A Vietnamese-English cross-cultural study on gestures for greeting

Vietnam National University, Hanoi Department of postgraduate studies --------&-------- Bùi Thị Thu Thủy A Vietnamese-English Cross-Cultural Study on Gestures for Greeting nghiªn cøu giao v¨n hãa vÒ cö chØ chµo hái viÖt - anh Field : English linguistics Code : 50409 Course : K11. MA. Minor Thesis Supervisor: Assoc. Prof, Dr. Nguyen Quang Haiphong, July 2005 Acknowledgements I would like to express my special thanks to my supervisor, Assoc. Prof., Dr. Nguyen Quang (Foreign Languages College, VNU- Hanoi) for his invaluable guidance and instructive comments throughout this study. I am greatly indebted to my teachers (Foreign Languages College, VNU- Hanoi, Department of Post Graduate Studies), especially Dr Nguyen Van Chien (Institute for Southeast Asean Studies) for their lectures on the area of valuable knowledge which enlightened the arguments in the study. I also wish to acknowledge my friend, Nguyen Quoc Sinh for his helpful suggestions and constructive ideas, which have been useful for the accomplishment of the paper. I also wish to thank my student, Tran Thi Thien Thanh for her encouragement and valuable help. My acknowlegement goes to the informants, Vietnamese and English native speakers, who spent their precious time completing the questionnaires. Finally, and the most, I owe my deep thanks to my parents and my husband, who gave me constant support and enormous encouragement throughout my M.A.course. Haiphong, July 2005 Bui Thi Thu Thuy Table of contents Acknowledgements List of tables Page Part A: INTRODUCTION 1 1. Rationale 1 2. Aims of the study 2 3. Research questions 2 4. Scope of the study 2 5. Methods of the study 3 6. Comments on the survey questionnaires 3 7. Comments on the informants 4 8. Design of the study 6 Part B: DEVELOPMENT 7 Chapter 1 Theoretical background 7 1.1 Communication and cross-cultural communication 7 1.1.1. Communication and nonverbal communication 7 1.1.2. Nonverbal communicative competence 8 1.1.3. Cross-cultural communication 8 1.2. Gestures 9 1.2.1. Gestures defined 9 1.2.2. Gestures classified 10 1.2.3. Gestures across cultures 11 Chapter 2 Greeting gestures 14 2.1. Greetings 14 2.2. Greeting gestures across cultures 15 2.2.1 Some dead gestures 15 2.2.2. Contemporary greeting gestures 15 2.2.2.1. Handshaking 15 2.2.2.2. Hugging / Embracing 19 2.2.2.3. Waving 19 2.2.2.4. The High five 20 2.2.2.5. The Bow 20 2.2.2.6. Nodding 21 2.2.2.7. The Pat 22 2.2.2.8. Raising eyebrows 22 Chapter 3 : Data Analysis and Findings 23 3.1. Greeting gestures as perceived by the Vietnamese informants 23 3.1.1. Data analysis of greeting gestures 23 3.1.2. Considerations of factors affecting greeting gestures 27 3.1.3. Data analysis of handshaking gesture 27 3.2. Greeting gestures as perceived by Anglicist informants 29 3.2.1. Data analysis of greeting gestures 29 3.2.2. Considerations of factors affecting greeting gestures 33 3.2.3. Data analysis of handshaking gesture 34 3.3. Major cross-cultural similarities and differences 34 Part 3: Conclusion 37 1. Summary 37 2. Suggestions for avoidance of culture shock and communication 37 breakdown 3. Suggestions for further research. 38 List of tables Table 1: Informants' background Table 2: The use of greeting gestures ( for both the Vietnamese and English native speakers) Table 3: Greeting gestures most frequently used by the Vietnamese Table 4: Frequency of greeting gestures in use (Vietnamese subjects) Table 5: Greeting gestures in terms of age (Vietnamese subjects) Table 6: Greeting gestures in terms of gender (Vietnamese subjects) Table 7: Greeting gestures in terms of Marital status (Vietnamese subjects) Table 8: Greeting gestures in terms of Social status (Vietnamese subjects) Table 9: Greeting gestures in terms of communicative environment (Vietnamese subjects) Table 10: Factors affecting greeting gestures (Vietnamese subjects) Table 11: Handshaking in certain situations (Vietnamese subjects) Table 12: Handshaking in terms of gender (Vietnamese males) Table 13: Handshaking in terms of gender (Vietnamese females) Table 14: Handshaking in terms of age (20 < X < 40) Table 15: Handshaking in terms of age ( X ³ 40) Table 16: Greeting gestures most frequently used by English native speakers Table 17: Frequency of greeting gestures in use (Anglicist subjects) Table 18: Greeting gestures in terms of age (Anglicist subjects) Table 19: Greeting gestures in terms of gender (Anglicist subjects) Table 20: Greeting gestures in terms of Marital status (Anglicist subjects) Table 21: Greeting gestures in terms of Social status (Anglicist subjects) Table 22: Greeting gestures in terms of communicative environment (Anglicist subjects) Table 23: Factors affecting greeting gestures (Anglicist subjects) Table 24: Handshaking in certain situations (Anglicist subjects) Table 25: Handshaking in terms of gender (Anglicist males) Table 26: Handshaking in terms of gender (Anglicist females) Table 27: Handshaking in terms of age (20 < X < 40) Table 28: Handshaking in terms of age ( X ³ 40) Table 29: Greeting gestures used most frequently by the Vietnamese and English native speakers Table 30: Factors affecting greeting gestures ( Vietnamese and Anglicist subjects) PART A - INTRODUCTION Rationale Language is an important part of our functional activity and we indicate, often in diagrammatic form, the varying communication patterns used in meetings and during negotiations. Language studies have traditionally emphasized verbal and written language, but recently have begun to consider communication that takes place without words. In some types of communication people express more nonverbally than verbally, for example, in expressing human emotions and attitudes. Nonverbal communication including gestures, postures, facial expressions, touching behaviors, vocal behaviors, etc. is said to convey anything up to 90 percent of our message, and plays an important role in our daily life. Along the line of reasoning, nonverbal communication appears even more powerful than the verbal interaction. Thus, it is essential that study on nonverbal communication be paid more attention to. Gestures are found fascinating things, at once wholly expressive and curiously mysterious. The flick of the wrist, the wave of a finger, or simply the movement of an eyelid can say more than a speech, and sometimes a subtle gesture can express a feeling more gracefully than words. (Armstrong & Wagner, 2003:1). Gestures used for greetings, in particular, play an important part in communication in that they help to establish and maintain a relationship in an initial meeting. In Vietnam in the last few years, ELT has concentrated on communication with emphasis much on communicative competence rather than on simply linguistic competence. As Vietnam has adopted an open-door policy, the number of people who wish to master English for international communication and further study overseas is increasing. However, it is observed that ELT in Vietnam, as a matter of fact, has focused too much on the verbal aspects of communication (which is necessary but not sufficient) while ignoring nonverbal communicative competence. Consequently, learners fail to communicate effectively across cultures due to the misinterpretations of nonverbal cues extended by native speakers. Therefore, with an effort to rise awareness of both teachers and learners about the importance of nonverbal communication, to improve learners’ communicative competence, to help them communicate effectively in initial meetings and avoid culture shock in cross- cultural communication “A Vietnamese-English Cross-Cultural Study on Gestures for Greeting” is chosen as the topic for my study. 2. Aims of the study The aims of the thesis are: To study different kinds of gestures for greeting with illustrations To analyze some greeting gestures that causes misinterpretations, misunderstandings and culture shock in English - Vietnamese cross-cultural communication. To raise potential cross-cultural interactants’ awareness of the differences in English-Vietnamese nonverbal communication in general and the use of gestures for greetings in particular. 3. Research questions What is the greeting gestures commonly used by English native speakers? What is the greeting gestures commonly used by the Vietnamese? What are the potential areas of culture shock in nonverbal greetings? 4. Scope of the study Gesture is a large aspect of nonverbal communication. According to its functions it is divided into such categories as Greeting/ Parting, Approval/ Disapproval, Offensive and Profane, Just for Emphasis, etc. In this study, attention will be focused on some gestures for greeting, which are commonly used in initial meetings. They are handshaking, nodding, waving, hugging, high-5, patting on one's shoulder/ back, bowing, wai and raising eyebrows. Of the nine gestures, priority is given to handshaking as it is most frequently resorted to in all cases while we carry out the survey and analyze the data. Smile is also a very popular gesture of greeting, however, due to the limitation of a minor thesis, it is not mentioned in the paper. Furthermore, in the pilot survey questionnaires it is found that such parameters as occupation and area of living appear almost constant in all situations. Thus, I have decided to ignore them and focus only on age and gender while analyzing data. Major similarities and differences between the English and Vietnamese native speakers when performing gestures will also be highlighted and analyzed in great detail to avoid misinterpretations, misunderstandings and culture shock in Cross – Cultural Communication and help to perform an effective communication as well. 5. Methods of the study To achieve the aims stated, a microlinguistic contrastive analysis (CA) is carried out throughout the study. Since this study dwells largely on the practical aspects of cross-cultural communication, the main method employed is quantitative. All the considerations and conclusions are largely based on the analysis of the statistic data and references. The major approaches are: Reference to publications Survey questionnaires Discussions with foreigners, overseas students, employees from foreign companies and their Vietnamese counterparts Discussions with supervisor Personal observations 6. Comments on the survey questionnaires The survey questionnaire consists of seven questions in six of which the informants are requested to tick (Ö) where they think appropriate for using greeting gestures. The most nine common gestures are given: handshaking, waving, high-five, hugging, patting on shoulder / back, nodding,bowing, raising eyebrows and wai. In addition, the informants are asked to tick the parameters chosen among age, gender, occupation, marital status, social status, length of time they have known each other, and environment, which they generally take into consideration when greeting someone and rank them in a level scale of importance. The informants are also required to show their own greeting gestures when meeting people of old age, same age and young age; same sex and different sex; higher, equal and lower status; in different environments. The seventh question seen as the DCT questionnaire focuses on the ways of handshaking, which is found the most common of nine gestures given. The informants are requested to express how they shake hands when meeting the followings: Those who are their close friends Those who are persons they dislike Those who are their colleagues of the same age / same sex Those who are their colleagues of the same age / opposite sex Those who are their acquaintances who are 10 years older than the informants Those who are their acquaintances who are 5 years older than the informants Those who are their brother / sister Those who are their uncle / aunt Those who are their boss of 10 years older / 5 years younger 7. Comments on the informants Of 75 questionnaires delivered to the Vietnamese who live in the North of Vietnam, 50 copies are selected for comparison and analysis together with 50 copies out of 55 returned by the English native speakers who are living and working in Australia. As the English survey questionnaires were administered in Melbourn, Australia, the majority of informants are Australians and the rest are British, American, New Zealand, and Canadian people. It is essential that certain knowledge of the informants' background be discussed for the analysis of the data. Thus, the following parameters are taken into account: Nationality Age Sex Marital status Area where informants spend most of their time Occupation Social relation Personality The author is well aware that the two last parameters are of great importance but inaccessible, therefore they are not included in the questionnaires. (See the data of the parameters in Table 1) Table 1: Informants' background Informants' parameters Vietnamese (N= 50) Anglicist (N= 50) Male (N=33) Female (N=17) Male (N=33) Female (N=17) Informants below 20 1 0 8 0 Informants above 20 12 6 13 5 Informants above 30 5 3 1 3 Informants above 40 8 4 4 1 Informants above 50 6 4 5 8 Informants above 60 1 0 2 0 Informants who are married 22 11 8 8 Informants who are single 11 6 25 9 Informants who spend most of their time in urban areas 27 15 26 12 Informants who spend most of their time in rural areas 6 2 7 5 8. Design of the study The paper consists of three parts. Part A, Introduction, covers rationale, aims, research questions, scope, methods, comments on the questionnaires, comments on the informants, and design of the study. Part B, Development, is composed of three chapters: + Chapter one, Theoretical background, provides theoretical discussions to background the topic in focus. + Chapter two, Greeting gestures, presents comments on gestures for greeting: definition, significance and classification with focus on handshaking. + Chapter three, Data analysis and findings, analyses greeting gestures perceived by the Vietnamese and English native speakers, as well as the ways of handshaking in certain situations, discusses findings on similarities and differences, especially areas of potential culture shock between the two cultures in cross- cultural communication. Part C, Conclusion, offers the overview of major findings and suggestions for avoidance of culture shock and communication breakdown among Vietnamese-English cross-cultural interactants. PART B - DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1 Theoretical background As named, this chapter will review the theories of communication and nonverbal communication in some researchers' points of view and its importance in human interaction. Various definitions about gestures as well as categories are illustratedly introduced in this chapter. 1.1 Communication and cross-cultural communication 1.1.1 Communication and nonverbal communication Overall, human communication is the process of creating and sharing meaning and is defined as the exchange of ideas, information, feelings, etc. between two or more persons (Richards et al. 1992:64) and “That process involves not only the spoken and written word, but also body language, personal mannerisms and style, the surroundings-anything that adds meaning to a message” (Hybells and Weaver II, 1992 : 4). Commonly used, the term communication refers to information sharing. First, a message forms within us. Then we send that message which stimulates meaning in the mind of another person. An individual takes something in -something said or done- and by some internal process he or she then attaches meaning to what is taken in. When communication occurs inside a single person, the sharing of thoughts and feelings with the self is called intrapersonal; between two or more persons, communication is interpersonal. Hybells and Weaver (1992:7) also assume that ideas and feelings that make up the message can be communicated only if they are represented by symbols that stand for something else. All our communication messages are made up of two kinds of symbols: verbal and nonverbal. Verbal symbols are limited and complicated. They include concrete symbols that stand for a particular thing such as chair and abstract symbols such as hungry or hurt. Nonverbal symbols are anything we communicate without using words such as facial expressions, gestures, posture, vocal tones, appearance, and so on. As with verbal symbols, we all attach certain meanings to nonverbal symbols. A yawn means we are bored or tired; a head nodding indicates agreement or greeting; not looking someone in the eye may mean we have something to hide, etc. Whether or not we are aware of them, nonverbal symbols are extremely important to messages. Some communication scholars believe that over 90 percent of the messages we send and receive are made up of nonverbal symbols. As a matter of fact, nonverbal communication uses nonverbal symbols or, in other words, nonverbal cues. Nonverbal communication differs from verbal in that it concerns itself with the entire range and scope of communication over and above the use of words. In other words, whatever the message, the channel, or the nature of intensity, of intentionality - where words are not evolved, the communication is nonverbal. Knapp & Hall (1997:13-18) have identified the following functions of nonverbal communication as (i) repeating what is said verbally,(ii) contradicting verbal messages, (iii) complementing a verbal message, (iv) regulating verbal communication, (v) subtituting for verbal messages, and (vi) often accenting / moderating what we are saying. From all mentioned above it can be concluded that nonverbal communication, the information we communicate without using words, is extremely important in human interaction. 1.1.2. Nonverbal communicative competence Communicative competence is known as the ability not only to apply the grammatical rules of a language in order to form grammatically correct sentences but also to know when and where to use these sentences and how communicate and with whom. In other words, communicative competence needs linguistic knowledge, interaction skills and cultural knowledge as well. It is clear that when someone wishes to communicate with others, they must recognize the social settings, their relationship to the other(s), and the types of language that can be used for a particular occasion. Nonverbal communicative competence is understood as the ability to use nonverbal cues effectively. As mentioned above, over 90 percent of the message is transmitted by nonverbal language (e.g. gestures, facial expressions), therefore, a good communicator is supposed to know what nonverbal cues are appropriate to use, in which context and how. S/he needs to take her/ his partners' age, gender, social status, the setting where the communication takes place, etc. into consideration in order to produce effective communication. Besides, cultural and cross-cultural factors should be paid much attention to so that misinterpretations, misunderstandings and communication breakdown can be avoided. 1.1.3. Cross-cultural communication Culture can be defined as the total set of beliefs, attitudes, customs, behavior, social habits, etc. of the members of a particular society. (Richards et al. 1997: 94). Therefore, culture is community- specific. It has its own sets of values that help distinguish one community from another. When people from different cultural backgrounds meet each other they need to exchange ideas, information etc., between them, which is called cross-cultural communication. Normally, people know how to behave appropriately within their own culture and community but w