A CASE STUDY OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION: SMALL TALK AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A VIETNAMESE AND AN AMERICAN

Abstract

In the trend of integration today, Vietnamese people have more opportunities to contact, mingle and work with English speakers. This leads to the fact that equipping university students with sufficient language knowledge and skills is crucial. In Vietnam nowadays, there have been a lot of studies on enhancing teaching methodology to help language students meet the standard required by MOET; however, social and cultural aspects have not been paid enough attention. This study aims at investigating three main features: degree of directness, formality and politeness, of an intercultural communication study “Small talk between an American and a Vietnamese”. It is designed as a case study to examine communication between individuals of different cultures: how communication evolves and its relationship with personal and cultural factors. The results of the study have consolidated the theories existing so far: when people of different cultures reach different stages of personal relationships, their language changes.