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Luận văn tiếng Anh:Conditional Clauses Used as Hedging Devices in English and Vietnamese Equivalents: a Pragmatic Perspective = Mệnh đề điều kiện được sử dụng làm phương tiện rào đón trong tiếng Anh và tương đương của chúng trong tiếng Việt: nghiên cứu trên bình diện dụng học. M.A Thesis Linguistics: 60 22 15


M.A. Thesis. English Linguistics -- University of Languages and International Studies. Vietnam National University, Hanoi, 2012
Numerous studies have been carried out to investigate English conditionals in light of syntactics and semantics; however, limited research has been done to evaluate the pragmatic functions of conditionals, particularly in Vietnamese context. This study, therefore, is done with an aim to offer a detailed analysis of conditionals in light of pragmatics. The study employed a qualitative approach through data collection and analysis from a well-known novella. The data then were quantitatively converted into numeric patterns as the primary basis for organizing and reporting results. The findings of the study show that conditional clauses are not only used in English for referring to real as well as hypothetical conditions and their consequences but can be also used as a hedging device to issue politeness, especially in spoken contexts, where the if-clause often stands alone and is independent of the main clause. Hopefully, this study would offer both theoretical & practical contribution on the area of pragmatic studies particularly on analyzing conditionals used in language basing on the Cooperative Principle and Politeness Theory. Theoretically, this study is hoped to broaden the understanding of pragmatic functions of conditional in real communication. It is also expected that the findings in this study will give a direct contribution to the existing knowledge in the field of pragmatic studies. Practically, the researcher hopes that this study can provide the educators with the appropriate explanations of pseudo-conditionals such as “If you like…, If I may interrupt…” to their students. Additionally, this study could offer learners some ways to express politeness in communication by using pseudo-conditionals. Likewise, this research is expected to give the foundation and an important direction for those who are interested in translating English conditionals into Vietnamese ones
PART A: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................1
1. Rationale of the Study..........................................................................................1
2. Objectives of the Study........................................................................................3
3. Scope of the Study ...............................................................................................3
4. Methods of the Study...........................................................................................4
4.1. Methods............................................................................................................4
4.2. Introduction of the novella ................................................................................4
5. Design of the Study .............................................................................................5
PART B: DEVELOPMENT ..................................................................................6
CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND........................................6
1.1. The Concept of Hedging ...................................................................................6
1.1.1. Definitions of Hedge......................................................................................6
1.1.2. Forms of Hedges............................................................................................8
1.1.3. Functions of Hedges .....................................................................................9
1.2. Cooperative Principle......................................................................................10
1.3. Politeness Theory................................................................................................12
1.3.1. Politeness and Face..........................................................................................12
1.3.2. Face Saving Acts versus Face Threatening Acts.............................................13
1.3.3. Grice‟s Cooperative Principle and Brown and Levinson‟s Politeness Theory
.............................................................................................................................14
1.4. The Concept of Conditionals.............................................................................14
1.4.1. Definition of Conditional Sentences...............................................................14
1.4.2. True Conditionals............................................................................................15
1.4.3. Pseudo-Conditionals........................................................................................17
CHAPTER TWO: IF-HEDGING AND POLITENESS......................................19
2.1. If-hedging and Cooperative Principle................................................................19
2.1.1. If-hedging and Maxim of Quality...................................................................19
2.1.2. If-hedging and Maxim of Quantity.................................................................20
2.1.3. If-hedging and Maxim of Relation.................................................................21
2.1.4. If-hedging and Maxim of Manner...................................................................22
2.2. If-hedging and Politeness Principle...................................................................24
CHAPTER THREE: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS................................28
3.1. True Conditionals and Pseudo-Conditionals Occurrence Rate..........................28
3.2. Pragmatic functions of Pseudo-Conditionals in English and Vietnamese
equivalents..................................................................................................................30
3.3. Suggestions on teaching and learning English conditionals...............................38
3.4. Suggestions on translating English conditionals................................................39 PART C: CONCLUSIONS.....................................................................................40
1. Conclusions...........................................................................................................40
2. Limitations.............................................................................................................41
3. Suggestions for Further Study...............................................................................41
REFERENCES.......................................................................................................42
APPENDIXES .......................................................................................................I
Appendix 1: English Conditionals ...........................................................................I
Appendix 2: English Pseudo-Conditionals and Vietnamese Equivalents............VII PART A
INTRODUCTION
1. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
Up to date, linguistics has followed logicians in analyzing conditional
entences in light of material implication. However, in spite of such a long period of
heorization and application of various approaches, there has been no agreed-upon
method of teaching English conditionals so far. Some teachers teach conditional
entences and subjunctive mood side by side, some teachers teach them separately,
nd teachers use different ways to classify conditional sentences. Overall, current ELT
oursebooks have essentially utilized the typology in Logic (real, counterfactual and
hypothetical), which they term first, second and third types respectively, with the
ddition of two more types: zero and mixed. The vast majority of ELT materials
provide information about the following aspects of conditional sentences:
a. The tense-aspect marking of the main verbs in the If-clause and main clause.
b. The modal auxiliaries that can be used in each clause.
c. The time reference of the conditional sentence (not of each clause).
d. The user‟s attitude towards possibility.
(Gabrielatos, 2003)
Nevertheless, there has been considerable difference of opinion and much
erminological confusion in the area of pragmatic functions. Let consider the following
xamples:
(1) If Squiggly knows the answer, he'll tell us.
(2) If Squiggly knows the answer, he isn‟t saying. In the sentence (1), the result clause “he'll tell us”- is dependent on the “if'-
clause”. But this is not the case in the sentence (2) where “If-clauses” does not express
a condition and result; but implies “Squiggly isn‟t saying anything, whether he knows
the answer or not”. And the same is true for the other examples which do not fit into
the 1, 2, 3 system, for example:
(3) If I may interrupt, when is the next train?
(4) If you kindly allow me, I‟ll have a meeting with you in the evening.
As can be seen, the If-clauses in the examples (3) and (4) are not dependent on
the main clauses, and they could equally be expressed as a politeness marker used in
speech act of requesting to avoid imposition on the hearer and mitigate the negative
effect of refusals in communication. These so-called conditionals are also used in
Vietnamese, causing a lot of confusing for learners to determine the type of
conditionals:
Nếu mai rảnh thì qua nhà tớ chơi nhé!
Nếu không phiền, cậu nhặt hộ tớ mớ rau nha!
Vietnamese, like English, has developed through usage; as the result, language
patterns may refuse to be forced into a logically consistent mold. One of the reasons
for the lack of appropriate system to categorize conditionals may be the inherent
flexibility of the language itself. In this case, teachers have to base on pragmatics‟
point of view to explain these so-called conditionals. Since conditional sentences are
basic to the material of grammar and pragmatics, a detailed understanding of
conditional sentences is vital for an accurate interpretation of its contents.
In consideration of the importance of conditionals in teaching and learning English
as well as the fact that limited research has been done to evaluate pragmatic functions of
conditionals, especially in Vietnamese context, the researcher has decided to undertake
the study entitled “Conditional Clauses Used as Hedges in English and Vietnamese
Equivalents: a Pragmatic Perspective” in order to provide the more comprehensive
analysis on conditionals regarding pragmatic point of view. 2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The study has been done in an effort to determine the pragmatic functions of
conditionals in English and Vietnamese equivalents. Particularly, the study addresses the
following primary objectives:
1. To distinguish the conditionals as hedging devices from true conditionals
2. To identify the pragmatic functions of If-hedging comparing to Vietnamese
equivalents
3. To suggest some implications for teaching, learning and translating English
conditional sentences
The researcher hopes that this study cannot only bring together the fields of
conditionals in grammar and pragmatics but also propose guidelines for EFL teachers
who wish to implement conditionals to enhance their students‟ language proficiency as
well as communicative competence. Equally, this study is hoped to provide Vietnamese
learners with the approaches of translating conditional sentences and some ways to help
Vietnamese learners of English overcome the difficulties in translating conditional
sentences. By carrying out this study, the researcher also hopes that conditionals can
receive more attention and enjoy more popularity among linguistics researchers so that
English education in Vietnam can actually equip students with communicative
competence.
3. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Due to the scope of a minor thesis, limited time and experience, it is impossible
to cover all contrastive pragmatic matters. Hence, this study just concentrates on
pragmatic functions of If-clauses relating to the context in which If-clauses function as
a politeness marker in a certain speech act. Also, the study explains pragmatic
functions of If-clauses as a hedging device basing on Grice‟s Cooperative Principle
and Brown and Levinson‟s Politeness Theory in consideration of FTA and FSA.
Particularly, the pseudo-conditionals from the novella named The Little Princess are

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