A study of gossip In english and vietnamese

Abstract

Based on the theoretical background of gossip as well as some speech features that appear in communication, this study investigates the perception of gossip, the frequency of some speech features (lexical hedges, intensifiers, tag questions, and requests) in gossip, and structures of gossip in English and Vietnamese. Metapragmatic Questionniare (MQ) and Open role play (ORP) situations are the two data-gathering instruments which help the author collect the data for this study. With 4 questions composed in the MQ, we want to examine the perception of gossip by English and Vietnamese respondents in terms of purposes, topics, targets, and receivers of gossip. Besides, the study also gives out 6 role play situations to measure the frequency of some speech features of gossip which are used by both Vietnamese and English respondents. Also, the structures of gossip discussed in literature and realized in the data are presented. The conclusion drawn from data analysis and findings are presented and compared to figure out some similarities and differences in perception of gossip and in the use of some speech features in gossip in the two languages and cultures. With the recognization of such similarities and differences, we hope that this study partially contributes to the avoidance of cultural conflicts possibly leading to communication breakdown.