Being conducted in a limited duration of time and resources, the research undeniably bears certain limitations which go beyond the solving abilities of the researchers. Firstly, it is quite a new research topic which, to the researcher‟s knowledge, has not been discussed by any researcher at least at the university. This became an urge which motivates the researcher to launch this study; however, it is also one of the biggest problems the researcher has to cope with during the process of collecting relevant literature and asking for advice from the foregoers. Much as the researcher tried, the literature presented in the previous chapter is considered not detailed enough, especially the specific documents of SN and the relation between the use of PSs and the results of SN.
Secondly, the researcher is not totally happy with the method of data collection with two main instruments which are survey questionnaire and note-taking. In normal research, interviews and real-life observations are to be utilized for realistic and in-depth data; however, in the research of such sensitive topic, those two kinds of instruments prove not to be relevant and accepted by the respondents who even do not want to answer the survey questionnaires due to certain confidential issues. Thus, the difficulty in collecting data has resulted in another limitation of the study.
Thirdly, the use of DCTs in the survey questionnaire to elicit respondents‟ choice of PSs may bring about the question of the validity of the data collected. As shown and agreed by few scholars in this field, “DCTs can be used for analyzing linguistic tendency of a specific group rather than general tendency of the speakers of a language” (Golato, 2002). In this study, the comparison between the two groups of respondents‟ selection of PSs is made based on the results of DCTs‟ answers and the entirely trusted generalization of the speakers of a language is not the ultimate goal, a more feasible way of data collection that allows for more trusted data generalization is hopefully done in further research.
Moreover, the data presentation method employed in the study is also not to the researcher‟s primary preference. At first, SPSS – a famous and most updated software which allows simple
upon request – was decided to be applied for quantitative data presentation. However, due to the researcher‟s limit in and lack guidance of Information Technology skills, the software did not function as well as it had been expected. At last, the manual and basic type of data input and output, i.e. the use of excel file, is utilized.
Finally, due to the limited working conditions and personal relationships of the researcher, the respondents are selected only in projects, NGOs and the small sample size of 80 informants (40 Vietnamese and 40 Anglophone females) may hinder the generalization of the study conclusions.
Further research should overcome those limitations embraced by this study and if possible investigate more in the following related issues: the difference in PSs utilization by men and women in SN, the difference in negotiation skills between people working in different sectors (such as state sector, private sector, non-governmental sector, etc.), strategies employed by the employers in refusing employees‟ proposals, etc. Hopefully the results of this study will prove to be of practical use by other researchers who conduct research in this field of study.
REFERENCES
Books, articles & journals
1. Austin, J. (1962), How to Do Things with Words, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
2. Bach, K. (1979), Linguistic Communication and Speech Acts, M.I.T. Press, Arizona, 127- 135.
3. Barron, L. A. (2003), Ask and you shall receive? Gender differences in negotiators' beliefs about requests for a higher salary. Human Relations, 56(6), pp. 635-662.
4. Blum-Kulka, S. (1982), Learning how to say what you mean in a language, Applied Linguistics, 3, pp. 29-59.
5. Blum-Kulka, S. (1987), Indirectness and politeness: Same or different, Journal of Pragmatics, 11, pp. 145-160.
6. Blum-Kulka, S. (1989), Playing it safe: the role of conventionality in indirectness, in Blum- Kulka, S., House, J., Kasper, G. (eds.), Cross-cultural Pragmatics: Request and apologies, Norwood, NJ: Ablex, pp. 37-55.
7. Bohnet, I., Greig, F. (2007), Gender matters in workplace decisions, Negotiation, pp. 4-6.
8. Brown, P. (1976), Women and politeness: a new perspective on language and society, Review in Anthropology, 3.
9. Brown, P., Levinson, S. (1987), Politeness: Some universals in language usage, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
10. Brown, G., Yule, G. (1979), Discourse Analysis, Cambridge University Press, London.
11. Burstein, J. (1989), PSs and gender expectations, CUNY Forum: Papers in Linguistics, 14.
12. Deutsch, M. (2006), Handbook of conflict resolution: theory & practice, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
13. Dornyei, Z. (2003), Questionnaires in Second Language Research, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers.
14. Druckman, D. (1977), Negotiations: Social-psychological Perspectives, Sage Publications, London.
15. Fink, A. (1995), Evaluation for Education and Psychology, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Firth, A. (1995), The Discourse of Negotiation, Pergamon, Oxford, UK.
16. Fisher, R., Ury, W., Patton, B. (1991), Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in, Harvard University, USA.
17. Gerhart, B. (1990), Gender differences in current and starting salaries: The role of performance, college major, and job title, Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 43(4), pp. 418.
18. Gillham, B. (2000), Developing a questionnaire, London: Continuum, London.
19. Golato, A. (2002), Studying Compliment Responses: A Comparison of DCTs and Recordings of Naturally Occurring Talk, University of Illinois.
20. Goffman, E. (1955), On the face work: an analysis of ritual elements in social interaction, Psychiatry 18 - Journal for the Study of Interpersonal Processes. 18(3).
21. Goffman, E. (1963), On Face-Work, Interaction Ritual New York: Anchor Books, New York.
22. Grice, H. (1969), Utterer‟s meaning and intentions, Philosophical Review, 78 (2), 147-177.
23. Grice, H. (1975), Logic and conversation, in Cole, P. and Morgan, J. (eds.), Syntax and Semantics 3, Speech Acts, New York: Academic Press.
24. Harnish, R.M. (2001), Linguistics: An introduction to language and communication, University of Arizona, Arizona.
25. Vu Thi Bich Hiep (2006), A study on strategies used in verbal communication between native and non-native speakers of English in the workplace, English linguistics M.A thesis, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
26. Kaman, V. S., Hartel, C. E. J. (1994), Gender differences in anticipated pay negotiation strategies and outcomes, Journal of Business and Psychology, 9(2), pp. 183-197.
27. Korabik, K., Baril, G., Watson C. (1993), Managers‟conflict management style and lead- ership effectiveness: The moderating effects of gender, Sex Roles, pp. 405-418.
28. Kray, L. J., Thompson, L. (2005), Gender stereotypes and negotiation performance: A review of theory and research, Research in Organizational Behavior Series, Vol. 26, pp.
103-182.
29. Dao Thi Phuong Lan (2007), A study on PSs in the business conversations of the course book “Business basics”, English linguistics M.A minor thesis, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
30. Lax, D., Sebenius, J. (2006), 3-D Negotiation – powerful tools to change the game in your most important deals, Havard Business School press.
31. Lakoff, R. (1975), Language and women’s place, Harper, New York.
32. Lakoff, R. (1977), What you can do with words: politeness, pragmatics and performatives, in Rogers, P. (ed.), Proceedings of the Texas Conference on Performatives, VA: Center for Applied Linguistics, Arlington, pp. 79-105.
33. Leech, G. (1983), Principles of Pragmatics, Longman, London.
34. Do Thi Thuy Mai (2001), A study of PSs in the conversational activities of the course book
“Interchange” I-II-III, English linguistics M.A thesis, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
35. Moore, C.W. (1996), The Mediation Process, (2nd ed.), CA: Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
36. Mendez, C., Rizzo, A. M. (1990), The Integration of Women in Management, pp.145-147.
General assumptions
- The word “salary” mentioned in this questionnaire refers to a FINANCIAL entity which may be termed as salary, wage, fee, payment, etc. used in your own negotiation experience which either includes or excludes tax / compulsory insurance.
- It is assumed that the SAME principle of annual bonus, contract termination allowance, overtime working payment or other types of extra payment apart from X is applied for all of you; therefore, those payments will be considered constant and will not interfere in your salary negotiation.
- It is also assumed that you are going to share you experience on FACE-TO-FACE salary negotiation. Hence, other types of salary negotiation via mail, email, telephone, etc. are not considered.
- If you are Anglophone, please share your most recent salary negotiation experiences. If you are Vietnamese, please refer to your most recent salary negotiation with the Employer of a different nationality and the language you used then was English.
- To answer the questions below, you could refer to what you experienced. In case you have not experienced any asked situations, please select the options which best represent what you MAY do in reality.
- If you answer this questionnaire in hard copy, just put ticks to the checkboxes for multiple-choice questions; If you answer this questionnaire in soft copy, for multiple-choice questions, please:
* use your left mouse to tick the boxes
* if it does not work, please double click the boxes that you select, tick the box “checked” (or “not checked”), then press “ok”
(#) Please put a tick (√) next to the type(s) of salary negotiation you have experienced (more than 1 answer is accepted) upon job offer
annual talk
during working time (not annual talk), proposed by your employer during working time (not annual talk), requested by you
other: (please specify: ………) not yet (please be more detailed): ………
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1.1.2. Your nationality Vietnamese
other: (please specify………..)
1.1.3. What is your current position/job? ………
1.1.4. If you are Vietnamese, please specify your general English level
pre-intermediate intermediate upper-intermediate advanced like mother tongue
other (please specify: ……….) 1.1.5. How long have you been working?
………….
1.1.6. Up till now, how many times have you changed
job(s) in total? ………….
1.1.7. How many times have you been promoted?
………….
1.1.8. How much are you satisfied with your current salary?
(please select one number that is most relevant to your case)
1 2 3 4 5
not satisfied very satisfied at all
………..
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you realize that though there is no change in your
responsibilities, you are still lower paid than you actually deserve, you TEND to (more than one answer is accepted) (to answer this question, please put ticks to the boxes in (*) column which correspond to the answers in (**) )
are given more responsibilities or more tasks without being offered any pay rise, you TEND to (more than one answer is accepted) (to answer this question, please put ticks to the boxes in (***) column which correspond to the answers in (**) )
stay silent and look for another job
complain to your colleagues or co-workers only
continue working and wait for relevant opportunities for salary review (annual talk, your employer’s proposal, etc.)
approach the employer, directly mention your situation and frankly ask for a personal talk appointment
approach the employer, directly mention your situation and frankly ask for a personal talk right at that time
your own way (please specify: ………) 1.2.3. Before any salary review/negotiation, you often:
do nothing and wait for the negotiation
prepare some key points to respond to your employer’s questions if he/she asks prepare yourself well enough with all the ground you may have for your arguments
your own way (please specify: ……….)
1.2.4. Before attending salary negotiation, please select what you often determine in advance (more than one answer is accepted) your highest level of expected salary
the lowest level of salary you may accept the highest salary level the employer may agree the lowest salary level the employer may propose the issues to be negotiated and
the sequence of the arguments/positions you may make
other (please specify: ………) 1.2.5. After the agreement on your salary has been reached, do you often require that finalization in written form?
yes up to the employer
no other (please specify: ………)
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b. His/her nationality: ………
1.3.2. Please relatively specify the relationship between you and the employer with whom you have recently had salary negotiation with (by putting a tick next to the most relevant level from 1 (not close) to 5 (very close)):
1 2 3 4 5
not close very close
1.3.3. In your observation, after salary negotiation(s) in general, is/was the relationship between you and the employer affected?
no, not at all
a little (please be more detailed: ………) yes (please be more detailed: ……….) you do not recognize this
other (please specify: ……….)
1.3.4. During salary negotiation in general, what is the key factor that causes you most difficulties in achieving your expectation (please select ONE option only) language problems (you do not have enough English to fully express what you want to say)
cultural problems (you are not sure whether what you may say is culturally acceptable to the employer or not) persuasion & negotiation skills (lack of necessary skills & tips for negotiation, persuasion)
the employers (you can hardly overcome the distance between you and the employer; you are afraid that the relationship with the employer will be badly affected afterwards; etc.)
confidence (you lack confidence in yourself, your ability, your working capacity, etc.)
preparation (not enough background knowledge of the position & the salary, arguments not well-prepared before the discussion, etc.) other (please specify ………)
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2.1.3. Please specify your EXACT utterance in 2.1.2 (that is best similar to what you may say in reality):
………
………
………
………
………
………
………
………
2.1.5. Please specify your EXACT utterance in 2.1.2 (that is best similar to what you may say in reality):
………
………
………
………
………
………
………
………
2.1.1. After being selected for the job, in the final discussion on your salary before you get the job, how do you rate your bargaining power – your ability to favorably influence the employer’s decision - over the employer at that time?
You have higher power. You have equal power. You have lower power.
2.1.2. The employer asks you what your expected salary/payment is and you actually expect to receive X, you will:
state that you expect to receive X+2 state that you expect X
do not state a specific number but instead state the normal salary range for your position in other organizations/labor market
do not state a specific number but instead refer to the salary you receive for your previous job, adding that this new job gives you more responsibilities and for sure you expect more
state that the salary depends on the decision of the Employer/follows the salary range in that organization
your own way (please specify: ………) 2.1.4. After listening to your statement, the employer starts offering you a salary level which is in fact lower than what you actually expect (you expect X but the employer offers only X-4). Certainly you CANNOT accept this level. You will (more than one answer is accepted):
refuse it, confirm your ability to perform the job well and state that level does not reach your expectation
refuse it, confirm your ability to perform the job well and directly/indirectly insist on your expected salary X that you’ve mentioned
listen to the employer’s explanation for his/her offer, refuse X-4 and emphasize on the benefits of hiring you / your strengths over other candidates
your own way (please specify: ………..………)
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………
………
………
………
………
………
………
2.1.9. Please specify your EXACT utterance in 2.1.7 (that is best similar to what you say in reality):
………
………
………
………
………
………
………
………
other ways to strengthen your arguments other (please specify:
………) 2.1.8. At this time, the employer asserts that X-2 is the highest level he can offer you, you will:
still refuse it and insist on your expected X
still refuse it and imply that you are also at the moment being offered another job which is also interesting
consider: if the job really attracts you, you will accept that level; otherwise, you will refuse.
accept that level and think that during working time, you will ask for salary rise
accept that level and ask for extra financial bonus (such as telephone bill payment, transportation support, etc.)
accept that level and ask for other non-financial bonus (leaves, holidays, etc.) your own way (please specify:
………) 2.2. Request for salary rise
2.2.1. Annual personal talk
2.2.1.1. At the annual personal talk between you and the employer in which salary review discussion is an integral part, how do you rate your bargaining power - your ability to favorably influence the employer’s decision - over the employer at this time?
You have higher power. You have equal power. You have lower power.
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………
………
………
………
………
………
………
2.2.1.5. Please specify your EXACT utterance in 2.2.1.4 (that is best similar to what you say in reality):
………
………
………
………
………
………
………
………
state that your working performance over the past year is, to your evaluation, satisfying enough for a pay rise
compare your tasks and performance with other colleagues in the organization and ask for a pay rise
ask for more tasks of your interest and accordingly higher salary your own way (please specify:
………)
2.2.1.4. No matter what argument you may make in 2.2.1.3, the employer, after giving some reasons, states that he/she can offer you no rise /a lower level than what you expected, you will (more than one answer is accepted):
be patient and stick to your previous argument
add some more undoubted facts about regular pay rise and the relevance of the rise for your own case (your good working capacity, your strengths, your commitment on the job, etc.)
claim that it is unfair for you and your co-workers in comparison with the staff of other organizations
insist on the reduced workload if no pay rise will be offered threaten that you will quit the job
other (please specify:
………)
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2.2.2.3. Please specify your EXACT utterance in 2.2.2.2 (that is best similar to what you say in reality):
………
………
………
………
………
………
………
………
2.2.2.5. Please specify your EXACT utterance in 2.2.2.4 (that is best similar to what you say in reality):
………
………
………
………
………
………
………
………
favorably influence the employer’s decision - over the employer at this time?
You have higher power. You have equal power. You have lower power.
2.2.2.2. What would you say to the employer to ask for a pay rise in this situation? (more than one answer is accepted)
state frankly that you realize you are being under paid and ask for a pay rise state that you would like to receive more tasks and thus wish to have higher salary state that you wish to have higher salary; otherwise you will look for another job make a comparison with other colleagues of the same position inside or outside the organization
provide evidence showing that the salary range for your position has increased these days your own way (please specify: ………)
2.2.2.4. No matter what argument you may make in 2.2.2.3, the employer, after giving some reasons, states that he/she can offer you no rise /a lower level than what you expected, you will (more than one answer is accepted):
be patient and stick to your previous argument
add some more supporting ideas for the relevance of the rise for your own case (your strengths, your good performance, your working potential, the benefits of hiring you instead of other people, etc.)
claim that it is unfair for you if you are not offered the pay rise as proposed insist on the reduced workload if no pay rise will be offered
threaten that you will quit the job other (please specify:
………)
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