VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ----------o0o---------- NGUYỄN HÀ NHẬT CHI THE ROLE OF EXTRA-VERBAL FACTORS IN UNDERSTANDING THE VIETNAM WAR PROTEST SONGS BY PETE SEEGER Vai trò của những yếu tố ngoại ngôn trong việc hiểu những ca khúc chống chiến tranh Việt Nam của Pete Seeger M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201.01 HANOI – 2018 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ----------o0o---------- NGUYỄN HÀ NHẬT CHI THE ROLE OF EXTRA-VERBAL FACTORS IN UNDERSTANDING THE VIETNAM WAR PROTEST SONGS BY PETE SEEGER Vai trò của những yếu tố ngoại ngôn trong việc hiểu ca khúc chống chiến tranh Việt Nam của Pete Seeger M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201. Ngô Tự Lập HÀ NỘI – 2018 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it are my own and have been generated by me as the result of my own original research.
I confirm that: This work was done wholly while I am in candidature for a Master degree at this University; This thesis has never been submitted partially or wholly for a degree or any other qualification at this University or any other institution; Where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly attributed; Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work; I have acknowledged all main sources of help; Where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself. I am fully aware that should this declaration be found to be false, disciplinary action could be taken and penalties imposed in accordance with University policy and rules. Hanoi, 2018 Nguyễn Hà Nhật Chi i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the course of this thesis, I received tremendous help from the school, teachers, family and friends.
I would like to send my sincere thanks to those who support me. Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Ngô Tự Lập for giving me huge motivation, providing me meaningful lessons, and instructing me enthusiastically. His enthusiastic supervision and valuable advice helps me complete this research in the best way possible.
I would like to thank the teachers of Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, especially Dr. Huỳnh Anh Tuấn, for their enthusiastically guidance during the process of study and research. I will never forget the very useful knowledge that the teachers brought me. Futhermore, there are no words to show my appreciation to linguists whose books and pieces of research.
Without this support, I would not have been able to enrich my knowlegde and conduct this research smoothly. I, finally, would never forget the kindness of my friends, supporters and my family who has given me strength all the time to encourage me complete this thesis. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything! ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT For the purpose of evaluating the influence of extra-verbal factors on literary cognition, this study was based on the theoretical framework developed by Valentin Nikolaevich Voloshinov in the 1920s, especially in his works ―Discourse in Life and Discourse in Art‖ and "Marxism and Philosophy of Language‖. For this study, we selected Pete Seeger's anti-war songs as study materials.
The study was conducted on English-speaking participants, including English language students and employees who use and work with English. During the study, participants were asked to translate protest songs into Vietnamese twice, before and after being given information about Pete Seeger and the songs. Survey questionnaires were used to examine individual cognitive abilities for the meaning of the songs. The analysis of collected translations and questionnaires shows that: (1) There is a significant difference in the participant’s understanding of the songs before and after they explored the extra-verbal factors underlying their creation.
(2) The kinds of extra- verbal factors that underlie their perception difference include historical background knowledge on the US, information about the author, and knowledge about Vietnam - relationship. In addition, the research shows that extra-verbal factors contribute very much to the participants’ perception of aesthetic value of songs and help increase significantly effectiveness of teaching reading comprehension. iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE CONTENT DECLARATION. iii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES.
vi PART A: INTRODUCTION .5 CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW. Theory of Structuralism Linguistics. Voloshinov’s Meta Linguistics. Discourse in Life and Discourse in Art (1926).
Voloshinov’s other viewpoints. Pragmatics and Socioliguistics. Extra-verbal factors and comprehension of texts, the case of song lyrics. Review of previous research .16 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES.
The anti-war songs. Overview of the songs to be studied .24 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION. Translation of the song lyrics with and without knowledge of extra-verbal factors. General literaral translation errors .26 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.
Lyrics perception without the knowledge of extra-verbal factors. The role of extra-verbal factors in teaching language. Discussion and Findings. Limitation and suggestions for future research.
I v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Table 3. Common mistakes in translations. The meaning of ―Nuremberg‖. The meaning of proper names.
Meanings of the phrase ―Beans in my ears‖ .The messages conveyed in the songs (with extra-verbal factors). Reasons of misunderstanding the songs. Role of Extra-verbal Factors in Teaching Languages by Using Songs .35 vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Teaching reading comprehension is one of the most important missions in teaching foreign languages.
But one of the difficulties of teaching reading comprehension, especially teaching comprehension to children, is that boring texts can quickly discourage the learners. Hence, teachers usually choose some special texts, such as those in games, cartoon, or song lyrics, to teach hoping that they can help create better learning motivation of students. For that reason, the author of this research work decides to use songs, namely Pete Seeger’s Vietnam War protest songs, as materials for this purpose. But there is another, probably greater, difficulty that is the fact that any text is in relation with other texts and with the contexts of its creation and perception, so readers must put it in comparison and connection to related texts and contexts to understand its meanings.
It is useful to remind that according to Saussure’s structuralism, the meaning of a text can be perceived based on verbal factors in the text itself. But, that theory has been criticized by many researchers, who argue that meaning of a text depends not only on verbal factors in the text, but also on extra-verbal factors. Voloshinov might be the earliest writer to develop these ideas. The ideas of Voloshinov in his works ―Discourse in Life and Discourse in Poetry‖ (1926) and ―Marxism and the Philosophy of Language‖ (1929) became later the foundation of modern pragmatism.
Song lyrics are certainly not an exception. To understand the message of a song, singers as well as listeners must not only ―read‖ the lyrics, but also be aware of the context in which it is created, its author’s background, and many other factors that affect the song writing and comprehending. All the above said are true while speaking about Pete Seeger and his songs, especially his Vietnam War protest songs, that have inspired so many musicians and 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com singers of later generations. The songs written by Pete Seeger are said to be the voice of millions of people who stood up against the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s.
However, many of his songs, like the folk songs of traditional music, despite their great artistic values, are unknown for young people. The youth of today, instead, listens to cliché or commercial songs that often have no meaning and that are easily forgotten soon after listening. Not many people try to do research about the life and the career of Pete Seeger as well as the historical background underlying the meanings of his songs. Hence, many protest songs by Seeger get into oblivion and this is a huge lost for the arts in general and music in particular.
Nowadays, in Vietnam, the number of people who know Seeger and his songs is even more limited. When being asked about the meaning of those songs, the answers of many people are often vague. Sometimes, people do not understand them at all. Many teachers and learners of English, who understand the meaning of all the words of song lyrics as they are described in dictionaries, cannot get their deep meanings.
Whilst, if we want to apply any song into teaching, learning or researching, we must understand the root of the song. This study is aimed to evaluate the roles of extra-verbal factors in comprehension of song lyrics. As mentioned, to understand a text, it is not enough for readers to have certain competences of the language of the text. To understand as well as to translate a foreign song, readers must have good knowledge of the songs’ historical, social and political backgrounds, and even the author’s personal experience.
All of those criteria are defined as ―extra-verbal factors‖ which are mentioned, probably for the first time, in the 1920s, in the works of V. Research questions This study is carried out with the aim to demonstrate the importance of the factors not expressed verbally in the text, such as social context, historical context and relationship to other texts. In order to achieve these aims, the following questions are addressed: 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. How people perceive differently with and without the knowledge of extra-verbal factors? 2.
What kind of extra-verbal factors underlined their perception background? 3. Scope of the study For this study, the researcher selects two songs of Pete Seeger – the famous folk singer and activist of America – in order to examine how extra-verbal factors affecting the comprehension of their meaning. The two songs are: Last train to Nuremberg Beans in my ears 4. Significance of the study It was shown after observation that there are many papers written in English is circulating.
And, there are thousands of English songs are being listened and favorite in Vietnam every year. However, the number of listeners who get the whole meaning of those songs is not so much. Hence, researcher selected four songs of Pete Seeger – the famous folk singer and activist of America – in order to examine some factors affecting the meaning of songs. In specific, it is the role of extra verbal factors in the protest songs by Pete Seeger.
Throughout the study, the researcher, and eventually learners and teachers of English, will be able to: Understand the role of extra-verbal factors in texts Improve the ways of teaching, translating and learning song lyrics, and text in general. Organization of the thesis This thesis consists of three parts: Part A: Introduction, aims to give the background of the study, including the rationale, the aims of the study, research questions, scope, significance and organization of the thesis. Part B: Development, the main part and also the focus of the study consists of three chapters: 3 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Chapter 1: Literature review presents a review of previous research, in which an important part is dedicated to the language theory of Voloshinov in his two works ―Discourse in Life and Discourse in Art‖ and ―Marxism and the Philosophy of Language‖.