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Article published In:
Language and Dialogue
Vol. 8:3 (2018) ► pp.363–389

Vietnamese telephone openings

Both universals and particulars

| Ton Duc Thang University Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
| Ton Duc Thang University Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
| Vietnam National University Hanoi (Vietnam)

This study builds upon Schegloff’s model as a template to investigate the phenomenon of how Vietnamese people perform their telephone openings. We use a corpus of 50 audio recordings of Vietnamese telephone openings to analyze such a phenomenon through both Conversation Analysis and Ethnography methods in order to capture the data in naturally-occurring settings, and to provide insights into Vietnamese culture that makes Vietnamese telephone openings different from North American ones. The findings demonstrate that Vietnamese telephone openings share some common features with telephone openings in different language communities, especially North American culture. Nevertheless, a number of variations, due to language and cultural differences, still exist. We discuss both theoretical and practical implications.

Keywords: telephone openings, conversation analysis, ethnography, dialogue analysis, Vietnam
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Telephone conversation and face-to-face interaction
    • 2.2Telephone openings
    • 2.3Telephone openings across languages and cultures
    • 2.4A canonical telephone opening
      • 2.4.1Summon-answer sequence
      • 2.4.2Identification/ recognition sequences
      • 2.4.3Greeting sequences
      • 2.4.4How are you? sequences
  • 3.Methods
    • 3.1Pilot study
      • 3.1.1Results of the pilot
    • 3.2Main study
      • 3.2.1Participants
      • 3.2.2Results
  • 4.Data analysis and findings
    • 4.1Vietnamese summons: Answer sequence
    • 4.2Vietnamese identification/ recognition
    • 4.3Vietnamese greeting sequences
    • 4.4How are you sequence in Vietnamese
    • 4.5What are you sequences in Vietnamese
  • 5.Significant findings and discussion
    • 5.1Vietnamese telephone openings towards universals
    • 5.2Vietnamese telephone openings towards particulars
    • 5.3Social relationships based on age between interactants
    • 5.4Social relationships based on social status between interactants
  • 6.Conclusion
    • 6.1Theoretical implications
    • 6.2Practical implications
    • 6.3Limitations and directions for future research
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 2 November 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.00022.do
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