Acknowledgements This work would have never been completed without the support and the assistance of many dedicated individuals. First of all, I would like to acknowledge my deepest sense of both personal and professional gratitude to my supervisor, Mrs. Cao ThÞ Ph¬ng (M.A.). Her useful references and valuable advice on the whole work has been of the utmost significance in the course of this study. Similarly, without her encouragement, I would have found it difficult to move forward. I would also like to express my particular gratitude to Mr. Ng« §×nh Ph- ¬ng (M.A.), who gave me enthusiastic encouragement and insightful criticism over the work, especially his reading of the work. My special thanks are also owned by Mrs. Hång Minh and Mrs. Thu Hµ who offered me quite a lot of references and advice. My thanks also go to my family and my friends who have been of great help to me, especially towards the end of the work. Last but not least, my thanks are also due to those who will give shortcomings and comments concerning this aspect of study. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Part I. Introduction 4 1.Background 6 2.Aims of the study 7 3.Scope of the study 7 4.Methods of the study 8 5.Design of the study 8 Part II. Investigation 10 Chapter 1. Theoretical preliminaries. Brief overview on the theory of conversation. I. Characteristics of a conversation. 1. Internal characteristics. 1.a. Interaction. 10 1.b. Unity of turns. 11 1.c. Purpose. 11 1.d. The cooperative principle. 12 2. External characteristics. 2.a. Number of interlocutors. 12 2.b. Personal relation in conversation. 13 II. Politeness. 13 III. Types of social-personal relation. 14 IV. Differences in the concept of conversation between the Anglicists and the Asians. 15 2 Chapter 2. Analysis of Horizontal relation. I. Definition of Horizontal relation. 1. Linguists' definition/conception of horizontal relation. 18 2. The author's deeper view on the relation. 18 II.Analysis of the relation. 19 II.1.Speech signals reflecting horizontal relaion. Address forms-a contrastive analysis in English and Vietnamese. 1.a. Productiveness of “I” and “You.” 19 * Cultural differences. 20 1.b. First name. 22 *Cultural differences 25 1.c. Multiple names. 29 1.d.Title + Last name. 30 1.e. Conversation topics. 31 *Some remarks on the cultural differences in the Address forms. 35 II.2.Gestures and manners reflecting the relation. 37 2.a. Conversational distance. 38 2 2.b. Handshake and eye-contact. 40 2.c. Facial expression. 43 Chapter 3. Some questions made for the cultural differences drawn from the field of study. 45 Part III. Conclusion. 54 References 56 3 Introduction It is common knowledge that language is the man’s most important means of communication considered a mirror reflecting the psychology, the customs and culture of each community and country as a whole. In other words, people use language as a means to express their feelings, ideas and experiences. The various ways of expressing things in different languages are confined to the culture through the way of speaking and behaving. Hence culture of each language is inseparable from communication. It is, therefore, crucial to pay attention to speech signals, and manners and gestures to know how people (interlocutors) communicate or interact with each other. Only by doing in this way can we know something about their culture as well as the relationship between the speaker and the addressee. According to Kerbat-Orechioni, interpersonal relation in conversation is considered in the three aspects as follows: -Horizontal relation. -Vertical relation( also called power or status relation in society). -Hierarchy relation in the family. Of the three aspects above, Horizontal relation expressed by speech signals, and manners and gestures reflects personal relation most clearly. Due to the differences in the cultures of different language communities, speech signals, and manners and gestures reflecting respect or deference, and friendliness and closeness or distance in conversation (Horizontal relation) are therefore various, Vietnamese and Anglicist (the English speaking countries’) cultures are also different because of different origins, different traditions and historical background, etc. The cross-cultural differences in conversation between Vietnam 4 and Anglicist countries have, as a matter of fact, led to some differences in the usage of language and to misunderstanding. For these reasons, considering this aspect of study, we shall find it easy to explain the reasons for culture shocks so that we can rule out possibility of making pitiful ones. 5 BACKGROUND Up to now, the problems of analyzing one relation as a part of the 3 relations in conversation has not been studied much and systematically. There appears, perhaps, to be only general studied and mentioned a little bit detailedly, such as "Mèi quan hÖ ngang" (NguyÔn §øc D©n- Ng÷ dông häc, tËp NXB Gi¸o dôc 2000); Saville-Troike's research on "solidarity relation in society" in "the Ethnography of communication: An introduction". While in communication, the Vietnamese students' understanding of Horizontal relation is still limited. As what we eye-witnessed from the interaction between a native speaker and students, the students always stand quite far apart from the teacher, opening their mouth with words "Ms Jody"(American native speaker) or "teacher!" in a very polite way even in informal situation. While the teacher attempts to be called by "first name" or "last name" and to stand close to students with the aim of creating an open talk. Some similar examples are the native speaker's talks to our teachers. As a result, many students have confusion to reach the conclusion that native speakers are pretentious or look down on them. This might create culture shocks. So in communication, Horizontal relation (degree of closeness, friendliness or distance; respect or deference) plays a crucial role in establishing and maintaining relation in the process of an interaction. That encouraged us to have great passion on choosing the topic " Analysis of Horizontal Relation in the Aspect of Pragmatics". 6 AIMS OF THE STUDY On the basis of analyzing cultural differences in expressing speech signals, we center on contrastive analysis of Vietnamese and English address forms, the most productive means of expressing personal social relation in conversation, and some manners and gestures in order to: -Help learners and native speakers alike get more knowledge of behavioural culture of the Vietnamese and that of the Anglicists. - Help learners avoid false conception of the relation: the distinction between closeness and distance, respect and deference in inter-cultural communication. - Help learners avoid culture shocks. - Offer some gestures and manners reflecting Horizontal relation in communication. - Help interlocutors know some tacts of establishing and maintaining a conversation. SCOPE OF THE STUDY - Studying some problems leading to false conception on closeness and distance, respect and deference (Horizontal relation) in conversation. - Studying some cultural differences in vocative using in the form of contrastive analysis. - Studying some common gestures and manners reflecting the relation. - Finding out some remarks drawn from the field of study. 7 METHODS OF THE STUDY In the course of the study, some techniques and methods employed to achieve the goals are: 1. Descriptive method: Describing theoretical preliminaries, especially the theory of conversation. 2. Contrastive method: Contrasting some aspects of culture through address form in English and in Vietnamese, and some gestures and manners alike. 3. Collecting and analyzing data. 4. Seeking advice on the subject. 5. Reviewing related literature: References and natural conversations used in the course are faithfully reported. DESIGN OF THE STUDY The research's content is composed of 3 parts : introduction, content and conclusion. In part one, the Introduction is presented with 5 items: background, aims of the study, scope of the study, methods of the study and design of the study. In part two, we subdivide it into 3 chapters, in Chapter 1, stating a brief overview on theoretical preliminaries of conversation, including characteristics of a conversation, conversational formality, the cooperative principles, theory of politeness in conversation, types of interpersonal relation in conversation, and differences in the concept of conversation between the Asians and the Anglicists, etc in order to draw on premise for the analysis. 8 In Chapter 2, focusing on analysis of the relation with regard to analyzing speech signals, especially English and Vietnamese address forms, with the aim of finding out cultural differences in behavioural culture, especially remarks on the cultural differences in the Address forms. Some gestures and manners are also included in the chapter as a productive means to reflect Horizontal relation. Chapter 3 concentrates on some questions made for the cultural differences drawn from the field of study. In part three, we state some interesting findings and come to some useful conclusion. PART TWO: INVESTIGATION Chapter 1. Theoretical preliminaries 9 Brief overview on the theory of conversation I.Characteristics of a conversation 1.Internal characteristics 1.a. Interaction In order to make sense of what is said in an interaction , we have to look at various factors which relate to social distance and closeness. Some of these factors are established prior to an interaction and hence are largely external factors. According to Kerbrat – Orechioni, interpersonal relations are considered in the three following aspects . -Horizontal relation -Vertical relation -Agreement and controversy axis They typically involve the relative status of the participants, based on social values tied to such things as age and power. For example, the speaker who sees himself as lower status in distance uses address forms that include a title and a last name , but not the first name (for example, Mr. Hussein, professor Smith called vertical relation (also called status relation) . Unlike vertical relation, Horizontal relation is considered in a popular aspect, such as amount of imposition or degree of friendliness and closeness which are often negotiated during an interaction in conversation . These are internal to the interaction and can result in the initial social distance changing . They may result, for distance, in participants moving from a title plus last name to a first name or last name only . 1.b. Unity of turn Most of the time, conversation consists of two, or more participants taking turns, and only one participant speaking at any time. Smooth transition from one 10 . Analysis of Horizontal Relation in the Aspect of Pragmatics". 6 AIMS OF THE STUDY On the basis of analyzing cultural differences in expressing speech. and manners reflecting the relation. - Finding out some remarks drawn from the field of study. 7 METHODS OF THE STUDY In the course of the study, some techniques