Verbal expressions in giving and receiving
presents in english and vietnamese cultures


Lê Hà Vân

Trường Đại học Ngoại Ngữ
Luận văn ThS. Chuyên ngành: English Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15
Người hướng dẫn: ASSOC. PROF. DR. Nguyễn Văn Độ
Năm bảo vệ: 2009


Abstract: The thesis focuses on English and Vietnamese verbal expressions used when giving
and receiving presents. More specifically, some similarities and differences in English and
Vietnamese verbal expressions when giving and receiving presents/gifts will be given in these
pages. Also, tentative explanations in terms of linguistic politeness are made. The data for this
analysis are provided by the survey questionnaire that investigates verbal expressions used when
giving and receiving presents on three occasions (birthday, wedding, and house-warming). 50
informants including 25 English native speakers and 25 Vietnamese have taken part in this
investigation. The findings of the study indicate that giving and receiving presents is a sensitive
and delicate communicative act with many of communicating strategies employed by both
groups of informants. In addition, the cultural characteristics of each group also partly reveal
through their utterances of giving and receiving presents.

Keywords: Tiếng Anh; Tiếng Việt; Giao tiếp; Văn hoá; Quà tặng.
Content:

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
* Acknowledgements ii

* Abstract iii
* Table of contents iv
* Abbreviations v
* List of Tables and Graphs vi

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Rationale 1
1.2 Aims of the study 2
1.3 Scope of the study 2
1.4 Methods of the study 3
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4
1.1 The relationship between language & culture 4
1.2 Speech Acts 5
1.3 Verbal Expressions in giving and receiving presents 8
1.4 Linguistic Politeness 10
CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 12
2.1 Hypotheses 12
2.2 Data collection 13
2.2.1 The Questionnaires 13
2.2.2 The Respondents 15
2.3 Data analysis 16
CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 40
3.1 Findings in Vietnamese 40
3.2 Findings in English 42
3.3 Similarities and Differences 44
3.4 Tentative explanations in terms of linguistic politeness 46
CONCLUSION 48
REFERENCES 49
APPENDICES I

v

ABBREVIATIONS
S : Speaker
H : Hearer
G : Giver
R : Recipient
FTA : Fact Threatening Act
FT : Face Threat
No : Number
% : Percent
vi

LIST OF TABLES AND GRAPHS
Table 1: Age group correlation between English and Vietnamese respondents 15
Table 2: Gender correlation between English and Vietnamese respondents 15
Table 3: Living area correlation between English and Vietnamese respondents 15
Table 4: Occupation correlation between English and Vietnamese respondents 16
Table 5: Strategies in giving presents on the occasion of birthday 16
Table 6: Strategies in giving presents on the occasion of wedding 21
Table 7: Strategies in giving presents on the occasion of house warming 25
Table 8: Strategies in receiving presents 32
Table 9: Rank of importance of social factors 39
Table 10: Rank of importance of social factors 40

1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale

It can not be denied that English has been used as an international language all over the
world; it is the most widely spoken language which is used in many fields such as economics,
trade, tourism, diplomacy, politics, and press. In Vietnam, as a result of the Open-door policy,
the number of people learning English for various purposes is on the rise. They study English
to communicate with people from other countries where English is used as a native, a second
or just a foreign language, to read English materials, or simply to pass the national secondary
school exams.
Although English has been taught in Vietnam for many years, not until recently has the
focus of improving linguistic competence for learners been on syntax, on lexical and
phonological components of the language. Many people still believe that being good at
English means being good at linguistic competence. Thus, cultural factors are paid little
attention to.
In our modern world, however, globalization is expanding; the need for interacting and
communicating across nations is indispensable. Successful communication requires not only
purely linguistic competence but also the knowledge of social norms, social values and
relations between individuals known as communicative competence. Communicative
competence presupposes ability to use the language correctly and appropriately. This
pragmatic competence is as crucial as linguistic competence. The lack of it may lead to
rudeness, misinterpretation, cultural shocks, and even communication breakdown.
It is clear that people who lack an awareness of socio-cultural conventions in the target
language may face unwanted communication breakdown in cross-cultural interaction. For
example, if a Vietnamese speaker gave a native speaker of English a gift and he/she only
received the response from the receiver as: “Thank you” or “Thank you so much”, the
Vietnamese speaker may feel a little bit disappointed because he/she expects a more emotional
2

and warmer response than just saying “Thank you”. Obviously, cultural differences here made
the communication process unsuccessful.
Hence, the knowledge about cross-cultural communication is really essential. On this
basis, this study is done to contribute an insight into a really fine social manner: Giving and

receiving presents. It helps Vietnamese learners of English to find out the best English verbal
expressions which are often used when giving and receiving presents in specific situations and
vice versa. As the result, similarities and differences between Vietnamese and English verbal
expressions in giving and receiving presents will be identified. With this study, the researcher
desires to seek a number of suitable and interesting verbal expressions when giving and
receiving presents in English and Vietnamese in some specific circumstances for avoiding, or
at least, reducing the threat of communication breakdown in giving and receiving presents
particularly in intercultural communication.
1.2 Aims of the study
This study aims to:
- Find out typical models of English and Vietnamese verbal expressions used when
giving and receiving presents in specific situations.
- Identify the similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese verbal expressions
when giving and receiving presents.
- Make tentative explanations for these similarities and differences in terms of linguistic
politeness.
1.3 Scope of the study
As mentioned above, the study mainly focuses on English and Vietnamese verbal
expressions used when giving and receiving presents on three occasions: birthday, wedding,
and house-warming party. Due to its small scale, only 25 Vietnamese and 25 English native
speakers were involved in this study. These respondents were asked to complete the
questionnaires with information about their verbal expressions used in the case of giving and
receiving presents in certain situations.
3

Conclusions are based on the analysis of the data collected from the questionnaires. Data
obtained from questionnaires about what English native speakers and Vietnamese people
might say in certain situations may not be always the same as what they actually say in the real
life.
Similarities and differences between the English and Vietnamese verbal expressions

when giving and receiving presents are also discussed. In this study, giving and receiving
presents simply are understood as a nice symbol of cultural behaviors in normal life
expressing deep emotion, concern, gratitude and attention to the Recipient, bringing joy to
both the giver and receiver, promoting goodwill, and developing a closer relationship. As the
result, some tentative explanations for these similarities and differences in terms of linguistic
politeness will be given in this study.
1.4 Methods of the study
In order to carry out this study with the aim of a cross-cultural research, the main method
used is the quantitative one. All the comments, evaluation and conclusions in this thesis are
mainly based on:
1. Survey questionnaires;
2. Statistics, description and the analysis of the collected data.







49


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