Linguistic features of preposition ‘BY’ in english and their vietnamese equivalents

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF PREPOSITON 'BY' IN ENGLISH AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (ĐẶC ĐIỂM NGÔN NGỮ CỦA GIỚI TỪ 'BY' TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ NHỮNG TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT) PHAM THI THUY Field: English Language Hanoi, 2017 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF PREPOSITON 'BY' IN ENGLISH AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (ĐẶC ĐIỂM NGÔN NGỮ CỦA GIỚI TỪ 'BY' TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ NHỮNG TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT) PHAM THI THUY Field: English Language Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Ph.D Hanoi, 2017 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project entitled LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF PREPOSITON 'BY' IN ENGLISH AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (Đặc điểm ngôn ngữ giới từ ‘by’ Tiếng Anh tương đương Tiếng việt) Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Hanoi, 2017 Pham Thi Thuy Approved by SUPERVISOR Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Ph.D (Signature and full name) Date: ……………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Ph.D who gave me valuable suggestions, useful comments, experience and support during the time of completing the graduation thesis I also would like to pay my homage to all my lecturers at the Faculty of Graduate Studies at Hanoi Open University (HOU) for their useful lectures, supports, encouragement and for inspiring me in teaching English as a Foreign Language teaching and doing scientific research I highly appreciate the helpful advice, assistance and participation from my colleagues and friends at HOU I express my affectionate and thank the teachers and students at Thai Nguyen Medical College, who supplied me with a great deal of practical figures Finally, I’m grateful to my family and friends who encourage and help me with valuable materials, gave me energy and advice during the time I implemented this study Hanoi, 2017 Pham Thi Thuy ii ABSTRACT This study looks at preposition ‘by’ in English and their equivalents in Vietnamese The study concentrates on the analysis of the common errors made by Vietnamese learners and actual errors made by Thai Nguyen Medical College students in particular The aim of doing this is to find out the ways to help the teachers and students to use English prepositions effectively in teaching and learning The writer of the study figures out the features of English preposition in terms of linguistic After data are collected from chosen materials, the writer uses descriptive method to describe and analyze the data before classifying them into groups of features The writer also conducts qualitative and quantitative research as a description of the data from source The data are collected by generalizing, analyzing and classifying Linguistic features are presented through ways of creating terms and types of English preposition terms The study will be conducted through three steps: first, data are collected from two main chosen materials and the other references; then, the data are analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively to figure out the linguistic features of English preposition Finally, the results are classified and presented in forms of tables The results of the study help to contribute suggestions to approaching the teaching and learning English preposition terms based on linguistic and features Probable errors were pointed out, with a view to helping the teachers and students to avoid them Basing on research findings and the researcher’s teaching experience, suggestions and exercises are given with the hope that the study may possibly to some extent improve current situation in teaching and learning English prepositions at TNMC iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Adv E.g Adverb For example N No Prep Noun Number Preposition Prep P HOU TNMC * Preposition Phrases Hanoi Open University Thai Nguyen Medical College An asterisk signifies that what follows it is incorrect [ ] [: ] Reference Number Reference Number and page are separated by ‘:’ For example: [8:32] the reference number is and the page in (:) ^ the reference is 32 Illustration examples reference resources (reference number : page number) An omission signifies that where are needed in the sentence iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 4.1: Information of the research participants 47 Table 4.2: Error’s made by students at TNMC when using English prepositions 50 Table 4.3: Common errors made by students when translating from Vietnamese into English 52 Figures 1: Total errors in each sentence 50 v TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES v CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.2.1 Aim of the study 1.2.2 Objectives of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Methods of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Design of the study CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Previous studies 2.2 Overview of syntax and semantics 2.2.1 Syntax 2.2.2 Semantics 2.3 An overview of the prepositions 2.3.1 English prepositions 2.3.2 Vietnamese prepositions 16 2.4 Errors analysis 21 2.4.1 Errors analysis beginning from linguistic difficulties in teaching and learning English of Vietnamese learners 21 2.4.2 Factors affecting learners’ acquisition of a foreign language 24 2.4.3 Predictions of errors made by Vietnamese learners using English preposition ‘by’ 28 2.5 Summary 29 CHAPTER FEATURES OF PREPOSITION ‘BY’ IN ENGLISH AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS 3.1 Syntactic features of ‘by’ preposition 31 3.2 Semantics features of ‘by’ preposition 33 3.2.1 Preposition ‘by’ denoting time 33 3.2.2 Preposition ‘by’ denoting place or direction 33 3.2.3 Preposition ‘by’ denoting means or agents 33 3.2.4 Preposition ‘by’ denoting manner 34 3.2.5 Preposition ‘by’ denoting motion 34 3.2.6 Preposition ‘by’ denoting stiffness or without help 34 3.2.7 Preposition ‘by’ denoting means of transport 35 3.2.8 Preposition ‘by’ denoting method 35 3.3 Preposition ‘by’ in English and their Vietnamese equivalents 36 3.3.1 'By' in English corresponds to 'gần, bên cạnh, kề bên, dọc theo' in Vietnamese 36 3.3.2 ‘By’ in English corresponds to ‘bằng’ in Vietnamese 37 3.3.3 ‘By’ in English corresponds to ‘do, vì, bởi’ (theo sau ‘by’ khơng có mạo từ ‘the’) in Vietnamese 38 3.3.4 ‘By’ in English corresponds to ‘qua’ in Vietnamese 39 3.3.5 ‘By’ in English corresponds to 'càng …càng, dần…dần, …một' in Vietnamese 39 3.3.6 ‘By’ in English corresponds to ‘đối với, theo’ in Vietnamese 40 3.3.7 ‘By’ in English corresponds to ‘được, do, bởi’ in Vietnamese 40 3.3.8 ‘By’ in English corresponds to 'chỉ phận thân thể hay quần áo' in Vietnamese 41 3.3.9 ‘By’ in English corresponds to ‘vào lúc, vào khoảng, vào quãng (chỉ thời gian)’ in Vietnamese 41 3.4 Similarities and differences between ‘by’ preposition in English and the Vietnamese equivalents 42 10 "Hamlet" was written Shakespeare It is useful to have all one's reference books close hand She looked him They arranged to meet the theatre tonight I will have finished this work Saturday Tell me least one thing You won't find him home; he is gone out He should have more sense than that his age All this work is done hand 4.6.2 Some suggestions for learning English preposition ‘by’ In order to overcome the problems when learning English preposition ‘by’, the following suggestions should be good for students to: • Become familiar with English prepositions in general and their basic structures • Look out for the forming the rules themselves and organize these rules in a way that are clear to them • Share knowledge, experiences, feelings, … with the teachers and classmates • Show no fear of making mistakes, try to understand why they consistently make a certain kind of mistakes They can avoid making them by checking the text book, asking the teacher, reading newspapers in English, watching TV, or by using social media as Facebook in English • Accept correction from both teacher and classmates • Practice a lot, because ‘practice makes perfect’ 62 4.7 Summary In this chapter we have dealt with the actual errors made by students when using preposition ‘by’ The data analysis shows that Vietnamese students made errors in using prepositions both syntactically and semantically Then some sources of errors have been suggested to justify why certain errors were made, mother tongue is one of the most important factor that affects the process of learning second language Some suggestions for overcoming those problems were given, and the teacher’s role is very important It is very necessary for English teachers to have a good knowledge of English They have improved their techniques in teaching English and they should know how to deal with each types of errors, what exercises or activities should be provided and so on One of the most important things is the students’ attempt in overcoming problems The teachers should cooperate with students to get good achievements effectively These suggestions are intended to improve the quality of teaching and learning English prepositions at TNMC which are in fact, problematic to some extent In order to overcome the problems when learning English preposition ‘by’, the following suggestions should be good for students to: Become familiar with English prepositions in general and their basic structures Look out for the forming the rules themselves and organize these rules in a way that are clear to them Share knowledge, experiences, feelings, … with the teachers and classmates Show no fear of making mistakes, try to understand why they consistently make a certain kind of mistakes They can avoid making them by checking the text book, asking the teacher, reading newspapers in English, watching TV, or by using social media as Facebook in English Accept correction from both teacher and classmates 63 CHAPTER CONCLUSION In this chapter, the result of the study will be reviewed, then some conclusions from the detailed analysis of the previous chapters and some limitations and suggestions for further research will be given 5.1 Concluding remarks In the study, the author gave information about prepositions in English and Vietnamese in general and ‘by’ preposition in English with reference to Vietnamese equivalents in particular To achieve the objectives of the study, the author has presented theoretical background related to the topic as well as used the survey questionnaire to find out the common errors when using preposition ‘by’ of Vietnamese learners The study presents the syntactic and semantic features of English preposition ‘by’ with reference to Vietnamese equivalents There are similarities and differences in using prepositions between two languages What is more interesting is that the thesis is conducted in the famous story “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London and its translation “Tiếng gọi nơi hoang dã” by Nguyen Cong Ai and Vu Tuan Phuong The results of the study show that preposition ‘by’ has nine equivalents in Vietnamese which are translated into Vietnamese as: gần, bên, cạnh, dọc theo; bằng; do, bởi, vì; qua; càng…càng, dần dần, … một; đối với, theo; được, do, bởi; vào (tên phận thân thể hay quần áo); vào lúc, vào khoảng, vào quãng A part from those, the study conducted in TNMC showed that most of the learners had problems with preposition ‘by’ The biggest problem was that they omitted, substituted or added ‘by’ Additionally, the learners often misunderstood and misused ‘by’ Fix expressions with ‘by’ were also a difficult problem for learners that led to errors The main reasons for committing errors were: mother tongue interference, wrong knowledge of semantic features of preposition ‘by’ and misinterpreting how native speakers using preposition ‘by’ To overcome the problems, the author gave some suggestions for both teaching and learning 64 English preposition ‘by’ Students’ errors can be avoided only when the teachers should enrich their knowledge of English prepositions, apply qualified teaching methods and have positive attitude towards students’ errors and the treatment The students should actively participate in the teaching and learning process and try their best to master English prepositions effectively 5.2 Limitations of the study The present thesis is just a small contribution to the study of the ‘by’ preposition and its Vietnamese equivalents as well as the common difficulties in the use of 'by’ preposition and provides some solutions In other words, it can never give a complete account of all the meanings designed by ‘by’ preposition and their Vietnamese equivalents Therefore, this study also has some limitations: Firstly, the number of the subjects in the research is only limited to the 98 students at TNMC, not all the students at TNMC therefore the other research on difficulties in the use of ‘by’ preposition should be conducted Secondly, due to the limitations of knowledge as well as the limited sources, mistake is unavoidable, therefore the author would highly appreciate all the comments and suggestions from teachers, colleges and readers Finally, ‘by’ preposition is one of over 150 prepositions in English 5.3 Suggestions for further study Although the study is rather limited, it still has certain important implications for teachers and students at Thai Nguyen Medical college However, the problems of English preposition ‘by’ cannot be completely covered in such a limited thesis On the basis of what this paper has achieved, the feather researches may be possible: The pragmatic features of ‘by’ preposition in English and their Vietnamese equivalents or ‘near' preposition in English and in Vietnamese in the light of cognitive semantics perspective Finally, it is hoped that the ideas and suggestions of the study will prove worthwhile to those who wish to carry on research in this area and those who are concerned with this problem 65 REFERENCES In English Agoi, F (2003) Towards Effective Use of English A grammar of modern English Ibandan Joytal Printing Press Celce - Murcia, M & Larsen - Freeman (1978) An English Grammar for teachers of English as a Second Language, Newbury House Cooper, G S (1968) A Semantic analysis of English locative prepositions Airforce, Redford, Massachutes: Cambridge Research Laboratories Chomsky, N (1969) Linguistics and Philosophy In Language and Philosophy ed By Sdiney hook New York Delattre, P.C., Liberman, A M, and Cooper, F S ‘Formant Transitions and Loci as Acoustic correlates of Place of Articulation in American Fricatives’ Studia Linguistica, 16, 102-21 Downing A; 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Mạnh Chương, Nguyễn Công Ái, Vũ Tuấn Phương dịch Internet sources 39 http://vi.wiktionary.org/wiki 40 http://www.eslcafe.com/grammar/prepositionslo.html 41 http://rongmotamhon.net/mainpage/thanhngu-anh viet 68 APPENDIX Other forms of by preposition / prepositional phrases detailed Oxfords Advanced Learner’s Dictionary near sb/sth; at the side of sb/sth; beside sb/sth • a house by the river • The telephone is by the window • Come and sit by me used, usually after a passive verb, to show who or what does, creates or causes sth • He was knocked down by a bus •a play by Ibsen • Who's that book by? •I was frightened by the noise used for showing how or in what way sth is done • The house is heated by gas • May I pay by cheque? •I will contact you by letter •to travel by boat/bus/car/plane •to travel by air/land/sea •Switch it on by pressing this button used before particular nouns without the, to say that sth happens as a result of sth • They met by chance • I did it by mistake •The coroner's verdict was ‘death by misadventure’ not later than the time mentioned; before • Can you finish the work by five o'clock? • I'll have it done by tomorrow •By this time next week we'll be in New York •He ought to have arrived by now/by this time •By the time (that) this letter reaches you I will have left the country past sb/sth • He walked by me without speaking during sth; in a particular situation •to travel by day/night 69 • We had to work by candlelight used to show the degree or amount of sth • The bullet missed him by two inches • House prices went up by 10% •It would be better by far (= much better) to… from what sth shows or says; according to sth • By my watch it is two o'clock • I could tell by the look on her face that something terrible had happened •By law, you are a child until you are 18 10 used to show the part of sb/sth that sb touches, holds, etc • I took him by the hand • She seized her by the hair •Pick it up by the handle! 11 used with the to show the period or quantity used for buying, selling or measuring sth • We rented the car by the day • They're paid by the hour •We only sell it by the metre 12 used to state the rate at which sth happens • They're improving day by day • We'll it bit by bit •It was getting worse by the minute (= very fast) •The children came in two by two (= in groups of two) 13 used to show the measurements of sth • The room measures fifteen feet by twenty feet 14 used when multiplying or dividing •6 multiplied by equals 12 •6 divided by equals 15 used for giving more information about where sb comes from, what sb does, etc •He's German by birth •They're both doctors by profession 16 used when swearing to mean ‘in the name of’ •I swear by Almighty God… 70 APPENDIX PREPOSION by Recourse: https://www.Oxford University Press / After a passive verb ‘the door was opened by my cousin Annie’ ‘damage caused by fire’ After a noun denoting an action ‘a clear decision by the electorate’ ‘years of hard fund-raising work by local people’ Identifying the author of a text, idea, or work of art ‘a book by Ernest Hemingway’ often with verbal noun Indicating the means of achieving something ‘malaria can be controlled by attacking the parasite’ ‘they substantiate their opinions by the use of precise textual reference’ ‘they plan to provide further working capital by means of borrowing’ Indicating a term to which an interpretation is to be assigned ‘what is meant by ‘fair’?’ Indicating a name according to which a person is known ‘she mostly calls me by my last name’ Indicating the means of transport selected for a journey ‘the cost of travelling by bus’ ‘I travelled to Folkestone by rail’ Indicating the other parent of someone's child or children ‘Richard is his son by his third wife’ Indicating the sire of a pedigree animal, especially a horse ‘a black filly by Goldfuerst’ (followed by a noun without a determiner) in various phrases indicating how something happens ‘I heard by chance that she has married again’ ‘Anderson, by contrast, rejects this view’ ‘she ate by candlelight’ 10 Indicating the amount or size of a margin ‘the shot missed her by miles’ ‘the raising of VAT by 2.5%’ 71 11 Indicating a quantity or amount ‘billing is by the minute’ ‘the drunken yobbos who turned up by the cartload’ 12 In phrases indicating something happening repeatedly or progressively, typically with repetition of a unit of time ‘colors changing minute by minute’ ‘the risk becomes worse by the day’ 13 Identifying a parameter ‘a breakdown of employment figures by age and occupation’ 14 Expressing multiplication, especially in dimensions ‘a map measuring 400 by 600 mm’ ‘she multiplied it by 89’ 15 Indicating a deadline or the end of a particular time period ‘I've got to this report by Monday’ ‘by now Kelly needed extensive physiotherapy’ 16 Indicating location of a physical object beside a place or object ‘remains were discovered by the roadside’ ‘the pram was by the dresser’ 17 Past and beyond ‘I drove by our house’ 18 Indicating the period in which something happens ‘this animal always hunts by night’ 19 Concerning; according to ‘anything you is all right by me’ ‘she had done her duty by him’ 20 Used in mild oaths ‘it was the least he could do, by God’ ‘I swear by Almighty God’ 72 APPENDIX EXERCISES IN THE TEST OF STUDENTS’ ERRORS IN USING PREPOSITION ‘BY’ IN ENGLISH This questionnaire aims to investigate your intuition about certain English structures Your responses to this questionnaire will be kept strictly confidential and will be used for research purposes only Task I: Choose the correct preposition I want to rent the car … the day a on b in c by d with The old man is getting better day … day a through b by c at d to He lives in a house … the river a near b in c on d by She goes to work … car a for b from c by d with We have to finish the work … Friday a at b to c in d by c in d by c.by d from He was killed … a knife a with b of This table is made … wood a of b with They learn French … listening to music a to b by c of d within I don’t like travelling … plane a Ø b to c in d by 10 This birthday cake was … a my mother made b made my mother c made by my mother d by my mother made 73 Task II: Translate these following sentences into English 11 Cô đứng bên cửa sổ 12 Chúng tơi đến Hà Nội qua Sóc Sơn 13 Tơi khơng định lấy bạn Đó nhầm lẫn 14 Bạn hồn thành cơng việc trước không ? 15 Anh ta bị cảnh sát bắt 16 Thời gian trôi thật chậm 17 Tơi tốn séc 18 Họ bán bia tính theo lít 19 Đó kịch Shakespeare viết 20 Tơi tình cờ gặp John đường 21 Bọn trẻ đến trường xe đạp 22 Cô thường ngủ vào ban ngày làm việc vào ban đêm 23 Anh ta làm người ngạc nhiên việc mua xe đắt tiền 24 Ông kiếm sống nghề vẽ tranh 25 Cậu thường học thuộc lòng từ 26 Hãy đến ngồi cạnh tơi, có nhiều chỗ 27 Trứng thường bán hàng tá 28 Bóng đá môn chơi theo luật 29 Anh ngang qua tơi mà khơng nói lời 30 Cậu bé khỏe lên ngày 74 APPENDIX KEYS TO THE TEST OF STUDENTS’ ERRORS Task I: Choose the correct preposition C B D C D D C B D 10 C Task II: Translate these following sentences into English 11 She’s standing by the window 12 We went to Ha Noi by Soc Son 13 I didn’t intend to take your umbrella It was by mistake 14 Can you finish your work by o’clock? 15 He was arrested by police 16 Time went by slowly 17 I can pay the che que 18 They sell beer by litter 19 It was a play by Shakespeare 20 I met John by chance on the way 21 The children go to school by bike 22 She often sleeps by day and works by night 23 He surprised everyone by buying an expensive car 24 He earns his living by painting 25 He often learns by heart the new words 26 Come and sit by me 27 Eggs are often sold by dozen 28 Football is played by rule 29 He went by me without saying the word 30 The boy is getting better day by day THANK YOU FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION 75 76 ... founding of preposition, in preposition of systemizing general theories as well as theory of linguistic features of preposition ‘by’ in English and their Vietnamese equivalents In practice, the finding... main objectives of this study are: (1) Identifying the linguistic features of ‘by’ preposition in English (2) Find out the similarities and differences between ‘by’ preposition in English and Vietnamese. .. semantic and syntactic features of prepositions, especially investigating ‘by’ preposition in English and the Vietnamese equivalents in terms of syntactic and semantic features, thus helping Vietnamese