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Luận văn tiếng Anh: Conjunctions in some English and Vietnamese newletters: a contrastive analysis = Phân tích đối chiếu liên từ trong một số bức thư ngỏ Tiếng Anh và Tiếng Việt. M.A Thesis Linguistics: 60 22 15
Nhà xuất bản: University of Languages and International Studies
Ngày: 2012
Chủ đề: Liên từ
Tiếng Anh
Kỹ năng viết
Miêu tả: 43 p. + CD-ROM + Tóm tắt
M.A. Thesis English Linguistics -- University of Languages and International Studies. Vietnam National University, Hanoi, 2012
It is a fact that English has entirely become an international language on account of its highest effectiveness in communication. In effect, a prevalent phenomenon has been occurring in a great number of countries in the world where millions of people are attempting to use the language as native speakers. Nevertheless, it is inadequate to take care of the choice of words (adjectives, nouns, verbs, and articles&hellip
, grammar rules (voice, aspect, and tense&hellip alone for fruitful communication; using conjunctions is highly appreciated. Without conjunctions, it is rather hard to understand the content of a meandering speech. In addition, the given ideas are completely by no means cohesive, logical and unified. It is undeniable that conjunction is so complex a category that foreigners cannot Giúp having trouble in use. Also, for its complexity, the writer has no ambition to present all aspects of conjunctions. The researcher merely focuses on contrastive analysis of the use of conjunctions in English and Vietnamese Newsletters. Through the study, readers not only understand deeply about conjunctions in general but also, more importantly, Vietnamese learners have clearer knowledge about the similarities and differences in conjunction usages between English and Vietnamese in particular so that difficulties can be dealt with by some suggestions
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Declaration ………………………………………………………......... i
Acknowledgements …………………………………………………… ii
List of tables…………………………………………………………… iii
Abstract ……………………………………………………………….. iv
Table of contents ……………………………………………………… v
PART 1: INTRODUCTION …………………………………………. 1
1. Rationale for the study ……………………………………………… 1
2. Aims of the study …………………………………………………… 2
3. Scope of the study …………………………………………………... 2
4. Methods of the study ……………………… ………………………... 2
5. Design of the study. ………………………………………………... 3
PART 2: DEVELOPMENT……………………………….................. 4
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND………………… 4
1.1. An overview of Newsletters…………………………………........ 4
1.1.1. Definitions of Newsletters……………………………… 4
1.1.2. Types of Newsletters…………………………………… 4vi
1.1.3. Formats of Newsletters……………………………......... 5
1.1.4. English and Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters………. 7
1.2. English and Vietnamese Conjunctions………………………….. 7
1.2.1. English conjunctions…………………………………………… 7
1.2.1.1. Definitions of English conjunctions…………………... 7
1.2.1.2. Classifications of English conjunctions………………. 8
1.2.2. Vietnamese conjunctions………………………………………. 15
1.2.2.1. Definitions of Vietnamese conjunctions……………… 15
1.2.2.2. Classifications of Vietnamese conjunctions………….. 16
1.3. Related studies …………………………………………………… 18
1.4. Summary………………………………………………………….. 19
CHAPTER 2: CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF
CONJUNCTIONS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE
MARKETING NEWSLETTERS…………………………………….
20
2.1. Introduction………………………………………………………. 20
2.2. Contrastive analysis of conjunctions in English and
Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters…………………………………..
20
2.2.1. Frequency of using conjunctions in English and
Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters…………………………………….
20
2.2.2. Similarities and Differences in conjunction usages in
English and Vietnamese..………………………………………….........
25
Ket-noi.com kho tai lieu mien phi Ket-noi.com kho tai lieu mien phivii
2.2.2.1. Similarities……………………………………… 25
2.2.2.2. Differences……………………………………… 31
2.3. Summary………………………………………………………….. 34
PART 3: CONCLUSION……………………………………………... 35
1. Recapitulation………………………………………………………... 35
2. Implications………………………………………………………….. 36
2.1. Implications for EFL teaching and learning………………… 36
2.2. Implications for translating………………………………… 38
3. Contributions of the study…………………………………………… 39
4. Limitations of the study…………… ………………………………… 39
5. Suggestions for further research……………………………………... 40
REFERENCES ……………………………….…………………......... 41
APPENDICES1
PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale for the study
In the world of cooperation and development, English has become an
international language and effective means of communication bringing nations
throughout the world close together. English is said to have played a very important
role in the development of commerce, trade, education, technology, economics, etc
in almost every country especially in Vietnam’s integration into the world.
Therefore, it is necessary to know how to use English correctly and
communicatively. In the process of learning English, having good knowledge of
English grammar is of great importance, for one can express his/her ideas, feelings
or emotions not only by separated words but also by meaningful sentences formed
grammatically. Thus, the importance of grammar is the researcher’s first reason for
choosing this topic.
The second reason the writer chooses conjunctions to study is that when
grammar is under discussion, most people tend to appreciate the significances of
tenses, aspects, voices, order of clause elements rather than conjunctions.
Conjunctions, functioning as connectors and transition signals, actually play an
important role in linking sentences, paragraphs, or clauses each other. Apart from
this, thanks to conjunctions, various kinds of grammatical sentences are formed
such as compound sentences and complex sentences.
One more reason that has inspired the researcher to the topic is her deep
interest in English Commerce, especially in newsletters. The fact is that, a
newsletter is regarded as a form that many companies use to promote their products.
It serves as a smaller phiên bản of the newspaper to create good relationships with
customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders. It goes without saying that newsletters
contribute towards the overall success of the business. Newsletters are also known
as consultant letters, so they need to have the logic and coherence to attract
customers. Besides, conjunctions are seen as an essential means of linking so as to
Ket-noi.com kho tai lieu mien phi Ket-noi.com kho tai lieu mien phi2
increase the persuasion in newsletters. Therefore, studying and finding the
similarities and differences in conjunction usages in English and Vietnamese
Newsletters will be of great Giúp to the writer in teaching economic students at Hoa
Lu University where the author is working.
2. Aims of the study
The research firstly aims to study conjunctions used in English and
Vietnamese marketing newsletters and then explore the similarities and differences
based on the syntactic and semantic features between them. At the end of the study,
some implications for teaching, learning and translation will be covered as useful
resources. To fully achieve these aims, the study should answer the following
questions:
1. How frequent are conjunctions in English and Vietnamese Newsletters?
2. What are the similarities and differences in conjunction usages in English
and Vietnamese Newsletters?
3. Scope of the study
Many topics relating to conjunctions as well as lots of types of newsletters in
different fields need to be exploited. For the feasibility of a minor M.A. thesis, the
writer narrowed the scope of the paper. The main focus is on the descriptive and
contrastive analysis of conjunction usages in English and Vietnamese marketing
newsletters with respect to the syntactic and semantic features.
4. Methods of the study
The study has been carried out based on a combination of different methods,
among which the main method is contrastive analysis. In fact, according to Carl
James (1980), contrastive analysis (CA) is defined as a linguistic enterprise aimed at
producing inverted two-valued typologies (a CA is always concerned with a pair of
languages), and founded on the assumption that languages can be compared. For the
contrastive analysis method, English is considered to be the target language and
Vietnamese - the source language - a means to contrast. The author has taken 403
samples of both English and Vietnamese marketing newsletters (20 English and 20
Vietnamese ones) to compare and contrast. This method involves two steps:
describing the syntactic and semantic features of conjunctions in English and
Vietnamese marketing newsletters, then comparing and contrasting to point out the
similarities and differences between these two languages. Together with this
method, the writer also uses the quantitative method that is based on data to
examine conjunctions used in both English and Vietnamese. Supporting techniques
such as reference to the publication, consultation with the supervisor, discussion with
colleagues, and personal observations are also of great significance.
5. Design of the study
The study consists of three main parts organized as follows:
Part 1 entitles “INTRODUCTION” outlining the background of the study in
which a brief account of relevant information such as rationale, aims, scope,
methods, and designs of the study will be presented.
Part 2, the “DEVELOPMENT” is subdivided into two chapters. Chapter 1
– Theoretical background, as its name suggests, covers a series of concepts about
English and Vietnamese conjunctions and an overview of newsletters. The writer
also introduces some famous studies related to conjunctions as a source to develop
this thesis. In Chapter 2, the researcher focuses on “Contrastive analysis of
conjunctions in English and Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters”. The author
analyzes and contrasts how to use conjunctions in English and Vietnamese
marketing newsletters based on the syntactic and semantic features to find out the
similarities and differences in the two languages.
Part 3, the CONCLUSION, is the last part of the study which summarizes
what has been done, what has not been covered, accompanied by suggestions for
further study. Some possible implications for language teaching, learning and
translation are given at the end of this part with a view to providing a new insight
into a very important device of linking in English and Vietnamese.
Ket-noi.com kho tai lieu mien phi Ket-noi.com kho tai lieu mien phi4
PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. An overview of Newsletters
1.1.1. Definitions of Newsletters
According to Edward A. Hamilton (1996) in the book “Newsletters Design”,
a newsletter is an ambiguous term. It is defined as a condensed periodical used to
communicate specialized editorial information. He explains briefly that
“condensed” means it is shorter than the average newspaper or magazine and
provides lots of information in limited space; “periodical” means it is published
regularly; “specialized” means it focuses not on a broad subject area such as
finance, but on a subject-within-a-subject such as real estate finance, not on
organizations in general, but a specific organization.
From the point of Nadeem Hussain’s views, in the article “Advantages and
disadvantages of Newsletters” published on September 18th, 2008, a newsletter is
defined as a form of advertising that is sent periodically. It is considered as a
popularly effective marketing tool, it provides relevant and updated information of
the products or services of the organization for the existing clients or customers.
In another persuasive definition written by Chuck Green (2002), a
newsletter is one of the best ways to keep the company’s name in front of the eyes
of the clients, the associates, and others that may be in the company’s market target.
And sending newsletters to customers is a common marketing strategy which can
bring many benefits for the company.
1.1.2.Types of Newsletters
In his book “Design it Yourself Newsletters” written by Chuck Green (2002),
he describes three basic types of Newsletters or models of newsletters including5
Marketing Newsletters, Relationship Newsletters, and Expert Newsletters. The
author also shows that each type of newsletter has its own characteristics.
The first type is Marketing Newsletters. They are commonly used by
businesses to promote a product or a kind of service. It is also known as a company
newsletter. The marketing newsletter tries to turn prospective customers into
patrons.
The second type is Relationship Newsletters. Some examples about this type
are club newsletters, employee newsletters, church newsletters, and school
newsletters. They focus on the shared interests of the target audience or reinforcing
a relationship.
The last type is Expert Newsletters. This type can be very exclusive or be
paid. These newsletters generally focus on a specific topic and the recipient is
someone who has specifically requested the information in the newsletters and is
willing to pay for the information.
1.1.3. Formats of Newsletters
According to Janice Byer in the article “Newsletters are smart marketing”
published on August 12th, 2010, newsletters can be produced in several formats. For
businesses, the most economical and most readily acceptable newsletter formats are
plain text emails, HTML emails, and HTML page on the website, PDF, and print.
The author also shows that each newsletter format has its own advantages and
disadvantages and they are shown on the table below:
Format Pros Cons
Plain Text
Email
Easy to format Limited to text only
Easy for readers to open Cannot include graphics or fancy
formatting
Costs only your time
HTML
Email
Visually appealing Restricted in size
Costs only your time Can only be fully viewed while
Allows for creativeness readers are online
Ket-noi.com kho tai lieu mien phi Ket-noi.com kho tai lieu mien phi6
HTML
Web Page
Endless possibilities for design Takes time to design
Room for lots of content & graphics Readers have to be online to view
Do not need to send as email
attachment
Costs only your time
PDF
Endless possibilities for design The larger the format, the longer to
produce
Room for lots of content & graphics Need to have the full phiên bản of
Adobe to produce or a PDF printer
driver
Can send only a text email with a
link to the page
Readers can save to their computer
and read at their leisure
Print Costs only your time
Endless possibilities for design Costly to print and mail
Room for lots of content & graphics
Determining which model fits the types of newsletters to use and publish is
to depend on the user’s purposes. Having the same opinion with Janice Byer, Ladan
Lashkari in the article “Newsletter Formats – How to easily choose the perfect
format for your newsletters”, published on January 19th, 2007 also gives three basic
formats of Newsletters. They are HTML, plain text, and PDF. She states that HTML
is a good format because it is more professional than plain text and easier to create
than PDF. It allows extensive use of graphics and text links. Using graphics and
product pictures in newsletters can really attract customers’ attention. Plain text is
the easiest format to create, but it does not sound professional because no technical
knowledge and special software are required as well. PDF is not used as commonly
as the two above newsletters formats. It is quite difficult to produce because the
writer needs to build each issue in Microsoft Word first and then convert it into PDF
with special software.
In comparison with English newsletters formats, the writer realizes that
HTML and PDF are the widely used formats in Vietnamese newsletters.7
1.1.4. English and Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters
One of the biggest tasks of many business companies today is gaining and
keeping prospective customers. Accordingly, most companies use marketing
newsletters as an effective way to promote their products and services, and English
and Vietnamese companies are no exception.
According to Nadeem Hussain (2008), marketing newsletter is a form of
advertising that is sent periodically. It is a document that notifies, reminds, advises,
communicates and advertises about a business to its target audiences and customers.
In addition, it is also a good way to build an effective connection with clients.
Companies can motivate customers to buy their products through informative
marketing newsletters.
Both English and Vietnamese marketing newsletters are being widely used
by many companies with a view to promoting their businesses. However, there is
still a slight difference that English marketing newsletters content is often longer
than that in Vietnamese.
1.2. English and Vietnamese Conjunctions
1.2.1. English conjunctions
1.2.1.1. Definitions of English conjunctions
Conjunction is a word rooted from two Latin oniunctio or coniunctions
meaning “to join together”. (Mc Arthur, 1992). English conjunctions are defined
as words which typically join sentences and elements within sentence” (Berk,
1999). According to him, we can always add one structure to another by joining two
or more elements with a conjunction.
Rodney Huddleston (1944) defines conjunction as uninflected word that used
to connect clauses or sentences, or to coordinate words in the same clause. Another
Ket-noi.com kho tai lieu mien phi Ket-noi.com kho tai lieu mien phi8
definition by Ann Cole Brown (1987), conjunction is a word that connects
individual words or groups of words. In fact, a conjunction literally means the act of
joining or combination.
And in a word, it is worth viewing the most adequate definition by Richard
Mallery (1967) that “a conjunction is a word or a pair of words used either to
connect words, phrases, clauses or sentences or to show how one sentence is
related to another.” Many definitions of conjunctions are arrived at by other
grammarians. However, they generally defined the concept of conjunction in the
light of emphasizing on its main function concerning the combination of words,
clauses or sentences.
1.2.1.2. Classification of English conjunctions
According to Chalker (1967), the word-class conjunction is a traditional one
which can be divided into coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.
Coordinating conjunctions join grammatically equal elements whereas
subordinating conjunctions link a subordinate “dependent” clause to a main clause.
Also, he points out conjunctions consist of single words (because, however, so),
compound conjunctions (as long as, so that, surprising that, provided that) and
correlative ones (both… and).
However, from many grammarians’ points of view such as Carol Ann
Bergman (1989), Ann Cole Brown (1987) and Quirk and Greenbaun (1973),
English conjunctions include coordinating conjunctions (or more simply
coordinators), subordinating conjunctions (or subordinators) and correlative
conjunctions (correlatives).
In “Grammar, rhetoric, and composition” (Mallery, 1967), conjunctions can
be arranged into three principal groups: coordinating, correlative and subordinating
conjunctions. With correlative and subordinator groups, the writer merely states
their definition together with the list of words belonging to both groups. However,9
apart from common correlatives (both … and, either … or, neither … nor, not only
… but also) the writer recommends others: though … yet, whether … or, so … as, if
… then, as … as.
Another research provided by Chalker (1967), conjunctions are traditionally
divided into coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. According to him and,
or, but, so, yet, for, neither … nor, either … or, both … and, not only … but also
belong to the coordinator group. They are used to join two equal parts of the
sentence whereas the subordinating conjunctions are used to link a modifying clause
to a main clause
To sum up, there are many different ideas about types of conjunctions. The
author would like to take three types of conjunctions including coordinating,
subordinating and correlatives into consideration as follows:
(i) Coordinating conjunctions
Definitions and functions of coordinators
Based on Quirk’s viewpoint (1973), explicit indicators of coordination are
termed coordinating conjunctions. And coordination is analyzed as the process of
joining units which are in equal status. In other words, coordination involves the
linking of units which are constituents of the same level. Virtually, the process of
conjoining equal status units must be attended by a coordinator which is a word
which joins elements that are grammatically equal (Chalker, 1967).
In “A reference English Grammar”, R.A. Close (1975) stresses the
coordination of separate parts of clauses caused by coordinating conjunctions. A
specific explanation about separated parts of a clause shows that more than two
parts of the subject, object, etc can be further added. Sometimes, coordination
prompts ambiguous meaning. What is more, coordinators can join more than two
clauses in order to form a compound sentence.
Ket-noi.com kho tai lieu mien phi Ket-noi.com kho tai lieu mien phi10
In terms of function, Michael Swan (1995) states that the basic function of
coordinators to join pairs of clauses that are grammatically independent from each
other.
From Ann Cole Brown’s point of view, the function of coordinators is more
elaborative. She gives three main functions: First of all, a coordinating conjunction
may connect nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases and other
sentence elements. Each coordinating conjunction shows a different relationship
between the words that it connects. Secondly, a coordinating conjunction may
connect two of independent clauses which are groups of words that can stand by
themselves as complete sentences. Thirdly, a conjunction helps to avoid repetition
by bringing separate items into one sentence.
Syntactic features of coordinators
Quirk and GreenBaum in “A University Grammar of English” (1973)
introduced six syntactic features of coordinators as follows:
2.2. Implications for translating
Translation is a process of interpreting a text either in the form of speech or
writing from one language (the source language) into another (the target language)
into an equivalent text. To achieve the best translation equivalence, translators must
take into account the grammatical rules of the two languages, their writing
conventions, their conjunctions. The biggest problem translators must face with
conjunctions is their meanings. It is not too difficult to learn their syntactic features
but mastering their semantic features is really a challenge.
Through the comparison between English and Vietnamese, it is advisable for
interpreters and learners is that they should pay much attention to using two couple
conjunctions “Tuy/mặc dù…nhưng…” and “bởi vì…nên….”. As discussed above,
these couple conjunctions are popularly used in Vietnamese sentences, but they
never exist in English to have: Although … but/ though … but, because … so.
Secondly, translators should analyze the connotative meaning of
conjunctions and find an alternative means of translation; if possible, understanding
cross - cultural notes between English and Vietnamese are helpful hints for
translating implied conjunctions from Vietnamese into English. For example, the
meaning of coordinator “but” is not popular in English; yet, Vietnamese is rich in
this use of “nhưng”. The link by “nhưng” was implied in the connection of two
sentences in which one has a denotative meaning while the other has a connotative
meaning. This is illustrated in the following sentence: “Anh Phong thông minh
nhưng anh Hoàng đẹp trai.” In this example, “nhưng” cannot be easily translated as
“but” because it does not seem to convey all the connotative meaning of the
sentence. There is no measure of comparing smartness, a quality of human intellect
with handsomeness, a feature belonging to people’s appearance. Actually, there are
two hidden comparison between Phong and Hoang. One is “Phong is smarter than
Hoang”, other is “Hoang is more handsome than Phong”. This viewpoint was best
justified by Nguyễn Lai (2006). He emphasizes that if only studying conjunctions
as a tool, a sign of expressing grammar relationships, not yet paying attention to
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Nhà xuất bản: University of Languages and International Studies
Ngày: 2012
Chủ đề: Liên từ
Tiếng Anh
Kỹ năng viết
Miêu tả: 43 p. + CD-ROM + Tóm tắt
M.A. Thesis English Linguistics -- University of Languages and International Studies. Vietnam National University, Hanoi, 2012
It is a fact that English has entirely become an international language on account of its highest effectiveness in communication. In effect, a prevalent phenomenon has been occurring in a great number of countries in the world where millions of people are attempting to use the language as native speakers. Nevertheless, it is inadequate to take care of the choice of words (adjectives, nouns, verbs, and articles&hellip
, grammar rules (voice, aspect, and tense&hellip alone for fruitful communication; using conjunctions is highly appreciated. Without conjunctions, it is rather hard to understand the content of a meandering speech. In addition, the given ideas are completely by no means cohesive, logical and unified. It is undeniable that conjunction is so complex a category that foreigners cannot Giúp having trouble in use. Also, for its complexity, the writer has no ambition to present all aspects of conjunctions. The researcher merely focuses on contrastive analysis of the use of conjunctions in English and Vietnamese Newsletters. Through the study, readers not only understand deeply about conjunctions in general but also, more importantly, Vietnamese learners have clearer knowledge about the similarities and differences in conjunction usages between English and Vietnamese in particular so that difficulties can be dealt with by some suggestionsTABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Declaration ………………………………………………………......... i
Acknowledgements …………………………………………………… ii
List of tables…………………………………………………………… iii
Abstract ……………………………………………………………….. iv
Table of contents ……………………………………………………… v
PART 1: INTRODUCTION …………………………………………. 1
1. Rationale for the study ……………………………………………… 1
2. Aims of the study …………………………………………………… 2
3. Scope of the study …………………………………………………... 2
4. Methods of the study ……………………… ………………………... 2
5. Design of the study. ………………………………………………... 3
PART 2: DEVELOPMENT……………………………….................. 4
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND………………… 4
1.1. An overview of Newsletters…………………………………........ 4
1.1.1. Definitions of Newsletters……………………………… 4
1.1.2. Types of Newsletters…………………………………… 4vi
1.1.3. Formats of Newsletters……………………………......... 5
1.1.4. English and Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters………. 7
1.2. English and Vietnamese Conjunctions………………………….. 7
1.2.1. English conjunctions…………………………………………… 7
1.2.1.1. Definitions of English conjunctions…………………... 7
1.2.1.2. Classifications of English conjunctions………………. 8
1.2.2. Vietnamese conjunctions………………………………………. 15
1.2.2.1. Definitions of Vietnamese conjunctions……………… 15
1.2.2.2. Classifications of Vietnamese conjunctions………….. 16
1.3. Related studies …………………………………………………… 18
1.4. Summary………………………………………………………….. 19
CHAPTER 2: CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF
CONJUNCTIONS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE
MARKETING NEWSLETTERS…………………………………….
20
2.1. Introduction………………………………………………………. 20
2.2. Contrastive analysis of conjunctions in English and
Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters…………………………………..
20
2.2.1. Frequency of using conjunctions in English and
Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters…………………………………….
20
2.2.2. Similarities and Differences in conjunction usages in
English and Vietnamese..………………………………………….........
25
Ket-noi.com kho tai lieu mien phi Ket-noi.com kho tai lieu mien phivii
2.2.2.1. Similarities……………………………………… 25
2.2.2.2. Differences……………………………………… 31
2.3. Summary………………………………………………………….. 34
PART 3: CONCLUSION……………………………………………... 35
1. Recapitulation………………………………………………………... 35
2. Implications………………………………………………………….. 36
2.1. Implications for EFL teaching and learning………………… 36
2.2. Implications for translating………………………………… 38
3. Contributions of the study…………………………………………… 39
4. Limitations of the study…………… ………………………………… 39
5. Suggestions for further research……………………………………... 40
REFERENCES ……………………………….…………………......... 41
APPENDICES1
PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale for the study
In the world of cooperation and development, English has become an
international language and effective means of communication bringing nations
throughout the world close together. English is said to have played a very important
role in the development of commerce, trade, education, technology, economics, etc
in almost every country especially in Vietnam’s integration into the world.
Therefore, it is necessary to know how to use English correctly and
communicatively. In the process of learning English, having good knowledge of
English grammar is of great importance, for one can express his/her ideas, feelings
or emotions not only by separated words but also by meaningful sentences formed
grammatically. Thus, the importance of grammar is the researcher’s first reason for
choosing this topic.
The second reason the writer chooses conjunctions to study is that when
grammar is under discussion, most people tend to appreciate the significances of
tenses, aspects, voices, order of clause elements rather than conjunctions.
Conjunctions, functioning as connectors and transition signals, actually play an
important role in linking sentences, paragraphs, or clauses each other. Apart from
this, thanks to conjunctions, various kinds of grammatical sentences are formed
such as compound sentences and complex sentences.
One more reason that has inspired the researcher to the topic is her deep
interest in English Commerce, especially in newsletters. The fact is that, a
newsletter is regarded as a form that many companies use to promote their products.
It serves as a smaller phiên bản of the newspaper to create good relationships with
customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders. It goes without saying that newsletters
contribute towards the overall success of the business. Newsletters are also known
as consultant letters, so they need to have the logic and coherence to attract
customers. Besides, conjunctions are seen as an essential means of linking so as to
Ket-noi.com kho tai lieu mien phi Ket-noi.com kho tai lieu mien phi2
increase the persuasion in newsletters. Therefore, studying and finding the
similarities and differences in conjunction usages in English and Vietnamese
Newsletters will be of great Giúp to the writer in teaching economic students at Hoa
Lu University where the author is working.
2. Aims of the study
The research firstly aims to study conjunctions used in English and
Vietnamese marketing newsletters and then explore the similarities and differences
based on the syntactic and semantic features between them. At the end of the study,
some implications for teaching, learning and translation will be covered as useful
resources. To fully achieve these aims, the study should answer the following
questions:
1. How frequent are conjunctions in English and Vietnamese Newsletters?
2. What are the similarities and differences in conjunction usages in English
and Vietnamese Newsletters?
3. Scope of the study
Many topics relating to conjunctions as well as lots of types of newsletters in
different fields need to be exploited. For the feasibility of a minor M.A. thesis, the
writer narrowed the scope of the paper. The main focus is on the descriptive and
contrastive analysis of conjunction usages in English and Vietnamese marketing
newsletters with respect to the syntactic and semantic features.
4. Methods of the study
The study has been carried out based on a combination of different methods,
among which the main method is contrastive analysis. In fact, according to Carl
James (1980), contrastive analysis (CA) is defined as a linguistic enterprise aimed at
producing inverted two-valued typologies (a CA is always concerned with a pair of
languages), and founded on the assumption that languages can be compared. For the
contrastive analysis method, English is considered to be the target language and
Vietnamese - the source language - a means to contrast. The author has taken 403
samples of both English and Vietnamese marketing newsletters (20 English and 20
Vietnamese ones) to compare and contrast. This method involves two steps:
describing the syntactic and semantic features of conjunctions in English and
Vietnamese marketing newsletters, then comparing and contrasting to point out the
similarities and differences between these two languages. Together with this
method, the writer also uses the quantitative method that is based on data to
examine conjunctions used in both English and Vietnamese. Supporting techniques
such as reference to the publication, consultation with the supervisor, discussion with
colleagues, and personal observations are also of great significance.
5. Design of the study
The study consists of three main parts organized as follows:
Part 1 entitles “INTRODUCTION” outlining the background of the study in
which a brief account of relevant information such as rationale, aims, scope,
methods, and designs of the study will be presented.
Part 2, the “DEVELOPMENT” is subdivided into two chapters. Chapter 1
– Theoretical background, as its name suggests, covers a series of concepts about
English and Vietnamese conjunctions and an overview of newsletters. The writer
also introduces some famous studies related to conjunctions as a source to develop
this thesis. In Chapter 2, the researcher focuses on “Contrastive analysis of
conjunctions in English and Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters”. The author
analyzes and contrasts how to use conjunctions in English and Vietnamese
marketing newsletters based on the syntactic and semantic features to find out the
similarities and differences in the two languages.
Part 3, the CONCLUSION, is the last part of the study which summarizes
what has been done, what has not been covered, accompanied by suggestions for
further study. Some possible implications for language teaching, learning and
translation are given at the end of this part with a view to providing a new insight
into a very important device of linking in English and Vietnamese.
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PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. An overview of Newsletters
1.1.1. Definitions of Newsletters
According to Edward A. Hamilton (1996) in the book “Newsletters Design”,
a newsletter is an ambiguous term. It is defined as a condensed periodical used to
communicate specialized editorial information. He explains briefly that
“condensed” means it is shorter than the average newspaper or magazine and
provides lots of information in limited space; “periodical” means it is published
regularly; “specialized” means it focuses not on a broad subject area such as
finance, but on a subject-within-a-subject such as real estate finance, not on
organizations in general, but a specific organization.
From the point of Nadeem Hussain’s views, in the article “Advantages and
disadvantages of Newsletters” published on September 18th, 2008, a newsletter is
defined as a form of advertising that is sent periodically. It is considered as a
popularly effective marketing tool, it provides relevant and updated information of
the products or services of the organization for the existing clients or customers.
In another persuasive definition written by Chuck Green (2002), a
newsletter is one of the best ways to keep the company’s name in front of the eyes
of the clients, the associates, and others that may be in the company’s market target.
And sending newsletters to customers is a common marketing strategy which can
bring many benefits for the company.
1.1.2.Types of Newsletters
In his book “Design it Yourself Newsletters” written by Chuck Green (2002),
he describes three basic types of Newsletters or models of newsletters including5
Marketing Newsletters, Relationship Newsletters, and Expert Newsletters. The
author also shows that each type of newsletter has its own characteristics.
The first type is Marketing Newsletters. They are commonly used by
businesses to promote a product or a kind of service. It is also known as a company
newsletter. The marketing newsletter tries to turn prospective customers into
patrons.
The second type is Relationship Newsletters. Some examples about this type
are club newsletters, employee newsletters, church newsletters, and school
newsletters. They focus on the shared interests of the target audience or reinforcing
a relationship.
The last type is Expert Newsletters. This type can be very exclusive or be
paid. These newsletters generally focus on a specific topic and the recipient is
someone who has specifically requested the information in the newsletters and is
willing to pay for the information.
1.1.3. Formats of Newsletters
According to Janice Byer in the article “Newsletters are smart marketing”
published on August 12th, 2010, newsletters can be produced in several formats. For
businesses, the most economical and most readily acceptable newsletter formats are
plain text emails, HTML emails, and HTML page on the website, PDF, and print.
The author also shows that each newsletter format has its own advantages and
disadvantages and they are shown on the table below:
Format Pros Cons
Plain Text
Easy to format Limited to text only
Easy for readers to open Cannot include graphics or fancy
formatting
Costs only your time
HTML
Visually appealing Restricted in size
Costs only your time Can only be fully viewed while
Allows for creativeness readers are online
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HTML
Web Page
Endless possibilities for design Takes time to design
Room for lots of content & graphics Readers have to be online to view
Do not need to send as email
attachment
Costs only your time
Endless possibilities for design The larger the format, the longer to
produce
Room for lots of content & graphics Need to have the full phiên bản of
Adobe to produce or a PDF printer
driver
Can send only a text email with a
link to the page
Readers can save to their computer
and read at their leisure
Print Costs only your time
Endless possibilities for design Costly to print and mail
Room for lots of content & graphics
Determining which model fits the types of newsletters to use and publish is
to depend on the user’s purposes. Having the same opinion with Janice Byer, Ladan
Lashkari in the article “Newsletter Formats – How to easily choose the perfect
format for your newsletters”, published on January 19th, 2007 also gives three basic
formats of Newsletters. They are HTML, plain text, and PDF. She states that HTML
is a good format because it is more professional than plain text and easier to create
than PDF. It allows extensive use of graphics and text links. Using graphics and
product pictures in newsletters can really attract customers’ attention. Plain text is
the easiest format to create, but it does not sound professional because no technical
knowledge and special software are required as well. PDF is not used as commonly
as the two above newsletters formats. It is quite difficult to produce because the
writer needs to build each issue in Microsoft Word first and then convert it into PDF
with special software.
In comparison with English newsletters formats, the writer realizes that
HTML and PDF are the widely used formats in Vietnamese newsletters.7
1.1.4. English and Vietnamese Marketing Newsletters
One of the biggest tasks of many business companies today is gaining and
keeping prospective customers. Accordingly, most companies use marketing
newsletters as an effective way to promote their products and services, and English
and Vietnamese companies are no exception.
According to Nadeem Hussain (2008), marketing newsletter is a form of
advertising that is sent periodically. It is a document that notifies, reminds, advises,
communicates and advertises about a business to its target audiences and customers.
In addition, it is also a good way to build an effective connection with clients.
Companies can motivate customers to buy their products through informative
marketing newsletters.
Both English and Vietnamese marketing newsletters are being widely used
by many companies with a view to promoting their businesses. However, there is
still a slight difference that English marketing newsletters content is often longer
than that in Vietnamese.
1.2. English and Vietnamese Conjunctions
1.2.1. English conjunctions
1.2.1.1. Definitions of English conjunctions
Conjunction is a word rooted from two Latin oniunctio or coniunctions
meaning “to join together”. (Mc Arthur, 1992). English conjunctions are defined
as words which typically join sentences and elements within sentence” (Berk,
1999). According to him, we can always add one structure to another by joining two
or more elements with a conjunction.
Rodney Huddleston (1944) defines conjunction as uninflected word that used
to connect clauses or sentences, or to coordinate words in the same clause. Another
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definition by Ann Cole Brown (1987), conjunction is a word that connects
individual words or groups of words. In fact, a conjunction literally means the act of
joining or combination.
And in a word, it is worth viewing the most adequate definition by Richard
Mallery (1967) that “a conjunction is a word or a pair of words used either to
connect words, phrases, clauses or sentences or to show how one sentence is
related to another.” Many definitions of conjunctions are arrived at by other
grammarians. However, they generally defined the concept of conjunction in the
light of emphasizing on its main function concerning the combination of words,
clauses or sentences.
1.2.1.2. Classification of English conjunctions
According to Chalker (1967), the word-class conjunction is a traditional one
which can be divided into coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.
Coordinating conjunctions join grammatically equal elements whereas
subordinating conjunctions link a subordinate “dependent” clause to a main clause.
Also, he points out conjunctions consist of single words (because, however, so),
compound conjunctions (as long as, so that, surprising that, provided that) and
correlative ones (both… and).
However, from many grammarians’ points of view such as Carol Ann
Bergman (1989), Ann Cole Brown (1987) and Quirk and Greenbaun (1973),
English conjunctions include coordinating conjunctions (or more simply
coordinators), subordinating conjunctions (or subordinators) and correlative
conjunctions (correlatives).
In “Grammar, rhetoric, and composition” (Mallery, 1967), conjunctions can
be arranged into three principal groups: coordinating, correlative and subordinating
conjunctions. With correlative and subordinator groups, the writer merely states
their definition together with the list of words belonging to both groups. However,9
apart from common correlatives (both … and, either … or, neither … nor, not only
… but also) the writer recommends others: though … yet, whether … or, so … as, if
… then, as … as.
Another research provided by Chalker (1967), conjunctions are traditionally
divided into coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. According to him and,
or, but, so, yet, for, neither … nor, either … or, both … and, not only … but also
belong to the coordinator group. They are used to join two equal parts of the
sentence whereas the subordinating conjunctions are used to link a modifying clause
to a main clause
To sum up, there are many different ideas about types of conjunctions. The
author would like to take three types of conjunctions including coordinating,
subordinating and correlatives into consideration as follows:
(i) Coordinating conjunctions
Definitions and functions of coordinators
Based on Quirk’s viewpoint (1973), explicit indicators of coordination are
termed coordinating conjunctions. And coordination is analyzed as the process of
joining units which are in equal status. In other words, coordination involves the
linking of units which are constituents of the same level. Virtually, the process of
conjoining equal status units must be attended by a coordinator which is a word
which joins elements that are grammatically equal (Chalker, 1967).
In “A reference English Grammar”, R.A. Close (1975) stresses the
coordination of separate parts of clauses caused by coordinating conjunctions. A
specific explanation about separated parts of a clause shows that more than two
parts of the subject, object, etc can be further added. Sometimes, coordination
prompts ambiguous meaning. What is more, coordinators can join more than two
clauses in order to form a compound sentence.
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In terms of function, Michael Swan (1995) states that the basic function of
coordinators to join pairs of clauses that are grammatically independent from each
other.
From Ann Cole Brown’s point of view, the function of coordinators is more
elaborative. She gives three main functions: First of all, a coordinating conjunction
may connect nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases and other
sentence elements. Each coordinating conjunction shows a different relationship
between the words that it connects. Secondly, a coordinating conjunction may
connect two of independent clauses which are groups of words that can stand by
themselves as complete sentences. Thirdly, a conjunction helps to avoid repetition
by bringing separate items into one sentence.
Syntactic features of coordinators
Quirk and GreenBaum in “A University Grammar of English” (1973)
introduced six syntactic features of coordinators as follows:
2.2. Implications for translating
Translation is a process of interpreting a text either in the form of speech or
writing from one language (the source language) into another (the target language)
into an equivalent text. To achieve the best translation equivalence, translators must
take into account the grammatical rules of the two languages, their writing
conventions, their conjunctions. The biggest problem translators must face with
conjunctions is their meanings. It is not too difficult to learn their syntactic features
but mastering their semantic features is really a challenge.
Through the comparison between English and Vietnamese, it is advisable for
interpreters and learners is that they should pay much attention to using two couple
conjunctions “Tuy/mặc dù…nhưng…” and “bởi vì…nên….”. As discussed above,
these couple conjunctions are popularly used in Vietnamese sentences, but they
never exist in English to have: Although … but/ though … but, because … so.
Secondly, translators should analyze the connotative meaning of
conjunctions and find an alternative means of translation; if possible, understanding
cross - cultural notes between English and Vietnamese are helpful hints for
translating implied conjunctions from Vietnamese into English. For example, the
meaning of coordinator “but” is not popular in English; yet, Vietnamese is rich in
this use of “nhưng”. The link by “nhưng” was implied in the connection of two
sentences in which one has a denotative meaning while the other has a connotative
meaning. This is illustrated in the following sentence: “Anh Phong thông minh
nhưng anh Hoàng đẹp trai.” In this example, “nhưng” cannot be easily translated as
“but” because it does not seem to convey all the connotative meaning of the
sentence. There is no measure of comparing smartness, a quality of human intellect
with handsomeness, a feature belonging to people’s appearance. Actually, there are
two hidden comparison between Phong and Hoang. One is “Phong is smarter than
Hoang”, other is “Hoang is more handsome than Phong”. This viewpoint was best
justified by Nguyễn Lai (2006). He emphasizes that if only studying conjunctions
as a tool, a sign of expressing grammar relationships, not yet paying attention to
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