An investigation into english expressions for thanks with reference to the vietnamese

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

NGUYỄN THỊ LÊ TRANG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO ENGLISH
EXPRESSIONS FOR THANKS WITH REFERENCE
TO THE VIETNAMESE

NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CÁCH BÀY TỎ LỜI CẢM ƠN TRONG
TIẾNG ANH TRONG SỰ LIÊN HỆ VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT
M.A. THESIS

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60220201

Hanoi, 2015


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

NGUYỄN THỊ LÊ TRANG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO ENGLISH
EXPRESSIONS FOR THANKS WITH REFERENCE
TO THE VIETNAMESE
NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CÁCH BÀY TỎ LỜI CẢM ƠN TRONG
TIẾNG ANH TRONG SỰ LIÊN HỆ VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT
M.A. THESIS

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60220201

Supervisor: Dr. Đặng Ngọc Hướng

Hanoi, 2015


ABTRACT
As we all know, differences in culture are one of the main problems leading
to a failure of communication. Thus, if learners want to develop their
communicative competence in the target language, besides listening and
speaking, they should improve a wide knowledge about sociolinguistics.
Usually in daily life, people tend to use the illocutionary act rather than the
locutionary act. Therefore, learners have difficulties in using the target
language appropriately in different contexts. A thanking is not an exception.
It is considered as the important aspect in cultural life of each nation.For
above reasons, I myself hope to have much deep knowedge about
thanking,so “AN INVESTIGATION INTO ENGLISH EXPRESSIONS
FOR THANKS WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE” is choosen
for my thesis. It also help my teaching job at school as well as it can
contribute some datas for Vietnamese learners of English at Hanoi Open
University .
This cross-cultural communication study attempts to investigate the
similarities and differences in the way English and Vietnamese speakers
express gratitude. The study is carried out in the light of cross-cultural
pragmatics and is based on the authentic data collected.
In the research, the function and the strategies of thanking are
mentioned. The way of thanking in both languages has many similarities,
besides that, there are some differences. Some suggestions to shorten the

gaps in English and Vietnamese cultures in gratitude expressions are put
forward for learners to consider when they have to express thanks in English
and Vietnamese. Some implication for teaching the English thanking
expressions to Vietnamese learners of English are aslo taken into
consideration.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
A

Addresee

D

Direct

DCT

Discourse completion task

E

English

EFL

English as a foreign language

FSA

Face Saving Art

ESL

English as a second language

FTA

Face Threatening Act

Graph

Graphic

H

Hearer

HOU

Hanoi Open University

ID

Indirect

S

Speaker

SA

Speech act

Sit

Situation

V

Vietnamese

VL

Vietnamese learners

ii


CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report
entitled
AN

INVESTIGATION

INTO

ENGLISH

EXPRESSIONS

FOR

THANKS WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE
submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master
in English Linguistics. Except where the reference is indicated, no other
person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the
thesis.

Hanoi, 2015

Nguyen Thi Le Trang

Approved by
SUPERVISOR

Dr. Đặng Ngọc Hướng
Date: ……………………

iii


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from
a number of people.
First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Đặng
Ngọc Hướng, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me

through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and
suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic
researcher.
A special word of thanks goes to all the teachers who have taught me and
many others, without whose support and encouragement it would never have
been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished.
Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family, my friends for the
sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abtract ....................................................................................................... I
List of abbreviations ................................................................................. II
Certificate of originality ......................................................................... III
Acknowledgements ................................................................................. IV
Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................. 1
1.1. rationale ................................................................................................ 1
1.2. aim of the research ................................................................................ 2
1.3. objective of the research ....................................................................... 2
1.4. scope of the research ............................................................................. 2
1.5. significance of the research ................................................................... 3
1.6. structural organization of the research ................................................... 3
Chapter 2 : Literature review ................................................................... 5
2.1. REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDIES .......................................................... 6
2. 2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND .............................................................. 8
2.2.1. Statement of theoretical framework .............................................. 8
2.2.2.Theory of politeness .................................................................... 12
2.2.3 Speech acts and classification of speech acts .............................. 18

2.2.4Acts of thanking ........................................................................... 19
2.2.5. Thanking Strategies ................................................................... 26
Chapter 3 : Methodology ......................................................................... 32
3.1. RESEARCH-GOVERNING ORIENTATIONS ........................................ 32
3.1.1 Research question(s) .................................................................. 32
3.1.2. Research setting ......................................................................... 32
3.1.3. Research approach/type ............................................................. 33
3.2. RESEARCH METHODS ......................................................................... 33
3.2.1. Major methods vs. supporting methods ...................................... 33
3.2.2.Data collection and analysis techniques ..................................... 33
Chapter 4 : Findings and discussion ....................................................... 36
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4.1. The ways English and Vietnamese people express thanks in given
situtations .................................................................................................. 36
4.2.The similarities between the thanking strategies of the English and
Vietnamese ................................................................................................ 71
4.3 The differences between the thanking strategies of the English and
Vietnamese. ............................................................................................... 72
4.4.Implications for Language Learning and Teaching in terms of
gratitude expressing strategies ................................................................... 75
Chapter 5: Conclusion 78
5.1. Recapitulation ................................................................................. 78
5.2. Concluding remarks ........................................................................ 79
5.3. Limitations of the Study .................................................................. 80
5.4. Suggestions for Further Study ......................................................... 81
REFERENCES ........................................................................................ 82
APPENDICES ......................................................................................... 85

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
Together with the development of the society, communication, in
particular conversation has become an indispensable demand of human.
Since language has consistently been the main element of human social
communication, and English is the international language, the demand to
master and effectively use it has been greater and greater. By means of
communication, people employ language to exchange and express ideas and
purposes; they are also simultaneously employing language to purse and
maintain social relations.
Within these functions of language, as a sub-part of linguistic system,
thanking has played a very important part in everyday social interaction of
many societies. Each linguistic system has its own ways of expressing ideas,
in particular in giving thanks. In fact, language alone does not really make a
perfect and complete meaning; it is used to invoke a whole range of shared
knowledge and experience between speakers from aspect of joint physical
activities, to share cultural values. In fact, social factors such as social
contexts, different relationships between interlocutors, genders, ages etc.
determining influence on ways of applying linguistic items, specifically
thanking expressions in real social interactions.
As we all know, differences in culture are one of the main problems
leading to a failure of communication. Thus, if learners want to develop
their communicative competence in the target language, besides listening
and

speaking,

they

should

improve

a

wide

knowledge

about

sociolinguistics. Usually in daily life, people tend to use the illocutionary
1


act rather than the locutionary act. Therefore, learners have difficulties in
using the target language appropriately in different contexts. Thanking is
not an exception. It is considered to be an important aspect in cultural life
of each nation.
For the reasons I have mentioned above, I decide to concentrate that
topic in the hope that this study can help learners of foreign language
overcome these difficulties and effectively employ ways of thanking to
reach for a successful conversation
1.2. Aim of the research
To explore the notion of thanking and to establish the similarities and
differences of thanking in English and Vietnamese

1.3. Objective of the research
To achieve the aims mentioned above, following objectives are put
forward:
- Describing the ways English and Vietnamese people express gratitude in
given situations.
- Pointing out the similarities and differences of the ways to express
thanks in the same situations in English and Vietnamese.
- To suggest some implications for teaching the ways of expressing thanks to
Vietnamese learners of English.
1.4. Scope of the research
The thesis focuses on the ways English and Vietnamese people express
thanking. Although the author is fully aware of the remarkable contribution
of paralinguistic and extra-linguistic aspects in real-life communication, they
2


are not taken into consideration. The data used in the report are mainly
extracted from survey questionnaires.
1.5. Significance of the research
The significance of this study arises from focusing on the pragmatic aspect
of speech. It considers investigating the speech act of thanking in different
situations. Therefore, it will surely help raise the speaker's awareness of the
ways of expressing thanks in the target language. Since it is an intercultural
study, it will link the two languagesVietnamese and English together, in
addition to avoiding communication breakdown because of culture-bound
knowledge. Moreover, this study is important in providing the speaker with
the influence of linguistic knowledge, culture and gender
on the pragmatic performance of the speech act of thanking. Being aware of
the pragmatic aspects of this speech act will lead to successful
communication. Furthermore, this study deals with an issue that is important

to translators as part of their job of transferring all aspects of utterances
among interlocutors. It also contributes to cross-cultural awareness among
foreign language teachers and learners as well as potential cross-cultural
interractants.
1.6. Structural organization of the research
The study will include five chapters:
Chapter 1: Introduction presents the rationale, the objectives, the scope,
the significance, the methods and the structure of the study.
Chapter 2: Literature review starts with the previous studies conducted by
some famous authors. Then the key theoretical concepts that the study is
based on are mentioned.
Chapter 3: Methodology presents the methods used in this study. This part
consists of 3 sections: the selection of participants in which the author gives
3


some reasons for the selection and the description of the participants; the
data collection instruments in which the instrument and procedure of data
analysis are discussed; methods of data collection in which the methods and
procedure of data collection are identified.
Other methods including qualitative, and comparative analysis are used
when the author selects, analyzes materials from other sources.
Chapter 4: Findings and discussion introduces the results of the present
study in terms of the overall use of thanking strategies in order to answer the
research questions. Then the findings are analyzed and discussed. The
discussion will be based on qualitative, descriptive and comparative analysis
of the data.
Chapter 5: Conclusion will summarize the most important findings of the
study, implications, limitations of the study in which the author states the
reasons for the study’s limitations and suggestions for the further study.

4


CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
It seems that “thank you” has socially been a very indispensable
component in everyday social interactions.
In the work "Say It Naturally" by Wall (1987), thanking patterns
frequently employed in everyday interactions are listed according to some
major subjects such as: helps of favors, gift-giving, invitations, information
or directions, etc.
According to Blundell (1982), "Function in English" and Mark, E. (1987),
"Socializing" categorized thanks with reference to given situations,
ranging from formal to informal thanking patterns In these above
mentioned books, limited thanks are just put in list and there is no any
overall description of linguistic features as well as how to employ
them in interactions.
In addition to those materials, the previous research paper "Hành Vi
Cảm Ơn trong Đối Thoại Anh - Việt - Xét trên cơ sở Ngữ Nghĩa Học và
Dụng Học" by Nguyen Đuc Hanh provided a clearly view about ways of
giving thanks in both English and Vietnamese. Also, the study of thanks in
terms of linguistic has been studied. Nevertheless, to some extent, there still
exist some certain limitations in researching variants of giving thanks. The
study of Nguyen Duc Dan (1996) "Lô Gích – Ngữ Nghĩa - Cú Pháp"
partially concentrates on “Thanking” verbs and speech acts on direct
thanking patterns, but this is just a general investigation on functional and
semantic aspects of thanking verbs on the whole that of performative
verbs.

5


Relating to my research, there are also some books showing us
linguistic knowledge about sentence structures such as "The Cambridge
Grammar of the English Language" by Huddleston, Geoffrey (2002), "Ngữ
pháp Tiếng Việt - Câu" by Hoang Trong Phien (1996) or "Ngữ pháp câu" by
Diep Quang Ban (2005).
Up to now, however, there have not been materials investigated
systematically about thanking with respect to linguistics such as syntactic
and pragmatic features as well as social aspects in comparison between
English and Vietnamese which are clear enough to help them effectively
learn as well as apply what they have studied in real social encounters
2.1.

Review of previous studies

Many studies have been done to how thank you expressions are used. In
these studies are :
Jung- Woo-hyun (1994) with the Title “Speech Acts of Thank- you and
Responses to It in American English”. In his paper, he studied the speech act
of thanking looks at the basic functions of the act and responses to it in
American English. It is argued that in general, "thank you" expressions are
used to express appreciation of benefits and to enhance rapport between
interlocutors, and that this basic use is extended to the functions of
conversational opening, changing, stopping, closing, leave-taking, and
offering positive reinforcement. A further use is to express dissatisfaction or
discomfort indirectly, often using sarcasm and often with differential
intonation. Six types of response to the use of "thank you" are identified
(acceptance, denial, reciprocity, comment, nonverbal gesture, no response),

the choice of which is determined by factors such as relationship of the
interlocutors and communicative intent. However, he studied about the
function of thanking, he didn’t mention the ways American English express
in different daily activities. Moreover, he did not have the comparatives
6


among different ways of thanking in different cultural. In my thesis, I will
compare the ways of thanking between English and Vietnamese people.
Sana Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Khateeb (2009) The Speech Act of Thanking
as a Compliment Response as used by the Arab Speakers of English - a
Comparative Intercultural Study.
This pragmatic study investigated the speech act of thanking as a
compliment response as used by non-native speakers of English. The study
is an attempt to find whether different cultural backgrounds, specializations,
levels of evaluation and the gender of the speakers affect their use of the
speech act of thanking as a compliment response.
The researcher adopted a discourse completion test (DCT) in both Arabic
and English as the tool of the study in order to reach the answers of the
following questions:
1-

Are there any significant differences in the ways people from different

cultural backgrounds realize the speech act of thanking?
2-

Are there significant differences in the ways Arab learners of English

and native speakers of English use the speech act of thanking due to the

differences in their cultural backgrounds.
3-

Are there differences in the way non-native speakers from different

specializations.
4. Are there significant differences in the ways Arab speakers of English
use the speech act of thanking due to their proficiency levels.
5. Does the level of evaluation affect the non –native speakers’ use of the
speech act of thanking as a compliment respond?
His study on thanking as a compliment, an aspect of thanking. The data in
this paper shows that Egyptian Arabic speakers use different forms and
strategies in expressing thanking and responses to it. Such as repetition,
redundancy” also discusses the interrelationship between language, culture
and thought, “They are not all the same thing, but none can survive
7


without the others”. Obviously, it is impossible for a human being to
study anything without being acknowledged of the language and its
culture at the same time.
Hinkel (1992) with his title “Pragmatics of Interaction: Expressing Thanks in
a Second Language” .
This study investigated cultural differences in attitudes toward the
speech act of giving thanks, particularly between native speakers and nonnative speakers with extensive exposure to the second language culture.
Subjects were 199 advanced speakers of English as a Second Language,
enrolled at the college level in the United States. Their native languages
included Chinese, Indonesian, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and Arabic. The
subjects participated in a role-playing exercise in which they were asked to
respond to a specific interaction with an appropriate statement, using one of

several choices provided. The 24 situations in the exercise were everyday
events in which thanks might be appropriate. Results indicate differences
between native language groups and native speakers of English in perception
of the appropriateness of certain expressions of thanks. While there was
concurrence within language groups, there was little between language
groups. It is suggested that aspects of pragmatics, such as this one, are not
always learned in natural interactive situations, but may need to be taught. A
30-item bibliography is included and the text of the role-playing exercise is
appended.
2. 2. Theoretical background
2.2.1. Statement of theoretical framework
2.2.1.2. Cross-Cultural Communication
•

Language and culture

8


In the “Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary” ( 1992:506) language
is defined as “system of sounds, words, patterns, etc. used by humans to
communicate thoughts and feeling”. So it is clearly understood that whether
we talk about food, colors, love, science, religion, or even pure mathematics,
all the meanings are conveyed in not only one language but different
languages of the word. Thanks to languages, our world with different
cultures is fully and lively reflected through human beings social activities.
Dicussing the meanings involving interaction between the speaker and
the hearer in “Cross- Cultural Pragmatics”, wierbicka, (1991:1) states that
“we use language as a tool of human interaction or social interaction.”
Obviously, language cannot occur alone and is never separated from social

activities and its culture.
Joy Merril Valdes (1994:4) also discusses the interrelationship between
language, culture and thought, they are not all the same thing, but none can
survive without the others”. Obviously, it is impossible for a human being to
study anything without being acknowledged of the language and its culture
at the same time.
In the “Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary”(1992:220), culture is
defined only as “refined understanding and appreciation of art, literature,
etc”. And in the definition by Emmitt and John (1990:39), culture is
described in a more comprehensive way as “the ideas, customs, skills, arts,
and tools which characterize a given people in a given period of time”.
As seen from these views, culture can be understood as the total
achievements by human beings through their social activities in the forms of
materials and spiritual values in a society. It means that culture has never
belonged and will never belong to a single person but to all people who
share a culture. So as human beings, we cannot place ourselves outside all
the cultures. The point of view is also confirmed by Levine and Adelman
(1993: xiv): “Culture is a shared background (for example, national, ethinic,
9


religious) resulting from a common language and communication stlyle,
customs, beliefs, attitudes and values.” They compared culture with an
“iceberg”. The visible part of an iceberg or culture includes appearance,
food, language, etc and the visible part: values, belief, perception,
communication styles, etc. SO like an iceberg, the part of a culture which
mostly has significant influence on an individual behavior and interaction
with others cannot be seen. Therefore, in order to study language and use it
effectively, we should learn about culture, especially the contrasts between
difference cultures, for better understanding of how culture influences

individuals and their communication with others.
In short, culture influences the way in which language is used. And in
it turn, language play an essential role in expressing cultural values and
perceptions, as well as preserving and breeding culture from generation to
generation.
2.2.1.2. Cross-Cultural Communication
Cross- Cultural Communication can be defined by Porte and Samovar
(19958:39) “[occurring] when a message producer is a member of one
culture and a message receiver is a member of another” or “the exchange of
information between individuals who are unlikely culturally.”(Rogers &
Steinfatt 1999:103).
In facts, human beings used to live on one sole world, which could be
their homes, cities, neighborhood, or even their own country. These were all
local environments where there were those people who were thinking the
same language, but this is not the case anymore. After the recent media and
information revolutions, people are more concerned with the whole globe
around them. It has become a matter of “identity” for everyone, and for

10


every nation to be smartly “intercultural” or “successful cross-cultural
communicators “in order to live and stay in the world.
It is an age of rapid change where everything is changing every single
moment. People and complete nations are melting now into one another.
Others fully vanish into other cultures. This is a natural outcome of
globalization. On this point, the importance of Cross- Cultural
Communication is significant. There is no more a place where one culture
or nation could hide, close their eyes and neglect the rest of the world.
Everyone now has to find the suitable language that needs to be learned to

present his own culture, thoughts, and understand others as well. Without
this process, all that we can find will be more wars and more conflicts
around the world.
In addition, all of us should be good cultural communicators not only
to be receivers or listeners, but to share and present what we have as well, in
other words, to be positive participants. Otherwise, people will never realize
our existence. As mentioned earlier, language teachers and students should
be aware of all these facts and they should be aware of their, individual and
group, roles as representatives to a whole, different or new culture while
communicating.
2.2.1.3. Cross – Cultural Pragmatics
In recent years, the booming field of intercultural communication
studies has led to the emergence of a new field and new direction in
language studies associated with the term “Cross – Cultural Pragmatics”( for
example Abrahams 1976; Ameca 1987, atlas 1984, Austin 1962, Levinson
1983, Wiezbicka 1985a,b;etc)
For them, utterances couldn’t be interpreted outside their context
and features language structure: “Pragmatics is the study of the relations
between language and context that are basic to an account of language
11


understanding, or that are grammatical zed or encoded in the structure of
language.”(Levinson, 1983:9,21).
And the term “pragmatics” also refers to how language is used to
communicate, or in other words, it focuses on the actual uses of language in
real and specific communicative situations. So when we communicate, we
not only listen to what is uttered but also to the actual meanings implied in
every single word. Kasper (cited in Crytal, 1996) defines pragmatics as: “the
study of language from the point of view of users, especially of the choices

they make, the constrain

they encounter in using language in social

interaction, and the effects the use of language has on the participants in the
act of communication
2.2.2.Theory of politeness
2.2.2.1.Concept of politeness
A range of definitions have been given in the literature by different scholars.
Leech (1983) defines politeness as “a communication strategy which
people use to maintain and develop relationships” (p.152) when he
mentioned two functions of politeness, i.e. competitive goals and convivial
goals.
Yule (1996) proposed a culture-oriented concept of politeness as it is
“polite social behavior, or etiquette, within a particular culture” and it can be
also defined as “the means employed to show awareness of another person’s
face” (p. 60).
In terms of linguistic pragmatics, politeness is defined as “the
international balance achieved between two needs: the need for pragmatic
clarity and the need to avoid coerciveness” (Blum-Kulka, 1987, p. 131).

12


Politeness in cross-cultural communication is seen as “any
communicative act (verbal or non-verbal) appropriately and intentionally
meant to make others feel better or less bad” (Nguyen Quang, 2003. p 11).
Brown and Levinson (1978, 1987) associated their theory of
politeness with the notion of face, and face threatening acts (FTA), discussed
social variables affecting politeness, and thereby proposed a number of

politeness strategies. According to Brown and Levinson, face refers to the
“public self-image that every member of the society wants to claim for
himself”. Also, face consists of positive and negative faces.
The positive face is the positive self-image of the interactant,
including the desire that this self-image be appreciated and approved of by
others or desires to feel valued by other people, while the negative face is the
desire for autonomy; it implies the basic territorial claim of the individual to
his or her freedom to action and freedom from imposition. (Brown and
Levinson, 1987, p.66)
Brown and Levinson (1987) view politeness as a complex system for
softening face-threatening acts are liable to damage or threaten another
person’s face.

Some acts are defined as face threatening acts that

intrinsically threaten face, the public self-image a person seeks to preserve
such as requests, refusals, commands, orders, etc (p. 65-67).
2.2.2.2.Face and Facewants
The notion of face, as a technical term, in Brown and Levinson’s
(1978) as well as in Yule’s (1996:60) definitions, is “ the public self image
of a person that every member wants to claim for himself” that is the
emotional and social sense of self that everyone has and expects everyone
else to recognize. Politeness, therefore, can be defined as the means
employed to show awareness of another person’s face and accomplished
in situations of social distance or closeness. Showing awareness for
another’s face in formal situations means respect or deference. And
13


showing the equivalent awareness in informal situations means

friendliness, camaraderie, or solidarity.
For example “Excuse me, Mr. Buckingham, but can I talk to you for a
minute?(Student to teacher)
“Hey Bucky, got a minute? (Friend to the same individual)
In fact, within their everyday social interactions, people generally
behave as if their expectations concerning their public self-image, or their
face wants, will be respected. Face can be maintained as well as threatened,
so the polite speakers always want to preserve and avoid the loss of face. If a
speaker says something that represents a threat to another individual’s
expectations regarding self-image, it is described as a face threatening act
FTA. And being aware of the possibility that something action might be
interpreted as a threat to another’s face, the speaker can say something to
lessen the possible threat. This is called a face serving act (FTA). Yule’s
(1991:61) examples of FTA and FSA are as follows:
Image a late night scene, when a young neighbor is playing his music
very loud, and an old couple is trying to sleep. One of them proposes an
FTA and the other suggests an FSA.
FTA: I’m going to tell him to stop that awful noise right now!(Him)
FSA: Perhaps you could just ask him he is going to stop soon because
it’s getting a bit late and people need to get sleep (Her)
In Brown and Levinson’s (1978) account, face comes into varieties,
positive face and negative face.
2.2.2.3.Social variables affecting politeness
Discussing social variables that impact on the choice of politeness
strategies, Brown and Levinson (1987) postulated three related factors: the
relative power (P) between the speaker and the hearer, the social distance
(D) between them and the rank(R) of the imposition in a particular culture.

14

The power (P) is defined as “the degree to which the speaker can
impose his or her own plans and his self-evaluation (face) at the expense of
the hearer’s plans and self-evaluation” (p. 77). The social distance (D) in
Brown and Levinson’s approach is “symmetric social dimension of
similarity/difference within which the speaker and the hearer stand for the
purposes of this act” (p. 77). This term can be considered as solidarity or
intimacy between the interlocutors. The last variable influencing face
threatening acts is the ranking of imposition (R). Brown and Levinson
(1987) argue that the rank of imposition of an act “involves an assessment of
the amount of pain given to H’s face, based on discrepancy between the
hearer’s own desired self-image and that presented in FTA” (p. 78).
Directness(D) and indirectness(ID) as communication Styles
All things discussed earlier clearly show that studying language and
applying it in real life is not easy work. It requires much knowledge of the
language itself and the culture that influence it. Different countries or nations
use different strategies to utter the same expression. Some prefer the direct
way, and the other tend to be indirect or roundabout with the topic for some
kind reasons or because of their nation character.
In Kaplan’s (1972) study of 700 essays of foreign students in the
United States, 4 cultural though patterns, which are culturally based on
discourse structures corresponding to certain language has some results as
follows:
People of Anglo-Saxon origin tend to be direct and straightforward while
Vietnamese seem to prefer the roundabout and indirect ways of expression.
Why do people like using indirectness? Thomas(1995:143)presents his view
why the use of indirectness is so pervasive: it is because “…..people obtain
some social or communicative advantages from its use.” As for him, a
variety of reasons has been put forward for the universal use of indirectness,
including:

15


- The desire to make one’s language more/less interesting
- To increase the force of one’s message
- Completing goals
- Politeness/regard for “face”
In short, culture shapes the ways of language use and strategies. However,
there are some more factors affecting directness and indirectness in human
communication.
Socio-Cultural Factors influencing the use of Directness and Indirectness in
Human Interaction
Levine and Adelman (1993:68) also claim that: “Cultural beliefs differ
as to whatever directness or directness is considered positive. In mainstream
American culture, the ideal form communication includes being direct rather
indirect (Ideal here means that the culture values this style, although not
everyone speaks directly).There are several expressions in English that
emphasize the importance of being direct: ‘Get to the point” “Don’t beat
around the bush!”, ‘Let’s get down to business!” These sayings all indicate
the importance of dealing directly with issues rather than avoiding them”
Thomas (1995:124) lists 4 main factors which appear to govern
directness and indirectness in all languages and cultures as follows:
The relative power of speaker over the hearer
The social distance between the speaker and the hearer
The degree to which X is rated an imposition in culture Y
Relative right and obligation between the speaker and the hearer
Nguyen Quang (2003) presents these factors in more detail of 20 sociocultural factors as follows.
1. Age: old people tend to be more indirect than young people.
2. Gender: Women are more in favor of indirect expression then men.
3. Residence: Rural people appear more indirect than urban people.

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4. Occupation: People doing social science tend to be more indirect in their
expression than those doing natural science.
5. Position: People of higher status tend to be more direct in their expression
than those of lower status.
6. Mood: People tend to be more direct in their expression when they
are angry.
7. Personality: Extroverted people seem to be more direct in their expression
than introverted people.
8. Topic: People usually prefer indirectness when dealing with subtle and
unsafe topics.
9. Purpose: People tend to be more direct in their expression when they say
something beneficial to the addressee.
10. Setting: People prefer direct in an informal conversation climate.
11. Location: People tend to be more direct in their expression when they are
in their own home.
12. Chanel: People tend to conduct a subtle topic more indirectly in face-toface vocal channel than in face-to-face non-vocal channel.
13. Family relation: People of the same blood tend to be more direct in
their expression.
14. Social distance: People with a close relation tend to conduct
conversation more directly.
15. Time pressure: People tend to be more direct in their expression under
time pressure.
16. Age powder: Older people tend to be more direct when talking with
younger people.
17. Gender power: In a man-centered society, males tend to use more
directness than females.

18. Qualification power: In specific situations, scholars in a scholar first,
peasants-later tend to be more direct in expression than others
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