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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION - - GRADUATION PAPER THE INFLUENCE OF SOME VIETNAMESE CULTURAL FACTORS ON PEER COMMENTS IN WRITING BY FRESHMEN AT ULIS-VNU Supervisor: Dao Thi Thu Trang, M.A Student : Do Tuan Long Course : QH2008F1E5 HANOI-2012 ACCEPTANCE I hereby state that I: Do Tuan Long in group 08.1.E5, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelors 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 purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper Signature May 2nd 2012 ACKNOWLEDGMENT I could not complete this graduation paper without very valuable help of many people who I am deeply indebted to Firstly, I would like to send my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Dao Thi Thu Trang, M.A for her enormous help, encouragement and constructive criticisms in the completion of the thesis Furthermore, my sincere thanks also go to Ms Nguyen Thi Thuy Minh, PhD, who sent me very precious materials which helped me write the thesis and Mr Do Tuan Minh, PhD, who introduced me to my supervisor Last but not least, I also would like to thank all lecturers in Division 1, the Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, ULIS-VNU and students from class 11E2-34-5-19-20 who took interviews and gave comments on essays provided Without their help, I could not complete the graduation paper Finally, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my family, my friends in group 08.1.E5, especially P M Phuong, 09.1.E2, who always encouraged me to complete my graduation paper ABSTRACT This study was conducted with the participation of 50 freshmen and 10 lecturers from FELTE, ULIS-VNU We have tried to find out Vietnamese cultural factors that have influence on peer comments given by Vietnamese freshmen and their typical ways of commenting in the 2011 - 2012 academic school-year It was found that Vietnamese freshmen used more indirect ways of expressing their attitudes, feeling rather than direct ones, and this result is the same with many results of other previous qualitative and quantitative studies However, it was proven in this case study that if other researchers showed Vietnamese exploited more positive politeness rather than negative politeness, this study represented the opposite thing, i.e negative politeness was used more often than positive politeness It was concluded that the influence of Vietnamese culture could be seen through comments by freshmen Additionally, the researcher also found that Vietnamese freshmen used same ways of commenting like English natives, which signified that they first identified problem(s) and then suggested hints for improvements Last but not least, problems, i.e words choice and sentence structures that freshmen had when giving comments were also found Basing on those problems, the researcher suggested a three-period teaching schedule which lecturers could use to teach freshmen how to give comments like what English natives actually did to avoid potential offense TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE List of Tables and Figures viii List of Abbreviations ix Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 The research questions 1.4 The significance of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Organization of the study Chapter 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 Language and Culture 2.2 Peer comments 2.3 Overview of some Anglo-American and Vietnamese Cross-cultural key categorical dimensions 2.3.1 Directness - Indirectness 10 2.3.2 Positive Politeness - Negative Politeness 16 Chapter 03: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Selection of subjects 22 3.2 Research instruments 22 3.3 Procedures of data collection 22 3.4 Procedures of data analysis 23 Chapter 04: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Findings 24 4.1.1 The first research question 24 4.1.2 The second research question 25 4.1.3 The third research question 25 4.1.4 The fourth research question 27 4.2 Discussion 4.2.1 Second culture acquisition in L2 teaching and learning 34 4.2.1.1 The importance of teaching and learning target culture 34 4.2.1.2 The role of teacher in teaching target culture in class 35 4.2.2 Suggested teaching schedule for peer commenting 37 Chapter 05: CONCLUSION 5.1 Summary of the study 39 5.2 Limitations of the study 39 5.3 Suggestions for future research 40 APPENDICES 41 REFERENCES 52 LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES Figure 1: Culture and Nature Figure 2: Levine and Adelma‟s iceberg of culture Figure 3: UNESCO‟s definition of culture Figure 4: Kaplan “cultural thought patterns” Figure 5: An indirect pattern in communication Figure 6: A direct pattern in communication Figure 7: The percentage of direct comments and indirect comments Figure 8: The percentage of positive politeness and negative politeness Table 1: Comparing and contrasting Vietnamese freshmen and English natives‟ comments Table 2: The percentage of each direct and indirect strategy Table 3: The percentage of some positive politeness strategies Table 4: The percentage of three negative politeness strategies used by freshmen LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching FELTE: The Faculty of English Language Teacher Education H(s): Hearer(s) IELTS: International English Language Testing System L(s): Learner(s) NNS(s): non-native speaker(s) NS(s): native speaker(s) ULIS-VNU: The University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study English is nowadays spoken and learnt by people of all ages, classes, nationalities, etc with different purposes and of course, English writing is part of their learning However, previous studies by Nguyen and Helen (2010) found out that non-native speakers‟ (NNS) criticisms were influenced by their own cultures and Nguyen (2006) even statistically proved that less competent learners were more heavily influenced by their cultures than higher competent ones This is because higher competent learners of English paid more attention to the cultural differences and they were taught as well Thanks to the development of technology and changes in the attitudes towards teaching and learning method, communicative language teaching (CLT) is now widely used in teaching English in general and writing in particular and CLT includes giving peer comments (or constructive criticisms) Giving peer comments in writing is quite similar to giving advice on personal objects which is not friendly welcome in most English-speaking cultures (Houck, 2010 as cited in Nguyen et al, 2010) This signifies that NNS may encounter difficulties in giving peer comments because the way of giving comments in this culture (especially Asia) is not always appropriate in others and even peer comments are often tricky with native speakers (NS) (Houck, 2010 as cited in Nguyen et al, 2010) Nevertheless, it seems that some teachers ask their students to mainly find out the errors of their peers and then suggest improvements rather than teach the students ways to give comments like what native speakers do, which will possibly cause cultural shocks for natives in societies of English-speaking countries Therefore, a nearly-Standard English style in giving comments (or constructive criticisms) should be the model for learners to avoid possible offences in communications It should be noticed that a Standard English style is very hard to be found The above analysis of the relationship between native culture and giving comments in English has inspired the researcher to spend time and efforts to observe the peer comments in writing skill of freshmen at ULIS-VNU It can be said that freshmen‟s peer comments are still influenced by native culture and to some extent peer comments are not appropriate in the English-speaking cultures In this thesis, the researcher will discuss the influence of some Vietnamese cultural factors on peer comments of freshmen and basing on this, the pedagogical implications in teaching students to give comments will be suggested to help teachers raise their students‟ awareness 1.2 Aims of the study The study was undertaken in order to evaluate the influence of Vietnamese culture on the peer comments of freshmen The specific objectives of the study are: - to evaluate the influence of Vietnamese culture on peer comments of freshmen - to suggest some ways that lecturers can use to help their students deal with this language transference In addition, the aims of the study are also specified in the research questions 1.3 The research questions The research questions that the study addressed are: Research question 1: What are typical ways of giving peer comments of freshmen at VNU-ULIS? Research question 2: What are typical ways of giving comments of English native speakers? Research question 3: What are similarities and differences of commenting between freshmen and English native speakers? Research question 4: What are the Vietnamese cultural factors which have influence on peer comments of freshmen at VNU-ULIS? 1.4 Significance of the study The significance of the study is evaluated by its practicality because the study contributes partial help for both lecturers and students at Division 1, the FELTE, ULISVNU 10 In addition, the objectivity of the study might be limited because of the samples of the study The research should have collected more essays from students and invited more lecturers and freshmen to have interviews However, these above mentioned limitations can be useful hints for future research to avoid those ones 5.3 Suggestions for future research Due to the limitation of the scope of the study, knowledge and time, it is impossible for the researcher to investigate both written and spoken comments by freshmen This study can be a suggestion for those who are interested in spoken comments Lastly, future studies can be done to investigate the influences of some other cultural categories such as Objectivity-Subjectivity or Self-abasement and Selfassertion The more thorough researches on intercultural communication, the better understanding of the cultural differences and similarities is 48 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Strategies employed in peer commenting There are main strategies for offering peer comment: identify the problem and give advice Identifying the problem: State the problem or errors, mistakes that your peer make in his/her essay Be specific as possible because it can help your peer revise better Some negative words such as “weak” or “wrong” should not be used E.g.: I think you have written conclusions I cannot see your topic sentence Giving advice: “Don’t” and “Do” Explain how the problem can be repaired E.g.: You write “h-e-r-e” but I think it is “t-h-e-r-e” Please note that English speakers often choose to avoid the following” - Don‟t use the modals/phrasal modals should, must, have to, ought to E.g.: You should write more clearly (Too strong) - Do use the modals: can, could… E.g.: You might want to give more examples - Don‟t use imperatives: E.g.: Write more clearly (Too strong) Appendix 2: How to use “Mitigation devices” in peer commenting Mitigation devices are linguistic devices that can reduce the potential offence They include external mitigating devices such as additional comments; and internal linguistic softening devices such as uncertainty markers, shifts in tense or condition, and softening lexical items or phrases External modification: additional comments, separate from the problem identification and advice giving 49 Complement: Write something positive or good about your peer‟s essay E.g.: Well, yours is a very clear essay Internal modification: linguistic softeners a Uncertainty markers: You use to make the impression that you are not sure of your own comments i Use explicit statements of uncertainty: not sure, don‟t know… E.g.: I‟m not sure of this, you can check in the dictionary ii Use modal verbs, adverbs, phrases that indicate uncertainty: might, may, can… The modal verbs: must and should are out of choice because they show very strong direct E.g.: This question can be clearer if you use a pronoun iii Use questions, rather than bald statements or imperatives to identify a problem or propose a potential solution E.g.: Did you conclude your ideas in the conclusion? b Past tense, conditional: Create a sense of distance between the speaker and the commentator E.g.: I thought it would be better if you put a pronoun here If you gave more examples, your essay would be nicer Other linguistic softeners: i Use verb: seem E.g.: It seems that your essay may lack of coherence iii Use parenthetical phrases such as I think, I‟m afraid… E.g.: I think you need more examples Appendix 3: Read the following comments and first evaluate if they are appropriate or not (answer the question: Can they make potential offence?) and then correct them to decrease the degree of offence 50 I suppose that your ideas are not well linked and fully developed Appropriateness: Correction: Your content is good but you should use a wide range of vocabulary to avoid repetition Appropriateness: Correction: Don‟t write a long introduction, it must be rather short instead Appropriateness: Correction: You shouldn‟t write “this”, I think it has to be “that” Appropriateness: Correction: Why don‟t you give examples to illustrate your points? You know, examples are a must Appropriateness: Correction: 51 Don‟t make grammar mistakes! I think it must be called “errors” in your cases Appropriateness: Correction: You didn‟t pay attention to word choice at all! Appropriateness: Correction: There are a lot of grammar and vocabulary mistakes in your essay Appropriateness: Correction: The arguments aren‟t presented logically Appropriateness: Correction: 10 Bad points: grammar mistakes, vocabulary mistakes, spelling mistakes Appropriateness: Correction: 52 Appendix 4: Handouts and Essay given to subjects of the study Handout 1: How to use “Mitigation devices” in peer commenting Mitigation devices are linguistic devices that can reduce the potential offence They include external mitigating devices such as additional comments; and internal linguistic softening devices such as uncertainty markers, shifts in tense or condition, and softening lexical items or phrases External modification: additional comments, separate from the problem identification and advice giving Complement: Write something positive or good about your peer‟s essay E.g.: Well, yours is a very clear essay Internal modification: linguistic softeners a Uncertainty markers: You use to make the impression that you are not sure of your own comments i Use explicit statements of uncertainty: not sure, don‟t know… E.g.: I‟m not sure of this, you can check in the dictionary ii Use modal verbs, adverbs, phrases that indicate uncertainty: might, may, can… The modal verbs: must and should are out of choice because they show very strong direct E.g.: This question can be clearer if you use a pronoun iii Use questions, rather than bald statements or imperatives to identify a problem or propose a potential solution 53 E.g.: Did you conclude your ideas in the conclusion? b Past tense, conditional: Create a sense of distance between the speaker and the commentator E.g.: I thought it would be better if you put a pronoun here If you gave more examples, your essay would be nicer Other linguistic softeners: i Use verb: seem E.g.: It seems that your essay may lack of coherence iii Use parenthetical phrases such as I think, I‟m afraid… E.g.: I think you need more examples Handout 2: Strategies for Offering Peer Comments There are main strategies for offering peer comment: identify the problem and give advice Identifying the problem: State the problem or errors, mistakes that your peer make in his/her essay Be specific as possible because it can help your peer revise better Some negative words such as “weak” or “wrong” should not be used E.g.: I think you have written conclusions I cannot see your topic sentence Giving advice: “Don’t” and “Do” Explain how the problem can be repaired 54 E.g.: You write “h-e-r-e” but I think it is “t-h-e-r-e” Please note that English speakers often choose to avoid the following” - Don‟t use the modals/phrasal modals should, must, have to, ought to E.g.: You should write more clearly (Too strong) - Do use the modals: can, could… E.g.: You might want to give more examples - Don‟t use imperatives: E.g.: Write more clearly (Too strong) Handout 3: Peer comments Name: ……………………………………………………… ………Class:………… Email: ……………………………………………………………………………… Phone number: ……………………………………………………………………… Please give your comments on the following essay about the last holiday of a boy You are advised to have a look at the following questions before you give comments Thank you very much for your cooperation! (Your name will not be given to anyone If you would like to know more about my research, you can leave your email and phone number so that I can give you more information and invite you to have an interview.) Questions: These following questions are useful for you to give comments on your peer‟s writing You can answer these questions when you give comments on the writing Organization: Does the essay directly discuss the topic? 55 Is there a clear organizational structure, i.e does it have three parts: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion? Is the introduction brief and to the point? Does it indicate the main ideas that you will discuss in the body? Are there several paragraphs in the body, each making a different specific point? Is there a brief conclusion that summarizes the main points in the argument? Are the ideas properly linked? Ideas: Is the writer‟s opinion clear or you think the writer is not quite sure what he or she thinks? Are the ideas relevant and well supported by evidence and examples? Are the arguments presented logically? 10 Are the arguments developed from one paragraph to another or does the writer just repeat him/herself? Grammar/vocabulary: 11 Is there a variety of sentence structure and vocabulary or is there a lot of repetition? 12 Are the linking words (i.e words used to link ideas) helpful or they confuse you? 13 Are the sentences grammatically accurate? Essay: Two weeks ago I came back from holiday I had gone to Turkey The weather was great albeit I was imprisoned in the hotel for two days becouse of heavy rain At the beggining I though that I could not abide staying at the hotel for two days However when I started getting acquainted with other holidaymakers I totally forgot about the 56 bad weather condition and all my negative attitude just gone The gruop of my new friends agumented hour by hour When somebody offered me a drink my answer was always affirmative Eventually I ended up at different rooms each night In the last three days the weather forecast was absolutley wonderful So my friends and me planned a trip to the local market in order to buy some souvenirs When we reached our destination the most astonish think for me was that I had to bargain over the price about every product Before arriving to the hotel we had eaten at a restaurant I ordered helping of stawed vegetables, which tasted lovely, and lamb with bland taste At the airport each of us exchanged phone numbers with each other and now I am looking forward to seeing them again Comments: -57 Appendix 5: Questions for interview FOR STUDENTS Do you find it hard to give comments on your peer‟s writing? Before giving comments, what you often do? Do you give compliments on your peers‟ essays though they did not make any or little effort? Do you correct your peer‟s writing immediately when you find a mistake? If not, what you do? Do you use questions or modal verbs to ask your peers to improve their writing? Do you use some phrases sounding polite such as “please”? Do you think that English native speakers like what you in peer commenting? After receiving comments from your peers, what you think? Do you agree with them all? Can you improve your essays then basing on these comments? FOR TEACHERS Have you ever looked at the peer comments section in your students‟ writing assignments? What you think of the structures or words used by students? Do you think that English native speakers use language like that? Do you teach your students to give comments on the very beginning of the writing course? 58 Do you think that the peer-commenting section is important? Do you think that the students can get benefits from the peer-commenting section? 59 REFERENCE English books Blum-Kulka, Shoshana, 1991 Interlanguage pragmatics: the case of requests In: Phillipson, R., Kellerman, E., Selinker, L., Sharwood Smith, M., Swain, M (Eds.), Foreign/Second Language Pedagogy Research Multilingual Matters Clevedon, Avon, pp 255–272 Brown, P and Levinson, S (1990) Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage Cambridge University Press Cooke, M A (1970) Suggestions for developing more positive attitude toward native speakers of Spanish In H N Seelye (Ed.) Perspectives for teachers of Latin American culture Springfield, IL: State Department of Public Instruction Chastain, K (1971) The development of modern language skills: Theory to practice Chicago: Rand McNally Crystal, D (1992) An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Language and Languages England: Blackwell Do Thi Mai Thanh, Dao Thu Trang (2006) Introduction to Cross Cultural Communication Gardner, R C., & Lambert, W E (1959) Motivational variables in second language acquisition Canadian Journal of Psychology 13, 266-272 Gardner, R C., & Lambert, W E (1965) Language, aptitude, intelligence, and second language achievement Journal of Educational Psychology 56, 191-199 Gardner, R C., & Lambert, W E (1972) Attitudes and motivation in second language learning Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House 10 Kaplan, J (1972) Cultural thought patterns - in Intercultural Education in Language Teaching 16, pp.1-20 11 Kramsch, C (1998), Language and Culture, Oxford: OUP 12 Kramsch, C (2001) Language and Culture Oxford: Oxford University Press 60 13 Kitao, K (2000) Teaching Culture in Foreign Language Instruction in the Unites States Online documents at URL http://ilc2.doshisha.ac.jp/users/kkitao/library/article/culture.htm [14.06.2004] 14 Levine, D.R & Adelman, M.B (1982) Beyond Language – Intercultural Communication for English as a Second Language Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 15 Ngo Huu Hoang (1998) A cross – cultural study on thanking and responding to thanks in English and Vietnamese M.A thesis College of Foreign Languages VNU 16 Nguyen, T.T.M & Basturkmen, H (2010) Teaching Constructive Critical Feedback In N Houck and D Tatsuki (Eds.), Pragmatics: Teaching speech acts (pp 125-140) Alexandria, VA: TESOL Inc 17 Nguyen, T.T.M (2008) Criticizing in a L2: Pragmatic strategies used by Vietnamese EFL learner Intercultural Pragmatics (1), 41-66 18 Nguyen, T.T.M (2008) Modifying L2 criticisms: How learners it? Journal of Pragmatics, 40 (4), 768-791 19 Nguyen, T.T.M (2005) Pragmatic development in L2 use of criticisms: A case of Vietnamese EFL learners In Foster-Cohen, Susan H 20 Nguyen Quang (1998) Cross-cultural Communication CFL - Vietnam National University - Hanoi 21 Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao (2009) The Influence of some Vietnamese Cultural Factors on Freshmen‟s English Communication B.A thesis CFL - Vietnam National University - Hanoi 22 Oxford University (2005) Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary Oxford University Press 23 Richards, J C and Schimidt, R W (1983) Language and Communication London and New York: Longman 61 24 Pulverness, A (2003) Distinctions & Dichotomies: Culture-free, Culture-bound Online documents at URL http://elt.britcoun.org.pl/forum/distanddich.htm [17.06.2004] 25 Saville-Troike, M (1982) The Ethnography of Communication: An Introduction Oxford: Basil Blackwell 26 Stainer, F (1971) Culture: A motivating factor in the French classroom In C Jay & P Castle (Eds.), French language education: The teaching of culture in the classroom Springfield, IL: State Department of Public Instruction 27 UNESCO (2002) UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity 28 Yule, G (1996) The Study of Language (2nd Edition) Cambridge: CUP 29 Yule, G (1996) Pragmatics Oxford: OUP Vietnamese books NguyÔn Quang, (2002) Giao tiếp giao tiếp giao văn hoá NXB Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội Nguyễn Quang, (2003) Giao tiếp nội văn hoá giao văn hoá NXB Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội Nguyễn Quang, (2004) Một số vấn đề giao tiếp nội văn hóa giao húa NXB Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội Nguyen, T.T.M (2006) Nghiên cứu thực nghiệm chuyển di ngữ dụng tiêu cực hành vi ngôn ngữ phê phán người Việt Nam học tiếng Anh ngoại ngữ Tạp chí Ngơn ngữ 2, 20-30 62 ... Vietnamese cultural factors that have influence on peer comments given by Vietnamese freshmen and their typical ways of commenting in the 2011 - 2012 academic school-year It was found that Vietnamese... the following Vietnamese dialogue to prove that Vietnamese people prefer indirect style in communication This is taken from their work Let‟s see the dialogue: - Host: Chả bác đến nhà chơi, mời... to evaluate the influence of Vietnamese culture on the peer comments of freshmen The specific objectives of the study are: - to evaluate the influence of Vietnamese culture on peer comments of