VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THÀNH TRUNG POWER DISTANCE IN THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN LECTURERS AND STUDENTS IN AUSTRALIA AND VIETNAM (KHOẢNG CÁCH QUYỀN LỰC TRONG TRAO ĐỔI THƯ TỪ GIỮA GIẢNG VIÊN VÀ SINH VIÊN TẠI ÚC VÀ VIỆT NAM) MINOR THESIS Field: English Language Code: 60220201 Hanoi, 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THÀNH TRUNG POWER DISTANCE IN THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN LECTURERS AND STUDENTS IN AUSTRALIA AND VIETNAM (KHOẢNG CÁCH QUYỀN LỰC TRONG TRAO ĐỔI THƯ TỪ GIỮA GIẢNG VIÊN VÀ SINH VIÊN TẠI ÚC VÀ VIỆT NAM) MINOR THESIS Field: English Language Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Dr. Huỳnh Anh Tuấn Hanoi, 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled POWER DISTANCE IN THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN LECTURERS AND STUDENTS IN AUSTRALIA AND VIETNAM submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of MA 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, July, 2017 Nguyễn Thành Trung Approved by SUPERVISOR Dr.
Huỳnh Anh Tuấn Date:. i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 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. Huỳnh Anh Tuấn, 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 teaching staffs from Faculty of Post- Graduate Studies of ULIS, Hanoi National University, to my colleagues at Haiphong University of Medicine and Pharmacy and my friends at Sydney University of Technology, Australia, without whose support and encouragement it would never have been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished. This thesis cannot avoid limitation, so I wish to receive comments and opinions to make it better. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This study was carried out to investigate the manifestation of power distance in the email correspondence between lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam in terms of speech acts, politeness strategies and opening and closing features. The analysis was based on 120 emails written by Australian and Vietnamese lecturers and students from two universities: Sydney University of Technology, Australia and Haiphong University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vietnam.
Two research approaches of quantitative and qualitative are employed in this study. After the data are collected and processed, the features of an email in terms speech acts, politeness strategies and opening and closing features are quantitatively described by means of statistic tables and figures to show their distribution and percentage. The results are then discussed and interpreted qualitatively to determine the manifestation of power distance. Next, contrastive analysis is used to discover the similarities and differences in the manifestation of power distance in email communication between the two groups.
The findings indicated that students in Vietnam, which is a high power distance culture, are more likely to opt for formal alternatives while lecturers tend to use informal alternatives. In addition, Vietnamese lecturers prefer direct request strategies and imperatives without please. In contrast, students and lecturers in Australia, which is a low power distance culture, are more likely to opt for informal alternatives. Australian lecturers also show a preference for direct request strategies but all the imperatives made by both Australian lecturers and students utilize please.
Additionally, while most of the Vietnamese students use formal address terms to address their lecturers, nearly two thirds of the Australian students address their lecturers by their first names without any address terms. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Classification of illocutionary acts. 13 Table 2 Analytical framework for emails written by Australian students and by Vietnamese students. 29 Table 3 Analytical framework for emails written by Australian lecturers and by Vietnamese lecturers.
30 Table 4 Analytical framework showing power distance in emails written by lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam. 33 Table 5 Types of speech act in emails written by lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam according to power distance relationships. 36 Table 6 The use of request strategies in the emails written by Australian students and by Vietnamese students. 38 Table 7 The use of request strategies in the emails written by Australian lecturers and by Vietnamese lecturers.
38 Table 8 The use of request strategies in emails written by lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam according to power distance relationships. 39 Table 9 The use of imperative strategies in emails written by lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam according to power distance relationships. 43 Table 10 The level of formality of greetings in emails written by lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam according to power distance relationships. 45 Table 11 The use of opening features in emails written by Australian students and by Vietnamese students.
46 Table 12 The level of formality of closings in emails written by lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam according to power distance relationships. 49 Table 13 The use of closing features in emails written by Australian students and by Vietnamese students. 50 Table 14 The use of closing features in emails written by Australian lecturers and by Vietnamese lecturers. 51 Table 15 The use of closing features in emails written by lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam according to power distance relationships.
52 Table 16 Email features showing power distance in correspondence between lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam. 61 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 A comparison of cultural dimension index between Vietnam and Australia8 Figure 2 Greetings: formal - informal expressions. 21 Figure 3 Complimentary close: formal / conventional - informal / personal expressions. 22 Figure 4 Types of speech act in emails written by Australian students and by Vietnamese students.
34 Figure 5 Types of speech act in emails written by Australian lecturers and by Vietnamese lecturers. 35 Figure 6 The use of request perspectives in the emails written by Australian students and by Vietnamese students. 40 Figure 7 The use of imperative strategies in the emails written by Australian students and by Vietnamese students. 41 Figure 8 The use of imperative strategies in the emails written by Australian lecturers and by Vietnamese lecturers.
42 Figure 9 The level of formality of greetings in the emails written by Australian students and by Vietnamese students. 44 Figure 10 The level of formality of greetings in the emails written by Australian lecturers and by Vietnamese lecturers. 44 Figure 11 The level of formality of closings in the emails written by Australian students and by Vietnamese students. 48 Figure 12 The level of formality of closings in the emails written by Australian lecturers and by Vietnamese lecturers.
49 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS PD Power distance HPD High power distance LPD Low power distance NSs Native speakers NNSs Non-native speakers ESL English as a second language CCSARP Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Project vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY. iii LIST OF TABLES. iv LIST OF FIGURES. v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.
vi TABLE OF CONTENTS. Rationale for the study. Aims and objectives of the study. Significance of the study.
Scope of the study. Structure of the study. REVIEW OF LITERATURE. Definition of terms.
Hofstede‟s cultural dimensions. Cross-cultural and intercultural communication. Speech act theory. Opening and closing features of emails.
Related studies on email communication. 25 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Data collection method. Data analysis method.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. The manifestation of power distance in email correspondence between lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam in terms of speech acts, politeness strategies and opening and closing features. The manifestation of power distance in email correspondence between lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam in terms of speech acts. The manifestation of power distance in email correspondence between lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam in terms of politeness strategies in requests and imperatives.
The manifestation of power distance in email correspondence between lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam in terms of request strategies. The manifestation of power distance in email correspondence between lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam in terms of request perspectives. The manifestation of power distance in email correspondence between lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam in terms of imperative strategies. The manifestation of power distance in email correspondence between lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam in terms of opening and closing features.
The manifestation of power distance in email correspondence between lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam in terms of opening features. The manifestation of power distance in email correspondence between lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam in terms of closing features. 48 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. The similarities and differences in the manifestation of power distance in email correspondence between lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam.
The similarities and differences in the manifestation of power distance in email correspondence between Australian students and Vietnamese students. The similarities and differences in the manifestation of power distance in email correspondence between Australian lecturers and Vietnamese lecturers. The similarities and differences in the manifestation of power distance in email correspondence between Australian lecturers and Australian students. The similarities and differences in the manifestation of power distance in email correspondence between Vietnamese lecturers and Vietnamese students56 3.
Answers to the research questions. Implication of the findings. Limitations of the research. Suggestions for further research.
I APPENDIX 1 - Emails written by Australian students. I APPENDIX 2 - Emails written by Australian lecturers. X APPENDIX 3 - Emails written by Vietnamese students .XVI APPENDIX 4 - Emails written by Vietnamese lecturers. XXIV ix LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART I INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale for the study Power distance is one of the six cultural dimensions introduced by Hofstede, which focuses on how societies handle unequal distribution of power. The fact that power distance exists in every society throughout history is unquestionable. As power distance is omnipresent, its manifestation can be observed in every field of life and education is no exception. At school or university, power distance is manifested in the way teachers or lecturers communicate with their students, in which students are often expected to show respect to their teachers or lecturers.
In the modern university environment, emails are an increasingly popular means of communication between lecturers and students. Malley (2006) argues that although many of today‟s students have grown up with email and other Computer-mediated communication technologies, socialization into acceptable email interaction is subtle and without much guidance. Books on email etiquette provide little help to students who are looking for advice on composing email messages to their professors, with whom they are in a hierarchical relationship. Therefore, the author of this study would like to investigate how power distance in email communication between lecturers and students is manifested in terms of speech acts, politeness strategies and opening and closing features as well as determine the similarities and differences in the manifestation of power distance in email correspondence between lecturers and students in Australia and Vietnam.