1 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgements in the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution Da Nang, 2006 HỒNG ÁI NGA 33 ABSTRACT This study attempts to investigate the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic features of deontic markers (DM ) in English and Vietnamese The study explores the use of modal devices expressing obligation and permission in modern English and Vietnamese novels and short stories The study is carried out through the adoption of descriptive, quantitative, qualitative and contrastive approaches The most important and significant aspect of the study, the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese ways of expressing deontic modality in the view of syntactics, semantics and pragmatics, is presented in order to help learners have better use of language in communication The findings of the study show the frequency and variety in terms of occurrence of deontic forms On the basis of the findings, some teaching implications consisting of teaching strategies and some suggested exercises have been put forward 34 TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ABSTRACT .ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF TABLES vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Justification of the Study 1.3 Scope of the Study 1.4 Research Questions 1.5 Organization of the Study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Review of Previous Studies 2.2 Theoretical Background 2.2.1 Some Background Concepts 2.2.2 Concepts of Modal Verbs 2.2.3 Types of Modality 11 2.2.4 Linguistic Realization of Deontic Modality 15 2.2.5 Deontic Modality in the View of Pragmatics 18 2.2.6 Linguistic Communication 22 2.3 Summary 27 35 CHAPTER 3: METHOD AND PROCEDURE 28 3.1 Aims and Objectives of the Study 28 3.1.1 Aim of the Study 28 3.1.2 Objectives of the Study 28 3.2 Research Methodology 29 3.3 Research Procedures 30 3.4 Description of Population and Sample 30 3.5 Data Collection 31 3.6 Data Analysis 31 3.7 Reliability and Validity 31 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 33 4.1 Syntactic Representation of UCDM in English and Vietnamese 33 4.1.1 UCDM Consisting of a Complete Sentence 33 4.1.2 UCDM Consisting of an Incomplete Sentence 41 4.1.3 UCDM Containing Subordinate Acts 45 4.1.4 Summary 46 4.2 Semantic Characteristics of DM in English and Vietnamese 49 4.2.1 The Presentation of Semantic Features of English Modals 49 4.2.2 Specific Realizations of UCDM Expressing the Notions of Obligation and Permission 57 4.2.3 Summary 72 4.3 Pragmatic Interpretation of UCDM in English and Vietnamese 76 4.3.1 The Affect of Social Distance (Solidarity) in UCDM in English and Vietnamese 76 4.3.2 Power Relationship in UCDM in English and Vietnamese 84 4.3.3 Summary 92 36 4.4 Result Discussion 93 4.4.1 Syntactic Features of UCDM as Communicative Acts in English and Vietnamese 93 4.4.2 Semantic Features of UCDM in English and Vietnamese 96 4.4.3 Pragmatic Features of UCDM in English and Vietnamese 98 4.4.4 Summary 101 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING 103 5.1 Conclusions 103 5.2 Implications for Language Learning and Teaching 108 5.3 Suggestions for Further Research 110 REFERENCES APPENDICES 37 ABBREVIATIONS DM : Deontic Markers D&C : Directives and Commissives FTA : Face Threatening Acts H : Hearer IFIDs : Illocutionary Force Indicating Devices S : Speaker UCDM : Utterances Containing Deontic Markers 38 LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: Summary of the Similarities and Differences in the Syntactic Page 48 Representation of UCDM in English and Vietnamese Table 4.2: Summary of the Typical Semantic Meaning of 11 Modal Verbs 56 Found in UCDM in English and Vietnamese Table 4.3: Summary on the Performative Verbs of UCDM in English and 74 Vietnamese Table 4.4: Summary of the Representation of DM for the Six Functions 75 of UCDM in English and Vietnamese Table 4.5: Relative Frequency (%) of English and Vietnamese Deontic 95 Markers under Syntactic Features Table 4.6: Summary of Polite Markers & Mitigating Words in UCDM in English and Vietnamese 39 102 CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE It is obvious that the main function of language is to serve as the instrument for the transmission of information In everyday communication, speakers not simply describe some event, process or state of affairs Moreover, “the transmission of descriptive information is usually not an end in itself” (Lyons, 1977) Speakers, by means of language, also wish to express their emotions and attitudes, or to influence in some way the addressee’s beliefs and behaviours They often qualify their statements with respect to believability, reliability and general compatibility with accepted fact, for example It must be raining; or else, intervene in the speech event by laying obligation or giving permission: We must copy this out again; You’d better come, too This area of semantics that concerns those expressive and social information of statements is modality Since the semantic field of modality has, for most linguists, covered a wide range of attitudinal notions of speech event, a number of types of language forms can represent its concepts, among which the use of moods, modal verbs, performative verbs as well as particles are very common in English and Vietnamese Though many pages and chapters, books have been written about the English modal system, it still remains a complicated and troublesome area of language for linguists and learners of English The problem can be traced to the polysemy or ambiguity of modal meanings Semantically, a modal can have both deontic and epistemic meaning In the sociophysical (deontic) world, the must in John must go to all the department parties is taken as indicating an obligation imposed upon the subject of the sentence by the speaker ( or by some other agents) In the epistemic world, the must in the same sentence could be read as a logical necessity according to the reasoning I must conclude that it is John’s habit to go to all department 40 parties (because I see his name on the sign-up sheet every time, and he’s always out on those nights) In addition, there is considerable overlap between modals It is hard to discern any semantic difference among them since modals are almost substitutable in almost contexts, such as should and ought to in I should/ ought to finish this essays tonight Pragmatically, we can talk about modal meanings in terms of such logical notions as permission, obligation and prohibition performed by speech acts of directives and commissives, but this done, we will have to consider ways in which these notions become remoulded by the psychological pressures of everyday communication between human beings: factors such as the effect of social distance, the power relationship between interlocutors, politeness, directness, indirectness , mitigating devices and hedges The appropriate use of the linguistic means to the context is the matter of culture- specifics A good knowledge of such factors plays an important role in sustaining communication and good relationship between interlocutors In foreign language classes, focus is given on the teaching and learning of the linguistic forms and functions The pragmatic use of them in communication has completely been ignored or not fully been introduced and practised Moreover, the socio-cultural factors and routines of the community using the language have not been mentioned As a result, there is a gap between classroom interactions and the authentic use of language in communication and thus learners with good knowledge of a language may fail in his real communication The learning of meaning of modal verbs, performative verbs and particles and how to use them correctly has not been, then, an easy task for learners of English Learners are often confused in choosing the appropriate lexical devices to express certain notion of modality When I say, “John may go home now” to give John permission to leave, or when I advise, “Elena should go home She looks tired.” I am using deontic modality These descriptions raise several considerations One of them is that I used the same modal may in John may go home now to give John permission to leave 41 (deontic) and to tell my listener that I am not certain if John is leaving (epistemic), which may cause ambiguity This ambiguity is found throughout the modal system and is one of the reasons that classroom activities and exercises focusing on modality can be so difficult to develop This problem is especially more embarrassing when they encounter different modals conveying the same meaning Also, they can produce grammatically correct utterances, but not understand properly the social and cultural information each modal meaning conveys Furthermore, due to the structuralist approach to grammar teaching, learners can memorize modal words with their accompanying meanings, but not know how to use them to improve their communicative competence, say, to mitigate directness, to express politeness, to make assertions in social interaction Besides the modals, there are other means expressing deontic modality: the notions of obligation, prohibition, permission, performed by speech acts of directives, commissives such as performative verbs, particles and the imperative mood Although Palmer’s notional categories make sense, I found that it was difficult to process the grammatical patterns in the language data used to illustrate the categories Part of my difficulty may be attributed to the fact that I believe modality needs to be studied in the context of use, i.e., natural texts, not isolated sentences; and also, I believe that a thorough study of all grammatical expressions of modality and mood must be done within a single language before the results are compared and contrasted cross-linguistically Such linguistic and methodological viewpoints have revealed that a fully complete study on approaches to syntactic, semantic and pragmatic analysis of modal meanings is essential, especially for learners of English as a foreign language On recognizing of the needs for such a study, I decided to make an investigation into deontic markers in English and Vietnamese It is hoped that the study is an attempt to consider problematic aspects of deontic modality with the respects to semantic, syntactic and pragmatic features of English DM in comparison with Vietnamese ones to serve better communication as well as the teaching The 42 142 Table 4.6: Summary of polite markers & mitigating words in UCDM in English and Vietnamese Languages Representation s of politeness English Vietnamese • Polite expressions: please, • Polite expressions: Làm ơn, I’m afraid, Excuse me, I wonder Xin vui lòng, Tơi e rằng, Xin lỗi • mitigating words: modal • mitigating words: finites, modal adjuncts initially: nhờ, xin, cho, mời, Softening the phiền act/reducing mid position: giùm, giúp, hộ the force final position: ạ, nhé, với, mà • mitigating devices: long • mitigating devices: long utterances with hedges utterances with hedges • Objective: passive, to supposed to, to be to, will Avoiding imposition Showing deference Increasing hearer’s option be • Objective: anh phải /bị / được, nghe nói, nghe đồn, • advisories, requestives instead • advisories, requestives instead of requirement of requirement • indirectness • indirectness • use of distal modals • negative transfer • Indirectness • formal language: address terms with formal vocative particles , honorific, completeness of sentences, final particle • long utterances with hedges • long utterances with hedges Indirectness, the use of open Indirectness, the use of open questions, avoiding biased questions, avoiding biased questions questions • indirectness • formal language: formal address terms, honorific, distal modals 142 143 CHAPTER CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING 5.1 CONCLUSION The thesis is about the analysis of the two systems of the DM expressing obligation and permission in modern English and Vietnamese Based on the principles of contrastive linguistics and the current model of functional grammar, the study has tried to illuminate part of the nature of the English and Vietnamese DM in terms of the interpersonal function in the mood block, the correlation between the DM in clause complexes Through the adoption of the two-way approach in data collection, the study is intended to reflect the idiomatic and idiosyncratic features of the DM in each language so that they may show the range of the natural behaviour of the modal devices The contrastive study of the examples taken from literary works paves the way for the comprehensive observation of the functional operation of the DM In the perspective, all the possible differences and similarities in terms of language typology are revealed at different levels, in different systems and the findings show that there are several differences besides similarities in terms of degrees of delicacy of the DM in English and Vietnamese, especially Vietnamese particles It can be said that the complexity of each system and the clear-cut differences between the systems of the modal devices reflect not only the typological differences between English as an inflectional language and Vietnamese as an analytic language but those significant differences also reflect the way people in different cultures see, conceive, think about, understand and feel the world and themselves not as it is or they are, but as they perceive it to be This exploration should have a long-term value in that it 143 144 might help people express themselves as clearly and effectively as possible about the world, the reality of which people lay an obligation or give permissions Last but not least, it is also hoped that this study will raise language users’ sensitive awareness of the potentially cultural intensity of each system in each language and the possible beauties and delicacy through interalisation of the DM in English and Vietnamese So far in this study, we have discovered a number of syntactic, semantic and pragmatic features of UCDM in English and Vietnamese in their practical use in communication Some of them have equivalent ways of expressing and thinking in both languages; others are not 5.1.1 Similarities and Differences in the Syntactic Features of UCDM in English and Vietnamese 5.1.1.1 Similarities in the Syntactic Features of UCDM From the syntactic point of view, the syntactic representation of UCDM in English and Vietnamese are analogous in many ways On a higher level, the structures of UCDM are almost similar in English and Vietnamese; the forms of construction of UCDM and the kinds of modification and subordinate acts are almost analogous The sentence structures for the indication of UCDM by untypical clause types are peculiar and almost the same in the two languages On a lower level, where the specifically linguistic means are motivated for the representation of such structure, there are still a number of similarities in the linguistic means in both languages The linguistic elements for the realization of the typical clause types in both languages are almost analogous with imperatives containing no subject, information questions denoted by the interrogative words, alternatives by the coordinators and alternatives Explicit performatives have the same structures in the two languages; in untypical clause types, there are corresponding linguistic means for the realization of hedge performatives with the 144 145 correspondence in the performative verbs and modal elements, and the verbs wanting in “want statements” … The set of tones for different meanings are almost the same in the two languages 5.1.1.2 Differences in the Syntactic Features of UCDM Although English and Vietnamese UCDM are analogous on a number of major categories, there are some differences in the syntactic representation English employs moods, word forms and intonation for the distinction of clause types In Vietnamese, the use of particles and other functional words and word combination takes the roles Intonation is a supra-segmental element employed as an effective DM in English while its role is rather limited in Vietnamese Instead, final particles in Vietnamese can take over that function The linguistic means for the realization of the components of UCDM in English and Vietnamese are different in many places English possesses such grammatical categories such as mood, modal finites, especially distal modals, passives as intensifying and mitigating devices; whereas in Vietnamese, such lexical categories as particles, indefinite words, address terms of various kinds and of wide range for each kind are the effective means These are matters of languagespecifics In English, morphological feature such as contraction, and phonological features of coalition and assimilation are effective means for the indication of a low level of formality that not exist in Vietnamese 5.1.2 Similarities and Differences in the Semantic Features of UCDM in English and Vietnamese 5.1.2.1 Similarities in the Semantic Features of UCDM The illocutionary force of UCDM in English and Vietnamese can be indicated by any clause types Among them, the direct force of UCDM is indicated 145 146 by the imperatives and unmarked questions Besides, explicit performatives of D & C, a particular structure of statements in both languages are the most explicit and direct marker for the indication of the illocutionary force of UCDM Indirect UCDM can be represented by any clause types with the difference between the illocutionary force indicated by the utterance and that indicated by the speaker Due to the direct and indirect means, the interpretation of the English UCDM into Vietnamese should be put in the consideration of the Vietnamese particles which plays an important role in expressing modality in Vietnamese In both languages, the functions of UCDM and the sentence structures for the representation of these functions are almost the same The structures of UCDM can contain vocatives, and polite markers in forms of polite expressions, mitigating devices and hedges as non-propositional component 5.1.2.2 Differences in the Semantic Features of UCDM Although the UCDM in English and Vietnamese are realized in forms of six specific functions, each of them is represented by a basic pattern of linguistic forms The linguistic means for the realization of the components of UCDM in English and Vietnamese are different in many places Because of these matters of language specifics, the semantic interpretation of UCDM of English and Vietnamese ought to be based on them For example, the modal verbs expressing obligation and permission has a wide range of meanings, from the stronger degree to milder one, but in Vietnamese the modal verbs are expressed by the limited meanings such as “phải, cần, có thể, nên” While the particles can take over the role and show speaker’s attitudes 5.1.3 Similarities and Differences in the Pragmatic English and Vietnamese 5.1.3.1 Similarities in the Pragmatic Features of UCDM 146 Features of UCDM in 147 In both English and Vietnamese, the relationship between interlocutors in solidarity and status or power is the most important factors of the context of UCDM With the nature of being a face-threatening act, communication with UCDM in both languages always needs being compensated with a certain amount of politeness As a result, politeness is the great dimension to be examined in the investigation of the effect of personal relationship on UCDM Politeness in both languages is linguistically indicated by polite expressions, mitigating devices and hedges In both languages, the level of politeness and formality in giving UCDM is correspondent to the level of face threat and the distance in the relationship between interlocutors In both languages, indirect way of giving UCDM, utterance constructions, sentence structures, sentence completeness, modal elements, address terms are relevant elements to describe different levels of politeness and formality of UCDM in relation to such relationship 5.1.3.2 Differences in the Pragmatic Features of UCDM Besides the similarities, there are some differences in the pragmatic aspect of UCDM In the representation of UCDM in both languages, the grammar and vocabulary of the language are motivated to the utmost However, the linguistic strategies are not the same English principally employs grammar such as modality, voice, mood, contraction and phonology such as intonation, coalition … In the referring and inferring of the illocutionary force of UCDM as well as other elements of communication Vietnamese relies much on the system of lexical terms such as address terms, particles, mitigating words, which comes in a wide range for each group and which inherently bears many pragmatic components such as situation, speaker’s attitudes, interpersonal relationship of interlocutors as effective means 147 148 English shows consideration to the hearer’s negative face with the preference on the indirect way of giving UCDM; Vietnamese displays the care for the hearer’s positive face with the preference on the direct way of giving UCDM The way for the speaker of UCDM to reinforce imposition on the hearer is not correspondent in the two languages 5.2 IMPLICATIONS FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING The analysis of the similarities and differences of the functional behaviour of DM in English and Vietnamese may be of paramount significance and importance to native speakers of English and Vietnamese in terms of orientation in language study and practice Because modality may mean complexity, learners and language users should have access to the language resources in materials, especially prose fiction, so that they can collect data in contexts, i.e in discourse, to understand as much as possible about the modality in English and Vietnamese Learning in this way can be said to be more meaningful than learning examples of the DM in isolation and out of context Obtaining access to the two systems will develop language users’ critical thinking, which is very necessary for the language selfeducation process For example the language users can begin learning modal devices which have the neutral meanings and then move on learning DM expressing permission and obligation, so that the language users may be more aware of the subtle differences between the DM in one language and those in the other language In addition, language users may read materials in monolingual editions to find possible idiomatic expressions and then the same in another language Internalising sets of the DM in both languages will probably help language learners to use language more confidently and effectively in speech situations in which their interlocutors use unexpected chunks of language In such cases, the language users, now in the role of listeners, will be sensitive to the new expressions and even variants of what they have learned, and they may be quicker in externalising the suitable devices for communicating the same channel as the interlocutor(s) In 148 149 addition, involving themselves in real life communication will give them a chance to compare what they have learned and what is actually being used, to see and appreciate the value of English and Vietnamese as living languages Furthermore, in real life communication, what language users produce in one event of communication does not consist of any single mood adjunct or modal finite They must combine some DM together to succeed in expressing what they really mean Therefore language learners and users may want to know how to organise more than one modal device in their utterances and they should be provided with a system of patterns and models for internalisation and possible externalisation in the future As regards teaching, there must be systematic preparation when it comes to teaching the DM expressing possibility and necessity, especially in the context of cross-culture Examples for presentation and illustration should be put in original context for optimum cognition and understanding The teaching of the DM to students of both languages must be carried out step by step, from the most commonly used modal devices to the least popular, from the most general to possible variants For example, there are several ways expressing directives , especially requests The majority of requests take the form of “Could you ….” and “Would you… ”, the presentation of new language should begin from these models , then comes to the other ways like imperatives, or even statements, questions; from the direct way of expressing requests to the indirect ones In Vietnamese, the modal particles “đi, xem, coi, nào, nhé, mà, với” should be introduced to learners to show the degrees of attitudes Care should be taken when it comes to learning combinations operating under some restriction “Will can”, “will must”, “must should”, “need should” … never exists in English When it comes to learning comparing the two systems of the DM, it should be kept in mind that in Vietnamese, there are apparent classes of particles or vocatives expressing delicate nuances of modal meanings, and the learners should be provided with rules and governing the operation of those devices, and their meanings This knowledge and awareness may raise the language learners’ curiosity about the possible equivalencies in English In 149 150 this way, language learners and users may be on the right path to learning English confidently and effectively In order to provide language learners with some materials in communication, we list more typical patterns for telling and asking people to things and offers & invitations ( See appendix 2) We also give some suggested exercises for them to practice different functions with DM expressing obligation and permission (See appendix 3) SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH Communication is a very complicated process, involving many factors Within the limitation of a M.A thesis, a full description of all of them can not be done The class of directive texts consists of many different text types: legislative texts, legal documents (contracts, regulations), public notices, instruction booklets, cooking recipes, rules of games, prescriptions, reminders and even business letters Since it is basically of instructional nature, i.e it intends to plan future behaviour by giving the receiver instructions on what to do, Hatim and Mason (1990: 153) differentiate two subclasses One implies “instruction with option”, such as instruction booklets and cooking recipes, which can be ignored or accepted The other one implies 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English and Vietnamese and their semantic, syntactic, pragmatic features - Chapter 4 presents the findings and discussions consisting of the linguistic features of DM that are the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic features, the frequency of occurrence of DM in English and Vietnamese - Chapter 5 is the conclusion which draws the similarities and differences on syntactic, semantic and pragmatic features. .. thesis An Investigation into the Syntactic and Pragmatic Features of Directives in English and Vietnamese” described and analysed the syntactic and pragmatic features of directives in English and Vietnamese At the same time, she presented the differences and similarities between English and Vietnamese in the syntactic and pragmatic perspectives of directive speech act Though there have been so many investigations... ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY This paper includes the following parts: - Chapter 1 introduces the rationale of the study, presents the aims and objectives, the scope, the justification and the organization of the study - Chapter 2 is the literature review which includes previous studies and the linguistic concepts of modality, types of modality, notions of possibility and necessity as semantic category of. .. in English and Vietnamese is of great demand This is the first thesis studying DM in English and their Vietnamese equivalents that has realised the deontic forms and discovered the similarities and differences between English means of expressing obligation, permission, and their Vietnamese equivalents in terms of syntactics, semantics and pragmatics This study will be a contribution to pragmatic competence... discussions of syntactic, semantic and pragmatic features of English modal system There have not been so far a specific study which attempts to apply certain fully complete approach of syntactic and semantic analysis as well as pragmatic features of deontic modality expressing the notion of obligation and permission so as to help learners of English have a thorough insight into this problematic area of language... and the English Modals by Palmer (1990) and Meaning and the English Verbs by Leech (1987) Palmer puts forward the investigation on identifying the central meaning of modals and discusses the similarities and differences between the use of modals in denoting notions of modality Meanwhile, Leech mentions pragmatic elements of modal meanings and suggests that they should be taken in consideration in... more often than not interactants do not say directly what they intend to mean Many researchers consider indirectness and politeness to be closely related Once the speaker decides to use indirectness, a number of parameters are involved in the calculation of relative power between S and H, social distance, weight of imposition, rights and obligations and the degree of involvement in the interaction by the. .. SUMMARY Chapter two briefly introduces the concepts of mood and modality, proposition and modality and discusses the notion of obligation and permission as a semantic characteristics of modality The presentation of semantic as well as syntactic features of English modals points out their function as modality markers, i.e means for speakers to introduce elements of modality into what (s)he says, such as possibility,... communication and so is governed by politeness strategies, i.e the choice between directness and indirectness, mitigation devices in interaction 67 1 CHAPTER 3 METHOD AND PROCEDURE This chapter aims at dealing with method and procedure of the study It consists of the presentation of the aims and objectives of the study; the methods used in the course of the study which support each other in investigating data and. .. modal meanings Sweetser, on the other hand, sets forth discussions of approaches to pragmatic interpretation of modal semantics in terms of speech acts 45 1 In 1999, Nguyen Duong Nguyen Chau presented a M.A thesis about modal verbs must, should, have to expressing obligation Her investigation focused on the semantic and pragmatic features of these three English modals Tran Thi To Nga (2002) with the thesis ... investigation focused on the semantic and pragmatic features of these three English modals Tran Thi To Nga (2002) with the thesis An Investigation into the Syntactic and Pragmatic Features of. .. and discussions consisting of the linguistic features of DM that are the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic features, the frequency of occurrence of DM in English and Vietnamese - Chapter is the. .. draws the similarities and differences on syntactic, semantic and pragmatic features in English and Vietnamese; the implications, the limitations of the study and some suggestions for further