VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ KIM ANH A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY ON HEDGES SHOWING POWER DISTANCE IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE NOVELS (Nghiên cứu giao văn hóa về phương tiện rào đón thể hiện khoảng cách quyền lực trong tiểu thuyết Anh và Việt đương đại) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201.01 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 TRẦN THỊ KIM ANH A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY ON HEDGES SHOWING POWER DISTANCE IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE NOVELS (Nghiên cứu giao văn hóa về phương tiện rào đón thể hiện khoảng cách quyền lực trong tiểu thuyết Anh và Việt đương đại) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201.01 Supervisor: Huỳnh Anh Tuấn, Ph. HANOI – 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that the work presented in this study report has been implemented on my own.
I confirm that this paper is submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the M. Degree in English Linguistics and has not been submitted in any other form for the fulfillment of any other degree or qualification. Besides the mentioned references, no other person’s work has been used in this thesis without due acknowledgement. Hanoi, 2017 Trần Thị Kim Anh Approved by SUPERVISOR Huỳnh Anh Tuấn, Ph.
Date: ………………… i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have given me valuable guidance, great support and encouragement during my research and thesis writing. I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for their contribution. First and foremost, I would like to express my great gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Huynh Anh Tuan, who helped me in many ways, from the selection of the topic for this research to academic thesis writing.
Thanks to his invaluably constructive suggestions and comments during my research, the thesis has been successfully completed. I am greatly grateful to his expertise, enthusiasm, kindness, encouragement and support. Special thanks also go to my friend Nguyen Thi Sinh, who aided me to send the two English novels from the UK. Without her help, the data collection procedure could not be finished.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, who provided me with adequate support throughout the duration of my study. Last but not least, I would like to say thanks to my colleagues in the Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology, who took on my work when I was absent from the office to attend the lessons and gave me time to complete the course. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This study is conducted to investigate power distance manifestation through the use of hedges in contemporary English and Vietnamese novels from the perspective of cross- cultural communication. The analysis is carried out on the basis of the research data on hedges identified in the four selected novels: “Clever girl” by Tessa Hadley, “Into the darkest corner” by Elizabeth Haynes, “Bến không chồng” by Duong Huong and “Nhắm mắt thấy Paris” by Duong Thuy.
This study is implemented by the combination of descriptive, comparative and contrastive methods. The findings indicate that both low and high power distance are manifested in the use of the four hedge categories, including modal, performative, pragmatic-marker and quantificational hedges. In the English novels, all the groups of age, gender and social status share low power distance by using hedges which mitigate the imposition on interlocutors, utterance propositions expressing an epistemic judgment and strengthen the solidarity between interlocutors. In contrast, in the Vietnamese novels, the power distance is very high in terms of age and social status; the gender power distance stands at equal or low level.
For the younger and lower subgroups, the hedges are often used to show modesty or humble attitude and respect for the interlocutors or to make uncertain statements. For the older and higher subgroups, the hedges are used to strengthen the importance of the utterance and the subjective propositions made by the speaker. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES ix CHAPTER 1. Rationale for the research 1 1.
Aim of the research and research questions 2 1. Significance of the research 2 1. Scope of the research 3 1. Design of the research 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5 2.
Hedges and hedging 5 2. Development of the concept of hedges and hedging 5 2. Taxonomy of hedges 8 2. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions - Power distance 13 2.
Cross-cultural communication 15 2. Politeness theory and hedging 18 2. Related studies on hedges 20 2. Chapter summary 23 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 26 3.
Data collection 28 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Data analysis method 29 3. Analytical framework 30 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 32 4. The hedges showing power distance identified in the English and 32 Vietnamese novels in terms of age, gender and social status 4.
Pragmatic-marker hedges 45 4. The similarities and differences in the use of hedges showing power 53 distance in the English and Vietnamese novels in terms of age, gender and social status 4. The similarities and differences in the use of hedges showing power 53 distance in the English and Vietnamese novels in terms of age 4. The similarities and differences in the use of hedges showing power 55 distance in the English and Vietnamese novels in terms of gender 4.
The similarities and differences in the use of hedges showing power 56 distance in the English and Vietnamese novels in terms of social status 4. The answers to the research questions 58 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 60 5. Implications of the findings 61 5. Limitations and suggestions for further research 62 REFERENCES 64 APPENDICES 68 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS PDI Power Distance Index HPD High Power Distance LPD Low Power Distance N/A Not Applicable EMVs Epistemic Modal Verbs EMAdjs Epistemic Modal Adjectives EMAdvs Epistemic Modal Adverbs EMNs Epistemic Modal Nouns Deontic Modal Verbs (shifting the DMVs responsibility away from the speaker to the necessity or obligation) MSVs Mental State Verbs PVs Performative Verbs PM Pragmatic-marker IPMs Interpersonal Pragmatic-Markers PPMs Propositional Pragmatic-Markers QAs Quantity Approximators FAs Frequency Approximators DAs Degree Approximators F Female M Male Y Younger O Older E Equal L Lower H Higher vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1.
Taxonomy of hedges by Salvager-Meyer 9 Table 2. Taxonomy of hedges by Yu 11 Table 3. Taxonomy of hedges established for the present study 12 Table 4. Categories of hedges showing power distance used by groups of age, 33 gender and social status in English and Vietnamese novels Table 5.
Modal hedges identified in the English novels 35 Table 6. Modal hedges identified in the Vietnamese novels 37 Table 7. Comparing modal hedges across the groups in the novels 39 Table 8. Performative hedges identified in the English novels 41 Table 9.
Performative hedges identified in the Vietnamese novels 42 Table 10. Comparing performative hedges across the groups in the novels 44 Table 11. Pragmatic-marker hedges identified in the English novels 46 Table 12. Pragmatic-marker hedges identified in the Vietnamese novels 47 Table 13.
Comparing pragmatic-marker hedges across the groups in the novels 49 Table 14. Quantificational hedges identified in the English novels 50 Table 15. Quantificational hedges identified in the Vietnamese novels 51 Table 16. Comparing quantificational hedges across the groups in the novels 52 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.
Hyland’s classification of scientific hedges 9 Figure 2. PDI in England and Vietnam 14 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The first chapter is a brief introduction of the motivation for conducting the research, the aim of the research, the key research questions explored to achieve the goal; provides the theoretical and practical significance of the research, the scope of the research, followed by the research methodology. This section ends with an outline of the research design with a brief overview of each chapter. Rationale for the research It is widely accepted that each culture has its own level of tolerance to inequality of power.
On the basis of Mulder’s study (1975), Hofstede (1984) introduced the cultural variable power distance to describe cultural value differences towards the distribution of power. It focuses on how a culture views power relationships between individuals. The manifestation of power distance can be revealed through using various communication devices in both spoken and written languages, in daily life and even in literature. One of the means to show such manifestation is the use of hedges.
Being an important linguistic phenomenon, hedging has recently received a good concern of linguists. Based on the first introduction of hedge as a linguistic term by Lakoff (1972), both conceptual and empirical studies have been conducted on the subject. Researchers have focused on different issues regarding definition, form, category and function of hedges. However, Yu (2009) indicates that those previous hedge studies mainly focus on genres of academic and scientific writings, several of spoken discourse and hedge comprehension while less attention is paid to hedges in literature (i., novels), one of the prominent types of discourse in which values, beliefs, ideologies and cultural dimensions of a particular nation or a social class can be presented through language.
This thesis, therefore, provides comprehensive research on power distance dimension in close relation to the utilization of hedges in contemporary English and Vietnamese 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com novels with a systematic analysis of (1) the manifestation of power distance by using hedges and (2) the similarities and differences in the use of hedges showing power distance in the novels. All of the above-mentioned information has encouraged me to conduct the study entitled “A cross-cultural study on hedges showing power distance in contemporary English and Vietnamese novels”. Aim of the research and research questions The aim of this research is to find out the similarities and differences in the use of hedges showing power distance in contemporary English and Vietnamese novels. In particular, the study fulfills the following tasks: - To identify hedges showing power distance used in contemporary English and Vietnamese novels; - To compare the use of hedges showing power distance in contemporary English and Vietnamese novels.
To achieve such goal, two research questions are addressed: (i) Which hedges showing power distance are used in contemporary English and Vietnamese novels? (ii) What are the similarities and differences in the use of hedges showing power distance in contemporary English and Vietnamese novels? 1. Significance of the research Theoretically, the study provides criteria and guidelines for identification and classification of hedges showing power distance in both English and Vietnamese languages. Based on the pragmatic function analysis of hedges, the study gives a valid explanatory framework underlying hedge choices for power distance manifestation. Practically, the research findings can contribute to Vietnamese understanding of the way English people use hedging expressions to show power distance.
Accordingly, 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Vietnamese learners of English are able to avoid culture shocks in cross-cultural or intercultural communication, to improve their pragmatic competence and then to adopt appropriate strategies in different communication situations. Scope of the research Although communication comes with paralinguistic factors (e., loudness,) and extra- linguistic factors (e.