luận văn
i MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF DANANG -------- PHAM THI NGUYET THO A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC EXPORT CONTRACTS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE Field: The English Language Code: 60.22.15 MASTER THESIS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ii MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF DANANG -------- PHAM THI NGUYET THO A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC EXPORT CONTRACTS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE MASTER THESIS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE DANANG- 2011 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Except where reference is made in the text of the research paper, this paper contains no material publish elsewhere or extracted in the whole, or in part from a paper by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma. No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the paper. This paper has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution. Danang, June 2011 Pham Thi Nguyet Tho ii ABSTRACT This thesis has been done in an effort to investigate the standards frequently used by foreigners and Vietnamese people in the course of making economic export contracts by an analysis of economic export contracts in English and Vietnamese. With the examples of economic export contracts in English and Vietnamese collected, we have explored some linguistic features and the similarities and differences of economic export contracts in terms of overall structures, lexical choice and syntax. In some cases, they have slight differences in layout, lexical and syntactic features. The thesis gives some general ideas on how to write EECs, how to choose words to make the EECs as clear, informative and accurate as possible, how to use different types of sentence and connect them naturally as well as how to take the advantage of passive voice to create impression. The result of this study may help entrepreneurs, teachers and students to draw up and understand more economic export contracts. The findings lay the foundations of implications for teaching and learning to achieve better communicative competence. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .i ABSTRACT .ii TABLE OF CONTENTS .iii LIST OF TABLES .viii Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale . 1 1.2 Aims and Objectives . 3 1.2.1. Aims 3 1.2.2. Objectives 3 1.3. Significance of the Study . 3 1.4. Research Questions 4 1.5. Scope of the Study . 4 1.6. Organization of the Study 4 Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1. Overview 6 2.2. A Review of Previous Studies Related to the Research 6 2.3. Concepts Related to Economic Export Contracts 7 2.3.1. Discourse in Various Linguistic Viewpoints 7 2.3.2. Linguistic Characteristics of Discourse 8 2.3.2.1. Reference . 8 2.3.2.2. Ellipsis 9 2.3.2.3. Conjunction 9 2.3.2.4. Lexical Cohesion 10 2.3.3. Official Document Style . 12 iv 2.3.4. Characteristics of Official Document Style 14 2.3.5. Common Types of Sentences in English and Vietnamese . 15 2.3.5.1.Simple,Compound,Complex,Compound-Complex Sentence .15 2.3.5.2. Subject and Predicate . 16 2.3.6. General Features of Official Documents . 17 2.3.6.1. Lexical Features of Official Documents 17 2.3.6.2. Syntactic Features of Official Documents . 20 2.4. Contracts . 21 2.4.1. Definition of Contracts 21 2.4.2. Characteristics of Contracts . 22 2.4.2.1. Modality 22 2.4.2.2. Airtightness and Accurateness 23 2.4.2.3. Inclusiveness . 24 2.4.2.4. Performativity . 25 Chapter 3: METHODS AND PROCEDURES 3.1. Overview 26 3.2. Research Methods 26 3.3. Data Collection . 26 3.4. Sample and Population . 29 3.5. Data Analysis . 28 3.6. Research Procedures 29 3.7. Reliability and Validity 30 Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1. Overview 31 4.2. The Features of the Layout of Economic Export Contracts in English and Vietnamese 31 4.2.1. The Layout of Economic Export Contracts in English 31 v 4.2.2. The Layout of Economic Export Contracts in Vietnamese . 36 4.2.3.The Similarities and Differences about the layout of Economic Export Contracts . 41 4.2.3.1. Similarities . 41 4.2.3.2. Differences . 41 4.3. Lexical Features of Economic Export Contracts in English and Vietnamese 44 4.3.1. The Use of Clear and Concise Words of Economic Export Contracts in English and Vietnamese . 45 4.3.1.1. In English Economic Export Contracts 45 4.3.1.2. In Vietnamese Economic Export Contracts . 46 4.3.1.3. Similarities . 47 4.3.1.4. Differences . 48 4.3.2. The Use of Simple and Accurate Words in English and Vietnamese Economic Export Contracts 49 4.3.2.1. In English Economic Export Contracts . 50 4.3.2.2. In Vietnamese Economic Export Contracts . 52 4.3.2.3. Similarities . 53 4.3.2.4. Differences . 53 4.3.3. The Use of Synonyms in English and Vietnamese Economic Export Contracts . 54 4.3.3.1. In English EECs . 54 4.3.3.2. In Vietnamese EECs 55 4.3.3.3. Similarities . 56 4.3.3.4. Differences . 56 4.3.4. The Use of Terminology of Economic Export Contracts in English and Vietnamese . 56 vi 4.3.4.1. In English Economic Export Contracts . 56 4.3.4.2. In Vietnamese Economic Export Contracts . 57 4.3.5. The Use of Positive and Negative Words of Economic Export Contracts in English and Vietnamese . 59 4.3.5.1. Positive Words . 59 4.3.5.2. Negative Words . 61 4.4. Syntactic Features in English and Vietnamese Economic Export Contracts . 63 4.4.1. Common Sentence Patterns Used in English and Vietnamese Economic Export Contracts . 63 4.4.1.1. Simple Sentences . 63 4.4.1.2. Compound Sentences . 64 4.4.1.3. Complex Sentences 66 4.4.1.4. Compound- Complex Sentences 67 4.4.2. The Passive Voice in Economic Export Contracts in English and Vietnamese 70 4.4.2.1. In English Economic Export Contracts . 70 4.4.2.2. In Vietnamese Economic Export Contracts . 70 4.4.2.3. Similarities . 71 4.4.2.4. Differences . 71 Chapter 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION 5.1. Conclusion 73 5.2. Implications for Economic Export Contract Writing and Teaching 74 5.2.1. Implications for Business Activities 75 5.2.2.Implications for Teaching and Learning of Economic Export Contracts . 76 5.3. Limitations . 79 vii 5.4. Suggestions for Further Researches . 80 REFERENCES 81 QUYẾT ĐỊNH VỀ VIỆC GIAO ĐỀ TÀI LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ VÀ TRÁCH NHIỆM CỦA NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN viii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: A Summary of Sentence Types in English and Vietnamese . 18 Table 4.1: A Comparison of the Beginning between Economic Export Contracts in English and Vietnamese . 42 Table 4.2: A Comparison of the Body between Economic Export Contracts in English and Vietnamese . 43 Table 4.3: A Comparison of the Ending between Economic Export Contracts in English and Vietnamese . 43 Table 4.4: The Use of Words in English and Vietnamese Economic Export Contracts 49 Table 4.5: The Comparison of Using the Common Types of Sentences in English and Vietnamese Economic Export Contracts . 69 Table 4.6: The Percentage of Using the Active Voice and the Passive Voice in English and Vietnamese Economic Export Contracts . 71 . making economic export contracts by an analysis of economic export contracts in English and Vietnamese. With the examples of economic export contracts in English. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF DANANG -------- PHAM THI NGUYET THO A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC EXPORT CONTRACTS IN ENGLISH AND