A cross cultural communication study on joking between friends and relatives in vietnamese and english cultures

1 UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES ULIS, HANOI Faculty of POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ******************* ĐỖ THỊ HỒNG THUỲ A cross-cultural Communication study on Joking between Friends and Relatives in Vietnamese and English cultures NGHIÊN CỨU GIAO TIẾP GIAO VĂN HỐ VỀ HÀNH ĐỘNG NĨI ĐÙA GIỮA BẠN BÈ VÀ NGƯỜI THÂN TRONG HAI NỀN VĂN HOÁ VIỆT VÀ VĂN HOÁ ANH M A MINOR THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60.22.15 _ Hanoi, September 2010_ UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES ULIS, HANOI Faculty of POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ******************* ĐỖ THỊ HỒNG THUỲ A cross-cultural Communication study on Joking between Friends and Relatives in Vietnamese and English cultures NGHIÊN CỨU GIAO TIẾP GIAO VĂN HOÁ VỀ HÀNH ĐỘNG NÓI ĐÙA GIỮA BẠN BÈ VÀ NGƯỜI THÂN TRONG HAI NỀN VĂN HOÁ VIỆT VÀ VĂN HOÁ ANH M A MINOR THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60.22.15 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Nguyễn Văn Độ _ Hanoi, September 2010_ ABBREVIATIONS ESL English Second Language VET Vietnam ENG English St Situation vs Versus M Male F Female S Single Mar Married U Urban R Rural LIST OF TABLES AND FINGURES page Table 1: The five general functions of speech acts (Yule, G 1996)…… Table 2: The informants’ status parameters……………………………….20 Table 3: Means realized in telling joke……………………………………21 Table 4, 5, 6: To the friends (English speakers)……………………………… 23 Table 7, 8, 9: To the relatives (English speakers)………………………………25 Table 10, 11: To the friends (English speakers)……………………………….27 Table 12: To the friends (English speakers)……………………………….28 Table 13: To the relatives (Vietnamese speakers)…………………………29 Table 14, 15: To the relatives (Vietnamese speakers)…………………………30 Table 16: Means in telling joke as seen from informants’ parameter (English speakers) ……………………………………………………………………………30 Table 17: Means in telling joke as seen from informants’ parameter (Vietnamese speakers)………………………………………………………………………………….31 Table of contents page * Declaration…………………………………………………………………………………… i * Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………….…ii * Abstract……………………………………………………………………………… .iii * Table of contents……………………………………………………………………………….iv * Abbreviation……………………………………………………………………………………v * List of tables and charts…………………………………………………………………… vi PART A: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………….….1 Rationale………………………………………………………………………………….…….1 Aims of the study ………………………………………………………………… .2 Scope of the study …………………………………………………………………………… Research questions ……………………………………………………………………….….2 Methodology………………………………………………………………………………….3 Design of the study …………………………………………………………….……3 PART B – DEVELOPMENT…………………………………………………….… CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND……………………………… …5 1.1 Cross-cultural communication……………………………………………………….… 1.1.1 What is culture? 1.1.2 Cross-cultural communication…………………………………………………….……6 1.2 Speech acts…………………………………………………………………………… … 1.2.1 Definition of speech acts……………………………………………………………….…6 1.2.2 Classifications of speech acts……………………………………………………… 1.3 Joking as a speech act………………………………………………………………… 1.3.1 Definition of joke…………………………………………………………………… …9 1.3.2 Joke as a speech act………………………………………………………………… 1.4 English sense of humour………………………………………………………………… 10 1.4.1 Sense of humour………………………………………………………………………….10 1.4.2 English sense of humour……………………………………………………………… 11 1.5 Joking in English and Vietnamese culture………………………………………… 12 1.5.1 Laughter in everyday life…………………………………………………………… 12 1.5.2 Joking in English and Vietnamese………………………………………………….13 CHAPTER II: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION………………………………… 19 2.1 Description of the questionnaires……………………………………………….19 2.2 Description of the subjects……………………………………………………….19 2.3 Data analysis…………………………………………………………………… 20 2.3.1 The informants’ awareness of the sense of humour and joking…………… 20 2.3.2 Means realized in telling joke………………………………………………….21 2.3.3 Use of means in joking as seen from communicating partners’ parameters 21 2.3.3.1 English findings…………………………………………………………………………21 2.3.3.1.1 In friend relation…………………………………………………………………… 21 2.3.3.1.2 In relative relation………………………………………………………………… 23 2.3.3.2 Vietnamese findings………………………………………………………………… 26 2.3.3.2.1 In friend relation…………………………………………………………………….26 2.3.3.2.2 In relative relation………………………………………………………………… 28 2.3.4 Use of means in telling jokes as seen from informants’ parameters……… 30 *English findings……………………………………………………………………………….30 *Vietnamese findings………………………………………………………………………… 31 2.5 Major similarities and differences findings between English and Vietnamese…31 2.5.1 Similarities……………………………………………………………………………… 31 2.5.2 Differences……………………………………………………………………………… 32 2.6 Some implications in using humour in the teaching foreign language…………32 Part C CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………… 36 Major findings……………………………………………………………………………… 36 Suggestion for further study……………………………………………………………….36 References …………………………………………………………………………….…37 10 PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Communication is the interpersonal action which for exchanging the information among the members in a social community Communication action could be carried out in different ways However, communication through language is the highest and the most important communicative means of human beings Language is formed from the linguistic units such as morphemes, words, phrases, clauses and sentences As Crystal (1992: 212) claims that language is “the systematic, conventional use of sounds, signs, or written symbols in a human society for communication and self-expression” Language does not occur in isolation, language and culture are believed to be interrelated Supporting that point of view, Goodnough (1957) states that “the relation of language to culture is that of part to whole” It is said that language and culture are interwoven with each other so one could not be properly understood or appreciated with out the knowledge of the other Unlike language, culture does not hold fixed rules Culture is different from society to society, even from individual to individual Thus, what is acceptable in one culture may not be acceptable in another one Similar to the dressing, housing etc, language is also a way of making cultural identity On the other hand, culture influents the way in which language is used That is reason why language learners need acquire the linguistic system as well as aware of the cultural dimension of that language In our country in the last few years, teaching and learning foreign languages in general and teaching and learning English in particular has become a topical issue drawing concerns of many researchers As Vietnam adopted an open-door policy, there are many people wishing to learn and master English to communicate with foreigners However, the teaching and learning processes in Vietnam still seems to focus much on linguistic competence - producing correct utterances rather than social or contextual appropriate ones This is the reason why learners may be proficient in grammar and vocabulary, but still fail to communicate effectively because they lack of communicative competence 11 With an effort to improve learners’ communicative competence, a large number of English -Vietnamese cross - cultural studies concerned with the realization and the usage of such the sensitive speech acts such as requesting, inviting, thanking, greeting, giving and receiving compliments, etc This suggests a cross-cultural study of one of the most sensitive illocutionary act in English and Vietnamese that is joking This paper is hoped to be another contribution as it is a research on some English - Vietnamese similarities and differences in joking I have chosen the speech act of joking as the object to be investigated in my study with the hope that it will help avoid, or at least, reduce cultural conflicts in joking in cross - cultural communication Aims of the study The aims of the study are: - To investigate the ways of telling jokes - To compare and contrast the range of telling joke strategies in the two languages in order to clarify similarities and differences in the way Vietnamese and English people telling a joke in their own language and culture - To contribute to increasing cross - cultural awareness among foreign language teachers and learners in the speech act of telling a joke Scope of the study - This paper is confined only to the verbal aspects of the act of joking Although the author is fully aware of the role of paralinguistic and non - verbal factors in real-life communication, they are beyond the scope of this study - This study is aimed to investigate the English -Vietnamese cross - cultural interaction on speech act of joking between friends and relatives Its central focus is on which strategies used in joking in both languages English and Vietnamese - The data are mainly taken based on conducting survey questionnaires that consist of six situations in which the act of joking occurs Recorded and videotaped faceto-face conversations are impossible due to limitations of time, geographical and financial difficulties Research questions The study will focus on dealing with the following questions: 12 What are similarities and differences in the ways English and Vietnamese people telling jokes between friends and relatives in their own languages and cultures? How is the application in using humour in the teaching of foreign language? Methodology The main method of this study is the quantitative one In order to set up the theoretical framework for the study, the author refers to both Vietnamese and English publications All the considerations, remarks, comments and conclusions in this thesis are based on following practical approaches: + referring to relevant publications + conducting survey questionnaires + analyzing the data collection + consulting with supervisor + discussing with colleagues Design of the study This study is divided into three parts: Part A: INTRODUCTION: All the academic routines required for an M A Thesis are presented Part B: DEVELOPMENT: This part consists of two chapters CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Cross-cultural communication 1.1.1 What is culture? 1.1.2 Cross-cultural communication 1.2 Speech acts 1.2.1 Definition of speech acts 1.2.2 Classifications of speech acts 1.3 Joking as a speech act 1.3.1 Definition of joke 1.3.2 Joke as a speech act 1.4 English sense of humour 1.4.1 Sense of humour 1.4.2 English sense of humour 13 1.5 Joking in English and Vietnamese culture 1.5.1 Laughter in everyday life 1.5.2 Joking in English and Vietnamese CHAPTER II: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 2.1 Description of the questionnaire 2.2 Description of the subjects 2.3 Data analysis 2.3.1 The informants’ awareness of the sense of humour and joking 2.3.1 Means realized in telling joke 2.3.2 Use of means in joking as seen from communicating partners’ parameters 2.3.2.1 English findings 2.3.2.1.1 In friend relation 2.3.2.1.2 In relative relation 2.3.2.2 Vietnamese findings 2.3.2.2.1 In friend relation 2.3.2.2.2 In relative relation 2.3.3 Use of means in telling jokes as seen from informants’ parameters *English findings *Vietnamese findings 2.4 Major similarities and differences findings between English and Vietnamese 2.4.1 Similarities 2.4.2 Differences 2.5 Some implications in using humour in the teaching foreign language Part C CONCLUSION Major findings Suggestion for further study References APPENDICES 39 She / he is your grandchild 89% 0% 0% 12% She / he is your son / daughter 100% 0% 0% 0% She / he is your brother / sister 76% 0% 12% 12% Table 13: To the relatives (Vietnamese speakers) Situation 2: Today once again, one of my family members tries to tease me about my short and fat body If you were me, how would you respond to such jokes? No Types of means Bon- Allusion Vulgarity Simile Communicative partners mot She / he is your grandmother / 53% 27% 0% 20% grandfather She / he is your mother / father 50% 19% 0% 31% She / he is your uncle / aunt 60% 27% 0% 13% She / he is your cousin 61% 22% 0% 17% Table 14: To the relatives (Vietnamese speakers) Situation 3: Last night you came home late because you had a long meeting at your office At dinner, your wife is unhappy and upset What kind of jokes would you tell to comfort her? Types of Bon-mot Allusion Vulgarity Simile 0% 0% 25% means 75% Table 15: To the relatives (Vietnamese speakers) 2.3.4 Use of means in telling jokes as seen from informants’ parameters *English findings Informant Age Gender Marital Status Area of living Mean 20 M F Mar S U R Bon-mot 98% 83% 82% 98% 100% 89% 87% 100% Allusion 0% 13% 12% 2% 0% 8% 9% 0% Vulgarity 2% 3% 4% 0% 0% 2% 3% 0% Simile 0% 1% 2% 0% 0% 1% 1% 0% Table 16: Means in telling joke as seen from informants’ parameter (English speakers) The overall means indicate a higher frequency in the use of Bon-mot by English speakers in telling joke between friends and relatives Allusion, Vulgarity and Simile are 40 used in smaller amount However, the distribution of these means vary according to different parameters of the informants People above 20 use the Allusion than those below 20 In addition, the female tend to use Allusion less than the male (12% vs 2%) It is noticeable that the married seem to be more polite than the single because the single employ the Vulgarity more than the married (2% vs 0%) Living area does affect people’s communicating behavior The urban people select Allusion, Vulgarity and Simile as 9%, 3% and 1% while the rural not use any means among them * Vietnamese findings Informant Age Gender Marital Status Area of living Mean 20 M F Mar S U R Bon-mot 94% 87% 90% 88% 90% 87% 87% 89% Allusion 3% 7% 5% 7% 4% 8% 8% 5% Vulgarity 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Simile 3% 6% 5% 5% 6% 5% 5% 6% Table 17: Means in telling joke as seen from informants’ parameter (Vietnamese speakers) An overview of the data analysis illustrates the dominance of Bon-mot by Vietnamese people in telling joke between friends and relatives However, there is no use of Vulgarity in telling joke of all the informants The assumption that the Vietnamese speakers use Vulgarity more than the English speakers is challenged by the findings A possible explanation is that Vietnamese people normally resort to a informal way when they telling joke with friends and relatives but when completing the survey the informants were more careful in language choice In terms of age, there is a balance in using Allusion and Simile, they are also 3% Similarly, the usage of Simile by the male and female is the same (5%) However, the female tend to use Allusion more than the male (7% in comparison with 5%) There is difference in using Allusion between the single and the married In telling joke with friends and relatives, the usage of Allusion by the single is twice as much as that by the married (8% vs 4%) As far as the area of living is concerned the data show that people live in the city use more Allusion than those in the countryside (8% vs 5%) 41 2.5 Major similarities and differences findings between English and Vietnamese 2.5.1 Similarities - Both the Vietnamese and the English informants employ Bon-mot at the highest rate - Both groups are careful to employ Vulgarity in telling joke with friends and relatives - The female, the married and the rural from both groups not use the Vulgarity in telling joke - The single from English informants and Vietnamese informants use Allusion with the same rate (8%) In addition, both the urban groups employ Bon-mot at 87% - Urban, single and above 20 age prefer Allusion much more than rural, married and below 20 age 2.5.2 Differences - English informants employ Bon-mot more frequently than Vietnamese informants in telling joke with friends and relatives - None of the Vietnamese informants employ Vulgarity Contrast to the Vietnamese informants, the English ones use Vulgarity much more in daily joke The persuasible reasons lying on the careful language choice of Vietnamese informants in completing the survey questionnaires - The Vietnamese informants tend to use Simile more than the English informants - The male, urban and above 20 age of English group use Allusion much more than those of Vietnamese group (12% vs 7%, 9% vs 8%, 12% vs 5%) 2.6 Some implications in using humour in the teaching foreign language As has been shown in the theoretical framework, speech acts reflect the cultural norms and values that are possessed by the speakers of different language backgrounds Different cultures have different ways to realize speech acts These differences might cause misunderstanding when people from different cultures interact with each other If the cultural and linguistic differences are neglected in second language learning and teaching, the learners may encounter difficulties when interacting with people in real-life situations In order to avoid this problem, it is crucial for second language teachers to help learners enhance their knowledge or competence of appropriate use of speech acts in the 42 target language The enhance sociolinguistic competence is necessary not only for avoiding communication errors, but also for establishing ground for increased interaction between native speakers of English and English non-native speakers Using jokes in teaching foreign language classroom is an effective and interesting method However, the researcher finds out that if teachers wish to use jokes in teaching effectively, they firstly teachers themselves have the senses of humour and know ways to bring the humour in their classes In addition, jokes have small extent while hurmour has larger application in teaching foreign languages Thus, the researcher would like to contribute some guidelines in using humour in foreign classroom It is obvious that anxiety has the negative effects on students’ ability to learn In article “Using Humour in the Second Language Classroom”, Paul-Emile Chiasson (2002: 2) claims that “the use of humour in the classroom reduces tension, improves classroom climate and increases enjoyment” Using humour can play an important part in helping to relax students and help them overcome stress and nerves and so make them more joyful to express their ideas Humour can allow shy students to participate with others in group If it is used properly humour allows these students to feel a part of the class and possibly contribute without loosing face It is important for the teacher to create a positive atmosphere for learning Humour by decreasing anxiety and stress can contribute to this positive classroom, class unity and learning environment *Guidelines for using humour in foreign language classroom Proper preparation is a key as in all language teaching preparation There are certain points to consider before using humour in foreign language classroom The following points are suggested as a teacher should remember:  Let humour arise naturally Humour works best as a natural on-going part of classroom learning so the teacher should be careful not to over use it It could be loose the humour’s values and effects The use of humour will depend on the content you are teaching and the availability of appropriate humour material You should bear in mind specific goals or objectives for using humour in class Thus, using humour in foregn language classes has to be well prepared 43  Do not use private humour or humour that leaves people out Your goal is not to become a comedian Do not make fun of any particular group, nationality, etc…If you use private humour it should be make the affective reasons for losing face  Humour should be related to what you are doing in the classroom Humour may be used to start a dialogue, a conversation or used for developing vocabulary You may also use humour as a break before going on to something else Especially, it is useful to present a cartoon on a projector as starting period of the lesson The hunour can relax and re-energize the students It can be also prepare students to speak in their second language  The humour must be comprehensive with themes that your students can relate to You may begin by discussing cartoons, what are the students’ favorites You should tell them you are going to use cartoons to illustrate what they are learning and to have fun Thus, it will help students better to understand and learn the language You should be carefully in attempting to use complicate structure with phrase verbs, idiomatic expressions, etc according to the level of students’ understanding the second language The followings are some activities in which the teachers of English could try to integrate humour into the classes:  Telling a joke Telling a joke can be a great listening activity for your students and really there is no need to prepare before However, the jokes need to come with its own comprehensive tasks and relate to the lesson If the students laugh at the end of the joke then they have understood the joke  Translating a joke Sometimes teachers could try to get students to translate jokes from their own country to retell in English They can then either try telling them to teacher or their classmates However, the kinds of joke need to fit with the students’ level of English  Joke websites As a reading activity you could try getting your students to each look for a joke on a website that they like, try to memorize it and then come to class and tell it You have 44 to remember that the jokes need tobe suitable for the types of class, students’ comprehension, and students’ age to avoid jokes having “adult” content  Video TV or video recordings of popular comedy programmes can form a fantastic resource for exploitation in the language class A lot of humour on TV is very rich in cultural references They can be used in many ways, for general listening activities or you could just focus on one particular part and explore the humour 45 Part C CONCLUSION Major findings This study investigates the similarities and differences in joking between friends and relatives in English and Vietnamese cultures on the theoretical basic proposed by Ross, A and Pocheptsov, G G These similarities and differences prove to be influenced by complex socio-cultural factors such as: age, gander, marital status, area of living and relationship between speakers and hearers The results reveal that both English and Vietnamese informants employ bons-mots most frequently in joking However, the English informants use Vulgarity much more than Vietnamese informants It is beyond the thesis author’s expectation that the Vietnamese people prefer using vulgar factor than English speakers In addition, the single from English informants and Vietnamese informants use Allusion with the same rate (8%) The urban, single and above 20 age in both English and Vietnamese speakers prefer Allusion much more than rural, married and below 20 age It is obvious that telling jokes is effective way in communication as well as in cross- cultural communication for teachers and students of English Some implication of using humour in foreign language classrooms in chapter may help teachers and students to make the lesson more effectively Finally, in order to using jokes and humour successfully to study English well both teachers and learners must have certain knowledge about the English culture Suggestion for further study This study is only partial investigation into the differences and similarities in joking between friends and relatives in Vietnamese and English cultures Therefore, there are still some important issues that remained unanswered, such as: - Joking between politicians, businessmen, etc - Non-verbal features in joking The investigators into these areas are believes to be of academic and practical interest 46 Due to the constraints time, reference resources and especially the researcher’s ability, mistakes are unavoidable Constructive comments, suggestions and recommendations are most welcome References Anonymous (2002) Laughing Matters Retrieved from http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f02/web2/mscottweathers.html Austin, J L (1962) How to things with words NewYork: Oxford University Press Crystal, D (1992) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language USA: Cambridge niversity Press Do, Nguyen (Van) (2010) British Culture Values and Norms Lecture in Cross-Culture Communication Hanoi: ULIS Goodenough, W H (1957) Cultural Anthropology in linguistics Georgetown University Press Kramsch, C (1998) Language and Culture Oxford: Oxford University Press Levine, D.R and Adelman, M.B (1993) Beyond Language – Cross - Cultural Communication Prentice Hall, Inc Mike, S & Peter, C (1997) British Identity London: Routledge Nguyen Quang (1998) Intercultural Communication” CFL - Vietnam Natinal University - Hanoi 10 Pocheptsov, G G (1974) Language and Humour Knew: Vysca Skola Publisher 11 Ross, A (1998) The Language of Humour London: Routledge 12 Searle, J R (1969) Speech Acts Cambridge University Press 13 Susan, T (1979, March) Joke - Telling as a tool in ESL TESOL Quarterly Journal, 13 (1) Retrieved June 20th 2010, from http://www.jstor.org/pss/3585979 14 Taylor, I (2004) Exploring Englishless – Part Retrieved from http://www.zyworld.com/albionmagazineonline/features2.htm 15 Wardhaugh, R (1992) An Introduction to Sociolinguistics Basil Blackwell Publisher Ltd (United Kingdom) 47 16 Yule, G (1996) Pragmatics Oxford University Press 17 http://healthmad.com/mental-health/the-importance-of-laughter-in-everydaylife/ 18 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joke In Vietnamese Đức Thành (2010) Trạng Cười hay Nhà xuất Văn hố Thơng Tin Hồng Phê (2004) Từ Điển Tiếng Việt Nhà xuất Đà Nẵng Nguyễn (Văn) Quang (2004) Một số vấn đề giao tiếp nội văn hoá giao văn hoá Nhà xuất Đại Học Quốc Gia Hà Nội Nguyễn (Hữu) Đức (12/ 2009) Một nụ cười mười thang thuốc bổ Retrieved July 10th, Báo Tuổi Trẻ Online http://tuoitre.vn/Chinh-tri-xa-hoi/Songkhoe/355025/Mot-nu-cuoi-bang-muoi-thang-thuoc-bo.html Nguyễn (Quốc) Hùng (2003) Nụ cười nước Anh Nhà xuất Thanh Niên Tam Tam (2009) Tuyển tập Tiếu lâm Truyện cười hay Nhà xuất Thanh Niên Thu H ương (2006) Truyện cười song ngữ Anh-Việt Nhà xuất Văn Hố Thơng Tin Trần Mạnh Tường (2007) Tuyển tập truyện cười Tiếng Anh Nhà xuất Đại học Sư Phạm 48 APENDICES Survey Questionnaire (For English Informants) I am doing a cross-cultural study on joking between friends and relatives in Vietnamese and English cultures I would be grateful if you could answer the following questions Rest assured that your name will not be identified in any case Your assistance in completing this questionnaire would be of great benefit to the success of the research Thank you very much! I Please tick () where appropriate Your age: Below 20  Above 40  Above 20  Above 50  Above 30  Female  Your gender: Male  Your marital status: Married  Single  Area where you spend most of your time: Urban  Rural  II Please answer the following questions: How would you define humor? …………………………………………………………………………………………… What jokes mean? …………………………………………………………………………………………… What kinds of funny stories you like the most? …………………………………………………………………………………………… 49 III Please answer the following questions in detail: A: To the friends Situation 1: Your friend has just failed in mid-term test She/ He is very sad What kind of jokes could you tell to make her/ him feel better? a If she/ he is a close friend of yours? ………………………………………………………………………………………… b If she/ he is a person you dislike? ……………………………………………………………………………………… c If she/ he is your classmate? ………………………………………………………………………………………… Situation 2: Your class held a picnic last Saturday You wore a skirt It probably was unsuitable for the event Some classmates laughed at you In what way could you mitigate your shame by telling a joke? a If they are close friends? …………………………………………………………………………………………… b If they are your classmates (opposite sex)? …………………………………………………………………………………………… c If they are your classmates (your sex)? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Situation 3: One of your colleagues is often in a bad mood because his wife says many annoying things to him How could you cheer him up by telling a joke? a If he is your age and your sex? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… b If he is your age and your opposite sex? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… c If he is 10 years older than you? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… B: To the relatives 50 Situation 1: Your relative received a bad mark in mid-term test She / He is very sad What kind of joke could you tell to make her / him feel better? a If she / he is your grandchild? …………………………………………………………………………………………… b If she / he is your son / daughter? …………………………………………………………………………………………… c If she / he is your brother / sister? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Situation 2: My family has a habit that oftentimes after having dinner all the family’s members gather around the table and tell jokes Today once again, one of my family members tries to tease me about my short and fat body If you were me, how would you respond to such jokes? a If she / he is your grandmother / grandfather? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… b If she / he is your mother / father? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… c If she / he is your uncle / aunt? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… d If she / he is your cousin? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Situation 3: Last night you came home late because you had a long meeting at your office At dinner, your wife is unhappy and upset What kind of jokes would you tell to comfort her? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 51 CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA (For Vietnamese informants) Chúng thiết kế điều tra nhằm phục vụ đề tài nghiên cứu khác biệt văn hoá Việt-Anh hành động nói đùa bạn bè người thân Các liệu thu thập sử dụng cho phần phân tích chúng tơi Xin q vị vui lòng bớt chút thời gian trả lời câu hỏi điều tra để chúng tơi hồn thành việc nghiên cứu khoa học Xin khẳng định với quý vị không nêu danh quý vị trường hợp Xin trân trọng cảm ơn quý vị *Xin quý vị đánh dấu () vào thích hợp sau Tuổi quý vị: Dưới 20  Trên 40  Trên 20  Trên 50  Trên 30  Giới tính q vị: Nam  Nữ  Tình trạng hôn nhân quý vị: Đã kết hôn  Chưa kết hôn  Nơi quý vị sống lâu nhất: Thành thị  Nông thôn  II Xin quý vị vui lòng trả lời câu hỏi đây: Theo quý vị khiếu hài hước? …………………………………………………………………………………………… Theo q vị nói đùa? 52 …………………………………………………………………………………………… III Xin quý vị vui lòng trả lời câu hỏi sau: A: Đối với bạn bè Tình 1: Bạn quý vị bị trượt kỳ thi kỳ vừa qua Cô/ anh buồn Bạn nói đùa để an ủi bạn ấy? a Cô/ anh bạn thân quý vị? ………………………………………………………………………………………… b Cô/ anh người mà q vị khơng thích? …………………………………………………………………………………………… c Cơ/anh bạn lớp với quý vị? …………………………………………………………………………………………… Tình 2: Lớp quý vị tổ chức picnic hôm chủ nhật tuần trước Quý vị mặc váy ngắn Chiếc váy xem khơng phù hợp hồn cảnh nên bạn lớp trêu trọc quý vị Quý vị nói đùa để chữa thẹn? a Họ bạn thân quý vị? …………………………………………………………………………………………… b Họ bạn lớp với quý vị (khác giới)? …………………………………………………………………………………………… c Họ bạn lớp với quý vị (cùng giới)? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Tình 3: Một đồng nghiệp quý vị thường buồn phiền vợ anh thường nói nhiều làm anh khó chịu Quý vị nói đùa với anh để giúp anh phấn chấn hơn? a Anh tuổi giới với quý vị? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… b Anh tuổi khác giới với quý vị? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… c Anh quý vị 10 tuổi? …………………………………………………………………………………………… B: Đối với người thân 53 Tình 1: Người thân quý vị bị trượt kỳ thi kỳ vừa qua Cô/ anh buồn Q vị nói đùa để làm cơ/ anh cảm thấy hơn? a Cô/ Anh cháu quý vị? …………………………………………………………………………………………… b Cô/ Anh quý vị? …………………………………………………………………………………………… c Cô/ Anh anh/ chị ruột quý vị? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Tình 2: Gia đình tơi có thói quen sau ăn bữa tối, tất thành viên gia đình thường ngồi quây quần bên trò chuyện vui vẻ Hôm lần nữa, thành viên gia đình trêu trọc ngoại hình vừa lùn vừa béo Nếu quý vị tôi, quý vị đùa lại nào? a Người ơng/ bà quý vị? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… b Người mẹ/ bố quý vị? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… c Người chú/ q vị? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… d Người anh em họ quý vị? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Tình 3: Tối hơm qua q vị nhà muộn q vị phải họp lâu quan Trong bữa ăn tối, vợ quý vị không vui Quý vị dùng lời nói đùa để dỗ dành ? ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ... characters In impersonal observation and interlanguage study in English and Vietnamese in terms of telling a joke, there are some common ways used in English and Vietnamese: bons- mots, allusion,... speech act of joking between friends and relatives Its central focus is on which strategies used in joking in both languages English and Vietnamese - The data are mainly taken based on conducting... …………………………………………………………………………….…37 10 PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Communication is the interpersonal action which for exchanging the information among the members in a social community Communication action could be carried