Verbal expressions in giving and receiving presents in english and vietnamese cultures

Verbal expressions in giving and receiving presents in english and vietnamese cultures Lê Hà Vân Trường Đại học Ngoại Ngữ Luận văn ThS Chuyên ngành: English Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15 Người hướng dẫn: ASSOC PROF DR Nguyễn Văn Độ Năm bảo vệ: 2009 Abstract: The thesis focuses on English and Vietnamese verbal expressions used when giving and receiving presents More specifically, some similarities and differences in English and Vietnamese verbal expressions when giving and receiving presents/gifts will be given in these pages Also, tentative explanations in terms of linguistic politeness are made The data for this analysis are provided by the survey questionnaire that investigates verbal expressions used when giving and receiving presents on three occasions (birthday, wedding, and house-warming) 50 informants including 25 English native speakers and 25 Vietnamese have taken part in this investigation The findings of the study indicate that giving and receiving presents is a sensitive and delicate communicative act with many of communicating strategies employed by both groups of informants In addition, the cultural characteristics of each group also partly reveal through their utterances of giving and receiving presents Keywords: Tiếng Anh; Tiếng Việt; Giao tiếp; Văn hoá; Quà tặng Content: iv TABLE OF CONTENTS * Acknowledgements ii * Abstract iii * Table of contents iv * Abbreviations v * List of Tables and Graphs vi INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Scope of the study 1.4 Methods of the study DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 The relationship between language & culture 1.2 Speech Acts 1.3 Verbal Expressions in giving and receiving presents 1.4 Linguistic Politeness 10 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 12 2.1 Hypotheses 12 2.2 Data collection 13 2.2.1 The Questionnaires 13 2.2.2 The Respondents 15 2.3 16 Data analysis CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 40 3.1 Findings in Vietnamese 40 3.2 Findings in English 42 3.3 Similarities and Differences 44 3.4 Tentative explanations in terms of linguistic politeness 46 CONCLUSION 48 REFERENCES 49 APPENDICES I v ABBREVIATIONS S : Speaker H : Hearer G : Giver R : Recipient FTA : Fact Threatening Act FT : Face Threat No : Number % : Percent vi LIST OF TABLES AND GRAPHS Table 1: Age group correlation between English and Vietnamese respondents 15 Table 2: Gender correlation between English and Vietnamese respondents 15 Table 3: Living area correlation between English and Vietnamese respondents 15 Table 4: Occupation correlation between English and Vietnamese respondents 16 Table 5: Strategies in giving presents on the occasion of birthday 16 Table 6: Strategies in giving presents on the occasion of wedding 21 Table 7: Strategies in giving presents on the occasion of house warming 25 Table 8: Strategies in receiving presents 32 Table 9: Rank of importance of social factors 39 Table 10: Rank of importance of social factors 40 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale It can not be denied that English has been used as an international language all over the world; it is the most widely spoken language which is used in many fields such as economics, trade, tourism, diplomacy, politics, and press In Vietnam, as a result of the Open-door policy, the number of people learning English for various purposes is on the rise They study English to communicate with people from other countries where English is used as a native, a second or just a foreign language, to read English materials, or simply to pass the national secondary school exams Although English has been taught in Vietnam for many years, not until recently has the focus of improving linguistic competence for learners been on syntax, on lexical and phonological components of the language Many people still believe that being good at English means being good at linguistic competence Thus, cultural factors are paid little attention to In our modern world, however, globalization is expanding; the need for interacting and communicating across nations is indispensable Successful communication requires not only purely linguistic competence but also the knowledge of social norms, social values and relations between individuals known as communicative competence Communicative competence presupposes ability to use the language correctly and appropriately This pragmatic competence is as crucial as linguistic competence The lack of it may lead to rudeness, misinterpretation, cultural shocks, and even communication breakdown It is clear that people who lack an awareness of socio-cultural conventions in the target language may face unwanted communication breakdown in cross-cultural interaction For example, if a Vietnamese speaker gave a native speaker of English a gift and he/she only received the response from the receiver as: “Thank you” or “Thank you so much”, the Vietnamese speaker may feel a little bit disappointed because he/she expects a more emotional and warmer response than just saying “Thank you” Obviously, cultural differences here made the communication process unsuccessful Hence, the knowledge about cross-cultural communication is really essential On this basis, this study is done to contribute an insight into a really fine social manner: Giving and receiving presents It helps Vietnamese learners of English to find out the best English verbal expressions which are often used when giving and receiving presents in specific situations and vice versa As the result, similarities and differences between Vietnamese and English verbal expressions in giving and receiving presents will be identified With this study, the researcher desires to seek a number of suitable and interesting verbal expressions when giving and receiving presents in English and Vietnamese in some specific circumstances for avoiding, or at least, reducing the threat of communication breakdown in giving and receiving presents particularly in intercultural communication 1.2 Aims of the study This study aims to: - Find out typical models of English and Vietnamese verbal expressions used when giving and receiving presents in specific situations - Identify the similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese verbal expressions when giving and receiving presents - Make tentative explanations for these similarities and differences in terms of linguistic politeness 1.3 Scope of the study As mentioned above, the study mainly focuses on English and Vietnamese verbal expressions used when giving and receiving presents on three occasions: birthday, wedding, and house-warming party Due to its small scale, only 25 Vietnamese and 25 English native speakers were involved in this study These respondents were asked to complete the questionnaires with information about their verbal expressions used in the case of giving and receiving presents in certain situations 3 Conclusions are based on the analysis of the data collected from the questionnaires Data obtained from questionnaires about what English native speakers and Vietnamese people might say in certain situations may not be always the same as what they actually say in the real life Similarities and differences between the English and Vietnamese verbal expressions when giving and receiving presents are also discussed In this study, giving and receiving presents simply are understood as a nice symbol of cultural behaviors in normal life expressing deep emotion, concern, gratitude and attention to the Recipient, bringing joy to both the giver and receiver, promoting goodwill, and developing a closer relationship As the result, some tentative explanations for these similarities and differences in terms of linguistic politeness will be given in this study 1.4 Methods of the study In order to carry out this study with the aim of a cross-cultural research, the main method used is the quantitative one All the comments, evaluation and conclusions in this thesis are mainly based on: Survey questionnaires; 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