English and Vietnamese business complaint letters: a comparative study from systemic functional perspectives

Phạm Như Cường và Đtg<br /> <br /> Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ<br /> <br /> 109(09): 51 - 56<br /> <br /> ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE BUSINESS COMPLAINT LETTERS:<br /> A COMPARATIVE STUDY FROM SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVES<br /> Pham Nhu Cuong1, Nguyen Thi Tuyet2, Lai Thi Thanh2*<br /> 1<br /> <br /> College of Economics and Business Administration - TNU<br /> 2<br /> College of Sciences - TNU<br /> <br /> SUMMARY<br /> The main aim of this research is to figure out the similarities and differences between English and<br /> Vietnamese business complaint letters, which is regarded as one of the most popular kinds of<br /> business correspondence, in terms of the four aspects of Systemic Functional Grammar namely<br /> transitivity, mood, theme and cohesion.<br /> To fulfill this objective, the authors conducted a survey with a sample of 30 complaint letters,<br /> including fifteen letters written in Vietnamese and fifteen letters written in English. The research<br /> results indicate that there are no significant differences in terms of the four aspects of Systemic<br /> Functional Grammar used in English and Vietnamese business complaint letters. However, in terms<br /> of cohesion, the results show that while Vietnamese writers regard lexical devices as the most useful<br /> tools in their letters, English ones highly appreciate the effectiveness of reference.<br /> The findings of this study can be utilized as a referential material for Vietnamese learners and<br /> teachers in writing and teaching writing effective letters in English, especially business complaints.<br /> Key words: transitivity, mood, theme-rheme, cohesion, systemic functional grammar, English<br /> business complaint letters, Vietnamese business complaint letters<br /> <br /> INTRODUCTION*<br /> It is generally accepted that in the last few<br /> decades of the 20th century, there has been a<br /> great source of research on language;<br /> however, their attentions were only paid to<br /> the form of the language systems, which are<br /> studied and explained apart from their<br /> functions in relation to social situations.<br /> Besides, their concern was basically with<br /> structural theories which show that small<br /> units were arranged and combined into larger<br /> ones. The recent research, on the other hand,<br /> has fallen into the tendency toward discourse<br /> analysis, which focuses on factors affecting<br /> the communication and also the functioning<br /> of syntactic, pragmatic and social aspects.<br /> Unlike the former studies, these ones pay<br /> attention to the meaning of not only the<br /> sentences but also utterances and discourses.<br /> The preference of the study is inspired from<br /> the fact that the theory of Systemic Functional<br /> Grammar has been widely accepted as an<br /> essential tool in language comprehension for<br /> *<br /> <br /> Tel: 0913.780.687; Email: thanhdhkh@gmail.com<br /> <br /> communication. According to Eggins (1994:<br /> 1 cited in Thao, Phuong 2003: 2), ‘Systemic<br /> Functional Linguistics is increasingly being<br /> recognized as providing a very useful<br /> descriptive and interpretive framework for<br /> viewing language as a strategic, meaningmaking resource’. Hallidayan linguists used<br /> the functional model of grammar to interpret<br /> how people use language and how language is<br /> structured for use. This theory, in fact, has<br /> been proved as a great model of language for<br /> analysts when analyzing texts especially at<br /> discourse level.<br /> In Vietnam, there have been a great number<br /> of studies in the area of discourse analysis<br /> these days. However, the number of those<br /> works based on Systemic Functional<br /> Perspectives does not seem to reflect the<br /> potential variety. Especially in the last few<br /> decades, Vietnam has been seen its expanding<br /> relationship with many other nations in<br /> economics, scientific and technical fields;<br /> English language as an international<br /> language, therefore, has been widely used in<br /> every<br /> field,<br /> especially<br /> in<br /> business<br /> communication in general and business<br /> 51<br /> <br /> Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – Đại học Thái Nguyên<br /> <br /> http://www.lrc-tnu.edu.vn<br /> <br /> Phạm Như Cường và Đtg<br /> <br /> Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ<br /> <br /> transaction in particular. The issues of<br /> business communication as well as business<br /> transaction thus should be unsurprisingly a<br /> rich source for linguists in analyzing<br /> discourse. An inspirational source that helps<br /> me to prompt the choice of the analysis of<br /> business correspondence is the fact that this<br /> kind of letter is truly suitable and essential in<br /> Vietnamese background recently.<br /> It cannot be denied that business<br /> correspondence plays an important role in<br /> business communication. Besides, defects<br /> seem to be unavoidable in carrying out<br /> business transactions; even for the bestmanaged organizations, this seems to be in<br /> the same case. Letters of complaint, therefore,<br /> can be made and understood as customers’<br /> inevitable reaction. In Vietnam, customers<br /> have gradually had the tendency to write<br /> complaint letters; however, this has not<br /> become their habit and a number of<br /> customers, in fact, still hesitate to do this<br /> although they know they have the right to do.<br /> In addition, knowing how to write an<br /> effective business complaint letter is really a<br /> challenge for many people. My own<br /> observation shows that even the students of<br /> business have limited knowledge and<br /> experience in writing complaint letters not<br /> only in English but also in Vietnamese.<br /> In the hope of working out some solutions to<br /> help Vietnamese people as well as<br /> Vietnamese students, to some extent,<br /> overcome their difficulties in writing business<br /> complaint letters, the study is an attempt to<br /> analyze some basic discourse features of<br /> business complaint letters from Systemic<br /> Functional Perspectives namely transitivity<br /> pattern, mood, thematic pattern, and<br /> cohesion. Based on this, similarities and<br /> differences between English letters and<br /> Vietnamese ones will be identified. After that,<br /> some suggestions will be drawn out to<br /> improve the studying and teaching writing<br /> business complaint letters in English.<br /> RESEARCH METHODS<br /> The study is confined to the description,<br /> analysis and comparison in terms of transitivity,<br /> <br /> 109(09): 51 - 56<br /> <br /> mood, thematic pattern and cohesion. In order<br /> to achieve the goal, the approach is inductive,<br /> which is based on the data as well as authentic<br /> business complaint letters.<br /> Firstly, a large number of business complaint<br /> letters will be carefully selected from<br /> textbooks, internet and authentic sources.<br /> Because of the fact that there seems to be no<br /> fixed format for this kind of correspondence,<br /> the letters were randomly chosen as data,<br /> providing they are of business complaints. In<br /> addition, the authenticity is highly appreciated<br /> by the authors; most of the letters are,<br /> therefore, mainly chosen from authentic<br /> sources as mentioned above.<br /> Secondly, a certain number of the selected<br /> letters will be described and analyzed in terms<br /> of transitivity, mood, thematic pattern and<br /> cohesion.<br /> Thirdly, the data obtained will be analyzed<br /> and compared in order to find out the<br /> similarities and differences in both English<br /> and Vietnamese business complaints.<br /> Finally, the research results will be discussed<br /> to figure out some suggested ideas to help<br /> Vietnamese people write effective business<br /> complaints in English.<br /> Besides, discourse analysis in the light of<br /> Systemic Functional Grammar helps to<br /> establish the framework of the theoretical<br /> background.<br /> COMPARISON BETWEEN ENGLISH AND<br /> VIETNAMESE BUSINESS COMPLAINT<br /> LETTERS<br /> Similarities<br /> From the analysis of business complaint<br /> letters in both English and Vietnamese, it can<br /> be concluded that these letters of both<br /> languages possess some features in common.<br /> Transitivity<br /> The analysis of transitivity system showed<br /> that the material process is employed with the<br /> highest frequency in the letters of both<br /> languages. The relational process ranks the<br /> second and then the process of verbal and<br /> mental rank the third. The processes of<br /> behavioral and existential are rarely found in<br /> this kind of letters.<br /> <br /> 52<br /> <br /> Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – Đại học Thái Nguyên<br /> <br /> http://www.lrc-tnu.edu.vn<br /> <br /> Phạm Như Cường và Đtg<br /> <br /> Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ<br /> <br /> 109(09): 51 - 56<br /> <br /> Table 1: English and Vietnamese complaint letters in comparison in terms of Transitivity<br /> Rate<br /> <br /> Features<br /> <br /> E complaint letters<br /> 40.8 %<br /> 16.2 %<br /> 24.3 %<br /> 16.2%<br /> 0.4%<br /> 2.1 %<br /> <br /> Material<br /> Mental<br /> Relational<br /> Verbal<br /> Behavioral<br /> Existential<br /> <br /> V complaint letters<br /> 43.8%<br /> 12.9 %<br /> 22.9%<br /> 14.6 %<br /> 2.7%<br /> 3.1 %<br /> <br /> Mood<br /> The mood analysis brings about a surprising result that the choice of mood in complaint letters in<br /> both languages is nearly identical. As shown in table 2, the declarative mood is used in most<br /> cases, occupying more than 98%. The expressions of modality seem not to be paid much<br /> attention to.<br /> Table 2: English and Vietnamese complaint letters in comparison in terms of mood<br /> Features<br /> Declarative<br /> Interrogative<br /> Imperative<br /> + Modal<br /> Modalization<br /> Modal<br /> Modulation<br /> <br /> Mood<br /> <br /> Modality<br /> <br /> Rate<br /> E complaint letters<br /> 98.3%<br /> 0.4 %<br /> 1.3 %<br /> 7.2 %<br /> 64.7%<br /> 92.8 %<br /> 35.3%<br /> <br /> V complaint letters<br /> 99.5 %<br /> 0.5 %<br /> 0%<br /> 7.5%<br /> 48.4%<br /> 92.5%<br /> 51.6%<br /> <br /> Theme-Rheme<br /> The examination of theme system pointed out that the number of clauses with unmarked theme is<br /> much bigger than that of marked theme. Moreover, single themes are much more frequently used<br /> than multiple ones and once multiple themes appear, it is the combination of topical theme and<br /> textual theme preceding it. In addition, among the three types of themes that are topical,<br /> interpersonal and textual, topical always accounts for the highest percentage of occurrence.<br /> Table 3: English and Vietnamese complaint letters in comparison in terms of Theme<br /> Features<br /> <br /> Theme- Rheme<br /> <br /> Marked<br /> Unmarked<br /> Topical<br /> Interpersonal<br /> Textual<br /> Multiple<br /> Single<br /> <br /> Rate<br /> E complaint letters<br /> 12.4 %<br /> 87.6 %<br /> 78.6 %<br /> 0.7 %<br /> 20.7 %<br /> 13.4%<br /> 86.6%<br /> <br /> V complaint letters<br /> 24.2 %<br /> 75.8 %<br /> 76.5 %<br /> 0.8 %<br /> 22.7 %<br /> 17.2%<br /> 82.8%<br /> <br /> Cohesion<br /> In terms of cohesive devices, both English and Vietnamese complaint letters share no typical<br /> common features other than the choice of different subtypes of lexical cohesion. Among the<br /> lexical cohesive devices, repetition was the most preferred by both English and Vietnamese<br /> people and then the collocation. This can be explained basing on the field of this kind of letter in<br /> which the requirement for the accuracy should be met by the most possible way of repeating<br /> things or components mentioned in the co -text.<br /> 53<br /> <br /> Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – Đại học Thái Nguyên<br /> <br /> http://www.lrc-tnu.edu.vn<br /> <br /> Phạm Như Cường và Đtg<br /> <br /> Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ<br /> <br /> 109(09): 51 - 56<br /> <br /> Table 4: English and Vietnamese complaint letters in comparison in terms of Cohesion<br /> Features<br /> <br /> Cohesion<br /> <br /> Lexical Cohesion<br /> Conjunction<br /> Reference<br /> Ellipsis<br /> Substitution<br /> <br /> Differences<br /> Transitivity<br /> In general, the analysis results of transitivity<br /> system as can be shown in table 1 show that<br /> there seems to be no noticeable differences in<br /> the choice of processes between Vietnamese<br /> and English writers of business complaint<br /> letters. While the use of material processes in<br /> Vietnamese letters is of a bit higher frequency<br /> than that in English ones; the rates are 43.8<br /> and 40.8 respectively, the number of clauses<br /> with relational, mental, and verbal processes<br /> in English letters is bigger than that in<br /> Vietnamese ones. In addition, behavioral and<br /> existential processes, which account for only<br /> 0.4% and 2.1% respectively in English letters,<br /> appear in 2.7% and 3.1% of clauses in<br /> Vietnamese letters. These results prove that<br /> there exists a slight difference in the choice of<br /> language to show actions, events, feelings,<br /> being, existence, or verbal exchange between<br /> English and Vietnamese people when writing<br /> business complaint letters. Moreover, the<br /> field of this kind of letters seems to have a<br /> nearly equal influence on the choice of<br /> language used.<br /> However, concerning the material and<br /> relational processes themselves in the letters<br /> of both languages, typical differences can be<br /> found. The first thing is related to the<br /> structure of material process itself and must<br /> be induced from the combination of<br /> transitivity and theme analyses. While in<br /> material clauses in English letters, the<br /> elements labeled as the Goal or Recipient and<br /> as the unmarked theme under the theme<br /> analysis account for 24%, that occupy only<br /> 12.2% in Vietnamese letters. This means that<br /> <br /> Rate<br /> E complaint letters<br /> 32 %<br /> 14.8 %<br /> 52.7 %<br /> 0.3 %<br /> 0.2 %<br /> <br /> V complaint letters<br /> 69.7%<br /> 22.7%<br /> 6.1 %<br /> 0.5 %<br /> 1%<br /> <br /> the passive voice is more preferable in<br /> English letters than in Vietnamese ones. In<br /> addition, 17.6% of the Actors in English<br /> letters are non-human, the nonhuman Actors<br /> in Vietnamese letters possess only 6.2% of<br /> all. This proves that English writers prefer<br /> mentioning things first compared with<br /> Vietnamese writers.<br /> The other difference falls into the choice of<br /> intensives and possessives in relational<br /> process. While intensive and possessive<br /> processes own 69.6% and 17.9% respectively<br /> in English letters, they hold 64.9% and 22.3%<br /> respectively in Vietnamese letters.<br /> Mood<br /> As can be shown in table 2, the use of mood<br /> in complaint letters in both languages is<br /> nearly identical. A slight difference can be<br /> traced back to the analysis of modality in<br /> terms of modalization and modulation. While<br /> in English letters, the expression of<br /> modalization occupies 64.7%, which accounts<br /> for only 48.4% in Vietnamese ones. It means<br /> that English writers of complaint letters use<br /> the expressions of certainty and usuality more<br /> frequently than Vietnamese ones.<br /> Theme-Rheme<br /> The result of theme analysis in table 3 above<br /> indicates that the choice of departure elements<br /> as marked and unmarked theme in English<br /> and Vietnamese letters does not resemble.<br /> The number of clauses containing marked<br /> themes in English letters occupies 12.4%<br /> whereas in Vietnamese letters, it owns 24.2%.<br /> Moreover, 13.4% of all the themes are found<br /> multiple in English letters, whereas 17.2% of<br /> multiple themes appear in Vietnamese ones.<br /> <br /> 54<br /> <br /> Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – Đại học Thái Nguyên<br /> <br /> http://www.lrc-tnu.edu.vn<br /> <br /> Phạm Như Cường và Đtg<br /> <br /> Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ<br /> <br /> Cohesion<br /> The biggest differences between English and<br /> Vietnamese letters fall into the terms of<br /> cohesion. As can be seen in table 4 above, in<br /> English letters, reference is used as the most<br /> prominent device to create cohesion with the<br /> rate of 52.7%; the second one is lexical<br /> device, which possess 32% of all and<br /> conjunction with 14.8% ranks the third in the<br /> scale of occurrence. On the other hand, in<br /> Vietnamese letters, lexical cohesive devices<br /> occupy the highest percentage; conjunctive<br /> devices rank the second and especially the<br /> most prevalent use of reference in English<br /> letters were found in only 6.1% of all the<br /> clauses in this kind of letters in Vietnamese. It<br /> is true that any conclusion made at this point<br /> about the language ability of English and<br /> Vietnamese writers basing on the frequency<br /> of cohesive devices as indicated from the<br /> surprising analysis results would be too hasty.<br /> CONCLUSION<br /> The analysis helps to bring about some<br /> outstanding similarities and differences in the<br /> use of language reflected through the four<br /> chosen terms of both English writers and<br /> Vietnamese ones. First, in terms of<br /> transitivity, material processes are considered<br /> the most powerful and effective; relational<br /> processes rank the second in both English and<br /> Vietnamese letters. In the aspect of mood,<br /> declaratives are used in most places and the<br /> use of modality is rarely found in this kind of<br /> letters in both languages. Next, the theme<br /> analysis reveals that though marked themes<br /> are not considerably employed in these letters<br /> of both languages, the clauses with marked<br /> theme in Vietnamese letters outnumber those<br /> in English ones. Moreover, topical themes<br /> always proved to be the most preferred by<br /> both English and Vietnamese writers. Lastly,<br /> the result of cohesion analysis shows that<br /> while Vietnamese writers regard lexical<br /> devices as the most useful tools to create<br /> cohesion in their letters, English ones highly<br /> appreciate the effectiveness of reference.<br /> <br /> 109(09): 51 - 56<br /> <br /> Hopefully, the findings of this study can help<br /> business people to be fully aware of the<br /> significance of business complaint letters as<br /> well as the appropriate language used in terms<br /> of transitivity, mood, theme and cohesion, so<br /> that they can escape from the unexpected<br /> misunderstanding<br /> in<br /> cross-cultural<br /> communication. Moreover, we hope that these<br /> findings will be a helpful source for the teacher<br /> and learner in the course of teaching and<br /> studying writing business complaint letters.<br /> SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES<br /> In this study, much of our effort has been<br /> made to point out the similarities and<br /> differences between English and Vietnamese<br /> in terms of transitivity, mood, theme and<br /> cohesion in the light of Systemic Functional<br /> Grammar. A desire of discovering some<br /> problems facing Vietnamese people when<br /> writing business complaint letters in English<br /> language cannot be discussed, which is truly<br /> one of the shortcomings of this paper and also<br /> a suggested idea for further studies. In<br /> addition, there are two more aspects awaiting<br /> our investigation. Firstly, how certain kinds of<br /> business complaint letters; for example,<br /> banking or hotel business, in both English and<br /> Vietnamese differ from each other and<br /> secondly how these business complaint letters<br /> in both languages differ in terms of generic<br /> structures, speech acts and discourse strategies.<br /> REFERENCES<br /> 1. Diệp Quang Ban (chủ biên), (2000), Ngữ<br /> pháp Tiếng Việt, NXBGD.<br /> 2. Bertha J.Naterop, Erich Weis & Eva<br /> Haberfellner, (1977), Business letters for all, OUP.<br /> 3. Bloor, T. & M. Bloor, (1995), The Functional<br /> analysis of English, Arnold.<br /> 4. Cook, G. (1989), Discourse, Oxford: Oxford<br /> University Press.<br /> 5. Eggins, S., (1994), An Introduction to<br /> Systemic Functional Linguistics, London/New<br /> York: Continuum.<br /> 6. Halliday, M.A.K, (1994), An Introduction to<br /> Functional Grammar, London: Edward Arnold.<br /> <br /> 55<br /> <br /> Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – Đại học Thái Nguyên<br /> <br /> http://www.lrc-tnu.edu.vn<br /> <br />