A Contrastive Analysis Of Vietnamese And English English Language Essay

A Contrastive Analysis Of Vietnamese And side position Language EssayNo one quarter deny the f get along that heathenish values shake a strong influence on the drill of language, especi eithery diction motivates. Many researchers have teachducted the studies of the contrastive analysis of speech acts in the midst of learners native language and the target language for the purpose of helping learners improve their communicative competence. In my essay, I have the attention of doing a research on the speech act of allowance in Vietnamese and English because the speech act of leave is widely use in everyday interactions and plays a major fictional character in communication. Specifically, I focus on the track to train for licence and some aspirationateions of give permit to point by similarities and differences in terms of syntactic and semantic formulas between Vietnamese and English.In Vanderveken s view, By uttering sentences in the contexts of use of natural l anguages, speakers attempt to perform illocutionary acts such as statements, questions, declarations, requests, promises, apologies, arrangements offers and refusals. (Vanderveken, 1990, p. 7). They argon called speech acts. It may not be an exaggeration to say that mastering the use of speech acts is inwrought and practical. More importantly, the cross- conclusion study of speech acts needs to be invested because the cross-culture study of speech acts is vital to accord of international communication (Eisenstein, 1989, p. 199) and Rosaldo also cautions that Violations of cultural norms of appropriateness in interactions between native and nonnative speakers practicallytimes lead to sociopragmatic failure, breakdowns in communication and the stereotyping of nonnative speakers. (Rosaldo, as cited in Hinkel, Long, Richards, 2006). Thats wherefore liberty which is one of the ordinarily used speech acts should be considered in all look upons.According to Oxford Advanced Le arners Dictionary (2000), the noun authority has twain conceiveings. It is defined as the act of allowing somebody to do something, especially when this is done by somebody in a position of authority. Besides, another meaning of liberty is an official written statement allowing somebody to do something. In my essay, I just focus on the initiatory meaning to deal liberty speech act which makes up a high proportion in every interaction. So, inquire for permission is the act of wanting to know whether a soul can do something or use something or not.Ex piece of tail I use your bike?In Vietnamese dictionary (2010), the definition of ask for permission (xin php) is quite similar to English definition. It is also used to make sure that a soul is allowed to do something.Ex Ti c th s dng my tnh ca bn c khng?In workaday life, whenever a person wants to do something or uses something that belongs to another person, its important to ask for permission. It is because asking for perm ission come ons his/ her respect for others and increases the chances that his/her request pull up stakes be granted. However, the expressions of asking for permission are variantly expressed by opposite people in contrasting cultures. The speech acts of asking for permission is indeed confusing and complicated. in that locationfore, the addressers should pay lots attention to the asking for permission expressions so as to make a polite permission that leave alone be granted by the authority and negate creating a permission which ordain be false as joking, rudeness or sarcasm. Also, utterances used to give permission should be deeply concerned in order to know the intentions which the addresser actually wants to say or to do. These intentions are revealed in the asking for permission expressions.In the previous studies, researchers take asking for permission into consideration. They investigated some unique factors involving in the way to ask for permission from others. Th ey are ethnic difference, gender difference, accompaniment difference or accessible status difference. There is no doubt at all that The way people ask for permission, to greater extent, is affected by the situation in which asking for permission is expressed different cultural background of the speakers. (Soehartono Sianne, 2003).In other vocalises, cultural values or norms of behavior are likely to be responsible for producing different ways of asking for permission. After investigating the utterances expressed by the Chinese and Javanese students of SMU Krisyen petra 3 in asking for permission for taking leave, Soehartono Sianne explain that Each ethnic has different opinion ab bring out what politeness is (Soehartono Sianne, 2003).Actually, according to Samovar and Porter, the tactual sensation that is deeply rooted in the English speaking culture is individualization (2000, p.67). One of the characteristic of individualism is that people in English speaking culture, esp ecially the American believed all people have individualized privacy. For instance, anybody mustnt step into anothers house without permission. Nobody has the right to read any others letter even parents mustnt read their childrens offstage letters. That is the reason why people should ask for permission regardless of age, social status and coincidenceship. People impart be punished if they infringe upon any others in-person privacy with the motivation of curiosity, profit or malice. It is because personal privacy is respected extremely and protected by law in these countries.Similarity, the Vietnamese also highly regard asking for permission. In the past, Vietnamese ancestors create many valuable folk songs, dictums in order to teach posterity how to behave good, establish and maintain social rapports.For example Hc n, hc ni, hc gi, hc mAnother proverb i tha v trnhMoreover, Huynh explains thatIn Vietnamese society, the predominant sentiment in the relation between members of a social group is respect. This is particularly evident in the attitude towards older people. revere and consideration for old age no doubt derive from the obligation of filial piety that requires 2-year-old people to respect and love their parents and parent-like members of the family. (Huynh, n.d.).Therefore, no one can deny the fact that people have to ask for permission to get married, stay overnight at the friends house, ect even though they are old enough to make decisions. Vietnamese people believe that if young people disobey the sr.s advice, they will suffer bad consequences of their actionsC khng n mui c nCon ci cha m trm ng con hThe elders are actually the carriers of the tradition and the form of knowledge and wisdom. (Huynh, n.d.).In general, asking for permission in Vietnam and English speaking countries play the important character reference in every speech situation irrespective of culture.Regarding the frequency number of language scarpers, Soehartono Sia nne show that There are four language functions that never occur in the permission utterances expressed to the teacher as the superior (Soehartono Sianne, 2003). They are(1) Suggesting a course of action(2) Requesting others to do something(3) Advising others to do something(4) Instructing / directing others to do somethingBy having analyzed the data, Soehartono Sianne stick out the predominant function seeking permission and conclude that Seeking permission function is followed by apologizing function that uses to show that they are in the lower position and reporting function that is used to convince the authority. (Soehartono Sianne, 2003).When it comes to this essay, its purpose is to systematically examine Vietnamese and English asking and bragging(a) permission to draw out some similarities and differences in terms of syntactic and semantic formulas and meet the requirements of language educational activity and learning.In English language, the most familiar syntactic pa tterns areCan I scoop up your compile?Could he use your phone charger?(Question well + S + Verb phrase with bare infinitive?)Would it be OK if I borrow/ borrowed your pen?Would it be alright if he uses/ used your phone charger?(Question head + S + Verb phrase with wide present or past subjunctive?)Do you mind if I borrow/ borrowed your pen?Would you mind if she uses/ used your phone charger?(Question head + S + Verb phrase with simple present or past subjunctive?)Meanwhile, syntactic formulas employed to ask for permission in Vietnamese language is quite limited. The most normally occurring patterns are(1) T dng in thoi cu nh? (Can I use your cellphone?)(2) Em ngi y c khng ch? (Would it be ok if I sit here?)(3) Con c th i chi vi bn mt cht c khng m? Con s v lin.( may I go out with my friend for a while, Mom? I promise to come back home soon.)In Vietnamese language, there is a low frequency of the structures containing if. Even they are never employed. For Vietnamese people, the m ost commonly used syntactic patterns in English Would it be ok if I borrow your pen? or Do you mind if I use your phone charger? are the unusual patterns for the speech act of asking for permission. It is because that we can not translate ii above utterances into VietnameseWould it be ok if I borrow your pen?( C c khng nu mnh s dng bt my ca bn?)Do you mind if I use your phone charger?(Bn c phin khng nu mnh s dng cc sc in thoi ca bn?)It sounds unnatural and clumsy. Thats the reason why Vietnamese people seldom use these utterances to communicate. Instead, they have a tendency to sayMnh mn bt my ca bn c ch?Mnh s dng cc sc in thoi ca bn c khng bn?When using these expressions to ask permission, Vietnamese people never forget to smile. It seems that they want to create intimacy and friendliness. thank to that, they can erase the strangeness and increase the possibility of granting.In term of semantic formulas, almost all the English expressions of asking permission contain modal verbs c an, could, may, might,However, the choice of the appropriate modal verbs depends on age, social status, degree of acquaintance, respect, situation, ect.Ex- In the shop a conversation between clerk and customerClerk may I help you? ( Ti c th gip g cho bn?) At school a conversation between two friends (they have close friendship)P1 Can I use your pen? (T dng vit ca cu c khng?)P2 Of course. (c m)Moreover, when asking for permission to do something, the English normally use the word please to make the request sound more than polite. Its not grammatically prerequisite to use please but a person may sound rude if he/she doesnt use it. Please can be put in different places at the start, end or ahead the verbEx Please can I borrow your car? Can I please borrow your car? Can I borrow your car, please?In addition, a more important way of showing politeness is the tone of intonation and voice. Even if a person use the word please, he/she can sound rude if his/her pronunciation is not corr ect.One characteristic difference from asking for permission in English is the word c th (can, could, may, might) used in Vietnamese. It doesnt mention different degrees and types of modality. It just makes the permission more polite.Ex Ti c th gip g cho bn? (May I help you?)Furthermore, its interesting to note that, on the semantic take, the word xin php is used not only to ask for permission but also to play the meaning of saying goodbye. The expressions containing the word xin php are employed to ask for permission from the authority, elder and superior.Ex Em xin php thy cho em ra ngoi ? (May I go out?)In other cases, Vietnamese people want to show the good manners and respect when saying goodbye. Therefore, they use expressions like thisEx Xin php bc con v (It manner cho bc con v.) Xin php mi ngi mnh i trc(It means cho mi ngi mnh v.)They are not expressions of asking for permission. Surprisingly, they are greetings. People often say these expressions with a smile or nod.When it comes to giving permission, Vietnamese people express a mouthful for these words or expressions, c, c m, khng sao u, c ly i, c lm i, c t nhinMore interestingly, they also have the habit of adding the words including particles which express attitude and feeling toward the addressee d, vng, , , aEx D, c Meanwhile, in result to asking for permission, people in English-speaking countries seem to use these expressions frequently.(1) Yes used when you are giving permission(2) Of course used for giving someone permission in a polite way(3) certainly used for expressing agreement or giving permission(4) All right used for saying that you will allow someone to do something, or you do not mind if they do it(5) If you want used for giving permission or agreeing with a suggestion that someone has made(6) By all means used for politely agreeing with someone, giving permission or saying yes(7) As you wish used for grave someone that they can do or have whatever they want(8) I dont see why not used for saying yes when someone asks for your permission(9) Help yourself used for giving someone permission to do or use something(10) If you ( authoritatively) must used for telling someone that it is all right to do something, even though you does not want them to do.Its interesting to note that in English, people can not know the power traffic (social status or age) and relationship (close, normal or distant) between two speakers because the word yes can be used to give permission in all cases. In contrast, in Vietnamese, people may focus on the words d, vng, , , , to know power relations and relationship between interlocurs.Ex A conversation between grandparent and nephewGrandparent Ni vo phng con c ch? (Can I come in?)Nephew D, ni vo i (Yes)Ex A conversation between two close friendsF1 Bn cho mnh mn tp nghen? (Can I borrow your book?)F2 , bn ly i (Yes)In Vietnamese culture, people are willing to avoid unpleasantness by giving permission although they dont want. This cont radiction can lead to great misunderstandings. Therefore, Yes may not mean Yes. When Vietnamese people say No problem, it can mean Yes, there is a problem. (Vietnam, n.d.). In this case, two-baser and even triple check should be kept to maintain social rapportIts clear that the English and the Vietnamese pay regard to the custom of asking for permission. They consider the choice of expressions very carefully. The way English people and Vietnamese people employ asking permission speech act is influenced by two factors power relations (social status or age) and relationship (close, normal or distant) between interlocutors.However, the characteristic attribute which makes English different from Vietnamese is the use of modal verbs. They are used to ask for permission with different degrees and types of modality. Meanwhile, Vietnamese people have a habit of adding the particles d, , , nh to the expressions of asking and giving permission to show respect, courtesy or intimacy.One anoth er difference between Vietnamese culture and English culture which affects the use of language is that Vietnamese people rarely refuse permission. They dont want to create unpleasant and baleful atmosphere during conversation. Sometime, they give permission to maintain social rapport and satisfy the addressers positive face. To some extent, this should be avoided because it can cause great misunderstandings.In conclusion, Language is a system of signs that is seen as having itself a cultural value (Kramsch, Widdowson, 1998, p. 3). Vietnamese culture is quite different from English culture. Thats why the way people ask for permission and give permission are not similar. Learners should take notice of that to achieve the success in learning the target language.When it comes to learning a second language, one of the problems learners have to face with is the influence of the first language and culture on the second language use. As a consequence of this problem, learners are not conf ident when communicating or even cause pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic failure. To overcome the above difficulties, I would like to discuss some implications for language teaching and learning based on contrastive analysis between Vietnamese and English asking and giving permission.Firstly, it is necessary for English teachers to raise students awareness of culture similarities and differences between patterns of asking and giving permission in English culture and Vietnamese culture. Teachers can combine many able teaching ways to help learners understand the conflicting patterns. For example, teachers can explain, describe, illustrateLearners must be well aware of the influence of the culture on language to avoid communication breakdown or disrespect and converse with native speakers of English successfully.Secondly, English teachers should supply input as much as realistic in order to improve students ssociopragmatic and pragmalinguistic competence. Teachers can apply the p rogress of technology to language teaching. Teachers compile and design real situations based on the Internet, on TVfor use in class. Besides, teachers need to provide more options for asking and giving permission to satisfy the requirements of everyday interaction.Finally, teachers should create communicative opportunities for students to practice asking and giving permission in English. Through role play, interview, communication, survey,, students have chance to use the expressions they have learnt in real situations. Significantly, they know how to choose suitable expressions in different situations. Thanks to that, students are able to engage in successful communication with native speakers.These are some suggested activities I collected on the Internet to work the needs of language teaching and learning.Activity 1 Work in pairs and practice the dialoguesFor the lower train studentsF1 Can I move your display board?F2 Yes, you can.(b) F1 May I move your card?F2 Yes, you may .For the middle level students(a) F1 Is it ok if I move your card?F2 Yes, it is ok.(b) F1 Do you mind if I move your card?F2 No, I dont mind.(c) F1 Would it be okay if I move your card?F2 Yes, it would be ok.For the more advanced level studentsF1 Would it be alright if I moved your card?F2 Sure, itd be alright -OR- Of course itd be alright.(b) F1 Would you mind if I moved your card?F2 No, I wouldnt mind.(c) F1 If you dont mind, Id like to move your card.F2 Sure, I dont mind.(d) F1 Would it bother you if I moved your card over there?F2 No, it wouldnt bother me at all.(e) F1 Is it alright to move your card so I can pick up my card?F2 Sure, its alrightActivity 2 Many times, hotel module will find themselves in situations wherethey will have to take some action that will effectthe guest. In these cases, the staff should politely ask the guest for their permission before taking any action. Theguest may also ask permission to do something. It is only polite to ask for their permission be fore doing so. Thereare several expressions that can be used for asking for permissions. Look at the expressions below.Expressions Possible responsesIs it OK if . . . I really wish you wouldnt.Do you mind if . . . No, I dont mind. Go aheadMay I . . . Sure, no problem.Would it be a problem if . . . No problem at all.Would it be OK if . . . No, please dont I would prefer that you didnt.Dialogue Work in pairs and practice the dialogue(a) Staff May I stream you more wine, maam?Guest Sure.(b) Staff Do you mind if I clean the room now, sir?Guest Actually, would it be possible for you to come back in half an hour?Staff No problem, maam.(c) Guest May I borrow you pen.Staff Absolutely sir, here you go.(d) Guest Would it be a problem if I left my luggage here for a few minutes?Staff No problem at all, sir. Ill, keep on eye on it.(e) Staff Is it OK if I make a assume of your passport?Guest Sure, whatever you need.Conversation Activities1. Practice using the above expressions by having a dia logue similar to the ones above with a partner, onepartner taking the role of the guest and the other the role of the staff. For additional practice, switch roles.Practice the dialogue several times, trying to use all of the expressions noted above.2. billet play the following situations with a partner, one person taking the role of the guest and the other persontaking the role of a hotel staff.Permission by Staff Move some luggage out of the passage way Open a window Refill a coffee cup eddy down a shade Get their room key or cardPermission by guest Leave bags behind a counter Smoking in a restaurant borrow a pen Take newspaper from lounge to read in room Leave a message for a friend