VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *********************** NGÔ QUỲNH TRANG HIGH-CONTEXT AND LOW-CONTEXT ELEMENTS IN TWO INAUGURAL ADDRESSES OF 2009 AND 2013 BY AMERICAN PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA (Phân tích yếu tố bối cảnh cao và bối cảnh thấp xuất hiện trong hai bài diễn văn nhậm chức vào năm 2009 và 2013 của Tổng thống Mỹ Barack Hussein Obama) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Linguistics Code : 60.01 HANOI, 2014 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *********************** NGÔ QUỲNH TRANG HIGH-CONTEXT AND LOW-CONTEXT ELEMENTS IN TWO INAUGURAL ADDRESSES OF 2009 AND 2013 BY AMERICAN PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA (Phân tích yếu tố bối cảnh cao và bối cảnh thấp xuất hiện trong hai bài diễn văn nhậm chức vào năm 2009 và 2013 của Tổng thống Mỹ Barack Hussein Obama) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Linguistics Code : 60. Nguyễn Hoà HANOI, 2014 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION I certify that this work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by other persons, except where due to references has been made in the text.
i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to send my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Nguyễn Hòa, who guided me throughout the accomplishment of this research. If it had not been for his kind guidance, insightful comments and valuable support, my thesis would not have been completed. I also owe my gratitude to my family, who have always been very supportive with my study and during my doing thesis. Without their love and thoughtful understanding, I could not have accomplished this project.
My thanks also go to my friends who always encouraged me to finish this thesis and showed me plenty of help whenever I needed. ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.obama ABSTRACT There is a concept that will help us pull together a lot of the material we have read so far about culture. It is called "high context" and "low context" and was created by the same anthropologist who developed the concepts of polychronic and monochronic time. They complement each other and provide a broad framework for looking at culture.
This study attempts to analyze and compare the differences of using high and low context elements in two inaugural speeches by American President Barach Hussein Obama in his two terms of office. Under analytic, synthetic, comparative and deductive methods, the source texts have been examined in the light of high and low context concepts. Besides, deduction and comparison were often made between two speeches to expose the different ways of expressing the same matters but using different ways of speaking. Moreover, coming along with the outlook on politics, I will also try to explain the reasons why Obama preferred to use high instead of low context elements or vice versa.
Thence, there will be comments and judgments to clarify the meaning between the lines to prove the high frequency of using high or low context elements in those inaugurals.obama TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.obama TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I. Rationale of the study. Scope and objectives of the study .2 High and low context theory .1 Views on high and low context culture .2 Concept of high and low context culture by Edward T. Hall`s Theories of the Context .1 Website Design in High and Low Context Cultures .2 Researches on high and low context elements in two inaugural speeches of 2009 and 2013 by American President Barack H.2 Second inaugural speech, 2013 .1 High context elements in two inaugurals .3 Multiple cross-cutting ties and intersections with others .2 Low context elements in two inaugurals .1 Rule oriented, people play by external rules.
Recapitulation of main ideas. Limitations of the study. Recommendations for further research .obama TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Rationale of the study It is high and low contexts which make communications between countries so different and diversified.
It is often said that: ―A high-context joke from a high- context culture will not translate well to someone of a different culture, even another high-context culture,‖ which means ―When you are in Rome, you have to do as the Romans do‖. If an individual wishes to understand what other people say, of course, he/she has to know what context he/she is in and whether there are any other meanings lying between the lines in those circumstances. Vietnam is considered to possess a high context culture while the US belongs to low context group. But things are not always the same.
This study attempts to prove that there are a large number of cases when Americans use high context elements to express their ideas. Among those Americans, this study chooses to anylize American President Obama's inaugural speeches in order to expose the appearance of high and low context elements. There are absolutely some reasons why these two inaugurals of American President are chosen to be analyzed in this thesis. An inaugural address, or inaugural -for short-, is a speech given during the inauguration ceremony which informs the people of the new president‘s intentions as a leader, informs the duties of the president during his/her years of presidency.
In other words, an inaugural is not only a list of promises between the president and his/her people, but also an occasion for the President to express his/her personality and enthusiasm. By examining the inaugurals, it is possible for the author to catch the information of American status at this moment as well as Obama‘s attempt and intention toward his nation. Moreover, by giving out a lot of evidences, it can be proved that a man living in a low context culture can also use high context elements and how he uses it. To make this research more objective, persuasive and convincing, the author studies on 1 (LUAN.obama TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.obama Obama‘s both two inaugurals, thence withdrawes some rules or habits of when or where he uses high context elements instead of low context elements, which cannot be done if only one of his inaugurals is investigated at random.
Scope and objectives of the study Under the constraints of time and size, the study only focuses on the high and low context elements presented in two inaugurals of the first and second terms (2009 and 2013) by American President Barack Hussein Obama. In this study, the investigated documents are analyzed in the light of Edward T. Hall‘s high and context culture theory (1976) in order to reach the objectives of (1) discovering the usage of low and high context elements when Obama discusses the same topics but at different times, (2) assessing Obama‘s frequency of using high context elements regardless of the fact that America is obviously among the group of low context culture, (3) analyzing the meaning below the words in some specific cases. Furthermore, compared to other pieces of work, which are rather ill-written, lengthy, complicated and difficult to be broken down into smaller parts, Hall‘s high and context culture theory appears to be of higher clarity, simplicity, connectivity and comprehensibility.
It is not only succinct but also classified into sub-categories such as high context, low context and high context versus low context. Research questions In order to fulfill its objectives stated above, this paper needs to answer the following research questions: 1. In what circumstances does Obama employ high context elements to express his ideas instead of using low context elements? 2. What are the meanings between the lines in those circumstances? 3.
To what extend does Obama use high context elements to express the same content in both of his inaugural speech? 2 (LUAN.obama TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.obama PART II.1 Definition of context According to Phil McNulty (2012), context is the surroundings, circumstances, environment, background or settings that determine, specify, or clarify the meaning of an event or other occurrence. In what context did your attack on him happen? - We had a pretty tense relationship at the time, and when he insulted me I snapped.) In linguistics, context is the text in which a word or passage appears and which helps ascertain its meaning. Context, in language use, is the relevant constraints of the communicative situation that influence language use, language variation, and discourse summary. Context is a notion used in the language sciences (linguistics, sociolinguistics, systemic functional linguistics, discourse analysis, pragmatics, semiotics, etc.) in two different ways, namely as verbal and social context.
Verbal context refers to surrounding text or talk of an expression (word, sentence, conversational turn, speech act, etc. The idea is that verbal context influences the way we understand the expression. Hence the norm, not to cite people out of context. Since much contemporary linguistics take texts, discourses or conversations as object of analysis; the modern study of verbal context takes place in terms of the analysis of discourse structures and their mutual relationships, for instance the coherence relation between sentences.
Social context, traditionally in sociolinguistics, were defined in terms of objective social variables, such as those of class, gender, age or race. More recently, social contexts tend to be defined in terms of the social identity being construed and displayed in text and talk by language users.obama TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.2 Influences of context to communication, language and learning I.1 Ron Burnett and Emily Carr According to Ron Burnett and Emily Carr in their paper Context, Communication and Learning – The Meaning of Learning Project (October 25-28, 2000), the experience of learning is dependent upon the context in which it takes place. When talking about context, we are talking about the many complex factors that we have to work with in order to accomplish a variety of tasks and respond to a vast number of demands and expectations. Context is of course a very fluid concept.
We can speak of many different approaches to context, many different ways of understanding the role and influence of a variety of factors on individuals and on society. Learning is largely based on the complex circumstances and context of classroom and school culture. Context is about stories and in most instances, the stories that surround and underlie learning are rather more ephemeral than we would want to believe.2 Bellon ML and Rees RJ Bellon ML and Rees RJ, in their study The effect of context on communication: a study of the language and communication skills of adults with acquired brain injury (2006), aims to examine the effects of changing contexts on language and communication skills of adults with acquired brain injury. They do their research on four adults with brain injury who are observed in four contexts with pragmatic language and communication behaviors, all the contexts are recorded.
Contexts include baseline, two intervention phases (a 3-day camp and post-camp period) and 2-month follow-up. The results they collect are that participants demonstrate improvements in constructive language production during intervention phases. Results indicate structure, cueing, positive experiences and create language which is 4 (LUAN.obama TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.obama observed to overcome the influence of organic damage. However, at follow-up, the language and communication levels return to baseline levels.
The paper brings them to the conclusion: Clinically, these results have implications for the development of sustained interventions for language and communication skills in community-based rehabilitation programs. Creating supporting contexts may serve as an effective means of improving language and communication behaviors, while also facilitating optimum community inclusion.2 High and low context theory I.1 Views on high and low context culture I.