assumptions It is a shift from American Negative Politeness to Vietnamese Positive Politeness The Vietnamese also has another way of salutation which might sound very familiar to any citizen: “Thưa bà, con, cô, bác” or even sometimes to this extreme “Thưa bà, con, cô, bác, anh, chị, quý vị bạn, em thân mến” Positive politeness is instantly recognised by: 155 (i) The use of addressing terms that denotes ‘family members”: “bà, con, cô, bác, anh, chị, quý vị , bạn, em” (ii) The use of endearment: “thân mến” The act of involving the Hearers into the ‘close, family-related circles’ is prevalent in the Vietnamese language; and of course it is a perfect example of how ideas of Positive Politeness are actually in use in reality With Theory of Face proposed by Brown and Levinson (1989), a wide range of linguistic and cultural differences across countries and cultures can be explained It is acknowledged that linguistic data provided in this part is extremely limited to make generalisable the conclusions Those examples are not claimed to be representative of the whole language network but are merely to illustrate the point being mentioned The researcher also acknowledges the likelihood of some conclusions running the risk of overgeneralizations Additional linguistic evidence should be gathered to make those conclusions more validly convincing This limitation could be considered as room for improvement in further researches 156