INFLUENCE OF POWER DISTANCE ON CLASSROOM INTERACTION: A CASE STUDY AT A PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOL IN HANOI

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************************** NGUYỄN THỊ DUNG INFLUENCE OF POWER

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

****************************

NGUYỄN THỊ DUNG

INFLUENCE OF POWER DISTANCE ON CLASSROOM

INTERACTION: A CASE STUDY AT A PRIVATE

HIGH SCHOOL IN HANOI

(ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA KHOẢNG CÁCH QUYỀN LỰC ĐẾN

TƯƠNG TÁC TRONG LỚP HỌC: NGHIÊN CỨU TÌNH HUỐNG

Ở MỘT TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG DÂN LẬP TẠI HÀ NỘI)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HA NOI, 2017

Số thứ tự:……

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

****************************

NGUYỄN THỊ DUNG

INFLUENCE OF POWER DISTANCE ON CLASSROOM

INTERACTION: A CASE STUDY AT A PRIVATE

HIGH SCHOOL IN HANOI

(ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA KHOẢNG CÁCH QUYỀN LỰC ĐẾN

TƯƠNG TÁC TRONG LỚP HỌC: NGHIÊN CỨU TÌNH HUỐNG

Ở MỘT TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG DÂN LẬP TẠI HÀ NỘI)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Prof Dr Hoàng Văn Vân

Số thứ tự:……

DECLARATION

I hereby state that I: Nguyen Thi Dung, from QH2015.E3, being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts (MA), accept the requirements of the university relating to the retention and use of Master‟s Graduation Paper deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan and reproduction of the paper

Hanoi, May 5th, 2017

Nguyễn Thi ̣ Dung

my thesis to the best of my ability and opened my knowledge of literature It was very lucky for me to be under his guidance

My heartfelt thanks and blessings also go to my family, especially my parents who are always beside and support me during the time I did my thesis Their well-being is of great spiritual motivation for me all the time

Last but not least, I want to offer special thanks to all of my friends, my sweet lover, who always supported and stood by me during the completion of the graduation paper

To them all I dedicate this thesis

ABSTRACT

Power distance illustrates how people in a society accept the inequality of power (Hofstede, 2011) Its traits have been proved to appear in almost every aspect of daily life (Hofstede, 1991; cited in Bassett, 2004) Specifically, in classroom communication, certain traits of power distance are found to affect the teacher-student interaction and the student-student one (Hofstede, 1986, p 313) There have been quantitative studies finding out the manifestations of this cutural dimension within the classroom interactions However, sole reliance on quantitative techniques could be problematic, since they conceal more than they reveal of the intricacies of classroom interaction (Sadeghi, 2012) Moving away from the quantitative view above, this paper examines the classroom interactions from the discourse analysis perspective called Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), proposed by Norman Fairclough (1989, 1993,

1995, 1997, 2013), which sees discourse as a form of „social practice‟ with three stages

of analysis namely description, interpretation and explanation, to understand classroom practice and interactions under the influence of power distance

This case study aims at using CDA as a tool to investigate the manifestations and the influences of power distance in Hofstede‟s theory on the classroom interactions in a private high school Since this environment is also important in the education system, it gets too little attention from researchers and scholars (Glewwe & Patrinos, 1998) The discussion, based on a case study conducted at a private high school classroom in Hanoi, aims at understanding the unseen social processes Transcription of classroom interactions was put into a qualitative analysis of CDA with three typical stages:

description, interpretation and explanation The research findings suggest that power

of the teacher seems less than the students in terms of personal pronouns analysis, meanwhile, the teacher exerts power when calling or motivating students involving in the classroom activities In this case study, the power distance motivates and promotes the classroom interaction between teacher and students

TABLE OF CONTENT

ACCEPTANCE ……… … i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……… ii

ABSTRACT……… iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS……… ……… iv

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES……… …… … vii

LIST OF APPENDICES ……….….…… vii

PART A: INTRODUCTION I Statement of research problem and the rationale for the study…….…… 1

II Purpose of the study ……….…… … 2

III Significance of the study……….……… 2

IV Research methodology ……….… … 3

1 Research participants ……… ….… 3

2 Data collection methods and procedure ……… …… 3

2.1 Data collection instruments……… ……… 3

2.2 Data collection procedure……….……… 4

3 Data analysis methods and procedure ……….….……,,, 4

V Design of the study ……….…….….… 5

PART B: LITERATURE REVIEW I Definition of key terms ……… ……… 6

1 Power distance ……… …… 6

1.1 Definition of power distance……….……… 6

1.2 Classification of power distance……….….… 6

1.3 Power distance in Vietnam ……… …… 8

1.4 Power distance in classroom environment ……….……… 9

2 Classroom interactions ……….…… 10

2.1 Definition of classroom interactions……… 10

2.2 Teacher-Student interaction……… 11

2.3 Student-Student interaction……… 13

II Related studies and research gap ……… 14

1 Related studies on power distance and classroom interactions ……….…., 14

2 Research gap ……….….… 16

PART C: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: Theoretical background 1 An overview of CDA ……….… 17

1.1 Definition ……… 17

1.2 Critical, Discourse, Analysis……… 18

1.3 Key concepts ……….… 20

1.4 Principles and Aims of CDA……… 21

1.5 Methodology in CDA ……… 22

2 Systematic Functional Linguistics in CDA ……… 23

CHAPTER 2: A critical discourse analysis of the influence of power distance on classroom interaction at a private high school in Hanoi 2.1 Texual description and analysis……….……… 26

2.1.1 Analysis in terms of vocabulary used……… 26

2.1.2 Analysis in terms of grammar features ……… 27

2.1.2.1 The use of personal pronoun ……… … 27

2.1.2.2 The use of voice ……… ……….………… 32

2.1.2.3 Modes of the sentences……….……….……… 33

2.1.2.4 Modality ……….……… 34

2.1.2.5 Connective values of the discourse ……… 36

2.1.3 Analysis in terms of transitivity ……… 39

2.1.4 Analysis in terms of thematization ……… 39

2.1.5 Analysis in terms of macrostructure of the discourse ……… 40

2.2 Interpretation of the relationship between productive and interpretative process ……….… 42

2.2.1.Interpretation of situational context ……….… 42

2.2.2 Intertextual context and presupposition ……… 43

2.3 Explanation of the relationship between discourse processes and social processes……… 44

PART D: CONCLUSION 1 A summary of finding ……… …… 46

2 Conclusion ……… … 47

3 Implications to English teaching and learning ……….… 48

4 Reccomendations ……… … 49

REFERENCES ……….……… 50 APPENDIX I ……… I

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Hofstede‟s cultural dimension index in Vietnam (My Anh, 2013)

Figure 2 Fairclough's dimension of discourse and discourse analysis (Fairclough,

1989, 1995a, cited in Janks (1997, p.330))

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Ten Differences Between Small- and Large- Power Distance Societies

Table 2 Power distance differences in general norms, family, school and workplace issue

Table 3 Power distance in classroom environment

Table 4 Differences in Teacher/Student Interaction in Relation to Power Distance Table 5 Differences in Student/Student Interaction in Relation to Power Distance

Table 6 Instance of the use I and me in the lesson

Table 7 Instance of the use we in the lesson

Table 8 Instance of the use you in the lesson

Table 9 Instance of the proper personal pronouns in the lesson

Table 10 Time appeared and percentage of the active and passive sentences used in the lesson

Table 11 Time appeared and percentage of the declarative, imperative and questions in the lesson

Table 12 Summary of transitivity analysis data

Table 13 Summary of thematic analysis data

PART A: INTRODUCTION

I Statement of research problem and the rationale for the study

Culture is one of the factors reflecting people‟s behavior within a community or a society It makes people understand each other better (Coelho, n.d.) Hofstede did a lot

of studies (Hofstede, 1986; Hofstede, 1991; Hofstede, 2011) to investigate cultural factors affecting the communication of human being Among his cutural dimensions, power distance seems to get much concern from scholars as it brings a comprehensive view of how people in a society accept the inequality of power (Hofstede, 2011) Power distance‟s traits have been proved to appear in almost every aspect of daily life (Hofstede, 1991; cited in Bassett, 2004) In classroom communication, certain traits

of power distance are also found influence on the teacher- student interaction and the student-student one (Hofstede, 1986, p 313) As a result, various models of classroom interaction/discourse analysis such as speech act theory, interactional sociolinguistics, conversation analysis, variation analysis, pragmatics, and ethnography of communication (Schiffrin, 1994, cited in Sadeghi et al, 2012) have been investigated

up to now Although each approach emphasizes different aspects of language use, they all view language as a social interaction which is shaped by social contexts Additionally, since most studies conducted investigated the power distance on the university context (Li and Guo, 2012; Yoo, 2014) or public high school environment (Kasuya‟s, n.d.), very little attention was paid to the private school environment which

is also an important part in the education system of Vietnam (Glewwe & Patrinos, 1998), especially in terms of critical discourse analysis

This paves the way for the author to conduct current research to examine the presence and influence of power distance on the classroom interactions between teacher and student and student and student within the context of Vietnamese private

high school Especially, the study will be conducted under the investigation of critical discourse analysis The researcher hopes to coin a different perspective of power distance via critical discourse analysis and also partly provide more reference to the literature in this field

II Purpose of the study

This research aims at seeking and investigating the manifestations and the influences of power distance on the classroom interactions in a private high school environment Especially, those manifestations and influences will be seen under the critical discourse analysis In brief, these objectives can be achieved through finding tentative answers to the following research questions:

1 In what ways are the manifestations of power reflected in the classroom interactions under the critical discourse analysis?

2 How does the power distance affect the classroom interactions?

III Significance of the study

The study focuses on exploring how power distance manifests and influences the teacher-student and student-student interactions in a private high school Hence, once this thesis is completed, it can be beneficial for both theoretical and practical contributions In terms of theoretical contributions, the research is expected to provide more cognition of the manifestations and influences of the power distance on the foreign language classroom interaction, especially in the private school environment in Vietnam More interstingly, those manifestations and influences will be investigated under critical discourse analysis and carefully examined in terms of features related to vocabulary, grammar, transitivity and thematization In addition, this thesis is hoped to serve as a reliable and useful reference material about power distance in Vietnamese pedagogical environment for other readers and researchers in their further studies on related subjects For the practical contributions, the findings and conclusion of the research are anticipated to provide an overall consideration for the Vietnamese English

teachers as well as the foreign ones about the presence and influence of one cultural dimension on their English language classroom interactions From this consideration, the author hopes they can take it as a reference to improve or to promote the classroom interactions in their English lessons

IV Research methodology

1 Research participants

This study is conducted in an EFL classroom There are 36 students at grade 10 and one English teacher in a private high school recruited to participate in the research The author observes two English lessons in this class

There are some reasons urging the researcher to choose these participants as the research sample Firstly, the research focuses on the private high school environment, hence, the author chooses Nguyen Binh Khiem High School - one of top prominent private high schools in Hanoi which was founded for more than 20 years (as mentioned

in the school‟s website http://nbk.edu.vn) and well-known for its learning and teaching

quality Secondly, only grade 10 students are recruited in the study because they are the new comers with little or no exposure to power distance from the high school teacher which probably makes the research results more objective Furthermore, since this thesis is a case study rather than a wide ranged one, the author only take randomly one class to investigate With this small sample, the researcher hopes to take a deep and detailed exploration of the power distance impact

2 Data collection methods and procedure

2.1 Data collection instruments

The study recruits qualitative approach with the aim to see how power distance is manifested and affects the classroom interactions under the critical investigation in terms of analyzing the vocabulary and grammar used as well as the transitivity and thematization of the classroom discourse

The author will get the allowance to observe the English classroom, take note and videotape the lessons to get the data for analyzing According to Marshall (2006), observation is a fundamental and highly important method in all qualitative inquiry The researcher chooses classroom observation thanks to its outstanding advantages It

is used not only to discover complex interactions in natural social settings, but it can also obtains large amounts of data quickly and it is good for obtaining data on nonverbal behavior and communication (Marshall, 2006) With classroom observation, the author probably gets an overall view of the classroom situations and also has opportunity to directly reach the investigating source of data which will be easier for her in the process of analyzing

2.2 Data collection procedure

The procedure of data collection in this research goes through three main phases: preparation, getting allowance, classroom observation

At the first stage, all the necessary documents and instruments for the study are designed and synthesized including classroom observation note and the classroom observation consent form (Appendix I)

In the second phase, the researcher will contact to get permission from the principal and the English teachers from the investigated private high school and have them sign

in the classroom observation consent form

At the last phase, the author will conduct observation within the target class The observation will last for two lessons, each lesson is forty-five minutes The videotaping will be used to make sure getting all details and situations occurring within the observing time in case the notetaking of the researcher is not enough

3 Data analysis methods and procedure

The data gained from the classroom observation will be analyzed qualitatively The data will be in terms of field notes from the observation and transcriptions of the videotape The data will then be investigated according to the critical discourse

analysis framework of Norman Fairclough with three typical phases: textual analysis,

processing analysis and social analysis After analyzing, the author will conclude

whether the power distance exists in classroom interactions and if there is any, in terms

of what this power manifests and affects under the criteria of critical discourse analysis: vocabulary, grammar structure, transitivity, thematization In addition, the researcher will also interpret the situational context and intertextual context as well as explain the relationship between discourse processes and social processes to get a deeper and more thorough understanding of the power within the classroom environment

V Design of the study

The paper consists of four main parts Part one (Introduction) presents the rationale, the objectives, significance and methodology of the study with the elaboration on the participants, data collection and analysis instruments as well as the procedure Definition of key terms and constructs together with a critical literature review of related studies are provided in part two Part three illustrates the theoretical background for the study, the analysis and discussion of the results findings from the data to get the answer for the research questions Finally, chapter four will summarize and synthesize the main issues discussed in the thesis, point out some limitations of the research and some impications for teahcing and learning English together with suggestions for further studies

PART B: LITERATURE REVIEW

I Definition of key terms

1 Power distance

1.1 Definition of power distance

According to Hofstede (2011) there exist six cultural dimensions namely Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism versus Collectivism, Masculinity versus Femininity, Long Term versus Short Term Orientation, Indulgence versus Restraint Power Distance refers to the different solutions to the basic problem of human inequality Uncertainty Avoidance relates to the level of stress in a society in the face of an unknown future Individualism versus Collectivism discuss about the integration of individuals into primary groups Masculinity versus Femininity mentions the division of emotional roles between women and men Long Term versus Short Term Orientation defines the choice of 3 focus for people's efforts: the future or the present and past Indulgence versus Restraint relates to the gratification versus control

of basic human desires related to enjoying life The first dimension – Power Distance was defined by Hofstede (1986) as “the extent to which the less powerful persons in a society accept inequality in power and consider it as normal” Remarkably, the term Power Distance was first introduced by the Dutch social psychologist Mauk Mulder (1977, cited in Li & Guo, 2012) as the “the degree of inequality in power between a less powerful Individual (I) and a more powerful Other (O), in which I and O belong to the same (loosely or tightly knit) social system”

1.2 Classification of power distance

Hofstede (2011) classified Power Distance into Large Power Distance and Small Power Distance The manifestation of these two types is relatively different in society

It shows how power is distributed within a society and how inequality is accepted (see

Table 1)

Table 1 Ten Differences Between Small- and Large- Power Distance Societies

Small Power Distance Large Power Distance

Use of power should be legitimate and is

subject to criteria of good and evil

Power is a basic fact of society antedating good or evil: its legitimacy is irrelevant

Parents treat children as equals Parents

teach children obedience

Older people are neither respected nor feared Older people are both respected and feared

Student-centered education Teacher-centered education

Hierarchy means inequality of roles,

established for convenience

Hierarchy means existential inequality

Subordinates expect to be consulted Subordinates expect to be told what to do

Pluralist governments based on majority

vote and changed peacefully

Autocratic governments based on optation and changed by revolution Corruption rare; scandals end political

co-careers

Corruption frequent; scandals are covered

up Income distribution in society rather even Income distribution in society very

uneven Religions stressing equality of believers Religions with a hierarchy of priests

In another article Hofstede (1991, cited in Bassett, 2004) points out the difference between Large Power Distance and Small Power Distance in general norms, family,

school and workplace (See Table 2)

Table 2 Power distance differences in general norms, family, school and workplace issue

Small power distance Large power distance

Inequalities among people should be

minimized

Inequalities among people are both expected and desired

There should be, and there is to some

extent, interdependence between less and

more powerful people

Less powerful people should be dependent

on the more powerful; in practice, less powerful people are polarized between dependence and counter dependence Parents treat children as equals Parents teach children obedience

Children treat parents as equals Children treat parents with respect

Teachers expect initiatives from students

in class Teachers are expected to take all initiatives in class

Teachers are experts who transfer

impersonal truths Teachers are gurus who transfer personal wisdom Students treat teachers as equals Students treat teachers with respect More educated persons hold less

authoritarian values than less educated

persons

Both more and less educated persons show almost equally authoritarian values

Hierarchy in organizations means an

inequality of roles, established for

convenience

Hierarchy in organizations reflects the existential inequality between higher-ups and lower-downs

Decentralization is popular Centralization is popular

Subordinates expect to be consulted Subordinates expect to be told what to do

The ideal boss is a resourceful democrat The ideal boss is a benevolent autocrat or

good father

Privileges and status symbols are frowned

upon Privileges and status symbols for managers are both expected and popular

1.3 Power distance in Vietnam

Hofstede‟s creation (1980, cited in Li & Guo, 2012) is the use of Power Distance Index (PDI) to measure power distance quantitatively According to his index, Vietnam‟s PDI is 70 – a relatively high score This index places Vietnam into the

group of high power distance countries (see Figure 1)

Figure 1 Hofstede’s cultural dimension index in Vietnam (My Anh, 2013)

PDI Power distance IDV Individualism MAS Masculinity vs Femininity UAI Uncertainty Avoidance LTO Long-termed vs Short-termed Orientation

1.4 Power distance in classroom environment

Hofstede (2008, cited in Li & Guo, 2012) claimed that in high power distance environment, teachers are treated with respect and students may have to stand up when

a teacher enters the room The educational process is teacher-centered Students in class speak up only when invited Meanwhile, in low power distance situations, teachers are supposed to treat their students as basically equal and expect to be treated

as equal by the students The educational process is student-centered Students make uninvited interventions in class and are supposed to ask questions when they do not understand something Discuss about the power distance in classroom environment, Tananuraksakul (2009) also point out a number of effects of this cultural dimension on students Accidentally, her discussion shares the same result with Hofstede‟s These

results can be summarized in the table below (see Table 3)

Table 3 Power distance in classroom environment Small power distance Large power distance

Teachers are as equal as students

Teachers treat students as equal and they

expect to receive the same treatment from

students

Teachers are treated with respect (Older teachers more than younger ones)

Student initiation is “premium” A strict order is established, as teacher

always initiate first

Uninvited interventions in class are

expected and questions can be raised at

any time

Students are supposed to speak only if they are allowed and invited In other words, “students were required to listen to the teacher quietly and wait until they were allowed to raise their hands politely.”

Teachers are supposed to cope with

disagreement and criticism from students

Teachers are never publicly contradicted

The education process is student-centered

Therefore, the learners are subject to “find

their own intellectual path”

The education process is teacher-centered

In other words, teachers “outline the intellectual paths to be followed.”

Teachers expect their students to engage

themselves in an active

participatory-interactive environment

In some lessons, students are selected to ask questions which are very structured Students never call teachers by first name Teachers encourage a first-name basis

2 Classroom interactions

2.1 Definition of classroom interactions

According to Biddle (1967), the term "interaction" implies an action-reaction or a two-way influence which may be between individuals (e.g pupil-pupil, or teacher-target) or between an individual and a group (e.g teacher-audience) or between materials and individuals.In other word, interaction occurs between A and B if the two things have an effect on each other Also, interaction can be understood as the reciprocal action or influence between two or more things in which they affect each other In the classroom environment, interaction means the communication between

teacher and student or among the students themselves We briefly call these relation Teacher-Student interaction and Student-Student interaction

2.2 Teacher-Student interaction

Inside the classroom the teacher not only facilitates language learning, but he/she must also initiate dialogue between the students According to Hofstede (1997, p.34 cited in Hadley, 2001), in high power distance (HPD) societies, the authoritative parent role is transferred to the teacher The image of the ideal teacher is that of a good parent There is considerable dependence of students on the teacher, yet the emotional distance between the two parties is large In low power distance (LPD) societies, in contrast, student independence is encouraged Students are treated as more or less equals to the teacher The ideal teacher is somewhat like a resourceful friend The teacher facilitates the students‟ independent pursuit of truths and knowledge Since there are differences presented in the HPD cultures and LPD ones, the interaction between teachers and

students inside the classroom is also clearly differentiated (see Table 4)

Table 4 Differences in Teacher/Student Interaction in Relation to Power Distance

Ideal teacher Authoritative and caring parent Resourceful friend

Ideal student Well-disciplined Creative and independent

Class

management

Class is managed tightly by the teacher

Student autonomy is emphasized

Turn-taking Students ask/ answer questions

when called upon by the teacher Students ask/answer questions whenever they want to Flow of

Disagreements/confrontations supported by solid reasoning are encouraged

Following

instructions Students are expected to obey the teacher‟s instructions Students can negotiate with the teacher Discipline Failure to follow instructions is

immediately followed by disciplinary action, including corporal punishment

Listening to the student‟s reasons for her action, the teacher guides her to accept responsibility

Giving

assignments Themes, procedures and deadlines are set by the teacher Each student chooses a topic of his choice; procedures and

deadlines can be negotiated Preferred

Completing

tasks Students conform to the teachers explicit/implicit preferences of

going about tasks

Students‟ originality and creativity are encouraged

Testing Conformity to the teacher‟s view

is highly expected Creativity and originality are highly valued Extrinsic

motivation Recognition by the teacher Advancement

Teacher

expectations

The teacher sets expectations for students and students internalize them

The teacher and students have their own expectations; students independence is encouraged Feedback from

2.3 Student-Student interaction

It is essential for students to interact with each other in the “Second Language” (L2) classroom because it can promote language acquisition through oral practice Hence, student-student relationships possess a great importance in L2 acquisition (Jambor, 2005) Within the power distance culture, the interaction between student and student inside the classroom is affected by many factors and also varies from the HPD

environment to the LPD one Table 5 synthesized these differences which is adapted

from Hadley (2001)

Table 5 Differences in Student/Student Interaction in Relation to Power Distance

Students seek help from other students first, and then from

the teacher

Students seek help both from the teacher and from students

Solidarity as co-learners regardless of age, abilities,

gifted students Gifted students are placed on the pedestal Gifted students are treated just like anybody else Interpersonal politics Each student knows her

position in class Students can be potential allies or competitors

II Related studies on power distance and classroom interactions and research gap

1 Related studies on power distance and classroom interactions

The topic “power distance” has intrigued many researchers in recent years The scholars have conducted large number of studies about power distance in various fields

of the social daily life

In a research entitled “Management Styles and Organizational Effectiveness in Vietnam”, Truong Quang and Nguyen Tai Vuong (2002) explore the management styles and the organization of private enterprises in the northern part of Vietnam Their findings show that it is the power distance that become an important factor affecting the management and organization of the private companies in particular, and also get a huge impact on the business of Vietnam in general

In terms of education, there are also a large number of studies investigating the power distance in teaching and learning, especially in the classroom interaction Firstly, Jamieson and Thomas (1974) conducted a study to examine power and conflict

in the student-teacher relationship in the classroom The research results emphasized the imbalance power between students and teachers and the prevalent use of coercion

by the teachers at the high school and undergraduate level Also, the study pointed out the coercion power negatively affected the student‟s satisfaction, learning and the teacher‟s excessive level of influence inside the classroom In addition, power distance

in classroom is also demonstrated in the context of four Asian countries - Japan (Hadley, 2001; Ishizaki, 2007; Kasuya, n.d.; Govea, 2007) South Korea (Yoo, 2014; Jambor, 2005), China (Li & Guo, 2012) and Vietnam (Dao Thi Phuong, 2014) These studies, accidentally, share a similarity which reflects the Eastern cultural context However, under the common denominator of Eastern culture, the manifestation of power distance is not always the same

Among the studies on power distance in Japanese‟s classroom context, Hadley‟s (2001) provides some implications for teaching English Sharing the same approach, Đào Thị Phương (2014) also suggests some pedagogical implications but the difference

is before that she illustrates the manifestation of teacher-student relationship at school Ishizaki‟s (2007) accompanies the power distance with the collectivism and individualism, while Govea‟s (2007) makes a comparison about the influence of power distance on Japan‟s classroom interactions with the Western ones Significantly, Kasuya‟s (n.d.) does deeper to examine the influence in the Japanese public high school with two typical types of classrooms: the relatively high-level but silent class and the relatively low-level but active one

There are two papers illustrating the power distance in South Korea However, the approach of these studies is relatively different In Yoo‟s (2014) research, she investigates the role of Hofstede‟s cultural dimensions in the university classroom setting in general and power distance is only one part examined Nevertheless, in Jambor‟s (2005) paper, he acknowledges that South Korea is a HPD country, so he focuses his work on the teaching methods and suggests some appropriate ways applied

in the LPD classroom setting

In a study on power distance in Chinese classroom context, Li and Guo‟s (2012) come to find the influence of second language (L2) learning and use on the learners‟ change of values by quantitatively measuring the power distance orientation of Chinese college English teachers and non-English teachers in classroom interaction The two scholars focus their research on the university environment Obviously, Li and Guo (2012) test the learner‟s change of values under the impact of L2 learning and using, power distance is only taken as a mean for measuring and is not got the major focus

In short, most of the above studies have explored the manifestation, the influence of power distance inside the classroom environment in HPD countries and their results almost reflect the characteristics of power distance pointed in Hofstede‟stheory

2 Research gap

Taking a careful consideration about the literature on power distance and classroom interactions, there is no doubt that most of the studies examined the manifestation and impact of power distance within the public high school context (Kasuya, n.d.) or university environment (Yoo, 2014; Li and Guo, 2012) with the omission of the private school which is also a major sector in the education system of Vietnam (Glewwe & Patrinos, 1998) Moreover, the mentioned studies investigated the power distance with little relevance to critical discourse analysis In other word, most of the studies conducted on power distance in general and power distance in classroom interactions

in particular have not really considered it in terms of critical discourse analysis In the light of the previous studies related to power distance in the classroom interactions, the author would like to do a research on the influence of power distance within the classroom interaction under a critical discourse analysis of the classroom interactions with the hope to fulfill the gap and contribute a new aspect to the general picture of power distance

PART C: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: Theoretical background

As mentioned in the literature review about CDA, the researcher has given and summarized the nature, the process, and the main stages to conduct a critical discourse analysis In this chapter, the author will deeply clarify terms related to CDA: the definition, the concepts, the principles and aims, as well as the methodology often used

to analyze a discourse critically Moreover, this part also takes an overview of the systemic functional grammar (SFG) which is regarded as the very important factor, the main foundation of Critical Discourse Analysis

1 An overview of CDA

1.1 Definition

It is hard to get a unique and exact definition for the term Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as it has been variously defined by scholars in different studies

Fairclough (1993, p.135) suggests that CDA aims at the relationship between

language and power in social life which systematically explores often opaque

relationships of causality and determination between (a) discursive practices, events and texts, and (b) wider social and cultural structures, relations and processes; to investigate how such practices, events and texts arise out of and are ideologically shaped by relations of power and struggles over power; and to explore how the opacity

of these relationships between discourse and society is itself a factor securing power and hegemony In another research, Fairclough (1997) points out more clearly that CDA focuses on social problems, and especially on the role of discourse in the production and reproduction of power abuse or domination It seeks not only to describe language but also offer critical linguistic resources to those wishing to resist various forms of power

Another researcher, Hillary Janks (1997, p.329) claims that CDA seeks to understand how discourse is implicated in relations of power

In some document, we can see that researchers often use the term “Critical Linguistics” (CL) to refer to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) In fact, CL and CDA

can be used interchangeably According to Wodak (1989), CL is an interdisciplinary

approach to language study with a critical point of view for the purpose of studying

“language behavior in natural speech situations of social relevance”

Van Dijk (1988) reveals that “CDA is concerned with studying and analyzing written texts and spoken words to reveal the discursive sources of power, dominance, inequality, and bias and how these sources are initiated, maintained, reproduced, and transformed within specific social, economic, political, and historical contexts.”

Generally, it is obvious from the definitions of CDA by most of the scholars that Critical Discourse Analysis mainly deals with the relationship between language and power in social life It is an effective approach in linguistics that helps to uncover the power and ideology behind the text (Fairclough, 1989)

1.2 Critical, Discourse, Analysis

This part of the paper will further supply knowledge about three main terms as referring to CDA which are Critical, Discourse, and Analysis

Critical

In Gee‟s opinion “Discourse analysis of any type, whether critical or not, can

undertake one or both of two tasks, one related to utterance-type (general) meaning and one related to situated meaning The former task involves the study of correlations

between form and function in language at the level of utterance-type meanings (general meanings) “Form” here means things like morphemes, words, phrases, or other syntactic structures (e.g., the subject position of a sentence) “Function” means meaning or the communicative purpose a form carries out The latter task involves the study of correlations between form and function in language at the level of utterance-

token meanings which discovers the situation-specific or situated meanings of forms used in specific contexts of use” (Gee, 2005, cited in Rogers, 2011, p.24)

According to Fairclough, “Critical is used in the special sense of aiming to show up

connections which may be hidden from people – such as connections between

language, power and ideology referred above them”

Discourse

Norman Fairclough (1993, p.134) points out “Discourse” as a category used by both

social theorists and analysts and linguists It refers primarily to spoken or written

language use Besides, he extends it to include semiotic practice in other semiotic modalities such as photography and non-verbal communication But referring to

language use as discourse, he also investigates it in a social-theoretically informed

way, as a form of social practice

James Gee (1996, cited in Rogers, 2011, p.8) defines discourse is “an association of

socially accepted ways of using language, other symbolic expressions and artifacts of

thinking, feeling, believing, valuing, and acting that can be used to identify yourself as

a member of a socially meaningful group”

Analysis

Analyses are connected to a theory of the social world and a theory of language that

is coherent The analysis of discourse in Chouliaraki and Fairclough (1999, cited in Đặng Thị Mai Nga, 2007, p.8) includes the structural and interactional analysis The structural analysis is concerned about the locating the discourse in its relation to the network of orders of discourse and specifying how the discourse draws selectively The interactional analysis concerns with how the discourse works the resource, how the genres and discourses are worked together in the textual process of the discourse and what articulatory work is done in the text

Besides, Rogers (2011, p.12) points out that in Fairclough‟s book Analyzing

draws on systemic functional linguistics in which he explores the kinds of semiotic

resources people draw on as they design and interpret social practices through ways of

interacting (genres), ways of representing (discourse), and ways of being (style)

1.3 Key Concepts in CDA

It is crucial for researchers to investigate concepts involved as they wish to get a deep understanding about CDA Two main key concepts, namely ideology and power, are regarded relevant factors in the process of Critical Discourse Analysis

Ideology

The theory of ideology that informs the discourse analytic approach of this paper is multidisciplinary It is articulated within a conceptual triangle that connects society, discourse and social cognition in the framework of a critical discourse analysis (van Dijk, 1993b, cited in Routledge and Wenden, 2005, p.17-18) In this approach, ideologies are the basic frameworks for organizing the social cognitions shared by members of social groups, organizations or institutions In this respect, ideologies are

both cognitive and social They essentially function as the interface between the

cognitive representations and processes underlying discourse and action, on the one hand, and the societal position and interests of social groups, on the other hand

According to Thompson (1990), ideology refers to social forms and processes

within which, and by means of which, symbolic forms circulate in the social world

Thompson also claims that ideology is seen as a means through which unequal power

relations are established and maintained

According to van Dijk (1993, p.254), social power is based on privileged access to socially valued sources, such as wealth, income, position, status, force, group membership, education or knowledge Power involves control, namedly by (members of) one groups over (those of) other groups Such control may pertain to action and cognition: that is, a powerful group may limit the freedom of action of others, but also influence their minds

The critical discourse analysis emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary work in order to gain a proper understanding of how language functions in constituting and transmitting knowledge, in organizing social institutionsor on exercising power Power does not derive from language, but language can be used to challenge power, to alter distributions of power in the short and the long term

1.4 Principles and Aims of CDA

Van Dijk (1993, p.252) claims that CDA does not primarily aim to contribute to a specific discipline, paradigm, school or discourse theory It is primarily interested and motivated by pressing social issues, which it hopes to better understand through discourse analysis Theories, descriptions, methods and empirical work are chosen or elaborated as a function of their relevance for the realization of such a sociopolitical goal Moreover, CDA focuses on fundamental understanding of social problems such

as dominance and inequality does not mean ignoring theoretical issues

In terms of principles of CDA, Sheyholislami (2001) has summarized eight main principles outlined by CDA researchers (Fairclough, 1995a; Kress, 1991; Hodge & Kress, 1993; Van Dijk, 1998a; Wodak, 1996) as follows:

(1) Language is a social practice through which the world is represented

(2) Discourse/language use as a form of social practice in itself not only represents and signifies other social practices but it also constitutes other social practices such

as the exercise of power, domination, prejudice, resistance and so forth

(3) Texts acquire their meanings by the dialectical relationship between texts and the social subjects: writers and the readers, who always operate with various degrees

of choice and access to texts and means of interpretation

(4) Linguistic features and structures are not arbitrary They are purposeful whether

or not the choices are conscious or unconscious

(5) Power relations are produced, exercised, and reproduced through discourse (6) All speakers and writers operate from specific discursive practices originating in special interests and aims which involve inclusions and exclusions

(7) Discourse is historical in the sense that texts acquire their meanings by being situated in specific social, cultural and ideological contexts, and time and space

(8) CDA does not solely interpret texts, but also explains them

1.5 Methodology in CDA

As mentioned above, CDA concerns with social problems and aims to solve those problems by analyzing social discourse In this paper, the author will analyze the classroom discourse under Fairclough‟s framework as a communicative event with the hope to take a new look in discovering power distance within classroom interactions According to Fairclough (1989, 1995a), the framework for CDA includes three interrelated processes of analysis which are tied to three interrelated dimensions of

discourse (1) the object of analysis (verbal, visual or verbal and visual texts); (2) the

processes by which the object is produced and received (writing/speaking/designing and reading/listening/viewing) by human subjects; and (3) the socio-historical conditions that govern these processes Additionally, each dimension has a different

kind of analysis accompanying with it: (1) text analysis (description); (2) processing

analysis (interpretation); and (3) social analysis (explanation) (See Figure 2)

Figure 2 Fairclough's dimension of discourse and discourse analysis (Fairclough,

1989, 1995a, cited in Janks (1997, p.330)) The first dimension is description or text analysis Analysis of text involves linguistic analysis in terms of vocabulary, grammar, semantics, the sound system, and cohesion-organization above the sentence level (Fairclough, 1995b, p.57)

The second dimension is interpretation or processing analysis Interpretation concerns with the relationship between text and interaction which sees text as the product of a process of production, and as a resource in the process of interpretation The third dimension is explanation or social analysis which concerns with the relationship between interaction and social context For Fairclough (1995b, p.62), analysis in this dimension pertains to three aspects of the sociocultural context of a communicative event: economic (i.e economy of the media), political (i.e power and ideology of the media), and cultural (i.e issues of values)

2 Systemic Functional Grammar in CDA

Systematic Functional Grammar (SFG) or Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) is

main foundation of Critical Discourse Analysis and others theories in pragmatics The term “systemic” implies the view of language as “a network of systems, or interrelated sets of opinions for making meaning”, the term “functional” indicates the concern of the approach with contextualization and the practical uses of language Those things oppose to formal grammar which mainly concerns with compositional semantics, syntax and word classes such as nouns and verbs

SFG concerns with the choices that are made available to speakers and writers of a

language by their grammatical systems These choices are assumed to be meaningful and relate to speakers‟ intentions concrete forms of a language

 The relationship between SFG and CDA

According to Fairclough (2003, p.5), SFL is concerned with the relationship between language and other elements and aspects of social life, and its approach to the linguistic analysis of text is always oriented to the social character of text This makes

it a valuable source for critical discourse analysis and indeed major constructions to critical discourse analysis have developed out of SFL (cited in Đặng Thị Mai Nga,

2007, p.10)

The relationship between SFG and CDA can be expressed in the context of

situation In SFG, the context of situation is analyzed in three different variables: the

field (the activity which the language is part of), the tenor (the social actors involved

and the relation between them) and the mode (the part language plays in the activity) Those variables accompany respectively with three macrofunctions: the ideational,

interpersonal and textual Moreover, there are also three major networks of

grammatical system corresponding to those macrofunctions which are transitivity, mood and modality, and information (theme, rheme, given news)

The ideational function, according to Halliday (1971, p.332), is to convey new information, to communicate a content that is unknown to the hearers or readers It mainly consists of “transitivity” and “voice” In transitivity system, the meaningful

grammatical unit is clause which expresses what is happening, what is being done, what is felt and what the state is The transitivity has six processes: material process, mental process, relational process, behavioral process, verbal process and existential process

The interpersonal function consists of all uses of language to express social and personal relations, including the various ways the speaker enters a speech situation and performs a speech act There are two main terms used to express the interpersonal function which are modality and mood Modality refers to the subjective attitudes and opinions of the speaker toward a proposition, including possibility, probability, necessity, obligation, permissibility, ability, desire, and contingency Mood shows what role the speaker selects in the speech situation and what role he assigns to the addressee There are two choices of mood which are indicative and imperative

The textual function refers to coherence Two propositions may have the same ideational and interpersonal functions, but they may differ in terms of textual coherence Halliday (1971, p.334) claims that language makes links between itself and the situation, and discourse becomes possible because the speaker or writer can produce a text and the listener or reader can recognize one”

CHAPTER 2: A critical discourse analysis of the influence of power distance on

classroom interaction at a private high school in Hanoi

2.1 Textual description and analysis

2.1.1 Analysis in terms of vocabulary used

This part of the thesis aims at exploring how the words are used in interactions in classroom situation It is commonly shown in the experiential and relational value that

a text, or a discourse may convey According to Fairclough (1989, p.93), experiential

value is to do with contents and knowledge and beliefs, meanwhile relational value is (transparently) to do with relations and social relationships In this case study, the

experiential value is revealed in the words chosen as the teacher explains, suggests, and encourage students; the way the facilitator call students in the lesson partly shows the relational value

Firstly, when giving any new knowledge, the teacher always tries to suggest students guessing first, she explains by using the more common and familiar words that

are catchy and equivalent to the target ones For example, „historical places‟ is explained by „old places‟ (line 2), „remember‟ for „memorize‟ (line 40, 42), „superman‟ for „smart scholar‟ (line 77), „beginning‟ for „initially‟ (line 106), „old houses‟ for

„ancient houses‟ (line 297), „businessman‟ for „merchant‟ (line 320-321), „big ship‟ for

„vessel‟ (line 321.1)

Besides, during the lessons, students are encouraged to give answer and participate

in the classroom activities by a lot of phrases “you know” (17 times), “you can” (line 105.1, 108, 207, 211, 477); especially the compliment “good/very good‟ appears many

times (41 times) in the interactions, even she supports students to do exercises by

giving mark: “who raises hand with correct answer will receive mark 10.” (line 251)

In terms of relational value, the frequent appearance of the word “you/your” (134

times) in the transcription makes the classroom communication more informal as the

teachers always puts her concern on her students, even sometimes this word is repeated

in most of her sentences

Open your book and do exercise number 1 There are five words Can you find the meaning of the word on the red color Can you guess it? … So you know the word

in number 3 You know it? (lines 96-99)

Moreover, the way she uses the phrase “can you” when she nominates students to do a

task is also worth to investigate in this case In fact, she is forcing students to do exercises, but her saying is like she is asking for help from students This not only makes her utterance more informal, but also reduces pressure for the student, especially the shy ones in class

Can you describe something about the stele? (line 65)

Can you find the meaning of the word on the red color (line 97)

Can you use the pen or pencil to underline the sentence that you think it is the answer Underline the answer (line 135 - 136)

Chi, Can you tell me the reason why? (line 166)

Can you watch this video and tell me the name of the places in this video (line 278

– 279)

So now can you write it on your notebook (line 393)

2.1.2 Analysis in terms of grammar features

2.1.2.1 The use of personal pronoun

In the lesson, the pronoun I and me is mostly used by the teacher in her

explanation or when she ask students to do exercises, to complete task or even to call students to join the classroom activities when they are not ready

Table 6 Instance of the use I and me in the lesson

Line 21, 27, 49, 240, 329 Read after me

Line 83 Tell me about this

Line 138 I will call randomly to ask for the question

Line 147 Tell me your answer

Line 152 I feel it is not true as I read

Line 166 Can you tell me the reason why

Line 204 I have a handout

Line 205 I will correct randomly to mark

Line 213 I will collect

Line 246 Let‟s do it for me

Line 250-251 I will count from 1 to 5

Line 279 Tell me the name of the places in this video

Line 291 Tell me again something about Hội An

Line 307-308 Open the book for me, page 171

Line 399 I told you this already

Line 414 I told you before

Line 417 I see you are likely to hear well

Line 463 Now listen for me number 7

Line 477 Remember to describe for me that three places

Line 478 I will call randomly

Line 487, 495 Tell me something about

Line 490 Tell me the whole sentence

When expressing the involvement between the students and the teacher in the

activities, especially the meaning expression, the personal pronoun we is used

Table 7 Instance of the use we in the lesson

Line 15-16 We have some new words Inclusive Line 33 So in English, we say /'bænjən/ (banyan) Inclusive Line 47 We have only ten words today Inclusive Line 117 So we say “Representative” means typical Inclusive Line 162 -

163 We can answer this one without reading it We know Quốc Tử Giám is the first university of Vietnam Inclusive

Line 219 There are some sentences you must do it because we have learnt them Inclusive Line 219 We know the answer already in the book Inclusive Line 308 We will listen more details Inclusive

The personal pronoun we includes two types: inclusive and exclusive Inclusive

refers to the teacher with the whole class, all the students Meanwhile, exclusive

implies the teacher and one or two students only, not all students In this case study, the teacher mostly uses the first form which involves her with the whole class

The pronoun you in the lesson refers mostly to the students The teacher uses this

pronoun in almost sentences in communication with students

Table 8 Instance of the use you in the lesson

Line 1 Before you read, please name some historical places you know in Vietnam Line 9-79-87-293 What do you …

Line 12 What else do you know?

Line 30 What kind of tree do you call?

Line 63 Where do you see the stele in Hanoi

Line 71-121-297 Do you see

Line 78 My first er…exercise is you match the picture with the words

Line 136-137 Underline the sentence that you think it is the answer

Line 147 Where do you see the answer? Can you read?

Line 148-176-191 Why do you say

Line 152-255 Do you have …

Line

201-299-302-461-504 Do you know …

Line 210 … some sentences you must do

Line 211 Some sentences you can guess…How many sentences you havenot

done it?

Line 236-245 You remember vocabulary quite well

Line 238-295-316 You see …

Line 261 You say “b”

Line 268 You should remember what

Line 289 Have you ever been there?

Line

140-308-363-454-475 How many … you ……?

Line 344-345 It is one of places you must see when you go to Hội An

Line 375-378-383 You hear

Line 399-414 I told you …

Line 417 I see you are likely to hear well

Line 432 Just catch the word „famous‟, you will get the answer

Line 443 You learn yesterday

Line 472 You will say again by doing

In comparison with other pronouns, it is obvious that the pronoun you is recruited

most, even twice or three times more than others, especially when comparing to the

pronoun I and me Moreover, in some sentences or some lines, the pronoun you is

repeated twice or even three times (line 1, 211, 344) From the above examples it can

be seen that in the classroom interactions the teacher puts certain priority toward her students in every interactive sentence which may show her respect to the students, put

the students as the center in the teaching and learning activities In this case, the power

of the teacher seems to be rather weak toward the students

In contrast, when the students are silent, or hesitate to answer, or no one is willing

to involve in the activities, the teacher shows her power by directly calling and nominating them to join which she directly call them by their proper name

Table 9 Instance of the proper personal pronouns in the lesson

Line 78-79 Huy I will point the picture and you will read the word

Line 83 Trung Tell me about this

Line 87 Việt Anh What do you call this?

Line 135 Ngọc Do statement 1,2,3 Tuấn Anh 4,5,6

Line 140 Thành How many paragraphs do you see in your textbook?

Line 147 Quỳnh Tell me your answer

Line 166 Chi, Can you tell me the reason why?

Line 176 Why do you say false? Huy

Line 219-220 Việt Anh, what is the meaning of “carved”?

Line 223 Việt Anh says “carved” painted Is that true?

Line 253 Cường Go to the board and write down

Line 257 Phương What happened?

Line 259 Văn Huy, what happened in 1076?

Line 262 Vinh What happened in this period (1076 to 1779)?

Line 264 Thành Number 4 What happened in 1482?

Line 271 Giang, tell me the name of Văn Miếu

Line 273 Việt Can you describe the stelae in Văn Miếu

Line 412 Vân, can you go to the board and write down

Line 416 Dương, please Come to the board to listen and write for me the answer for question 2 Line 439.1 Who can? Huy? Can you

Line 480 Cường First question Where is Hoi An?

Line 484-485 Is Hoi An a trading center in the past? Giang

Line 488 Ngọc Linh The Japanese Bridge Who built the bridge?

Line 495 Văn Huy Tell me something about the old houses in Hoi An

Directly calling students by their proper name will make them participate in the activities or perform the required tasks It is undeniable that in this situation the teacher