VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HỒNG HÀ
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ON THE DISCOURSE
OF AMERICAN AND VIETNAMESE MOVIE
TRAILERS

SO SÁNH ĐỐI CHIẾU ĐẶC ĐIỂM DIỄN NGÔN QUẢNG CÁO
PHIM MỸ VÀ PHIM VIỆT A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ON THE DISCOURSE
OF AMERICAN AND VIETNAMESE MOVIE
TRAILERS

SO SÁNH ĐỐI CHIẾU ĐẶC ĐIỂM DIỄN NGÔN QUẢNG CÁO
PHIM MỸ VÀ PHIM VIỆT M.A. COMBINED PROGRAMME THESIS
FIELD: LINGUISTICS
CODE: 60 22 15
SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN HÒA HANOI – 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
Certificate of originality ………………………………………………………………

Chapter II: Features of American movie trailers ……………………………………
2.1. Structure of American movie trailers…………………………………………
2.1.1. Defining discourse mode of movie trailers ………………………………
2.1.2. Structure of American movie trailers ……………………………………
2.2. Features of language used in American movie trailers……………………….
2.2.1. Grammatical features ………………………………………………………
2.2.2. Lexical features …………………………………………………………….
2.2.3. Rhetorical features …………………………………………………………
2.3. Explanation of the relationship between discourse processes
and socio-psychological processes in movie trailers ……………………………
2.4. Concluding remarks …………………………………………………………. i
ii
iii
iv
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2
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3
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3.1. Structure of Vietnamese movie trailers and a comparison between American
and Vietnamese movie trailers‟ structure ………………………………………
3.2. Linguistic features of Vietnamese movie trailers and a comparison between
American and Vietnamese movie trailers‟ linguistic features ……………………
3.2.1. Grammatical features ………………………………………………………
3.2.2. Lexical features ……………………………………………………………
3.2.3. Rhetorical features …………………………………………………………
3.3. Concluding remarks ………………………………………………………….
PART C: CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………….
1. Summary of the study ………………………………………………………….
2. Summary of the main findings …………………………………………………
2.1. Similarities …………………………………………………………………
2.2. Differences …………………………………………………………………
3. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………
4. Implications for English language teaching and learning ……………………
5. Suggestions for further study ……………………………………………
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………
APPENDIX ……………………………………………………………………………
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demand for a movie can be stimulated, directed and controlled by industrially produced
representations. To achieve the stimulation, direction and control over the demand, a very
effective advertising tool – movie trailers - is used to persuade audiences to “buy” the
experience of a show.
In movie trailers, language is used as an effective means of conveying advertising
messages. It is obvious that language used in movie trailers is different from that used in
other fields such as tourism, technology or law; it has its own characteristics and serves its
own functions; and the task of linguists and interested people is to discover and understand
these characteristics and functions for broadening human knowledge and exploiting them
to the full in human life.
A number of studies have been done on advertising such as commercials or technology
advertisements; however, research on movie trailers is still a new area. Hence, I realize that
filling this gap of knowledge is absolutely a necessity. The study of movie trailers can be
approached in different directions, each of which provides different aspects of knowledge
on the subject. As a Vietnamese student studying English, I am determined to make a
comparative analysis of Vietnamese and American movie trailers which is hoped to
provide some helpful knowledge for such people who are concerned as advertisers, EFL
(English as a Foreign Language) teachers and students. 2

In short, it is clear that studying this issue is beneficial for English teaching and learning.
Therefore, I decided to carry out the study:
“A comparative analysis on the discourse of American and Vietnamese movie trailers.”
2. The aims and scope of the study
2.1. The aims
The principal purpose of this study is to contribute a richer and more systematic
conceptual understanding of advertising language used in movie trailers. Specifically,
this study focuses on finding out the structure and linguistic features of advertising

provides an investigation into the frequency of the occurrence of some linguistic features
in American and Vietnamese movie trailers. The aim of this type of study is to find out
more about the phenomena and capture it with detailed information.
+ A comparative analysis:
According to Carl (1980:18), a comparative analysis is viewed as an
interlinguistic, bidirectional phenomenon which is concerned with both the form
and function of language. As such, comparative analysis must view language
psycho-linguistically and socio-linguistically as a system to be both described and
acquired.
The comparative analysis is suitable for the study because it is concerned with the
comparison of two subjects: Vietnamese and American movie trailers. Furthermore,
both the form of the language and its functions in real life are considered. The
analysis of movie trailers is in close relation with psychological and social basis
because the language of movie trailers is only meaningful when not being separated
from these bases.
4.2. Data collection and processing
50 movie trailers are collected randomly, 25 American and 25 Vietnamese trailers mainly
on the internet or some established television channels. 4

Data analysis
After collection, each movie trailer is analyzed in terms of discourse structure and
linguistic features. Descriptive method is applied in this stage.
Then American and Vietnamese movie trailers‟ features are compared and contrasted in
terms of discourse structure and linguistic features. The method of comparative analysis is
exploited in this stage.
4.3. Analytical framework
4.3.1. In terms of discourse structure:

Vietnamese is an analytic language while English is a morphologic-analytic one. However,
the writer has made an effort to find a shared coding system between language used in
American movie trailers and that in Vietnamese ones and the analysis of grammatical
features is based on English traditional grammar.
Time reference
- In English: According to Bernard Comrie (1976:6), the semantic concept of time
reference is grammaticalised in English , i.e. it may have a grammatical category that
expresses time reference, in which case we say that English has tenses. As Fabricius-
Hansen (2006) states in "Tense", in the Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, tense is
usually indicated by a verb or modal verb. In English, there are basically two tenses:
present and past tense. What is commonly called the future tense in English is not a true
tense, but a modal construction that does not always appear (it is optional in subordinate
constructions such as I hope you (will) go tomorrow, and is prohibited with other modals
as in I can go tomorrow).
- In Vietnamese: Bernard Comrie (1976) also states that many languages (including
Vietnamese) lack tense, i.e. do not have grammatical time reference. However, Vietnamese
can lexicalise time reference, i.e. have temporal adverbials that locate situations in time.
Present time reference: is expressed by “đang”, “bây giờ ”, “hôm nay”, “hiệ n thờ i”…
Past time reference: “đã ”, “vừ a mớ i”, “xong”, “rồ i”…
Future time reference: “sẽ ”, “sắ p”…
Voice reference
- In English, there are two voices: active and passive. The passive voice, which provides
information about the roles of different participants in an event, is formed with the
auxiliary "be" and the "-ed" participle form of the lexical verb. 6

- In Vietnamese, like tense voice is not a recognized grammatical category and Vietnamese
can lexicalize voice reference. Passive reference is expressed by “b” or “đượ c”.

Together with some previous studies on discourse analysis of advertising, the research
examines another type of advertising – movie trailers. It can contribute some findings to
fill in gap-of-the-knowledge in the field of advertising language.
In the time when Vietnam‟s economy is on its way to merge with other countries world
wide and English is widely-used, this thesis can be useful not only to the field of
advertising movie trailers but also to ESP teaching and learning in the area of marketing at
tertiary level. Besides, it may be beneficial to TESOL teaching and learning because movie
trailers (with careful selection) is a very interesting and abundant source of authentic
materials.
It can be foundation or inspiration for further study on discourse analysis of advertising
language.
6. Design of the study
Within the required scope, the thesis is organized as follows:
Part A: INTRODUCTION, introduces the rationale, aims, methods, scope, significance
and design of the study.
Part B: DEVELOPMENT, is the focus of the study and consists of three chapters:
Chapter 1: Theoretical background, deals with the literature review relevant to
the topic.
Chapter 2: Features of American movie trailers.
Chapter 3: Features of Vietnamese movie trailers and a comparison between
American and Vietnamese movie trailers.
Part C: CONCLUSION, summarizes the contents of the study, especially its findings and
put forward some implications for ESP teaching and learning at tertiary level. 8

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1. Theories of discourse

social and psychological context, become meaningful and unified for their users. The
ultimate aim of text analysis and discourse analysis is to show how the linguistic elements
enable language users to communicate in context.
1.3. The functions of language
According to Halliday (1985), language has three main functions, and the structures of
language can be explained in terms of these functions: ideational, interpersonal and textual.
The ideational function expresses our experience of the real world and of our inner world.
One aspect of this function at the level of clause is the system of transitivity. It is a choice
between the three main processes that can be represented in a sentence:
(a) a physical or “material” processes as in Fred cut the lawn
(b) a “mental” process as in David saw Mary.
(c) a “relational” process as in This view is magnificent.
Related to this choice of process is:
(a) The choice of participant: A participant is someone or something involved in
the process, e.g. in the above example, Fred and the lawn, David and Mary, and
(b) the choice of circumstances, e.g. “David saw Mary yesterday / in the garden /
by accident ”
The interpersonal function is the means whereby we achieve communication by taking on
speech roles – the roles adopted and those imposed on the addressee by the speaker, and
his associated attitudes. This function is reflected in the system of mood. For instance, we
can assume the role of questioner, or informer, or commander and so on. 10

Also included in the interpersonal function is the use of language to express an attitude
towards what we are saying, for instance, our expression of the degree of probability or
necessity associated with this context. This function is reflected in the system of modality.
Language also provides means (devices) for making links with itself and the situational
context in which it is used. Halliday calls this the textual function, since it is the function

information
cohesion
Table 2: The function of language 11

1.4. Register and genre in discourse analysis
1.4.1. Register
There are different concepts of register. According to Halliday (1985), “Register may be
defined as the variety of a language used in a particular situational context”. Another
linguist, McCathay (1991) defines that, “Register reflects the degree of technical
specification” in the language of economics, banking and finance, international business,
advertising, medicine, information technology and so forth. He also states that, “Discourse
register reflects the degree of formality of particular text by using a characteristic set of
lexical and grammatical features”.
Besides, Galperin (1977) suggests that, “A functional style of language is a system of
interrelated language means which serves a definite aim in communication”. However,
Gregory and Caroll (1987) cited in Swales (1990) defines that register, or functional
language variation, is “a contextual category correlating groups of linguistic features with
recurrent situational features”. This category has typically been analyzed in terms of three
variables labeled Field, Mode, Tenor. Field indicates the type of activity, in which
discourse operates, its content, ideas and “institutional focus” (Benson and Greaves, 1981,
cited in Swales, 1990). It is the kind of language use which reflects social function of the
text. Mode refers to the medium of language activity or the channel of communication
(prototypically speech or writing) while tenor deals with the relationships between the
product announcer and the product information perceiver. Thus, field, mode, and tenor are
closely tied and work together as determinants of the text through their specification of the
register and are systematically associated with linguistic system through the functional
components of the semantics.

Yet, it is clearly seen that genre is a paramount factor recognizable in any language and
discourse of any type (spoken or written), in which there is the language of advertising
with specific communicative purposes containing socio-cultural values identified and
understood by groups of professional or academic community.
1.4.3. Register and genre in discourse analysis
The concepts of register and genre have been presented above, but there is no clear cut on
the relationship between genre and the longer established register. They are two 13

interrelated concepts relating to linguistic variation in a particular situational context and a
formulaic way of constructing particular texts and it can not be easy to separate one from
the other. As Frow (1980:78) cited in Swales (1990) says, “Genre has become
disentangled from register and refers to discourse genre or register”. But Martin (1985)
cited an Swales (1990) offers a three-way distinction: genres are realized through
language. He states as follows:
“Genre are how things get done, when language is used to accomplish them.
They range from literary to far from literary forms: poems, narratives,
expositions, lectures, seminars, recipes, manuals, appointment making, service
encounters, news broadcast and so on. The term “genre” is used here to
embrace each of the linguistically realized activity types which comprise so
much of our culture.”
(Martin, 1985:250 cited in Swales, 1990:40)
Accordingly, it is obvious that genre and register are the two related determinants of
linguistic system which serve a specific aim in communication and in which register and
genre are vital and of deep considerations in discourse analysis. In particular, the language
of advertising in movie trailers is also regarded as a language variable to function a
specific aim in communication.
1.4.4. Advertisements as “style”, “register” and “genre”

The word “advertise” originates from the Latin advertere, which means “to turn toward” or
“to take note of”. Certainly, the visual and verbal commercial messages that are a part of
advertising are intended to attract attention and produce some response by the viewer.
Advertising is pervasive and virtually impossible to escape. Newspapers and magazines
often have a lot of advertisements; radio and television provide entertainment but are also
laden with advertisements; advertisements pop up on Internet sites; and the mail brings a
variety of advertisements. Advertising also exists on billboards along the freeway, in
subway and train stations, on benches at bus stops, and on the frames around car license
plates. In shopping malls, there are prominent logos on designer clothes, moviegoers
regularly view advertisements for local cinemas, restaurants, hair salons, and so on, and
live sporting and cultural events often include signage, logos, products, and related 15

information about the event sponsors. The pervasiveness of advertising and its creative
elements are designed to cause viewers to take note.
There are various ways to define advertisings, each of which looks at advertising at
different perspectives. Dibb et al. (1991:400f) defines advertising as “a paid form of non-
personal communication about an organization and its products that is transmitted to a
target audience through a mass medium such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines,
direct mails, public transport, outdoor displays, or catalogues.”
Unlike personal communication in which speakers and hearers have opportunities to
interact with each other, advertising is a kind of non-personal communication which is not
aimed at any individual but aimed at the public or certain groups of people.
It is a form of persuasive communication that offers information about products, ideas, and
services that serves the objectives determined by the advertiser. Advertising may influence
consumers in many different ways, but the primary goal of advertising is to increase the
probability that consumers exposed to an advertisement will behave or believe as the
advertiser wishes. Thus, the ultimate objective of advertising is to sell things persuasively

Figure 1: The process of getting the advertising
messages transmitted
(Hoang, T. & Nguyen,V.T, 2000)
Satisfy
the
receive
17

It is clearly seen from the model that in advertising, the intended message is transferred to
the receiver in an indirect way. In the process of advertising, the message is always
decoded, which makes the message sound implicit. This can be traced in two reasons.
Firstly, advertisers have to spend a lot of on advertising information so their messages
must be decoded to convey as much as possible to customers with the minimum number of
words. Secondly, it is strongly believed by copywriters that human beings are born with an
ability of inferring. According to Geis (1982:46), human beings are “inferencing”
creatures, trained to read into what is said as much as is consistent wit the literal meaning
of what is said and the context of what is said.
1.5.2. Functions of advertising
In Encyclopedia of Communication and Information, Schement (2002) has described three
fundamental functions of advertising. Although the primary objective of advertising is to
persuade, it may achieve this objective in many different ways. An important function of
advertising is the identification function, that is, to identify a product and differentiate it
from others; this creates an awareness of the product and provides a basis for consumers to
choose the advertised product over other products. Another function of advertising is to
communicate information about the product, its attributes, and its location of sale; this is
the information function. The third function of advertising is to induce consumers to try
new products and to suggest reuse of the product as well as new uses; this is the persuasion
function.
The identification function of advertising includes the ability of advertising to differentiate
a product so that it has its own unique identity or personality. One famous example of this
is found in the long-running advertising for Ivory Soap. In the late 1800s, a soap maker at
Procter and Gamble left his machine running during his lunch period and returned to find a
whipped soap that, when made into bars, floated. The company decided to capitalize on
this mistake by advertising Ivory Soap with the phrase “It Floats.” This characteristic of

communication process as follows: Awareness – Comprehension - Conviction – Action.
Jones quotes from Russell Colley, who was incidentally one of the invited speakers at the
1976 ESOMAR seminar: 19

All commercial communications that aim at the ultimate objective of a sale must
carry a prospect through four levels of understanding: from unawareness to
Awareness – The prospect must first be aware of the existence of a brand or
company; Comprehension – He must have a comprehension of what the product
is and what it will do for him; Conviction – He must arrive at a mental
disposition or conviction to buy the product; Action – Finally, he must stir
himself to action.
DAGMAR has the great merit of proposing that there could be quantifiable objectives for
advertising (in terms of awareness level, brand ratings and so on) over and above sales
objectives.
1.5.4. General features of advertising language
As seen, language is used to transmit information, in both verbal and non-verbal
communication, form the addresser to addressee. Also in different aspects, there are
various languages used to serve their own purposes. Language, therefore, according to
Thompson (2003), is used in a very broad metaphorical sense to refer to any system of
communication. As many people refer, language can be used for different purposes such as
the language of mathematics, computer science, law, politics, art and advertising and so
on.
As far as language of advertising is concerned, it is used as a means of communication and
providing information to the audience. It is a linguistic system, verbal and non-verbal,
which consist of words, sounds, images and even empty spaces, as Goddard (1998) argues.
They are all in combination to express certain meanings to the audiences. Specifically,
language of advertising has been seen as a special language, the so-called paralanguage

scenes appropriately cut to create an impression of excitement…”
Trailers consist of a series of selected shots from the film being advertised. Since the
purpose of the trailer is to attract an audience to the film, these excerpts are usually drawn
from the most exciting, funny, or otherwise noteworthy parts of the film but in abbreviated
form. For this purpose the scenes are not necessarily in the order in which they appear in
the film. A trailer has to achieve that in less than two and a half minutes, the maximum
length allowed by the MPAA (Motion Pictures Association of America). Each studio or 21

distributor is allowed to exceed this time limit once a year if they feel it is necessary for a
particular film.
Some trailers use "special shoot" footage, which is material that has been created
specifically for advertising purposes and does not appear in the actual film (the trailer
featured elaborate special effects scenes that were never intended to be in the film itself).
Some trailers that incorporate material not in the movie are particularly coveted by
collectors, especially trailers for classic films.
Movie trailers can serve as a trial of the movie experience (Cooper-Martin, 1992; Faber
and O‟Guinn, 1984). Thus, they function like a product trial that gives good guidance as to
the experiential qualities of something new. Consumers‟ evaluation of the movie trailer
experience and subsequent decision making remained to be explored.
It is reasonable to predict that movie trailers influence audience size. Ultimately a large
audience is necessary for box-office revenue to cover the increasing production and
marketing expenditure involved in movie production and release (Motion Picture
Association, 2004). Furthermore, the transient lifecycle of new movies usually launched on
thousands of screens simultaneously (Ainslie and Dréze, 2002) increases the value in
understanding the effects of movie trailers on consumers‟ movie-going intentions.
Movies provide the benefit of enjoyment. The value from a movie is derived from its
ability to engage the consumer – to arouse feelings or emotional reactions and to provide a