Enhancing efl learners speech act performance disagreement strategies in english and vietnamese

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES ENHANCING EFL LEARNERS’ SPEECH ACT PERFORMANCE – DISAGREEMENT STRATEGIES IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Submitted by PHAN LÊ HỒNG CẨM Supervisor NGUYỄN HOÀNG TUẤN, PhD HO CHI MINH CITY, FEBRUARY 2008 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the Masters’ Thesis submitted today entitled: ENHANCING EFL LEARNERS’ SPEECH ACT PERFORMANCE – DISAGREEMENT STRATEGIES IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Masters’ Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Department of English Linguistics and Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University- Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City, February 2008 PHAN LE HONG CAM RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, PHAN LE HONG CAM, being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) accepted the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’ Thesis deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Masters’ Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan and reproduction for theses Ho Chi Minh City, February, 2008 Signature PHAN LE HONG CAM ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr Nguyễn Hoàng Tuấn, who always gave so freely of his time and advice for my thesis His thoughtful and insightful comments and precious instructions enriched my study in many ways I would have not finished the thesis without his constant enthusiastic support and guidance My greatest appreciation goes to all the informants for completing the questionnaires that contributes a vital part to the success of my thesis The thesis would have never been possible without the businesspeople, teachers and students who were very responsible to the survey questionnaires My heartfelt appreciation is especially expressed to Mr Phan Thanh Huøng for his great assistance in distributing and collecting the questionnaires My special thanks are delivered to my best friends who inspired me initial ideas for the thesis and gave me useful advice and support in searching materials and mechanical techniques Especially, Ms Lê Bích Thủy was of great help to me for her relevant references Last but not least, I would like to dedicate this thesis to my family, my husband and my little daughter for their love, understanding and support, without which I would hardly have been able to complete it ABSTRACT This thesis examined the use of disagreement strategies by native speakers of English and Vietnamese to status unequals in academic and business setting Its study was mainly based on the questionnaires delivered to three groups of informants The English native speaker group included 30 students and teachers and 31 businessmen and businesswomen Similarly, the numbers of respondents in Vietnamese native speaker group were 30 and 32 respectively The last group representing Vietnamese EFL learners was 30 junior students of Department of English Linguistics of Literature (USSH) The data analysis revealed the strategy preference and wordings they chose and how style shifting occurred on the basis of the role relationships and the status of the interlocutors Also, some pragmatic transfers in Vietnamese EFL learners’ usage of disagreement were figured out for the purpose of enhancing their speech act’s performance The study revealed some similarities, but mostly differences in the sociolinguistic behavior of native speakers of English and Vietnamese as a result of difference in culture Status, as a social variable influencing language use, was also found to carry different weights in the two cultures compared The findings also emphasized that each context generates certain set of what considered appropriateness In other words, the term “appropriateness” is understood differently not only culture to culture but also context to context Due to some differences between English and Vietnamese in expressing disagreement, transfers are unavoidable The failure of advanced learners to perform this challenging speech act in the target language was observed in this study From the results of the study, the thesis suggests first some recommendations for language classroom in general, and then some activities that are believed to be useful for pragmatic development in general and enhancing EFL learners’ performance of the challenging speech act of disagreement in particular ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS CLT Communicative Language Teaching DCT EFL Discourse Completion Test English as a Foreign Language ENS English native speakers FTA Face threatening act H Hearer S VEL VNS Speaker Vietnamese learners of English Vietnamese native speakers LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Possible strategies for doing FTAs 13 Figure 2.2 Components of language competence -15 LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Background information on the participants - 25 Table 4.1 Overall percentages of disagreement strategies used in academic setting 34 Table 4.2 The frequency of major strategies in disagreement used in Situation (higher to lower status) 36 Table 4.3 The frequency of major strategies in disagreement used in Situation (lower to higher status) 40 Table 4.4 Overall percentages of disagreement strategies used in academic setting 44 Table 4.5 The frequency of major strategies in disagreement used in Situation (higher to lower status) 45 Table 4.6 The frequency of major strategies in disagreement used in Situation (lower to higher status) 50 Table 4.7 Lists of preferred strategies used by ENS and VNS groups in academic setting 57 Table 4.8 Lists of preferred strategies used by ENS and VNS groups in business setting 61 Table 4.9 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Cross-cultural Pragmatics: Requests and Apologies Norwood: Ablex Publishing 174-196 91 Yule, G 1996 Pragmatics Oxford University Press 92 Zhang, Q 2001 Symbols of status and respect Shanghai Star (02-082001) APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ENS QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR ACADEMIC SETTING) I am an M.A student at College of Social Sciences and Humanities Now I am doing my thesis on the field of pragmatics I am very grateful if you could save some of your precious time to fill in my questionnaire as what you would say in the real situation Your kind help will enable me to finish my thesis successfully Thank you very much for your help! You are a professor in a history course During class discussion, one of your students gives an account of a famous historical event with the wrong date You would say: - 139 -2 You are a student in a sociology class During lecture, the professor quotes a famous statement attributing it to the wrong scholar You would say: Thank again for your co-operation! QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR BUSINESS SETTING) I am an M.A student at College of Social Sciences and Humanities Now I am doing my thesis on the field of pragmatics I am very grateful if you could save some of your precious time to fill in my questionnaire as what you would say in the real situation Your kind help will enable me to finish my thesis successfully Thank you very much for your help! You are a corporate executive Your assistant submits a proposal for reassignment of secretarial duties in your division Your assistant describes the benefits of this new plan, but you believe it will not work 140 You would say: You work in a corporation Your boss presents you with a plan for reorganization of the department that you are convinced will not work Your boss says: “Isn’t this a great plan?” You would say: Thank again for your co-operation! APPENDIX 141 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR VNS PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT (1) Bảng câu hỏi nhằm thu thập liệu cho đề tài nghiên cứu ngữ dụng học Xin Quý vị vui lòng dành chút thời gian quý báu trả lời câu hỏi sau Câu trả lời Quý vị góp phần quan trọng thành công đề tài Chúng cam kết sử dụng liệu vào mục đích nghiên cứu Xin chân thành cảm ơn cộng tác Quý vị Lưu ý: Xin Quý vị dùng câu nói ngữ cảnh thực tế mà Quý vị gặp Giả sử Quý vị thầy/ cô giáo dạy môn lịch sử Trong buổi thảo luận, học sinh thuật lại kiện lịch sử tiếng lại nói sai thời điểm diễn kiện Quý vị nói: -2 Giả sử Quý vị sinh viên lớp xã hội học Trong giảng bài, thầy/ cô giáo Quý vị trích dẫn câu nói tiếng lại nhầm tên tác giả Quý vị nói: 142 Chaân thành cảm ơn giúp đỡ Quý vị (1) Dành cho môi trường giáo dục PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT (2) Bảng câu hỏi nhằm thu thập liệu cho đề tài nghiên cứu ngữ dụng học Xin Quý vị vui lòng dành chút thời gian quý báu trả lời câu hỏi sau Câu trả lời Quý vị góp phần quan trọng thành công đề tài Chúng cam kết sử dụng liệu vào mục đích nghiên cứu Xin chân thành cảm ơn cộng tác Quý vị Lưu ý: Xin Quý vị dùng câu nói ngữ cảnh thực tế mà Quý vị gặp Giả sử Quý vị trưởng phòng công ty Trợ lý Quý vị đề xuất kế hoạch tái tổ chức lại công tác phòng Người trợ lý nêu nhiều lợi ích, Quý vị lại cho kế hoạch không khả thi Quý vị nói: 143 Giả sử Quý vị nhân viên công ty Một hôm, Trưởng phòng đưa Quý vị xem kế hoạch tái tổ chức lại công tác phòng mà Quý vị cho chẳng khả thi chút Giọng sếp đầy tự hào: “Kế hoạch tuyệt nhỉ?” Quý vị nói: Chân thành cảm ơn giúp đỡ Quý vị (2) Dành cho môi trường kinh doanh APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR VIETNAMESE EFL STUDENTS QUESTIONNAIRE 144 I am an M.A student at College of Social Sciences and Humanities Now I am doing my thesis on the field of pragmatics I am very grateful if you could save some of your precious time to fill in my questionnaire as what you would say in the real situation Your kind help will enable me to finish my thesis successfully Thank you very much for your help! You are a professor in a history course During class discussion, one of your students gives an account of a famous historical event with the wrong date You would say: You are a student in a sociology class During lecture, the professor quotes a famous statement attributing it to the wrong scholar You would say: - 145 -3 You are a corporate executive Your assistant submits a proposal for reassignment of secretarial duties in your division Your assistant describes the benefits of this new plan, but you believe it will not work You would say: You work in a corporation Your boss presents you with a plan for reorganization of the department that you are convinced will not work Your boss says: “Isn’t this a great plan?” You would say: Thank again for your co-operation! 146 147 ... How to things with words, Austin made an interesting point that in saying something, one is actually doing something This view is considered a breakthrough in linguistics since it points out... similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese disagreement strategies in business setting? 3/ How is the choice of disagreement strategies of English and Vietnamese native speakers influenced... classroom in general, and then some activities that are believed to be useful for pragmatic development in general and enhancing EFL learners? ?? performance of the challenging speech act of disagreement