A contrastive analysis of performative verbs in english and vietnamese

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ……………o0o…………… TRẦN THỊ THU HIỀN A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF PERFORMATIVE VERBS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE (PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU ĐỘNG TỪ NGỮ VI TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15 HANOI - 2011 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ……………o0o…………… TRẦN THỊ THU HIỀN A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF PERFORMATIVE VERBS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE (PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU ĐỘNG TỪ NGỮ VI TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Võ Đại Quang HANOI - 2011 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv ABBREVIATIONS vi CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.2.1 Aims 1.2.2 Objectives 1.2.3 Research questions 1.3 Scope of the study 1.4 Method of the study 1.5 Organization of the study CHAPTER TWO THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 Speech Act Theory 2.1.1 Definition of speech acts 2.1.2 Components of speech acts 2.1.3 Speech Act Classification 2.1.4 Illocutionary force indicating device 2.1.5 Felicity conditions 2.1.6 The relationship between speech acts and speech act verbs 2.1.7 Property of speech act verbs 2.2 Performatives 2.2.1 Performatives versus Constatives 2.2.2 Definition of Performatives 10 2.2.3 Types of performatives 10 2.2.3.1 Explicit performative 10 2.2.3.2 Implicit performative 11 2.3 Performative verbs 12 2.3.1 Definition of performative verbs which 12 v 2.3.2 The function of performative verbs 12 2.3.3 Classification of performative verbs 13 2.3.3.1 Meta-linguistic performative verbs 13 2.3.3.2 Ritual performative verbs 13 2.3.3.3 Collaborate performative verbs 13 2.4 Summary 14 CHAPTER THREE A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH DIRECTIVE PERFORMATIVE VERBS AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS 15 3.1 Syntactic features of directive PVs 15 3.1.1 Directive PVs in English 15 3.1.2 Directive PVs in Vietnamese 17 3.1.3 Similarities and differences of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese in terms of syntactic features 19 3.1.3.1 Similarities 19 3.1.3.2 Differences 19 3.2 Semantic features of directive PVs 21 3.2.1 Directive PVs in English 21 3.2.2 Directive PVs in Vietnamese 28 3.2.3 Similarities and differences of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese in terms of semantic features 31 3.2.3.1 Similarities 31 3.2.3.2 Differences 32 CHAPTER FOUR CONCLUSION 34 4.1 Recapitulation 34 4.2 Concluding remarks 34 4.2.1 Concluding remarks on objective 34 4.2.2 Concluding remarks on objective 35 4.2.3 Concluding remarks on objective 35 4.3 Limitation of the study 36 4.4 Suggestions for further study 36 REFERENCES vii APPENDIX ix iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CANDIDATE‟S STATEMENT i ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv ABBREVIATIONS vi CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.2.1 Aims 1.2.2 Objectives 1.2.3 Research questions 1.3 Scope of the study 1.4 Method of the study 1.5 Organization of the study CHAPTER TWO THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 Speech Act Theory 2.1.1 Definition of speech acts 2.1.2 Components of speech acts 2.1.3 Speech Act Classification 2.1.4 Illocutionary force indicating device 2.1.5 Felicity conditions 2.1.6 The relationship between speech acts and speech act verbs 2.1.7 Property of speech act verbs 2.2 Performatives 2.2.1 Performatives versus Constatives 2.2.2 Definition of Performatives 10 2.2.3 Types of performatives 10 2.2.3.1 Explicit performative 10 2.2.3.2 Implicit performative 11 2.3 Performative verbs 12 2.3.1 Definition of performative verbs which 12 v 2.3.2 The function of performative verbs 12 2.3.3 Classification of performative verbs 13 2.3.3.1 Meta-linguistic performative verbs 13 2.3.3.2 Ritual performative verbs 13 2.3.3.3 Collaborate performative verbs 13 2.4 Summary 14 CHAPTER THREE A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH DIRECTIVE PERFORMATIVE VERBS AND THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS 15 3.1 Syntactic features of directive PVs 15 3.1.1 Directive PVs in English 15 3.1.2 Directive PVs in Vietnamese 17 3.1.3 Similarities and differences of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese in terms of syntactic features 19 3.1.3.1 Similarities 19 3.1.3.2 Differences 19 3.2 Semantic features of directive PVs 21 3.2.1 Directive PVs in English 21 3.2.2 Directive PVs in Vietnamese 28 3.2.3 Similarities and differences of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese in terms of semantic features 31 3.2.3.1 Similarities 31 3.2.3.2 Differences 32 CHAPTER FOUR CONCLUSION 34 4.1 Recapitulation 34 4.2 Concluding remarks 34 4.2.1 Concluding remarks on objective 34 4.2.2 Concluding remarks on objective 35 4.2.3 Concluding remarks on objective 35 4.3 Limitation of the study 36 4.4 Suggestions for further study 36 REFERENCES vii APPENDIX ix vi ABBREVIATIONS A: Action CA: Contrastive analysis EPV: English Performative Verb EPVs: English Performative Verbs EPs: Explicit Performatives H: Hearer IF: Illocutionary Force IFIDs: Illocutionary Force Indicating Devices IPs: Implicit Performatives PV: Performative Verb S: Speaker SA: Speech act SAs: Speech acts U: Utterance Us: Utterances VPV: Vietnamese Performative Verb VPVs: Vietnamese Performative Verbs CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study Language is an inseparable part in people‟s life because it is employed to transmit information, to state facts, to express thoughts and to get so many things done It is true that verbs referring to speech constitute one of the most important areas of the vocabulary of any language Every day, we use the verbs of ask, tell, require, apologize, promise, thank and so on to communicate together Moreover, we try to interpret what kinds of speech acts they are performing, that is, when someone says something, we have to categorize their utterances as this or that kind of speech acts For instance, is this an advice? is this a suggestion? is this a request? or is this a warning? Among speech act verbs, PVs are crucially importance to the way we interpret what other people are saying because PVs signal the performance of acts PVs play a very esential role in communication, so learners of foreign language should pay much attention to PVs However, there is a fact that leaners of English have not been well equipped with a all-sided knowledge of EPVs and the meanings of PVs have never been systematically investigated For example, learners of English often make confusion about the meanings of the verbs “request” and “demand”, “suggest” and “propose”, “beg” and “entreat”, etc As a result, they not often make proper uses of EPVs in communication and even may break their real communication Recognizing the importance of PVs in communication and the problems learners may face in using PVs, I decide to carry out a contrastive analysis of English and Vietnamese directive PVs in terms of syntactic and semantic features With this peculiar function, PVs that play an essential role in performing speech acts need being further studied to serve better communication 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.2.1 Aims The study is aimed at: - raising Vietnamese learner‟s awareness of how to realize the meanings of EPVs and use them appropriately in order to achieve communicative purposes - providing teachers of English with useful materials about the knowledge of PVs 1.2.2 Objectives To achieve these aims, the research tries to: - present and describe the structures and the meanings of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese - point out the similarities and differences of directive EPVs and their Vietnamese equivalents in terms of syntax and semantics - suggest some implications for learning and teaching English directive PVs 1.2.3 Research questions The objectives are elaborated into the following research questions: - What are the structures and meanings of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese ? - What are the similarities and differences of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese? - What are the possible recommendations for learning and teaching English directive PVs? 1.3 Scope of the study Due to the limited time and the scale of the minor thesis, the study is focused on directive PVs which are most frequently used in written discourse in English and Vietnamese 1.4 Method of the study The main method in the study is the contrastive analysis (CA) of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese The term CA is defined by James, C (1980:3) as “a linguistic enterprise aimed at producing inverted (i.e contrastive, not comparative) two-valued typologies (a CA is always concerned with a pair of languages), and founded on the assumption that language can be compared.” According to Richard, J.C et al (1992), CA is “the comparison of the linguistic systems of two languages” As far as I know, CA is the systematic study of a pair of languages with a view to identifying the differences and similarities It is considered as a device for predicting and explaining difficult points and some errors that learners will make in learning a target language The author uses the following principles in order to achieve the aims and objectives of the study: + Collecting data containing directive PVs + Choosing data sources from ebook + Choosing type of data: original texts in English and Vietnamese translation equivalents + Choosing instrumental languages: English is selected as the source language and Vietnamese as the target language Important techniques which are employed in the study include: + observing data on translation texts +systematizing and categorizing data 1.5 Organization of the study Chapter one: Introduction This part presents the rationale, aims, objectives, scope and method of the study Chapter two: Theoretical Background This chapter provides the theoretical concepts and terms that are necessary and relevant to directive PVs Chapter three: A contrastive analysis of directive PVs in English and in Vietnamese This chapter is focused on exploring the structures and meanings of directive EPVs and their Vietnamese equivalents Then, some similarities and differences are drawn out to illustrate the contrastive analysis of the two languages Last but not least, some recommendations for learning and teaching will be suggested Chapter four: Conclusion This is the last part of the thesis which summarizes main points, gives concluding remarks on objectives as well as suggestions for further study 26 Tôi xin ông đừng để Strickland đến Tôi cầu xin ông đừng đưa Strickland  The ask2 group - The verb “ask” In the sense of „asking a question‟ (e.g “ask who”, “ask where”, “ask when”, “ask whether”, “ask why”, “ask whom”) to ask is to request the hearer to perform a future speech act that would give the original speaker a correct answer to his question When the speaker asks questions, he does not expect a favour from the addressee E.g: - There is something I want to ask you Have you ever heard anything from your father's kinsfolk, the Eyres? (27: chapter 10) Tơi muốn hỏi vài điều Cơ có nhận tin tức họ nội không? (28: chapter 10) - “You never felt jealousy, did you, Miss Eyre? Of course not: I need not ask you; because you never felt love.” (27: chapter 15) “Cô chưa cảm thấy ghen tuông, không Eyre? Tất nhiên đúng, tơi chẳng cần phải hỏi cô yêu đâu mà ghen với chả tuông.” (28: chapter 15) - "I ask you, Mr Treloar, can any man call any woman a pig?" (38) Thưa ông Treloar, hỏi ông liệu có gọi người phụ nữ lợn chưa? - The verb “inquire” To inquire is to question something with the expectation of an answer which is assertive The difference between ask and inquire is that the first is quite compatible with prior knolwedge and may be done to test the addressee rather than to find out meanwhile the second implies lack of knowledge and a desire to know E.g: "Far from it, sir You perhaps, think me rude if I inquire in return whether you are a philanthropist?" (27: chapter 14) “Cịn lâu thưa ơng chủ Nhưng ơng nghĩ tơi đứa thơ lỗ tơi hỏi lại ơng ơng có phải người bác không?” (28: chapter 14)  The advise group PVs of this group may be advise, suggest, recommend, warn, propose, remind, etc - The verb “advise” 27 When the speaker gives advice, he thinks that he knows what the addressee should and he says confidently that it will be a good thing if the addressee follows the proposed course of action The speaker does not say that he wants the addressee to follow the proposed course of action but he rather expects that he will so E.g: - I would advise you to look out: if another comes, with a longer or clearer rent-roll, you are dished (27: chapter 19) Tôi muốn khuyên anh nên thận trọng chẳng may có gã đàn ông khác, nhiều tiền xuất anh bị hắt rìa (28: chapter 19) - Were I not morally certain that your uncle will be dead ere you reach Madeira, I would advise you to accompany Mr Mason back (27: chapter 26) Khơng biết gắng gượng thở cô đến Mandeira không, biết tơi khun đến với ơng Mason (28: chapter 26) - The verb “suggest” In the directive sense, the act of suggestting is just to make a weak attempt to get someone to something The person making a suggestion thinks that it might be a good thing if the addressee does it The speaker does not attempt to influence the hearer, that is, he merely tries to assist the hearer in making his own decision by drawing his attention to some possibilities which he might have overlooked E.g: “I fear there is not very much,‟ I answered „I might suggest that you have gone about in fear of some personal attack within the last twelvemonth.‟(29 - The “Gloria Scott”,1893) Cháu khơng thể nói nhiều bác Cháu nhắc cho bác thời gian gần đây, bác có lo sợ công nhằm vào cá nhân (30 – Con tàu Gloria Scott, 1893) -“If you wish to preserve your incognito,” said Holmes, smiling, “I would suggest that you cease to write your name upon the lining of your hat, or else that you turn the crown towards the person whom you are addressing (29 - The Yellow Face, 1893) “Nếu ông muốn ẩn danh” Holmes mỉm cười nói, “tôi nhắc ơng đừng viết tên mảnh vải lót mũ, đừng xoay mũ lại để người nói chuyện với thấy hàng chữ đó.” (30 – Bộ mặt vàng vọt, 1893) - The verb “warn” 28 To warn someone to something is to suggest that he it, while presupposing that it would be bad for him not to it E.g: „I must warn you, however, Mr Melas, that if at any time to-night you attempt to raise an alarm or anything which is against my interest, you will find it a very serious thing.‟ (29 - The Greek Interpreter, 1893) Tuy nhiên, phải báo trước, nế u ông tìm cách báo động hoặc làm bấ t cứ điề u gì chớ ng lại tơi ơng hối hận (30 – Người thông ngôn Hy Lạp, 1893) - "I don't care about it, mother; you may please yourself: but I ought to warn you, I have no faith." (27: chapter 19) Tơi khơng quan tâm đến chuyện thưa bà Bà bói cảm thấy thích, xin báo trước không tin đâu (28: chapter 19) - "I warn you," was his friend's answer; "I say be on your guard when you go near her.” (27: chapter 20) Tôi báo trước ông phải cẩn thận đến gần (28: chapter 20) - The verb “remind” When the speaker reminds the hearer, he wants the addressee to remember something that would be useful for the hearer E.g: "I only remind you of your own words, sir: you said error brought remorse, and you pronounced remorse the poison of existence." (27: chapter 14) “Tôi nhắc ơng nhớ lại lời ơng vừa nói thơi, thưa ơng: ơng nói lầm lạc dẫn đến hối hận, ông đảm bảo hối hận thuốc độc sinh tồn” (28: chapter 14) - "I would remind you of your lady's existence, sir, which the law recognises, if you not." (27: chapter 26) “Tôi muốn nhắc ông nhớ lại tồn quý bà nhà ông, thưa ông Pháp luật công nhận bà ấy, cho dù ông không công nhận” (28: chapter 26) 3.2.2 Directive PVs in Vietnamese  The “order” group 29 The “order” group in English has Vietnamese equivalents of verbs such as lệnh, truyền, bảo, thách, yêu cầu, giao, phân công, thị, buộc, hạn, etc These verbs mean imposing a duty, a responsibility, or an obligation on the hearer In other words, the speaker is in a position of considerable power over the hearer E.g: - “John, đừng nhắc đến với mẹ đi, mẹ bảo khơng lại gần mà Nó đâu đáng để đếm xỉa.” (28: chapter 4) "Don't talk to me about her, John: I tell you not to go near her; she is not worthy of notice;”(27: chapter 4) - Vì vậy, tơi u cầu ông phải đối xử tử tế với Hường Bằng không (43, Ma Văn Kháng, Mưa tạnh) This sentence can be translated into: So, I require you to be nice to Huong If not - Xin ơi! Rầy tau giao cho mi việc đóng chuồng gà cha ! (39, Bùi Hiển, Nằm vạ) This can be translated into: Xin! I charge you to close the chicken coop Biết bị xỏ, quan quát: - Hay lắm! Mày tự xưng học trò, ta truyền cho mày phải đối lại câu mày vừa nói Ðối thơi, khơng tao cho trận dừ đòn! (44 - Truyện Trạng Quỳnh, Nhặt bã trầu) Being cheated, the mandarin shouts: - Very good! You tell me that you are a pupil, so I order you to reply the sentence you have said If you can not make a reply, I will give you a hard punishment!  The „ask1‟ group The „ask‟ group has a certain degree of imposition and speaker‟s desire for the hearer to the required acts A person can ask for anything for the sake of himself other than the interlocutor‟s sake This group includes đề nghị, bắt đền, mời, nhờ, năn nỉ, van, xin, thỉnh cầu, xin lỗi, xin phép E.g: - Tôi dám đề nghị em nán lại mái nhà đêm thơi, sau em vĩnh biệt nỗi buồn tủi bao khủng khiếp để đi! (27: chapter 27) I only ask you to endure one more night under this roof, Jane; and then, farewell to its miseries and terrors for ever! (28: chapter 27) - Bà vợ đáp: “Em van đừng lấy tơn giáo mà giễu.” (37: chapter 1) 30 "I ask you again not to joke about religion," answered his wife (36: chapter 1) - “Tôi e không Tôi đề nghị cô cứ ngồ i tại cái chỗ mà cô ngồ i đây” - Holmes kêu lên (30 – Bản hiệp ước hải quân, 1893) “I am afraid not,” said Holmes, shaking his head “I must ask you to remain sitting exactly where you are.” (29 - The Naval Treaty, 1893) - Công ty sẽ thu nhận ông Tôi sẽ báo tin, nào chúng quyế t ̣nh Và đây, xin ông yên , được ở một mình (30 – Người làm thuê cho nhà mơi giới chứng khốn, 1893) “I have every hope that the company may accommodate you I will let you know about it as soon as we come to any conclusion And now I beg that you will go For God‟s sake leave me to myself!” (29 - The Stock Broker's Clerk, 1893) In Vietnamese, begging suggests a humble, abject attitude The speaker implies that he sees the addressee as someone who has power over him, and he tries to flatter the hearer‟s sense of his own power The speaker is ready to acknowledge the potential the addressee‟s superior position Chị Dậu lếch ôm bé chạy vào: - Thơi Tơi xin ơng Cai! Ơng tha cho cháu Chúng cịn bé bỏng (41 - Ngô Tất Tố, Tắt đèn, chapter 4) This sentence can be translated as: - Mr Cai! I beg you! Please forgive me Our children are too small Chị Dậu xám mặt, vội vàng đặt bé xuống đất, chạy đến đỡ lấy tay hắn: - Cháu van ông, nhà cháu vừa tỉnh lúc, ông tha cho (41 - Ngô Tất Tố, Tắt đèn, chapter 19) This sentence can be translated as: - I beg you My husband has waken up Please forgive me  The ask2 group In Vietnamese, PVs in this group are hỏi, xin hỏi E.g: - Tôi hỏi chú, Bỉnh vợ người hay ma? (43 - Ma Văn Kháng, Trốn nợ) I ask you if your wife, Binh is a woman or a ghost? - À thầy hỏi Thế ủng hộ ai? (43 - Kim Lân, Làng) Oh, I ask you whom you support? 31  The “advise” group This group has Vietnamese equivalents such as khuyên, đề nghị, gợi ý, nhắc, báo trước, dặn, mách, etc The speaker thinks that he knows what the addressee should and he is confident that it will be a good thing if the addressee follows the proposed course of action E.g: - Em khuyên ông sống mong ông chết thản, (28: chapter 27) "I advise you to live sinless, and I wish you to die tranquil." (27: chapter 27) 3.2.3 Similarities and differences of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese in terms of semantic features 3.2.3.1 Similarities In general, EPVs have their Vietnamese equivalents in meaning Directive PVs in both languages make the illocutionary force explicit owing to the meanings of them The following table summarizes the meanings of directive PVs: PV groups EPVs - command, direct, dictate, VPVs - lệnh, lệnh order The “order” group The “ask1” group - charge - giao, cử, phân công - challenge - đố, thách - demand, require - yêu cầu, đòi hỏi - instruct - thị - prescribe - quy định, buộc - convene, convoke - triệu tập, đòi - ask, request - nhờ, yêu cầu, đề nghị - invite - mời - beg, beseech, entreat, insist, - van xin, năn nỉ, xin, invoke, appeal, implore, plead, van, cầu khẩn petion, solicit, supplicate The “ask2” group - ask, inquire, interrogate - hỏi, xin hỏi 32 The “advise” group - advise - khuyên - propose, suggest, - đề nghị, kiến nghị, gợi recommend ý, bày - encourage - khích lệ, động viên - warn, caution, admonish - dặn, cảnh báo, báo trước - remind - nhắc, mách 3.2.3.2 Differences There exists some differences established in this thesis between PVs in English and in Vietnamese Firstly, one difference is that the meanings of the verbs In comparison with English verb “advise”, the Vietnamese people use khuyên, khuyên nhủ, khuyên răn, khuyên bảo In comparison with English verb “invite”, Vietnamese people use mời, mời mọc In comparison with the verb “ban, forbid, prohibit”, we can use the Vietnamese verbs such as cấm, cấm đoán However, not all VPVs are utilized in explicit performative utterances Look at the example: Em mời anh xơi cơm (nguyen thien giap: 58), only the verb “mời” is used in this utterance We not use the verb “mời mọc‟ to say: Em mời mọc bác ăn cơm because “mời mọc” is used to describe the action of inviting To sum up, VPVs have more meaning than EPVs This can be explained that people in different cultures use different languages Another diference is that some VPVs have no English equivalents such as hạn, bắt đền Tôi hạn từ đến tối phải thu cho đủ Nếu không đủ sáng mai tơi phải trình quan (41 – Tắt đèn, chapter 2) Chú Thanh, diều cháu mà thua diều thằng Hùng dia à? Cháu bắt đền (43Chàng trai sân thượng) U chưa đem chị Tý cho u? Con bắt đền Con bắt đền u (41 – Tắt đèn, chapter15) Since the vocabulary is language-specific, we can not always find out the equivalent of a performative verb in a language with another one The same illocutionary force can be expressed in other ways 33 Last but not least, the number and the range of modal verbs followed by PVs are not totally identical in the two languages In English, the number of modal verbs outweights ones in Vietnamese The English modal verbs may include want to, would, wouldn‟t, would like, can, must, might, ought to whereas in Vietnamese there are only some such as muốn, xin, phải Yes, Mrs Reed, to you I owe some fearful pangs of mental suffering, but I ought to forgive you, for you knew not what you did: while rending my heart-strings, you thought you were only uprooting my bad propensities (27: chapter 3) Vâng, thưa bà Reed, bà mà thần kinh tơi khiếp đảm Nhưng tơi phải tha thứ cho bà bà đâu có ý thức việc làm Khi làm tơi đau lịng, bà nghĩ làm cốt để nhổ tận gốc rễ thói xấu tơi thơi (28: chapter 3) The author hopes that the analysis of similaries and differences of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese may be of paramount significance and importance to teachers in teaching and Vietnamese learners of English learning English as a foreign language 34 CHAPTER FOUR CONCLUSION 4.1 Recapitulation The thesis is about the contrastive analysis of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese The study is an attempt to describe and systematize directive PVs in terms of syntactic and semantic features Besides, the author tries to provide readers with a thorough and brief overview of theory to find out the nature, type, function and conditions of using PVs Through the observation and description of data, the study is investigated to analyze syntactic and semantic features of PVs employed in directives The contrastive analysis of authentic examples paves the way for the comprehensive study of using PVs in both languages In this perspective, all possible similarities and differences are revealed clearly The findings show that there are more differences than similarities in terms of structure, meaning and using The significant differences reflect the way people in different cultures conceive, think about, understand and feel the world dissimilarily 4.2 Concluding remarks 4.2.1 Concluding remarks on objective Directives are those kinds of speech acts that the speaker uses to get someone else to something Basing on the Dictionary “Speech act verbs” (Wierzbicka,1987), I describe the structures and meanings of directive PVs in the “order” group, “ask1” group, “ask2” group, “advise” group in turn In each of group, directive PVs which are used most frequently in written discourse are presented In general, all directive PVs have the formula “I (hereby) Vp you ” In terms of meaning, the “order” group including order, command, demand, direct, charge, etc shows the speaker‟s authority over the hearer that gives weight to his utterances In performing the act of ordering, the speaker is in an equal or superior communicative role to the hearer The “ask1” group comprising asking, begging, reminding, beseeching, entreating, etc indicates that the hearer is in equal or inferiore position with the addressee The “ask2” group are acts of asking, inquiring, interrogating, etc which expresses the speaker‟s desire for getting the needed information The “advise” group consists of advising, suggesting, reminding, warning, etc These acts are mainly for the 35 hearer‟s benefit, thus there is an option on the hearer doing the acts Additionally, the speaker has power over the hearer, mainly coming from his wisdom and experience 4.2.2 Concluding remarks on objective A contrastive analysis of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese shows some similarities and differences as follows Syntactically, the difference is that directive PVs in both languages appear in explicit performative utterances which contains the 1st person pronoun “I”, followed by a certain type of verb in the present tense E.g “I order ”, “I advise ”, “I warn ” etc However, there exist some differences of syntactic features EPVs have more complicated forms than VPVs EPVs can go with that-clause or to infinitive or to require a preposition to combine a noun functioning as a object whereas VPVs often occur in the complex sentences Besides, EPVs always follow the first singular pronoun meanwhile the first pronoun of VPVs can be omitted This can be explained by different nature and features in both languages Also, in terms of semantics, it is common that directive PVs in English and Vietnamese make the illocution of an utterance more explicit or clearer In general, directive PVs in English and Vietnamese coincide in meanings but some VPVs which have no equivalents in meaning with EPVs such as hạn, bắt đền, etc (e.g U chưa đem chị Tý cho u? Con bắt đền Con bắt đền U (41 - Tắt đèn) 4.2.3 Concluding remarks on objective The analysis of the similarities and differences of PVs in English and Vietnamese may be significant and important to teaching and learning PVs Through describing the structures and meanings of directive PVs which are used most frequently, Vietnamese teachers and learners will have a clear understanding of using PVs to avoid the confusion about meanings of directive PVs The findings of the study have given the foundation for the suggestion to improve an effective usage as well as better teaching and learning of PVs of directives in second language classes It is necessary to learn PVs from examples in stories and novels so as to enhances the learner‟s ability of using the target language In the hope of helping Vietnamese learners fully aware of directive PVs, some exercises are suggested below 36 Teachers can ask students to these types of exercises (see the here with enclosed appendix) and then give them feedback, at the same time, teachers should emphasize the structures and situational meanings when we use directive PVs 4.3 Limitation of the study Although the thesis has been given much time and efforts, it is inevitable to avoid shortcomings for the limitations in the ability of the research as well as the inadequacy of materials It is hoped that the thesis can receive a lot of contributions from all the teachers and opinions from readers so that it can become better and more effective 4.4 Suggestions for further study In briefly, this study has just touches a small aspect of performative verbs The author is aware that there are some important matters remaining unanswered An interesting point which needs further research is a contrastive analysis of PVs in English and Vietnamese employed in representatives, commissives, expressives, declarations vii REFERENCES In English Austin, J.L (1962), How to things with words, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press Austin, J.L (1975), How to things with words, Oxford: Clarendon Press Bronte, E (1994), Withering Heights, Book Essentials Promotion, Inc Geis, Michael L (1995), Speech acts and conversational interaction, Cambridge University Press Jame, C (1980), Contrastive analysis Longman, London James R Hurford and Brendam Heasey (1983), Semantics : A course book, Cambridge University Press Lado, R (1957), Linguistics Across Cultures, The University of Michgan Press Levinson, S.C (1983), Pragmatics, Cambridge University Press Nguyen Hoa (2004), Understanding Semantics, NXB Đai Hoc Quoc Gia Ha Noi 10 Palmer, F.R (1990), Semantics, Cambridge University Press 11 Partridge, J G (1982), Semantics, Pragmatics and Syntactic Correlates: An analysis of Performative Verbs based on English data 12 Patterson, J (1997), Cat and Mouse, Waner Books 13 Richards, J.C et al (1992), Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics Longman Press, Malaysia 14 Searle, J.R (1969), Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language Cambridge University Press 15 Searle, J.R (1979), Expression and meaning, Cambridge University Press 16 Skinner, B.F (1962), Walden Two, Macmillan Paperbacks Edition 17 Thomas, J (1995), Meaning in Interaction: An introduction to Pragmatics UK: Longman 18 Verschuren, J (1999), Unnderstanding Pragmatics, Oxford University Press 19 Wierzbicka, A (1987), English Speech Act Verbs Academic Press, Australia 20 Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1953), Phylosophical investigations, Newyork: Macmillan 21 Yule, G (1996), Pragmatics, New York : Oxford University Press viii In Vietnamese 22 Đỗ Hữu Châu (2006), Đại cương ngôn ngữ học, Tập 2: Ngữ dụng học, NXB Giáo dục 23 Nguyễn Công Hoan, (1930), Hai thằng khốn nạn, Annam tạp chí số 12; 1930 24 Nguyễn Thiện Giáp (2004), Dụng Học Việt Ngữ, NXB Đại Học Quốc Gia hà Nội 25 Nguyễn Xuân Kính, Nguyễn Thúy Loan, Phan Đăng Nhật, Phan Đăng Tài, Đặng Diệu Trang (1995), Kho tàng ca dao người Việt, Tập 2, NXB Văn Hóa 26 Lê Văn Sự (2011), Tuyển tập 110 đọc văn chương Anh Mỹ, NXB Hồng Đức Sources of extracted examples: 27 http://www.online-literature.com/brontec/janeeyre/ 28 http://www.e-thuvien.com (Dịch giả: Nguyễn Tuyên, Bản dịch Jane Eyre, 2008, NXB Văn Học, www.thuvien-ebook.com) 29 http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/d/doyle/arthur_conan/d75me/index.html 30 http://www.thamtuvn.org (Tác giả :Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , Những hồ i ức về Sherlock Holmes, 1894, www.thuvien-ebook.com) 31 http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/gdemaupassant/bl-gdemaupaffairofstate.htm/ (Translators: Albert M.C McMaster, A.E Henderson, Mme Quesada, & others) 32 http://www.huongdaumua.net/46-1-lsdt/ba-nguoi-khac-chuong-2-to-hoai.htm/ 33 http://tailieu.vn/xem-tai-lieu/dong-hao-co-ma.433384.html/ 34 http://www.online-literature.com/maugham/moon-and-sixpence/ 35 http://www.online-literature.com/maugham/the-magician/ 36 http://maugham.classicauthors.net/Rain/ 37 http://www.wattpad.com/mưa-somerset-maugham-nguyễn-hiến-lê-dịch-truyện/ 38 http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Jack_London/The_Night_Born/UnderTheDeck Awnings/ 39 http://vietmessenger.com/books/namva/ 40 http://www.talachu.org/truyen./ 41 http://music.vietfun.com/ 42 http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/aos.html/ 43 http://www.huongdaumua.net/ 44 http://vinanet.dk/printer_friendly_posts.asp?TID=5631 ix APPENDIX Exercise 1: In each of the groups below only the (a) utterances would be performative in Austin‟s view Think about why the (b) and (c) utterances would not be classed as performative (a) I admit I failed the exam (b) I think I failed the exam (c) I know I failed the exam (a) I apologize to you (b) I amuse you (c) I flatter you (a) I promise to leave (b) I warned you to stop (c) He admits he was wrong Exercise 2: Look at the following pairs of utterances What are differences between the utterances in each pair? (a) I promise to arrive soon (b) I‟ll arrive soon (a) I admit I was careless (b) I was careless (a) I warn you, this food is stale (b) This food is stale (a) I apologize (b) I‟m sorry Exercise 3: Choose a suitable PV that can produce the perlocution referred to by each of the following situations: warn, order, promise, request, thank, apologize I‟ll pay you back I‟m very grateful I‟m sorry to hear that You must sit down There‟s a spider in your hair I need the salt x Exercise 4: Are the following performative verbs or not? (1) apologize Yes / No (4) condemn Yes / No (2) authorize Yes / No (5) warn Yes / No (3) argue Yes / No (6) squeal Yes / No ... similaries and differences of directive PVs in English and Vietnamese may be of paramount significance and importance to teachers in teaching and Vietnamese learners of English learning English as a foreign... speech acts According to an American language philosopher J.R Searle, speaking a language is performing speech acts, acts such as making statements, asking questions, giving command or making promises... Concluding remarks on objective The analysis of the similarities and differences of PVs in English and Vietnamese may be significant and important to teaching and learning PVs Through describing