kie VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THU THẢO A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE REAL ESTATE ADVERTISING SLOGANS IN PRINTED ADVERTISEMENTS Phân tích đối chiếu khẩu hiệu quảng cáo bất động sản tiếng Anh và tiếng Việt trên ấn phẩm quảng cáo M.A. MINOR THESIS Field : English Linguistics 1 Code : 60220201 Hanoi, November 2015 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THU THẢO A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE REAL ESTATE ADVERTISING SLOGANS IN PRINTED ADVERTISEMENTS Phân tích đối chiếu khẩu hiệu quảng cáo bất động sản tiếng Anh và tiếng Việt trên ấn phẩm quảng cáo M.A. MINOR THESIS Field : English Linguistics 1 Code : 60220201 Supervisor: TRẦN THỊ THU HIỀN, Ph.D. Hanoi, November 2015 DECLARATION I hereby, certify the thesis entitled “A Contrastive Analysis of English and Vietnamese Real Estate Slogans in Printed Advertisements” is the result of my own research for the Minor Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. The thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other universities or institutions. I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library can be accessible for the purposes of study and research. October, 2015 Nguyễn Thị Thu Thảo i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This MA thesis was successfully completed with the supports of many people to whom I want to express my gratitude. First of all, I would like to express my sincere thank to my supervisor, Dr. Tran Thi Thu Hien, for her valuable instruction, support and encouragement throughout my research process. Without her devoting guidance, I could not have finished this thesis. Secondly, my thanks also go to all the lecturers, professors and doctors teaching at the post graduate faculty of ULIS for their lectures and supports during my course. Last but not least, I would like to give thanks to my beloved family and friends, who have encouraged and supported for my study process to finish this MA thesis. ii ABSTRACT Due to the high demand of current market, every product needs effective strategies to introduce its image to the potential customers, and a successful slogan seems to be an impressive way. Among various types of products, real estate is gradually paid much attention for its significance in people’s living condition. However, there exist differences in terms of linguistic features between English and Vietnamese real estate slogans that need to be investigated. Therefore, the study “A Contrastive Analysis of English and Vietnamese Real Estate Advertising Slogans in Printed Advertisements” is conducted to figure out some distinctive phonological, lexical and syntactic features among English and Vietnamese real estate slogans. The total of 90 advertising slogans are collected from well-known English and Vietnamese real estate newspapers and magazines, and analyzed to support the aim of the study. The finding of the research emphasizes the similarities and differences in terms of phonological, lexical and syntactic features between English and Vietnamese real estate advertising slogans. The thesis was carried with the hope to implement some suggestions for teaching and learning business English, and some advice for advertisers. iii iv PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Together with the development of the world, thousands of new products and services are introduced everyday, which are in need to find an effective way to reach customers. Most of products including food, beverages, medicines, airlines services, are presented to the public via mass media namely television, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, radio, etc. Consequently, manufacturers take advertisements into consideration as a key tool to spread their goods worldwide. Advertisements play a crucial role in economic, sociological and psychological viewpoints. Using advertisements is considered the solution of seeking a channel for organizations or companies to reach out the world with their messages. Slogans are taken as the heart of advertisements and cover the most focusing points sent to customers by the advertisers. However, the question to create a good and successful slogan to bring in customers’ mind the image of the product and encourage them to buy is not always at ease. Therefore, with advertisers, the art of using some valuable words in slogans requires a deep understanding of phonology, lexicology, syntax and other elements. As concerning much about advertisements which appear in high frequency on newspapers and magazines, the researcher realizes that real estate advertisements seem to take much room among other kinds of advertisements. Due to theirs stereotype, real estate advertisements focus on the facility of living and they employ language as a presenting tool to emphasize that. However, in Vietnamese, the real estate advertisers seem not to pay much attention to their slogans as there is no focusing point for customers to memorize about the product or service. In this field, the numbers of slogans which can carve an unforgettable impression on customers’ mind are rare. Whereas in English, real estate advertisers try their best to create a sharp and smart slogan to attract their potential customers and there exist many outstanding slogans worldwide. Thus, the situation is to put advertisers to questions about what is a good slogan, and which linguistic features should be included in the slogan to make it a successful one. Therefore, “A Contrastive Analysis of English 1 and Vietnamese Real Estate Advertising Slogans in Printed Advertisements” is intentionally carried out to provide some useful knowledge of language used in real estate advertisements for English teachers and learners as well as Vietnamese advertisers. 2. Aims and objectives of the study 2.1. Aims The aim of this study is to analyze and figure out the similarities and differences in the linguistic features of real estate advertising slogans in English and Vietnamese language. 2.2. Objectives Due to the aim stated above, the study will focus on some features of real estate advertising slogans of English and Vietnamese in terms of phonology, lexicology, syntax, as well as draw out some hints for Vietnamese advertisers, especially in real estate services which may help to improve their effectiveness and professionality. Phonological features play a vital part in creating the sounds of the slogan when reading aloud so that customers can be impressed and remember the product better. Lexical features are necessary elements to understand the purpose of the advertiser toward his target customers, the strategies he employs to shorten the distance between the producer and the customers in the indirect communication. Syntactic features use types of sentences, phrases, word order to express the purpose of the advertiser in the form of language. Without these syntactic features, slogans cannot be created and therefore, the purpose of the communication between the advertiser and customers is not achieved. 3. Research question and approaches Due to the aims and objectives, the study is conducted to answer the following question: What are the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese Real Estate Advertising Slogans in Printed Advertisements in terms of phonological, lexical and syntactic features? REFERENCES 2 ENGLISH 1. Anderson, E. M. (1998). The use of Metaphors in online advertising, 5(2009). Florida: University of Florida, 18-24. 2. Brown. G and Yule, G. 1993. Discourse Analysis, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 3. Courland, L. B. and William, F. A. (1989). Contemporary advertising. Homewood: Irwin. 4. Cook, G. (1992). The discourse of Advertising. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 5. Crystal, D. (1992). Introducing Linguistics. London: Penguin. 6. Fairclough, N. (2003). 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