Conditional Clauses Used as Hedging Devices in English and Vietnamese Equivalents a Pragmatic Perspective

Conditional Clauses Used as Hedging Devices
in English and Vietnamese Equivalents: a
Pragmatic Perspective
Mệnh đề điều kiện được sử dụng làm phương
tiện rào đón trong tiếng Anh và tương đương
của chúng trong tiếng Việt: nghiên cứu trên
bình diện dụng học

Ngô Thị Minh Trang

University of Languages and International Studies
M.A. Thesis. English Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15
Supervisor : Dr. Ngô Hữu Hoàng
Năm bảo vệ: 2012

Abstract. Numerous studies have been carried out to investigate English conditionals
in light of syntactics and semantics; however, limited research has been done to
evaluate the pragmatic functions of conditionals, particularly in Vietnamese context.
This study, therefore, is done with an aim to offer a detailed analysis of conditionals in
light of pragmatics. The study employed a qualitative approach through data collection
and analysis from a well-known novella. The data then were quantitatively converted
into numeric patterns as the primary basis for organizing and reporting results. The
findings of the study show that conditional clauses are not only used in English for
referring to real as well as hypothetical conditions and their consequences but can be
also used as a hedging device to issue politeness, especially in spoken contexts, where
the if-clause often stands alone and is independent of the main clause. Hopefully, this
study would offer both theoretical & practical contribution on the area of pragmatic
studies particularly on analyzing conditionals used in language basing on the
Cooperative Principle and Politeness Theory. Theoretically, this study is hoped to
broaden the understanding of pragmatic functions of conditional in real
communication. It is also expected that the findings in this study will give a direct

contribution to the existing knowledge in the field of pragmatic studies. Practically,
the researcher hopes that this study can provide the educators with the appropriate
explanations of pseudo-conditionals such as “If you like…, If I may interrupt…” to
their students. Additionally, this study could offer learners some ways to express
politeness in communication by using pseudo-conditionals. Likewise, this research is
expected to give the foundation and an important direction for those who are interested
in translating English conditionals into Vietnamese ones.
Keywords. Tiếng Anh; Tiếng Việt; Mệnh đề điều kiện; Giao tiếp
Content.
The thesis is divided into three parts as follows:
The first part is the Introduction, which presents the basic information such as:
rationale for the study, objectives of the study, scope of the study, research questions,
methods, as well as design of the thesis.
The second part is the Development of the study, divided into three chapters:
- Chapter 1 provides relevant theoretical background to this study.
- Chapter 2 examines the pragmatic relation of If - hedging with Cooperative
Principle and Politeness Principle in English and Vietnamese.
- Chapter 3 presents an analysis of the data as well as the interpretation of the
results in order to attain the objectives of the study.
The last part is the Conclusions which summarize what is addressed in the study,
points out the limitations and provides some suggestions for further study.
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