A comparative study on conversational implicatures used in political electronic english and vietnamese articles on vietnam china island disputes

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ******************** A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURES USED IN SOME POLITICAL ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE ELECTRONIC NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ON THE EVENTS RELATED TO VIETNAM-CHINA ISLAND DISPUTE ợc sử dụ ( ị kiệ l a - q a c m t s ế a ệ ện tử Tiếng Anh Tiếng Việt) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English linguistics Code: 60220201 HANOI - 2017 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ******************** A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURES USED IN SOME POLITICAL ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE ELECTRONIC NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ON THE EVENTS RELATED TO VIETNAM-CHINA ISLAND DISPUTE ợc sử dụ ( ị kiệ l a - ts q a ế a ện tử Tiếng Anh Tiếng Việt) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Dr ệ ị HANOI - 2017 a DECLARATION I certify that this minor thesis entitled “A comparative study on Conversational Implicatures used in political electronic English and Vietnamese articles on Vietnam - China island disputes” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts is the result of my work, except otherwise acknowledge and that this minor thesis and any part of the same has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other university or institution Hanoi, January 2017 Signature V Thị Mai Ph ơng i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS After the past two years I have received the support and encouragement from many individuals to accomplish this research Therefore, I hereby would like to express my profound gratitude to all of them Above all, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my supervisor, Doctor Do Thi Thanh Ha for all of her invaluable inspiration, assistance, critique, sincere guidance and encouragement as I was working on my study Besides, I am grateful to all lectures and staff of Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies for their valuable lessons and precious help Thanks to them, I could get the essential materials for my paper Finally, my sincere thanks go to my family and my friends who always stand by me and support me when I was doing the research Without their encouragement, I would not have been able to complete this thesis ii ABSTRACT The topic on politics has attracted many researchers in all fields and linguistics is not an exception, specially, the announcements of official politicians and commentary, judgments of the specialists informed on the media Nowadays, the political events of the global countries have been updated almost immediately by the assistance of internet Electronic newspapers play a very important role and grab much power in the modern life In the world recently, the political movements in Asia especially between Vietnam and China island disputes have wasted the inks and papers of worldwide newspapers The study was conducted to compare the use maxim violation to generate conversational implicature of English and Vietnamese electronic newspapers on the coverage hottest events on Vietnam - China island disputes in the period from 2011 to 2015 The analysis includes examining the methods of generating implicature which consists of violating four conversational maxims based on Relevance Theory of Grice Based on the findings, it is concluded that both English and Vietnamese newspapers showed their creativity in using different devices to violate the maxims to generate conversational implicatures In addition, the two types of newspapers share a lot of similarities Specially, the quality maxim is violated the most frequency among four maxims Besides, the study assumes that the language of politics and journalism affect deeply on the applying of maxim violation to generate conversational implicatures The study also contributes a new finding that conversational implicatures and Relevance theory of Grice both work effectively in not only oral conversations but also in indirect conversation such as in written texts whose speakers/ hearers interaction are writers/ readers interaction to convey the meaning and messages iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of abbreviations vi List of tables vii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the studies Research questions Aims of study Scope of the study Methods of the study Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Theories on conversational implicature 1.1.1 Implicature and Co-operation 1.1.2 Conversational and Conventional Implicatures 1.1.3 Violating implicature 1.2 Review of related study 1.3 Review of Vietnam - China island disputes in the period of time from 2011 to 2015 11 CHAPTER 2: METHODS AND PROCEDURES 15 2.1 Data collection methods 15 2.2 Data source 16 2.3 Data analysis procedure 24 2.3.1 Data reduction 25 2.3.2 Data analysis 25 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 27 3.1 Conversational implicatures in Vietnamese electronic magazines 27 iv 3.1.1 Conversational implicatures generated by violating the maxim of quality in English magazine articles 30 3.1.2 Conversational implicatures generated by violating the maxim of quantity in English magazine articles 31 3.1.3 Conversational implicatures generated by violating the maxim of relation in English magazine articles 33 3.1.4 Conversational implicatures generated by violating the maxim of manner in English magazine articles 34 3.2 Conversational implicatures in English electronic magazines 34 3.2.1 Conversational implicatures generated by violating the maxim of quality in English magazine articles 36 3.2.2 Conversational implicatures generated by violating the maxim of quantity in English magazine articles 37 3.2.3Conversational implicatures generated by violating the maxim of relation in English magazine articles 38 3.2.4Conversational implicatures generated by violating the maxim of manner in English magazine articles 39 3.3 Comparison between English and Vietnamese electronic newspaper articles in English magazine articles 39 3.3.1 Similarities 40 3.3.2 Differences 43 PART C: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 44 Summary of findings 44 Implications 46 Limitations of the study 46 Suggestions 47 REFERENCES 48 APPENDIX I v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CP: Cooperative Principle CNOOC: China National Offshore Oil Corp CDA: Critical Discourse Analysis US: United States USA: United States of America ASEAN: Association of South East Asian Nation CI: Conversational Implicature VN: Vietnam CN: China WEF: World Economic Forum SCS: South China Sea TV: Television Ql: quality Qt: quantity Mn: manner Rl: relation vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1.2 Vietnam - China island dispute timeline Table 2.2 Data source 17 Table 2.3.2 Coding scheme 25 Table 3.1 Frequency of maxim violation in Vietnamese articles 28 Table 3.2 Frequency of maxim violation in English articles 35 Table 3.3 Data comparative 40 vii PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Nowadays, online newspapers have indisputably become one of the most useful and convenient source of information Along with the spread of internet, online news is increasingly popular due to the availability and convenience they provide With internet and computer, the readers have a chance to get a great deal of diverse online newspapers Political news is always the hot area of information that attracts readers‟ attention Due to the fact that news are posted and updated simultaneously to assure the accurate of the news, especially the news related to politics Such news need to express the truth They are also governed by the state power for the political purposes Therefore, the writers have to use some kinds of pragmatic devices that implicatures are the most common one To reach to the understanding between the writer and the receivers or readers, using implicatures as a useful linguistic resource is a useful way Realizing the importance and significant of implicatures in newspaper article, this study is carried out to investigate the use of implicature in transferring the information to in the language of Vietnamese and English newspaper articles Research questions Based on the background and the focus of the research, the writer proposed three questions for this study, those are: 1) What are the conversational maxims that are violated in the Vietnamese electronic newspaper articles on Vietnam- China island disputes to generate conversational implicatures? 2) What are the conversational maxims that are violated in the English electronic newspaper articles on Vietnam- China island disputes to generate conversational implicatures? 3) What are the similarities and differences on adopting conversational maxim violation to generate conversational implicatures between English and Vietnamese electronic newspaper articles on Vietnam - China island disputes? APPENDIX Table Data results Datum Sentence(s) Violated No Implicature Source maxim ( Ql/ Qt/ Mn/ Rl) "Những mà quan liên Quality All actions from Vietnamn quan Trung Quốc làm (Untrue China hoạt động giám sát thực information) legally side are et.vn thi luật pháp hồn tồn bình thường khu vực biển thuộc thẩm quyền tài phán Trung Quốc” Một tuyên bố trang web Quality It is Vietnam not Dantri.co Bộ Ngoại giao Trung Quốc nhấn (untrue China who m mạnh, vấn đề Biển Đơng information) attacks their tranh chấp chủ quyền với “quần water đảo Nam Sa” - cách Trung Quốc sovereignty gọi quần đảo Trường Sa Việt Nam - đảo lân cận, Trung Quốc "có lý lẽ đầy đủ lịch sử pháp lý cho chủ quyền" Tuy nhiên họp báo Quality In chiều 26/3, phát ngôn viên ngoại (untrue Vietnam is the s giao Trung Quốc Hồng Lỗi nói information) initiative việc tàu Trung Quốc có who carried out hành động với tàu Việt Nam the attack-actions chuyện "cần thiết hợp pháp" to China boat I this issue, Vnexpres accent Ông Hồng từ chối xác nhận việc tàu Trung Quốc nổ súng, không thừa nhận thiệt hại gây cho tàu cá ngư dân Việt Nam Giám đốc Học viện nghiên cứu Quality China loves the Vietnamn Biển Đông nhiều lần nhấn mạnh (untrue peace “Trung Quốc theo đuổi information) world of the et.vn đường phát triển cách hịa bình, khơng tìm kiếm đối đầu kêu gọi nước có tuyên bố chủ quyền khác giải tranh chấp thơng qua đàm phán” Hai bên hài lịng trước phát Quality Vietnam triển quan hệ hai Đảng (untrue China are good et.vn năm qua, trí làm sâu information) brothers and Vietnamn sắc thêm hợp tác hai Đảng, thúc đẩy chế giao lưu hợp tác hai Ban Đối ngoại Ban Tuyên giáo, Tuyên truyền hai Đảng vận hành thuận lợi, tăng cường hợp tác lĩnh vực đào tạo cán Đảng Nhà nước Hoạt động nằm chuỗi Quality China is causing Vnexpres hoạt động leo thang xâm lấn (metaphor) more and more s.net Trung Quốc Biển Đông provocative năm gần actions on the East sea for the hegegative desire II Qua theo dõi, tơi thấy tiếng nói Quality Most of Chinese Vnexpres cộng đồng học giả có quan (metaphor) people điểm "bồ câu" có ảnh hưởng “doves” are not s.net dư luận Trung Quốc Trung Quốc đẩy mạnh chiến thuật Quality China is mighty Doisongp “tằm ăn dâu” Biển Đông to (metaphor) occupy hapluat.c Vietnam‟s islands om step by step "Bắp cải" Biển Đông Quality The East sea is a Vietnamn (metaphor) sweet pie for et.vn China 10 'Ẩn họa' từ cảnh sát biển TQ Quality China has a desire Vietnamn (metaphor) to occupy other et.vn islands of weak countries in the area 11 Trung Quốc dọa 'mạnh tay' với Quality China tàu láng giềng Biển Đông force (metaphor) will to use Vnexpres others s.net countries in the East sea 12 Chĩa mũi dùi vào Việt Nam Quality To cho giới khu vực biết (metaphor) economic benefit m kiên định Đường lưỡi bị dù có and phải bỏ qua quan hệ ý thức hệ much bigger than hay tình cảm "mơi hở lạnh." the China, power the Dantri.co are brothership and neighborship 13 Vị trí giàn khoan Hải Dương- Quality China 981 nằm hoàn toàn vùng (metaphor) clearly its desire s.net đặc quyền kinh tế, thềm lục địa to III exposed Vnexpres occupy the Việt Nam Nhưng water territory of vị trí nhạy cảm mà Trung Vietnam Quốc cố tình lựa chọn để thực chiến thuật “bắn mũi tên trúng nhiều đích” 14 15 Tuần trước, tỉnh Hải Nam Quality This new law of Vnexpres Trung Quốc công bố luật lệ (metaphor) China seriously s.net cho phép tàu chấp pháp affects to họ quyền tiếp cận lục soát interests tàu thuyền mà họ cho vi maritime phạm vùng nước Biển Đông sovereignty of the Quy định giới phân tích related countries cho đổ thêm dầu vào lửa vốn in the East sea căng thẳng khu vực island area Canh giàn khoan nước sâu Quality This TQ operation in the m (metaphor) the and oil-rig Dantri.co Truong Sa island is a strategy of China to invade the water territory of other involved countries 16 TQ dùng chiến lược 'nghìn vết Quality Beijing kills its Vietnamn cắt' Biển Đông opponents (metaphor) applying by et.vn this campaign 17 “: Nếu làm theo kiểu TQ Quality China is such a Vietnamn quốc gia (hyperbole) greedy IV and et.vn “nuốt” biển quốc gia khác ambitioned cách trưng đồ country vẽ” kết luận: “ Chúng ta (TQ - TG) tự cột đá vào chân mà khơng biết” 18 Trung Quốc xâm phạm chủ Quality China caused a Nld.com quyền, lòng dân sôi sục big protest wave (hyperbole) to the Vietnamese 19 Trung Quốc đốt cháy hòa Quality China's actions Vietnamn bình biển Đơng are making et.vn (hyperbole) escalating tensions on the East sea issue 20 Khơng "tìm đường biển", Quality China is unruly in Vietnamn mục tiêu lâu dài (hyperbole) the actions on the et.vn Trung Quốc "đốt cháy" East sea disputes Biển Đông chuẩn bị cho khát lượng vốn rập rình từ lâu 21 Xin hỏi khả VN sử Quantity dụng hành động pháp lý Liệu (lack I not want to Vietnamn of disclose the secret et.vn VN tham gia vụ kiện information) national Philippines VN đưa information vụ kiện riêng mình? Khi front việc diễn ra? media - Chúng bảo vệ vùng biển sử dụng biện pháp phù hợp với luật pháp V of in the quốc tế, bao gồm Công ước Liên hợp quốc Luật Biển 22 Chủ tịch nước Trương Tấn Quantity Vietnam has Vietnamn Sang khẳng định VN không (more strong will and et.vn chấp nhận ai, nước information) mightiness nào, dù mạnh đến đâu, bắt phải against China in nhượng chủ quyền, lãnh thổ this war to thiêng liêng Tổ quốc 23 Kịch thứ hai, Trung Quốc Quantity There are the Dantri.co đồng ý để án quốc tế giải (more weakness tranh chấp Biển Đông Do information) disadvantages of yếu Trung Quốc China‟s side in chứng lịch sử pháp lý the East Sea issue chủ quyền, hành động sử dụng in front of the vũ lực năm 1974 1988 để international chiếm đóng đảo, đá Hồng media and m Sa-Trường Sa Việt Nam, chưa hội đủ điều kiện thuận lợi cho nguyên tắc “quieta non movere”, Trung Quốc phản đối luật hoá hay quốc tế hóa vấn đề biển Đơng, kiên trì với chủ trương “đàm phán song phương”, “gác tranh chấp, khai thác” Hơn hết, Trung Quốc hiểu rõ họ nhiều phải đối diện với án quốc tế 24 Từ ngày đến 7-5, TQ thường Quantity Rude China has Nld.com xuyên sử dụng 2-3 tàu kèm tàu (more hiden ambition to VI Việt Nam để ngăn cản, tông húc information) Vietnam phun nước áp lực cao làm hư hại tàu kiểm ngư Việt Nam thực thi pháp luật biển Có tàu kiểm ngư bị tàu hải cảnh tông, húc đẩy nhiều lần (tàu kiểm ngư số hiệu KN 762 bị tông, húc đẩy lần vào ngày 2, 3, 5-5) 25 Để minh chứng cho bịa đặt, Quality (more China is such a Vietnamn tráo trở, đổi trắng thay đen, vu information) bad country et.vn cáo luận điệu TQ, từ đầu, VN chủ động quay lại hình ảnh tàu TQ hăng công, đâm va tàu VN Khơng phải vài mà hàng chục, chí có lúc 100 tàu TQ uy hiếp, vây đâm tàu thực thi công vụ VN 26 Nhưng nhớ, lời Tổng relation It is China which Vietnamn thống Philippines tuyên bố: “Nếu invading vào sân nhà bạn, nói với country territory our et.vn bạn ơng ta, bạn có cho phép khơng? Khơng thể từ bỏ hợp pháp thuộc 27 Hoạt động tàu hải giám Trung relation I Quốc tàu ngư Trung about the party s.net Quốc chịu trách nhiệm trước which rules these VII not care Vnexpres quan Trung Quốc? boats but what -Có nhiều lực lượng Trung they did to us Quốc hoạt động biển Chúng nêu lập trường Việt Nam đến Đại sứ quán Trung Quốc Hà Nội, quan đại diện Trung Quốc Việt Nam Đại sứ quán Trung Quốc Hà Nội phản ánh lập trường Việt Nam Còn việc giải vấn đề phía Trung Quốc 28 “Đây chơi tương đối Manner Even China side Vnexpres mới, khơng có ngạc not understand s.net nhiên họ hoang mang", Nick their illegal nine- Bisley, giáo sư quan hệ quốc tế dash well Đại học La Trobe, Melbourne, nhấn mạnh 29 Theo giáo sư Ngô Vĩnh Long,“đe Manner The East sea is Doisongp dọa lớn Nhật the key point to hapluat.c xảy Biển Đông many Biển Hoa Đông : parts of the world Năng lượng từ Trung Đông đến which related to Nhật qua Biển Đông, hàng xuất China different om Nhật phần lớn qua Biển Đông” 30 Nếu Tây Tạng tiềm tàng Manner There will be new khả bất ổn, chiến movements biển Đông với VN mà làm nổ this issue from VIII in biến cố Tây Tạng, other Ấn Độ lại đứng ngồi such as India countries khơng nắm lấy hội? 31 "The dotted line of the South Quality Hoang China Truong Sa legally om Sea indicates the (untrue sovereignty of China over the information) Sa and Reuters.c belong to China islands in the South China Sea since ancient time and demonstrates the long-standing claims and jurisdiction practice over the waters of the South China Sea," the statement said, the embassy reported 32 "They have come to realise the Quality China always has Bbc.com clear danger of being swallowed (Metaphor) a desire to occupy uk by China Unfortunately, it is what belong to years too late," he said, adding Vietnam that the best the Vietnamese government could is to quickly give the South Vietnamese soldiers the highest recognition they deserved 33 The badly injured workers were Quality( Historically and Cnn.com employees of China Metallurgical untrue originally, Group Corp., a contractor for an information) Taiwanese iron and steel complex being built also Chinese in in Ha Tinh, according to Chinese this issue are state-run media 34 On Monday, China's National Quality IX Truong Sa island Reuters.c Energy Administration said China (untrue naturally belongs om aims to produce 15 billion cubic information) to meters of natural gas a year from therefore, the South China Sea by 2015 has every right to It said the sea would "form the with it China and China main part" of China's offshore gas exploration plans 35 A statement to Reuters from Quality China will fight Reuters.c China's Defense Ministry said the (untrue for peace to their om two militaries had close, friendly information) neighbors relations and China was willing to work hard with Vietnam for regional peace 36 37 China denied its ships had done Quality Vietnam is the Reuters.c anything wrong (untrue initiative cause of om information) this dispute China's foreign ministry blamed Quality(untru China did nothing Bbc.com Vietnam for the incident, saying e wrong its issue oil and gas "undermined operations information) in this uk China's interests and jurisdictional rights" 38 Common interests between China Quality China has no bad Reuters.c and plan Vietnam far outweigh (untrue differences, Chinese President Xi information) toward om Vietnam Jinping told Vietnam's prime minister on Tuesday, calling for their dispute in the South China Sea to be resolved through talks 39 Vietnam's people remain Quality X China is a Reuters.c embittered over a perceived (metaphor) dangerous history of Chinese bullying and Vietnam‟s territorial claims in the South neighbor om China Sea 40 "In matters of territory, our Quality A tough, unruly Cnn.com attitude is firm We won't give an (metaphor) and desired China inch," Fang said after meeting is willing to deny U.S the international law to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen Martin Dempsey achieve their goal 41 The PRC has tried both honey Quality The words and Cnn.com and the movements of vinegar, exploring joint (metaphor) development options at times and China are resorting to shows of force at opposite to each others Neither has been very other successful to date 42 It takes a long time to get to the Quality There middle deadlock of nowhere For a (metaphor) is the Cnn.com status contingent of almost 40 reporters, between the two hours of waiting both on land and countries then at sea preceded a trip to one many conflicts on of disputed waters the world's most hotly after contested areas of maritime real estate 43 "Anyone with clear eyes saw long Quality China‟s scheme is Reuters.c ago that behind these drills is (metaphor) blatant to others reflected a mentality that will lead the South China Sea issue down a XI om fork in the road towards military confrontation through and resolution armed force," a commentary in the Liberation Army Daily said, according to the Reuters news agency 44 The Chinese are waiting patiently Quality There is a long Cnn.com for the Sierra Madre to break up (metaphor) waiting for the before they move in But most of goal of China to the time it's a seemingly endless Sierra Madre waiting game for them, wondering if their territorial rivals circling the ship will make a move 45 46 47 A dangerous dance: China, Quality Vietnam and Cnn.com Vietnam posture in the South (metaphor) China are in a China Sea tight tension Top General Fang Fenghui said Quality China Beijing could not "afford to lose (metaphor) wrongly ambition om an inch" of territory, blaming to Hanoi for stirring up trouble in Vietnam‟s the region islands "Beijing's position on the oil rig Quality Chinese drilling has not shifted at all, but (metaphor) blames Vietnam is in a mess now, the Vietnamese difference itself already tells us a not being able to lot," it says control has a Reuters.c occupy media Bbc.com on the violence 48 "We have to realize that there are Quality XII There is the will Cnn.com no more North and South, we're (metaphor) and united spirit uk all Vietnamese Politics come and of go, but historical facts remain." Vietnam to save the whole the national teritory 49 Beijing has called the case a Quality Beijing farce other (metaphor) denies Cnn.com involved uk countries‟ water sovereignty in the disputed water 50 They have come to realize the Quality China is a greedy, Bbc.com clear danger of being swallowed (hyperbole) unruly by China and desired dangerous country 51 South China Sea Boils: China Quality The status Cnn.com Sends Oil Rig Near Vietnam (hyperbole) between Again Vietnam- China is climbing after the oil rig relocation 52 The rig's relocation could reduce Quantity (less The relocation of Reuters.c tensions between the two information) the oil rig can om neighbors after one of the worst make the tension breakdowns in ties since they better fought a brief war in 1979 53 The crisis has frayed ties between Quantity Vietnam the two Communist-run Asian (more China nations, and there is little sign of information) insecured either side backing down over the relationship XIII and Cnn.com has an increasingly bitter territorial dispute 54 "Now the crew are jobless," she Quantity Fishermen‟s life Reuters.c says "We have to lay them off (more are until we have the new ship This information) after the crash really hard om incident has cost us billion Dong ($237,000) Our family lives off the revenue of fishing and we haven't raised the money to buy a new one." 55 "If you want to know why there is Quantity Vietnam is the Cnn.com tension in South China Sea, I (more country think you have to go and ask the information) initially cause the country or countries that have tension made all the provocations," Cui the two countries to between Lei, China's vice minister of the Foreign Ministry, told CNN in a rare interview last month 56 "Our life here is hard sometimes Quantity ( Life is really hard cnn.com because we are far from our more to families," Hilbert Bigania, a 30- information) Vietnamese year-old sergeant, said "We can't fishermen communicate with them, these and we're in the middle of the ocean That's our everyday life here We can't anything." 57 The rig movement comes weeks Relation Vietnam is going Reuters.c before to Vietnam's top leader, Nguyen Phu Trong, is expected to boost strategic XIV tie a om to visit the United States, in the first The US as a allies such trip by a general secretary of and supporter In the nation's Communist Party a chance this move can falter China 58 "In these seas, China's ships were Manner Vietnam deserved Reuters.c in a defensive mode who was it to be blamed but om who took the initiative for the China clash? Who was it who created tension on the scene? This is very clear," Hong said 59 "Neither choice leads to a manner China finds their Reuters.c promising prospect," said Sun current path to be om "Therefore sticking to the existing the path is the most rational." promising in this most issue 60 "If we stop our work there as manner they soon as Vietnam shouts, China show concessions om will not be able to achieve on East sea issue anything in the South China Sea," especially Wu said Vietnam XV will not Reuters.c to ... China island disputes to generate conversational implicatures? 2) What are the conversational maxims that are violated in the English electronic newspaper articles on Vietnam- China island disputes. .. generate conversational implicatures? 3) What are the similarities and differences on adopting conversational maxim violation to generate conversational implicatures between English and Vietnamese. .. electronic newspaper articles on Vietnam - China island disputes? Aims of the study The study deals with the exploitation of conversational implicatures in the Vietnamese and English political