Tài liệu Speech acts in email communication for international relations at thu dau mot university

BINH DUONG PROVINCIAL PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY NGUYEN HOANG MAI PHUONG SPEECH ACTS IN EMAIL COMMUNICATION FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AT THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY MAJOR: ENGLISH LANGUAGE MAJOR CODE: 8220201 MASTER THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE BINH DUONG PROVINCE – 2021 ỦY BAN NHÂN DÂN TỈNH BÌNH DƯƠNG TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC THỦ DẦU MỘT -------------- NGUYỄN HOÀNG MAI PHƯƠNG HÀNH ĐỘNG NGÔN TỪ TRONG GIAO TIẾP EMAIL QUỐC TẾ TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC THỦ DẦU MỘT CHUYÊN NGÀNH: NGÔN NGỮ ANH MÃ SỐ: 8220201 LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC TS. NGUYỄN THỊ THANH TÂM BINH DUONG – 2021 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude and appreciation to Ph.D. Nguyen Thi Thanh Tam, my research supervisor, for her patient guidance, enthusiastic encouragement, deep knowledge, and useful advice for this thesis. Secondly, I gratefully acknowledge Thu Dau Mot University in generally, Faculty of English Language and Office of International Affairs in particular for offering me the most favorable conditions to complete this thesis Furthermore, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my Leaders and colleagues at TDMU for their support and assistance in keeping my progress on schedule. Finally, I would like to express my sincerest thanks to my beloved family for their support, sharing, and encouragement throughout my study. Without their enthusiastic support and endless love, I would never have completed this thesis. Author iii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I hereby declare that the thesis entitled “Speech Acts in Email Communication for international relations at Thu Dau Mot University” is my original work for the Master Degree of Faculty of English Language, Thu Dau Mot University. This thesis does not contain published materials or written by other people except those cited in the references. I further certify that this thesis has not been submitted for other degrees or publication in any other education institutions. Binh Duong, November 2021 Author NGUYEN HOANG MAI PHUONG iv RETENTION AND USE OF THESIS I hereby state that I, NGUYEN HOANG MAI PHUONG, being a candidate for the degree of Master of English Language accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library. In this regard, I agree that the original of my Master’s thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research. Binh Duong, November 2021 Author NGUYEN HOANG MAI PHUONG v TABLE OF CONTENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................ iii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY .................................................................. iv RETENTION OF USE ........................................................................................ v TABLE OF CONTENT ...................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................... x LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS ................................................................. xi LIST OF APPENDICES.................................................................................... xii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................... 1 1.1 Background to the study .......................................................................... 1 1.2. Aims of the study .................................................................................... 4 1.3. Research objectives and questions .......................................................... 4 1.3.1. Research objectives ..................................................................... 4 1.3.2. Research questions ...................................................................... 5 1.4. Significance of the study ......................................................................... 5 1.4.1. Practical Significance .................................................................. 5 1.4.2. Theoretical Significance .............................................................. 5 1.5. Scope of the study ................................................................................... 6 1.6. Limitations of the study .......................................................................... 6 1.7. Organization of the study ........................................................................ 6 1.8. Summary ................................................................................................. 7 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................... 8 2.1. Pragmatics and Speech Acts in Pragmatics ............................................ 8 2.1.1. Definition of Pragmatics .............................................................. 8 vi 2.1.2. Speech Acts ................................................................................. 9 2.1.2.1. Definition of Speech Acts......................................................... 9 2.1.2.2. Types of Speech Acts ............................................................. 10 2.2. Previous Studies of Speech Acts........................................................... 15 2.3. Email Communication .......................................................................... 17 2.3.1. Parts of Emails ........................................................................... 18 2.3.2. Language use in writing emails ................................................. 19 2.3.3. Types of Emails ......................................................................... 25 2.4. Speech Act in Email Communication ................................................... 26 2.5. Context .................................................................................................. 27 2.6. Conceptual framework of the study ...................................................... 27 2.7. Summary ............................................................................................... 29 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY .................................................................... 30 3.1. Research Design .................................................................................... 30 3.2. Research Questions ............................................................................... 31 3.3. Setting ................................................................................................... 32 3.4. Data source and samples ....................................................................... 32 3.4.1. Data sources ............................................................................... 32 3.4.2. Samples ...................................................................................... 32 3.5. Instruments of the Research .................................................................. 32 3.6. Data Collection Method ........................................................................ 34 3.7. Data Analysis Method........................................................................... 34 3.8. Data Trustworthiness ............................................................................ 35 3.9. Summary ............................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................ 38 4.1. Results ................................................................................................... 38 4.2. Discussion ............................................................................................. 45 4.3. Summary ............................................................................................... 78 CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION .......................................................................... 80 vii 5.1. Conclusion ............................................................................................ 80 5.2. Implications of the research .................................................................. 81 5.2.1. For OIA’s staff and others who work in the field of international relations: .............................................................................................. 81 5.2.2. For students of English Language ............................................. 82 5.2.3. For lecturers of English Language............................................. 82 5.2.4. For other researchers ................................................................. 82 5.3. Recommendations for further study...................................................... 82 5.4. Summary ............................................................................................... 83 REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 84 APPENDICES .................................................................................................... 90 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS TDMU Thu Dau Mot University OIA Office of International Affairs MOU Memorandum of understanding EAIM East Asia Institute of Management SUT Suranaree University of Technology UNISMA University of Islam Malang HNU Hannam University TAU Tarlac Agricultural University RSU Rangsit University CJCU Chang Jung Christian University GUFL Guangxi University of Foreign Languages CNU Chungnam National University NMIT Nelson Malborough Institite of Technology ix LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1. Data sheet of Speech Acts found in OIA’s emails ............................. 33 Table 4.1. Data of Representatives and their functions found in OIA’s emails .. 39 Table 4.2. Data of Directives and their functions found in OIA’s emails ........... 39 Table 4.3. Data of Commissives and their functions found in OIA’s emails ...... 40 Table 4.4. Data of Expressives and their functions found in OIA’s emails ........ 40 Table 4.5. Data of Declaratives and their functions found in OIA’s emails ....... 41 Table 4.6. The total types of Illocutionary Acts and their functions found in OIA’s emails ........................................................................................................ 41 Table 4.7. List of each functions of the types of Illoctionary Acts ..................... 43 Table 4.8. Combinations of Illocutionary Acts’ types and their functions found in OIA’s emails ........................................................................................................ 44 Table 4.9. Structures/Expressions and Sentences of Representatives’ Functions 74 Table 4.10. Structures/Expressions and Sentences of Commissives’ Functions . 75 Table 4.11. Structures/Expressions and Sentences of Directives’ Functions ...... 76 Table 4.12. Structures/Expressions and Sentences of Expressives’ Functions ... 77 Table 4.13. Sentences of the functions of four Illocutionary Acts’ types ........... 94 x LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS Figure 2.1. Framework of the study .................................................................... 29 Figure 4.1. Distribution of types of Illocutionary Acts found in OIA’s emails .. 41 Figure 4.2. Functions of four Illocutionary Acts’ types found in OIA’s emails . 42 xi LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1: Sample of OIA’s emails ............................................................. 90 Appendix 2: Table 4.7. List of each functions of the types of Illocutionary Acts ........................................................................................... 104 Appendix 3: Table 4.13. Sentences of the functions of four Illocutionary Acts’ types ............................................................................................................... 105 Appendix 4: Datasheet of Speech Acts found in OIA’s emails .................... 106 xii ABSTRACT This present research focuses on Speech Acts, especially aims at identifying types of Illocutionary Acts and their functions employed in emails of the Office of International Affairs (OIA) at Thu Dau Mot University (TDMU). The research data consists of 35 English outgoing emails from January 2018 to October 2021 of OIA, TDMU. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are applied in this study. The descriptive, qualitative method is mainly employed to analyze the data by classifying and interpreting data descriptively based on Searle’s theory (1976) of Illocutionary Acts and emails’ context. Meanwhile, the quantitative method is used by giving the percentages of the findings. The results of this study show that there are four types of Illocutionary Acts and 28 functions in OIA’s emails. Based on the results, it is figured out that OIA’s staff uses expressive type with the main functions such as greeting, farewell, and thanking most. The study can be a reference for OIA’s staff, students and lecturers of English Language, and other researchers to get additional knowledge about Speech Acts, especially Illocutionary Actc’ types and their functions in certain contexts. Keywords: Speech Acts, Illocutionary Acts’ types and functions, English outgoing emails, Office of International Affairs, Thu Dau Mot University. xiii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION This chapter deals with the background of the study, aim(s) of the study, research objectives and questions of the study, significance, scope of the study, and the summary. 1.1 Background to the study The trend of globalization and the explosion of science and technology have been promoting each country's higher education for continuous innovation, especially in international integration in order to quickly update new trends and knowledge. Therefore, higher education in each country in general and at universities in particular needs international integration to exchange, learn, and innovate in accordance with the general trend of the world. In response to the development of the new era, Office of International Affairs (OIA) is established by Thu Dau Mot University (TDMU) - one of the public universities in southern Vietnam to coordinate and manage international cooperation activities between TDMU and foreign universities in order to improve the quality of education for TDMU. Located in Thu Dau Mot city, Binh Duong province, TDMU founded on June 24th, 2009 is a prestigious public university. The forerunner of TDMU is Binh Duong Pedagogical College - a prestigious pedagogical training institution of Binh Duong province, providing a team of teachers having expertise and knowledge in teaching, and enthusiasm for the young generation. The missions of TDMU are training high-quality human resources to serve the socio-economic development, international integration of Binh Duong Province, Southeast region - the key economic zones of Southern region and become the Science Research Center in the area. TDMU always places a great emphasis on training, scientific research and especially in international cooperation. TDMU’s structure includes the University Council, the Board of Directors, the Science and Training Council, 13 faculties - institutes, 14 functional departments, and 11 centers. The total 1 number of students is about 16,000 full-time students and 1000 graduate students1. With the continuous development, TDMU has attracted more and more international experts and volunteers to work, support training and carry out scientific research at the University. Over 10 years of construction and growth, TDMU has constantly risen to successfully complete its educational and scientific missions. In 2015, TDMU is honored to be a member of CDIO organization. It becomes an associate member of the Association of Southeast Asian Universities and achieves the National Education Accreditation Standard in 2017. TDMU also has 4 majors that meet AUN - QA standards in December, 2019. (TDMU., 2019) Contributing to the development of the university over the past 10 years is the contribution of external activities and international cooperation. The predecessor of the Office of International Affairs is the Office of Science and International Relations, which is established under Decision No. 108/QĐĐHTDM of the President of Thu Dau Mot University. In 2010, the Office of International Affairs is re-established from the separation of the Office of Science and International Relations. The Office has the functions of advising the President, and directly implementing communication activities to improve the position of the University, establishing and maintaining cooperative relationships with domestic and foreign partners to promote the development of the University in all strategic activities2. The Office of International Affairs has achieved some significant results in expanding relations with many international partners and organizations in the world. According to the report about international cooperation in 2021 of OIA, until now, TDMU has signed 38 Memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the educational institutions from countries: Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Singapore… and welcomed more than 100 international visitors from all over the 1 2 Thu Dau Mot University (2021). Gioi thieu. Retrieved from https://tdmu.edu.vn/Gioi-thieu ibid. 2 world. The collaboration with foreign partners has brought TDMU many students and lecturers exchange programs, collaborative training programs, scientific conferences, and the improvement of university facilities. TDMU has also signed cooperation agreements to supply high-quality labor for foreign enterprises located in Binh Duong province. In addition, since 2010, TDMU has supported training for students of the Lao People's Democratic Republic under the cooperation agreement between Binh Duong province and Champasak province. The international cooperation activities of OIA are mainly implemented through email exchange with the partners. After achieving a successful exchange, OIA will arrange face-to-face meetings to carry out the work. For this reason, email exchange is one of important parts to establish a good relationship with the partners. In the current digital age, a series of scientific and technological inventions are applied in life. In the old days, to send a letter, people have to spend a lot of time going from home to the post office and put it in the mailbox. Moreover, it takes much time to move mail from one place to another. There are some problems during the sending process in the traditional way such as lost mail and many other unexpected problems. To overcome that situation, Electronic Mail (Email or E-mail) is invented. Email has begun to play an important role in communication purposes with the growing in using the Internet. According to Joseph Johnson (2021), there are over 306.4 billion emails sent and received per day worldwide in 2021, this figure is forecast to grow to over 376.4 billion by year-end 2025. The contact and exchange with foreign partners of OIA are also mostly via emails. To communicate with partners from all over the world, OIA uses some languages such as Chinese, Korean and especially English. Consequently, the way to write emails in English effectively is important, which requires the master of Speech Act Theory. Using Speech Acts in emails when contacting and exchanging with foreign partners of OIA is extremely critical to achieve the effect of 3 communication. If people who work in the field of international relations do not know clearly about Speech Acts or the knowledge of Speech Acts, particularly how Speech Acts perform and how to use Speech Acts, they may misunderstanding the partners’ intended meanings through sentences and cannot use Speech Acts effectively to convey their intentions to the partners as well. That will lead to not being able to build a good relationship with partners. Moreover, misunderstanding is one of the main reasons for disruption in relationships. In TDMU, until now, the study on Speech Acts in emails, especially with foreign partners in international relations has not been conducted yet. In consequence, the researcher decides to conduct a study on Speech Acts employed in email messages of OIA in TDMU. Based on the background above, the researcher chooses to conduct a study in the form of a thesis entitled “Speech Acts in Email Communication for international relations at Thu Dau Mot University”. 1.2. Aims of the study The study aims to investigate the types of Illocutionary Acts and point out the functions of Illocutionary Acts applied in OIA’s emails in TDMU. After finishing the study successfully, the researcher expects it is beneficial for people who work/study in the field of international relations and Linguistics in general and OIA’s staff in particular for using Speech Acts to communicate effectively. 1.3. Research objectives and questions 1.3.1. Research objectives The present study has been designed to reach the following objectives: • To identify the types of Illocutionary Acts employed in Office of International Affairs’ emails in TDMU. • To describe the functions of each type of Illocutionary Acts employed in Office of International Affairs’ emails in TDMU. 4 1.3.2. Research questions As a consequence, the study is aimed at seeking the answers to 2 oriented questions as follows: Question 1: What are the types of Illocutionary Acts employed in Office of International Affairs’ emails in Thu Dau Mot University? Question 2: What are the functions of each type of Illocutionary Acts employed in Office of International Affairs’ emails in Thu Dau Mot University? 1.4. Significance of the study The results of the study are expected to give contributions as follows: 1.4.1. Practical Significance  Office of International Affairs The study results are expected to provide more knowledge and information about Speech Acts for OIA’s staff. By doing this research, the researcher expects it will help OIA’s staff to use Speech Acts easier and more effective to contact and exchange with international partnerships and be able to interpret the partners’ intentions correctly via their sentences.  People work/study related to international relations and Linguistics The study also can be used as a reference for people who work and study in the field of international relations and Linguistics  English teaching/ learning The result of this study is a helpful material for English teaching/ learning to use Speech Acts appropriately to achieve the effective communication. 1.4.2. Theoretical Significance The findings of the study first are expected to enrich the comprehension and understanding of Speech Acts. In other words, it is expected to enrich for the 5 corpus of Linguistics, especially Speech Acts. Moreover, this research can be used as a reference for the researchers who conduct related research in the future. Finally, it also is expected to inspire other researchers to open more deeper researches about Speech Acts. 1.5. Scope of the study This study focuses on analyzing the categories of the Illocutionary Acts and their functions found in OIA’s emails in TDMU. The study data is obtained from emails of OIA during the time period of January 2018 until October 2021 since the researcher only receives permission to get the emails during that time period. In this study, the researcher tries to find the types of Illocutionary Acts and their functions expressed in OIA’s emails based on the classification of Searle (1976). 1.6. Limitations of the study This research only focuses on the categorization of Speech Acts mainly the types of the Illocutionary Acts and their functions proposed by Searle expressed in OIA’s emails in TDMU from January 2018 to October 2021. 1.7. Organization of the study This thesis consists of 5 chapters. They are Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Results and Discussion and Conclusions. Chapter 1: Introduction In the chapter, the background of the study is provided. Then come the aims, research questions and objectives. The significance, limitation and scope of the study, organization of the study, and the summary are also presented in this chapter. Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter covers the literature review that involves the theories related to the study, the definition of Pragmatics, Speech Acts, Emails and context. 6 Moreover, some previous studies are reviewed. This chapter also provides the conceptual framework of the study and the summary of this chapter. Chapter 3: Methodology This chapter describes the methodology applied in carrying the study. It includes research design, setting, data sources and samples, and instruments of the study. It also comprises the approach of data collection and data analysis, the data trustworthiness of the study, and the summary of this chapter. Chapter 4: Results and Discussion Chapter 4 presents the results of the study and the discussion of the results from collected data. The summary of this chapter is also provided. Chapter 5: Conclusion This chapter deals with the conclusions of the study, the implications of the study and the recommendations for the next studies. 1.8. Summary Speech Act is one of the aspects of Pragmatics that attracts various researchers to study so there have been several studies on Speech Acts conducted by researchers all over the world in numerous decades. However, up to now, there has not been any research on Speech Acts especially in emails in the field of international cooperation at TDMU. Therefore, the study aims at analyzing the types of Illocutionary Acts and their functions found in OIA’s emails to help OIA’s staff and other people who work/study in the field of international relations using Speech Acts effectively. It also contributes to enhancing the work efficiency for OIA, thereby contributing to the development of TDMU. 7