A CROSS- CULTURAL STUDY OF CRITICIZING UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN ENGLISH CLASSES IN VIETNAM BY ENGLISH NATIVE SPEAKER TEACHERS AND VIETNAMESE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH

Abstract

Based on the theoretical background of pragmatics and cross-cultural pragmatics, this study investigates similarities and differences in criticizing university students in English classes by English Native Speakers Teachers (ENSTs) and Vietnamese Teachers of English (VTsE) in terms of politeness strategy. The data of the study is collected via two kinds of questionnaire. The first is Metapragmatic questionnaire (MPQ) which tests the validity and the reliability of the manner of complimenting in 12 typical situations. The second is Discourse Completion Task questionnaire (DCT) which collects linguistic input. Besides, some parameters of informants such as age, gender, nationality, teaching experience are also taken into consideration so that the two aspects of the politeness dimension above are thoroughly investigated. The findings of the study are cross- cultural compared and contrasted so as to specify major similarities and differences in the ways ENSTs and VTsE criticize university students. The author hopes that the study, to a certain extent, helps cross-cultural interactants communicate effectively and avoid cultural shock or communication breakdown.