Cách thức chúc mừng trong văn hóa anh và văn hóa việt

One of the biggest obstacles in the intercultural communication is the lack of cultural knowledge which may lead to misunderstandings and even communication breakdown. Based on the theoretical background of crosscultural communication, the study sought to investigate the similarities and differences in congratulating in British and Vietnamese cultures. The factors affecting the informants’ responses such as gender, age, the relative power and social distance with the communicating partners were taken into consideration. Discourse Completion Task (DCT) was employed as the main data collection instrument to elicit the verbal congratulations made by 30 British and 30 Vietnamese native people. The three most popular situations concerning congratulating were described in each survey questionnaire. In each situation, the participants had to deal with six different interlocutors. During the process of research analysis, some informal interviews with two groups of participants were conducted to collect more information and explanation for their responses. It was discovered that British and Vietnamese participants used a variety of strategies and expressed dissimilar preference for those strategies in different situations, with various informants’ and communicating partners’ parameters. The conclusion drawn from data analysis and findings, and the recommendations for further study were presented in a brief and concise way. The study was expected to partially fill the gap of intercultural communication between British and Vietnamese cultures so as to help people from two cultures avoid cultural shock and communicating breakdown. It was also hoped to support those who interested in the research topic and especially ULIS students as the potential intercultural communicators in the coming time.

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER CONGRATULATING IN BRITISH AND VIETNAMESE CULTURES Supervisor: Phan Thi Van Quyen, MA Student: Vu Thi Phuong Thanh Course: QH.2009 HANOI, MAY 2013 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƢ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHOÁ LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP CÁCH THỨC CHÚC MỪNG TRONG VĂN HÓA ANH VÀ VĂN HÓA VIỆT Giáo viên hƣớng dẫn: Thạc sĩ Phan Thị Vân Quyên Sinh viên: Vũ Thị Phƣơng Thanh Khoá: QH.2009 HÀ NỘI – NĂM 2013 ACCEPTANCE I hereby state that I: Vu Thi Phuong Thanh from group 09E24, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarians for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper Hanoi, April 25th 2013 Vũ Thị Phương Thanh ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Phan Thi Van Quyen, M.A for her wholehearted support, valuable guidance and helpful advice, without which my thesis would not be successfully completed Besides, I would like to send my special thanks to my colleagues from Thaihabooks Joint Stock Company, my friends from Hanoi University of Science and Technology, my classmates from class 09E24 ULIS-VNU, and my roommates at ULIS Dormitory for helping me complete the Vietnamese survey questionnaire I cannot forget to acknowledge the important contributions of British informants, whose names cannot be mentioned in the thesis I also take this opportunity to express my thankfulness to my English friends including Jim Hollett, Ghizlane Achaoui and Sophie Westbeech for providing me constructive suggestions and useful information for my research through the interviews I would like to express my thankfulness to the friendly librarians of ULIS for providing me interesting and practical reference materials After all, my special thanks are for my family and relatives for their continuous encouragement and enthusiastic support during the process of implementing this research Without them, never could I win this challenge i ABSTRACT One of the biggest obstacles in the intercultural communication is the lack of cultural knowledge which may lead to misunderstandings and even communication breakdown Based on the theoretical background of cross-cultural communication, the study sought to investigate the similarities and differences in congratulating in British and Vietnamese cultures The factors affecting the informants‟ responses such as gender, age, the relative power and social distance with the communicating partners were taken into consideration Discourse Completion Task (DCT) was employed as the main data collection instrument to elicit the verbal congratulations made by 30 British and 30 Vietnamese native people The three most popular situations concerning congratulating were described in each survey questionnaire In each situation, the participants had to deal with six different interlocutors During the process of research analysis, some informal interviews with two groups of participants were conducted to collect more information and explanation for their responses It was discovered that British and Vietnamese participants used a variety of strategies and expressed dissimilar preference for those strategies in different situations, with various informants‟ and communicating partners‟ parameters The conclusion drawn from data analysis and findings, and the recommendations for further study were presented in a brief and concise way The study was expected to partially fill the gap of intercultural communication between British and Vietnamese cultures so as to help people from two cultures avoid cultural shock and communicating breakdown It was also hoped to support those who interested in the research topic and especially ULIS students as the potential intercultural communicators in the coming time ii TABLE OF CONTENT Page Acceptance page Acknowledgements i Abstract ii Table of content iii List of figures and tables vi List of abbreviations vii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Research questions Scope of the study Significance of study Methods of the study Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND I Theoretical background Culture and cross-cultural communication 1.1 Culture 1.2 Cross-cultural communication Speech acts 2.1 Definition of speech acts 2.2 Classification of speech acts iii 2.3 Congratulating as a speech act 10 Face and Politeness 11 3.1 Face 11 3.2 Politeness 12 3.2.1 Definition of politeness 12 3.2.2 Politeness strategies 12 3.2.3 Politeness in congratulating 18 3.2.4 Strategies of congratulating 19 II Previous studies related to the topic 21 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 23 Informants and sampling 23 Data collection instruments 23 Procedures of data collection 26 Data analysis 26 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 27 Realization of the congratulating strategies 27 British and Vietnamese preferred strategies of congratulating 33 2.1 The overview of the use of congratulating strategies by 33 British and Vietnamese participants 2.2 The use of congratulating strategies as seen from 35 informants‟ parameters 2.2.1 Genders 35 2.2.2 Ages 36 2.3 The use of congratulating strategies as seen from 39 communicating partners‟ parameters 2.3.1 Uncle/aunt 39 iv 2.3.2 Close friends 40 2.3.3 Younger brother/sister 41 2.3.4 Superior 42 2.3.5 Colleague 43 2.3.6 Subordinate 44 Discussion of the findings 46 PART C: CONCLUSION 49 Conclusion 49 Pedagogical implications and suggestions 49 Limitations of the study 50 Recommendation for further studies 51 REFERENCES 52 APPENDIX 55 APPENDIX 59 v LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Name of figure: Page Chart Comparison between British and Vietnamese congratulating strategies 35 List of tables: Table Overview of British and Vietnamese use of congratulating strategies 33 Table Use of congratulating strategies as seen from informants‟ genders 35 Table Use of congratulating strategies as seen from informants‟ ages 37 Table Use of congratulating strategies when communicating with uncle/aunt 39 Table Use of congratulating strategies when communicating with close friends 40 Table Use of congratulating strategies when communicating with brother/sister 41 Table Use of congratulating strategies when communicating with superior 42 Table Use of congratulating strategies when communicating with colleague 43 Table Use of congratulating strategies when communicating with subordinate vi 45 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS / : or % : Percent S : Speaker H : Hearer P : Relative power D : Social distance R : Ranking of imposition DCT : Discourse Completion Task FTA : Face Threatening Act Strat : Strategy ULIS – VNU: University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University vii strategy with their friend, brother/sister, colleague, and subordinate who are equal or lower in status and relative power No one in British group choose this strategy with uncle/aunt and superior Besides, Thanking strategy is most regularly used by British people when congratulating superior and subordinate whom they consider having a large social distance with them It shows the politeness of British people and emphasizes the power and social distance between communicators However, the disparity between the lowest and the highest percentages in this strategy is not much, just around 5% Last but not least, the preferred communicating strategies by a group of informants reveal their preferred communication style As described in the Chart – Comparison between British and Vietnamese congratulating strategies, it can be seen that among nine strategies apart from strategy 1, the most preferred strategy used by the British is Expressing S’s emotions/ attitudes, followed by Praising H’s achievement and Acknowledging H’s ability/quality/talent On the other hand, strategy – Joking is most favoured by the Vietnamese, followed by Wishing strategy It might be resulted from the preference for directness in British culture and indirectness in Vietnamese culture British people tend to be more open to express their personal thoughts and feelings to H/ H‟s achievement because they value directness in communication Alternatively, the Vietnamese are quite cautious about what they say; thus, they avoid discussing the core of the subject matter However, both groups of participants seem to be similar when they prefer using Positive Politeness strategies such as Expressing S’s emotions/ attitudes, Praising H’s achievement, ability/quality/talent and Joking when congratulating 48 Acknowledging H’s PART C CONCLUSION Conclusion The findings of the research have highlighted the commonalities and distinctions in use of congratulating strategies between British and Vietnamese cultures It was disclosed that the preference for the strategies in two examined groups varied in accordance with the different informants‟ parameters such as ages, genders, relative power and social distance between interlocutors In terms of the similarities, congratulating is an act of showing S‟s pleasure on H‟s achievement or success; as a result, it is not a FTA That is the reason why both groups of participants tend to use Positive Politeness strategies such as Expressing S’s emotions/ attitudes, Praising H’s achievement, Acknowledging H’s ability/ quality/ talent, and Joking when congratulating so as to narrow the distance between communicators and maintain the harmony in communication Nevertheless, there exist some differences British people use the more open and direct ways of congratulating such as Expressing S’s emotions/ attitudes, Praising H’s achievement, Acknowledging H’s ability/ quality/ talent while the Vietnamese choose the more conventional and indirect ones such as Wishing and Joking Besides, when informants are older people and when congratulating the people of higher status or of greater relative power, the Vietnamese have a strong tendency of using the fixed and formal congratulating expressions (with the clear preference of Formulaic congratulations and Wishing strategies) The same results are hardly found in British responses (apart from the preference of Formulaic congratulations when congratulating uncle/aunt and superior) This finding reveals the fact that social hierarchy in Vietnamese culture is larger than in British cultures Pedagogical implications and suggestions It is inevitable that breakdown in communication provokes now and again if there exists a contradiction of communicating style between two different cultures 49 Congratulating is not an exception Therefore, the study on “Congratulating in British and Vietnamese cultures” is carried out in the hope of narrowing the knowledge gap of the two cultures, minimizing the misunderstandings between the British and the Vietnamese to avoid the failure in intercultural communication This study is significantly helpful for those who frequently work in multicultural environment, because it digs into a common aspect of life – Congratulating Everybody can find themselves in situations in their daily life which require them to congratulate If being well-equipped with cultural knowledge, the Vietnamese would consider the British‟s openness of expressing their emotions or feelings as the frankness and sincerity, and the same use of language for all types of interlocutors in British culture is acceptable At the same time, British people would not doubt about the Vietnamese indirect ways of communicating because indirectness is a remarkable trait in Vietnamese communicating style When having a broader understanding about one another‟s cultures, people from two cultures might choose the best strategies when congratulating with their counterparts to have the most effective communication The results of the study also points out that language and culture should be taught simultaneously Teachers of English should show students how to appropriately congratulate in each situation, help them to be aware of how cultural and social factors affect the use of language and the effectiveness of communication Consequently, learners of English know how to effectively achieve the communicative goal with interlocutors of the target culture Limitations of the study The first shortcoming of the study is the limited quantity of respondents Responses from 30 informants in each group are not comprehensive enough to give the exact generalization of the whole society‟s features However, due to the restriction of time, finance and geography, the number of respondents is hard to be extended 50 Besides, the study entirely concentrates on verbal responses in the written form and thus, cannot examine the influences of nonverbal factors on congratulating act such as intonation, stress, attitudes and gestures Recommendation for further studies After some informal interviews, the researcher realized that non-verbal behaviours are very important to the British when congratulating They explain that owing to the small social hierarchy, they hardly use different verbal messages for different situations of congratulating and with various interlocutors The sharpest distinctions lie in their nonverbal communication such as intonations, facial expressions, gestures, and gift giving For those who wish to conduct further study on this topic, the researcher would like to suggest that they investigate the nonverbal aspect of congratulating act by using such data collection instruments as personal observation, recording or videotaping 51 REFERENCES Foreign and Vietnamese authors: Akram, M (2008) A contrastive study of speech acts in Urdu and English Asian EFL journal 10, 148-172 Austin, J.L (1962) How to things with words New York: Oxford University Press Bailey, G., Peoples, J (1998) Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Wadsworth Publishing Barthes, R.(2006) Some polite speech acts across cultures Southwest journal of linguistics [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-168292864.html] Brown, P & Levinson, S (1987) Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage Great Britain: Cambridge University Press Eelen, Gino (2001) A Critique of Politeness Theories Manchester: St Jerome Publishing Elwood, K (2004) “Congratulationss”: A cross-cultural analysis of responses to another‟s happy news [http://dspace.wul.waseda.ac.jp/dspace/handle/2065/6097] Goffman, E (1955) On face-work: An analysis of ritual element in social interaction psychiatry New York: Doubleday Goffman, E (1967) Interaction ritual essays on face behavior New York: Doubleday 52 10 Graddol, D (1997) The Future of English? London: British Council 11 Green, G.M (1989) Pragmatics and natural language understanding Lawrence Eribaum Assiciates, Inc 12 Hybels, S & Waver, R.L (2001) Communicating effectively Mc Graw-Hill, Inc 13 Kondo, S (2008) Effects on pragmatic development through awareness-raisning instruction: Refusals by Japanese EFL learners In E A Soler & A Martinez-Flor (Eds.), Investigating Pragmatics in Foreign Language Learning, Teaching and Testing (pp 153-177) Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters 14 Lakoff, R (1973) The logic of politeness, or minding your P’s and Q’s In: Papers from the Ninth Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, 292-305 15 Lakoff, R (1977) What You Can Do with Words: Politeness, Pragmatics, and Performative, in A Rogers, B Wall and J Murphy (eds.), Proceedings of the Texas Conference of Performatives, Presuppositions, and Implicatures Arlington, TX: Center of Applied Linguistics 16 Leech, G N (1983) Principles of pragmatics London and New York: Longman 17 Levine, D.R & Adelman, M.B (1993) Beyond Language-Intercultural Communication for English as a Second Language New Jersey: Prentice Hall 18 Levinson, Stephen C (1983) Pragmatics Cambridge, England: Cambridge University 19 Murata, K (1998) "Has He Apologized or Not?”: A Cross-Cultural Misunderstanding between the UK and Japan on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of VJ Day in Britain 20 Nguyen Quang (1998) Intercultural communication HULIS – VNU 53 21 Richards, J.C (1997) New Interchange: English for International Communication Cambridge: Camibridge University Press 22 Samovar, L A., Porter, R E., & Jain, N C (1981) Understanding intercultural communication Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company 23 Searle, J (1969) Speech acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 24 Searle, J (1979) Expression and Meaning Cambridge University Press 25 Stephen Levinson (1983) Pragmatics Cambridge University Press 26 Tylor, E.B.: Primitive culture London: J Murray (1871) 27 Watts, R J (2003) Politeness Cambridge University Press 28 Yule, G (1996) Pragmatics Oxford: Oxford University Press Dictionary and other sources: BBC Learning English Responding to good news [http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1113_how_to_news /page2.shtml] Memidex dictionary/thesausus [http://www.memidex.com/congratulations+speech-act] 54 APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE I am Vu Thi Phuong Thanh, an undergraduate student at Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, Division of English Translation and Interpreting, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University (ULIS-VNU), Hanoi I am conducting my graduation paper on “Congratulating in British and Vietnamese cultures.” This survey questionnaire aims to investigate your views concerning this issue Please give your answers naturally to ensure the efficiency of this investigation All information you provide will be confidential and used solely for research purposes Thank you very much for your cooperation! SECTION A: PERSONAL INFORMATION  Age: 20 – 29 30 – 39 40 – 50 > 50  Gender: Male Female  Occupation: …………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… 55 SECTION B: SITUATIONS Please give your answers to the following questions: Situation 1: You are invited to attend someone‟s housewarming party At the party, what would you say to congratulate him/her if he/she is: (1) Your uncle/aunt ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (2) Your close friend ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (3) Your younger brother/sister ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (4) Your superior ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (5) Your colleague ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (6) Your subordinate ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… Situation 2: You are informed that someone got promoted What would you say to congratulate him/her if he/she is: (1) Your uncle/aunt ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 56 (2) Your close friend ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (3) Your younger brother/sister ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (4) Your superior ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (5) Your colleague ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (6) Your subordinate ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… Situation 3: You pay a visit to one person who has just had a new-born baby (a boy) What would you say to congratulate him/her if he/she is: (1) Your uncle/aunt ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (2) Your close friend ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (3) Your younger brother/sister ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 57 (4) Your superior ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (5) Your colleague ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (6) Your subordinate ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… THANK YOU VERY MUCH  58 APPENDIX PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT Tôi tên Vũ Thị Phương Thanh, sinh viên năm khoa Sư phạm Tiếng Anh, ngành tiếng Anh Biên-Phiên dịch, trường Đại học Ngoại Ngữ, Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội Tơi làm khố luận tốt nghiệp đề tài “Cách thức chúc mừng văn hóa Anh văn hóa Việt” Mục đích phiếu điều tra nhằm tìm hiểu xem quan điểm quý vị trường hợp sau Hy vọng quý vị đưa câu trả lời tự nhiên nhằm đảm bảo tính hiệu cuả phiếu điều tra Tất thông tin quý vị cung cấp giữ bí mật hồn tồn phục vụ cho mục đích nghiên cứu Xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác quý vị! MỤC A: THÔNG TIN CÁ NHÂN  Tuổi: 20 – 29 30 – 39 40 – 50 > 50  Giới tính: Nam Nữ  Nghề nghiệp: …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… 59 MỤC B: TÌNH HUỐNG Hãy điền câu trả lời quý vị cho tình sau đây: Tình 1: Quý vị nhận lời mời đến dự bữa ăn mừng tân gia người thân quen Trong bữa ăn mừng tân gia đó, q vị nói để chúc mừng người là: (1) Bác/ q vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (2) Bạn thân quý vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (3) Em trai/gái quý vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (4) Cấp quý vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… (5) Đồng nghiệp quý vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (6) Cấp q vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… Tình 2: Ai thơng báo với quý vị họ vừa thăng chức Q vị nói để chúc mừng người là: (1) Bác/ q vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 60 (2) Bạn thân quý vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (3) Em trai/gái quý vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (4) Cấp quý vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (5) Đồng nghiệp quý vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (6) Cấp quý vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… Tình 3: Quý vị đến thăm người vừa sinh cậu trai Quý vị nói để chúc mừng người là: (1) Bác/ cô quý vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (2) Bạn thân quý vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (3) Em trai/gái quý vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 61 (4) Cấp quý vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… (5) Đồng nghiệp quý vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… (6) Cấp quý vị ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… XIN CHÂN THÀNH CẢM ƠN  62 ... KHOA SƢ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHOÁ LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP CÁCH THỨC CHÚC MỪNG TRONG VĂN HÓA ANH VÀ VĂN HÓA VIỆT Giáo viên hƣớng dẫn: Thạc sĩ Phan Thị Vân Quyên Sinh viên: Vũ Thị Phƣơng Thanh Khoá: QH.2009 HÀ... Chúc mừng tân gia  Congratulations on your new home  Chúc mừng em thăng chức  Congratulations on your promotion  Chúc mừng anh chị có quý tử  Congratulations on your new arrival  Chúc mừng. .. tân gia em chúc sếp có thật nhiều điều may mắn gõ cửa  I wish you well in new job  Chúc nhà chỗ dựa  Good luck  Have wonderful life with your new vững chãi cho nghiệp bạn  Cháu chúc bác công