Linguitic means to express modality in offers in english and vietnamese a contrastive analysis

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ QUẾ HƯƠNG LINGUISTIC MEANS TO EXPRESS MODALITY IN OFFERS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS (Phân tích đối chiếu phương tiện ngơn ngữ thể tình thái câu đề nghị tiếng Anh 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 NGUYỄN THỊ QUẾ HƯƠNG LINGUISTIC MEANS TO EXPRESS MODALITY IN OFFERS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS (Phân tích đối chiếu phương tiện ngơn ngữ thể tình thái câu đề nghị tiếng Anh tiếng Việt) M.A Minor Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Nguyễn Xuân Thơm HANOI - 2011 - iii - ABSTRACT Natural languages offer speakers many and various linguistic devices to facilitate their communication That is, these devices are supposed to support the speakers in terms of sharing information together with expressing their emotions and attitudes It can be said that modality is an important part in communicating activities This study investigates how speakers of English and Vietnamese express the modal meaning in different offering strategies in terms of linguistic means It attempts to seek what is the similarities and differences of the modal tools in English and Vietnamese offers Finally, the study suggests how teachers of English can help learners with the use of modal markers in the speech act of offering to produce the natural and appropriate utterances The study starts with providing some theoretical preliminaries, in which the notion of modality and offer with its definition, classification and characteristics is presented The main part focuses on analysis and comparison of modal linguistic means used in English and Vietnamese offers Data used in this study are collected from various sources of textbooks, especially English practical textbooks, articles, and stories in English and Vietnamese To obtain the main objective of the study which is to show the similarities and differences of the modal tools in the two languages, we take examples in both English and Vietnamese into consideration Finally, some major findings are pointed out The results show that in offers, both two languages have three kinds of modal markers, which are lexical markers, grammatical markers, and prosodic markers However, the usage of the these markers is not the same in English and Vietnamese - iv - TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv PART A: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………… ……1 Rationale Aims of the study Research Questions Scope of the study Method of the study Significance of the study Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Theoretical background 1.1 Modality 1.1.1 Definition of modality 1.1.2 Classiffication of modality 1.1.3 Linguistic means to express modality 1.2 Offering as a speech act 13 1.2.1 Speech acts and classification of speech acts 13 1.2.2 Offering and forms of offers 16 1.2.2.1 Offering as a speech act 16 1.2.2.2 Forms of offering 18 1.2.2.3 Politeness in offering……………………………………… …… …… 19 1.3 Summary 20 Chapter 2: A contrastive analysis of linguistic means to express modality in offering between English and Vietnamese 22 2.1 Modal markers in direct offers 22 2.1.1 Lexical markers 22 2.1.1.1 Modal Verbs 22 2.1.1.2 Modal particles in direct offers in Vietnamese 23 -v- 2.1.1.3 Other lexical makers 25 2.1.2 Grammatical markers 25 2.1.2.1 Imperative mood 25 2.1.2.2 Vocative 27 2.1.3 Prosodic markers - Intonation 28 2.2 Modal markers in conventionally indirect offers 28 2.2.1 Lexical markers 29 2.2.1.1 Modal Verbs 29 2.2.1.2 Modal particles in Vietnamese 30 2.2.1.3 Other lexical markers 31 2.2.2 Grammatical markers 31 2.2.2.1 Interrogative 31 2.2.2.2 Conditional 32 2.2.2.3 Suggestory formula 32 2.2.3 Prosodic markers – Intonation 32 2.3 Modal markers in non-conventionally indirect offers 33 2.3.1 Lexical markers 33 2.3.2 Grammatical markers 34 2.3.3 Prosodic markers 34 2.4 The similarities and differences of using linguistic means to express modality in offers in English and Vietnamese 34 2.4.1.Similarities 34 2.4.2 Differences 35 2.5 Summary 36 PART C: CONCLUSION 38 Conclusions 38 Implications 39 Limitations 40 Suggestions for further study 40 REFERENCES 42 -1- PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale A language is used as a means of social interaction and it expresses various social roles and performs various communicative functions like questioning, requesting, offering or commanding somebody or telling somebody something Such types of interpersonal functions of language are reflected in various sentence types like declarative, interrogative and imperative and also through the system of modals The three choices in the mood system perform various communicative functions like declaring, asking a question, making a request or giving a command With these sentence types, modal verbs like 'can', 'may', 'will', 'must' help in expressing various social functions such as making a request, seeking permission, expressing rights, obligation and possibility Sentence types, mood choices and modal verbs are examples of modal markers Thus, it can be said that modality is directly related to the social functions of language The notion of modality as well as linguistic means to express modality has been studied by a lot of scholars so far; however, research on the way of using modal tools in a specific kind of speech act has been limited Offering is one common type of speech act, which shows consideration towards each other and therefore it can reinforce social relationship In different countries, or cultures, people make offers in different ways Modality is closely related to the emotion and attitude of the speaker; therefore, in offering, modal tools are usually used When thinking of modality, what appears first in our mind may be the modal verbs, which is a familiar concept Besides modal verbs, there are many other lexical markers such as modal adverbs, modal adjectives…, grammatical markers such as mood and vocative, and prosodic markers However, the use of linguistic means to express modality in offering is not the same in all languages English and Vietnamese have their own specific features, which leads to a lot of differences in using language For the above reasons, the author would like to choose the topic “Linguistic means to express modality in offers in English and Vietnamese - a contrastive analysis” with the attempt to find out the similarities and differences of the modal tools in English and Vietnamese offers It’s also hopeful that this minor thesis will be of some help to those who are interested in this aspect of language Aims of the study The study aims at : -2- - Exploring the modality markers in making offers in English and Vietnamese - Comparing and contrasting the range of modality markers in order to clarify the similarities and differences in the way Vietnamese and English people use linguistic means to express modality in offering in their own language and culture - Contributing to promoting awareness among foreign language teachers and learners of the mentioned issue Research Questions In general, with the aims above, the following research questions will be addressed: - What are linguistic means to express modality in offers in English and Vietnamese? - What are the similarities and differences between linguistic means to express modality in offers in English and Vietnamese? Scope of the study The study gives a description and analysis of linguistic means to express modality in offers in terms of (1) lexical markers, (2) grammatical markers, and (3) prosodic markers It centers on the similarities and differences in using modality markers in the speech act of offering between English and Vietnamese The materials on offers in English are taken from some English practical textbooks such as Functions of English, Headway Intermediate, Life Lines, Streamlines, Business Objectives… and examples of offers in Vietnamese are taken from some short stories by Thạch Lam, Nam Cao, Thế Lữ, Nguyễn Huy Thiệp… Method of the study A combination of different methods of analysis will be used in this study The first is the descriptive method English and Vietnamese modal markers used in offering will be described in turns in each kind of offering strategy in order to find out their features However, the major method utilized in this study is the contrastive analysis between the use of linguistic means to express modality in offering in English and the use of them in Vietnamese Significance of the study Theoretical significance: This study gives a selected definitions and explanations by linguists related to the notions of modality and speech act of offering Through the study, readers can also see the comparison of this topic between English and Vietnamese -3- Practical significance: This study will provide information that can help teachers and learners of English gain an insight into modality in general and modality in the speech act of offering in specific, which contributes to the teaching and learning English Organization of the study This study consists of three main parts: PART A: Introduction: This part introduces the rationale, the aims and objectives, the scope, the method, the research questions and the organization of the study PART B: Development: There are two chapters in this part: Chapter discusses the theoretical background for the study by discussing theory of modality and offering as a speech act Chapter focuses on the linguistic means to express modality in offers in English and Vietnamese Besides, it also gives the similarities and differences between them PART C: Conclusion: This part presents the major findings of the study, the conclusion of the study, implications and suggestions for further study -4- PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Theoretical background This chapter provides the theoretical background including the notions of modality and the speech act of offering It consists of two main sections The first section reviews the definition, classification of modality and linguistic means to express modality The second section reviews the issues on speech act of offering such as definition, classification and forms of offers 1.1 Modality 1.1.1 Definition of modality Research on modality has gone through a long history, appealing to a lot of linguists, philosophers and logicians; however, there is no agreement about the definition of modality yet It has been difficult to delimit the field of modality and modal research to just a few topics Kiefer (1994) holds a philosophical perspective when he talks about modality as "the relativization of the validity of sentence meanings to a set of possible worlds Talk about possible worlds can thus be construed as talk about the ways in which people could conceive the world to be different" For this reason modality is perceived as a universal linguistic phenomenon despite the different means in which it is realized Modal logic deals with various propositions which are drawn from human attitudes and experiences from which semantic choices like necessity, possibility, impossibility, available for utterances, are derived The method of analysis in modal logic is based on "the proposal that a proposition can be said to be true in one particular (real or imagined) world and false in another" (Perkins 1983, p6) Modality is, thus, interpreted in terms of an event or a proposition and analyzed with respect to the universe in which such events or propositions are thought of as true or false Lyons (1977) pointed out that modality refers to people’s opinions and attitudes towards propositions expressed with language or circumstances described by propositions Most of the grammarians deal with modality in terms of modal verbs However, modality is not a formal notion, it is a semantic notion It is "a conceptual category, a type of meaning, or complex of meanings, with various reflexes in language" (Khlebnikova -5- 1976, p3) Modality refers to certain meaning categories like question, assertion, request, ability, wish, permission, possibility, insistence etc In Palmer’s theory (Mood and Modality, 1986), modality is defined as semantic information associated with the speaker’s attitude or opinion about what is said Whereas, Bybee (Morphology: A study of the Relation between Meaning and Form, 1985) offers a broader definition that modality is what the speaker is doing with the whole proposition Halliday who made a significant contribution to the functional paradigm, believes that a text is a product of social and cultural context from where it springs He is of the opinion that people use language with one another in order to manage their social lives Modality is directly related to the social functions of language Modality, which expresses different semantic implications like permission, request, obligation, necessity, possibility, is used to perform different communicative acts Halliday regards modality a form of participation by the speaker in the communicative act Modality is related to the interpersonal function of the language In An Introduction to Functional Grammar (1985) Halliday views that modality represents the speaker’s angle, either on the validity of the assertion, or on the rights and wrongs of the proposal It is obviously seen that his definition of modality does not diverge much from Palmer’s and Bybee’s Quirk (1985, p219) regarded modality as the speaker’s judgment on the authenticity of propositions Quirk claims that modality can be defined as “the manner in which the meaning of a clause is qualified so as to reflect the speaker’s judgement of the likelihood of the proposition it expresses being true” In Vietnam, for the past few years, modality has been the focus of many linguists and researchers such as Cao Xuân Hạo, Hoàng Phê, Đỗ Hữu Châu and others Hoàng Trọng Phiến broadly explains modality as a grammatical category which appears in all kinds of sentence Although there are different opinions on the definition of modality, it is not difficult to see that many linguists share the point of view that modality is directly related to the social functions of language and speaker’s attitude, as Palmer says: “Modality in language seems to be essentially subjective, and in reference to the speaker’s opinion or attitude” 1.1.2 Classification of modality - 29 - questions With the form of statement, the phrase “if you like” is added at the end of the sentence to make the offer more tentative Examples: Would you like to photocopy my notes? I might know how to get it working Would you like me to try? Can I get you something to drink? Shall I photo it for you? You can photo mine if you like In Vietnamese, the situation is the same The interrogative form occurs frequently Examples: Có muốn xem đá banh với khơng? Ở lại chơi với ngày cho khuây khỏa nhé? Đi uống cà phê chứ? Có cần tớ giúp tay không? 2.2.1 Lexical markers 2.2.1.1 Modal Verbs In English, in conventionally indirect offers, the modal verbs denoting willingness, ability and permission such as may, will, shall, and can are often used Examples: Shall I answer the phone for you? May I help you, madam? If you like I could help you Will / shall can express the willingness of the speaker In comparison with statements, the volitional use of shall in questions “Shall I”, “Shall we” is quite common In forms of questions, offers sound more tentative and polite May and can/could are modal verbs used to ask for permission (may is used in a more formal style) In offers, they show that the speaker is willing to help the hearer and he has the ability to give help He is just waiting for the hearer’s agreement In Vietnamese, some modal verbs such as “cần”, “muốn” are used Examples: Có cần gọi cậu ta lại khơng? Bạn có muốn đóng cửa lại khơng? These expressions are similar to “if you like” and “would you like” in English Examples: Would you like me to close the door? I’ll deliver it if you like - 30 - This kind of offers sound more tentative Using them, the speaker wants to give the hearer the choice, and hence will mitigate the force of the illocutionary force They also show the speaker’s respect to the hearer’s volition 2.2.1.2 Modal particles in Vietnamese Like in direct offers, particles play an important part in conveying modality In conventionally indirect offers, modal particles which reduce the illocutionary force are often placed at the end of the sentence calling for the agreement and acceptance from the hearer, giving the hearer freedom to choose Some modal particles belonging to this kind are: nhé, chứ, Modal particle “Nhé”: Chiều xem phim nhé? Tớ đèo cậu nhé? Different from direct offers, “Nhé” in conventionally indirect offers has the modal meaning that the speaker are seeking for the hearer’s agreement and acceptance He does not know whether the hearer will accept his offer or not The hearer has the right to choose This kind of sentence has the rising tone Modal particle “Chứ” Đi uống cà phê chứ? Làm chén chứ? “Chứ” expresses the subjective and affirmative attitude of the speaker Using this word, the speaker hopes that the hearer will accept his offer It can be used when the hearer is older or has higher social position than the hearer, reducing the imposition by giving the hearer the right to choose It makes the offer more polite Modal particle “Nhỉ” Ta chơi ván cờ cho vui ? Vào quán làm cốc nước cho mát ? “Nhỉ” shows the friendliness and politeness It can be used to call for agreement from the hearer, expressing the approach, affirmation and persuasion of the speaker to what has been mentioned in the offer It also reduces the imposition on the hearer because it does not create the feeling that the hearer is forced to accept the offer Other modal elements: Có…khơng, Hay là… Examples: Có cần tớ xách hộ khơng? Hay anh lại dùng bữa với nhà em hôm - 31 - These kind of words reduce the imposition and give the hearer the right to choose Using these words, the speaker implies that he is not sure whether the hearer will accept his offer or not 2.2.1.3 Other lexical markers Hedge (adverbials employed in order to avoid giving precise details) : somehow, in some way, in any way Hi, can I help you in any way? Can I offer you anything? Cậu ăn chút nhé? Downtoner: Would you like a little cigarette? Thêm miếng nhỏ nhé? Consultative device (Elements chosen to involve the hearer directly in an effort to gain compliance): What would you think, if I were to give your son extra tuition? Do you think it would help if we were to get together some time to go through it? In Vietnamese, people not often use consultative device in making offers Instead, they use the words like có không or Hay tớ đèo cậu Tối cậu xem phim với tớ có không? 2.2.2 Grammatical markers 2.2.2.1 Interrogative Both in Vietnamese and in English, the Interrogative form is used to increase the relative level of indirectness and provide the hearer with as much freedom of will as possible and in so doing, lessen any negative face-threat to the hearer in complying with the wishes of the speaker It can help the hearer feel comfortable and pleased to receive the offers In English, it can be in form of Yes/No question “Shall I give you a lift?” or in short form “Drink?” In Vietnamese, three common kinds of questions are questions with the connective “hay”: “Anh uống trà hay cà phê?”, questions with interrogative function words “Đi ăn bánh xèo nha, xong ăn kem, có khơng?” and questions with modal particles “Uống cốc nước cho mát nhé?” - 32 - 2.2.2.2 Conditional The speaker, with the aid of a conditional clause, is able to distance the offer in question from the reality of the situation and thus decrease the face-threat to the speaker of an offer being refused Examples: If you want, I could give your son extra tuition I can drive you to the hospital, if you like If your son has such difficulties, I could maybe help him Nếu cậu khơng ngại để tớ giúp tay Nếu anh cần gọi em 2.2.2.3 Suggestory formula This kind of offer, which can be only found in English, is the question with the use of how about or what about After these phrases, a noun or a gerund is often needed Examples: What about you coming in and having a cup of coffee? How about a drink before dinner? These expressions seem more like suggestions However, the action intended by the speaker in these expressions are still offers This kind of question makes the offers become more tentative and creates the choice for the hearer 2.2.3 Prosodic markers – Intonation In English, in interrogative form, conventionally indirect offers are usually in forms of Yes/No questions, therefore the common intonation is rising tone at the end However, when the speaker wants to show his willingness and call for the hearer’s agreement, the offer has the falling tone Example: Shall I give you a lift? (with both rising and falling tones) In Vietnamese, according to Diệp Quang Ban (2005-Ngữ Pháp Tiếng Việt), in most questions the focus information receives high pitch wherever it is There is not a clear falling tone at the end of the sentence Example: Cậu ăn chút nhé? If the offer (both in English and in Vietnamese) is in form of a statement (If you want, I could give your son extra tuition, Nếu anh cần gọi em…), it has the falling tone at the end - 33 - 2.3 Modal markers in non-conventionally indirect offers Non-conventionally indirect strategies are realized when the link between propositional content, linguistic form and illocutionary force is open ended Nonconventionally indirect offers are utterances containing partial reference to objects or elements needed for the implementation of the act Here are some examples: Food/drink offer: There’s still some coffee there Còn nhiều đồ ăn Favor offer: Are you alright there? Tôi biết sửa loại máy According to a study by Hồ Thị Kiều Oanh (2010) on politeness markers used in offerings, non-conventionally indirect strategies are less popular than the two other kinds (direct strategies and conventionally indirect strategies) The reason pointed out is that English culture has emphasis on individualism, people often show their respect to the other’s freedom of action Non-conventionally indirect strategies in offering may increase the imposition on the hearer because he/she has to guess the illocutionary force of the speech act to get the main idea of the speaker In the mean time, Vietnamese people appreciate collectivism, so they often show their care to others in the society As a result, the speech act of offering is the action that can increase the face of both the speaker and the hearer; therefore, people can make an offer by using direct strategies or conventionally indirect strategies 2.3.1 Lexical markers In English, a non-conventionally indirect offer can be in the form of a question or a statement The hearer can only know whether it is an offer when he/she is in the specific context The offer sounds like a normal question or a statement; therefore there is no special markers in terms of lexis The modality can be expresses by a modal verb, an understater, a downtoner or anything else Examples: I can type this letter in two minutes Do you hurt anywhere? Is there something wrong with you? There is room for one more in my car - 34 - However, as mentioned above, in Vietnamese non-conventionally indirect offer, particles are used at the end of the utterance to emphasize the ability and willingness of the speaker when making the offer The most common particle that can be seen is “đấy” or “mà” Examples: Nhà tớ nhiều phòng trống Tớ rảnh mà 2.3.2 Grammatical markers Forms and structures used by Vietnamese people and English people in nonconventionally indirect offers are not the same The English tend to use the interrogatives like “Are you alright there?” or “Is there any problem with your car?” When using the interrogatives, the speaker wants to know about the attitude of the hearer before making the offer in order to minimize the imposition on the hearer, which shows negative politeness and is suitable for individualism culture of the western people In contrast, the Vietnamese tend to use statements with particles at the end to confirm the ability or willingness to help like “Tôi biết sửa loại máy đấy” or “Còn nhiều đồ ăn đấy”, which shows positive politeness and is suitable for collectivism culture of Vietnam 2.3.3 Prosodic markers As non-conventionally indirect offers can be in different types of structures (statement or question), there is not a specific intonation It can be falling tone with whquestions and statements, or rising tone with Yes/No questions Examples: I’m completely free now (this statement can be inferred into a favor offer.) Are you ok? (a favor offer in form of a Yes/No question) Xe cịn chỗ Có nặng khơng? It can be seen that non-conventionally indirect offers are under various kind of structures, therefore it is very difficult to give a clear analysis of their intonation 2.4 The similarities and differences of using linguistic means to express modality in offers in English and Vietnamese 2.4.1.Similarities - 35 - In both two languages, lexical, grammatical and prosodic markers can express modal meaning in offers The first similarity is in the use of lexis In both languages, modal verbs play an important part in conveying modality, which show the volition, willingness, ability and permission In English, some modal verbs used frequently in offers are will, shall, can, could, and may In Vietnamese, modal verbs such as cần, muốn, phải are also used but not as usually as in English Besides, other kinds of modal markers that can be found in both languages are hedges, undertaters, downtoners, which help moderate the impact of the offer has on the hearer The next similarity can be found in the use of grammatical markers, which are imperatives and want statements in direct offers, interrogatives and conditional clauses in conventionally indirect offers Using the imperatives and want statements, the speaker wants to show his willingness and sincerity when making offers And using interrogatives and conditional clauses help to mitigate the imposition on the hearer, giving him the chance to choose between acceptance and refusal Related to vocatives, both English and Vietnamese are very numerous in terms of forms, which can be proper names, pronouns, family relations, occupations, and titles The vocatives have the functions of attracting the attention of the hearer and identifying the relation between the speaker and the hearer: age, position, and social relation Lastly, in terms of prosody, intonation has an effect in expressing speaker’s attitude and emotion not only in intonational languages such as English but also in Vietnamese - a tonal language The different kinds of sentence structure have their own prosodic features In general, falling intonation conveys certain emotions, such as completion, finality, confidence Falling intonation sounds more categorical, confident, and convincing than rising intonation 2.4.2 Differences The first and foremost difference that can be seen is the use of modal particles in Vietnamese This kind of words is not mentioned in lexical system of English This kind of modal markers can be classified into two sub-groups; the first one consists of ạ, cho, nhé, đi, đây, nào, này, đấy, called strengthening pragmatic particles (they help increase illocutionary force in offers), and the second one consists of nhé?, chứ?, nhỉ? called softening pragmatic particles (they help decrease illocutionary force in offers) Vietnam - 36 - has the collectivism-oriented culture in which the hierarchy is very important The modal particles in Vietnamese can help show the respect or friendliness between the interlocutors and the rules of hierarchy in the culture Another difference is the position and the forms of modal verbs in the sentence In English, the modal verbs can stand before the subject (in questions) or after the subject (in statements); however, in Vietnamese, modal verbs always stand behind the subject in both statements and questions English modal verbs can change their forms (can-could, maymight), but Vietnamese modal verbs can not change their forms Moreover, in offers, modal verbs occur more often in English than in Vietnamese Regarding vocatives, Vietnamese pronouns are words denoting family relationship and they are used to shorten the distance between the speaker and the hearer even in conventional conversations However, English words denoting family relationship are not used to address the people of different blood-relationship In Vietnamese, the vocatives are often go with “ơi”, and “ạ” to show friendliness, warmth, closeness and also respect The last difference is the role of prosody in expressing modality As mentioned above, in Vietnamese, the main linguistic tool to show modality in offers is the modal particles; and intonation is not a very important factor It only functions as an emotional type added to the meaning of the sentence Moreover, Vietnamese is a monosyllable language, so pitch is associated with the syllable not the whole utterance Pitch variations perform lexical function (variations of pitch form new words) In English, pitch is associated with the whole utterance and variations of pitch makes changes in sentence meaning Pitch variations perform grammatical and communicative function In brief, English is an inflectional and intonational language, therefore, grammaticalisation and prosodification are the main tools to express modality Whereas Vietnamese is a non-inflectional and tonal language in which attitude and emotion of the speaker is expressed mostly through lexicalisation, especially modal particles 2.5 Summary In this chapter of the study, we have analyzed three main linguistic means to express modality in three strategies of offering in both English and Vietnamese, and we have also pointed out some similarities and differences of using modal markers in the two languages In direct, conventionally indirect and non-conventionally indirect offers, in both - 37 - English and Vietnamese, lexical, grammatical and prosodic markers are commonly used to convey the speaker’s attitude and emotion to the hearer In terms of lexical markers, the favorite tool in English is modal verbs whereas it is modal particles in Vietnamese In terms of grammaticalisation, offers can be in forms of both imperative, interrogative and statements, especially, in conventionally indirect offers, conditional is used very often in English However, in English, grammatical markers occur more frequently than in Vietnamese In terms of address forms, both in English and Vietnamese, they are useful tool to convey modality, but it can be said that Vietnamese address system is richer and seems to be more complicated than that in English; therefore, Vietnamese learners of English should pay much attention when speaking, rendering address forms from English into Vietnamese Lastly, prosodic markers are of a great importance in expressing modality in English, however, in Vietnamese, they are not a prominent factor - 38 - PART C: CONCLUSION Conclusions This present thesis has been carried out to find out the similarities and differences in the usage of modal markers in offers between English and Vietnamese To answer the two research questions in section of part one, three common offering strategies - direct, conventionally indirect and non-conventionally indirect - are introduced and analysed respectively with three common modal markers – lexical, grammatical and prosodic ones Based on the theoretical background presented in the first chapter, linguistic means to express modality in offers have been pointed out in detail in the second chapter There are three tools, which are lexcial, grammatical and prosodic markers in both English and Vietnamese The lexical markers include modal verbs (will, shall, can, could, may), hedges (in any way, anything), undertaters (a little, a bit), and downtoners (just, maybe) Especially, in Vietnamese, modal particles (ạ, cho, nhé, đi, đây, nào, này, đấy, cứ,nhé?, chứ?, nhỉ?) have a great of importance in conveying modality The grammatical markers of modality that can be found in offers are different kinds of mood (imperative, indicative) and structures (interrogatives, statements, conditionals), and a system of vocatives Finally, prosody with many variations of pitch is also considered to be a modal marker, however, the level of importance of this factor is not the same in the two languages To find out the answer for the second research question, a contrastive analysis of different linguistic means to express modality in offers in English and Vietnamese has been carried out There are similarities and differences Both English and Vietnamese modal verbs convey modality and they are associated with the status of participants Some common structures the two languages share in making offers are imperatives, want statements, interrogatives, and conditional sentences Imperatives and want statements are used mostly in direct strategies of offering Interrogatives, conditionals are typical features of conventionally indirect offers To show the friendliness and closeness between interlocutors, both English and Vietnamese have a system of various vocatives (proper names, pronouns, family relations, occupations, and titles) However, many obvious differences are also presented and they can be explained in terms of linguistic and cultural features Regarding linguistic features, English is an inflectional language, therefore, grammatical markers (internal modification elements) are - 39 - more important in conveying modality than in Vietnamese Moreover, English is an intonational language, in which, intonation plays a more important role than in Vietnamese Vietnamese, in contrast, is a tonal language, in which, the effect of intonation on the whole utterance are quite limited Unlike English, Vietnamese is a non-inflectional language and it has a wide range of modal particles, which can be considered external modification elements specialized to express modality In a sentence, the position of this kind of words is very flexible, which can be final, medial or initial position Regarding cultural features, in English culture, individualism and equality are of importance, and offering can be considered a face threatening act (because it may create imposition on the hearer) As a result, people often use conventionally indirect strategies with a lot of grammatical markers to soften the illocutionary force in order to mitigate imposition on the hearer, and also show the respect to other’s freedom, which is negative politeness Vietnamese culture, on the other hand, is affected by collectivism People in a community always want to show their care to others, so offering is not an face threatening act as in English but a face saving act Among various modal particles, there are only a few softening pragmatic ones (nhé?, chứ?, nhỉ?) Also affected by hierarchism, Vietnamese language has a rich source of vocatives, through which we can know about the social relationship, the power distance and position of participants In conclusion, the current study has made an attempt to investigate similarities and differences in using modal markers in the two languages Hopefully, the findings of the study are beneficial for EFL teaching as well as translating Implications Clearly, learning how to express modality is not an easy task for the learners of English as a second language, especially when making an offer The offers should reveal the willingness, the friendliness and sometimes the respect of the speaker to the hearer Advisably, the learners of English should improve their awareness of the importance of modal markers in different kinds of offers Providing an instruction of using different strategies of offering and a good list of modal markers with clear explanations and the uses of these markers for students is needed They should be informed that generally the English often use conventional indirect structures to perform the speech act of offering while the Vietnamese have the habit of performing it directly - 40 - Moreover, in order to achieve success in cross-cultural communication, it is essential for communicators to be fully aware of the differences between their own and their communicating partners’ communication style to avoid misinterpretation To the teachers of English, it is necessary to help learners understand more about the culture values and be aware of cultural differences in cross-cultural communication Hence, when teaching or explaining something, it is advisable for teachers to point out acceptable and appropriate ways of offering in English and in Vietnamese Besides, in the presentation of the dialogue, the teacher should have his/her students identify the speaker’s intent and attitude attached in his utterance More importantly, practicing to use the modal markers is indispensable The teacher offers them controlled practice and then free practice so that they can use these them both in written and spoken forms smoothly and automatically For example, the teacher may give the students a piece of reading or listening, and then ask the students to identify what kind of offering strategy is used, the modal meaning and the linguistic means to convey that meaning Or, in other way, the teacher may give a specific situation, and then ask the students to make appropriate offers Limitations Although the study has offered some insightful findings, it still has limitations The results in this study are just relatively reasonable because of the limited number of examples and there is a lack of context in each situation I hope that in the future research, more examples with specific context will be analyzed to have a standard result In addition, the study only pays enough attention to the lexical and grammatical markers; leaving prosodic markers just in recognition and little investigation More regretfully, the comparison is just carried out between English and Vietnamese modal markers in offers in written forms in some English practical books and some literary works There is no survey or questionnaire carried out to make the comparison more specific and persuasive Suggestions for further study Within the framework of an M.A minor thesis, we could only analyze modal markers in offers but could not deal with the other kinds of speech act such as requests, apologies, etc Further research can investigate the modal markers in these speech acts to - 41 - see if the two languages differ In this thesis, the factor of culture has been mentioned as a reason for the differences in the use of modal markers in the two languages, however, it needs analyzing more thoroughly in further research Or it is possible to study how psychological features of the speakers affect the choice of linguistic means in offers Many other dimensions of offers still remain uninvestigated such as Formality – Informality, Directness – Indirectness, which should be much more focused on - 42 - REFERENCES In English Celce-Murcia M & Lauren-Freeman D (1999) The Grammar Book: An ESL/ EFL Teacher ‘s Course Heinle & Heinle Publidhers Coates J (1983) Semantics of the Modal Auxiliaries London, Canberra: Croom Lelm Ltd Ferenc Kiefer (1987) On Defining Modality Folia Linguistica, 21(1): 67–94 Ferenc Kiefer (1994) Modality In The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, edited by Ronald E Asher, pp 2515–2520 Oxford: Pergamon Press Halliday M.A.K (1985) An introduction to Functional Grammar Edward Arnold (7th) 1997 Hoang Thi Thu Lan (2000), Offering in English and in Vietnamese, Hanoi National University, Hanoi Joan L Bybee, Revere D Perkins, & William Pagliuca (1994) The Evolution of Grammar: Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the Languages of the World Chicago University Press John Lyons (1977) Semantics Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Khlebnikova I.B (1976) The Conjunctive Mood in English The Hague: Mouton 10 Leech G.N (1971) Meaning and the English Verb London: Longman 11 Leech G N (1983) Principles of Pragmatics Longman, London 12 Levinson S C (1983 Pragmatics Cambridge University Press, London 13 Palmer F (1986) Mood and modality Cambridge, CUP 14 Perkins, Michael R.(1983) Modal Expressions in English Longmans Press 15 Quirk R and Greenbaum S (1973) A University Grammar of English London: Longman 16 Rabinowitz J F (1993) A Descriptive Study of the Offer as a Speech Behavior in American English, Ph D Thesis, University of Pennsylvania, Michigan 17 Searle J R (1975) Indirect Speech Acts in P Cole, J L Morgan (Eds.), Speech Acts (Syntax and Semantics 3), pp 59- 82 18 Searle J.R (1979) Expression and meaning Cambridge (Mass) 19 Thomson A.J & Martinet, A.V (1985) A Practical English Grammar Oxford University Press - 43 - 20 Yule G (1997) Pragmatics Oxford University Press 21 Wierzbicka A (1987) English speech act verbs Academic Press, Australia In Vietnamese Cao Xuân Hạo (1991) Tiếng Việt - Sơ thảo ngữ pháp chức năng, tập NXB KHXH, Hồ Chí Minh Cao Xuân Hạo (1999) Tiếng Việt – Mấy vấn đề ngữ âm, ngữ pháp ngữ nghĩa NXB Giáo Dục, Hà Nội Cao Xuân Hạo (2003) Ngữ pháp chức tiếng Việt - Câu tiếng Việt, Quyển Nxb Giáo dục, Đà Nẵng Diệp Quang Ban (2004) Ngữ pháp tiếng Việt Nxb GD, Hà Nội Hoàng Phê, et al (1998) Từ điển tiếng Việt Trung tâm từ điển ngôn ngữ, Hà Nội Hồ Thị Kiều Oanh (2010) Một số tố lịch hành động ngỏ lời giúp đỡ tiếng Anh tiếng Việt Tạp chí khoa học ĐHQGHN, ngoại ngữ 26 (207-214) Lê Đông Nguyễn Văn Hiệp (2001) Ngữ nghĩa - ngữ dụng tiểu từ tình thái tiếng Việt Trường Đại học KHXH&NV, Đại học QGHN, Hà Nội Nguyễn Anh Quế (1988) Hư từ tiếng Việt đại Nxb KHXH, Hà Nội Nguyễn Kim Thản (1963) Nghiên cứu ngữ pháp tiếng Việt Nxb KHXH, Hà Nội 10 Nguyễn Kim Thản (1997) Động từ tiếng Việt NXB KHXH 11 Nguyễn Văn Chính (2000) Vai trị hư từ tiếng Việt việc hình thành thơng báo – phát ngôn Luận án Tiến sĩ, Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội, Hà Nội 12 Võ Đại Quang (2009) Một số phương tiện biểu đạt nghĩa tình thái tiếng Anh tiếng Việt NXB ĐHQGHN, Hà Nội ... information that can help teachers and learners of English gain an insight into modality in general and modality in the speech act of offering in specific, which contributes to the teaching and. .. modality than in Vietnamese Moreover, English is an intonational language, in which, intonation plays a more important role than in Vietnamese Vietnamese, in contrast, is a tonal language, in which,... sentence meaning Pitch variations perform grammatical and communicative function In brief, English is an inflectional and intonational language, therefore, grammaticalisation and prosodification are