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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
DONG THAP UNIVERSITY
LE THU HA
DIRECTNESS IN CONVERSATIONS IN AMERICAN
ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE – A COMPARATIVE STUDY
Branch: English Pedagogy
Degree: Higher education
BA THESIS
Supervisor: Phan Ngoc Thach M.A.
DONG THAP, 2012
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DECLARATION
I confirm that the thesis entitled “Directness in conversations in American English
and Vietnamese - A comparative study” has been performed and interpreted
exclusively by myself. I clarify that the work is submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirement of the BA degree and has not been submitted elsewhere in any other
form for the fulfillment of any degree or qualification.
The author
Le Thu Ha
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ACKNOWLEGMENTS
I would first and foremost like to thank my supervisor, Phan Ngoc Thach M.A. for
giving me support, guideline, and feedback when I carried out my thesis.
I would also like to extend my gratefulness to all of the teachers in Foreign
Language Department who provide me with necessary help as well as good
suggestions whenever I get into trouble.
Last but not least, my special thanks are sincerely sent to my parents, my
friends and so many others who continuously offer spiritual support and
encouragement during the process of doing this thesis.
Le Thu Ha
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ABSTRACT
Students of English in Vietnam need a general consciousness of directness and
indirectness since they will benefit in many aspects. First, knowing how and when to
use directness and indirectness for communicating purposes is a way serving
politeness and face saving. That good point is for social interaction. In the field of
teaching, directness and indirectness can be used by the teacher to balance the
quality and quantity of work- share between the teacher and the students and
improve the teacher-student relationship.
Vietnamese students of English have difficulties in adjusting the degree of
directness and indirectness in their conversations. Evidently, various cross- cultural
values build up diverse language styles. Directness and indirectness in conversations
do not except and the cultural gap between Eastern and Western countries
unintentionally causes difficulties for the students. Moreover, the condition for
students to sharpen their flexibility in choosing appropriate degrees of directness and
indirectness is still limited because their sensitivity to directness and indirectness is
not put in the adequate attention.
The thesis “Directness in conversations in English and Vietnamese- A comparative
study” is carried out with four specific purposes. The first purpose is to remind students
of English of the values of directness and indirectness in aspects of life and career as
discussing about the importance of directness and indirectness. Secondly, a general
summary about directness and indirectness is given to provide people with a firm
foundation about directness and indirectness. Thirdly, directness in English as well as
indirectness in Vietnamese is investigated to find out similarities and differences between
the two. Lastly, hopefully, this research can give some indications for directness and
indirectness to teachers and students of English.
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CONTENT
DECLARATION ..................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEGMENTS .......................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... iii
CONTENT ...............................................................................................................1
Chapter 1 ..................................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................4
1.1Motivation ...........................................................................................................4
1.2 Aims of the study................................................................................................5
1.3 The research questions ........................................................................................5
1.4 Significance of the study .....................................................................................6
1.5 Related previous study ........................................................................................7
1.6 Organization of the thesis ...................................................................................8
Chapter 2 ..................................................................................................................9
LITERATURE REVIEW .........................................................................................9
2.1 Related theory ....................................................................................................9
2.1.1 A successful conversation ................................................................................9
2.1.2 Cooperation in conversation .......................................................................... 10
2.1.3 Speech acts .................................................................................................... 11
2.2 Directness in conversations ............................................................................... 13
2.2.1 Definition of directness in conversations........................................................ 13
2.2.2 The significance of directness in conversations .............................................. 14
2.2.3 The influences on directness usage ................................................................ 14
2.2.4 Indirectness versus directness ........................................................................ 16