Mastering a new language does not only consist of the ability to master its system of form but also the ability to use its linguistic units appropriately. This is because languages differ from one another not only in their systems of phonology, syntax and lexicon but also in their speakers' manners of patterning their discourse and realizing speech acts. Greeting and addressing people are, to varying extents, formulaic, culture-specific and routinized in different languages, including Vietnamese and English. The factors that govern the way one person greets and addresses another varies across languages and speech communities. The selection of one linguistic form over another in greeting and addressing someone largely depends on Speaker-Hearer relative power paradigm, the context of interaction and other social factors. Greetings and address terms by themselves do not carry much referential meaning but accomplish pragmatic functions. Failure to use them appropriately may result in communication breakdown or unwanted hostility, particularly in cross-cultural interactions. Since communication is meaning-based, conventional, appropriate, interactional and structured (Richards,1983: 242 ff), speakers of a foreign language must take into account these elements if they wish to communicate successfully in the target language. This study investigates the patterning of greeting and address terms in Vietnamese and in English, identifying similarities and differences between them. The factors that govern the way speakers choose to greet and address are examined.

"December 2003" / Bibliography: leaves 181-201. / 201 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / "In current Australian cross-cultural scholarship, difference remains a problematic theme. Tensions between the recognition of universal features that all people share, and the acknowledgment of incommensurable differences between cultures, are unresolved. This thesis provides a snapshot of the various ways in which these tensions are being negotiated in ethical, affective work across the disciplines of history, anthropology, cultural studies, literary studies and performance. All of the work discussed enters into intersubjective scholarship, and offers various models that raise the ethical dimension of engaging with cultural difference. Rather than a genealogy of theoretical movements, this thesis is a partial exploration of the ethical and historiographical questions being raised." -- ABSTRACT / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, Discipline of English, 2004

Bibliography: leaves 160-178

Graduation date: 1997

Several popular cultural movements emphasizing indigenous spirituality have arisen in the United States and Europe within the past thirty years. Spiritual discourses attributed to Native Americans, among other groups, are borrowed by Euro-Americans in search of alternatives to dominant ideologies. In such a circumstance, Native Americans become part of a constructed and colonized homogenous category of indigenous people, considered by Euro-Americans as naturally close to the earth and essentially spiritual. The so-called New Age movement has, within it, several sub-movements, which are particularly noted for their emphasis on perceived Native American spiritualism. The Red Cedar Circle, made up primarily of white Americans, focuses on the Si.si.wiss Medicine of the Pacific Northwest Coast, and can be described as falling under the definitional heading of the New Age. The suppression and transformation of the heterogeneous reality of indigenous societies by the imaginings of the Euro-American dominant, has many ethical implications, as does cultural appropriation in a situation of major power differentials. Native communities are becoming increasingly outspoken in their opposition to the practice of Indian, or pseudo-Indian, religions by non-Natives. Many consider such practices to be morally suspect. Both Native and non-Native social critics feel that New Age practitioners involved in appropriated and popularized versions of indigenous religions, are interpreting and using aspects of traditionally subjugated cultures to meet their own needs. What may appear to be a harmless search for enlightenment by Europeans and Euro-Americans might have very real negative consequences for actual Native American lives. This study is based on participant observation of the Corvallis, Oregon Red Cedar Circle, and interviews with its members from June of 1991 to April of 1994. Analysis of data from New Age literature was also conducted, as well as an historical overview of the 'Nobel Savage' myth in Western cultures. Interviews with members of the local Native American community were carried out for feedback on how a given population of Native Americans perceives the Euro-American practice of Native spirituality. The data supports the supposition that cultural borrowing, or appropriation, is both a cause of, and a reaction to, the instability of cultural identity in late twentieth-century America. / Graduation date: 1995

This study uses an anthropological perspective to discuss the cultural differences between Chinese and Americans in business contexts. Through an analysis of case studies related by businesspersons involved in Sino-US trade, and by an analysis of literature on the subject, it describes how cultural differences contribute to the problems and misunderstandings of business encounters, and eventually affect the outcome of business ventures. The data of this study are taken directly from interviews of twenty-two businesspersons from Chins and the United States, who are actively involved in Sino-US trade. This study identifies eleven sets of conflicting cultural characteristics in Sino-American business interaction. These characteristics are closely related to Professor Hsu's theory that Chinese are situation-centered. The theme of Chinese culture is mutual dependency. Americans are individual-centered. The theme of American culture is self-reliance. This study tries to answer the questions such as: Why are personal relationships so important when doing business with Chinese? Why are some Chinese not compelled to keep business contracts or time schedules? What does face mean to a Chinese? and What kind of restraint do Americans need to deal with Chinese? This study also intends to show how important it is for businesspersons to be aware of cultural differences, and to be able to identify them. When in a cross-cultural situation, businesspersons who can control the situation and adapt to a different cultural environment will be more successful. / Graduation date: 1994

Enrollments of international students have increased dramatically in the last several decades. The delivery of health care to these students has become a topic of study for college health care providers and medical researchers across the country. The purpose of this study was to explore how Asian international students cope with illness while in school at Oregon State University. Interviews were held with international students from Japan, Korea, China and selected health care providers from the Oregon State University health center. Information was sought describing health care issues, and perspectives on medical care. The interplay between the student's perspectives and experiences and those of health care providers was explored as they revealed the role of culture in the cross-cultural medical situation. In contrast to other findings I maintain that it is the effects of culture, that is, the envisioning of different realities, in similar situations, that affect both patients and practitioners in the cross-cultural medical encounter. American core cultural values, in conjunction with a biomedical paradigm, formulate a base from which university health care providers interpret their clinical reality. Asian international students bring with them to the medical encounter a different paradigm that, for them, provides a definitive view of illness and health care. It also is grounded in meanings learned from cultural experiences. The anthropological views presented here are powerful and of considerable value in clinical settings because they assist individuals in moving beyond culture-bound realities in order develop a pluralistic perspective that validates the existence of different illness realities in the cross-cultural medical encounter. / Graduation date: 1994

The importance of language and bilinguality in the development, perpetuation, and "degeneration" or change of culture is a central theme throughout this treatise. Original pictorial representations of Mayan hieroglyphic sculpture are included as examples, and represent artistic styles and language variations of written Cholan and Yucatec. Modern Cholan and Yucatecan languages are important in the decipherment of Mayan hieroglyphic writing, because these two languages were the languages of the ancient hieroglyphs. Bilinguality as a positive factor Is considered in the florescence and duration of the central lowland Mayan area. The impact of Spanish language on indigenous languages of Mesoamerica is traced from 1519 to the present. Special consideration and speculation is given to the role of Yucatec and Chol as "divine" non secular languages in the florescence of Mesoamerican cultures. This thesis is a continuation and development of undergraduate anthropologic field work undertaken in Mesoamerica during the 1970s. / Graduation date: 1994

<p>Between one hundred and one hundred and forty million young girls around the world have reportedly been subjected to some form of genital excision during 2005. Approximately three million young girls are at risk every year of undergoing this harmful procedure (WHO, 2008). Female genital mutilation is reported to occur, and is expected to continue occurring in twenty-eight African countries (London Safeguarding Children Board, 2007). This paper aims to firstly observe the levels of excision in Africa, and then highlight the underlying factors that encourage certain women to continue this dangerous ritual by analysing national datasets, such as the child info database, obtained form the United Nations Children&rsquo / s Fund. By calculating and comparing common indicators, the prevailing ones that dominate FGM appreciation can be further analysed. The final objective will be to suggest strategies that can be put in place to encourage the discontinuation of female genital cutting universally.</p>

Le concezioni sull'apprendimento vengono intese come insiemi di opinioni riguardo alla natura e ai processi dell'apprendimento. Ricerche recenti condotte su tali concezioni indicano che le persone sviluppano insiemi coerenti di credenze circa l'apprendimento. Il primo obiettivo degli studi qui riportati è di approfondire l'analisi dei rapporti tra aspetti cognitivi, emotivi e attributivi delle concezioni sull'apprendimento. Il secondo obiettivo è di stabilire in che misura queste concezioni differiscono tra le culture. A tal fine è stato impiegato un questionario che invita gli studenti a esplicitare le loro idee circa l'apprendimento. Il questionario è stato compilato da studenti di scuola secondaria e universitari di differenti paesi. E' emerso che all'incirca i medesimi gruppi coerenti di credenze sono condivisi dagli studenti nei vari paesi. Le differenze interculturali trovate sono spiegabili facendo riferimento sia alle condizioni socio-economiche che alle specifiche caratteristiche dei sistemi di istruzione dei vari paesi, così come ad aspetti temperamentali. / Concepts of learning are described in terms of people's opinions about the nature and the processes involved in learning. Recent studies about popular conceptions of learning suggested that people develop consistent patterns of beliefs. The first aim of this investigation was to deepen the analysis of the relationship among the cognitive, emotional and attributive aspects of the conception about learning. The second aim was to assess to what extent such conceptions differ from one culture to another. A questionnaire about the popular conception of learning, designed to ask students to express their opinions about learning, was employed. The questionnaire was administered to samples of various secondary school and university students recruited in different countries. Results showed that approximately the same coherent patterns of belief are shared by learners across the world. The cross-cultured differences which were found can be interpreted by making reference both to socio-economical conditions and to specific features of the instructional systems, as well as to temperamental factors.