Students’ pragmatic awareness and implications for english classroom teaching at vietnam university of commerce

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES o0o PHẠM THÙY GIANG STUDENTS’ PRAGMATIC AWARENESS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ENGLISH CLASSROOM TEACHING AT VIETNAM UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE (Nhận thức ngữ dụng học sinh viên gợi ý cho việc giảng dạy Tiếng Anh Trường Đại học Thương mại) Summary of M.A Minor Thesis Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 HANOI – 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES o0o PHẠM THÙY GIANG STUDENTS’ PRAGMATIC AWARENESS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ENGLISH CLASSROOM TEACHING AT VIETNAM UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE (Nhận thức ngữ dụng học sinh viên gợi ý cho việc giảng dạy Tiếng Anh Trường Đại học Thương mại) Summary of M.A Minor Thesis Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: Nguyen Bach Thao, M.A HANOI – 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration of originality i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv Lists of abbreviations vii List of tables viii PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Research questions Scope of the study Significance of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Pragmatics 1.1.1 Definitions .4 1.1.2 Aspects of Pragmatics 1.1.2.1 Speech acts 1.1.2.1.1 Definitions .5 1.1.2.1.2 Categories of speech acts 1.1.2.2 Pragmalinguistics 1.1.2.2.1 Definitions and aspects of pragmalinguistics 1.1.2.2.2 Directness v.s indirectness .7 1.1.2.3 Sociopragmatics 1.1.2.3.1 Definitions .7 1.1.2.3.2 Aspects of sociopragmatics 1.1.2.3.2.1 Politeness iv 1.1.2.3.2.2 Cultural norms 1.2 Pragmatic awareness 1.2.1 Definitions .9 1.2.2 Difference between awareness of pragmalinguistics and sociopragmatics 10 1.2.3 Previous studies 11 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 14 2.1 Situation analysis 14 2.2 Methods of the study 14 2.3 Research design 15 2.3.1 Sample and sampling 15 2.3.2 Instruments 15 2.3.3 Data collection 17 2.3.4 Data analysis 17 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 18 3.1 Awareness of greeting 19 3.2 Awareness of addressing 20 3.3 Awareness of introducing 22 3.4 Awareness of requesting and responding 23 3.5 Awareness of inviting and responding 27 3.6 Awareness of parting 28 3.7 Awareness of thanking and responding 30 3.8 Awareness of conversation topics 32 3.9 Summary of the findings 34 CHAPTER 4: IMPLICATIONS 35 4.1 Raising students’ pragmalinguistic awareness 35 4.2 Raising students’ awareness of politeness 36 4.3 Raising students’ awareness of cultural norms 36 4.3.1 Integrating culture into language teaching 36 4.3.1.1 Enforcing the teaching of British and American cultural background .36 4.3.1.2 Creating culture-rich learning environment 36 4.3.2 Designing a cultural syllabus 37 v 4.4 Improving the pragmatic teaching in the way of ho 4.5 PART C: CONCLUSION REFERENCES APPENDICES vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS VUC Vietnam University of Commerce ESL English as a second language EFL English as a foreign language vii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Average percentage of appropriate responses by speech acts Table 3.2: Students‘ awareness of greeting Table 3.3: Students‘ awareness of addressing Table 3.4: Students‘ awareness of introducing Table 3.5: Students‘ awareness of requests and responses Table 3.6: Students‘ awareness of inviting Table 3.7: Students‘ awareness of parting Table 3.8: Students‘ awareness of thanks and responses Table 3.9: Students‘ awareness of conversation topics viii PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale English, as an international communication tool, is the most widely used all over the world As a result, it is absolutely vital for many Vietnamese learners to have a good command of English so that they can communicate effectively with foreigners However, many Vietnamese learners even those who are good at reading and writing with sufficient knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary still fail in communicating with foreigners Although they may have little difficulty in understanding the literal meaning of the target language in authentic communication situations, they cannot interpret the utterances correctly, or express themselves appropriately One of the reasons is that they lack necessary pragmatic knowledge; that is, they are not aware of the social, cultural, and discourse conventions that have to be followed in various situations like many other proficient speakers of English (Bardovi-Harlig, 1999) This is understandable because according to Bachman (1990), in order to be successful in communication, it is essential for foreign language learners like Vietnamese students to know not just grammar and text organization but also pragmatic aspects of the target language Once they are not aware of English pragmatic aspects, they may be incapable of using the target language effectively in intercultural communication In other words, low pragmatic awareness results in many communication breakdowns As a teacher of English at Vietnam University of Commerce, from her own observations and experience, the researcher has noticed that VUC students often get difficulties in communicating in English when involving in different communication situations in classrooms as well as in real-life encounters Many of them not employ appropriate strategies and not use relevant linguistic forms to perform a speech act They engage in communication activities without paying attention to factors that influence the communication such as the relationship with the other interlocutor The situation is worse when they interact with native speakers As they are not exposed much to real-life situations, they often feel stuck They may not understand what native speakers mean or are unable to make appropriate utterances in different situations Especially, they often violate politeness or cultural norms, thus leading to their difficulty or even failure in intercultural communication This maybe due to the fact that they are not really aware of pragmatic aspects or not put great emphasis on them Such a situation has inspired the author to carry out a research paper into “ Students’ pragmatic awareness and implications for English classroom teaching at st Vietnam University of Commerce.” with a focus on VUC year non-English major students‘ pragmatic awareness Some pedagogical implications are also given to help raise the students‘ pragmatic awareness and increase English teaching effectiveness Aims of the study st The purpose of this research is to explore year non-English major students‘ pragmatic awareness at the university where the researcher is serving Basing on the research results, the researcher then goes further to figure out teaching techniques to raise the students‘ pragmatic awareness It is specifically important because these freshmen should be properly primed for directing their own learning process, setting as a good foothold for the next coming school years and in the long run for their life-long study When they are aware of pragmatic aspects and put much emphasis on these right from their initial time studying at university, they will have a right orientation in studying English, thus increasing the effectiveness of their English study It is also hoped that the study will be a contribution to improve the teaching quality at this university Research questions The study is aimed at answering two research questions: st How much are VUC year non-English major students aware of English pragmatic aspects? 2.What should be done to improve the students‘ pragmatic awareness? 4.Scope of the study st The study focuses on investigating pragmatic awareness of VUC year nonEnglish major students who are not taught pragmatics explicitly That of English nd major students or , rd th or year students, therefore, is left for future research Also, due to the time constraints, this study involves a small number of students Moreover, the participants targeted in the survey questionnaire for native speakers are all American; therefore, only American social and cultural norms are used to form a data basis for analysing and evaluating the appropriateness of the students‘ responses Significance of the study The study is hoped to be valuable to not only VUC teachers and students but Vietnamese education policy makers as well First, the study should be able to help teachers at VUC improve their theoretical understanding of pragmatics and its importance in language learning and teaching From this, they can find more suitable and effective teaching strategies and put more emphasis on teaching pragmatic aspects to help their students highly aware of pragmatics, thus they can use English more fruitfully in their professional and academic life Second, it is hoped that the research will enhance VUC students‘ pragmatic awareness so as to help them become more engaged in classroom activities Third, by presenting a wealth of relevant literature, the study is expected to propose some ideas to help educators and policy makers take steps along the path toward building pragmatically authentic materials and introducing pragmatic-oriented examinations into the curriculum Another significance of the study is to contribute obviously to the knowledge of pragmatic awareness which is still an alien linguistic area in Vietnam On the other hand, it suggests new aspects for further studies Design of the study The study consists of three main parts as follows: Part A: Introduction: This part presents the rationale, aims, methods, scope, significance and design of the study Part B: Development: There are four chapters to this part Chapter I: Literature Review: This chapter reviews the literature to provide a basic theoretical background on pragmatic awareness and a justification for conducting the study on the grounds of finding a gap left by previous studies on pragmatic awareness Chapter II: Methodology: This chapter deals with the overall picture of how the research was carried out from the first step of determining the study structure to the last one of collecting and analyzing data Chapter III: Data Analysis and Findings: This chapter interprets the answer to the st posed research questions: How much are VUC year non-English major students aware of English pragmatic aspects? What should be done to improve the students‘ pragmatic awareness? The findings end with conclusions and comments Chapter IV: Implications: This chapter recommends possible improvements for both teachers and students with an aim to raise the students‘ pragmatic awareness Part C: Conclusion: This part summarises the main contents and findings of the study, limitations of the present study and some suggestions for further studies APPENDIX BẢNG CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN Phiếu điều tra tiến hành nhằm phục vụ cho nghiên cứu ―Students‘ pragmatic awareness and implications for English classroom teaching at Vietnam University of Commerce‖ tìm hiểu nhận thức ngữ dụng học sinh viên trường Đại học Thương mại Dữ liệu từ phiếu điều tra giữ bí mật tuyệt đối sử dụng vào mục đích nghiên cứu Cảm ơn hợp tác bạn! PHẦN 1: Thông tin cá nhân Tuổi Giới tính Thời gian học tiếng Anh Thời gian sống nước nói tiếng Anh  Chưa Đã từng: năm tháng tuần .ngày PHẦN 2: Phần có 16 câu hỏi Đối với câu hỏi, có tình phương án trả lời đánh dấu A, B, C D(trừ tình 9) Bạn phải chọn phương án trả lời phù hợp với tình đưa Khoanh tròn phương án lựa chọn bạn giải thích ngắn gọn bạn chọn phương án mà không chọn phương án khác: Bạn đến gặp khách hàng bạn, ông Mandes công ty ơng ta Bạn khơng biết văn phịng ông ta đâu Bạn hỏi nhân viên lễ tân cơng ty nào? A Where is Mr Mandes‘s office? B Could you tell me where Mr Mandes‘s office is? C I don‘t know Mr Mandes‘s office Where? D Tell me the way to Mr Mandes‘s office Bạn giải thích cho lựa chọn bạn? Bạn gặp người bạn, Michael Johnson lần đầu ngày thứ Tư Bạn chào anh ta: IX A Hi, Michael How are you getting on? B Hello, how are you? C How you do? D Hello, Michael, what wind brought you here? Bạn ligíải ngắn gọn lựa chọn bạn Bạn muốn mượn điện thoại đồng nghiệp bạn thân bạn để gọi điện nhà Bạn nói nào? A Sorry to trouble you, but you mind if I use your phone? B I wonder if I could use your phone? C Can I use your phone, Peter? D Are you using your phone? Bạn ligíải ngắn gọn lựa chọn bạn Một đối tác bạn giới thiệu trưởng phòng anh ta, bà Elizabeth Mandel với bạn Bạn đáp lại nào? A Nice to meet you, Elizabeth Mandel B Pleased to meet you, Ms Elizabeth C Glad to meet you, Ms Mandel D Hello, Miss Elizabeth Mandel Bạn ligíải ngắn gọn lựa chọn bạn 5.Bạn gặp bạn lớp, John Smith, phố sau ăn tối Bạn chào anh ta: A Hi, John, where are you going? B Hi, have you eaten? C How are things? D Taking a walk, John? Bạn ligíải ngắn gọn lựa chọn bạn X 6.Bất ngờ gặp người bạn lâu khơng gặp, Tom nói đầy ngạc nhiên: A No! B Yes! C Oh! D Hey! Bạn ligíải ngắn gọn lựa chọn bạn Bạn có điều muốn nói với quản lí bạn, ơng Smith nên bạn tới phịng ơng ta nói: A You're not busy, I hope B Can I have a word with you, Mr Smith? C Got a minute? D I‘m terribly sorry to trouble you, Mr Smith Bạn ligíải ngắn gọn lựa chọn bạn Thư kícủa ơng Green, Pat Kent, tới sân bay để đón ơng Barnes cho ơng chủ Bà Kent nói: A Excuse me, would you be Mr Barnes? B Are you Mr Bames? C Excuse me, would you please tell me if you are Mr Barnes? D You are Mr Barnes, aren‘t you? Bạn ligíải ngắn gọn lựa chọn bạn Bạn gặp vị khách buổi mắt sản phẩm công ty bạn Đây lần bạn gặp nói chuyện với Sau vài câu chào hỏi xã giao, bạn muốn kéo dài nói chuyện Bạn nói nào? (Bạn chọn nhiều phương án) A Do you have any problems at work? XI B Can you tell me about your family? C Would you like something to drink? D How much you earn a month? E How old are you? F Do you have any diseases? G Are you interested in religion? H What you do? Bạn ligíải ngắn gọn lựa chọn bạn 10 Bạn tham dự bữa tiệc kinh doanh Một người bạn không quen biết tiến đến gần bạn mời bạn uống phê Bạn nói: A No, please don‘t go to any trouble B Yes, please C Thank you D You are too polite Bạn ligíải ngắn gọn lựa chọn bạn 11 Bạn đến thăm nhà người Mỹ Bạn chuẩn bị lúc chiều muộn Chủ nhà chào tạm biệt bạn Bạn nói: A Thank you for a lovely afternoon B I‘m sorry to have taken up so much of your time C Stay where you are D I will come again if I have spare time Bạn ligíải ngắn gọn lựa chọn bạn 12 Tại bữa tiệc kiện xã hội, bạn nói bạn muốn về? A I would say, ―It‘s getting late and I‘d better be going B I would say, ―I‘m sorry to have caused you so much trouble Goodbye.‖ XII C I would wait until the host said something D I would make up an excuse (e.g, I have to get up early tomorrow, etc.) Bạn ligíải ngắn gọn lựa chọn bạn 13 Minh trực bàn lễ tân khách sạn quốc tế lớn Một vị khách hỏi anh câu hỏi Sau Minh trả lời, vị khách cảm ơn anh Minh đáp lại nào? A You‘re welcome B It doesn‘t matter C Smile, but say nothing D Never mind Bạn ligíải ngắn gọn lựa chọn bạn 14 Mai có câu hỏi muốn hỏi giáo viên người nước ngồi Cơ tới phịng giáo sư James Sau nhận câu trả lời, cô nói trước rời A Well, that‘s clear- thank you very much B Well, I‘ve got to go now C Ok Thanks D Sorry for troubling you Professor James, thank you very much Bạn ligíải ngắn gọn lựa chọn bạn 15 Tại bữa tiệc tối, người nói với bạn “May I have the biscuits?”, bạn trả lời nào? A Sure (handing the biscuits over to that person) B Yes, help yourself C Yes, of course D Of course, you can Bạn ligíải ngắn gọn lựa chọn bạn XIII 16 nào? Một nhân viên đề nghị ông chủ tăng lương Anh ta nên nói A I ask you for a pay rise B You will offer me a pay rise, won‘t you? C Why don‘t you offer me a pay rise? D a pay Well, it‘s a bit difficult, but … I really feel that it‘s about time that I had rise Bạn ligíải ngắn gọn lựa chọn bạn PHẦN Trong phần có vài tình huống, tình có phần gạch chân Bạn xem phần gạch chân phù hợp (A) hay không phù hợp (I) dựa vào ngữ cảnh cho Hãy giải thích ngắn gọn lựa chọn bạn 17 Hai thương nhân gặp chuyến bay từ New York đến Hà Nội Andrew Black nhà quản lý trung tuổi người Mỹ, Phạm Hùng nhân viên bán hàng trẻ tuổi người Việt Nam, anh có ý định bán vài sản phẩm thị trường Mỹ Họ nói chuyện chút, trao đổi danh thiếp thể mong muốn trì liên lạc với Black: Nice to meet you This is my business card I'm Andrew Black My friends call me Andy Hung: It is a pleasure to meet you, Andy I‘m Pham Hung This is my card 18 Hoa phia Mai Mai nói chuyện với ơng chủ người nước ngồi Mai giới thiệu Hoa với ơng chủ Mai: Hoa, this is Mr Smith, manager of our department Mr Smith This is my friend, Hoa XIV 19 Phương mời đồng nghiệp Mỹ anh tới ăn tối nhà Anh nói: ―Mike, I‘m going to give a dinner party this Friday night Come if you want to‖ 20 Hạnh muốn vay tiền từ ơng chủ Mỹ Sau nói với ơng chủ muốn vay tiền ông, Hạnh nói: ―Perhaps you could give it to me this Friday.‖ 21 Trần Anh làm việc cho phòng kinh doanh quốc tế Một ngày nọ, cô lại làm việc muộn Sếp nói: ―Thanks a lot That‘s a great help.‖ Trần Anh mỉm cười đáp: ―Oh, that‘s nothing It‘s my duty to so.‖ 22 Sau giáo sư Smith sửa luận văn thạc sỹ cho Mỹ Vân, nói với ông: ―That‘s a great help Thank you, thank you so much indeed.‖ 23 Phạm Hải mời người bạn Mỹ đến nhà anh Khi ông ta về, Phạm Hải nói: ―Please walk slowly.‖ 24 Việt Anh mời tới bữa tiệc người Mỹ Khi anh muốn về, anh nói với chủ nhà: ―I must be off now I‘ve got something important to do.‖ 25 Ở New York, Hồng gọi xe ta-xi nói với lái xe: ―Excuse me, would you XV please take me to the airport?‖ 26 Ông Green, giáo viên người Mỹ tầm 60 tuổi vừa xa Ơng nói với sinh viên Việt Nam ông mệt sinh viên thể quan tâm trước việc nói: ―You‘d better take a good rest People of your age should pay attention to health.‖ 27 Phạm Hà nhận vào làm công ty Mỹ Sau vị quản lý người Mỹ anh giới thiệu anh với đồng nghiệp mới, anh nói: ―I hope to get more of your guidance and help because I lack both intelligence and experience.‖ XVI APPENDIX AMERICAN PARTICIPANTS’ ANSWERS IN THE QUESTIONNAIRE No 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 XVII APPENDIX SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES I Sample activities for raising students’ pragmalinguistic awareness The following activities are recommended for raising students‘ pragmalinguistic awareness 1.Activity 1: Discuss with your partner and determine the context in which the utterance ―It is noisy here,‖ can be used and its function Suggested answers: - Statement (objectively state the environment) - Setting: one speaking to a friend in a bar - Suggestion (it is noisy here, let‘s change a place) - Setting: one speaking to a partner in a café - Complaint (it is too noisy to study here) - Setting: one speaking to a classmate when they are self- studying in a study room - Request (it is noisy Please keep silent.) - Setting: a teacher asking her students to keep silent during her lesson 2.Activity two: When you want to introduce somebody, what can you say? Suggested answers: a Please allow me to introduce b I‘d like to introduce,, c Have you met before? d.This is The purpose of the above exercises is to make students aware that one function of language or one speech act can be implemented in different forms and improve their pragmatic awareness Awareness-raising instructional activity (In Eslami-Rasekh Z., p 236, in Flor A M & Juan E U (eds) (2010) ) How to refuse an invitation politely in American English: (1) Read this example: Bethany: Do you want to see a movie tomorrow? Judy: Uhm, I‘d love to Sorry, but I have to study for an exam tomorrow Next week maybe? XVIII (2) Read the different parts of Judy‘s response and say what she did to politely refuse Bethany‘s invitation Circle the correct answer: When Judy says Uhm, she: a gives an alternat b hesitates When Judy says I’d love to, she: a b When Judy says Sorry, she: a c When Judy says but I have to study for an exam tomorrow, she: a b When Judy says Next week maybe?, she: a b (3) Look at Judy‘s response again Judy: Uhm, I’d love to Sorry, but I have to study for an exam tomorrow Next week maybe? (4) List the sequence of phrases American typically use to say no politely II Sample activities for raising students’ awareness of politeness Activity 1: Scale of politeness The teacher draws a scale of politeness on the white board On one side of the continuum, the degree of ‗most polite‘ is indicated; on the other side the ‗least polite‘ is located and one sentence is given on the scale to set an example The scale might be as follows: XIX Later, the participants are given some strips of sentences and asked to find the most appropriate point to place these sentences on the scale While working on this activity, learners discuss the speaker‘s intention, and try to decide on the sociopragmatic value of the language use The sentences provided in the activity may be as follows: Move your chairs towards the wall Would you mind if I opened the window? Sorry Could you tell me the way to Brighton Street, please? Would it be all right if I took this chair, please? Turn off the lights, please Hey Andy, lend me 10 dollars, will you? Would you mind if I took this chair, please? Take this table into the house I am sorry to bother you but could you possibly help me please? Mary! Hurry up and get the phone The sentences are context-free As the second stage of the activity, the teacher asks learners to speculate about the context by identifying who might be the speakers, their age, social status and also the setting in which the expressions are used This in-class discussion elaborates the variables which play an important role in the selection of expressions and elements which determine the degree of politeness As a follow up activity, the teacher asks the participants to identify the linguistic features which determine the level of politeness Especially the comparison of the least and most polite expressions and their related intention-determining parts of speech provide a practical linguistic analysis for the students The central concern of this activity is that in the realization of communicative acts, non-native speakers of English may have difficulties, and sociopragmatic concerns play an important role in this 2.Activity two: A The dialogue below is between a hotel guest, checking in and a receptionist Complete the conversation using the key words given, making it very polite or rather impolite: st Receptionist: Here/key Room 10/ floor Good view of harbour Help bags? Guest: No Receptionist: ok XX (The guest goes up to his/her room and finds there are no towels in the bathroom He/she phones the reception to complain) Receptionist: Reception Guest: No towels/bathroom Receptionist: Sorry/bring some up Guest: ok (The receptionist takes some towels up to the guest‘s room & knocks on the door.) Guest: Enter Receptionist: Here/towels Guest: ok Receptionist: Everything ok? Guest: Yes Receptionist: Enjoy/stay Guest: ok B Make (polite) complaints for the following situations: Student A: You are a hotel guest and have just checked into your room (room 10) at the Old Custom House Hotel Choose one of the problems below and phone the reception to complain There‘s no soap in the bathroom There‘s no toilet paper in the bathroom The TV in your room doesn‘t work The bed-sheets in your room are dirty The guest in the room next to yours is making a lot of noise Student B: You are the receptionist at the Old Custom Hotel Student A phones you to complain about something Apologize and help them with their problem XXI ... into “ Students’ pragmatic awareness and implications for English classroom teaching at st Vietnam University of Commerce. ” with a focus on VUC year non -English major students‘ pragmatic awareness. . .VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES o0o PHẠM THÙY GIANG STUDENTS’ PRAGMATIC AWARENESS AND IMPLICATIONS. .. relationship between grammatical and pragmatic awareness, Bardovi-Harlig and Dörnyei (1998) investigated the recognition and rating of grammatical and pragmatic infelicities of the ESL and EFL learners