A COMPARISON ON SOME TRADITIONAL BELIEFS AND VALUES BETWEEN VIETNAMESE AND AMERICAN CULTURE

In the context of globalization of the world, the area of crosscultural communication has become more and more popular. However, each culture has its own features. We can not understand all cultures in the world. Positioning in two opposite sides of the world, America and Vietnam are different not only in geography but also in culture. Vietnam has a unique culture, long history associated with the formation and development of the nation. Vietnamese culture has been influenced by different cultures: first by the Chinese culture during the onethousand year Chinese Empire; then by French Colony of one hundred years. Nevertheless, the typical values and characteristics of Vietnamese culture have not only faded away but also have been preserved and enriched in our societies of all periods. United States is a multicultural nation, is home to many diverse ethnic groups, traditions, and values. American is regarded as “a salad bowl” where the various groups have remained somewhat distinct and different from another making up a richly diverse American culture. American culture and traditions have many differences with Vietnamese culture and traditions. With the process of globalization, our country will have a negative impact on all aspects of the world. The situation and the above trends will create both opportunities and challenges intertwined with the development of the country in the coming years. With the desire of finding some similarities and differences between Vietnamese and American culture. So, researcher chooses this study to research: “A comparison on some traditional beliefs and values between Vietnamese and American culture.” As stated above, the study aims to do analysis on some traditional Vietnamese and American beliefs and values; and find out the similarities and differences between Vietnamese culture and American culture.

PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale In the context of globalization of the world, the area of cross-cultural communication has become more and more popular However, each culture has its own features We can not understand all cultures in the world Positioning in two opposite sides of the world, America and Vietnam are different not only in geography but also in culture Vietnam has a unique culture, long history associated with the formation and development of the nation Vietnamese culture has been influenced by different cultures: first by the Chinese culture during the one-thousand year Chinese Empire; then by French Colony of one hundred years Nevertheless, the typical values and characteristics of Vietnamese culture have not only faded away but also have been preserved and enriched in our societies of all periods United States is a multicultural nation, is home to many diverse ethnic groups, traditions, and values American is regarded as “a salad bowl” where the various groups have remained somewhat distinct and different from another making up a richly diverse American culture American culture and traditions have many differences with Vietnamese culture and traditions With the process of globalization, our country will have a negative impact on all aspects of the world The situation and the above trends will create both opportunities and challenges intertwined with the development of the country in the coming years With the desire of finding some similarities and differences between Vietnamese and American culture So, researcher chooses this study to research: “A comparison on some traditional beliefs and values between Vietnamese and American culture.” As stated above, the study aims to analysis on some traditional Vietnamese and American beliefs and values; and find out the similarities and differences between Vietnamese culture and American culture Previous research Although there are some researches on Vietnamese and American cultural values, they not show the similarities and differences between two cultures For example, in the research on Vietnamese and American cultural values by Vu Thi Thanh Huyen (2009) only showed that some traditional values in American and Vietnamese culture and their reflection on television advertisement in this research “A Vietnamese- American cross cultural study on cultural refection of television advertisement” In addition, Le Thi Van Nga (2011) also showed that Vietnamese and American cultural values in general and how they effect on business negotiation in the research of “Some reflections of Vietnamese and American cultural values on Vietnamese- American business negotiation.” This is the first time the study: “A comparison on some traditional beliefs and values between Vietnamese and American culture” is carried out in Hung Vuong University This study will focus on studying about American and Vietnamese traditional cultural values as well as finding the similarities and differences between two cultures Research Purpose The purpose of this study is to give an overview about culture, traditional beliefs and values, analyze some Vietnamese and American traditional values, and finally find out the similarities and differences between two cultures Research Questions The study will find the answers for the following questions: - What are traditional Vietnamese beliefs and values in general? - What are traditional American beliefs and values in general? - What are the similarities and differences between Vietnamese and American cultural values? Methodology 5.1 Research procedure - Studying the literature review about culture, traditional values and some Vietnamese and American traditional cultural values - Making a study of Vietnamese and American traditional values - Finding out the similarities and differences between Vietnamese and American culture 5.2 Methods of Data Collection Theoretical method By using this method, the researcher can give the background about traditional American values and Vietnamese values in general - Collecting materials: find out the related materials about traditional Vietnamese and American beliefs and values - Analysis method: from data got from the field study analyzing to get the final results - Comparison and contrast method: in order to find out the similarities and differences between Vietnamese and American culture Systematized method This method is used to systematize materials relating to the study The Significance of the research - The study helps the researcher improve the knowledge about American traditional values and Vietnamese traditional values in general - It helps students who learn about English gain knowledge about traditional American values and American culture and also Americans who want to discover about Vietnamese culture The Scope of the research The focus of this study is to analyze some typical cultural values of the two countries: Vietnam (freedom, patriotism, strong sense of community, family-oriented lifestyle, harmony, adaptability, directness) and American (freedom, patriotism, individualism, progress and Future- Oriented competition and equality, self-reliance, indirectness) and to find out what the similarities and differences between Vietnam and American culture Research outline Part A: Introduction It contains general information of the study: rationale, previous study, research purpose, research question, methodology, the significance of the research, scope of the research, and outline of the research Part B: Major content Chapter shows the literature reviews of the study This is the background of culture especially about definitions of culture, concepts of culture, the characteristics of culture, the value of culture as well as traditional values and listing some Vietnamese and American cultural values Chapter analyzes some Vietnamese and American traditional beliefs and values Chapter shows the similarities and differences between some traditional beliefs and values in Vietnamese and American culture Part C: Conclusion It gives a conclusion to summarize all the study above In addition, at the end of this study, a bibliography of materials and resources used in this research will be presented PART B: MAJOR CONTENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, the researcher will give some general information about the background of culture especially about definitions of culture, concepts of culture, the characteristics of culture, the value of culture as well as traditional values and list some Vietnamese and American cultural values 1.1 Culture 1.1.1 Definitions of culture There have been so far various definitions of culture by different researchers According to Banks, J.A., Banks, & McGee, C.A (1989), “Most social scientists today view culture as consisting primarily of the symbolic, ideational, and intangible aspects of human societies The essence of a culture is not its artifacts, tools, or other tangible cultural elements but how the members of the group interpret, use, and perceive them It is the values, symbols, interpretations, and perspectives that distinguish one people from another in modernized societies; it is not material objects and other tangible aspects of human societies People within a culture usually interpret the meaning of the symbols, artifacts, and behaviors in the same or in similar ways.” Meanwhile, Spencer-Oatey (2000) offered a simpler definition on the concept of culture, that is “ a fuzzy set of attitudes, beliefs, behavioral norms and basic assumption and values that are shared by a group of people, and that influence each member’s behaviors and his/her interpretations of other people’s behaviors” (p.18) A culture is a configuration of learned behaviors and results of behavior whose component elements are shared and transmitted by the members of a particular society (Linton, 2003) According to Encarta Dictionary (2004), culture is “the customary beliefs, social forms and material traits of racial, religious or social group” As Edward Burnett Tyler wrote from the perspective of social anthropology in the UK in 1871, “culture or civilization, taken in its wide sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other compatibilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” In Vietnam, Nguyen Quang, PhD also mentioned this issue The hidden of nature of culture has been compared to an iceberg; most of the influence of culture on an individual can not be seen The part of culture that is exposed is not always that creates cross-cultural difficulties; the hidden aspects of culture have significant effect on behavior and on interactions with others From his point of view, “culture is something which was and has been created through the history of human development Culture is not static and is always changing The beliefs and values we hold now are not completely the same as those held in the pre- historics of medieval times, or 100 year ago” (Nguyen Quang, 2001) The definition that is the most suitable for this scope of this study is cited by Dr Nguyen Quang (p.3) “culture is shared background (for example, national, ethnic, religious) resulting from a common language and communication style, customs, beliefs, attitudes, and values” Culture is a learned pattern of behavior, and is a way in which a person lives his life It is an integral part of every society, and creates a feeling of belonging and togetherness among the people of that society Culture encompasses various aspects of communication, attitude, etiquette, beliefs, values, customs, norms, food, art, jewelry, clothing styles, etc Every society has a different culture, which gives it an identity and uniqueness 1.1.2 Concepts of culture The concept of culture was rigorously defined by Taylor in 1860s According to him, culture is the sum total of ideas, beliefs, values, material cultural equipments and non-material aspects which man makes as a member of society Taylor's theme that culture is a result of human collectivity has been accepted by most anthropologists Tylarian idea can be discerned in a modern definition of culture - culture is the man-made part of environment (M.J Herskovits) The study of culture was first used by the pioneer English Anthropologist Edward B Tylor in his book, Primitive Culture, published in 1871 Tylor said that culture is the complex whole, which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society The study of culture has complex relationships that provide the societal information in the given society This is the reason why Tylor explained it as complex whole as it provides the multi-dimension societal factors that is affected by the inter and intra-relationships of man in the social environment Primarily, the concept of culture revolves in the human society on its belief, art, morals, custom and other capabilities such as values, norms, traditions, mores, folkways, language , race, ethnicity, technology, fads, and laws These social variables provide the unique definition of culture for the understanding and adjustment of life in a given societal condition According to Robinson (1985), the concept of culture comprises three elements:  Cultural products: literature, art, music, folklore, artifacts  Behaviors: customs, habits, clothes, foods, leisure  Ideas: beliefs, values, institutions (cited from Tomalin, B and Stempleski S, 1993: 7) The relationship between these three elements has been shown as follow: P products B I behavior ideas s Figure 1.1: The relationship between three elements of culture (cited from Tomalin B and Stempleski S 1993: 7) As can be seen from the diagram, culture is understood as a multi-aspect category in which both the tangible and intangible values exist Cultural products such as literature, art, behaviors, clothes, or foods may be easily identified among different cultures They can be called the visible culture as termed by Hinkel (2001), On the contrary, Hinkel also states that the term visible culture applies to socio-cultural beliefs and vhe alues that are hidden in the rmaterial part of culture This point of view is shared by many theorists namely Spradley (1980), Lado (1997), under different names of elements Until 1996, when the National Standards in Foreign Languages Education Project was published in the United States, three elements mentioned above were already seen in generalized terminologies as products, practices, and perspectives Despite the differences in names, aspects of culture in all these viewpoints have an interrelated relationship and people can define the relative boundary among them One of recent reports written by Moran, however, has added other two dimensions to the above definition In Teaching Culture Perspectives in practice (2001), Moran asserts that: “Culture is the evolving way of life of a group of persons, consisting of a shared set of practices associated with a shared set of products, based upon a shared set of perspectives on the world, and set within specific social contexts” From Moran’s definition, it can be pointed out that two new dimensions of culture are community and persons The reason why these new ones were added is Moran’s recognition of the active role of people in their culture It is reasonable and understandable to make the relationship between people and their culture clearer It should be agreed that a specific culture can only exist and develop in a specific group of persons and its social context In conclusion, the term “culture” has diverse and disparate definitions that deal with both many aspects in the society The image of an iceberg can reflect the nature of culture in all theorists’ acknowledgement The hidden part of the culture iceberg which consists of values, beliefs, and attitudes 1.1.3 The characteristics of culture Culture refers to the pattern of human activity and the symbols that give significance to these activities Culture manifests itself in terms of the art, literature, costumes, customs, language, religion and religious rituals The people and their pattern of life make up the culture of a region Cultures vary in the different parts of the world They are different across the land boundaries and the diversity in cultures results in the diversity in people around the world Culture also consists of the system of beliefs held by the people of the region, their principles of life and their moral values The patterns of behavior of the people of a particular region also form a part of the region's culture The word 10 similarities and differences between some traditional and values in Vietnamese and American culture CHAPTER 3: THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SOME TRADITIONAL BELIEFS AND VALUES IN VIETNAMESE AND AMERICAN CULTURE In this chapter, the researcher tends to find out the similarities and difficulties between some traditional beliefs and values in two countries So, the results and discussion will be presented in this section 3.1 Similarities Every country has its own unique culture Throughout most of the world’s history, culture has played a big role in every country Therefore, there are fewer similarities than differences American culture tends to make more differences from Vietnamese culture due to the differences in history, geography, custom and habits So, in this study, I will analyze two similarities between Vietnamese and American cultural values They are the value of freedom and patriotism 3.1.1 Freedom 36 Firstly, the factor plays an important role in the similarities between Vietnamese and American culture is freedom Vietnamese share the value of freedom with Americans It is the term of human right People in both countries have the freedom of speech, press and religion All people are equal and they have the right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness Americans’ understanding of freedom is shaped by the Founding fathers’ belief that all people are equal and that the role of the government is to protect each person’s basic “inalienable” rights Official American values were laid out in the Declaration of Independence (1776) that emphasized human rights, such as declaring that "all men are created equal", that people have "inalienable rights", and that people have the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" The U.S Constitution’s Bill of Rights assures individual rights, including provisions for freedom of speech, press and religion In the heart of all Vietnamese citizens “nothing is more precious than independence and freedom” (Ho Chi Minh, Dependent Proclamation, 1945) We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination People have the freedom of speech, press and religion Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible 3.1.2 Patriotism Another typical similarity in two cultures is the sense of patriotism People in both countries share the common thought in the love for country Patriotism is generally cultural attachment to one's homeland or devotion to one's country, although interpretations of the term vary with context, geography and philosophy Patriotism is a word of power, compounded of duty and of love This is also a basic traditional value in both countries 37 Patriotism is a definition which is hard to explain but in every one’s thought, it is a precious tradition and our mission is preserving and developing it Each individual should make concerted efforts and take resolute action in national construction and defense The most important thing to understand this value in Vietnam is the importance of their sense of national independence and peace It shows the Vietnamese‘s patriotism in many periods of time Because of experiencing a long time of war under miserable life, Vietnamese strongly struggled to gain the national independence and peace In Vietnam, patriotism means the love and devotion for our country Patriotism can be expressed in many ways and many periods of time Vietnamese expressed in different ways to show our patriotism in wartime and peacetime American patriotism has also focused on the principles and values of the Constitution of the United States Americans also try to devote and take utmost action in national construction and defense 3.2 Differences Positioning in two opposite sides of the world, America and Vietnam are different not only in geography but also in culture Having been discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492, America was called “The New World”, a venue of people from different countries and culture This significant discovery brought to America a sense of freedom and liberty, America is an opportunity for different culture to get along rather than a bowl of scrambled eggs, a mixture of multiple cultures In contrast, Vietnam also has been affected by foreign culture, but the effect is not the same One thousand years of slavery of China and one hundred years of colony of France and America, we witnessed two biggest cultural assimilations in history Vietnamese culture is seriously attacked, but it still remains original and unchangeable Although both culture is affected by foreign culture, American culture gained from the affectation a sense of globalization; Vietnamese, on the other hand, suffer from the invasion with its strength and rigidity Therefore, there are some differences between two 38 cultures Then, in the next part of the study, I will analyze some differences between Vietnamese and American cultural values, some of which are family life, the sense of individualism, lifestyle, thinking method, and their attitude towards nature and people 3.2.1 Family life The first difference in two countries is the family life The family in Vietnam is an extended one, unlike the typical family in the United States, which normally consists of father, mother, and unmarried children The Vietnamese family is composed of the parents, all children, and their in-laws, the grandparents, the great-grandparents, and also in some circumstances, uncles and aunts and their spouses, cousins, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and all in-laws In other words, it might embrace up to six generations, with everybody who is related either by blood or marriage There is always a strong feeling of attachment between the members of the same family in spite of the generation gap, which can be large or small The center for the family is a house which does not necessarily accommodate everybody The availability of living space determines the size of the family living together But typically, one finds grandparents, father, mother, children, and grandchildren living under the same roof Although not all members of the extended family are housed together, they tend to cluster around a certain area such as a village, small town, or places of easy access in large cities In contrast, the typical family throughout American history has been the nuclear family which included the husband, wife and children, but not the grandparents, aunts, uncles or other relatives This small family was highly mobile Even today, the average American moves fourteen times in his or her lifetime, primarily to take advantage of economic opportunities elsewhere in the country At the age of eighteen or nineteen, if a child has finished high school, many parents expect their children to leave home to go to the university or begin 39 a career They should not be economically dependent upon their hardworking parents 3.2.2 Individualism The major difference is the sense of individual in both countries Among diversity culture in the world, American cultures and Asian culture, as Vietnamese culture, are recognized incompatibility Almost American values are based on individualism that is "freedom to what one want," while Vietnamese values are based on collectivism or allegiance to the family that believe responsibilities, rights and commitments of a group or a family are more important than their own individual desires Thus, to understand American cultures and communicate with American, people should know about individualism that also is origins of equality, privacy, and informality in American life style; however, to understand Vietnamese culture and communicate to Vietnamese, people should know about family value and concept of respect We have viewpoints to the root of individualism in the U.S and of collectivism in Vietnam As we know, America was born by people who wanted freedom and equality came from many countries on the world; as a result, they supported equal opportunity for everyone without personal background or family liners Based on those reasons, people have "freedom to what one want" that mean "individualism" However, Vietnam is a tropical country, so its cultures come from a physical living environment, agriculture culture or rice water culture which required each individual must be in group to survive Therefore, according American, each individual is separated, and they have their own responsible for their life and destiny; however, according Vietnamese, each individual is a member of a family or group in which they deserve for demand of group even more important than their own demand The value of individual is highly appreciated in America where heroism appears constantly in movies, cartoons and music Heroic acts are appraised; privacy is protected by laws, and 40 people are free to speak what they think Vietnamese culture is comprised of a strong sense of community 3.2.3 Lifestyle Another difference is the lifestyle between two countries Basing on those view point, we contrast American and Vietnamese life style As we knew before, Vietnamese values affected by Confucian ethics that believe that responsible, rights and commitment of group or family are more important than their own individual desires while "Just a few children raised to believe that their personal destiny to serve their family, their country" For example, children in American are taught that they have freedom to make their decision and have their responsible for their choice and their consequence whereas Vietnamese children are taught that they must obey their parents, making decision with the opinions of parents that is "fulfilling obligations to others" Moreover, they must care for their parent when they are old, even paid their expense while American parents often paid their expense when they live with their grown children American lifestyle is more open than the Vietnamese lifestyle As the living of the American, people would like to move out of their parent’s house when they are eighteen They would like to decide everything by themselves, and want to have more personal right or freedom It can be caused because of the American society; the independent and freedom country The American characteristic can be said as an early independent personality compared with Vietnamese young people In Vietnam, everybody would like to live with their parents until they get married Even when they get married, the couples would like to live in the husband’s family The Vietnamese citizens would like to live together or around the near area There are two or three generations that live in the same house It helps to solve a lot of problems such as baby sister, or the expenses for the supplies and the furniture People are better able to care together and divide the bills It’s also a good environment for 41 the children because there’re always people around them to take care and play with them 3.2.4 Thinking method The factor that plays an important role in the difference between American and Vietnamese culture is thinking method American, part of Western culture, is deeply influenced by the thinking method of the famous Greek philosopher Socrates According to Socrates, the wanderer of Athens who discussed with the citizens of Athens the meaning of life, the only way to perceive the truth is through argument and discussion This method illustrates the political culture in America which is an argumentative culture Every candidate for President in the U.S must argue with his or her opponent and prove that he or she is more suitable for the position In Vietnam or Eastern countries the thinking method is different Ruled by the monarchism for thousands of years, Vietnamese people gradually became submissive or tacit in their thinking, for in centuries there was always a person telling people what to People are submissive to the government; although there is no more king or queen people still hold a subordinate position under the government They won’t speak out if they are not in the deadlock Vietnamese people not directly vote for the President; people vote only for their representatives This variation in politics of Vietnam and America is a result of difference thinking method Difference thinking method definitely created major differences in culture In addition, Vietnamese believes that people should consider one another’s feelings when deciding what to say In contrast, it is widely believed that in the United States, individuals should speak their mind and express themselves openly to pursue the goal of communication Direct style is hence, prevailing, which means that “Americans choose to speak directly their opinion” In contrast, Vietnamese people seem to talk around a subject and never get to the point Americans might not speak feely when they are not well acquainted with someone and they are not confident that the discussion will be 42 understood in the way intended To them, being honest is usually more important than preserving harmony in interpersonal relationships Due to directness, Americans seem to have little stress on face-saving; therefore, they are not afraid of criticizing others as in Vietnam 3.2.4 Attitude towards nature and people There is a considerable difference between Vietnamese and American culture in considering their attitude towards nature The Vietnamese normally express a harmonious attitude towards nature while Americans tend to show their desire to challenge and conquer nature The explanation for this is the fact that Vietnam is an agriculture-rooted country with a large proportion of population working in agriculture; thus, there is a heavy dependence on nature for the production as well as living condition and therefore, Vietnamese people always respect nature and wish to live in harmony with people and nature On the other hand, with a different cultural pattern Americans are considered people of great mobility who not have to depend much on nature since they often move from place to place to discover new lands as well as seek for new achievements Besides, competition in America is seen as a race in which a person must run the race, competing with others to achieve success Americans tend to like compete with each others “Learning to compete successfully is part of growing up in the United States” and “The pressure of competition in the life of an American begins in childhood and continues until retirement from work” 3.3 Implications Having been analyzed some traditional beliefs and values in Vietnamese and American culture, the researcher pointed out both the similarities as well as differences between two cultures From that, the researcher is believed to offer some implications as follows: 3.3.1 For people who access Vietnamese and/or American cultures 43 In the first place, the gap in perceiving a culture issue is a common experience to a person coming from another culture The similar situation happens to the way people belonging to two cultural groups of Vietnamese and American get to know each other That is to say, there always exist potential difficulties in understanding Americans cultural values for Vietnamese and also difficulties in understanding Vietnamese cultural values for Americans Therefore, it is necessary to find out some ways to avoid possible culture shock in such cross-cultural context One valuable suggestion here is to enrich one’s knowledge of as many fields as possible In order to overcome the cultural barriers, and get the right understanding of foreign culture, what a person needs is not only being expert at the culture itself, but also the comprehensive knowledge of many other aspects of life And thanks to that, people can avoid culture shock when getting access to the foreign culture In addition to the improvement of knowledge, it is significant for one to have an open and receptive attitude towards cultural differences Because there are definitely no standards for anything to be called “right” or “wrong”, just cultural differences If the cultural differences arise, one should consider them valuable chances to look back on his/her culture and to be self-aware since the more one learns about others, the more ones sees one’s own culture more clearly By learning contrast, we can better understand how culture influences individuals and their communication with others 3.3.2 For English teaching and learning English is a dominant language Being an international language its importance cannot be denied and therefore it is spoken everywhere in the world So, it has the greatest number of speakers There are more jobs available to people who speak English along with their mother tongue Likewise in Vietnam, the role of English has become more pronounced in the recent years The 44 educationist pleads for the teaching of English as a window on the world It cannot deny that discovering and mastering the knowledge of a country culture are very important for an English leaner Students should understand that: Once you access new country, you have to respect and comply with its own regulations, habits and customs However, as a matter of fact, students not have “real environment” to practice their knowledge Therefore, the role of language teachers is very important because they are the first source that students contact and they should help students understand the relationship between culture and language Moreover, the major findings from my study, is expected to brings useful knowledge for all of English learners to get better understanding about American and Vietnamese culture and also for cultural lovers who want to discover the American and Vietnamese culture Summary In this chapter, the researcher pointed out some similarities and difficulties between some traditional beliefs and values in Vietnamese and American culture, and the implications of the study In the next chapter, the whole conclusion of the research will be presented 45 PART C: CONCLUSION The final part includes four sections The first summaries major’s findings withdraw from the study The second indicates limitation of the study, suggestion for further study and the whole conclusion of the study Major findings In conclusion, this study focuses on studying about American and Vietnamese traditional cultural values as well as finds the similarities and differences between two countries To complete this study, the researcher collects information from many reliable sources such as books, magazines, newspapers, and online documents in a long time Then the researcher has studied and selected the essential details related to the study in order to mention in the study In the study, the researcher gives the literature review related to the research such as culture, traditional values, and some Vietnamese and American traditional values Through collecting and studying the information, the researcher finds that there are two similarities between American and Vietnamese culture They are the value of freedom and patriotism Besides, the researcher also works out the four main differences between American and 46 Vietnamese culture The first one is the difference in family life The second one is the difference in the sense of individual in both countries Another difference is lifestyle in two countries And the last one is the difference in thinking method between two countries The researcher believes that the findings of this research would help all of the English learners get more information and knowledge about American and Vietnamese culture Hopefully, it would be a helpful material for cultural lovers who want to discover the American and Vietnamese culture Limitations of the research Although the research has been seriously studied, this research cannot avoid some shortcomings The following limitations are still inevitable Firstly, the study has been conducted in limited time The researcher therefore has little time to collect information fully and study it carefully As the result, the study only focuses on analyzing some similarities and differences of some American and Vietnamese traditional cultural values The study cannot cover all of the similarities and differences between them Secondly, it is the fact that the researcher of the paper when implementing this research has no chance to go to America and directly find out American culture Therefore, the researcher, to complete this study, mainly depends on information from books, newspapers, magazines and online documents Finally, in present study, the researcher mainly uses two kinds of data collecting instrument They consist of theoretical- study method and comparison and contrast method However, with all the effort on collecting and analyzing data, the researcher finds outs the similarities and differences of American and Vietnamese traditional cultural values The researcher believes that this study could be a valuable and reliable one Suggestions for further research 47 In this study, the researcher has studied about American and Vietnamese traditional cultural values culture However, due to the limited one, knowledge and materials as well as little experience, the researcher only focuses on some similarities and differences between them The study cannot cover all aspects of the similarities and differences Hopefully, in the future, there will be a research conducted to work out more similarities and differences about American and Vietnamese culture Conclusion In conclusion, the study has studied some Vietnamese and American traditional cultural values as well as found out some similarities and differences between them It is hoped that what has been discussed in the research might be helpful for students who learn about English gain knowledge about traditional American values and American culture and also Americans who want to discover about Vietnamese culture 48 References Books A Vietnamese- American cross- cultural study on cultural refection of television advertisement, Vu Thi Thanh Huyen 2009 A Vietnamese- American cross- cultural study on business negotiations, Bui Thi Ngan, 2009 American studies, A course book for tertiary English majors, Ha Noi, 2005 Các khía cạnh văn hố Việt Nam, Nguyễn Thị Thanh Bình - Dana Healy, NXB Thế Giới, 2006 Một hướng tiếp cận văn hóa Việt Nam, Hồ Liên, NXB Văn Học 2008 Tìm sắc văn hóa Việt Nam, Trần Ngọc Thêm, 2001 Tran Ngoc Them (1997) Co So Van Hoa Viet Nam Hanoi: Education Publishing House Some reflections of Vietnamese and American cultural values on Vietnamese- American business negotiation, Le Thi Van Nga, 2011 49 Edward, T.H & Hall, M.R (1990) Understanding Cultural Differences New York : Rountledge Publisher 10.Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa- Cao Thi Tuong Minh- Nguyen Thi Minh- Nguyen Thi Bach Thao- Phung Ha Thanh (2005) An introduction to American Studies English Department, VNUCFL 11.Vietnamese and American sense of community through their folk music, Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh, 2009 Website http://www.buzzle.com/articles/characteristics-of-culture.html http://cirrie.buffalo.edu/culture/monographs/vietnam/ http://clubs.ncsu.edu/vsa/www/traditions/traditions2.html http://www.holidaysvietnam.com/travel-guide/vietnam-beliefs-andvalues/ http://e-cadao.com/tieuluan/vanhoa/timhieuvanhoaviet.htm http://www.buzzle.com/articles/what-are-the-elements-of-culture.html 50 ... the value of culture as well as traditional values and listing some Vietnamese and American cultural values Chapter analyzes some Vietnamese and American traditional beliefs and values Chapter... Vietnamese and American traditional cultural values - Making a study of Vietnamese and American traditional values - Finding out the similarities and differences between Vietnamese and American culture. .. study: A comparison on some traditional beliefs and values between Vietnamese and American culture is carried out in Hung Vuong University This study will focus on studying about American and Vietnamese