a vietnamese-english cross-cultural study on the use of address forms to express formality = nghiên cứu về cách sử dụng từ xưng hô diễn tả sự trang trọng trong tiếng anh và tiếng việt

In Vietnam, people use almost the kinship terms to address in family and in society, in formal communicated situation they use title and respected words.. Actually, person-the appropriat

ABSTRACT

Mastering a new language does not only consist of the ability to master its system of linguistic forms but also the ability to use them appropriately This is because languages differ from one another not only in their system of phonology, syntax and lexicon but also in rules of speaking

Addressing is, to various extents, formulaic, culture-specific and routinized in different languages, including Vietnamese and English The factors that govern the way one person addresses another varies across languages and speech communities The selection of appropriate addressing forms largely depends on age, gender, position, qualifications, power, the context of interaction and other social factors

Addressing is also a product of culture and history It reflects all the cultural values as well as historical changes of a society Vietnam and England embody two different cultures - the one in Western, the other in the Eastern Thus, their addressing forms are much different To successfully communicate cross culturally communicators should be aware of these

This study investigates the use of address forms to express formality in Vietnamese and English, identifying similarities and differences between them The factors that govern the way speakers choose to address are also examined

1.2 Use of Addressing system to express formality 14 1.2.1 Use of addressing system to express formality in working place in English 15 1.2.2 Use of addressing system to express formality in Vietnamese 16 1.2.3 Use of Addressing system to express formality in Vietnamese in working place 24

2.4.1.2 Frequency of address terms 23

2.4.2.1 Considerations in the selection of Address terms 27

2.5 Major Vietnamese-English cross-cultural differences 32

2 Some implications for using addressing terms in communication 35

APPENDICES

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rational

Each country bears its own culture i.e its own values, beliefs, assumptions, communication styles, preferable verbal expressions etc Therefore in intercultural communication people from different cultural background feel very difficult Cultural shock and cultural conflicts may happen due to differences in culture and language references Among these, the use of addressing terms seems to pose an outstanding threat to the process of intercultural communication However, the recent studies on intercultural and cross cultural communication between English and Vietnamese language and culture appear beyond our expectation

In Vietnam, especially in the Vietnamese workplace, bosses and staff are aware of the fact that a suitable address term can establish and maintain a good relationship

In international companies, there are many people from different nationalities work together, so using appropriate address terms is a need and a must that one should know to harmonize his working relationship This will help him communicate successfully

With all the above necessity, the author finds this topic so inspiring that she decides

to carry out a study on the use of addressing terms by the bosses and the staff in the workplace It is hoped that the research would contribute to raise the awareness of cultural and language differences in the use of addressing forms in English-Vietnamese intercultural communication

2 Aims of the study

The aims of the study are:

- To investigate major differences in which English, Vietnamese bosses and staff address in their own language

- To find out the socio cultural factors that govern the address terms

- To propose some suggestions to avoid culture shock and communication breakdown in intercultural communication

The research questions can be formulated as:

Question 1: What are the major differences in the ways English and Vietnamese bosses and staff address in their own language?

Question 2: What are socio cultural factors that govern the address terms?

Question 3: How should we do to avoid culture shock and communication breakdown in intercultural communication?

3 Methods of the study

This is a qualitative and quantitative study, hence the author uses the following steps to conduct the research:

- Studying relevant publications about background theories on addressing forms in English and Vietnamese (mostly from the Internet, books and magazines)

- Conducting survey questionnaires

The survey was carried out among employers and employees from the finance company - SMBC Leasing in London and Vietnam Vinashin General Company in

Ha Noi

- consulting the supervisor

- resorting to personal observation

4 Scope of the study

The study focuses on the addressing terms used to by two groups of staff and bosses

in English and Vietnam These address terms will be analyzed in some specific situations in their workplaces to discover how the bosses and staff address each other in English and Vietnamese In the study, the author also studies some main factors that exercise their influence on the use of addressing terms such as age, gender, marital status, occupation, power, social status, situation of interaction, academic qualification Other linguistic and cultural factors are beyond this research

5 Design of the study

The study contains three parts

Part 1, the introduction, includes the rational, the aims of the study, the methods of

Part 2, Development, is the most important part in the study, contains chapter 1 - Theoretical background is an introduction to the theoretical background which is designed to serve as the basic foundation of data analysis and discussion of findings

in chapter 2 Chapter 2 discusses the findings concerning the use of addressing in formality in Vietnamese and English

Part 3: Conclusion contains the Summary, Implications and limitation and suggestion for further study In this part, some conclusions on the use of addressing are drawn Simultaneously, the chapter also puts forward some implications for the addressing in communication in English and Vietnamese A statement of unsolved problems and suggestions for further research beyond the limits of the paper is also included in this chapter

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: Theoretical background 1.1 Addressing systems

In any act of communication, addressing is, unavoidable Address forms not only play an important role in scientific, legal and commercial documents but also perform pragmatic functions Use of addressing systems expresses the culture of a community using that language Depending on the subjects of communication that

an individual address term changes accordingly The family, social, emotional relationships in communication are the causes of different address The use of addressing terms also changes when communicative situation, emotion and attitude change

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

The word and words used to address somebody in speech or writing The way in which people address one another usually depend on their age, sex, social group, and personal relationship

For example, in the family, British people use the person pronouns and kinship terms to call the above generation, use the first name to call the below generation In society, they use formal terms to address such as title, first name, respected and intimated words In Vietnam, people use almost the kinship terms to address in family and in society, in formal communicated situation they use title and respected words

According to Khang, N V (2008), addressing terms are words used to call self and others, which used to address or call the hearer or speaker in the communication

In comparison with English terms, the use of Vietnamese terms of address in actual communication is more intricate

Luong (1990) points out: “Both the use and the meanings of Vietnamese referring forms are saliently and inextricably linked to the power, solidarity, and

person-the referred parties.” Actually, person-the appropriate choice of Vietnamese addressing

forms involves a consideration of wide range of sociolinguistic factors such as age, sex, social status, relationship (blood, intimate or distant), attitudes (respectful or arrogant), feelings of the speakers and addressee as well as the formality of the communication context English addressing forms, unlike Vietnamese ones, content

“prefabricated units”, such as I, we and you, in communication It means that these

units can be used in any context and with everyone English addressing forms don’t include in themselves any information of sociolinguistic factors or the formality of the communication

If in English "You" is used as second person pronoun in singular and plural as well

as to show formality or informality, e.g Sir, Mr Brown, Brown, Bill, etc In Vietnamese second person pronouns are used "Bạn, anh, chị " in singular, but in plural we have to add numerals before them e.g các anh, các chị The addressing forms in Vietnamese are used to show formality or informality which depend on the speaker's context, position, gender, age, mood

In some languages, such as Chinese dialects and Japanese, words expressing relationship e.g father, mother, aunt or position e.g teacher, lecturer, are used as address forms to show respect and/ or signal the formality of the situation

The factors that determine language forms of address terms vary from culture to

another Brown & Gilman, (1960) show that the determining factors that may be most common to many cultures are speaker-hearer power differences, interactional situations and how people are introduced to each other The address forms of a language are arranged into a complex address system, which its own rules that need to be acquired if a person wants to communicate appropriately

1.1.1 Addressing system in English

Brown & Ford (1961) remark that in English "proper names constitute a nearly universal language of relationship; the semantic dimensions involved serve to relate

to one another or all of the members of the society"

In investigating the connection between language and social relations, English does not grammatize such distinctions Realization tends to be scattered throughout a text, so that one may have to assess an entire text for its total configuration of relevant markers in order to determine the exact nature of the interpersonal relations obtaining between speaker and addressee, keeping in mind that such relations are constantly being negotiated in the course of interaction

Ervin-Tripp (1969) observes that English address system is "asymmetrical

exchanges which were found "where there was age of occupational rank differences" and that "at official meetings where status is clearly specified speech style is rigidly prescribed, and the form of address of each person is derived from his social identity" In this system, no distinction in address is made to equals or

subordinates and since both receive first name, age difference is not significant until

it is nearly the size of a generation

People address one another reveals their relationship, their attitude and feelings towards each other English addressing system shows a strong tendency of socialization To express 'solidarity semantic' or intimacy, the English speakers often call the hearer with first name, but in showing formality, they call each other with title and last name

In English people do not use any address terms at all when they are in doubt how to

address another, for example, Good morning or Good afternoon However, in

other languages when we avoid using so that which is impolite or deficient, for

example, in France, you cannot say Bonjour, Au revoir, Merci, or Pardon without

attaching an address term

Forms of address do not only vary across cultures but also according to specific types of social situation: individual or group confrontation; formality or informality

of the occasion; prior acquaintance or not of the party; conventional emotional quality ascribed to the occasion; face-to-face or distant communication (Firth, 1972) They are also modified by the role situation, and the type of address

Evans-Pritchard (cited in Hymes, 1964) remarks that the ways a speaker addresses

people around him "symbolize his social position in the relation to the people around him, so that, by the use of one or other of them, the status of the speaker to the person addressed is readily recognized"

Under the influence of individualism, westerners think highly of personal ability and achievement more than relationship They seldom use kinship terms to refer to non-family members because it may be considered quite rude For example, addressing an older woman "grandma" might cause offense, since in western cultures, "old" means aged and useless On the contrary, they usually use general social terms of address to refer to those non-family members

With I-YOU we can communicate without knowing the age, gender, social status of the hearer, the relationships between the hearer and speaker, attitude and feelings that speakers need to show through addressing forms Besides, people also use personal pronouns, title, names, address form avoidance, kinship terms, kinship term with first name They use these address forms to show the different emotion and attitude Basically, the following terms are used as popular addressing terms in English:

1 Title alone (T): Mr, Mrs, Ms, Professor, Dr, Madam

Social title: Mr, Mrs, Madam

Career title: Professor, Doctor

In social communication, it is inevitable to use social terms of address to show politeness or respect Therefore, it is very important to understand different meanings that social terms of address have, especially in inter-cultural communication Social terms of address are greatly affected by social class and traditional ethical concept which are essential parts in deciding which term to use This is the most formal and the least intimate form It is used in the first meetings,

in formal situations or nonreciprocal addressing form used by a person of a lesser status to a person who is superior to him

2 Title with full name: Dr David Baker, Mrs Brown Clair : use in formal

introductions only It will be changed into other forms in a short time

3 Full name: James Smith : used in more casual introductions, e.g among

youngsters

4 Last name alone (LN): Michael Nixon, Mary King

It is less formal than TLN but more intimate than first name however, it is used frequently Except the special situations (e.g to call a person who is rarely seen by someone), TLN is preferable (Nguyen Quang, 2001:85)

5 Title with last name (TLN): Professor Brown, Mr Clinton

This kind is a little bit less formal than the title alone, but they both can be applied

in the same situations

6 First name (FN): Michael Nixon, Mary King : used in informal

communication Actually, it is used in most of the conversations When an American asks you to address him by first name, he wants to make friend with you,

in other words, to be close, to be friendly to you

- Diminutive: (it is a kind of linguistic economicality For example, Rebecca is reduced to Beck, Elizabeth to Liz) This form is used mostly among family members (grandparents, parents, older brothers, sisters call the younger); or among close friends

- Terms of endearment: parents call their children and lovers call each other in this way For example: Amy, Audrey, Betty, Dorothy, Emily

However, there are only two main selections: first name and title with last name When people want to show the solidarity semantic, they usually address the partners

by first name When they want to show the power semantic, they used TLN to address the hearers These two address forms are divided into three groups:

- Mutual exchange of FN

- Mutual exchange of TLN: Title includes Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms

- Nonreciprocal exchange of TLN and FN: older, higher position person addresses

According to Wardhaugh (1986): using TLN to express inequality of power, but using mutual exchange of TLN to express the equality and insolidarity; using mutual exchange of FN to show the equality and solidarity between the partners Brown and Ford (1964) affirm that the two address terms (Mutual exchange of FN, Mutual exchange of TLN) are influenced by the time the interlocutors know each other and the solidarity Wardhaugh (1986:260) states: using first name of someone [ ] is expressed the solidarity FN can use among the close colleagues (even they

do not like each other) FN is even used for the officials, or when expressing the disdain or admiration

7 Kinship terms: Kinship terms, according to E R Leach , are “category words by

means of which an individual is taught to recognize the significant groupings in the social structure into which he is born” (as cited in Leach,1958, p 143) All

languages have kinship terms, which are clearly highlighted in addressing forms of

a language Without exception, all kinship terms make use of such factors as age, sex, generation, blood and marriage in their society English people use this kind and kinship terms + first name in family and social address According to Schneider

& Hormans, addressing terms are kinship terms in American English used to show mutual inreciprocal relationship Kinship terms are used as addressing terms in family and in some addressing cases in society For example, Mother (Mother

Superior), Father, Son (The Father, the Son) in English there are 10 words used in address such as grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, aunt, uncle

8 Title with husband's LN: Mrs Baker : English women after marriage are called

by this way

9 Multiple names (MNs): Brown & Ford (1964) explain that when talking with an

object "sometimes using TLN, FN or LN or nickname, sometimes creating variables

of phonetics of FN or nickname" They are used in close relationships

1.1.2 Addressing system in Vietnamese

Addressing forms are an interesting phenomenon in the study on cross-cultural communication Addressing terms are words used to addressee or call the hearers or speakers in the communication There exist numerous addressing systems in different cultures and languages Like many other Eastern languages, Vietnamese language has a complicated addressing system Address terms depend on the factors such as age, gender, social status, occupation and relatives Vietnamese has a system of vocabularies which are very abundant, specially addressing system It may be said that addressing system in Vietnamese is one of the most interesting phenomenon of this linguistic

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

In fact, some languages use the kinship terms as addressing forms [ ] One person addresses the others by some address terms such as "uncle", "older sister",

"younger brother" Even pronoun "I" can be seen as a kinship term Therefore, in any or every social relation, the interlocutors have to manage to identify themselves and others, and use some factors such as the relation, social position and age to select the suitable addressing terms

Addressing systems in Vietnamese are known as a means of politeness In Vietnamese personal pronouns show the clear border between politeness and impoliteness According to Nguyen Van Chien, to show category of personal names [category "Politeness" - Ng Q], South - Eastern languages use a different language from Indian-European languages such as Russian - general and inflectional language, English, American, Australian - analysable and inflectional languages Besides original personal pronouns appearing the personal factors such as kinship terms, personal nouns, title and occupation, first name, other terms

In Vietnamese addressing system, there is no equivalent to I-YOU in English that is used as a prefabricated units) The addressing term I-YOU itself does not imply age, gender, social power, kinship relation, attitudes and feeling While, kinship terms are used to address in Vietnamese at the different levels show the above factors The

daughter-in-law, son-in-law, wife, husband, father-in-law ) with other factors as addressing and convention in addressing The selection of addressing terms in communication depends on the factors: age, gender, social status, occupation, solidarity When addressing people usually show politeness, impoliteness, nuances: solemn, neutral, informal, overfamiliar, crude, normal Kinship and family relationships in Vietnam are more accurately described as an intricate network and complicated pattern of relationships Firstly, Vietnam is a family-centered tradition country Vietnamese people treasure the close family relationship highly and they usually live in a family with many generations Complicated Vietnamese family hierarchy is the dominant factor in choosing the right addressing term Secondly, Vietnamese kinship emphasizes patrilineal relationship Vietnamese people attach much importance to consanguineous relations and affinal ones, which connotes by kinship terms apparently There are the difference of kinship terms between paternal lineages and maternal ones, such as : cháu nội/cháu ngoại, ông nội/ ông ngoại and

ba vợ/ ba chồng Thirdly, Vietnamese culture emphasizes “superior controls junior” The descendant is not allowed to call the elderly by name is considered against the traditional morality and social order Therefore, exact kinship forms are necessary

in addressing to distinct elderly kins Fourthly, the gender of the relative is distinguished in Vietnamese culture For example, title for “father’s brother’s son” (anh/em con nha bac/ chu) is strictly distinguished from that for “father’s brother’s daughter” (chi/em con nha bac/ chu) Technically, Vietnamese kinship terms are used for all first, second and third person reference in structural sentences

In Vietnamese addressing system there are some address forms as follows:

1 Title: comrade, director : has the equivalent usage with T in English It is used

by soldiers

2 Title with proper name: used in formal communication

3 Full name: the case is seen in referring to historical characters only, say, Trần

Quốc Toản, Hồ Chí Minh We may come across a first name or full name going

with an "A" or "B" at the end In this case, "A" and "B" and so on are added to people who have identical names in a small group

4 First names only: used in most cases (both formal and informal), to show the

intimacy: among friends, people of older generations call children, the seniors call the inferiors This way is also used by people of any ages or status when they want

to put a slight on the name bearer

5 Kinship term with first name: for example, anh, chi, em, bác, chú, cô, dì, ông,

bà, ect + first name: this is the most usual case in the Vietnamese addressing system It shows the strong tendency of familialisation of the Vietnamese culture It may be used in calling leaders of a country who contributed so much for the sake of that country, and is beloved by the population

6 Middle name and first name: is not the way of addressing formally It is only

heard in some particular cases:

- When many people have the same first name in the same place Example: Bảo Linh, Diệu Linh, Thảo Linh, Tuệ Linh In informal talk, people may call the person with the middle name or middle name and first name

- When a person's first name combines with his/her middle name making a compound meaningful one, or when the first name only sounds meaningless or worse

- When a person's first name combines with his/her middle name making a beautiful (evenfictitious) name

- When people try to tease a person's name

7 Last name + first name: used to discriminate two people having the same middle

and first name

8 Nicknames only: in informal circumstances

- among close friends

- among children, adults, mates

- uncles, aunts, grandparents call their nephews

9 Kinship terms with husband's proper name: women after getting married may

be called by her husband's first name as in the case of English women However, it

is not a major trend and just old Vietnamese women are called in such a way

10 Addressing terms on behalf of a child: also, when having (a) child/children

(and being at the upper-middle age), a woman can be named by her first or last child

11 Scornful terms with proper name: "thằng cha, tên, con mẹ, thị " + first name:

this way is used when addressing a person that the caller scorns There's no need to

be polite and thus, no need to regard to the age

In Vietnamese social communication, the pairs of kinship terms are used to address actively According to Nguyen Quang (2002:159), in the Northern areas, there are

34 kinship terms as follows:

Table 1:

The first personal pronouns The second personal pronouns

- the higher vs lower positions: Bác - chú, Anh - em, Chị - em

- the blood relatives vs relative - in - law: Bác/chú - Cậu, Cô - Dì

- the father's relatives vs the mother's relatives: Bác/chú/Cậu - Dượng, Cô/dì - Thím/mợ

1.2 Use of addressing system to express formality

1.2.1 Use of addressing system to express formality in working place in English

The form of address people use when speaking to each other is dictated by the nature of the relationship between them The address terms in English exchanged between intimates ("familiar pronoun," first name, etc.) is the same term used in addressing social inferiors, and that the term exchanged between nonintimates ("polite pronoun," title and last name, etc.) is also used to address social superiors Brown has observed that relative positions of individuals on these two social dimensions of solidarity and status account for the forms of address used in any given dyad In English first name—FN, title and last name—TLN use to: status (position in the formal hierarchy, age), presumed familiarity (equality of status, time

in organization), intimacy (disclosure), and personality (status seeking,

self-assurance) Address behavior may reveal symptomatic and diagnostic aspects of the general nature of an organization, its structure, climate, and pattern of communications; conversely, comparative studies may demonstrate that these organizational variables influence the choice of address term the greater the status difference between individuals the greater should be the probability of nonreciprocal address, the higher-status individual receiving TLN and the lower-status individual receiving FN Given the dominance of achieved over ascribed status in determining forms of address in American English, the expected nonreciprocal address pattern should hold true even if the person of lower status is the elder In cases of mutual TLN or nonreciprocal address, the person of lower status should be more motivated to establish mutual FN address than should the person of higher status, for such an act of association enhances the value of the former while diminishing that of the latter (Brown, 1965) However, the former is presumed to hold back from directing FN upward, for, as Brown and Ford (1961)

proposed: If the person of lesser value were to initiate associative acts, he would run the risk of rebuff; if the person of higher value initiates such acts there is no such risk The superior, then, must be the pacesetter in progression to intimacy

The person of higher status is the pacesetter not in linguistic address alone, but in all acts that increase intimacy There is, however, one sort of relatively intimate associative act which a person of lower status might engage in without serious fear

of rebuff—namely, limited disclosure of attitudes about his job, interests, opinions, and personal problems It is predicted that an individual is relatively more self- disclosing to his boss than to his subordinates, in the hope of drawing the higher- status person into mutual self-disclosure, thereby increasing intimacy with the superior and enhancing status in the organization

In short, the use of first name (FN) and title and last name (TLN) in communicating with superiors, fellow workers, and subordinates revealed aspects of organizational structure: FN was used between equals and in addressing subordinates; unequal status was often reflected in a nonreciprocal address pattern in which the superior received TLN and the subordinate FN This is consistent with previous findings that the address term exchanged between equals and intimates is the same one directed towards inferiors Age and time in firm were not related to reported address patterns; neither were measures of status motivation and self-assurance Informants reported greatest willingness to make self-disclosures to fellow workers, and greater self-disclosure to immediate superiors than to immediate subordinates—even if the superior were addressed by TLN It is proposed that confiding in one's boss reflects

an attempt to establish intimacy with him This is interpreted as Brown and Ford's suggestion that the individual of higher status must initiate all steps towards increased intimacy

1.2.2 Use of addressing system to express formality in Vietnamese

When communicating each other people have to use addressing system Addressing

in communication depends on situation, relationship, position between speaker and hearer Vietnamese have the tradition about politeness and courteousness in addressing The expression of politeness within the language behaviour is attracting the interests of the linguistics in general and pragmatic linguistics in particular

community politeness which has clear and reasonable expressions Modesty in addressing, which is considered the principle of addressing politely in communication, is the way to show the community politeness In Vietnamese, polite addressing shows the respect with older, higher position and prestigious person Speaker has to select formal addressing terms in accordance with communicative role, communicative situation, relative - stranger relationship between speaker and hearer Polite and moderate addressing creates respected politeness in communication

In Vietnamese address forms are used mainly by kinship terms in family and society According to Wardhaugh (1986:262), some languages use 'kinship terms' as addressing forms [ ] For example, in Vietnamese someone addresses other by words in equivalent English such as 'uncle' (chú/bác), 'elder sister' (chị), 'younger brother' (em trai) and so on Even that is like pronoun 'I' in English is 'kinship term' Therefore, in every social relationship the communicators have to classify themselves and classify other ones to use the factors such as kinship, social status, age to choose addressing term suitably

The use of kinship terms to address in society depends on involved factors in communicative progress such as purpose, subject, object, situation and communicative rules of addressing In Vietnamese culture kinship terms are used widely and finely Pattern of addressing is fixed in communication, so when someone addresses incorrectly they will make hearer feel uncomfortable or they will feel guilty when addressing faultily

Besides, addressing forms as personal pronouns, title, post, name, academic title, academic distinction are also used in Vietnamese When communicating in formal places such as the meeting, diplomatic setting, working places the formality, respect, politeness, etc, are paid attention specially, so people usually select addressing forms to be suitable for communicative situation, time, position and

distance between speaker and hearer Wardhaugh (1986) states: a series of social factors always governs the selection of addressing forms: a certain occasion, other

one's social position or social rank; gender; age; family relationship; hierarchy in occupation; transaction context (e.g a meeting in serve activity, or relationship between doctor-patient, religious-believer); race; or intimate level The selection is sometime very clear: in society, when race origin or rank play an important role, this thing is attended more easily; when family relationships are very strong, that thing can be more respected

1.2.3 Use of addressing system to express formality in working place in Vietnam

In Vietnamese culture in working place people still have tendency to use widely and finely kinship terms with first name to address each other Model of address brings fixedness in communication, so people will feel uncomfortable when someone address incorrectly For example:

In Vietnamese

A: Em chào chị

B: Cháu phải gọi cô bằng cô chứ

(A: Hello

B: You must call me by "aunt")

In this conversation the speaker (A) is younger than the hearer (B) At first, the speaker greets the hearer B in the position of a younger person with an older sister, but the hearer wants to lengthen the distance of age between two people

The Vietnamese live mostly in communities, village community, groups so, society need to be controlled by hierarchy, person with lower position need to respects person with higher position, person with higher position has to concede person with lower position

In Vietnamese society, age and occupational status play an important role in communication in working place A person with lower position but older, they tend

to address "TÔI" and call another with title to show the respect and politeness, otherwise, a person with higher position but younger they tend to address "TÔI" and

with the same goal According to Nguyen Quang, in the case both conversational partners want to gain solidarity, depending on distance of age "TÔI" will be replaced by " ANH, CHỊ, BÁC", title is replaced by "EM, CHÁU, CON" (older person but lower position); and "TÔI" is replaced by "EM, CHÁU, CON" (younger person but higher position) In the case, kinship term "ÔNG, BÀ,CỤ" are not hardly ever used here because these people, who leader calls, have not worked any more

In the fact, Process "solidarity" is process transfers from compromise in address to

"Circle relationship" This is a table about the conflict compromise between age and position in Vietnamese addressing system:

older person and lower position TÔI Title

older person and higher position TÔI Kinship terms above "ego"

In Vietnamese culture-language, after communicating in a short time, people can transfer from dyad TÔI-TITLE to CHÁU/EM-TITLE to show self-abasement and familiarity, otherwise, still maintaining the other one's the upper position

e.g: Xin thủ trưởng cho tôi hai ngày để hoàn thành bản báo cáo này

But after a certain time, the staff can say:

Xin thủ trưởng cho em hai ngày để hoàn thành bản báo cáo này

Sometimes Vietnamese people skip the stage TÔI-TITLE to come straightly the stage EM/CHÁU-TITLE to express the familiarity with respect in relationship Person who starts with this transference is the one with lower position or higher position, but one with higher position starts the transference, he/she will transfer to

"Circle relationship" For example:

At that time, person with higher position can say:

- Cô (Chị) đánh cho tôi bản báo cáo này nhé! (Aunt/ Older Sister type this for me)

After a certain time, he/she can say:

- Em (Cháu) đánh cho anh (chú) bản báo cáo này nhé (Younger sister/ niece type this for older brother/ uncle)

With the common tendency, in Vietnamese the first and second personal pronouns are used as kinship relationship "familialisation" However, in relationships people can address and communicate by ranks In working place relationships relate to post, rank which are social assignments with the close institutions of law Therefore,

in working place we have to address appropriately, we shouldn't use too much excessively kinship terms in communication in working place In formal environment as working place we should address title, title and first name, first name with person at the same age, use pronouns "ÔNG, BÀ-TÔI" to address old person, specially, in meetings, conferences

CHAPTER II: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

This chapter centers on the survey questionnaires' analysis to understand how to address between bosses and staff in English and Vietnamese Some staff in two companies in Vietnam and England were selected to serve this research The Findings and Discussion of results are also presented thereafter

in some specific situations

The subjects are staff The setting is the Vietnam Vinashin General Company in Vietnam and SMBC Leasing in England

Also, the author designed the survey questionnaires with some clear tables and ready parameters so that informants find it easier to tick or number Besides, there are open questions to measure reactions by staff All of these questions are complied on the basis of specific situations The informants can tick or give more opinions about the problem of addressing that they cope in the companies

However, the survey questionnaires does not simply collect information from informants, but also contains the considerations in addressing to find out the underlying factors that determine the choice of linguistic forms that have been used and some dimension in cross-cultural communication, which govern the addressing terms

2.2 The informants

The English informants were ten in number: five females and five males who are the staff of one company in London in England, aged between twenty two and fifty-five In this company there are many people who are not native people but they have been living there for a long time and have been adapted to English modes of

addressing The author intentionally includes their responses in the data and comments on any differences that they evidenced from the perceived norm

The Vietnamese informants were twenty in number who are all staff of one company in Ha Noi - capital in Vietnam The staff are at the age of twenty-two to fifty-five All of them were born and brought up in Vietnam They have not been affected much by any other cultures So, it is convenient to compare and discover differences of addressing between English and Vietnamese The second group was fifteen Vietnamese bosses: three are female and twelve are males

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

2.3 Statistic research

The study only investigates the address terms of bosses to their staff and some of the reactions when the bosses and the staff address each other But the focus is for addressors - the staff So it cannot express the full addressing system between bosses and staff in the workplace

The investigation could not reach a wider group of informants because of time available and distance of possible informants The informants for the survey questionnaires belong to two groups The first group includes the staff of a finance company - SMBC Leasing Company in London The second group is the staff of Vinashin general company in Ha Noi Although they cannot represent for all the speaker of English or Vietnamese, they have still contributed their precious opinions to the addressing system in each country

2.4 Data analysis: Findings and discussions

2.4.1 Responses in English

2.4.1.1 Considerations in the selection of Address terms

When informants were asked to indicate what they take into consideration the most

in addressing between bosses and staff in English, each of them selected several

categories So the percentage is based on the number of informants who select one

category against the total

Table 3: (by percentage)

Items for considerations

N Age 1 Gender 2 Marital status

3

Occupa tion

4

Power

5

The time you have known each other

6

Situation of interaction

7

Academic qualification

8

His/her own preferences

of addressing

The figures in the table show that the boss's own preference of addressing is taken

as their first choice and of primary significance (100%) "The time you have known

each other" is another strong consideration (70%) Situation of interaction is less

important than the other factors Here, informants are more interest in Age (30%)

and academic qualification (30%) than marital status and occupation

The address terms may depend on how bosses and staff are introduced or boss'

preferences The ways staff use address terms may reflect attitudes and feelings

towards their bosses because many bosses and staff really care about how they

address the other communicator and how they are addressed

2.4.1.2 Frequency of address terms

In addressing someone, supposedly an older generation, the English informants almost unanimously use formal terms The data show that the staff tend to use more formal terms towards their bosses in communication In workplace, staff usually use formal titles to address their bosses unless they tell you otherwise They often use TLN to address their bosses The formality tends to remain through both initial and later contacts Here, there is a selection in addressing between male and female bosses that belong to gender factor, is an evidence for their determination in addressing terms

In the result for survey questionnaire 1, the situation of interaction is considered less important than the other factors Some informants found it difficult to choose whether this factor is important or not In fact, in the limitation of the study, I only find the data in a limited place - workplace - when the situations are formal and the participants' roles are clearly defined It is obvious that the situation of interaction is determined and it isn't necessary for them to pay attention

According to the figures we find that the time known each other is also a factor that communicators pay attention it in communication The address between boss and staff can change depending on time

In response to how staff address their boss the most formal, the result appears in the following table:

Table 4:

Items for

frequency N

First name

Last name

Full name Diminutives

Title and last name

Occupational title

Social title

Kinship terms

of different ages In workplace, the English staff in general use more FN (80%) than other factors TLN is the next selection (70%) It is obvious that power and academic qualification contribute their parts to the staffs' addressing Here, we do not find they use diminutives and kinship terms in communication in workplace, but using social title also accounted of quite large percentage The difference between the address terms for the formal situation and the kinship terms used usually is an illustration

In response to how bosses address their staffs the most formal, the result appears in the following table:

Table 5:

Items for

frequency

N First name

Last name

Full name

Diminutives Title

and last name

Title and first name

Neutral addressing

FN to address one another The reason is that the staff are encouraged to do so by the bosses

2.4.1.3 Influence of hierarchical positions

to be not known by their boss To some extent, they suppose that the bosses look down on them

In the situation 2 when the boss is younger than the staff he/she addresses his/her staffs by title and last name In this case there are many the different ideas The staff (over 40 years old) said that he/she respects them 10% staff found it does not matter and 10 % have the conflicting opinions, they said that it sounds ironical Many others (50%) thought that their boss can address them by FN, especially to the young staff

In the situation 3 when the boss is older than the staffs he/she addresses his/her staffs by title and last name The figures in the table 3 show that the situation of interaction factor is not important, but it is obvious that the situation here is not only the most important, but the institutionalized power of the addressee is even more determining 50% staff also said that their boss is very polite when addressing them

by title and last name There are 20% thought that it sounds ironical, 20% found it doesn't matter

2.4.1.4 Address term avoidance

In certain interpersonal interactions, speakers sometimes avoid using an address term The reasons for this phenomenon also vary from culture to culture, from situation to situation The data in the situation 4 show that most of the English respondents (100%) avoid using neutral address term "you", because when the boss uses this term will create the unfriendly and insolidarity feeling to the staff

2.4.2 Responses in Vietnamese

2.4.2.1 Considerations in the selection of Address terms

Social relation can refer to a multitude of social interactions, regulated by social norms, between two or more people, with each having a social position and performing a social role The concept of society as an extension of the family is evident in the transposition into social usage of a language originally intended for domestic life Vietnamese uses more than a score of kinship terms as personal pronouns The choice of the appropriate word depends on the relative age, social status, gender, degree of acquaintance, respect, and affection between speakers and hearers who are not related to each other by blood or marriage

In Vietnamese society in general and in workplace in particular, the predominant sentiment in the relation between members of a social group is respect This is particularly evident in the attitude towards older people Respect and consideration for old age no doubt derive from the obligation of filial piety that requires young people to respect and love their parents and parent-like members of the family Vietnamese also recognize that a long life is a sign of kindness and regard on the part of the deity for virtuous people, and that the elders are the carriers of tradition and the embodiment of knowledge and wisdom Old people enjoy high respect in Vietnamese society, irrespective of wealth, education, or social position This respect is expressed in both attitude and behavior, particularly in the use of special terms of address and stylistic devices Unlike Western societies that put a premium

on youth, Vietnamese society is proud of its old members Age is an asset, not a

liability

In response to what they take into consideration when staffs address their bosses

(see appendix 12)

Table 7:

Items for considerations

Category N Age 1 Gender2

Marital status

3

Occupation

4 Power 5

The time you have known each other

6

Situation of interaction

7

Academic

qualification 8

His/her own preferences

of addressing

The Vietnamese staff indicate that the factor "age" plays the most important role in

their way to address their boss (65%) As above said, in communicative

environment, age is their mode to address each other Moreover, in Vietnamese

society kinship terms are used to address people and become popular language So

the relationship between bosses and staff changes into Circular relationship that

often use in the family with kinship terms as address forms Factors "Power" and

"Academic qualification" are evaluated the second and the third considerations in

the addressing of staff to bosses (20% in the first position) and (25% in the second

position) The staff argue that workplace is a formal place, so power distinction between the lower and higher and academic qualification is very important

Besides, the table shows that "Gender"(40% in the 9 items) and his/her own preference of addressing (40% in the 9 items) are either taken for granted or do not affect their prescribed way of addressing their bosses The other factors are sometimes used that depends on the concreted situations

In short, in all factors affect to the address terms, "age" is the most consideration not only in social address forms, but also in workplace The other factors are arranged and used according to the specific situations

2.4.2.2 Frequency of address terms

Full name

Diminutives Kinship

terms

Title Title

and first name

There are some factors that never affect Vietnamese staff's addressing to the bosses such as the diminutives (80%), the proper name (70%), family name (85%) and full

name (60%) These factors are very unusual in staff-boss addressing In fact, the

diminutives are not often used in formal places as workplace, but they can be used

among the equal-power people in the family or among best friends Even though

bosses and staff have the closer relationship, they have not still addressed like this

Address term "family name" appears when Vietnamese people communicate with

all people in the world and are affected by the foreign addressing Vietnamese

people do not really pay attention to the family name of someone, they only call

family name of someone with first name to identify them if many people have the

same proper name in a workplace It is the same to explanation to addressing

between staff and bosses Because workplace address terms is one part of the broad

address system in a community

Full name can be used It expresses the respect of staff to their bosses This address

term can be understood as the highly appreciation to the bosses However, this

addressing can make the verboseness in communication When the bosses address

the staff by full name, it might make the distance between them

First name can be used by older people than boss when they address their boss in

workplace in Vietnam The informants gave the figures to illustrate this But young

people only address their boss they use title or kinship terms after first name

According to the table 23 (see appendix 17)

Full name

Diminutives Kinship

terms

Title and last name

Title and first name