Vietnam National University College of foreign languages Department of Post- graduate studies -----***----- PHẠM THỊ MINH A study on English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities from cultural perspective (Tục ngữ tiếng Anh và Tiếng Việt với ý nghĩa giáo dục phẩm chất đaọ đức - Nghiên cứu dưới góc độ văn hoá) Minor thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15 Hanoi, 2009 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Vietnam National University College of foreign languages Department of Post- graduate studies -----***----- PHẠM THỊ MINH A study on English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities from cultural perspective (Tục ngữ tiếng Anh và Tiếng Việt với ý nghĩa giáo dục phẩm chất đaọ đức - Nghiên cứu dưới góc độ văn hoá) Minor thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15 Supervisor : Prof. Hoàng Văn Vân Hanoi, 2009 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv Table of contents Declaration ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 1. Aims of the study 2 3. Scope of the study 3 4.
Methods of the study 3 5. Design of the study 4 Development 5 Chapter one: Theoretical Background 5 1.2 Proverbs about educating moral qualities 6 1.3 Some features of proverbs 7 1.4 Classification of proverbs 8 1.5 Proverbs and Idioms 9 1.2 Some characteristics of English/ Vietnamese people and culture 10 1.1 The relationship between language and culture 10 1.2 Characteristics of English people and culture 11 1.3 Characteristics of Vietnamese people and culture 13 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.3 Summary 14 Chapter Two: Comparison of syntactic and 15 semantic features between English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities 2.3 Summary 22 Chapter three: Comparison of cultural 23 features between English and Vietnamese proverbs about Educating Moral Qualities 3.1 Universal moral qualities 23 3.2 Moral qualities in the family 27 3.1 Women’s moral qualities 27 3.2 Moral qualities in love 28 3.3 Moral qualities in the husband-wife relationship 29 3.4 The duty of the children towards their parents 30 3.3 In the society 31 3.1 Moral qualities in friendship and neighborhood 31 3.2 The attitudes towards the elderly people and the teachers 32 3.3 The attitude towards Law 33 3.4 The attitude towards money 34 3.4 Summary 36 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vi Conclusion 37 1 Recapitulation 37 2 Implications 37 2.1 For EFL Teaching and Learning 37 2.2 For Translation 39 3 Suggestions for Further Studies 41 APPENDIX REFERENCES LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Rationale It is clear that communicators in their own native language environment find it natural to speak in the way they normally speak and behave according to their presupposed social norms and conventions. However, in our cross-cultural communication, that is communication between individuals from different cultural backgrounds, many difficulties may arise.
Each nation’s language lies in itself similar and different cultural concepts on many fields of life such as humane values, behaviour standards, religious beliefs, etc. Therefore, it would be difficult for foreign language learners to communicate successfully with native speakers if they have poor understanding of the language itself and the language in relation with culture. Among many favorite languages such as French, Chinese etc, English has still played its decisive role in international communication and has been learned by a large number of people in the world. All foreign learners of English desire to master English as the native speakers but they usually face many difficulties that prevent them from gaining successful conversations.
One of the reasons for these problems lies in the way people perceive and use proverbs. For many years, English proverbs have often been neglected in learning and teaching because it is a difficult area of English, but nobody can deny that proverbs are really important in communication, “a proverbs in the hand is often worth a thousand words” (Horace Reynolds, 1959) Firstly, proverbs as traditional wisdom are never absent from our daily speech. They are a main part of each nation’s culture, which reflects all aspects of the life. People epitomize their way of thinking and their ideas through proverbs.
We can use them to solve our daily conflicts or support our arguments. Proverbs are the mirrors that reflect human culture. As Dr Malik Elzaki (2002) states: “If we want to understand the culture in a given society, we have to study its proverbs as any nation has its own characteristics that reflect their lives and environmental surroundings”. Hence, it can be said that LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 proverbs can help learners know more about social and cultural characteristics of that language.
Secondly, proverbs are used to express ideas in figurative way. It brings the vividness and richness for the speaker’s speech. Anyone who much concerns proverbs owns a very attractive manner of speaking. Especially, they can do provide users with a whole new way of expressing concepts linguistically.
Without them, it can be stated that English might lose its color and vitality. Studying English proverbs in comparison with Vietnamese ones, we can find the similarities and differences in two languages and cultures, which therefore, help learners of English to understand and have a better use of English proverbs and Vietnamese ones. This can also help learners to have better communication in the cross-cultural communication. Professor Denis Brutus (Pittsburgh University, America, 1995) stated the practical effect of learning proverbs: “Through proverbs I know your points of view, the attitudes of your ancestors.
Each time I know a new Vietnamese proverb, I become Vietnamese a little. I believe when we know all proverbs of each other, we are brothers” Being interested in proverbs for a long time, I choose proverbs as my thesis topic as both English and Vietnamese are especially rich in proverbs. Many of them are corresponding in meaning or close enough to make comparison interesting and rewarding. However, due to the limited time and knowledge, I just focus on a small part of the huge proverbial treasure “A study on English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities from cultural perspective”.
Hopefully, the study may be an interesting and helpful material for learners, teachers of English and for people who are interested in cultural pattern in communication and cross-cultural communication. Aims of the study The study aims to: Investigate the general syntactic, semantic and especially cultural features of English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities. Explore the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3 proverbs about educating moral qualities from the cultural perspective. Provide some suggestions for the teaching/learning and translation of the English proverbs about educating moral qualities in particular.
Scope of the study Proverbs about educating moral qualities are a large part in both English and Vietnamese proverbs, so it is impossible for the author to carry out an exhaustive study on them; just from the cultural perspective. In this study, syntactic and semantic features of English proverbs about educating moral qualities are discussed briefly; cultural features are extensively analyzed and discussed when English proverbs are compared with Vietnamese ones. All English and Vietnamese proverbs are collected from dictionaries and books, so this research may not cover all proverbs about educating moral qualities; just those of common use. Methods of the study The study uses the two methods: quantitative and qualitative.
By virtue of the quantitative method, the study has collected data for the study, including both English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities. The qualitative method is employed to describe and analyze the data of the study. The steps of the study are in the order as follows: Collect English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities from several dictionaries and books (e., English proverbs and sayings, The Oxford Dictionary of concise Proverbs; Từ điển Thành ngữ và tục ngữ Việt Nam by Nguyễn Lân, Từ điển Tục ngữ Việt-Anh, Anh-Việt thông dụng by Vũ Thế Ngọc, Tục ngữ so sánh (838 Tục Ngữ Việt-3000 Tục ngữ Anh-Pháp- Espanto) by Phạm Văn Vĩnh, Tục ngữ Ca dao Dân ca Việt Nam by Vũ Ngọc Phan… and then sort them out. Investigate and analyze the syntactic, semantic and cultural features of English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities.
Compare and find the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese about educating moral qualities. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Design of the study The study consists of three parts. The first part “INTRODUCTION” outlines the background of the study.
In this part, a brief account of relevant information is provided about the rationale, aims, scopes, method, and design of the study. The main part of the study comprises three chapters. Chapter one, as implied by the title: “Theoretical Background”, covers a series of proverb-related concepts ranging from definitions of proverbs, features of proverbs, types of proverbs, proverbs in comparison with idioms. Chapters two and three make up the more specifically focused part of the study.
Chapter two is concerned with a “Comparison of syntactic and semantic features of English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities” whereas chapter three deals with a “Comparison of cultural features of English and Vietnamese proverbs about educating moral qualities”. The final part is the “CONCLUSION”, which provides the recapitulation, implications for the EFL teaching and learning and for the translation, and suggestions for further studies. The study ends with the “REFERENCES”. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 5 Development Chapter one: Theoretical Background 1.1 Definitions of Proverbs As there is a general agreement that proverbs are widely known in all human languages, it is very necessary to define what proverbs are.
Such English expressions as “Many men, many minds”, “Experience is the mother of wisdom”, “Poverty is no sin”, etc. are usually described as proverbs, so “What is a proverb?” According to The New Oxford Dictionary (1996), a proverb is “a short, pithy saying in general use, stating a general truth or a piece of advice”. This definition is developed in the Oxford English Dictionary (2001, on-line) which defines a proverb as “a short, pithy saying in common and recognized use; a concise sentence, often metaphorical or alliterative in form, which is held to express some truth ascertained by experience or observation and familiar to all”. Some proverbs in themselves are people’s definitions of a proverbs, like “proverbs are the wisdom of the street”, “proverbs are the children of experience”, “All the good sense of the world runs into proverbs”.
Wolfgang Mieder defines a proverb as “a concise statement of an apparent truth which has currency among the people”. Mieder performed an interesting survey, asking 55 non-academics to write their definitions of a proverb. He found that from 4 to 20 times in the collected definitions, a proverb is “a phrase, saying, truth, morals, experience, lessons, and advice concerning life and which has been handed from generation to generation. Vu Ngoc Phan (2000:39) considered proverbs as “a complete saying in which it expresses one idea of comment, experience, morality, justice or criticism” Many other scholars continue to find their own definitions of proverbs, but it is difficult to give one exact definition.
Archer Taylor (1931) defined a proverb in more than 200 pages, and he concluded that it was impossible to give a meaningful definition of it. Taylor noted that “…an incommunicable quality tells us this sentence is proverbial and that one is not” (1931:3). LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 6 To conclude, there are different ways of defining a proverb. However, most of the definitions meet at a common point that they find out some features to realize a proverb which are a short pithy saying in common, stating a general truth or giving lessons or advice.