A cross cultural study on expressing satisfaction in american english and vietnamese

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THÙY LINH A CROSS- CULTURAL STUDY ON EXPRESSING SATISFACTION IN AMERICAN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE (NGHIÊN CỨU GIAO THOA VĂN HÓA VIỆT- MỸ TRONG CÁCH THỨC DIỄN TẢ SỰ HÀI LÕNG) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60.22.15 Hanoi, 2013 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDY NGUYỄN THỊ THÙY LINH A CROSS- CULTURAL STUDY ON EXPRESSING SATISFACTION IN AMERICAN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE (NGHIÊN CỨU GIAO THOA VĂN HÓA VIỆT- MỸ TRONG CÁCH THỨC DIỄN TẢ SỰ HÀI LÕNG) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60.22.15 Supervisor: Huỳnh Anh Tuấn, PhD Hanoi, 2013 DECLARATION I certify that this thesis entitled: “A cross- cultural study on expressing satisfaction in American English and Vietnamese”, which is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, is the result of my own work I have provided fully documented references to the work of others The material in this thesis has not been submitted for any other formal course of study Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh Hanoi, 2013 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Mr Huynh Anh Tuan, PhD, my supervisor, for his valuable guidance, his instructive comments and his dutiful supervision, without which this thesis would be far from completed I would also like to give my sincere gratitude to all of the lecturers at HULIS- VNU, Hanoi for their scholarly knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm in their lectures During the process of implementing the research, they have created the favorable conditions for me, not only in terms of accessing to essential materials but also by the heart-warming encouragement I also take this opportunity to express my immense thankfulness to my friends and classmates, who have always stayed by my side, given me constructive comments and perked me up every time I need Particularly I want to say a special thanks to two friends of mine, who are all living and studying in the U.S for their invaluable help in distributing the survey questionnaire They are Le Huong Ly and Nguyen Thi Lien Huong I cannot forget to acknowledge the important contributions of both Vietnamese and American informants, whose names cannot be mentioned in the thesis Finally, I would like to express my enormous debt to my parents for their continual encouragement and immeasurable support ii ABSTRACT Based on the theoretical background of cross- cultural communication, this study aims at investigating the similarities and differences in expressing satisfaction towards different co- interactants in the Vietnamese and American language and culture It focuses primarily on:  The popularity of strategies of expressing satisfaction employed  The use of directness and indirectness in expressing satisfaction To succeed in doing such a research, the author of the study takes informants’ social parameters such as age, sex, marital status, living area, and knowledge of foreign language(s) into consideration Besides, their survey responses are carefully analyzed to build a frame, a common set of strategies in the field The conclusion is drawn from data analysis and findings are presented and compared in a brief and concise way Some common expressing satisfaction patterns in both Vietnamese and American cultures from the data are also presented and illustrated with the hope of partially helping avoid cultural conflicts or communicating breakdowns iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1:The five general functions of speech acts (Yule) Table 2: Number of informants with their status parameters Table 3:D-ID in the situations under study (in Vietnamese) Table 4: Use of D-ID as seen from Vietnamese communicating partners‟ parameters Table 5:D-ID in the situations under study (in American) Table 6:Use of D-ID as seen from American communicating partners‟ parameters Table 7:Use of D-ID as seen from Vietnamese informants‟ parameters Table 8:Use of D-ID as seen from American informants‟ parameters Table 9:Use of strategies as seen from Vietnamese communicating partners‟ parameters Table 10:Use of strategies as seen from American communicating partners‟ parameters Figure 1: Ferrando‟s diagram of culture Figure 2: Nguyen Quang‟s diagram of components of communication Figure 3: Areas of language knowledge (Bachman and Palmer, 1996:68) Figure 4:: Bach and Harnish‟s classification of speech acts (1979) Figure : Possible strategies for doing FTAs Figure 6: Nguyen Quang‟s schema of possible strategies for doing FTAs Figure 7: Kaplan‟s diagram iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Aims of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Theoretical background and literature review I Theoretical background Culture and communication 1.1 Culture 1.2 Communication 1.3 Culture- communication correlation 1.4 Cross- cultural communication 1.5 Communicative competence Cross- cultural pragmatics Speech acts 3.1 The notion of speech acts 3.2 Classification of speech acts 3.3 Expressing satisfaction as a speech acts 4.1 Politeness Face and politeness 4.1.1 Face 4.1.2 Politeness 4.2 Positive politeness strategies 4.3 Negative politeness strategies v Directness and indirectness 35 5.1 Directness and indirectness defined 35 5.2 Levels of indirectness 37 5.3 Directness and indirectness in correlation with politeness 39 5.4 Social factors influencing the use of directness and indirectness in human interaction 41 Chapter 2: Methodology 44 Research questions 44 Data collection instruments 44 2.1 The questionnaire 44 2.2 The informants 46 Data collection and analysis method 47 Chapter 3: Data analysis: Findings and discussion 48 Data analysis of D- ID in expressing satisfaction 48 1.1 D-ID strategies in expressing satisfaction 48 1.2 Use of D- ID as seen from communicating partners’ parameters 50 1.2.1 Vietnamese findings 50 1.2.2 American findings 51 1.2.3 Similarities and differences 53 1.3 Use of D-ID as seen from informants’ parameters 55 1.3.1 Vietnamese findings 55 1.3.2 American findings 56 1.3.3 Similarities and differences 57 Data analysis of strategies in expressing satisfaction (SES) 59 2.1 Strategies in expressing satisfaction 59 2.2 Realization of SESs in Vietnamese 60 2.2.1 Realization of SESs in Vietnamese as seen from co- interactants’ parameters 60 2.2.2 Realization of SESs in Vietnamese as seen from informants’ parameters .71 2.3 Realization of SESs in English 76 vi  You are always charged to take the lead in every project In public:  Someone enthusiastically helps you with your heavy shopping bags  Someone gives positive comments on your attractive appearance  Someone asks for direction in a polite manner  Someone helps to collect the things you have dropped on street II Situations Situation 1: (at home)  How would you verbally express your satisfaction to the following person when someone (another person) says you are lucky to have such a happy family? + S/he is your best friend: + S/he is your nodding acquaintance: IV + S/he is your brother/sister: + S/he is your colleague: + S/he is your boss: + S/he is your subordinate: Situation 2: (at work) V  How would you verbally express your satisfaction to the following person when someone (another person) shows your mistakes in your work and suggests the solutions + S/he is your best friend: + S/he is your nodding acquaintance: + S/he is your brother/sister: + S/he is your colleague: + S/he is your boss: VI + S/he is your subordinate: Situation 3: (in public)  How would you verbally express your satisfaction to the following person when someone (another person) enthusiastically helps you with your heavy shopping bags + S/he is your best friend: + S/he is your nodding acquaintance: + S/he is your brother/sister: VII + S/he is your colleague: + S/he is your boss: + S/he is your subordinate: THANK YOU KINDLY FOR YOU COOPERATION VIII Appendix 2- Questionnaire for Vietnamese Bản câu hỏi khảo sát Bản câu hỏi khảo sát lập nên với mục đích phục vụ cho đề tài khóa luận tốt nghiệp tơi, “Bày tỏ hài lòng tiếng Anh tiếng Việt” Tôi mong nhận giúp đỡ quý vị việc trả lời câu hỏi cách xác thực Tôi xin đảm bảo nội dung câu hỏi bảo mật tuyệt đối sử dụng cho mục đích nghiên cứu Mọi thông tin người tham gia không tiết lộ hình thức Xin chân thành cảm ơn!  Hãy đánh dấu ( ) điền vào chỗ thích hợp  Tuổi tác: Dưới 20  21-39  40-59  Trên 60  Nam  Nữ   Giới tính:  Tình trạng nhân: IX Chưa có gia đình  Đã có gia đình   Nghề nghiệp: ………………………………………………………………  Nơi bạn sống lâu nhất: Thành thị  Nông thôn   Mức độ thông thạo ngoại ngữ thứ hai bạn (ngồi tiếng mẹ đẻ): I.Qúy vị hài lòng người mà quý vị quen biết tình sau khơng?  Xin q vị đánh dấu ( ) vào năm cột sau: Cột Cột Cột Cột Cột Các tình Trong gia đình:  Ai khen bạn thật may mắn có gia đình hạnh phúc  Ai nói bạn đứa trẻ X động, hiếu kì ham chơi  Ai nói bạn đứa trẻ hiền lành, ngoan ngoãn, biết nghe lời  Ai khen bạn đạt điểm cao trường  Ai nói chồng bạn kiếm nhiều tiền  Ai nói chồng bạn người biết quan tâm chia sẻ  Ai nói chồng bạn ln ln lắng nghe bạn  Ai nói chồng bạn đẹp trai hút   Ai khen bạn làm việc tốt Ai làm hộ cơng việc bạn bạn khơng thể  Ai lỗi sai đề vài giải pháp cơng việc cho bạn  Ai nói khó cho bạn bạn bị sếp quỏ trách  Bạn thăng chức  Bạn luôn được/ bị giao cơng việc trưởng nhóm đề án Ở nơi cơng cộng:  Ai nhiệt tình giúp bạn mang túi đồ mua sắm nặng  Ai khen bạn đẹp XI  Ai hỏi đường với cung cách lịch  Ai giúp bạn nhặt lại thứ đồ bạn để rơi phố II Tình Tình thứ nhất: (trong gia đình) Qúy vị nói để bày tỏ hài lịng người sau họ nói bạn thật may mắn có gia đình hạnh phúc? Người bạn thân: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Người bạn xã giao: …….…………………………………………………………………….…………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………… Người anh/ chị/em: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Người đồng nghiệp: XII ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Người sếp: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Người cấp dưới: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Tình thứ hai: (trong cơng việc) Qúy vị nói để bày tỏ hài lịng người sau họ lỗi sai đề vài giải pháp công việc cho bạn? Người bạn thân: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Người bạn xã giao: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… XIII ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Người anh/ chị/em: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Người đồng nghiệp: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Người sếp: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Người cấp dưới: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Tình thứ ba: (ở nơi cơng cộng) Qúy vị nói để bày tỏ hài lịng người sau họ nhiệt tình giúp bạn mang túi đồ mua sắm nặng? XIV Người bạn thân: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Người bạn xã giao: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Người anh/ chị/em: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Người đồng nghiệp: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Người sếp: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… XV Người cấp dưới: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác quý vị! XVI ... strategies when expressing satisfaction in English and Vietnamese - to raise awareness of cross- cultural factors in expressing satisfaction and help learners of English avoid cultural shock in. .. and findings are presented and compared in a brief and concise way Some common expressing satisfaction patterns in both Vietnamese and American cultures from the data are also presented and illustrated... shock in -cultural communication Scope of the study The paper investigates expressing satisfaction as a speech act in English and Vietnamese Expressing satisfaction will be analyzed in accordance