Summary: A comparison on some traditional beliefs and values between Vietnamese and American culture

1. Rationale 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 faded away but 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 one 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 that the country faced. 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.

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 faded away but 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 one 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 that the country faced 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 countries 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, familyoriented 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 1.Rationale 2 Previous studies 3.Research purpose Research Questions 5.Metholodogy The significance of the Research The Scope of the Research 8.Research outline PART B: MAJOR CONTENT Chapter 1: Literature review 1.1 Culture 1.1.1 Definitions of culture 1.1.2 Concepts of culture 1.1.3.The characteristics of culture 1.1.4 The value of culture 1.2 Traditional values 1.2.1 Definition of traditional values 1.2.2 Some Vietnamese traditional values 1.2.3 Some American traditional values Chapter 2: Analyzing some traditional beliefs and values in Vietnamese and American culture 2.1 Vietnamese cultural values 2.1.1 Freedom 2.1.2 Patriotism 2.1.3 Strong sense of community 2.1.4 Family-oriented lifestyle 2.1.5 Wishing to live in harmony with nature and people 2.1.6 Adaptability 2.1.7 Indirectness 2.2.American cultural values 2.2.1 Freedom 2.2.2 Patriotism 2.3 Individualism 2.2.4 Self-reliance 2.2.5 Competition and equality 2.2.6 Progress and Future-oriented 2.2.7 Directness Chapter 3: The similarities and differences between some traditional beliefs and values in Vietnamese and American culture 3.1 Similarities 3.1.1.Freedom 3.1.2 Patriotism 3.2 Differences 3.2.1 Family life 3.2.2 Individualism 3.2.3 Lifestyle 3.2.4 Thinking method 3.2.5 Attitude towards nature and people 3.3 Implications 3.3.1 For people who access Vietnamese and/or American culture 3.3.2 For English teaching and learning PART C: CONCLUSION Major findings Limitations of the research Suggestions for the further research Conclusion B METHODOLOGY 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 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 out the similarities and main differences between two cultures C THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY 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 five main differences between American and 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 The fourth is the difference in thinking method between two countries And the last one is the attitude towards people and nature 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 D CONCLUSION 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 five main differences between American and 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 The fourth is the differrence in thinking method in two countries And the last one is the difference in the attitude towards people and nature 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 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 E SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 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 10 ... Vietnamese traditional values 1.2.3 Some American traditional values Chapter 2: Analyzing some traditional beliefs and values in Vietnamese and American culture 2.1 Vietnamese cultural values 2.1.1... 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. ..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