IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bcp/journl/v9y2025issue-9p6171-6180.html

A Contrastive Study of Advice-Giving Behaviours in Vietnamese and American English: A Preliminary Investigation

Author

Listed:
  • Nguyen Khanh Linh

    (Faculty of Foreign Languages, Vietnam Air Defence – Air Force Academy, Son Tay, Hanoi, Vietnam)

  • Tran Hong Lam

    (Faculty of Foreign Languages, Vietnam Air Defence – Air Force Academy, Son Tay, Hanoi, Vietnam)

Abstract

This preliminary study conducts a contrastive analysis of advice-giving behaviour in Vietnamese and American English from an intercultural pragmatics perspective. Grounded in speech act theory and politeness theory, the research explores how cultural values shape the linguistic realisation of advice across age, status, and gender. Data were collected through 24 discourse completion tasks (DCTs) and selected media dialogues, yielding 1,440 advice-giving utterances. Findings reveal that while both groups use direct, hedged, and indirect strategies, Vietnamese speakers prefer hedged and indirect forms, particularly in hierarchical or age-sensitive contexts. American speakers, by contrast, predominantly favour directness. A shared four-part structure (opening, proposition, reason, conclusion) was observed in both languages. Quantitative frequency analysis supports these patterns and highlights significant cross-cultural variation. The study also discusses the risk of pragmatic failure in intercultural encounters, where differing norms may lead to miscommunication. Pedagogical implications are drawn for ESL/EFL classrooms, emphasizing the need for intercultural pragmatic instruction. Despite limitations in ecological data sources, the study offers a foundation for future research incorporating statistical testing and real-life interactions. The results contribute to intercultural pragmatics and inform more culturally responsive language education.

Suggested Citation

  • Nguyen Khanh Linh & Tran Hong Lam, 2025. "A Contrastive Study of Advice-Giving Behaviours in Vietnamese and American English: A Preliminary Investigation," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(9), pages 6171-6180, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:9:y:2025:issue-9:p:6171-6180
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/Digital-Library/volume-9-issue-9/6171-6180.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/articles/a-contrastive-study-of-advice-giving-behaviours-in-vietnamese-and-american-english-a-preliminary-investigation/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sariyamon Tiraphat & Vijj Kasemsup & Doungjai Buntup & Murallitharan Munisamy & Thang Huu Nguyen & Aung Hpone Myint, 2021. "Active Aging in ASEAN Countries: Influences from Age-Friendly Environments, Lifestyles, and Socio-Demographic Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-13, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jintao Li & Yan Dai & Cynthia Changxin Wang & Jun Sun, 2022. "Assessment of Environmental Demands of Age-Friendly Communities from Perspectives of Different Residential Groups: A Case of Wuhan, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-20, July.
    2. Kazushige Ide & Seungwon Jeong & Taishi Tsuji & Ryota Watanabe & Yasuhiro Miyaguni & Hirotaka Nakamura & Miyako Kimura & Katsunori Kondo, 2022. "Suggesting Indicators of Age-Friendly City: Social Participation and Happiness, an Ecological Study from the JAGES," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-12, April.
    3. Claudia Diana Sabău-Popa & Diana Claudia Perțicaș & Adrian Florea & Luminița Rus & Hillary Wafula Juma, 2024. "Is Younger Population Generating Higher CO 2 Emissions? A Dynamic Panel Analysis on European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-20, September.
    4. Pablo Rosser & Seila Soler, 2024. "Renewing Horizons- Emotional Impact and Well-being in Older Adults at a Lifelong Learning University - Enhancing Socio-Healthcare Support through Emotional Intelligence and Resilience Strategies," Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research, Biomedical Research Network+, LLC, vol. 55(4), pages 47235-47248, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:9:y:2025:issue-9:p:6171-6180. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr. Pawan Verma (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.