Luận văn english business emails an analysis of errors made by vietnamese people working in foreign companies

vinh university foreign languages department - - ENGLISH BUSINESS EMAILS AN ANALYSIS OF ERRORS MADE BY VIETNAMESE PEOPLE WORKING IN FOREIGN COMPANIES (PHÂN TíCH LỗI CáC THƯ ĐIệN Tử THƯƠNG MạI TIếNG ANH ĐƯƠC VIếT BởI NGƯờI VIệT NAM LàM VIệC TRONG CáC CÔNG TY NƯớC NGOàI) summary of graduation thesis FIELD: APPLIED LINGUISTICS Supervisor: Ngun ThÞ Tờng, M.A Student : Vũ Thị Vân Class : 46 B1 - English Vinh - 2009 Part a: introduction Rationale of the Study ‘Human learning is fundamentally a process that involves the making of mistakes Mistakes, misjudgements, miscaculations, and erroneous assumptions from an important aspect of learning virtually any skill or acquiring information’ (Brown, 1987:169) Many second language researchers have studied and investigated errors in language learning They have attempted to describe and explain the reasons why learners make errors in their language learning process Error Analysis as the ways of dealing with errors has been worked out Writing is the most difficult of the four main skills in learning a second language, particularly English as a second or a foreign language In these days, writing a business email has become a compulsory activity in doing the business instead of handwritten letters Although the writers can benefit the chance to learn how to write a good business email from many books of business letter models published and broadband Internet, they can not create a professional and efficient email because writing style and contents vary according to audiences and purposes ‘The purpose of good writing is not only to make oneself understood, it is to make oneself incapable of being misunderstood’ (White, 1979) Standard English is the goal of any skills and any English learners However, it is unavoidable to commit errors in learning English, especially in writing English business emails In fact, situations in doing business are very various, much different from the ideal ones mentioned in the published books Actually, searching business email models on Internet only gives out general ones, they are so different in the aspects of each industry and company As a result, many errors and mistakes have been found in these emails Having read many business emails in different companies helps the author realize that these emails appear to be informal and uncompleted in both form and content This is the first reason to urge the author to this study Moreover, it would be very useful for email writers in different foreign companies to find out the errors and their causes and to correct themselves during their work Because, the people who work in such companies are too busy with their work, they have no time to attend any English class to improve their writing skill The solutions given in the study may provide email - writers some techniques to reduce errors and to create a professional and efficient business email Aims of the Study The aims of the study are: - To provide the writers the standard format of a business letter in general and some techniques to write a professional business email in particular - To show some typical grammar errors and their causes found in fifty collected business emails - To suggest some practical solutions for email - writers to handle with such errors Scope of the Study The study focuses on the analysis of errors in fifty collected business emails Particularly, the study is confined to grammar errors only the author has analyzed and compared such errors between English and Vietnamese to find out their causes and some efficient solutions The ground used for investigation in this study is the theoretical background of Error Analysis suggested by some famous linguistic researchers such as Corder, Richards, Diep Quang Ban, etc Method of the Study This study has been conducted under the quantitative method of collecting and analyzing data A survey based on fifty collected business emails written by Vietnamese people working in different foreign companies has been carried out Common errors, mainly in grammar category, their causes and some suggestions to deal with such errors have also been worked out It aims to help email - writers to improve their writing and to able to check and correct errors themselves during their work Design of the Study The study is composed of three main parts: the introduction, the development and the conclusion The Introduction states the rationale, aims, scope, methodology and design of the study The Development consists of three chapters: Chapter one: Theoretical background Chapter two: The study Chapter three: Findings, discussions and suggested solutions The Conclusion reviews the study and gives some recommendations and suggestions for further studies Part b: development CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND This chapter deals with the most general knowledge of errors and Error Analysis The source of background knowledge is considered to be the base for analyzing and discussing errors in the following chapters Besides, characteristics of business letters and business emails as well as some techniques to write a good business email will be also presented 1.1 Concepts of Errors Error is a common phenomenon in language learning and it is defined by many authors Corder (1967) introduced the idea that errors are a necessary part of linguistic development, and that errors are of significance because they may represent the discrepancy between the grammar of the learner’s transitional competence and that of ‘the target language.’ According to Richards (1992), error ‘in the speech of writing of a second or foreign language learner, is the use of linguistic item (i.e a word, a grammatical item, a speech act, ect.) in a way which a fluent or native speaker of the language regards as showing faulty as incomplete learning.’ James M H (1987) defines an error as an utterance, form and structure that a particular language teacher seems unacceptable because of its inappropriate use or its absence in real life discourse Carl James (1980) gives the definition of error ‘as being instance of language that is unintentionally deviant and is not corrigible by its author’ In addition, intention plays an important part in the definition of error because an error often arises when there is no intention to commit 1.2 Errors and Mistakes In the 1960s, concept of errors became an attractive topic to researchers in language learning process To make it clearer, the distinction was drawn between the two items ‘error’ and ‘mistake’ Chomsky (1995) states that there are two different types of errors: one oginating from verbal performance factor and the other form inadequate language competence Corder (1967) developed Chomsky’s point of view, a mistake, he says, is a ‘performance error’ and the term ‘an error’ is associated with failures in language competence According to Ellis (1997), ‘error reflects gaps in learner’s knowledge They occur because the learner does not know what is correct Meanwhile, mistakes reflect occasional lapses in performance They occur because, in a particular instance, the learner is unable to perform what he or she knows.’ As we know, mistakes are result of psychological or neurological factors such as fatigue, lack of attention or lapse of memory Physical states are also causes of mistakes (i.e tiredness) (Corder, 1992:24) On the contrary, errors are caused by the incomplete understanding of language competence It is not easy to determine what an error is and what a mistake is The learner’s intention in using a language also affects his making errors James (1998) points out that error is an instance of language that is unintentionally deviant and is not self-corrigible by the learner Meanwhile, a mistake is either intentionally or unintentionally deviant and self-corrigible According to Norrish (1983), learner’s errors are themselves systematic The term ‘systematic’ implies errors which are random or unintentional The opposition between systematic and non-systematic is very important in distinguishing errors and mistakes He assumes that errors are ‘a systematic deviation when a learner has not learnt something and consistently gets it wrong’ He adds that they are generally caused by learners of English as a second or foreign language In contrast, mistakes are characteristically unsystematic In addition, they are made by native speakers as well as foreign language learners Corder (1967) also shows that mistakes are not significant to the process of language learning because ‘they not reflect a defect in our knowledge’ and the learners are ‘normally immediately aware of them’ and ‘can correct them with more or less complete assurance’ On the other hand, errors are very significant to the process of language learning (Richards, 1992) In addition, mistakes can only be corrected by their agent if their deviance is pointed out to him or her In contrast, errors can not be selfcorrected until further relevant (to that error) input (implicit or explicit) has been provided and converted into intake by the learner In other words, errors require further relevant learning to take place before they can be self-corrected To sum up, ‘a mistake’ is a performance error and ‘an error’ is associated with failures in language competence And only errors can be the object of study of Error Analysis Meanwhile, mistakes can not since they not show the true state of learner’s knowledge 1.3 Error Analysis The Interlanguage Hypothesis by the late 1960s and early 1970s emphasizes that making error is something inevitable in the process of the second language learning Error Analysis developed as a branch of applied linguistic in the 1960s Richards (1971) points out there are two types of errors: interlingual and intralingual errors 1.3.1 Mother Tongue Influence ( Interlingual Errors) It is clear that, before learners learn any second language, they have had the mother tongue already Moreover, a lot of habits of their mother tongue seriously affect their acquisition of the second language ‘They tend to transfer the form, meanings and the distribution of forms and meaning of their native language and culture to the foreign language and culture’ (Lado,1957:2) Another idea of transfer is also pointed out, ‘Transfer is the influence resulting from similarities and differences between the target language and any other language that has been previously acquired’ (Oldin, 1989) In the first case, the learner benefits from positive first language transfer which makes learning easier and may occur when first language and second language have something in common In the second case, they can get problem with negative transfer or interference which is the borrowing of the first language pattern or rule leading to an error or inappropriate language usage Interference may be caused by the difference between two languages 1.3.2 Target Language Causes (Intralingual Errors) Richards (1971:74) points out that intralingual errors reflect the general characteristics of the learning and failure to learn conditions under which rules apply He adds that there are some causes of intralingual errors such as: overgeneralization, ignorance of rule restrictions, incomplete application of rules and false concepts hypothesized a Overgeneralization It is a phenomenon applying a language rule which the learner has acquired to all cases regardless of its exception For example: He can plays the guitar very well Last night, she dances with a stranger b Ignorance of Rule Restriction It is clear that, Ignorance of Rule Restriction is a kind of Overgeneralization This case occurs when the learner uses a previously acquired rule in new situation, he ignores the restrictions of existing structures, that is, the application of rules to context where they are not applicable For example: The boy who I met him 10 ... the definition of error ‘as being instance of language that is unintentionally deviant and is not corrigible by its author’ In addition, intention plays an important part in the definition of error... reports, tables of data, graphs and charts, blueprints, pictures, etc Nowadays, updating and transferring information in doing business are very important, so business emails have become an efficient... the analysis of errors in fifty collected business emails Particularly, the study is confined to grammar errors only the author has analyzed and compared such errors between English and Vietnamese