A comparative study on complimenting in english and vietnamese conversations

Trang 1 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN THỊ BÍCH HẬU A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON COMPLIMENTING IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE CONVERSATIONS Field: The English Languag

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

QUY NHON UNIVERSITY

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN

NGUYỄN THỊ BÍCH HẬU

NGHIÊN CỨU ĐỐI CHIẾU PHÁT NGÔN KHEN

TRONG HỘI THOẠI ANH VÀ VIỆT

Ngành: Ngôn ngữ Anh

Mã số: 8 22 02 01

Người hướng dẫn: TS Trương Văn Định

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I guarantee that the master thesis entitled:

“A comparative study on complimenting in English and Vietnamese conservations” is the result of my own research The thesis does not include any previously published or written documents by others, unless explicitly referenced within the thesis

The thesis has not been submitted to any other tertiary institution for a degree or diploma

Binh Dinh, October 2023

Author’s signature

Nguyen Thi Bich Hau

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study's completion was made possible via the invaluable support and dedicated efforts of several individuals who provided assistance, shown belief in my abilities, and offered encouragement towards the attainment of the ultimate objective I would want to express my profound appreciation to all those involved in this matter

My wholehearted appreciation goes to my supervisor, Dr Truong Van Dinh for his enthusiasm, patience, motivation and friendliness Throughout the course of this thesis, the individual in question has provided invaluable guidance and assistance in shaping the research

I would like to express my gratitude to the instructors of the English master's program for imparting significant information, providing insightful feedback, and sharing valuable resources that greatly facilitated the completion of my research endeavor A special mention goes to my best friends and colleagues whose understanding, sympathy, and support were invaluable spiritual strength for me during the process of completing this work

Last but not least, I owe a great obligation to my parents, who provide

me with advice, unconditional affection, and encouragement to continue my education and fulfill my dual responsibilities throughout my life

ABSTRACT

The study aims to investigate the similarities and differences in complimenting in conversation in English and Vietnamese in terms of compliment strategies and modality markers displaying politeness The data were collected from English and Vietnamese movies as well as English and Vietnamese publications This study is carried out on the framework of Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory (1987) Modality markers and linguistic forms displaying politeness in complimenting utterances are presented in the study The collected data were classified into topics, compliment strategies and modality markers with a view to pointing out the English-Vietnamese similarities and differences in offering compliments in the light of politeness

As for topics in compliment utterances in English and Vietnamese, the findings of the study shows that the English and Vietnamese often mention

such topics as physical appearance, capability, character, possessions, fashion style, manners and social skills Of these topics, capability is by far

the most mentioned

As regards strategies employed in compliment utterances in English and

Vietnamese, the findings show the English and Vietnamese use almost the same number of compliment strategies such as expressing a liking, expressing admiration, expressing satisfaction and extolling or the combination of some

of these strategies

In terms of modality markers used in compliment utterances in English

and Vietnamese, the findings show that both the English and Vietnamese use

nearly the same number of MMs in the compliment utterances However, the

English use more Zero-marker than the Vietnamese while the Vietnamese favour Intensifier Moreover, the other MMs are used by the English with a

proportion considerably higher than those by the Vietnamese

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

LIST OF TABLES viii

LIST OF FIGUIRES ix

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aim and Objectives 2

1.2.1 Aim of the study 2

1.2.2 Objectives of the Study 3

1.3 Research Questions 3

1.4 Significance of the Study 3

1.5 Scope of the Study 4

1.6 Organization of the Study 5

CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Speech Act Theory 6

2.1.1 Definition of Speech Act 6

2.1.2 Classification of Speech Acts 7

2.1.3 Speech Act of Complimenting 10

2.2 Politeness Theories 10

2.2.1 Definition of Politeness 10

2.2.2 Rules, principles and theories of politeness 12

2.3 Modality Theories 17

2.3.1 Definition of Modality 17

2.3.2 Classification of Modality Markers in Conversations 20

2.4 Previous Studies 20

2.5 Summary 25

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES 26

3.1 Research methods 26

3.2 Research Procedures 26

3.3 Data Collection 27

3.4 Data Analysis 27

3.5 Validity and Reliability 30

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 31

4.1 Compliment Topics in English and Vietnamese 31

4.1.1 Compliment Topics in English 31

4.1.2 Compliment Topics in Vietnamese 36

4.1.3 Similarities and Differences in Compliment Topics in English and Vietnamese 42

4.2 Compliment Strategies in English and Vietnamese 43

4.2.1 Compliment Strategies in English 43

4.2.2 Compliment Strategies in Vietnamese 49

4.2.3 Similarities and Differences of Compliment Strategies in English and Vietnamese 54

4.3 Modality Markers in Compliment Utterances in English and Vietnamese 55

4.3.1 Modality Markers in Compliment Utterances in English 56

4.3.2 Modality Markers in Compliment Utterances in Vietnamese 65

4.3.3 Similarities and Differences in Use of Modality Markers in

Compliment Utterances in English and Vietnamese 71

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 74

5.1 Conclusion 74

5.1.1 Summary of Topics in ompliment Utterances in English and Vietnamese 74

5.1.2 Summary of Strategies Employed in Compliment Utterances in English and Vietnamese 75

5.1.3 Summary of Modality Markers Used in Compliment Utterances in English and Vietnamese 75

5.2 Implications 76

5.3 Limitations of the Study 77

5.4 Suggestions for Further Research 77

REFERENCES 78 APPENDICES

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1.Functions of speech acts (following Searle 1979) Yule (1996,

p.55) 8

Table 2.2.Types of communicative illocutionary acts (Bach & Harnish, 1979, p.41) 9

Table 4.1.Distribution of Compliment Topics in English 31

Table 4.2 Distribution of Compliment Topics in Vietnamese 36

Table 4.3 Distribution of Comliment Topics in English and Vietnamese 42

Table 4.4.Distribution of Compliment Strategies in English 44

Table 4.5 Distribution of Compliment Strategies in Vietnamese 49

Table 4.6 Distribution of Compliment Strategies in English and Vietnamese 54

Table 4.7 Distribution of Modality Markers in Compliment Utterances in English 57

Table 4.8 Distribution of Modality Markers in Compliment Utterances in Vietnamese 65

Table 4.9 Distribution of Modality Markers in Compliment Utterances in English and Vietnamese 72

LIST OF FIGUIRES

Figure 1 Possible strategies for doing FTAs 15

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale

Communication is a basic need of every person from birth to death that happens every day, anytime, anywhere, in any field People with good communication skills will have wide relationships, easy promotion Especially in the 21st century, communication skills are even more necessary Even if you are a good teacher, if you do not know how to communicate and convey ideas to students, you will not be appreciated As a manager, if you do not know how to express yourself to your superiors and connect with your subordinates, you cannot succeed As a business person, if you do not know how to communicate, you will not be able to sell many goods Good communication skill is a prerequisite for establishing a standard in the culture

of daily life and communication Whether in Western countries or in Vietnam, the art of communication is always a decisive factor for success or failure in all relationships

“Compliment” is a behaviour that exists in all cultures and at all times

It is also a speech act performed in every language In our society, compliments are one of the most extraordinary components of social life If given right they create so much positive energy that they make things happen almost as if by magic When you compliment someone, you not only make that person feel great, you also make them want to experience it again Giving praise is a good habit and behavior, both chemically and intellectually Everyone wants to be praised and appreciated, so it is really necessary for every person In every case, compliments are little gifts of love Although they are not asked for or demanded, they tell a person they are worthy of notice Therefore, the art of the compliment is not only a powerful social skill but also requires wisdom and tact

Many people who communicate cross-cultural boundaries have experienced communication breakdowns with people from different first language backgrounds At present, cultural activities between Vietnamese and foreign partners, with English as a communication tool, are taking place very actively It is certain that these activities cannot avoid what linguists call

"culture shock", "cultural conflict" and "communication breakdown" because

of differences in language and culture Therefore, there is really neccesary for the study of the similarities and differences of the speech acts in the aspect of linguistic politeness in English and Vietnamese conversations

In Vietnamese culture, a culture of distinctive community characteristic, caring for others is very normal The first and most generous reason to compliment someone is that you appreciate their existence We all love to be recognized and feel good about ourselves It is considered rude when we ignore someone's achievement and don't acknowledge them

In American English, we use compliments for a variety of reasons Expressing admiration or approbation of someone's work/ appearance/ taste is the first and most charitable reason to compliment someone (Manes, 1983; Herbert, 1990)

It is because of clear differences in Vietnamese and English cultures

regarding the interest in private matters in communication that a study of “A comparative study on complimenting in English and Vietnamese conservations” will contribute significantly to the success of Vietnamese-

English cultural communication and in teaching English in the direction of communicative approach

1.2 Aim and Objectives

1.2.1 Aim of the study

The purpose of this research is to examine the similarities and differences in complimenting in conversations in English and Vietnamese in

terms of topics of compliment, compliment strategies and modality markers displaying politeness

1.2.2 Objectives of the Study

To accomplish the research's purpose, the researcher directs their attention towards the following aims:

- To investigate the topics mentioned in compliment utterances in English and Vietmamese

- To examine the similarities and differences in compliment strategies in English and Vietnamese compliment utterances

- To explore the similarities and differences in the use of modality markers displaying politeness in English and Vietnamese compliment utterances

1.4 Significance of the Study

Theoretically, first, the present study highlights the role of culture in verbal behaviors and contributes to the study of a speech act in the light of pragmatics and linguistic politeness Furthermore, the use of language theories' advancements, both domestically and internationally, to investigate complimenting and politeness strategies used in compliment utterances would aid in safeguarding the integrity of the Vietnamese language

Practically, the findings of the study demonstrate a number of notable similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese compliments Therefore, the current research will be very beneficial for those engaged in English language acquisition and those involved in professional collaborations with international counterparts It aims to provide them with a comprehensive understanding of the art of expressing compliments, hence enhancing communication efficacy and mitigating potential cultural misunderstandings in cross-cultural interactions

1.5 Scope of the Study

The focus of this research is to the act of complimenting in English and Vietnamese conversations Specifically, it centers only on the analysis of complement utterances in both languages It is important to note that this study does not address or explore any related elements

Initially, it is noteworthy that the research does not include an analysis

of paralinguistic and extralinguistic variables in communication This omission might be attributed to the lack of consensus among linguists about these aspects

Furthermore, the language used in this research encompasses both British English and American English, thereby negating the need to differentiate between the two variations

Thirdly, as a result of limitations in terms of available resources and time, the research primarily concentrates on the analysis of complementing statements in authentic conversational settings, rather than focusing on responses to such utterances

Finally, the study acknowledges the significance of several elements, including age, gender, social standing, and interlocutor connections, since they greatly impact the politeness methods used by speakers Due to several factors, such as time constraints and limitations in research ability, these particular features fall beyond the purview of the present study

1.6 Organization of the Study

The study is divided into 5 chapters:

- Chapter 1, Introduction, presents the rationale, aim, objectives, scope

of the study, significance, research questions, methods and organization of the study

- Chapter 2, Theoretical background and literature review, presents

theory of speech acts, politeness and modality

- Chapter 3, Methods and procedures, presents the research methods of

the study, data collection and data analysis

- Chapter 4, Findings and discussion, presents the results gained in the

processing of the data and discusses the results of the data analysis

- Chapter 5, Conclusion, summarizes the findings recorded during

making this study, presents the limitations of the study, provides some suggestions for further study and gives implications on teaching

CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Speech Act Theory

2.1.1 Definition of Speech Act

In communication, interlocutors perform many different actions via language Although these actions are expressed in various forms, they are generally referred to as speech acts Speech act was first introduced by Austin

(1962) in "How to do things with words", and was later developed by many

other scholars like Searle (1969), Yule (1996), Back (2003), Bach and

Harnish (1979) Austin discovers that when a person says something, he simultaneously does something Austin identifies three distinct levels of action beyond the act of utterance He distinguishes the act of saying something, what a person does in saying it, and what this person does by saying it, and Austin calls these acts the locutionary, the illocutionary, and the perlocutionary act, respectively Yule (1996) explains these 3 acts as follows:

Locutionary act: It is the basic act of producing a meaningful linguistic

expression

Illocutionary act: It is performed via the communicative force of an

utterance

Perlocutionary act: It is the effect the speaker intended the utterance to

have on the hearer or listener

Scholars agree that “speech act is something expressed by an individual that not only presents information, but performs an action as well” Basically, Yule (1996) “in attempting to express themselves, people do not only produce utterances containing grammatical structures and words, they perform actions via those utterances” (p.47) Searle (1969) believes that “speech acts are the basic or minimal unit of linguistic communication” (p.16)

Sharing Searle’s view, Richards, et al (1992) defines, speech act is an utterance as a functional unit in communication (p.342)

According to Yule (1996), “actions performed via utterances are generally called speech acts” Speech acts serve their function once they are

said or communicated and they are commonly referred to acts such as apologizing, promising, ordering, answering, requesting, complaining, warning, inviting, refusing, and congratulating

2.1.2 Classification of Speech Acts

Based on the functions of speech acts, Austin (1962), classified them

into 5 five types of functions, namely: verdictives (e.g., appraising, .) exercitives (e.g., appointing, voting, ordering, urging, advising, warning

), commissives (e.g., promise, propose, ), behabitives (e.g., complimenting, apologizing, congratulating, commending, condoling,

cursing and challenging), and expositives (e.g., conceding, assuming, )

However, Searle (1979, pp.12-17) proposes one of the most influential and widely used classification of speech acts with a focus on how listeners

respond to utterances, which is on the contrary to Austin (1962), who

focuses his attention on how speakers realize their intentions in speaking (Wardhaugh, 1986, p.308) Searle’s classification consists of five broad types, namely:

1 Commissives: committing the speaker to doing something (e.g a

5 Repesentatives: describing states or events in the world (e.g an

assertion or a report)

Based on Searle’s classification, Yule (1996, p.55) clarifies five general types of speech acts that in declarations, the speaker (S) causes the situation (X); in representatives, S believes X; in expressives, S feels X; in directives, S wants X; and in commissives, S intends X, all of which are shown in Table 2.1:

Table 2.1

Functions of speech acts (following Searle 1979) Yule (1996, p.55)

Speech act types Direction of Fit S= speaker

X= situation

Declarations words change the world S causes X

Repesentatives make words fit the world S believes X Expressives make words fit the world S feels X

Directives make the world fit words S wants X

Commissives make the world fit words S intend X

Bach and Harnish (1979, pp.40-41) divide illocutionary acts into 2

categories: conventional (which consists of effectives and verdictives) and communicative Communicative illocutionary acts are constatives,

directives, commissives and acknowledgements Bach and Harnish’s classification of communicative illocutionary acts are shown in Table 2.2:

Table 2.2

Types of communicative illocutionary acts (Bach & Harnish, 1979, p.41)

Communicative illocutionary acts Constatives Directives Commissives Acknowledgements

Promises Offers

Apologize Condole Congratulate Greet

Thank Bid Accept Reject

According to Bach and Harnish (1979, pp.42-51), constatives express the

belief or desire of the speaker to the hearer, and describes that the Hearer also

believe this; directives show the speaker's attitude towards a future action by

the hearer and express the hope that his/her utterance will be considered as a

reason for the Hearer's actions, commissives show the beliefs and intentions of

the speaker to his/her utterance to force her/him to do something;

acknowledgements express feelings related to the hearer or the speaker's

intent to satisfy a social need to show a certain emotion, especially the belief

of the speaker for trying to do it

The speech act of complimenting belongs to behabitives, as Austin’s

classification, to expressives, as Searle’s, and to acknowledgement, as

Bach and Harnish’s

2.1.3 Speech Act of Complimenting

A compliment is defined as a collaborative speech act used as a “social lubricant” to strengthen community and solidarity between interlocutors (Wolfson, 1983, p.89) In Brown and Levinson’s terms, it is commonly used

to strengthen an interlocutor’s positive face and thus enforce solidarity by stimulating face wants A compliment can be used both as a speech act alone, but also as a part of many others, and is generally considered a positive politeness strategy For example, a compliment may be included in the speech act of thanking, or greeting, as in (1) and (2) respectively (Ishihara, 2010, p.180)

(1) Thank you, you are too kind

(2) Hello, you are looking sharp today!

Besides, Holmes (2013) defines a compliment as “a speech act which explicitly or implicitly attributes credit to someone other than the speaker, usually the person addressed, for some ‘good’ (possession, characteristic, skill, etc.) which is positively valued by the speaker and the hearer” (p 485)

2.2 Politeness Theories

2.2.1 Definition of Politeness

Politeness is an important factor that influences the way members of a cultural community think and behave The researchers all agree that politeness is a culture-specific concept Do Huu Chau (2009) asserts:

“Lịch sự trước hết là vấn đề văn hóa, là mang tính đặc thù của từng nền văn hóa Xã hội nào cũng phải lịch sự, có điều cái gì là lịch sự, đến mức độ nào là lịch sự, biểu hiện thế nào là lịch sự lại bị quy định bởi riêng từng nền

văn hóa một” (p.281)

(Politeness is first and foremost a cultural issue, which is unique to each culture Every society has to be polite The point is what is polite, to what extent is polite, what expression is polite is culture-specific)

In pragmatics, the concept of politeness is of special interest to researchers One of the reasons for politeness to be in the focus of

pragmatists, as explained by Brown and Levinson (1987) is "[ ] the issues addressed there [ ] have a perennial importance, for they raise questions about the foundations of human social life and interaction” (p.1) Brown and Levinson (1978) believe that “politeness […] presupposes that potential for aggression as it seeks to disarm it, and makes possible communication between potentially aggressive parties” (p.1)

Leech (1983) remarks “Politeness is manifested not only in the content of conversation but also in the way conversation is managed or structured by its participants such as speaking at the wrong time (interrupting) or being silent

at the wrong time has impolite implications” (p.139)

Politeness is conceived by scholars in different ways According to

Brown (1996) (in McKay & Hornberger (edited) (1996), “politeness is a special way of treating people, saying and doing things in such a way as to take into account the other person's feelings” (p.251)

From the aspect of sociolinguistics, Holmes (2013) states that “Being linguistically polite involves speaking to people appropriately in the light of their relationship to you […] and “[…] may also involve the dimension of formality” (p.285)

Yule (1996) defines politeness as “the means employed to show awareness of another person’s face” (p.60)

Face is an extremely important notion when politeness is discussed

Brown & Levinson (1978) believes that “face” is “the public self-image that

every member wants to claim for himself” and “is something that is emotionally invested, and that can be lost, maintained, or enhanced, and must

be constantly attended to in interaction” (p.61)

Face refers to our public self-image or face wants There are two types of face wants: face-threatening act and face-saving act Yule (1996, p.61) explains that a face-threatening act is one that threatens another person's expectations regarding self-image and a face-saving act is a speech act performed by the speaker to lessen a possible threat posed to the hearer’s face

if he perceives that his actions or words are likely to constitutes this threat

Brown and Levinson (1987, p.74) state that "face threatening act" is

greatly influenced by three sociological variables: relative power, social distance and ranking of the imposition These 3 factors are very important in identifying the level of politeness

Brown and Levinson (1978, p.61) divide face into two categories:

negative face and positive face: negative face, the basic claim to territories,

personal preserves, rights to non-distraction, i.e to freedom of action and free

from imposition and positive face, the positive consistent self-image or

personality (crucially including the desire that this self-image be appreciated

and approved of) claimed by interactants The concept of “positive face” and

“negative face” is the foundation of "negative politeness" and "positive politeness" Yule (1996, p.62) explains that “positive politeness” refers to

face-saving acts performed by the speaker to show solidarity with the hearer

and imply that they share a common goal, and “negative politeness” to

face-saving acts performed by the speakers to show deference and appreciate the importance of all that belong to the hearer

2.2.2 Rules, principles and theories of politeness

Politeness is formulated into rules, principles and theories Typical are rules, principles and theories by Lakoff, Leech and Brown & Levinson

2.2.2.1 Lakoff’s rules of politeness

Lakoff (cited in Green, 1989, pp.142-143) describes three different rules

a speaker might follow in choosing to be polite

Rule l Don’t impose This rule is appropriate to situations in which there

is an acknowledged difference in power and status between the participants Under this rule The speaker will avoid, mitigate, or ask permission or apologize for making the hearer do anything which the hearer does not want

to do

Rule 2: Offer options This rule is appropriate to situations in which the

participants have approximately equal status and power, but are not socially close, for example, the relationship between a businessperson and a new client in a business, or the relationship between two strangers sharing a semi-private room in a hospital Generally speaking, under this rule, if the speaker wishes to persuade the hearer of some view or course of action, the speaker will phrase his speech so that the hearer does not have to acknowledge the speaker’s intent; statements and requests will be hedged or implicated

Rule 3: Encourage Feeling of Camaraderie This rule is approximate to

intimates or close friends Under this rule, almost any topic of conversation is fair game, assuming that with a close friend, one should be able to discuss anything, although there may be some propositions that “even your best friend won’t tell you” and which will have to be broached with all of the informal politeness devices a soul can muster

2.2.2.2 Leech’s principles of politeness

Leech (1983, pp.130-150) proposes a politeness principle consisting of 6 maxims: tact, generosity, approbation, modesty, agreement and sympathy The politeness principle runs under the principle of minimizing the expression

of impolite beliefs and maximizing the expression of polite beliefs with its six maxims together with their sub-maxims as follows:

1 Tact Maxim: Minimize cost to other,

Maximize benefit to other

2 Generosity Maxim: Minimize benefit to self,

Maximize cost to self

3 Approbation Maxim: Minimize dispraise of other,

Maximize praise of other

4 Modesty Maxim: Minimize praise of self,

Maximize dispraise of self

5 Agreement Maxim: Minimize disagreement between self

and other, Maximize agreement between self and other

6 Sympathy Maxim: Minimize antipathy between self and other, Maximize sympathy between self and other

Of the six maxims presented, Tact Maxim, according to Leech, seems to

be the most important to operate politeness in English-speaking societies

2.2.2.3 Brown & Levinson’s Politeness Theory

Brown & Levinson put forward their theory of politeness with its ore

concept being “face’’ (derived from that of Goffman (1987, p.61)) Brown &

Levinson’s politeness theory consists of a set of possible strategies for avoiding face-threatening acts (FTAs) or for minimizing the face threat of the FTAs The strategies are shown in Figure 1:

Figure 1 Possible strategies for doing FTAs

(Brown & Levinson (1987, p.69) According to Brown and Levinson (1987, p.60), it should be necessary

to notice that the more an act threatens the speaker (S)’s or the hearer (H)’s face, the more S will want to choose a higher numbered strategy

As can be seen from Figure 1, S can choose either to do or not to do the FTA When S realizes that the risk of the FTA is so great or he does not want

to, offend H, he can say or do nothing that is likely to damage H’s face, which means he chooses strategy 5 If S decides to do an FTA, he can choose one of the other four strategies

S can choose to go off record if he produces a communicative act

indirectly addressed to H According to Brown and Levinson (1978), “a communicative act is done off record if it is done in such a way that it is not possible to attribute only one clear communicative intention to the act”

(p.211) Linguistic structures of the off-record strategy include give hints, give association clues, presuppose, understate, overstate, use tautologies, use contradictions, be ironic, use metaphors, use rhetorical questions, be ambiguous, be vague, over-generalize, displace H, be incomplete, use ellipsis (Brown & Levinson, 1987)

The “bald on record” strategy is chosen, according to Brown &

Levinson (1987, p.95), whenever S wants to do the FTA with maximum efficiency more than he wants to satisfy H’s face, even to any degree The

most direct approach, which uses imperative forms such as, “Give me a pen”

or “Lend me your pen”, is generally known “bald on record” (without

redressive action, baldly) (Yule, 1997, p.63) Because with this strategy, S has

no intention of reducing threat to H’s face, it is suitable for interactants who have a close relationship with one another

According to Brown & Levinson (1987, p.95), the “bald on record” strategy is used in the following situations:

- Great urgency or desperation, as in: Watch out!

- Maximum efficiency, as in: Listen I’ve got an idea

- Task-orientation, as in: Lend me a hand here

- S’s wants to satisfy H’s face is small, as in: Bring me wine, Jeeves

- Doing the FTA is primarily in H’s interest, as in: Careful He’s a dangerous man

- Invitations, as in: Come in, don’t hesitate I’m not busy

- Greetings, farewells and offers, as in: Come (response to a greeting hail.)

Go (farewell) and Eat (in offering a meal)

With redressive action, S gives face to H, which means he attempts to counteract the potential face damage of the FTA by doing it in such a way that no face threat seems to be intended S, in general, recognizes H’s face wants and himself wants them to be achieved The redressive strategies include positive politeness and negative politeness

“Positive politeness”, according to Brow and Levinson (1978), “is redress directed to the addressee’s positive face, his perennial desire that his want (or the action/ acquisition/ values resulting from them) should be thought of as desirable” (p 101) Positive politeness is used by S to make H

feel a sense of closeness, feel good about himself, as well as his interests, and

attempt to avoid conflict With redressive action, S shows respect for H's face, and also S's face According to Brown and Levinson (1987, pp.viii-ix), positive politeness has 15 strategies: notice, attend to H (his interests, wants, needs, goods), exaggerate (interest, approval, sympathy with H), intensify interest to H, use in-group identity markers, seek agreement, avoid disagreement, presuppose/ raise/ assert/ common ground, joke, assert or presuppose S's knowledge of and concern for H's wants, offer, promise, be optimistic, include both S and H in the activity, give (or ask for) reasons, assume or assert reciprocity, and give gifts to H (goods, compliment, understanding, cooperation)

“Negative politeness”, according to Brown and Levinson (1978), “is redressive action to the addressee’s negative face; his want to have his freedom of action unhindered and his attention unimpeded” (p.129) Negative

politeness is used by S to interact with H in non-imposing way With negative politeness, the risk of FTAs on H is reduced According to Brown and Levinson (1987, p.ix), negative politeness has 10 strategies: be conventionally indirect, question, hedge, be pessimistic, minimize the imposition, give

deference, apologize, interpersonalize S and H: avoid the pronouns "I" and

"you", state the FTA as a general rule, norminalize, and go on record as

including a debt, or as not including H

In the present study, the researcher accepts Brown and Levinson’s viewpoint on politeness and base herself on these two authors’ politeness framework to identify and classify compliment strategies used by the English

and Vietnamese people in compliment utterances

2.3 Modality Theories

2.3.1 Definition of Modality

Modality is a linguistic area of great interest to linguists across the world Lyons with his work "Semantics" (Volume 2) presents the concept of

morality centering on necessity, possibility, espitemic modality and factivity All of these categories are considered from the perspective of speech in communication

Palmer is a prominent scholar with the work entitled "Mood and modality" In this work, Palmer presents his research on some types of

modality in language in English in comparison with a number of other languages such as Latin, Greek and Arabic Palmer (1986, p.16) argues that

modality in language is subjective and that “subjectivity is an essential criterion for modality” Palmer (1986, p.16) defines modality as “the grammaticalization of speakers’ (subjective) attitudes and opinions” and he (1986) also believes that “the markers of modality may be modal verbs, particles or clitics” (p.5)

According to Papafragou (2000), “Modal expressions allow us to talk (and modal concepts allow us to think) about states of affairs which are not present in the current situation and may never occur in the actual world” (p.3)

Judging from the semantic aspect, Downing and Locke (1995) claim that

“modality is to be understood as a semantic category which covers such notions

as possibility, necessity, volition, obligation and permission” However, these

two authors (p.382), also point out that the above-mentioned notions are just basic ones and that some other notions like doubt, wish, regret and desire, and

temporal notion such as usuality have recently been added on to them

Vietnamese scholars have also made a close study of modality Hoang

Trong Phien (1983) believes that: “Modality is the grammatical category of the sentence in a latent form It is present in all types of sentences This is because sentences are topical, informing something new Thereby, the listener understands how the speaker displays an attitude towards reality” (p.30)

In the article “Tiền giả định và hàm ý trong một số vị từ tình thái của tiếng Việt”, (Presupposition and implications in some of the modal predicates in

Vietnamese), Cao Xuan Hao (1998) points out the influence of morality in

language when he states that “the most practical definition that can be used for modality may be all the meanings conveyed in sentences that do not belong to about words” (p.520) The author studied, carefully analyzed the meaning of

modal predicates to clarify the expressive nuances expressed in the sentences containing modal predicates and the possibility of combining these predicates with other components in the sentence According to Cao Xuân Hạo (2006):

The modality of the utterance reflects the speaker's attitude towards what is said, the way the speaker evaluates reality or unreality, the limit of reality (in time, such as the category of "tense”, the degree

of authenticity, of the inevitability (objective or moral), the possibility (material or mental), the desirable or unfortunate nature, etc of the state of affair uttered (p.98)

Giving an overview of scholars' views on modality, Nguyen Van Hiep (2008) summarizes:

In modern linguistics, the term "modality" is often used by different authors to refer to a broad semantic category, revolving around the tripartite relationship between the speaker, the content described in the utterance and reality This semantic category includes different view and attitude of the speaker, understood as accompanying information, which have qualitative effects on the content described

in the sentence and in relation to the speaker, the listener and to the context of communication (p.98)

Linguists agree that modality is a complex concept It consists of many types of meanings that are intertwined and is difficult to define precisely The simplest way to explain modality is to say that it expresses the speaker's attitude or opinions on what is said in the situation being described, such as possibility, probability, certainty, permission or prohibition

2.3.2 Classification of Modality Markers in Conversations

Juliane House and Gabriele Kasper (2012) delineate two principal categories of modality markers: downgraders and upgraders To provide a more nuanced comprehension of these categories, they elaborate on the constituents of each:

- Downgraders: These are modality markers that soften the impact of an

utterance, making it less forceful or confrontational There are 11 different types of downgraders:

+ Politeness Markers: Politeness markers exhibit respect and courtesy to

the listener They are usually optional but express the speaker’s consideration

for the listener's feelings For example, “Would you please pass the salt?” or

“Could you kindly let me know your availability?” In both these cases,

‘please’ and ‘kindly’ work as politeness markers, demonstrating the speaker’s

wish to maintain a positive relationship with the listener

+ Play-downs: Play-downs are expressions that minimize the intensity or

importance of a matter They are used when the speaker wants to downplay

the severity or impact of an issue For instance, saying, “I had a slight disagreement with my friend ”, to refer to a heated argument, or, “It’s a bit chilly today”, when it is freezing outside These expressions attempt to reduce

the emotional charge from the situation

+ Consultative Devices: These devices invite the listener’s participation or

opinion in the conversation, thereby promoting a more cooperative dialogue

They often appear as ritualized formulas like, “Would you mind if I open the window?” or “Do you think it's a good idea to invest in this venture?” Here,

the speaker is not just asking for permission or opinion, but also implying a respect for the listener’s viewpoint

+ Hedges: Hedges introduce a level of ambiguity or non-commitment to

the speaker's utterance This might be a way to decrease the force of an

assertion or to express uncertainty Phrases like, “I think he might be unwell”,

or “She could possibly join us for dinner”, convey the speaker’s lack of

absolute certainty

+ Understaters: Understaters deliberately minimize the severity or

significance of the situation in order to be tactful or to maintain harmony For

example, in a business context, someone might say, “We’ve encountered minor obstacles”, when referring to significant challenges

+ Downtoners: Downtoners work by modulating the impact of an

utterance They soften the impact by downgrading the force of the speech

Phrases like, “We could perhaps look into that matter”, or “You might be a little off the mark”, serve to mitigate the forcefulness of the speaker’s

utterance

+ Minus Committer: Minus committers lower the speaker’s commitment to the proposition By using phrases like, “I suppose it could be true”, or “I guess she might be right,” the speaker distances themselves from a full

endorsement of the proposition

+ Forewarn: Forewarns are anticipatory expressions used to cushion the

impact of a potentially discomforting or surprising revelation For instance,

“Just a heads up, we’re running slightly behind schedule”, or “I should probably mention that there have been some changes to the plan”

+ Hesitator: Hesitators are expressions of hesitation or reluctance that indicate the speaker’s uncertainty or discomfort Examples include: “I'm not entirely sure how to say this,” or “I hesitate to bring this up, but it's necessary.”

+ Scope-Staters: These explicitly signal the speaker’s personal opinion or stance, lowering the assertive force of their utterance “From my point of view, we could have handled it better,” or “As far as I can see, there's no easy solution to this problem.”

+ AgentAvoider: AgentAvoiders omit the doer of an action, usually to

evade direct blame or accusation This can be done through passive voice, as

in “Mistakes were made”, or impersonal constructions like “It seems an error occurred.”

- Upgraders: These modality markers amplify the impact of an utterance,

making it more forceful There are a total of six upgraders as follows:

+ Overstater: Overstaters exaggerate the state of affairs for emphasis Phrases like, “It was the best day of my life!” or “The party was absolutely amazing!” are examples of overstating

+ Intensifier: Intensifiers add emphasis to the utterance They underscore the importance or urgency of the speaker’s proposition For example, “I'm extremely sorry for the delay,” or “She’s very talented.”

+ Plus Committer: Plus committers indicate a heightened degree of commitment or certainty from the speaker For instance, “I’m positive that’s the right solution,” or “I'm completely sure this is the right way forward.” + Lexical Intensifier: These include strongly connotative words that reinforce the emotional impact of the utterance For example, “The match was

a complete disaster,” or “His comments were utterly ridiculous.”

+ Aggressive Interrogative: These employ the interrogative mood to

challenge the listener and intensify the impact of the utterance For instance,

“Why on earth didn’t you tell me earlier?” or “How could you forget something so important?”

+ Rhetorical Appeal: Rhetorical appeals use the speaker’s proposition as

self-evidently true, which pressures the listener to agree For example,

“Anyone can see that this is the best choice,” or “You must understand how crucial this is.” (House & Kasper, 2012)

2.4 Previous Studies

There has been a large number of research on giving and responding to compliments conducted by both foreign and Vietnamese researchers Following are some related articles and studies:

In the MA thesis namely “Politeness strategies in giving and responding to compliments: a socio-pragmatics study of compliments in “The devil wears prada” Rahayu (2009) discovered the way the characters gave

and responded compliments as well as the politeness strategies employed by

thecharacters in the movie entitled “The Devil Wears Prada” The primary

aim of this study was to examine the manners in which characters use a mix

of non-verbal actions and vocal praises, as well as the subsequent responses

of the recipients to these compliments

Another study of politeness strategy entitled “An analysis of politeness strategy in Barack Obama’s Victory speech” was carried out by Sari (2016)

In this thesis work, the author found out and analyzed the types of politeness strategies that used by Barack Obama in his victory speech, based on Brown and Levinson’s theory of politeness He also showed that Barack Obama performed positive politeness strategy by joking, intensify interesting, exaggerating, complimenting including Sand H in the activity, be optimistic, promising, offering and assuming or asserting reciprocity in his utterance during his victory speech

In the study “Compliment and positive strategies”, Al-Azzawi (2011)

investigated the complimenting behavior of English speakers, as a strategy to express positive politeness In his study, he focused on describing the linguistic structures of complement, functions of compliments, types of compliment responses and the differences between men and women in giving compliments

In 2010, Fauzi carried out a study titled “A politeness strategy analysis

on the main characters’ dialogues of the movie pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” The author analyzed and described data from 18

expressions of three main characters’ dialogues under Brown and Levinson’s theory of politeness, particularly Face Threatening Acts (FTAs) and politeness strategies The research findings concluded that the characters employed four super-politeness strategies with positive politeness being the most used, bald on record and followed by negative politeness, and off-record

as the last and the rarest strategies with on expression

The study most closely related to my research is produced by Nguyen

Quang (2000), entitled “Some Vietnamese-American differences and similarities in giving and responding to compliments” The study focuses on

compliment topics, directness and indirectness as well as address forms in giving and responding to compliments in different situations The primary purpose of this thesis is to investigate the similarities and differences in verbal communication between Vietnamese and American cultures, specifically in the context of complimenting and receiving compliments This pertains specifically to the manner in which compliments are given and received, encompassing the utilization of ambiguous forms, modal lexical signs, as well

as direct and indirect expressions The strategic method employed in the thesis is the inductive method, which means that judgments and assessments are primarily based on the analysis of statistical data and documents The collection of usage data will be facilitated by administering survey questions that inquire about the utilization of various forms of address, fundamental modal vocabulary indications, as well as direct and indirect expressions in the context of praise and conversation These data was analyzed to determine the most significant similarities and differences between Vietnamese and American language and culture in this communicative illocutionary act that

contributes to affirming or questioning The study findings provide light on the fundamental similarities and variations in the reception and perception of compliments in Vietnamese and American contexts However, the scope of the study is restricted to information on how to offer and accept compliments in three distinct scenarios and four case groups Linguistic input came from recorded interviews and survey replies from the respondents Despite the fact that paralinguistic and non-verbal elements are crucial to communication, they were not included in the survey questions

The above-mentioned researches were the studies of compliments and compliment responses; politeness strategies used in behavioral communication and compliments However, the previous studies have not included any studies on topics, strategies and modality markers employed in giving compliments in real-life situations like those in English and Vietnamese movies In the present study, the researcher extensively examined pertinent theories on speech act, politeness, and modality in order to provide an appropriate theoretical framework for the research material The data for this research study was gathered from a selection of English and Vietnamese movies that had genuine instances of compliment utterances in true real-life scenarios The identification and classification of complement methods and modality indicators were conducted based on the researcher's comprehensive knowledge of pertinent ideas about speech acts, politeness, and modality Furthermore, all the research methodologies used in this investigation are appropriate for a study on speech acts All of the aforementioned components contribute to the establishment of reliability and validity in the outcomes of this investigation

2.5 Summary

This chapter provides an overview of the concepts of speech acts, politeness, and modality These concepts serve as the basis for developing a framework to analyze and categorize the topics, strategies and modality markers used in English and Vietnamese compliment utterances

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES

3.1 Research methods

In order to accomplish the goals and objectives of the research, the author used the following methodologies:

- The qualitative and quantitative methods: Qualitative methods are used

to categorize and elucidate textual materials with the aim of discerning the attributes of verbal expressions of praise and discerning language mechanisms employed to convey politeness Furthermore, the qualitative analysis method will be supplemented by several methods used in the field of linguistics, including semantic analysis, context analysis, and pragmatic analysis.Quantitative method using statistical analysis approaches are used to enumerate and scrutinize the gathered data The author employs a mix of qualitative and quantitative methodologies to enhance the efficiency of the investigation

- The use of contrastive analysis was utilized to examine and differentiate the utilization of complement and politeness methods, as well as modality indicators, in English and Vietnamese compliment utterances

- Descriptive and Interpretive methods: The use of descriptive and interpretative method was deemed essential in order to adequately define and analyze the obtained results

3.2 Research Procedures

The data for the present was compliment utterances in dialogue extracts collected from English and Vietnamese movies

The present study was conducted based on the following procedures:

1 Examining the literature and previous studies that is relevant to the current study

2 Accumulating 200 compliment utterances from English and Vietnamese movies

3 Identifying and accumulating examples of compliment utterances from the collected data

4 Classifying and analyzing the compliment topics, the compliment strategies and modality markers employed in the collected utterances

5 Providing the study's implications and conclusion

3.3 Data Collection

To get the necessary data for the study, the researcher procured a total

of 200 instances of compliment utterances These compliment utterances were divided into two groups: 100 in English movies and 100 in Vietnamese movies The compliments expressed either an implicit or explicit liking for individuals who had qualities such as excellent capability, physical beauty, and so on

3.4 Data Analysis

Once the collection of compliment utterances has been collected, they will undergo analysis in order to discover the compliment topics, compliment strategies, as well as the modality markers that indicate politeness in compliment utterances used by English and Vietnamese speakers, drawing upon Brown and Levinson's politeness theory Once the collection of compliment utterances has been collected, they will undergo analysis in order

to discover the compliment topics, compliment strategies, as well as the modality markers in compliment utterances made by the English and Vietnamese people under Brown and Levinson's politeness theory

Following are the illustrations of topics, strategies and MMs in compliment utterances in dialogue extracts from transcripts of English and Vietnamese movies:

As for compliment topics, let’s have a look at dialogue extract (38) and (26):

(38)

- I think you're pretty

- Me? You think I'm pretty?

- Em biết là vậy nhưng mà duyên chưa tới, em biết làm sao bây giờ

- Em vừa đẹp, lại vừa giỏi giang nữa Thôi, để chị làm mai cho em mấy

ông Việt kiều Con gái Việt mình là số 1 đó

As regards compliment strategies, let’s have a look at dialogue extract (85) and (7):

(85)

- I didn't get 2 yards I got 5 feet

- Yeah, we don't charge by the foot We charge by the yard

- 99¢ a yard is 33¢ a foot, times 5, that's 1.65 You charged me $1.98

- You're good at maths

(7)

- Thoại, cái này con mua ở đâu vậy?

- Dạ, cái này con may

- Không phải, ý bã hỏi mua mấy cái này ở đâu? Chứ không phải hỏi bộ

đồ, hiểu không? Bộ bã hỏi bộ đồ bã mua về mặc hay gì?

- Không, tui hỏi bộ đồ

- Hỏi bộ đồ chi? Mua về mặc ngủ hả?

- Thấy đẹp

The compliment strategies are identified as Expressing admiration in example (85) and Expressing an implicit liking in example (7)

As regards modality markers, let’s have a look at dialogue extract (12) and (34):

- And he's the perfect patient He's so funny!

In the underlined compliment utterance of dialogue extract (12), there

are 3 MMs: “Cajoler” (You know), ““minus” Committer” (I think),

“Intensifier” (very) These 3 MMs were classified into 3 groups Cajoler,

“minus” Committer and Intensifier respectively

(34)

- Em, đi chơi với tụi anh đi Anh thích cái phong cách ăn mặc của em lắm luôn á nha Nó lạ dễ sợ luôn Phong cách này hình như nó tên là vintage

Đúng không em?

- Cậu đang nói chuyện với tôi đó à?

The appealers were found in the Vietnamese compliment utterances in

the form of “Đúng không em?”

Next, the discovered topics, strategies, and modality markers will be provided in the form of tables and figures In conclusion, the collected data will be subjected to a comparative analysis in order to identify the distinctions and similarities in sentence structures, tactics of politeness, and use of modality markers in complement expressions in both English and Vietnamese languages