Communication style at the Vietnamese and

American workplace
Phong cách giao tiếp công sở ở Việt Nam và Mỹ
Phạm Thanh Huyền
University of Languages and International studies
M.A Minor Thesis. English Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15
Supervisor : M.A. Phan Thị Vân Quyên
Năm bảo vệ: 2012

Abstract. Facing the fact that more and more Vietnamese and Americans have to work
with each other due to the globalization, this study has been carried out to investigate and
describe the Vietnamese and American communication style at the workplace. Data were
obtained from 30 Vietnamese and 30 Americans who have experience working with
foreigners (i.e. Americans and Vietnamese) in different companies. After analyzing and
discussing the results of the survey, a number of potential problems experienced by
Vietnamese and Americans when communicating were revealed. Based on these barriers,
the study provided some concluding remarks of this study. Though the research is in small
scale and cannot cover all problems faced by Vietnamese and Americans in intercultural
working environment, the author of this study hopes that it will contribute to identifying
the problems Vietnamese and Americans may experience and help their communication
become easier and more effective.

Keywords.Tiếng Anh; Giao tiếp; Giao tiếp công sở

Content.

The study consists of 5 chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction presents the rationale, the objectives, the scope, the
significance, the methods and the design of the study.

Chapter 2: Theoretical background starts with the definitions of culture,

communication and intercultural communication. Then, Hofstede’s and Hall’s cultural
dimensions are presented and discussed. After that the communication style at the
workplace are taken into consideration as well as some potential problems in multicultural
working environment are identified. Finally, the previous studies is mentioned and
evaluated.

Chapter 3: Methodology presents the methodology used in this study. This part
consists of 3 parts: the selection of participants in which the author gives some reasons for
the selection and the description of the participants; the data collection instruments in
which the instrument and procedure of data analysis are discussed; methods of data
collection in which the methods and procedure of data collection are identified.

Chapter 4: Findings and discussion introduces the results of the survey which
describe the differences between Vietnamese and American communication style, which
leads to problems occurring when Vietnamese and American people communicate at the
workplace. Then, the findings are analyzed and discussed.

Chapter 5: Conclusion presents the conclusion, implication for people working in

intercultural working environment, the limitations of the study in which the author states
the reasons for the study’s limitations, and suggestions for further study.

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In Vietnamese

1. Nguyễn Quang Ngoạn (2004). Some Vietnamese-American Cross-cultural Similarities

and Differences in Disagreeing with Power-Unequals, M.A Thesis, Vietnam National
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2. Nguyễn Quang (2007). Giao tiếp phi ngôn từ qua các nền văn hoá, NXB Đại Học Quốc
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