a contrastive analysis of lexical and grammatical cohesion in inaugural speeches by the u s president barrack obama and vietnamese former president

iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Candidate’s statement i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Research question Scope of the study Methodology Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Theoretical Background 1.1 Discourse 1.1.1 Define “discourse” and “text” 1.1.2 Spoken and written discourse 1.2 Discourse context 1.2.1 Context of situation 1.2.2 Context of culture 1.3 Contrastive analysis 1.4 Cohesion 1.4.1 Definition 1.4.2 Cohesion & coherence 1.4.3 Grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion 1.4.3.1 Grammatical cohesion 1.4.3.2 Lexical cohesion 15 Chapter 2: A contrastive analysis of Obama and Nguyen Minh Triet’s inaugural speeches in terms of grammatical cohesive devices 20 v 2.1 Reference 20 2.1.1 Anaphoric reference 20 2.1.2 Cataphoric reference 21 2.2 Substitution 22 2.3 Ellipsis 23 2.4 Conjunctions 23 2.5 Frequency of occurrences of grammatical cohesive devices 25 Chapter 3: A contrastive analysis of Obama and Nguyen Minh Triet’s inaugural speeches in terms of lexical cohesive devices 27 3.1 Reiteration 27 3.1.1 Repetition 27 3.1.2 Synonym 29 3.1.3 Antonym 30 3.1.4 Hyponym 31 3.2 Collocation 32 3.3 Frequency of occurrences of lexical cohesive devices 34 PART C: Conclusion 37 Conclusion 37 Implications on teaching and learning writing 38 Limitations of the research 39 Suggestions for further studies 39 References 40 Appendices Appendix 1: Nguyen Minh Triet’s inaugural speech .I Appendix 2: Barrack Obama’s inaugural speech IV PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale English is one of the most important languages in communication Nowadays, people all over the world learn English to communicate with each other, therefore, the language has become an international language Vietnam is not an exception English is more and more popular in Vietnam, where it becomes a subject in Vietnamese education system No one can deny the role of English in connecting people all over the world together and bringing many chances for people to integrate into the global economy Because of the significance of English, Vietnamese learners try to find many ways to master the second language, such as through movies, stories, music and even pictures Another good way that many learners choose is learning English through speeches made by famous people For example, in Japan, there used to be a tendency of studying English through the USA‟s president Obama‟s speeches and in Vietnam, not few learners try this way However, there is a truth that Vietnamese learners of English often make a variety of mistakes and errors when using the target language Many of learners have difficulty in using English fluently and smoothly They often use the second language by putting words together to produce a sentence As a result, the language is incoherent It is necessary to use cohesive devices, especially in terms of vocabulary and grammar, which can cohere ideas in a context together to avoid the incoherence of texts Thanks to these devices, which can help to make the language items connected, learners can use the second language as native speakers In reality, many researchers have spent a lot of time on studying cohesive devices in general and in specific context Nevertheless, no one has studied about cohesive devices in president Obama‟s speech Barrack Obama, who is the first color-skinned president of America, has a big influence on Americans‟ mind His words are admired by people all over the world His words cause much curiosity and urge the author to conduct this thesis on his inaugural speech The reason to choose the inaugural speech is that everyone knows each presidential speech has to go through a long process of editing and revising before it is given to public All of its words, sentences are written and polished carefully because it is not only the product of an individual, but it is also the face of a nation For above reasons, the author of this paper aims to focus on lexical and grammatical cohesive devices used in Obama‟s speech in comparison with expresident Nguyen Minh Triet‟s speech By contrastively analyzing of the two speeches, the paper is expected to aid learners of the second language to avoid making errors and use the language as natively as their mother tongue Aims of the study This thesis aims at: - giving a general theoretical background of lexical and grammatical cohesive devices - describing and analyzing lexical and grammatical cohesive devices used in two speeches made by two representatives in similar situational context but different cultural context to reveal similarities and differences Research question With the above purposes, the study intends to answer the following research questions: How are lexical and grammatical cohesive devices used in Obama‟s and Nguyen Minh Triet‟s inaugural speeches? What are the similarities and differences between lexical and grammatical cohesive devices used in two inaugural speeches? Scope of the study In order to fulfill the aims of the study and answer two research questions, the author of this thesis only focuses on contrastively analyzing lexical and grammatical cohesive devices in two inaugural speeches made by the USA‟s president Obama and Vietnamese president Nguyen Minh Triet Methodology Firstly, a variety of materials related to cohesive devices, notably, lexical and grammatical cohesive devices, is read through and selected to build up a theoretical background for the research Then, cohesive devices used in two speeches are collected and classified for description, analysis and statistics Contrastive method is used to find out the similarities and differences of lexical and grammatical cohesive devices used in two speeches Organization of the study This organization of the study is composed of three parts as follows Part A is the introduction, which includes rationale, aims of the study, research question, scope of the study, methodology and organization of the study Part B starts with chapter – the theoretical background that includes with discourse, discourse context and then contrastive analysis The rest of the chapter deals with cohesion, which consists of definition, cohesion and coherence, grammatical and lexical cohesion Chapter discusses the contrastive analysis of Obama and Nguyen Minh Triet‟s inaugural speeches in terms of grammatical cohesive devices, which are composed of reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunctions and the frequency of occurrence of grammatical cohesive devices in both speeches Chapter is the contrastive analysis of Obama and Nguyen Minh Triet‟s inaugural speeches in terms of lexical cohesive devices, which emphasizes on reiteration, collocation and frequency of occurrences of lexical cohesive devices The last part concludes the main points of the thesis and gives some implications on teaching and learning writing and suggestions for further studies as well The rest of the paper is some references for further reading and study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Discourse 1.1.1 Define “discourse” and “text” The term “discourse” and “text” has been remaining confusion among analysts Some of them believe that these two concepts are interchangeable and some others see these in contrary view Whatever it is, “discourse” and “text” are two most notable linguistic phenomenon Therefore, the clarification of them is necessary for learners and teachers of linguistics There are several definitions for discourse Nunan, D (1993:5) defines discourse as a unit of language, which is formed by some related sentences Similarly, “Discourse is a continuous stretch of (especially spoken) language larger than a sentence, often constituting a coherent unit, such as a sermon, argument, joke or narrative.” (Crystal 1992: 25 cited in Nunan 1993:5) Furthermore, “discourse is stretches of language perceived to be meaningful, unified and purposive” (Cook 1989: 156 cited in Nunan 1993: 6) In conclusion, discourse is a linguistic unit that is coherent with some specific purposes Whereas, “Text is a piece of naturally occurring spoken, written, or signed discourse identified for purposes of analysis It is often a language unit with a definable communicative function, such as a conversation or a poster” (Crystal 1992:72 cited in Nunan 1993:6) Halliday & Hasan in Cohesion in English (1976) consider text as “a unit of language in use It is not a grammatical unit, like a clause or a sentence; and it is not defined by its size” and it may be spoken or written Nunan (1993) refers text as “any written record of a communicative event” and discourse as “the interpretation of the communicative event in the context” In addition, Widdowson (1984:100) pointed out that “discourse is a communicative process by means of interaction Its situational outcome is a change in a state of affairs: information is conveyed, intentions made clear, its linguistic product is text” Although some linguists try to put “discourse” and “text” apart, it cannot be denied that they can be used interchangeably Discourse is a “process” and text is a “product” For this idea, in this study, I will use the term “text” to refer to any written discourse and the two inaugural speeches made by two presidents – Barrack Obama and Nguyen Minh Triet – are analyzed as “products” 1.1.2 Spoken and written discourse There should be a distinction between spoken and written discourse – two modes expressing linguistic meaning Apart from some of their similarities, they represent different features, in which the biggest one is spoken discourse is changeable while written discourse is permanent or unchangeable It cannot be denied that spoken language is a kind of verbal communication Speakers can use gestures or body language to state what he/she wants to receivers This is impossible for written language, which is non-verbal Its only means of manifestation is texts According to Nunan (1993:8), although spoken language existed before written language, “written texts are much more than merely talk written down” And because of the existence of the agricultural culture rather than hunting and gathering, people needed „permanent records‟ He pointed out that both written and spoken discourse is used to “get things done, to provide information and to entertain” A speaker does not have to take much notice of grammatical rules and spend much time on planning what he/she intend to deliver to his/her receiver as a writer On the other hand, with face-to-face interactions, the receiver can see the speaker‟s attitude and behavior rather than that of the writer, whose expressions are transferred into texts According to Brown and Yule (1983:13), both spoken and written discourse serves the interactional and transactional purpose The former is used for human relationship and the later is for transferring information Speech may be considered as both written and spoken discourse In this study, the researcher analyzes transcriptions of the two inaugural speeches made by President Obama and Ex-President Nguyen Minh Triet as two written discourses with the formal use of lexical and grammatical rules 1.2 Discourse context 1.2.1 Context of situation It is significant to recognize the context of situation of a discourse Readers and hearers can easily get what speakers and writers mean when they know the context of situation Nunan (1993:7) states that “context refers to the situation giving rise to the discourse, and within which the discourse is embedded” Therefore, so as to understand and analyze a discourse, it is essential to focus on the context in which it is embedded In this study, the context of the two discourses is speeches delivered in public after the two presidents were inaugurated 1.2.2 Context of culture In order to understand a discourse, aside from the language used in the discourse and many other features, it is necessary to know the context of culture Only when you are a part of the culture, can you capture what is said and expressed in the discourse In this thesis, two inaugural speeches of two leaders from two different cultures – Vietnam and America are mentioned and analyzed It is indispensable to comprehend some significant features of these two nations or two literary styles in specific beforehand Obviously, two inaugural speeches are aimed at two different receivers/hearers Nguyen Minh Triet‟s speech was delivered to Vietnamese people, who are citizens of a socialist country while Barrack Obama‟s speech is for citizens of a federal constitutional republic It is also necessary to revise some of main features of two cultures in this paper For a long time, the democracy exists in America but it is manifested through the appearance of many parties in a nation and these also create some of prominent characteristics that are truly America: individualism, high competition and privacy In Vietnam, there is also democracy; however, this feature is much different from that of America The democracy is expressed in the unity and solidarity of citizens In addition, Vietnamese people and think basing on the collective spirit These different features between two nations may lead to the differences in writing two inaugural speeches because these two are made for political purposes and delivered to different audiences In addition, the political institutions and ideologies of authors are reflected in inaugural texts In conclusion, both context of situation and culture are integral in analyzing the discourses since they have a big influence on the literary style, especially, inaugural speeches written by Presidents 1.3 Contrastive analysis Before finding any similarities and differences between two discourses, it is necessary to understand contrastive analysis According to James (1980), the history of contrastive analysis (CA) starts with Lado‟s Linguistics across cultures (1957) In his book, Lado stated that “those elements which are similar to the learner‟s native language will be simple for him, and those elements that are different will be difficult” (Lado, 1957) James also believed that two earlier books on the linguistic integration of immigrants to the USA – Weinreich (1953) and Haugen (1956) gave Lado his impetus James (1980: 3) gave a provisional definition of CA as “CA is a linguistic enterprise aimed at producing inverted (i.e., contrastive, not comparative) two-valued typologies (a CA is always concerned with a pair of languages), and founded on the assumption that languages can be compared” He considered CA as inter-language study and applied linguistics In short, contrastive analysis is the systematic study of a pair of languages to identify their similarities and differences In this study, the similarities and differences between two inaugural speeches in terms of grammatical and lexical cohesive devices will be figured out 1.4 Cohesion 1.4.1 Definition Cohesion is understood as the grammatical and lexical relationship within a text or sentence It can be also defined as the links that hold a text together and give it meaning Nguyen Hoa (2000:23) defines cohesion as the formal relationship that makes texts cohere or stick together According to Halliday & Hasan (1976:4), “the concept of cohesion is a semantic one; it refers to relations of meaning that exist within the text, and that define it as a text” Cohesion happens where the interpretation of some elements in the discourse is dependent on that of another Also according to them, cohesion is part of the system of a language and is expressed through the strata organization of language It is manifested partly through the grammar and partly through the vocabulary Therefore, it can be referred that cohesion includes grammatical and lexical cohesion 1.4.2 Cohesion & coherence Taking the viewpoint of Hoang Van Van (2006), cohesion is concerned with formal surface structures to interact with underlying semantic relations or underlying functional coherence to create textual unity Contrary, coherence is concerned with the sequencing of the configuration of the concepts and relation of the textual world which underlies and is realized by the surface text 1.4.3 Grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion 1.4.3.1 Grammatical cohesion Grammatical cohesion may be understood as the surface marking of semantic links between clauses and sentences in written discourse, and between utterances and tunes in speech It can be classified into four groups: reference substitution, ellipsis and conjunction  Reference Halliday and Hasan (1976) stated that “reference is a semantic relation” Reference is used in discourse to avoid repetition Also, according to them, “instead of being interpreted semantically in their own right, they make reference to something else for their interpretation” 27 CHAPTER 3: A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF BARRACK OBAMA AND NGUYEN MINH TRIET’S INAUGURAL SPEECHES IN TERMS OF LEXICAL COHESIVE DEVICES This chapter focuses on lexical cohesive devices to see how different they are used in two speeches In addition to be connected by grammatical devices, clauses, sentences or ideas are also linked in term of lexical relation By using repetition, synonymous, antonymous or super-ordinate or using collocative words and phrases, the authors can make their texts coherent and easy to understand Here it comes in this chapter, the occurrence of lexical cohesive devices will be pointed out and their frequencies are compared afterwards 3.1 Reiteration 3.1.1 Repetition In addition to other devices, repetition is also indispensable in cohering texts together We cannot deny its role as one of lexical cohesive means in writings, especially, speeches, which are spoken in public with political purposes as inaugural ones Here, in both speeches of President Obama and Ex-president Nguyen Minh Triet, we can find a variety of repetitious words or phrases for linking clauses to become more precise and coherent Firstly, let us explore repetition in the English version of inaugural speech written by Barrack Obama Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age Thanks to the word nation that is repeated twice in the passage, ideas are connected and become clearer and therefore, audiences will find it easy to understand We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness 28 It can be seen from the above example is that the time and all are repeated With them, the author wants to emphasize on his affirmation and, as a result, audiences will believe in his ideology Also, these repetitious words play significant roles in relating sentences with each other and help the passage consistent and smooth Many other repetitious words and phrases are found in Obama‟s speech They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to as we please Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater co-operation and understanding between nations We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet These things are old These things are true In the whole text, we can easily see that nation, America, American, people, prosperity, freedom or power… are repeated for many times They help to make sentences, passages and ideas united Furthermore, the repetition of pronoun “we” and the possessive pronoun “our” are frequently used in through the text for the creation of related text If we replace the repetition of “we” by the use of another lexical cohesive device, for instance, the repetition of “Americans”, then the speech will become bored and as a result, will not attract the audiences Thanks to these repeated words and phrases, the entire discourse is logical or coherent Similarly, in Nguyen Minh Triet‟s speech, we can find a higher rate of repetition used In the very beginning, the author uses the phrase thưa vị and this phrase is repeated for many times through the text to remind us that it is not an incoherent writing In passages, many repetitious words are taken place For example: Tôi thật xúc động, xin chân thành cảm ơn vị đại biểu Quốc hội tín nhiệm bầu tơi tiếp tục giữ chức vụ Chủ tịch nước Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam nhiệm kỳ Quốc hội khóa 29 XII Tơi nhận thức sâu sắc vinh dự lớn, đồng thời nhiệm vụ nặng nề mà Đảng, Quốc hội nhân dân nước trao cho Quốc hội is repeated for three times Or in other passages: Tích cực xây dựng Nhà nước pháp quyền xã hội chủ nghĩa nhân dân, nhân dân, nhân dân Đây nhiệm vụ Đảng Nhà nước ta thật coi trọng Nhà nước ta phải thực chức công cụ chủ yếu để thực quyền làm chủ nhân dân lãnh đạo Đảng Thực tiễn sống địi hỏi cơng cải cách tư pháp phải tiếp tục thực khẩn trương, đồng nâng cao chất lượng, hiệu hoạt động quan tư pháp tất khâu tố tụng (điều tra, truy tố, xét xử) quan, tổ chức bổ trợ tư pháp Cải cách tư pháp phải nhằm xây dựng quan tư pháp đội ngũ cán vững mạnh, kiên không để lọt tội phạm, không để xảy oan sai người dân Cải cách tư pháp với cải cách hành phải tích cực góp phần đẩy mạnh đấu tranh phịng chống tham nhũng, lãng phí thắng lợi These repeated words help to create cohesion in the text and therefore, coherence is achieved Repetition also makes the speech clear, precise and unambiguous As same as in Obama‟s speech, many important words are repeatedly used such as tổ quốc, quốc hội, nhà nước, Việt Nam, nhân dân… In the English speech, nouns or noun phrases are repeated mostly while in Vietnamese speech, nouns, noun phrases and verbs are recurred 3.1.2 Synonym We understand that the overuse of repetition can cause the confusion of the texts Therefore, synonym is used to avoid repetition in writings In Obama‟s speech, some synonymous words and phrases are seen but they are not many For instances: Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered Lost, shed and shuttered are synonymous in some sense in the above example By using synonyms, the expression becomes more precise, coherent and smoother Let us consider another case: Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the 30 prosperous The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good Force and power, wealth and prosperity, expand and extend are synonymous pairs In this passage, if the author does not use synonymous words, but repeated ones, it will become confused and monotonous Accordingly, synonym is the most effective in this case, not only to make ideas smooth but also coherent Unlike the English one, Nguyen Minh Triet‟s inaugural speech has no synonyms In Vietnamese language, especially, in a political writing, synonyms are not usually used since it requires clarity, misunderstanding and unambiguity 3.1.3 Antonym This type of lexical cohesive device also expresses the difference in English and Vietnamese speeches While in Obama‟s speech, some antonyms are used to emphasize and to cohere the text together, in Nguyen Minh Triet‟s speech, we cannot find any antonymous case Once again, the Vietnamese version, in comparison with the English one, uses fewer rates of antonyms This may be explained by the differences of culture and the habit of using language between two countries Firstly, we come to explore antonyms in Barrack Obama‟s inaugural speech It can be seen that some antonymous words and phrases are found in this text For examples: The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered Our healthcare is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet 31 On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord Looking at above illustrations, it is easy to recognize that rising tides and still waters, weakened and strengthen, hope and fear, unity of purpose and conflict and discord, somewhat, are opposite in meaning They connect expressions with each other and create united texts 3.1.4 Hyponym After analyzing, a variety of hyponyms is found in both speeches Both Barrack Obama and Nguyen Minh Triet use this cohesive device to make their speech precise, clear and unambiguous Firstly, let us consider some examples taken from Obama‟s speech: That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood Our nation is at war, against a farreaching network of violence and hatred Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered Our healthcare is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet All underlined and bold circumstances are hyponyms of “crisis”, which is mentioned in the first sentence Here are manifestations of crisis when it occurs in a country And with these hyponyms, sentences are linked and cohered Other illustrations are below: We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year Our capacity remains undiminished As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages We honour them not only because they are the guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all 32 In the first example, workers, minds, good and services, capacity are hyponyms of “nation” in the first sentence They are resources and expressions of a prosperous and powerful nation In the second one, brave Americans, fallen heroes and guardians, all of them represent a generation of America and therefore, they are hyponyms of “generation” in the last sentence In the whole speech, there counts 15 cases of hyponyms Now, we turn to take Nguyen Minh Triet‟s speech into account in terms of hyponym Like the English text, the Vietnamese text also uses a fairly large number of hyponyms, which exist in cases For instances: Tôi thật xúc động, xin chân thành cảm ơn vị đại biểu Quốc hội tín nhiệm bầu tơi tiếp tục giữ chức vụ Chủ tịch nước Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam nhiệm kỳ Quốc hội khóa XII Tơi nhận thức sâu sắc vinh dự lớn, đồng thời nhiệm vụ nặng nề mà Đảng, Quốc hội nhân dân nước trao cho Clearly, Đảng, Quốc hội and nhân dân are hyponyms of “nước Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam” in the first sentence Trên cương vị cơng tác mình, tơi nguyện phấn đấu phục vụ Tổ quốc…phối hợp cộng tác chặt chẽ với Ủy ban Thường vụ Quốc hội, Chính phủ, Tịa án nhân dân tối cao, Viện Kiểm sát nhân dân tối cao, ngành cấp, với Ủy ban Trung ương Mặt trận Tổ quốc Việt Nam đoàn thể nhân dân, lắng nghe ý kiến nguyện vọng nhân dân, ý kiến đóng góp vị đại biểu Quốc hội Ủy ban Thường vụ Quốc hội, Chính phủ, Tịa án nhân dân tối cao, Viện Kiểm sát nhân dân tối cao, ngành cấp, Ủy ban Trung ương Mặt trận Tổ quốc Việt Nam and đoàn thể nhân dân are all organizations of “Tổ quốc” and each of them is a part of “Tổ quốc” Therefore, they are hyponyms of “Tổ quốc” It cannot be denied that hyponym plays an important role in linking sentences together in both speeches They help to create clarity and unambiguity as well as cohesion in texts 3.2 Collocation Another type of lexical cohesive device that create cohesion and coherence is collocation Both speeches of Obama and Nguyen Minh Triet use a wide range of collocation to make the text coherent 33 For example, in Obama‟s speech, the author wrote that “…but also our collective failure to make hard choices…” In this situation, it is not correct to write “do hard choices” Only “make” can combined with “choice” Let us consider another exemplification: These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights The author mentions to indicators, subject, data and statistics, which are reasonably accompanied with measurable and profound This collocational relation helps to make the text coherent Other cases of collocations also show the coherent and precise text: We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year Our capacity remains undiminished When the author mentions to a prosperous and powerful nation, he uses related words such as productive, inventive, needed or undiminished as shown in the supporting sentences of the above example to make the text clear and consistent Accordingly, his audiences can not only know the ideas that he wants to convey but also his skillful way of using language Thanks to collocational words, the text becomes more precise, unambiguous and coherent As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals Our founding fathers, faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations Once again, collocational words are used to ensure the connection of sentences These words, defence, safety, perils, rule of law and rights of man, are, somewhat, related in meaning and they make the passage smooth and can be understood by audiences Like Obama, Nguyen Minh Triet also uses collocational words and phrases to links ideas in his speech although the number of collocation is less than those in Obama‟s speech For example: 34 Trên cương vị cơng tác mình, tơi nguyện phấn đấu phục vụ Tổ quốc…Thường xuyên rèn luyện, học tập làm việc theo gương đạo đức Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh Tích cực chăm lo mặt cơng tác đối nội, đối ngoại, đảm bảo quốc phòng an ninh Nhà nước ta Words and phrases like phấn đấu, rèn luyện, học tập làm việc, tích cực often go together in texts Here in the speech, the author uses them to unite sentences and ideas together and help create a coherent and precise text In short, along with reiteration, collocation is used as an effective means of cohesive device to stick the texts together and make them clear, precise, coherent and unambiguous 3.3 Frequency of occurrences of lexical cohesive devices Table 3: Lexical cohesive devices found in Barrack Obama and Nguyen Minh Triet‟s speeches Lexical cohesive devices English speech Vietnamese speech Repetition 27.8% 71.4% Synonym 13% Antonym 11% Hyponym 27.8% 25% Collocation 20.4% 3.6% The table above shows the percentage of lexical cohesive devices found in speeches made by U.S President Barrack Obama and our former President Nguyen Minh Triet It can be easily seen from the table that the English speech is rich in lexical cohesive devices to create a clear, precise, unambiguous and coherent text while the Vietnamese version has a limited number of these lexical cohesive devices (5 versus 3) This cannot be understood that the English one is clearer, more precise, unambiguous and coherent than the Vietnamese one, but this difference manifests the particular characteristics of the languages used in speeches in English and Vietnamese 35 More specifically, in Obama‟s speech, the highest proportion falls into repetition and hyponym with 27.8% Thanks to the large number of repeated words and hyponyms, sentences and ideas are sticked together and the text becomes clearer and coherent While, in Nguyen Minh Triet‟s speech, the highest one used is repetition at the rate of 71.4% After it, hyponym ranks in the second place with 25% So, in both speeches, repetition is considered as the most effective cohesion to create coherence and then comes to hyponym In addition, while in the English speech, synonym counts for 13% and antonym counts for 11%, in the Vietnamese one, there is no synonym and antonym used Another contrast is that the frequency of collocation in Barrack Obama‟s speech is much higher with the rate of 20.4% to make the text consistent In comparison with the English version, Nguyen Minh Triet‟s writing holds 3.6% of this type of cohesive device So far, lexical cohesive devices used in both speeches of two heads of State have been investigated These devices have great contributions to the creation of coherence in texts Along with grammatical cohesive devices, lexical cohesive devices help to make texts precise and coherent With the result of analyzing two speeches, it is clear to see that lexical cohesive devices are found more frequently in the English version than those in the Vietnamese one As far as this, both grammatical and lexical cohesive devices are analyzed in two inaugural speeches and it can be summarized in the following table: Table 4: Lexical and grammatical cohesive devices in two inaugural speeches Cohesive devices English speech Vietnamese speech Anaphoric reference 29.3% 25% Cataphoric reference 3.7% 6.2% Substitution 1.8% Ellipsis 3.7% Conjunction 61.5% 68.8% Repetition 27.8% 71.4% 36 Synonym 13% Antonym 11% Hyponym 27.8% 25% Collocation 20.4% 3.6% As seen from the table above, both grammatical and lexical cohesive devices are found more often in the English inaugural speech than in the Vietnamese one This may be the result of different language systems of two nations and the context of culture may be blamed for as well As discussed in the beginning, two inaugural speeches are made in the same context of situation but different context of culture The political institutions and ideology of two countries lead to the unsimilarities in using language items in general and cohesive devices to cohere texts together in particular However, it is clear that both authors take full advantages of their language items to make their texts airtight, precise and coherent 37 PART C: CONCLUSION Conclusion So far, grammatical and lexical cohesive devices in inaugural speeches made by U.S President Barrack Obama and our former President Nguyen Minh Triet have been explored With all efforts and enthusiasm for the study, the author of this paper does hope it will, somehow, bring many advantages for those, who are going to write speeches and those, who are learning writing any texts After a certain time of getting involved in this topic, it is revealed that every speech or text needs to be very clear, precise, airtight and unambiguous In other words, it is important to create coherence for the text by using a variety of cohesive devices appropriately It is clear that each speech has to go through a long process of editing and revising before it is given to public, especially, presidential speeches All of its words, sentences are written and polished carefully because it is not only the product of an individual, but it is also the face of an organization or a nation For this reason, clarity, precision, airtightness and unambiguousness are very significant Within the scope of the study, we can finally find out the answers for some research questions raised at the very beginning of the paper In terms of lexical cohesive devices, in both speeches of Barrack Obama and Nguyen Minh Triet, repetition and hyponym are the most effective means that help the texts coherent And in terms of grammatical cohesive devices, conjunction is mostly used for the creation of clarity, precision and unambiguity for the texts Although in the Vietnamese version, some grammatical and lexical cohesive devices are not found as in the English one, the text is also clear and coherent This may be explained by the particular features of language use and characteristics of this type of writing in Vietnamese As a matter of fact, many learners of English often transfer their ideas in Vietnamese to the target language when they write And this will cause incoherent 38 and unnatural texts It is the best way to learn the second language by understanding the distinctions between the mother tongue and the target one Contrastive analysis is really an effective means to figure out the different and similar uses of cohesive devices in two texts or two speeches, which are representatives of two languages from two different countries Therefore, the author of this thesis does hope that the result of the study will be useful for learning writing in general and writing speeches in specific to be more natural and coherent Implications on teaching and learning writing By analyzing grammatical and lexical cohesion in two speeches of two heads of State, the study aims at giving some suggestions for teachers and learners of the second language It can be seen from the study that authors of two inaugural speeches use cohesion flexibly to make their texts clear, precise, coherent and persuasive as well By comprehending the result of this study, learners of second language can understand the similarities and differences of cohesion used in two languages Accordingly, they can easily write speeches or any other texts in English accurately and naturally without „translating‟ their ideas into English For example, in English version, lexical cohesive devices such as antonym and synonym are often used while these two devices are rarely used or even unused in Vietnamese version Vietnamese learners of English should take a notice of this difference when writing texts, especially speeches, to make their writings clear, airtight and coherent When teaching writing for students of English, teachers should remind their students of cohesive devices, which create coherent texts, by giving them authentic materials and let them explore cohesive devices used in those materials In addition, teachers should also provide their students a wide variety of vocabularies that are useful Moreover, the choice of grammatical means should be taken much notice of Overall, teachers of English should also make their student clear about similar and different uses of grammatical and lexical cohesive 39 devices in two languages to avoid ambiguousness in their writing On the other hand, students should study the use of cohesive devices and appropriately use these devices in their writings to make them clear, precise, airtight and unambiguous As mentioned above, cohesive devices play very significant roles in the creation smooth and coherent text Limitations of the research For the time constraint and the scope of study, the thesis shows some limitations Firstly, it shows mostly English grammatical rules without presenting the Vietnamese ones Therefore, audiences may not contrast these two grammatical rules properly in general and in two inaugural speeches in specific Secondly, it only investigates grammatical and lexical cohesive devices in two specific contexts; as a result, some implications on writing are not presented prominently and naturally And that may make the research shortcoming During the conduction of this paper, mistakes are unavoidable The author of this paper welcomes any comments and suggestions for making this thesis more efficient and useful Suggestions for further studies For the limitation of the topic, the author of this thesis does not have a chance to discuss further Some of the following studies may be suggested for further studies:  A critical discourse analysis of U.S President Obama‟s inaugural speech in the Presidential election 2008  Logical cohesion in inaugural speeches by the U.S president Barrack Obama and Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet 40 REFERENCES In Vietnamese: Diệp Quang Ban (1998) Văn Liên Kết Tiếng Việt Nhà xuất Giáo dục, Hà Nội Trần Hữu Mạnh (2007) Ngôn Ngữ Học Đối chiếu - Cú Pháp Tiếng Anh – Tiếng Việt Nhà xuất Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội, Hà Nội Trần Ngọc Thêm (2000) Hệ Thống Liên Kết Văn Bản Tiếng Việt Nhà xuất Giáo dục, Hà Nội In English: Brown, G and Yule, G (1983) Discourse Analysis Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Bui Thi 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House 41 10 Nguyen Thi Thu (2000) A contrastive Analysis of Salescontracts in English and Vietnamese Discourse Unpublished M.A Thesis – Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National University, Hanoi 11 Nunan, D (1993) Introducing Discourse Analysis London: Penguine 12 Phuong To Tam (2003) An Analysis of Coherence and Cohesion and a Contrastive Analysis of Lexical Cohesive Devices in English and Vietnamese Unpublished M.A Thesis – Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National University, Hanoi 13 Quirk, R and Greenbaum, S (1987) A University Grammar of English Longman Group Limited 14 Widdowson, H.G (1984) Explorations in Applied Linguistics Oxford: Oxford University Press 15 Yule, G (1996) The Study of Language Oxford: Oxford University Press ... following studies may be suggested for further studies:  A critical discourse analysis of U. S President Obama? ? ?s inaugural speech in the Presidential election 2008  Logical cohesion in inaugural speeches. .. investigation into how grammatical and lexical cohesive devices are used in US president Barrack Obama? ? ?s and Vietnamese former president Nguyen Minh Triet? ?s inaugural speeches was conducted and the. .. 11 what it substitutes Substitution is classified into three types: nominal, verbal and clausal substitution - Nominal substitution: functions as Head of a nominal group and can substitute only