1 Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Rationale
Language and culture are interdependent and interactional. Culture affects the way language
is used and language may reflect many factors of culture in turn. In addition, what is right in
one culture may not be accepted in another culture. As people move from one country to
another, cultural differences become apparent to them. For instance, American society values
simple and direct communication. Being open and direct in expressing desires, preferences,
and feelings or in discussing issues is highly appreciated in the United States. Americans are
likely to be, to various degrees, honest in delivering negative evaluations. However, in
Vietnamese culture, where positive face saving is important, directness may be perceived as
being blunt, rude and impolite, especially when complaining and criticizing someone or
something (face-damaging acts). Therefore, most Vietnamese are at first shocked at the
American direct way of communicating in general and criticizing in particular.
In addition, with the popularity of Internet and online magazines in English language, people
have more chances to interact and know more about other countries. As a reporter of a
Vietnamese e-newspaper, the thesis author would like to find out the differences in article-
writing style among countries and how culture affects it.
For the limitation of time and resources, she only focuses on expressions of criticizing in
American and Vietnamese e-newspapers in the light of Directness/Indirectness to see if they
cause culture shock. Such is her hope that this paper will have some contributions to the
study of cross-cultural communication between America and Vietnam.
1.2 Aims of the study
The aims of this paper are:
+ To study cultural aspects which affect criticism in American and Vietnamese online
newspapers
+ To compare the use of directness and indirectness in criticism between American and
Vietnamese online newspapers
+ To study ways to express criticism in American and Vietnamese online newspapers
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1.3 Scope of the study
This research only analyzes the degree of directness and indirectness in criticism of some

(1952:181)
Because the thesis focuses on the communication aspect of culture, the definition by Levine
and Adelman (cited in Nguyen Quang, 1998) is believed to be the most relevant:
“Culture is a shared background (for example, national, ethnic, religious) resulting from a
common language and communication style, customs, beliefs, attitudes and values. Culture
refers to the informal and often hidden interactions, expressions and viewpoints that people
in one culture share. The hidden nature of culture has been compared to an iceberg, most of
which is hidden under water. Like the iceberg, much of the influence of culture on an
individual cannot be seen. The part of culture that is exposed is not always that which
creates cross-cultural difficulties: the hidden aspects of culture have significant effects on
behaviors and on interactions with other.”
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2.1.2 Culture shock
Culture shock can be described as the physical and emotional discomfort one suffers when
coming to another country or a place different from the place of origin. Often, the way that
one lived before is not accepted or considered as normal in the new place. Everything is
different, for example, not speaking the language, not knowing how to use some mechanical
systems and so forth.
The symptoms of culture shock can appear at different times. Although one can experience
real pain from culture shock, it is also an opportunity for redefining one’s life objectives. It is
a great opportunity for learning to acquire new perspectives.
In these days, due to the development of technology, people can update information through
media system such as television, newspapers, internet, etc. Another expression of culture
shock occurs when one cannot explain what he/she is viewing. In this case, “culture shock”
may be equivalent to the term “confusion”. For instance, when a foreigner reads this
sentence in a Vietnamese newspaper:
He is considered a Chi in the Vietnamese Literature.
(Ông được coi là anh Chí của nền văn học Việt Nam)
The foreigner is sure to be confused if he does not know Chi and his personality.
In general, culture shock can be described as below:

Criticism helps to clarify and define the theoretical basis of public address. It also
contributes to setting up a standard of society. In particular, criticism interprets the function
of communication and indicates the limits of present knowledge in society.
2.2.2 Types of criticism
2.2.2.1 Practice of analyzing and evaluating literary or other artistic works
This type of criticism is based on the rules and principles that regulate the practice of the
critic, the art of judging with knowledge and propriety of the beauties and faults of a
literature performance, or of a production in the fine art.
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As Brande & C. (1913) says the elements of criticism depend on the two principles of
Beauty and Truth, one of which is the final end or object of study it pursuits: Beauty - in
letters and the arts; Truth – in history and sciences.
2.2.2.2 Unfavorable judgment of other social aspects
Unfavorable judgment is called fault - finding or disposal expressed by pointing out faults or
shortcomings. Anyone who does not follow the standard way of doing will be criticized.
This type of criticism covers all aspects of life ranging from politics, economy to social
behaviors.
E.g. The senator received severe criticism from his opponent.
Most people attach a negative connotation to the word criticism because it brings to mind of
something uncomfortable. However, criticism comes into two flavors: constructive and
destructive. Destructive criticism aims to hurt an individual’s self-esteem by causing
psychological damage. In contrast, constructive one is handled with positive attitude that will
receive improved results and give feeling of satisfaction.
Literature criticism requires a certain ability of evaluating literary or artistic works. Also, it
has limited and selected number of readers. Hence, literature criticism is not popular among
people. In contrast, the second type of criticism reflects all the aspects of life and has direct
impact on readers. Thus, the second is the type of criticism the author will focus on in the
next parts.
2.3 Directness vs. Indirectness
2.3.1 An overview of Directness vs. Indirectness

you could touch it up a little by summarizing it more carefully and adding some graphs. This
content is solid, but if you could make those small changes, I would really appreciate it.”
The Vietnamese often use hedges before informing bad news or criticizing. Giving some
compliments before showing weak points of others is preferable among them.
2.4 Newspapers
2.4.1 Definition of newspapers
According to Oxford English Dictionary (1990):
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A newspaper is a sheet of paper printed and distributed, at stated intervals for conveying
intelligence of passing events, advocating opinions, etc.; a public print that circulates news,
advertisements, proceeding of legislative bodies, public announcements, etc.
Another definition that the Levi E. Coe Library presented in their website should be taken
into consideration:
A newspaper is a lightweight and disposable periodical usually printed on low-cost paper
called newsprint containing a journal of current news in a variety of topics. These topics can
include political events, crime, sports, opinion, and weather.
Newspapers are also developed around very narrow topic areas, such as news for merchants
in a specific industry, fans of particular sports, fans of the arts or of specific artists, and
participants in the same sorts of activities or lifestyles.
Most nations have at least one newspaper that circulates throughout the whole country, but
in the United States there are few truly national newspapers, with the exception of USA
Today and The Wall Street Journal; large metropolitan newspapers with expanded
distribution networks such as The New York Times.
Nowadays, newspapers are not only printed on sheets of paper. With the development of
Internet, another kind of newspaper that, in recent years, has been popular to everyone has
appeared: e-newspaper (newspaper in Internet).
2.4.2 E-newspapers
Of all the changes of newspapers, the most significant recent development is obviously the
emergence of the Internet as a second national and global stage for news and entertainment
that can challenge the dominant television. Among other things, it is giving us a growing

Newspaper is a kind of mass media. Every one, regardless of education level, is objectively
served by newspapers where they can both get the information and express their opinion.
Therefore newspapers should use the general standard language to meet the needs of various
readers, so that a scientist with wide knowledge does not feel bored, and a child with low
qualification can easily understand.
2.4.3.4 Conciseness
Language in newspapers should be short and brief. Long expression can make the
information dilute, which causes bad effect on the reception of information. Moreover, it
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wastes time for both the writers and readers because in this era of information explosion, it is
better to get as much information as possible in the shortest time.
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3 Chapter 3: CRITICISM IN AMERICAN AND VIETNAMESE NEWSPAPERS
3.1 Major factors affecting direct/indirect criticism
3.1.1 Communication styles
It has been proved that American society values simple, direct verbal and written
communication while the Vietnamese consider directness as lack of subtlety and
sophistication.
Gary M. Wederspahn, a leader in the field of intercultural relations and communications, has
characterized the American style of communication as strongly oriented towards content
(facts, numbers, dates, and precise, explicit meanings). Their speech reflects the high value
they place on words and the need for clarity. Wederspahn (2000) states: “Americans focus
may be compared to a spotlight intensively illuminating a narrow band of the
communication spectrum. In contrast, the communication style in Asia is more like a
floodlight that takes in the context in which the communications occur.” This means the
situation and the relationship of the people involved plus the time and place all carry a large
part of the meaning in the conversation of the Vietnamese. The actual words tend to be less
important and need to be understood in terms of the contextual factors.
3.1.2 Individualism vs. Collectivism
One of the most distinctive characteristics of the American is their devotion to individualism.

For the Vietnamese, regardless of how 'true' the criticism is, it seems, for a moment, there is
something wrong with those who are criticized, and seen from the perspective of one’s
personality this is never a pleasant experience. What is not pleasant should be avoided,
diverted, hidden or otherwise be experienced as little as possible. Hence, many of the
activities aim at prevention from being criticized.
3.2 Criticism in American newspapers
As discussed in Chapter 2, the American are generally open and straightforward in
communication. They often speak or write directly about things they dislike. They are not
taught that they should mask their emotional responses. They do not think it improper to
display their feelings.
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Hence, in American media in general and in American e-newspapers in particular, voice of
criticism is usually strong, straight and direct. Some critical articles even sound aggressive,
severe and sharp.
Most articles of criticism in the US e-newspapers have a very clear style. They give the main
points and state the criticism at the top in the headline and the lead paragraph(s). The body of
the articles then adds details, statements, and comments from people involved in the articles,
plus any background the writer feels necessary to support the criticism more strongly. This
means one gets at least three chances to understand the main points of the article. It is said
“at least” because many articles have accompanying picture and captions (text explaining the
pictures) as well which produce much stronger impact on readers.
The content of the next part is collected and classified through an investigation into three
most popular American online newspapers: USA Today (), The
New York Times (), and The Washington Post
().
3.3 Criticism in Vietnamese newspapers
As regards culture, “Indirectness” is believed to be common in Vietnamese communication.
It is hard for somebody to find a conversation without indirectness or hedges. For instance:
“Tớ biết là cậu rất bận, nhưng khi cậu đi ra ngoài, cậu có thể tiện thể gửi lá thư này cho
mình được không?”