CROSSCULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN MAKING REQUESTS AND GIVING INVITATION IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE (Research Methodology)

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
POST GRADUATE DEPARTMENT

CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN
MAKING REQUESTS AND GIVING INVITATION
IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE
(Research Methodology)

Student:
Course:
Instructor:
Deadline:

Trần Thúy Quỳnh
K18C
Dr. Kieu Thi Thu Huong
16.08.2010

Ha Noi – August 2010

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TABLE OF CONTENT
PART ONE – INTRODUCTION
1. Identification of the problem
.................................................................................................................................
1
2. Purpose and significant of the study
.................................................................................................................................

1
3. Research question
.................................................................................................................................
1
4. Scope of the study
.................................................................................................................................
2
.................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................
PART TWO – LITERATURE REVIEW
I.1.1. Definition of culture
.......................................................................................................................................
3
I.1.2. Characteristics of culture
.......................................................................................................................................
4
I.2. Communication
.......................................................................................................................................
5
I.2.1. Definition
.......................................................................................................................................
5
I.2.2. Components of communication.................................................................... 5
I.2.3. Models of communication
.......................................................................................................................................
6

2

I.3. The role of culture in communication
.......................................................................................................................................
7
I.4. Cross-cultural communication
.......................................................................................................................................
7
I.5. Some feature about request
.......................................................................................................................................
8
I.5.1. Definition of request
.......................................................................................................................................
8
I.5.2. The concept of speech acts
.......................................................................................................................................
8
I.5.3. Requesting seen as speech acts
.......................................................................................................................................
8
I.5.4. Kinds of request
.......................................................................................................................................
9
I.6. Some features about invitation
.......................................................................................................................................
9
I.6.1. Definition of invitation
.......................................................................................................................................
9
.......................................................................................................................................

I.6.2. Types of invitation
.......................................................................................................................................
10
PART THREE: THE STUDY
II.1. Methodology
.......................................................................................................................................
11
II.2. The subject of the study

3


.......................................................................................................................................
11
II.3. Data analysis.
.......................................................................................................................................
12
PART FOUR – CONCLUSION
References

Title: CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION REQUEST AND GIVING
INVITATIONS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

1. IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEM
English has been becoming the most widely used language all over the world. It is
considered as a “bridge” to make all countries closer. English is used in many fields
such as: economy, politics, diplomacy, science, technology, etc…Moreover, in the age
of integration and co-operation, the need for communication among people from
different culture greatly increases.
In order to communicate effectively, English learners have to be sensitive to the

English’s background. Paying attention to customs and cultural differences can give
someone outside that culture a better chance of assimilation or acceptance. Ignoring
these can get a person into trouble.
With the hope of helping Vietnamese learners of English to get effectiveness in
communicating with foreigners, the author would like to carry out a cross cultural study
on making requests and giving invitations in English and Vietnamese.
2. PURPOSE AND SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY
The objectives in my study are to help English learners know and understand more
about the critical role of culture in communication, to study the differences in giving
invitation and making request in Vietnamese and English. Moreover, this study also
brings forward the overview on communication and cross-cultural communication.
Meanwhile, some misunderstanding caused by cultural differences in communication

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are analyzed to help learner raise the awareness of what is appropriate in the target
language and awareness of cross-cultural communication.
3. RESEARCH QUESTION
Is there any difference in making requesting and giving invitation between English and
Vietnamese? If it has, what are they?

4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Communication and culture are very wide fields that require much time to study.
Therefore I can not cover all aspects of this issue, only focus on some following aspects:
-

Definition of culture and communication as well as their relationship.

-

Overview of communication and cross-cultural communication.

-

Lay out of some cultural differences between English and Vietnamese in making
requests and giving invitation.

-

Analysis on misunderstanding in making request and giving invitation caused by
English-Vietnamese cultural differences.

-

Overview of request and invitation.

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II. LITERATURE REVIEW
II. 1. Definition of culture
According to A.L Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn, the two American leading
ethnologists, there have been more than 300 definitions of culture with various points of
view writers throughout human beings history. Following are some of the most widely
accepted definitions by the outstanding experts in the field- the linguistics and
philosophers.
Table: Diverse definitions of culture
Topical

Culture consists of everything on a list of topics, or categories, such as

Historical

social organization, religion or economy.
Culture is social heritage, or tradition that is passed on to the future

Behavioral
Normative
Functional

generations
Culture is shared, learned human behavior, a way of life.
Culture is ideas, values, or rules for living
Culture is the way human solves problems of adapting to the environment

Mental

or living together.
Culture is a complex of ideas, or learned habits, that inhibit impulses and

Structural
Symbolic

distinguish people from animals.
Culture consists of patterned and interrelated ideas, symbols or behaviors.
Culture is based on arbitrarily assigned meanings that are shared by a

society.
Culture has also been studied and defined in many ways by multiple scholars

representing various disciplines. Adler (1997:15) has synthesized many definitions of
culture. She says: “Culture is something that is shared by all members of some social
groups, something that the older members of the groups try to pass on to the younger
members, something (as in the case of morals, laws and customs) that shapes

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behavior, or…structures one’s that shapes behavior, or…structures one’s perception
of the worlds”
According to Levo Henriksson (1994), culture covers everyday life as well as
myths and value systems of society. Roos (1986) see culture as a system of lifestyles
and as a common dominator for lifestyles. Lifestyles reveal culture that is large and stiff
wholeness, uniform, regular and like-minded in our live. Lifestyle is a possible way to
outline one’s life within the framework of culture.
Another definition given by Nguyen Quang is: “Culture is a shared
background (e.g: national, ethnic, religious) resulting from a common language and
communicative style, customs, beliefs, attitudes and values. It refers to the informal
and often hidden patterns of human interactions, expressions and viewpoints that
people in one culture share.”
According to Tran Ngoc Them, Culture is an organic system of material and
spiritual values that mankind has accumulated and created in the process of practical
activities, in the interaction between man and his natural and social environment.
(1997:27)
II. 1.2. Characteristics of culture
According to Richard E.Porter and Larry A.Smovar (1994:12), there are 6
characteristics of culture:
a. Culture is not innate, it is learned. Fact has shown that numbers of Culture learn
their patterns of behavior and ways of thinking until they have become internalized. The
power and influence of these behavior and perceptions can be seen in the ways in which

people acquire culture.
b. Culture is transmissible: The symbol of a culture is what enables us to pass on
the
content and patterns of a culture. People can use spoken words, written words as well as
non-verbal actions as symbol to spread culture.
c. Culture is dynamic. As with communication, culture is ongoing and subject to
fluctuation; they seldom remain constant. As ideas and products evolve within a culture,
they can produce change though the mechanisms of invention and diffusion.
d.

“Diffusion” is another way in which change occurs. The assimilation of what is

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borrowed accelerates as cultures come into direct contact with each other. For example,
as Japan and North America share more commerce, it is observed that American
assimilating Japanese business management practice and the Japan incorporating
American marketing tactics.
e. Culture is selective. Every culture represents a limited choice of behavior
patterns
form the infinite patterns of human experience. This selection is made according to the
basic assumptions and values that are meaningful to each culture. In other words,
culture also defines the boundaries of different group.
f. Facets of culture are interrelated. These characteristics serve to inform us that
culture is like a complex system. As Hall clearly states: “You touch a culture in one
place and everything is affected” (Richard E.Porter and Larry A. Samovar 1994:13)
g. Culture is ethnocentric. Kneesing notes that ethnocentrism is a “universal
tendency for any people to put its own culture and society in central position of priority
and worth” (Rich E. Porter and Larry A. Samovar 1994:13)

I.2. Communication
I.2.1. Definition of communication
Communication is a process of sharing meaning though verbal and non verbal behavior
between people from different cultures. Therefore, communication which is influenced
by cultural values, attitudes and behavior is the influence of culture on people’s
reactions and responses to each other.
I.2.2. Components of communication
The communication process is made up of various elements. According to Dell Hymes,
the elements of communication are as following:
-

The addresser: The person who originates the message

-

The addressee: the person to whom the message is addressed

-

The channel: the medium through which the message travels

-

The message form: the particular grammatical and lexical choice of the message.

-

The topic: the information carried in the message

-

The code: the language or dialect

-

The setting: the social or physical context

8


Richard represents his identification of the components of communication.
Following it, all communication is formed by: senders (addresser) and receivers
(addresses), messages, channels, feedback, noise, code and setting. Communication
is also influenced by what we bring to it.

I.2.3. Models of communication
Communication can be classified into 2 kinds: Verbal and Non-verbal. In order to
have a more general overview on communication, let’s look at the following
diagram:
Communication

Verbal communication

Non-verbal communication

Intralanguage

Paralanguage

Extralanguage

Lexicon
Rules of grammar

Vocal characteristics

Rules of language use

Volume

& interaction skills

Rate
Types of vocal quality
Silence

Body language

Object language

Environment language

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Eye contact

Clothing

Setting

Facial expressions

Jewellery

Conversational distance

Gestures

Accessories

Time

Postures

Make up

Lighting system

Touch/hapties

Artificial scents

Colour

Gifts
I.3. The roles of culture in communication
Wood (1987:199) claims that: “Communication is closely linked to culture, because
communicating expresses, sustains, and alters cultures. Your culture directly shapes
how you communicate, teaching you whether interpreting is appropriate, how much eye

contact is polite and whether conflict is desirable.”
Nguyen Quang also revealed that the more similarities the two cultures have, the
less difficulties communication gets in general.
All the differences of culture will be revealed through communicating between people
in this culture with those in another one. Therefore, in order to avoid misunderstandings,
even culture shock in communication, culture should be taken into notice.
I.4. Cross-cultural communication
According to Levine and Adelman (1982:X): “Cross-cultural communication or
intercultural communication is the process whereby one culture affects interaction with
a person from a person from another culture.”
There are some people translate “cross-culture” as “Giao thoa văn hóa”. According to
Nguyen Van Do (1993), the important thing is not how the word is translated into
Vietnamese, but the content of that concept expresses by a word or a terminology in a
certain specific language. Cross-culture is the mixture of cultural factors from different
culture of a certain specific communication.
Cross-cultural communication has been defined by Nguyen Quang (1998) as
“Communication (verbal and non-verbal) between people from different cultures,
communication that is influenced by cultural values, attitudes and behavior, the
influence on people and reaction and response to each other.” He also reasoned that in
the process of trying to be successful in mastering a second language, the learners
should reach for not only linguistics but also cultural knowledge of the language.

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In conclusion, when contacting with a person who has different communication styles, it
is wise to keep in mind that: “Her strange style of communication results from her
cultural upbringing. We should not make a rash injustice before spending more time to
understand her”
I.5. Some features about request

I.5.1. Definition of request
We consider request as part of communicating activities. And also, request is an act of
asking for something or to do something. (Oxford Modern English Dictionary, 1996)
I.5.2. The concept of speech acts
Geogre Yule says actions performed via utterances are generally called speech acts
(Yule 1996:7). It is also at this point to draw from Austin’s analysis of speech acts. On
any occasion, the action performed by producing an utterance will consist of 3 related
acts: illocutionary, locutionary and perlocutionary acts (Hoang Van Van, Ph.D, 200:71)
A locutionary act is an act of saying: The production of a meaningful utterance
(the utterance of a certain word and construction and the utterance of them with a
certain “meaning” in the favorite philosophical sense of the word. We are likely to
produce a locutionary act. However, we normally do not make an utterance without
purpose. When saying that “I want to something to eat”, we do not only intend to utter
that sentence but also intend to require the listener to give us something to eat. This kind
of act is generally known as illocutionary act.
An illocutionary act is an act performed in saying something, making a
statement or a promise, issuing a command or request, asking a question,
etc….Illocutionary force Is understood as some kind of intended message that the
speakers assigns to the sentence he utters. Upon saying: “Have you got a lighter?”, the
illocutionary force the force the speaker assigns to this utterance turns it to require the
hearer to give the speaker the lighter than about the borrowing of it.
I.5.3. Requesting seen as speech act
Oxford advanced learner’s Dictionary (1992:768) defines requesting as “an act of
asking for something in speech or writing, especially politely.”
In terms of speech acts, requesting is considered to be an act of requiring the other to do
something performed through speech in interaction.

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E.g: “If you utter a sentence like: Closed the window, please.” Pragmatically, we
produce an utterance containing an act of asking the hearer to close the window.
Like thanking, complementing, inviting, etc…requesting is considered as one of the
most sensitive illocutionary acts in communication in the example: “Could you tell me
the time, please?” or “Would you mind showing the way to the nearest shop, please?”
I.6. Some features about invitations
I.6.1. Definition of invitation
Inviting is very common in all societies and languages. It is accepted as one of the
main communicative acts, as well as one of the most sensitive areas of politeness in
human interaction.
Everyday, we may make some sorts of invitation with such English utterances as: “I
would like to invite you to…”, “Would you like to….”, “What about….” etc and
Vietnamese expression such as: “Cháu mời ông bà ăn cơm ạ”, “Mời anh chị đến nhà tôi
chơi.”
In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1992:175) invitation is defined as “An act of
requesting someone’s presence or participation, stating the specific event or setting time
and place.”
I.6.2. Types of invitations
There are two kinds of invitation: Definite (with time/place expressions)
Indefinite (with no time/place expressions)
Based on the semantic and the syntactic function, Anna Wierbicka distinguishes two
kinds of inviting: One can invite someone to do something and one can invite someone
to come to a place. However, inviting someone to a place seems to be a special case of
inviting someone to do something.
More commonly, many theorists divided inviting two kinds: Definite and indefinite
invitation.
Definite invitations include Yes/No question which require specific agreements. They
mention a time or a place.
E.g: “We are going to a concert tomorrow night. Would you like to join us?”
(Nguyen Quang 200:50)

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Indefinite invitations do not include a specific time and a place and may include a
Yes/No question. When people extend an indefinite invitation they do not really know
when and if they should get together with the other people.
E.g: “Listen! I have a lot to talk bout to you. I think we should have lunch together on
day soon.”
(Nguyen Quang 200:51)
Similarity, we may hear such phrases among the Vietnamese: “Hơm nào rỗi…..”, “Nếu
có thời gian….”, “Lúc nào có điều kiện thì đến chơi”. Actually, in both British and
Vietnamese cultures, by saying such phrases people tend to end a conversation or to say
goodbye politely. Thus, these “invitation” may not be genuine.
It should be taken into notice that the more the time in the invitation far from Now, the
lower the definition of the invitation is. Let’s make comparison:
-

Bây giờ, anh đưa em ra mắt bố mẹ anh nhé.

-

Tuần tới, anh đưa em ra mắt bố mẹ anh nhé.

-

Tháng tới, anh đưa em ra mắt bố mẹ anh nhé.

-

Năm tới, anh đưa em ra mắt bố mẹ anh nhé.

-

Hai năm nữa, anh đưa em ra mắt bố mẹ anh nhé.

To recognize the authenticity of an invitation people should base on communicative
factors. That is the idea of Nguyen Quang in “”Một số vấn đề giao tiếp nội văn hóa và
giao văn hóa.”

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III. THE STUDY
III.1. Methodology
In quantitative method, research questions related to the topic were given out.
The questionnaire includes 15 questions about making requests and giving invitations.
They are handed to 100 third and forth year students (K9D, K9G, K10A, K10B) in
Faculty of English at Ha Noi Open University. They were asked to tick the answer that
they suppose it is the correct one. They are the most suitable subjects to the topic
because they are going to graduate in the near future and they may have chance to
communicate

with

foreigners.

The

questionnaire

is

aimed

to

investigate

misunderstanding in making requests and giving invitations caused by cultural
differences of Vietnamese learners in general and the third and forth year students in
particular.
Basing on the statistic, the author can analyze concrete situations and then give
reasons and suggestions. However, there is disadvantage in using this method. Some
students suggest the answer or tick it by feeling. Therefore, the real number of people
choose the correct answer may be lower than the number that the survey analyzed
showed.
Besides, qualitative method is used to collect data. In order to complete this
paper, the author has reference to some previous graduation papers. By going to the
library of Ha Noi Open University and The National Library, the author read some
useful books relating to the graduation paper. They are completely believable resources.
They are also the basic knowledge to understand the proposal. A cross- cultural
communication in giving invitation and making requests in Vietnamese-English.
However, this method has some minor disadvantages. The author has to read a lot to
find out what should be added to the paper as well as has to spend much time on
searching books.

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III.2. The subjects of the study
In order to have a specific look at cultural difference in giving invitation and making
request between English and Vietnamese, a questionnaire is designed for the 3 th and 4th
year students at Ha Noi Open University.
They are at the age of 21 to 24. Most of them are female. This is a normal phenomenon
that we can see at any linguistic university; the number of female student is higher than
that of male students. The 3th and 4th year students have a long time in studying English.
Most of them have been learning it for over 10 years, the rest is from 3 to 9 years.
Through the survey, the author also realized the number of students who com from
urban areas is equal to the number of rural area-students.
III.3. Data analysis
The data will be analyzed to find out the answer for the research question: is there any
difference in making request and giving invitation between English and Vietnamese,
and what are they.

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CONCLUSION
Inviting and requesting play an important role in communications. Although invitation
and requesting exist in most language, there are some differences in the way of making
requests and giving invitations among countries. Therefore, learners of English should
know the differences between Vietnamese and English in order to avoid\
misunderstanding and culture shock when communicating with the native speakers. The
introduction shows rational, aims and objectives, scope of study and design of the study.
In order to help readers have overall view look to understand clearly about the proposal.
all the necessary definitions and characteristics of culture, communication, cross
cultural communication, some features about requests and invitation, etc…Readers
know some differences in making requests and giving invitations in English and
Vietnamese. Then, the survey analysis will show some misunderstandings in making

request and giving invitation of the third and forth year students at Ha Noi Open
University. The author hopes that the readers will raise more awareness of cultural
differences between English and Vietnamese to get succeed in communication.

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REFERENCES
1. Brown, P & Levinson, S.1987. Politeness: Some universals in language
Usage.CUP.
2. Blum Lulka, S.1987. Indirectness & Politeness in requests: same or different?
Journal of pragmatics. North Holland.
3. Bentahila, A & Davies, E.1989. Culture and Language use.
4. Claire Ellis.1995. Culture shock Vietnam. Time books International.
5. Green, G.M.1975. How to get people to do things with words: the whimperative
question.
6. Levo Henriksson, R.1994. Eyes up on wings culture in Finish and U.S.television
news. Helsinki Yleisradio.
7. Leech, G.N. 1980. Language & tact, Pragmatics &beyond series. Amsterdam:
Benjamins.
8. Nguyen, V.D.2004. Hanh dong thinh cau trong tieng Anh va tieng Viet duoi sang
doi lien van hoa. Tap chi ngon ngu 2.
9. Nguyen, V.D. 1999. Cac Phuong tien ngon ngu tieu bieu trong hanh dong thinh
cau trong Tieng anh va tieng Viet.HN
10. Nguyen, V.D.2001. Moi quan he giua ngon ngu va van hoa trong giang day
ngoai ngu-giao luu van hoa Viet Nam-khu vuc-the gioi. De tai cap bo. Ma bo
B96.
11. Nguyen Quang.1996. Hinh thuc xung ho trong cac ngon ngu. Noi san ngon ngu
so 2.
12. Nguyen Quang.1998.Intercultural communication.CEL VN National University.

13. Nguyen Quang.2004. Mot so van de giao tiep noi Van hoa va giao van hoa.
DHQGHN.
14. Phung, Q.N.1975. Co so van hoa Viet Nam. Ha Noi:DHQG

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15. Richard E.Porter, Larry A.Samovar. 1994. An introduction to intercultural
communication. Thomson Publish House.
16. Wiexbicka, Anna.1985. Different culture, different languages, different speech
acts: Polish and English. Journal of Pragmatics.
17. Winston Bremnbeck. The development and teaching of a college course in
Intercultural communication.
APPENDIX
QUESTIONNAIRE
This questionnaire is designed for my proposal on “Cross-cultural communication in
giving invitation and making request in English and Vietnamese”. I hope you will
enthusiastically help me to complete this questionnaire:
Personal information:
-

Name:…………………………………………………………….

-

Age:……………………………………………………………….

-

Gender: □ Male

-

Learning English duration: …………….year(s)

-

Longest time for residence: □ Urban areas

□ Female
□ Rural areas

1. How often do you communicate with foreigners?
a. Always
b. Sometimes
c. Never
2. Which factor affects you most in communicating with foreigners?
a. Cultural differences
b. Your English skills
c. Your opinion:……………………………………………………………………
3. What do you think about the role of culture in daily conversation with
foreigners?
a. Important
b. So so
c. Unimportant
4. How much do you know about English culture?

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a. Much
b. Not much
c. None
5. If a British person says: “Wouldn’t you like some tea?” What does he/she
mean?
a. He wants to invite you a cup of tea
b. He doesn’t want to invite you a cup of tea.
c. He wants to make sure that you do not like tea.
6. When you want to invite a friend to your party. What will you say?
a. Would you mind coming to my party tonight?
b. Please, come to my party tonight.
c. Won’t you come to my party tonight?
7. If your British friend says: “You wouldn’t like to come to dinner tonight,
would you?”. You will think that his utterance is:
a. Polite
b. Impolite
c. Very impolite
8. “We are going to have a small party next Sunday. Would you like to come
and join us?”
“Thank you, but I am afraid I have others plans for that day”
a. Never mind, may be another time.
b. Come on, it will be very interesting
c. Could you change your mind? We will wait for you.
9. Host: Would you like some dessert?
Guest: No, thanks. It is delicious but I have really had enough.
What would you say next if you were the host?
a. No, take some more please.
b. Why don’t you take some more?
c. Ok, why don’t we leave the table and sit in the living room?
10. Host: Would you like some dessert?

Guest: No, thanks. It is delicious but I have really had enough.
Host: Are you sure?

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What does the host mean?
a. He invites you to take some more dessert.
b. He does not believe what you said.
c. He wants to make sure that you are really had enough.
11. Which one is not a polite invitation?
a. Please sit
b. Take a seat, please
c. Would you like to sit?
12. “Do you mind going up stair and taking the briefcase for me?” How will
you answer if you agree to do it?
a. Yes
b. No
13. What do you often say when you want to ask for your teacher’s help?
a. Teacher, may you help me?
b. Professor (his/her name), may you help me?
c. Could you help me?
14. What will you say to ask someone to repeat what he said?
a. Pardon?
b. Sorry?
c. Repeat please.
15. When communicating with foreigners, you may suffer from culture shock.
What do you do to get over it? (solution for culture shock)
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………….
Thanks for your cooperation!

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