CONTENTS
| THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1 The speech act theory
2 Complaint as a speech act
I OUR OWN STUDY
1 Survey Description 2 Figures and Findings
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1 The speech act theory
a Definition
Speech act is a unit of speaking and each
unit performs certain functions in
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2 Complaint as a speech act a Definition
Complaint is defined as an illocutionary
act in which the complainer shows his/her disapproval, negative feelings, etc to an event to ask the complainee for either
direct or indirect responsibility
(Trosborg-1995:310)
Ex: “Next time don’t expect me to sit
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b Complaint strategies
Trosborg (1995) outlines 4 main complaint Strategies which are very similar to those offered by Olshtain and Weinbach
i No explicit reproach — Category I
Strategy 1: Hint
Ex: “All right, don’t see much of you
these day, do I?” (Trosborg, 1995:339)
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li Expression of annoyance or
disapproval — Category II
Strategy 2: Annoyance
Ex: “You know, we agreed to be quiet after 11 p.m, don’t you?” (Tran Thi Van Dung)
Strategy 3: Consequences
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iii Accusation — Categogy III
Strategy 4: Indirect accusation
Ex: “You borrowed my car last night, didn’t you?”
(Trosborg, 1995:319)
Strategy 5: Direct accusation
Ex: “Did you happen to bump into my
car?”
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iv Blame — Category IV
Strategy 6: Modified blame
Ex: “Couldnt you been more careful?” (Trosborg, 1995:319)
Strategy 7: Explicit blame
(behaviour)
Ex: "Oh, no! Look at what you have done!”
Strategy 8: Explicit blame (person)
Ex: “Bloody fool! You've done it again!” (Trosborg, 1995:319)
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c Directive acts
i Request for repair
Ex: “Could you please be a little bit quieter?” (our data)
il Threat
Ex: “If we dontt finish job today, I'll have
to discuss it with the boss”
iii Request for forbearance
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1 Survey description
“« The research is conducted through a survey questionnaires on 34 people, including 17 Vietnamese people and 17 Anglicist people
“¢ Anglicist interviewees are around the age of
20-60+ They are visiting Vietnam
“- Vietnamese interviewees are around the age
of 18-60+ They are living and studying or working in Hanoi
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2 Situations
What would you say?
b Situation 2:
At a library Two other students were talking loudly while you needed
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2 Situations
What would you say?
c Situation 3:
At your favorite restaurant The food
didnt taste as good as usual
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“e AS can be seen, the most frequently used category seems to be Cat 5,
Directive Acts, which holds 35.71% “* The second is Cat 4, Blame which
holds 21.43%
«* The third one tends to be Cat 2,
Expression of Annoyances which
comprises 20,5/%
“e The fourth and the fifth is No Explicit Reproach and Accusations
respectively
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ll OUR OWN STUDY
“* The most common categories are
Directive Acts and Expression of Annoyance (30,61% each)
“The third is No explicit Reproach,
which holds 16.33%
s» [he fourth is Accusation which consists of 14,29% and the least common category is Blame, which accounts 8.16%
“* Blame < Accusations <No explicit
Reproach <Directive Acts, Expression of
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4 Findings
a Similarities
The two most common categories in both
languages are Explicit of Annoyance and
Directive acts
b Differences
It is refered that Vietnamese people tend to be more direct when complaining
The total percent of Cat.4 and Cat.5 in Vietnamese Is higher than it in Anglicist
(57% and 38%)
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- Sorry to bother you but - I'm sorry to say this but - I'm afraid I've got a complaint about - I'm afraid there is a slight problem with - Excuse me but there is a problem about
- I want to complain about
- I'm angry about
Vietnamese
- Cai nay kho qua!
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d Implication €3
s»Understand the use of directness a
indirectness strategies in Anglicist
culture and Vietnamese culture
“*Improve your complaining skills
“* Understand the language Anglicist
people often use to make a complaint in
direct and indirect way
`