An american vietnamese cross cultural study of interrupting and asking for clarification in business meetings

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONALSTUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES BÙI THỊ MAI AN AMERICAN –VIETNAMESE CROSS –CULTURAL STUDY OF INTERRUPTING AND ASKING FOR CLARIFICATION IN BUSINESS MEETINGS (Nghiên cứu giao văn hóa Việt-Mỹ cách thức ngắt lời yêu cầu làm rõ ý họp kinh doanh) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 HANOI – 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONALSTUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES BÙI THỊ MAI AN AMERICAN –VIETNAMESE CROSS –CULTURAL STUDY OF INTERRUPTING AND ASKING FOR CLARIFICATION IN BUSINESS MEETINGS (Nghiên cứu giao văn hóa Việt-Mỹ cách thức ngắt lời yêu cầu làm rõ ý họp kinh doanh) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Prof NGUYỄN QUANG, Ph.D HANOI – 2016 DECLARATION I certify that the work presented in this research report has been performed and interpreted solely by myself I confirm that this paper is submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the M.A Degree and has not been submitted elsewhere in any other form for the fulfillment of any other degree or qualification Hanoi, 2016 Bùi Thị Mai i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This M.A thesis could not have been accomplished without the invaluable help, encouragement and support form a number of people who I would like to show my sincerest gratitude and appreciation To begin with, I would like to express my greatest and deepest thankfulness to Prof Nguyen Quang, my supervisor, for his enthusiastic and precious guideline and advice throughout the duration of my thesis Without his instruction and supervision, this thesis could not have reached the fulfillment Additionally, I wish to send my special thanks to Mr Hoang Van Nam, a sales representative at Danko Logistic Company, for his wholehearted facilitation Without his support, I cannot obtain emails for contacting American and Vietnamese businesspeople to ask for their participation in my study Thus, my honest thanks also come to the American and Vietnamese businesspeople who passionately provide their responses to my DCT and MCQ Last but not least, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my family and relatives particularly my father, mother and brother who have always supported me and supplied the best conditions for me to complete this thesis ii ABSTRACT This paper is carried out at endeavor of exploring the linguistic politeness strategies utilized by the Vietnamese and the American businesspeople in making interruption and asking for clarification in business meetings From that, major similarities and differences between the two languages in this regard are revealed On the basis of quantitative method, discourse completion task (DCT) is employed to collect data from participants including thirty Vietnamese native speakers and American ones who are currently working in business sector The result reveals that the positive politeness strategy namely “minimizing imposition” is the most common strategy used by American businesspeople while their Vietnamese counterparts prefer “apologizing and minimizing imposition” in semiformal and informal business meetings Moreover, the speaker‟s ages, genders and positions have great influence on the choice of politeness strategy for Vietnamese businesspeople while those factors make no significant influence on the American ones iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of abbreviations .vii List of tables viii List of figures ix CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Significance of the study Aims and objectives of the study 3.1 Aims of the study 3.2 Objectives of the study Scope of the study Research questions Research method Structure of the study CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Key concepts defined and discussed 1.1 Culture 1.2 Business culture 1.2.1 Overview of American business culture 1.2.2 Overview of Vietnamese business culture 1.3 Cross- culture and cross-cultural communication Overview of cross-cultural pragmatics Interrupting as a speech act iv 3.1 Definition of interrupting 3.2 Theory of speech act 10 3.3 Interrupting as a speech act 11 Politeness strategies in interrupting and asking for clarification 12 4.1 Politeness and politeness strategies 12 4.1.1 Politeness 12 4.1.2 Politeness super-strategies 13 4.2 Politeness strategies in interrupting and asking for clarification 17 4.3 Previous studies on interrupting and asking for clarification 18 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 21 Data collection instruments 21 1.1 Multiple choice questionnaire 21 1.2 Discourse completion task 21 Participants 22 Data collection procedure 23 Data analysis method 23 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 24 Comments on MCQ 24 How Vietnamese and American businesspeople interrupt and ask for clarification in business meetings? 24 2.1 In formal meetings 24 2.2 In semi-formal meetings 26 2.2.1 Vietnamese findings 26 2.2.2 American findings 29 2.3 In informal meetings 32 2.3.1 Vietnamese findings 32 2.3.2 American findings 34 v The similarities and differences 37 3.1 Similarities 37 3.2 Differences 37 3.2.1 Differences in semi-formal meetings 38 3.2.2 Differences in informal meetings 40 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 42 Summary of main findings 42 Limitations 43 Suggestions for further study 43 REFERENCES 44 APPENDIXES I vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS DCT: Discourse completion task FTA: Face threatening act H: Hearer MCQ: Multiple choice questionnaire NPS: Negative politeness strategy PPS: Positive politeness strategy S: Speaker vii LIST OF TABLES Table III.1Vietnamese businesspeople and their American counterparts‟ responses in formal meetings Table III.2 Vietnamese businesspeople‟s use of politeness strategies in semiformal meetings Table III.3American businesspeople‟s use of politeness strategies in semiformal meetings Table III.4Vietnamese businesspeople‟s use of politeness strategies in informal meetings Table III.5American businesspeople‟s use of politeness strategies in informal meetings Table III Vietnamese businesspeople versus their American counterparts in the use of politeness strategies in semiformal meetings Table III Vietnamese businesspeople versus their American counterparts in the use of politeness strategies in informal meetings viii Hong,Y., & Chiu, C (2001).Toward a paradigm shift: From cross-cultural differences in social cognition to social-cognitive mediation of cultural differences.Social Cognition, 19, 181-196 James, D.,& Clarke, S (1988) "Women, Men, and Interruptions: A Critical Review."Pp.231-80 in Gender and Conversational Interaction, edited by Deborah Tannen New York: Oxford University Press Jia,Y (1997) Communication between Cultures Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press John, H (2008) Cultural Differences in Business Communication Tepper School of Business: Carnegie Mellon University Katrine, S.K (2007) American doing business in Vietnam: Communication differences.COM 9656: International Business Communication Kramsch, C (1998) Language and culture.Oxford University Press Levine, D R., & Adelman, M B (1993) Beyond language: Cross-cultural communication Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice Hall Regents Locastro, V (2012).Pragmatics for Language Educators: A Sociolinguistic Perspective New York: Routledge McCarthy, M P D (1994).International Business History: A Contextual and Case Approach Praeger Menz, F & Al-Roubaie, A (2008)."Interruptions, status and gender in medical interviews: the harder you brake, the longer it takes." Discourse & Society 19(5): 645666 Nguyen Quang (2003) Intracultural and Cross-cultural Communication.VNU Press O'Reilly, M (2008)."What value is there in children's talk? „Investigating family therapists' interruptions of parents and children during the therapeutic process" Journal of Pragmatics40 (3): 507-524 45 Roger, D B., & Schumacher, A (1983).Effects of individual differences on dyadic conversational strategies Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 700-705 Searle, J R (1976) "The classification of illocutionary acts" Language in Society 5: 1-24 Segall, M H., Dasen, P R., Berry, J W., &Poortinga, Y H (1999).Human behavior in global perspective(2nd ed.) Boston, MA: Allyn& Bacon Searl, J.R (1976) The classification of illocutionary acts Language in Society, 5, 1-23 Watts, J.R (2003) Politeness Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Wierzbicka, A (1991).Cross-cultural Pragmatics: The Semantics of Human Interaction Berlin - New York: Mouton de Gruyter Yin, J (2002).Telling the truth? A cultural comparison of “facilitating discussion” in American talk Discourse Processes, 33, 235–256 Yule, G (1996) Pragmatics.Oxford University Press Zimmerman, D & West, C (1975) "Sex Roles, Interruptions and Silences in Conversations." Pp 105-29 in Language and Sex: Difference and Dominance, edited by Barrie Thorne and Nancy Henley Rowley, MA: Newbury House Zhao, X &Gantz, W (2003) "Disruptive and Cooperative Interruptions in PrimeTime Television Fiction: The Role of Gender, Status, and Topic “Journal of Communication53(2): 347-362 46 APPENDIXES Appendix Survey Questionnaire This survey questionnaire is designed for my research entitled “An AmericanVietnamese Cross-Cultural Study of Interrupting and Asking for Clarification in Business Meetings” Your assistance in completing the following items is greatly appreciated You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Which situations below you think are common for interrupting and asking for clarification in business meetings? Please tick (v) in one of the following columns: Column means: uncommon Column means: moderately common Column means: common Column means: very common No Situations 1 When you confuse something When you disagree to something When you cannot follow what the speaker is saying When you not hear something clearly When you not understand what the I speaker is saying When you want to add your own ideas When you miss something the speaker is saying When the speaker uses abbreviations When the speaker mentions something out of context 10 When the speaker does not explain what he/she means very well Could you please give me your answers on the three situations below Situation (a formal meeting) You are in an Annual General Business Meeting which is organized in a main hall with the participation of a larger number of shareholders, Boards of Directors and all the staff The speaker is saying something that you not agree What you say to interrupt him/her and ask for clarification in the following cases? a The speaker is older than you ……………………………………………………………………………… b The speaker is your age ……………………………………………………………………………… c The speaker is younger than you ……………………………………………………………………………… d The speaker is male II ……………………………………………………………………………… e The speaker is female ……………………………………………………………………………… f The speaker is of higher position ………………………………………………………………………………… g The speaker is of equal position ………………………………………………………………………………… h The speaker is of lower position ………………………………………………………………………………… Situation (a semi-formal meeting) You are in a business meeting within your company with the participation of Boards of Directors, Heads of Departments and all staff The meeting is about the company’s development plan next quarter The speaker is saying something which is out of context What you say to interrupt him/her and ask for clarification in the following cases? a The speaker is older than you ……………………………………………………………………………… b The speaker is your age ……………………………………………………………………………… c The speaker is younger than you ……………………………………………………………………………… d The speaker is male ……………………………………………………………………………… e The speaker is female ……………………………………………………………………………… f The speaker is of higher position ………………………………………………………………………………… III g The speaker is of equal position ………………………………………………………………………………… h The speaker is of lower position …………………………………………………………………………………… Situation (an informal meeting) You are in a business meeting with your team, which is consists of three staff The meeting is set up weekly to evaluate the results your team obtained in a week The speaker is saying something that you not understand, what you say to interrupt him/her and ask for clarification in the following cases? a The speaker is older than you ……………………………………………………………………………… b The speaker is your age ……………………………………………………………………………… c The speaker is younger than you ……………………………………………………………………………… d The speaker is male ……………………………………………………………………………… e The speaker is female ……………………………………………………………………………… f The speaker is of higher position ………………………………………………………………………………… g The speaker is of equal position ………………………………………………………………………………… h The speaker is of lower position …………………………………………………………………………… Thank you very much for your assistance! IV Câu hỏi khảo sát Chúng lập bảng câu hỏi khảo sát nhằm phục vụ cho đề tài nghiên cứu tiêu đề “ Nghiên cứu giao thoa văn hóa Việt-Mỹ cách thức ngắt lời yêu cầu làm rõ ý họp kinh doanh.” Chúng biết ơn Q vị bớt chút thời gian giúp chúng tơi trả lời câu hỏi đây.Xin Qúi vị tin chúng tơi khơng nêu danh tính Qúi vị trường hợp hình thức Theo Qúi vị tình đây, Qúi vị thường ngắt lời yêu cầu làm rõ ý họp kinh doanh? Xin Qúi vị vui lòng dánh dấu (v) vào cột sau Cột nghĩa là: không phổ biến Cột nghĩa là: phổ biến Cột nghĩa là: phổ biến Cột nghĩa là: phổ biến STT Tình Khi Qúi vị bị nhầm lẫn vấn đề Khi Qúi vị khơng đồng ý với vấn đề Khi Qúi vị khơng theo kịp người nói trình bày Khi Qúi vị khơng nghe rõ điều Khi Q vị khơng hiểu người nói V trình bày Khi Qúi vị muốn nêu thêm ý kiến Khi Qúi vị bị bỏ lỡ vấn đề mà ngưới nói trình bày Khi người nói sử dụng từ viết tắt Khi người nói nhắc đến vấn đề ngồi lề họp 10 Khi người nói khơng giải thích rõ ý họ Xin Qúi vị vui lịng trả lời giúp chúng tơi câu hỏi theo tình Tình huống1 ( họp trang trọng) Qúi vị tham dự họp thường niên tổ chức hàng năm phịng họp lớn cơng ty với tham dự cổ đơng, ban giám đốc tồn thể nhân viên Người nóiđang trình bày vấn đề mà Qúi vị khơng đồng ý Qúi vị nói đề ngắt lời người nói yêu cầu làm rõ ý trường hợp sau? a Người nói lớn tuổi Qúi vị ……………………………………………………………………………… b Người nói độ tuổi với Qúi vị ……………………………………………………………………………… c Người nói tuổi Qúi vị ……………………………………………………………………………… VI d Người nói nam giới ……………………………………………………………………………… e Người nói nữ giới ……………………………………………………………………………… f Người nói có địa vị cao Qúi vị ……………………………………………………………………………… g Người nói có địa vị ngang hàng với Qúi vị ………………………………………………………………………………… h Người nói có địa vị thấp Qúi vị ………………………………………………………………………………… Tình (Cuộc họp nửa trang trọng) Qúi vị tham dự họp kinh doanh công ty với tham dự ban giám đốc, trưởng phịng tồn thể nhân viên Cuộc họp bàn kế hoach phát triển công ty q Người nói trình bày vấn đề lề họp Qúi vị nói để ngắt lời người nói u cầu làm rõ ý trường hợp sau ? a Người nói lớn tuổi Qúi vị ……………………………………………………………………………… b Người nói độ tuổi với Qúi vị ……………………………………………………………………………… c Người nói tuổi Qúi vị ……………………………………………………………………………… d Người nói nam giới ……………………………………………………………………………… e Người nói nữ giới ……………………………………………………………………………… f Người nói có địa vị cao Qúi vị VII ……………………………………………………………………………… g Người nói có địa vị ngang hàng với Qúi vị ………………………………………………………………………………… h Người nói có địa vị thấp Qúi vị ………………………………………………………………………………… Tình (Cuộc họp không trang trọng) Qúi vị tham dự họp kinh doanh nhóm gồm thành viên.Cuộc họp tổ chức hàng tuần để đánh giá kết đạt nhóm tuần.Người nói trình bày vấn đề mà Qúi vị không hiểu.Qúi vị nói để ngắt lời người nói u cầu làm rõ ý trường hợp sau? a Người nói lớn tuổi Qúi vị ……………………………………………………………………………… b Người nói độ tuổi với Qúi vị ……………………………………………………………………………… c Người nói tuổi Qúi vị ……………………………………………………………………………… d Người nói nam giới ……………………………………………………………………………… e Người nói nữ giới ……………………………………………………………………………… f Người nói có địa vị cao Qúi vị ……………………………………………………………………………… g Người nói có địa vị ngang hàng với Qúi vị ………………………………………………………………………………… h Người nói có địa vị thấp Qúi ……………………………………………………………………………… VIII vị Xin chân thành cảm ơn giúp đỡ Qúi vị! Appendix Politeness strategy 200 Minimizing imposition Apologizing & Verbal off record Apologizing & Minimi 100 -zing imposition Asking for reason Seeking agreement by Count repetition Minimizing impositi0 on & Verbal off reco Americ an Vietnamese Amer ican vs Vietnamese Figure III.5 Vietnamese businesspeople versus their American counterparts in the use of politeness strategies in semiformal meetings IX Politeness strategy 200 Minimizing imposition Apologizing & Verbal off record Apologizing & Minimi 100 -zing imposition Minimizing imposition & Verbal off reco Count Asking for reason Seeking agreement by repetition Americ an Vietnamese American vs Vietnamese Figure III.6.Vietnamese businesspeople versus their American counterparts in the use of politeness strategies in informal meetings X Appendix 3: Vietnamese businesspeople and their American counterparts‟s choice of interrupting situations AM vs.VN * Situations * Ranking Crosstabulation Count Situations Ranking uncommon moderately common common very common AM vs.VN American Vietnamese Total AM vs.VN American Vietnamese Total AM vs.VN American Vietnamese Total AM vs.VN American Vietnamese Total Confusing 20 29 19 27 Disagreeing 7 19 12 31 11 11 22 not following 14 10 24 15 23 10 not hearing sth clealy 12 10 22 12 13 25 13 not understa nding 1 9 17 12 29 13 21 adding ideas 22 28 50 10 missing information 22 31 14 20 2 using abbreviations 28 20 48 4 mentioning sth out of context 2 11 10 14 24 16 23 not explaining very well 15 17 32 13 11 24 2 Total 109 130 239 80 84 164 69 57 126 43 28 71 Table III Vietnamese businesspeople and their American counterparts‟s choice of interrupting situations Confusing Ranking=uncommon not following 30 not hearing sth clea ly not understanding 20 adding ideas missing information using abbreviations 10 mentioning sth out o Count f context not explaining very well Americ an Vietnamese AM vs.VN XI Disagreeing Ranking=moderately common not following 20 not hearing sth clea ly not understanding adding ideas missing information 10 using abbreviations mentioning sth out o Count f context not explaining very well Americ an Vietnamese AM vs.VN Confusing Ranking=common Disagreeing 20 not following not hearing sth clea ly not understanding missing information 10 using abbreviations mentioning sth out o Count f context not explaining very well Americ an Vietnamese AM vs.VN XII Ranking=very common 20 Situations Disagreeing 10 not following not understanding Count missing information mentioning sth out o f context Americ an Vietnamese AM vs.VN XIII ... American and Vietnamese businesspoeple in interrupting and asking for clarification in business meetings? What are the major similarities and differences in interrupting and asking for clarification. .. semi-formal and informal to find out how the Vietnamese and American businesspeople interrupt and ask for clarification in those contexts How Vietnamese and American businesspeople interrupt and. .. different languages and cultures Significance of the study Finding out the similarities and differences in interrupting and asking for clarification between Vietnamese and American entrepreneurs in the