A Vietnamese-English cross-cultural study on the use of address forms to express formality Tạ Thị Kim Ngôn Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ Luận văn ThS. Chuyên ngành: English Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15 Người hướng dẫn: MA. Do Thi Mai Thanh Năm bảo vệ: 2011 Abstract: Mastering a new language does not only consist of the ability to master its system of linguistic forms but also the ability to use them appropriately. This is because languages differ from one another not only in their system of phonology, syntax and lexicon but also in rules of speaking. Addressing is, to various extents, formulaic, culture-specific and routinized in different languages, including Vietnamese and English. The factors that govern the way one person addresses another varies across languages and speech communities. The selection of appropriate addressing forms largely depends on age, gender, position, qualifications, power, the context of interaction and other social factors. Addressing is also a product of culture and history. It reflects all the cultural values as well as historical changes of a society. Vietnam and England embody two different cultures - the one in Western, the other in the Eastern. Thus, their addressing forms are much different. To successfully communicate cross culturally communicators should be aware of these. This study investigates the use of address forms to express formality in Vietnamese and English, identifying similarities and differences between them. The factors that govern the way speakers choose to address are also examined. Keywords: Tiếng Anh; Từ xưng hô; Tiếng Việt; Từ vựng Content PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rational Each country bears its own culture i.e. its own values, beliefs, assumptions, communication styles, preferable verbal expressions etc. Therefore in intercultural communication people from different cultural background feel very difficult. Cultural shock and cultural conflicts may happen due to differences in culture and language references. Among these, the use of addressing terms seems to pose an outstanding threat to the process of intercultural communication. However, the recent studies on intercultural and cross cultural communication between English and Vietnamese language and culture appear beyond our expectation. In Vietnam, especially in the Vietnamese workplace, bosses and staff are aware of the fact that a suitable address term can establish and maintain a good relationship. In international companies, there are many people from different nationalities work together, so using appropriate address terms is a need and a must that one should know to harmonize his working relationship. This will help him communicate successfully. With all the above necessity, the author finds this topic so inspiring that she decides to carry out a study on the use of addressing terms by the bosses and the staff in the workplace. It is hoped that the research would contribute to raise the awareness of cultural and language differences in the use of addressing forms in English-Vietnamese intercultural communication. 2. Aims of the study The aims of the study are: - To investigate major differences in which English, Vietnamese bosses and staff address in their own language. - To find out the socio cultural factors that govern the address terms. - To propose some suggestions to avoid culture shock and communication breakdown in intercultural communication. The research questions can be formulated as: Question 1: What are the major differences in the ways English and Vietnamese bosses and staff address in their own language? Question 2: What are socio cultural factors that govern the address terms? Question 3: How should we do to avoid culture shock and communication breakdown in intercultural communication? 3. Methods of the study This is a qualitative and quantitative study, hence the author uses the following steps to conduct the research: - Studying relevant publications about background theories on addressing forms in English and Vietnamese (mostly from the Internet, books and magazines). - Conducting survey questionnaires. The survey was carried out among employers and employees from the finance company - SMBC Leasing in London and Vietnam Vinashin General Company in Ha Noi. - consulting the supervisor - resorting to personal observation. 4. Scope of the study The study focuses on the addressing terms used to by two groups of staff and bosses in English and Vietnam. These address terms will be analyzed in some specific situations in their workplaces to discover how the bosses and staff address each other in English and Vietnamese. In the study, the author also studies some main factors that exercise their influence on the use of addressing terms such as age, gender, marital status, occupation, power, social status, situation of interaction, academic qualification. Other linguistic and cultural factors are beyond this research. 5. Design of the study The study contains three parts Part 1, the introduction, includes the rational, the aims of the study, the methods of the study, the scope of the study and the design of the study. Part 2, Development, is the most important part in the study, contains chapter 1 - Theoretical background is an introduction to the theoretical background which is designed to serve as the basic foundation of data analysis and discussion of findings in chapter 2. Chapter 2 discusses the findings concerning the use of addressing in formality in Vietnamese and English. Part 3: Conclusion contains the Summary, Implications and limitation and suggestion for further study. 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Aims of the study The aims of the study are: - To