VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *** *** LÊ THỊ MINH PHƯƠNG DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE USED IN MARINE ORDERS IN TERMS OF SPEECH ACT (Phân tích diễn ngôn sử dụng trong khẩu lệnh hàng hải về mặt hành động lời nói) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60.01 Hanoi – 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *** *** LÊ THỊ MINH PHƯƠNG DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE USED IN MARINE ORDERS IN TERMS OF SPEECH ACT (Phân tích diễn ngôn sử dụng trong khẩu lệnh hàng hải về mặt hành động lời nói) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60. Huỳnh Anh Tuấn Hanoi – 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I declare that this minor thesis entitled “Discourse Analysis of language used in marine orders in terms of speech act” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts is the results of my own work and that this thesis does not contain material which has been accepted for the award of any degree or diploma in any university, nor does it contain material previously published or written by any other person, except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis.
Hanoi, 2014 Le Thi Minh Phuong i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Huynh Anh Tuan. Without his enthusiastic help and his precious advice and comments, the paper would not have been completed. Secondly, I would like to send my warmest thanks to Assoc.
Le Hung Tien and Dr. Nguyen Thi Minh Tam whose lectures provided me with a great deal of experience in discourse analysis and speech acts theory. Thirdly, my thanks are also come to the co-teachers of Vimaru whose gave me precious advice during the implementation of my study was absolutely vital. Finally, this is a good opportunity for me to give my special thanks to my beloved parents and friends who are always beside me whenever I encounter difficulties.
ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Effectiveness in communications is an ingredient to safe and efficient ship operations. To maintain this effectiveness, marine orders, one of the most important factors of communication at sea, must be precise, simple and unambiguous to avoid confusions and error. With an aim to investigate more about the effectiveness of these marine orders, 190 marine orders used on board and in external communications were collected and analyzed quantitatively in terms of speech acts categories, directness, type of sentence, length and density of nautical terms. Based on the data analysis of these linguistic features, the similarities and differences between the orders used on board and in external communications are unveiled.
Finally, all of these analyses and findings are summed up to make the most general and concise conclusions about the effectiveness of marine orders used in iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. vi PART A: INTRODUCTION. Rationale for the study.
Aims and objectives of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study. Design of the study.
6 Chapter 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND .1 Speech act and discourse analysis. Speech act and the act of ordering. Classifications of speech act. Types of speech acts (Austin, 1962; Searle, 1969).
Direct and indirect speech acts. The act of ordering. Ways of performing the act of ordering. The act of ordering in marine communication.
Source of data. 21 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Data analysis method. Data analysis framework.
22 Chapter 3: DATA ANALYSIS. Types of speech acts realized in marine orders. Types of speech acts realized in orders used in external communications. Types of speech acts realized in orders used in on-board communications.
Linguistic features of marine orders used in external communications and on- board communications. Linguistic features of marine orders in external communications. Linguistic features of marine orders in on-board communications. Comparison between orders used in external and on-board communications.
Categories of speech acts. 34 Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. Speech act categories realized in marine orders. Linguistic features of marine orders.
Orders used in external communications and on-board communications. Speech act categories realized in marine orders. Linguistic features of marine orders. Orders used in external communications and on-board Communications.
39 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. The act of ordering realized in marine orders. Orders used in external communications and on-board communications. Limitations of the study.
Suggestions for further study. I vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study In the world of international shipping, English is used as a medium of communication between ships, between ships and shore stations, or between ships and helicopters in different situations. Among the conversations exchanged, marine orders take a large proportion and play an important part in ensuring safe voyages at sea.
However, the structure of a standard marine order is quite different from a social order, which causes barrier issue to non-majors of English, and it is a challenge to ship officers to remember and follow the orders correctly. Below is an example of a standard distress message, which informs the position, emergent situation and request assistance: MAYDAY THIS IS TWO-ONE-ONE-TWO-THREE-NINE-SIX-EIGHT-ZERO MOTOR VESSEL “BIRTE” CALL SIGN DELTA ALPHA MIKE KILO POSITION SIX TWO DEGREES ONE ONE DECIMAL EIGHT MINUTES NORTH ZERO ZERO SEVEN DEGREES FOUR FOUR MINUTES EAST I AM ON FIRE AFTER EXPOSITION I REQUIRE FIRE FIGHTING ASSISTANCE SMOKE NOT TOXIC OVER Judging from the example above, it can be seen that English used in those situations is fairly typical and very catchy to linguists. Having taught students of Vietnam Maritime University (VIMARU) to practise these acts of ordering for over the past few years, I find that marine orders are still confusing to most of them. In addition, a majority of learners learn the orders mechanically without fully recognizing the speech act realized by these orders and fail to understand the reasons underlying their structure and what linguistic features can ensure the effectiveness of these orders in communications.
For these reasons, I would like to carry out a study under the title “Speech act and linguistic features of Marine 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com orders” to provide students with the fundamental notion of speech act and some linguistic features of marine orders so that they can use them and understand them appropriately for more effective maritime communication. Aims and objectives of the study By analyzing marine orders used in radiotelephony (external communications) and on board communications, this research aims at investigating what speech act is realized in marine orders and what linguistic features lead to the effectiveness of these orders in maritime communication. This aim of the research is specified by the following objectives: - Clarifying the effectiveness of marine orders in communication at sea and comparing orders used in on-board communications and in radiotelephony (external) communications. The features to be investigated encompass the type of speech act realized by these orders and some of their linguistic features including directness, types of sentence, length of sentence and the density of technicality.
- Helping students in the Navigation Department of VIMARU better understand the effectiveness of maritime orders in terms of the above features. Scope of the study Language used in navigation is so different and typical which contains many issues for further in-depth studies. However, due to the limitation of a minor thesis, this research only focuses on marine orders in terms of speech acts and such linguistic features as directness, types of sentence, length of sentence and the density of technicality. Besides, there is also a comparison between orders used on board and in external communications.
These command sentences are selected from the most popular conversations on radio broadcast, marine websites, articles, books and recordings of language use in real life. Significance of the study Investigating marine orders in terms of speech acts and some of their linguistic features, the study is expected to make certain contributions to the related populations including navigational teachers and students teaching and learning 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com marine orders, the seafarers who use marine orders in their communications and researchers of the same subjects. First of all, theoretically, by pointing out the speech acts realized in marine orders and their linguistic features, maritime teachers and students (who are seafarers themselves) will better understand the effectiveness of these orders in communications and consequently use them more appropriately and effectively. Similar to navigational teachers and students, practically, the seafarers can achieve a more efficient communications by mastering orders used in certain situations.
In addition, through understanding the notion of speech acts and the linguistic features of maritime orders, they will have a better selection and treatment of message markers when delivering and receiving orders especially in emergencies. Research questions With such aims, this study is to answer the following questions: 1. What speech act is realized in marine orders? 2. How are directness, types of sentence, length of sentence and the density of technicality realized in maritime orders? 3.
What are the differences between orders used on – board and in external communications in terms of speech act and some linguistic features such as categories, directness, types of sentences, length of sentence and the density of technicality? The answers to these questions will expose what categories of speech acts and what linguistic features have greater effect on making marine orders clearer and hence more effective in marine communications. In addition, the study is hoped to clarify how marine orders adapt themselves when used in different contexts, for example, in different weather conditions to ensure the effectiveness in communications. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Research methods To find the answers to the questions above, the combination of quantitative and contrastive analysis methods will be applied respectively.
For the first two questions, quantitative method is used to find out what speech act is realized in maritime orders and how the act of ordering is realized in marine orders in terms of their directness, types of sentences, length of sentences, and the density of technicality. When comparing on-board orders and radiotelephony (external) orders, the contrastive analysis method is used to find out the similarities and differences between them in terms of those linguistic features. Data To answer the research questions, 190 English marine orders were selected from various sources such as maritime textbooks, websites and videos recorded in real communications. The orders selected were of two main types: external (radio telephony) communications and on board communications for descriptive and contrastive analysis.
External communications mainly deal with radio conversations exchanged between ships (ship’s officer) and shore stations (shore personnel) while on board communications are orders among captains, officers, and sailors (helmsmen). The orders were analyzed in terms of the following categories: speech act categories, directness, types of sentence, length of sentence and the density of technicality to study their linguistic features and uses. Data analysis method 190 English marine orders were quantitatively and contrastively analyzed in term of their speech act categories, linguistic features and the differences between them. Four tables were generated to assist in the analyzing process.
Two tables listed the categories of speech acts realized in marine orders used in external as well as on-board communications. The other two tables investigated more about the linguistic features of the orders used on-board and in external communications namely directness, types of sentence, length and density of technicality.