Conjunctions in some English and Vietnamese newletters: a contrastive analysis Phân tích đối chiếu liên từ trong một số bức thư ngỏ Tiếng Anh và Tiếng Việt Nguyễn Thị Hoàng Huế University of Languages and International Studies M.A. Thesis. English Linguistics: 60 22 15 Supervisor : Ph.D. Phạm Thị Thanh Thùy Năm bảo vệ: 2012 Abstract. It is a fact that English has entirely become an international language on account of its highest effectiveness in communication. In effect, a prevalent phenomenon has been occurring in a great number of countries in the world where millions of people are attempting to use the language as native speakers. Nevertheless, it is inadequate to take care of the choice of words (adjectives, nouns, verbs, and articles…), grammar rules (voice, aspect, and tense…) alone for fruitful communication; using conjunctions is highly appreciated. Without conjunctions, it is rather hard to understand the content of a meandering speech. In addition, the given ideas are completely by no means cohesive, logical and unified. It is undeniable that conjunction is so complex a category that foreigners cannot help having trouble in use. Also, for its complexity, the writer has no ambition to present all aspects of conjunctions. The researcher merely focuses on contrastive analysis of the use of conjunctions in English and Vietnamese Newsletters. Through the study, readers not only understand deeply about conjunctions in general but also, more importantly, Vietnamese learners have clearer knowledge about the similarities and differences in conjunction usages between English and Vietnamese in particular so that difficulties can be dealt with by some suggestions. Keywords. Liên từ; Tiếng Anh; Kỹ năng viết Content. The study consists of three main parts organized as follows: Part 1 entitles “INTRODUCTION” outlining the background of the study in which a brief account of relevant information such as rationale, aims, scope, methods, and designs of the study will be presented. Part 2, the “DEVELOPMENT” is subdivided into two chapters. Chapter 1 – Theoretical background, as its name suggests, covers a series of concepts about English and Vietnamese conjunctions and an overview of newsletters. The writer also introduces some famous studies related to conjunctions as a source to develop this thesis. In Chapter 2, the researcher focuses on “Contrastive analysis of conjunctions in English and Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters”. The author analyzes and contrasts how to use conjunctions in English and Vietnamese marketing newsletters based on the syntactic and semantic features to find out the similarities and differences in the two languages. Part 3, the CONCLUSION, is the last part of the study which summarizes what has been done, what has not been covered, accompanied by suggestions for further study. Some possible implications for language teaching, learning and translation are given at the end of this part with a view to providing a new insight into a very important device of linking in English and Vietnamese. References. English 1. Alice, O. & Ann, H. (1990), Writing Academic English, second edition, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. 2.Arthur, M. (1992), The Oxford Companion to English Language, OUP. 3.Ashley, A. (2003), A Handbook of Commercial Correspondence, OUP. 4.Bergman, C. A. (1989), Health grammar and Composition, Houghton Mufflin English. 5.Berk, M. (1999), English Syntax: From word to discourse, OUP. 6.Brown, A. C. (1987), Grammar and Composition, Houghton Mufflin English. 7. Byer, J. (2010), Newsletters are smart marketing, published on August 12 th , Article Source: http://www.easyhow-to.com/articles/Newsletter 8. Chalker, S. (1967), Current English Grammar, Macmillan Publisher Ltd. 9. Close, R. A. (1975), A Reference English grammar, Longman Group UK Limited. 10. Cobuild, C. (1990), English Grammar, Collins Publisher, London. 11. Green, C. (2002), Design it yourself Newsletters, Published in the United States of America. 12. Hamilton, E. A. (1996), Newsletters Design, Published in the United States of America. 13. Hussain, N. (2008), Advantages and disadvantages of Newsletters, published on September 18 th , 2008, Article Source: http://www.justsearchseo.co.uk. 14. Huddleston, R. (1944), Introduction to the grammar of English, Cambridge University Press. 15. Lashkari, L. (2007), Newsletter Formats – How to easily choose the perfect format for your newsletters, published on January, 19 th , Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ladan_Lashkari 16. Mallery, R. (1967), Grammar, rhetoric and composition, Doubleday and Company, Inc. 17. Quirk, R. & Greenbaum, S. (1973), A University Grammar of English, Longman Group UK Limited. 18. Swan, M. (1995), Basic English Usage, Oxford University Press. 19. Zamel, V. (1983), The composing processes of advanced ESL students: Six case studies. TESOL. Quarterly, Vol 17, No. 2, 165-187. 20. Zames, C. (1980), Contrastive analysis, Longman Group Ltd. 21. http://www.hp.com/hho/smb_hp_create/ newsletters.html Vietnamese 22. Diệp Quang Ban (1993), Ngữ pháp Tiếng Việt, tập 1, Nhà xuất bản Giáo dục. 23. Lê Thị Bích (2000), A contrastive analysis of English coordinators and/or/but and Vietnamese equivalents, Luận văn tốt nghiệp đại học, Đại học Ngoại ngữ- Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội. 24. Nam Cao (1943), Đời thừa, Nhà xuất bản Giáo dục. 23. Nam Cao (1946), Chí Phèo, Nhà xuất bản Giáo dục. 25. Anh Đức (1970), Giấc mơ ông lão vườn chim, Nhà xuất bản Giáo dục. 26. Nguyễn Thanh Hương (2002), A study on English conjunctions, Luận văn tốt nghiệp đại học, Đại học Ngoại Ngữ- Đại học quốc gia Hà Nội. 27. Nguyễn Lai (2006), Ngữ nghĩa của liên từ Tiếng Việt, Nhà xuất bản Đại học Sư phạm TP Hồ Chí Minh. 28. Nguyễn Hữu Quỳnh (1994), Tiếng Việt hiện đại (Ngữ âm, Ngữ pháp, Phong cách), Trung tâm biên soạn từ điển bách khoa Việt Nam. 29. Hoàng Thế (1990), Ngôn ngữ học, Nhà xuất bản Giáo dục. 30. Hoàng Trung Thông (1998), Ngữ pháp tiếng Việt hiện đại, Nhà xuất bản Giáo dục. 31. Từ điển (2002), Bách khoa Việt Nam, tập 2, Nhà xuất bản: Từ điển Bách khoa, Hà Nội. . researcher focuses on Contrastive analysis of conjunctions in English and Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters”. The author analyzes and contrasts how to use conjunctions in English and Vietnamese. part with a view to providing a new insight into a very important device of linking in English and Vietnamese. References. English 1. Alice, O. & Ann, H. (1990), Writing Academic English, . summarizes what has been done, what has not been covered, accompanied by suggestions for further study. Some possible implications for language teaching, learning and translation are given at