A contrastive analysis on lexical cohesive devices used in business news on english and vietnamese online newspapers.pdf

1. VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES
-----***-----
PHẠM THỊ TỐ LOAN
A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS ON LEXICAL COHESIVE DEVICES
USED IN BUSINESS NEWS ON ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE ONLINE
NEWSPAPERS
(PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU CÁC PHƯƠNG TIỆN LIÊN KẾT TỪ
VỰNG TRONG TIN TỨC KINH TẾ TRÊN CÁC BÁO ĐIỆN TỬ
TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT)
M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60.22.02.01
HA NOI, 2014

2. VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES
-----***-----
PHẠM THỊ TỐ LOAN
A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS ON LEXICAL COHESIVE DEVICES
USED IN BUSINESS NEWS ON ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE ONLINE
NEWSPAPERS
(PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU CÁC PHƯƠNG TIỆN LIÊN KẾT TỪ
VỰNG TRONG TIN TỨC KINH TẾ TRÊN CÁC BÁO ĐIỆN TỬ
TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT)
M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60.22.02.01
Supervisor: Dr. Ngô Tự Lập
HA NOI, 2014

3. i
CERTIFICATION OF ORIGINALITY
I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “A Contrastive Analysis on Lexical
Cohesive Devices Used in Business News on English and Vietnamese Online
Newspapers” is my own study in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree
of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and
International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
Hanoi, 2014
Phạm Thị Tố Loan

4. ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my
supervisor, Dr. Ngô Tự Lập for his profound knowledge, constant encouragement
and invaluable advice without which the study would not have been possible.
My heartfelt thanks also go to my colleagues at Vietnam University of
Commerce for their substantial help and unconditional support.
I especially owe a debt of gratitude to my adorable son, my caring husband,
and my thoughtful parents who give me ample inspiration, strength and willpower
in the completion of my thesis.
Lastly, my gratefulness is also extended to linguists in reference section whose
ideas and viewpoints significantly enlighten me and lead me to the right track.

5. iii
ABSTRACTS
The purpose of this study is to work towards the similarities and differences
between lexical cohesive devices used in business news on English and Vietnamese
online newspapers. With this aim, 30 news items are taken from prestigious
websites, such as BBC, CNN, Vneconomy, Cafef for calculating, synthesizing and
analyzing the use of lexical cohesive devices in both languages. The result shows
that the repetition proves to be the most effective and predominant device in both
English and Vietnamese news. It is also revealed that the Adjective+Noun
collocation in English news appears to exert its dominance over Vietnamese one.
However, Vietnamese news has the tendency to use the largest portion of
Noun+Noun pattern among all types of collocation. The results will facilitate
English majors to write cohesive essays and produce accurate translation between
English and Vietnamese news. Additionally, the study also put forth some
suggestions for further research in the future. It is hoped that the findings and
implications for learning and teaching English in this thesis will ensure a surefire
success for English majors in the pursuit of advanced English.

6. iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgment …………………………………………………………………. ii
Abstract………………………………………………………………………...….iii
Tables of contents ………………………………………………………….……...iv
List of Abbreviations ………………………………………………….……….....vi
List of tables ……………………………...……………………………………....vii
List of figures……………………………………………………...……………...viii
PART A: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………1
1. Rationale ……………………………………………………………………...…1
2. Aims of the study………………………………………………………………...2
3. Research questions of the study………………………………………….……….2
4. Scope of the study ………………………………………………………..………3
5. Methods of the study …………………………………………………….…….…3
6. Design of the study ……………………………………………………………...4
PART B: DEVELOPMENT …………………………………………..………....…5
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………5
1.1. Cohesion………………………………………………………………………..5
1.1.1. The concept of cohesion……………………………………………...…...5
1.1.2. Cohesion vs Coherence………………………………………………….6
1.1.3. Types of cohesion……………………………………………………….6
1.1.4. Lexical cohesion………………………………………………………...8
1.1.4.1. Reiteration……………………………………………………………..9
1.1.4.2. Collocation………………………………………………………..….11
1.2. Online newspapers………………………………………………………
…...12
1.2.1.Definition of online newspaper…………………………………………12
1.2.2. Features of online newspapers…………………………………………13
1.3. News …………………………………………………………………………..14
1.3.1. Definition………………………………………………………………14
1.3.2. Characteristics of news………………………………………………...15
1.3.3. Business news………………………………………………………….15
1.4. Related studies…………………………………………………………….….16
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHOD……………………………………...….18

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2.1. The subjects of the study…………………………………………..…….18
2.2. Methodology…………………………………………………...……..….22
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION …………………...……...……23
3.1. Frequency of using lexical cohesive devices in English and Vietnamese
online newspapers. ………………………………………………………..….22
3.1.1. Reiteration………….…………………………………………….....….23
3.1.2. Collocation…………………………………………………….....…….25
3.2. Similarities and differences in the use of lexical cohesive devices in
business news on English and Vietnamese online newspapers.………...……28
3.2.1. Similarities………………………………………………...………..….28
3.2.2. Differences……………………………………………...………..…….32
PART C: CONCLUSION……………………………………………….…..…….35
1. Recapitulation …………………………………………....………...……..……35
2. Implications…………………………………………………………………….37
3. Limitations of the study…………………………….………………………….38
5. Suggestions for further research……………………………………..……….39
REFERENCES ……………………………………………………..…………….40
APPENDICES

8. vi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
BNE: Business news in English
BNVN: Business news in Vietnamese
V+N: Verb+Noun
Adj+N: Adjective+Noun
N+V: Noun+Verb
N+N: Noun+Noun
Adj+N: Adjective+Noun
Adv+Adj: Adverb+Adjective
V+Adv: Verb+Adverb

9. vii
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.1: Type of Cohesion………………………………………………. 7
Table 1.2: Grammatical and Lexical Cohesion……………………………. 8
Table 2.1: List of business news on English online newspapers…………... 19
Table 2.2: List of business news on Vienamese online newspapers……….. 21
Table 3.1: The frequency of reiteration in business news on Vietnamese
online newspapers…………………………………………………………..
23
Table 3.2: The frequency of reiteration in business news on English online
newspapers………………………………………………………………….
24
Table 3.3: The frequency of reiteration in business news on English and
Vietnamese online newspaper………………………………………………
24
Table 3.4: The frequency of collocation in business news on English
online newspapers…………………………………………………………..
26
Table 3.5: The frequency of collocation in business news on English
online newspapers…………………………………………………………..
27
Table 3.6: The frequency of collocation in business news on English and
Vietnamese online newspapers……………………………………………
27

10. viii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1: Logos of some prestigious English online newspapers 12
Figure 1.2: Logos of some famous Vietnamese online newspapers 13

11. 1
PART A - INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Nowadays, the widespread use of the Internet has made it possible for people
to update news anywhere and anytime through online newspapers. Apparently,
online newspaper is a crucial part of our life as it keeps us well-informed about
what is happening around us within one click. An enormous amount of news on
daily newspapers provides us with the latest national and international events on a
wide range of topics such as: business, sports, education, society, politics, culture,
etc. News not only helps to increase our knowledge but also serves as a source of
entertainment. With this in mind, the author has made an attempt to do research
concerning with news, staying focus on online news due to the ubiquitous of the
Internet.
Additionally, as an English teacher at Vietnam University of Commerce, the
author has many chances to approach business English and takes interest in teaching
business English to students in general and English majors in particular. In an effort
to improve business English to students, the author has adopted authentic materials
including business online news which proves to be very effective and convenient in
class. Besides, students are also encouraged to spend time reading business online
news at home as it is very beneficial to them in many ways. The most recognizable
benefits involve the increased knowledge and extended vocabulary in business.
However, there is a strong likelihood that students often encounter a lot of
troubles in comprehending the news due to the complicated semantic relation
between the lexical items in the text or numerous new words in the news. Thus,
understanding cohesive devices within a text gives students more insight into how
writers organize what they want to say since lexical cohesion deals with meaning in
text. Halliday and Hasan (1976) claimed that “cohesive effect is achieved by the
selection of vocabulary”. To some extend, an acquisition of lexical cohesive devices
will facilitate understanding of business news among students.

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Furthermore, the writer has the ambition to make a distinction of the lexical
cohesive devices used in business news between English and Vietnamese online
newspapers with the aim to figure out the similarities and differences of business
news in both languages. Thus, the study entitled “A contrastive analysis of lexical
cohesive devices used in business news on English and Vietnamese online
newspapers” was conducted to achieve this aim. The findings of the study will
hopefully lay a solid foundation to both teachers and learners in the mastery of
business English news; more importantly, create background for translation
between the two languages and consequently, enhance the teaching and learning of
business English.
2. Aims of the study
The main aims of the thesis are as follows:
- To figure out the types of lexical cohesive devices in business news on English
and Vietnamese online newspapers.
- To identify the frequency and roles of lexical cohesive devices that attribute to the
success of business news in Vietnamese and English online newspaper.
- To pinpoint the similarities and differences between lexical cohesive devices used
in English and Vietnamese online business news.
3. The research questions of the study
In order to achieve the aforementioned aims, the study is intended to find out the
answer to three following research questions:
1. What are the types of lexical cohesive devices used in business news on
English and Vietnamese online newspapers?

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2. How frequent are lexical cohesive devices used in English and Vietnamese
online business news and their corresponding roles?
3. What are the similarities and differences in the use of lexical cohesive
devices between English and Vietnamese online business news?
4. Scope of the study
Currently, online newspapers offer a large number of issues namely: Sport,
Entertainment, Political, Technology, Health, Business, etc. However, within the
framework of this minor thesis, the author only has intention to focus on the use of
lexical cohesive devices in online Business news.
It is noted that the ubiquitous Internet has made it easier for readers to access
to a wide range of online newspapers than ever before. Multitude of newspapers in
English consist of BBC, CNN, AP, AFP, CNBC, ABCNEWS, REUTERS,
BLOOMBERGE, etc. Likewise, newspapers in Vietnamese comprise a number of
sites like VNEXPRESS, VNECONOMY, CAFEF, DANTRI, VIETNAMNET,
THANHNIEN, TUOITRE, LAODONG, and the list goes on. Due to countless sites
with numerous articles released and updated every minute daily, the author merely
desire to select business news from two prestigious agencies in English including
BBC (www.bbc.com) and CNN (www.edition.cnn.com) and two business oriented
websites in Vietnamese namely, VNECONOMY (www.vneconmy.vn) and CAFEF
(www.cafef.vn).
As clearly stated above, the focus of the study work towards the similarities
and differences of lexical cohesive devices used in business news on English and
Vietnamese online newspapers.
5. Methods of the study
In the completion of the study, a variety of methods has been adopted,
among which the main methods are qualitative and quantitative. The data is taken
from 30 business articles on both English and Vietnamese online newspapers (15

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articles on English online newspapers and 15 articles on Vietnamese ones) to
distinguish the similarities and differences. This method involves three steps: first,
identify common types of cohesive devices used in English and Vietnamese online
business news, then figure out the frequency of occurrence of such lexical cohesive
devices and finally, compare and contrast to pinpoint how the two languages
resemble and differ from each other. Invariably, other techniques such as reference
to materials, consultation with the supervisor, and personal observations also count.
6. Design of the study
The study is composed of three main parts organized as follows:
Part 1 – INTRODUCTION specifies the background of the study which
covers a wide range of information such as rationale, aims, research questions,
scope, methods, and design of the study.
Part 2 – DEVELOPMENT is broken into three chapters.
Chapter 1 provides an overview of literature on cohesion, lexical cohesion,
online newspapers, news in general and business news in particular.
Chapter 2 discusses the research method of the study.
Chapter 3 deals with the findings and discussion of the study.
Part 3 – CONCLUSION summarizes the main issues of the study,
accompanied by limitations and suggestions for further study. Additionally, some
possible implications for language teaching, learning and translations when using
business news as materials in classroom are presented.

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PART B - DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Cohesion
1.1.1. The concept of cohesion
Cohesion is involved with lexical, grammatical, and other relations which
connect different parts of a text. Halliday and Hasan (1976) hold the view that the
primary factor of whether a set of sentences do or do not constitute a text depends
on cohesive relationships within and between the sentences, which create texture.
Halliday and Hasan (1976) stated that:
Cohesion occurs where the interpretation of some element in the discourse is
dependent on that of another. The one presupposes the other, in the sense that it
cannot be effectively decoded except by recourse to it. When this happens, a
relation of cohesion is set up, and the two elements, the presupposing and the
presupposed, are thereby at least potentially integrated into the text. (Halliday and
Hassan 1976:4)
The concept of cohesion is thus a semantic one, and like all the components
of semantic system cohesion is realized through grammar and vocabulary. Cohesion
can therefore be broken into grammatical and lexical cohesion. Grammatical
cohesion includes devices such as reference, substitution, ellipsis and conjunction,
whereas lexical cohesion is divided into reiteration (repetition, synonymy, near
synonym, and superordinate) and collocation (co-occurrence of lexical items)
(Halliday and Hasan 1976).
In a word, cohesion refers to the linguistic constituents that make a discourse
semantically coherent; or according to Hoa (2000: 23) “cohesion refers to the
formal relationship that causes texts to cohere or stick together”.

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1.1.2. Cohesion vs Coherence
It is common knowledge that the terms cohesion and coherence are
frequently used in discourse analysis and text linguistics to describe the properties
of written texts. However, there is a clear distinction between these two terms as
they differ from each other. Cohesion can be lexical and grammatical links that
connect one part of a discourse to another. This involves the use of repetition,
synonym, superordinate grammatical reference, collocation, etc. For example, “first
of all”, “then” and “finally” are used to create the sequence of a discourse.
“However”, “moreover”, or “in addition” link ideas and arguments in a discourse.
On the other hand, coherence refers to the unity created between the ideas,
sentences, paragraphs and sections of a piece of writing. It also gives the reader a
sense of what to expect and, therefore, makes the reading easier to follow as the
ideas appear to be presented in a natural way.
In other words, cohesion is considered as glue that sticks together from
sentence and sentence, and from paragraph and paragraph. Meanwhile, coherence is
concerned with sequences of ideas which relate to each other and it places much
emphasis on meaning.
1.1.3. Types of cohesion
As mentioned above, cohesion is divided into two types, namely
grammatical cohesion (reference, substitution, ellipsis, and conjunction), and lexical
cohesion which include “reiteration” or “collocation”. Reiteration is not only the
repetition of the same lexical item but also the occurrence of a related item which
may be a synonym, a near synonym or a superordinate (Halliday & Hasan,
1976:279), and collocation is achieved through the association of lexical items that
regularly co-occur (Halliday & Hasan 1976:284).

17. 7
According to Halliday and Hasan (1976), cohesion is classified according to
linguistic form. Types of cohesion depends either on semantic relation in the
linguistic system or on lexico-grammatical relations. In other words, the cohesive
relation can be interpreted as being either lexicogrammatical in nature or semantic.
It can be illustrated clearly in the following description:
Nature of cohesive relation Types of cohesion
Relatedness of form Substitution and ellipsis; lexical
collocation
Relatedness of reference Reference; lexical reiteration
Semantic connection Conjunction
(Haliday and Hasan, 1976:304)
Table 1.1: Types of Cohesion
Reference, substitution and ellipsis and conjunctions are four types of
grammatical cohesion while lexical cohesion encompasses reiteration and
collocation. We can refer to grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion as follows:
Grammatical cohesion Lexical cohesion
1. Reference
- Personal reference
- Demonstrative reference
- Comparative reference
2. Substitution
- Nominal substitution
- Verbal substitution
1. Reiteration
- Same word/repetition
- Synonym
- Near synonyms
- Superordinates
2. Collocation
- Verb + Noun

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- Clausal substitution
3. Ellipsis
- Nominal ellipsis
- Verbal ellipsis
- Clausal ellipsis
4. Conjunction
- Additive
- Adversative
- Causal
- Temporal
- Adjective + Noun
- Noun + Verb
- Noun1 + Noun2
- Adverb + Adjective
- Verb + Adverb
(Halliday and Hasan, 1976; Benson et al, 1986)
Table 1.2: Grammatical and Lexical Cohesion
1.1.4. Lexical cohesion
Lexical cohesion refers to close relationships in meaning between lexical
items in a text and, more precisely, content words and the relationship between
them. Apparently, cohesion occurs when the interpretation of some components in
the discourse is dependent on that of another. There are two main kinds of lexical
cohesion which are reiteration (including repetition, synonym, near-synonym,
superordinate) and collocation.

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1.1.4.1. Reiteration
Reiteration is a form of lexical cohesion which comprises the repetition of a
lexical item, or the use of words which have similar meaning, so-called synonym or
near-synonym, or the use of words which have specific – general relation as in
superordinate.
Repetition
Repetition is concerned with words that are repeated in a text. This involves
words which are inflected for tense or number and words which are derived from
particular items such as Stu and Stuart.
In the following example, mushroom is repeated twice to ensure the cohesion
of the text:
There was a large mushroom growing near her, about the same height as herself;
and when she had looked under it, it occurred to her that she might as well look and
see what was on the top of it.
She stretched herself up on tiptoe, and peeped over the edge of the mushroom,…
(Halliday and Hassan 1976:278)
Needless to say, this is the most occurring form of lexical cohesion since it is
merely identical to the preceding lexical items.
Synonym
Synonym refers to words which are similar in meaning such as ascent and
climb in the below illustration:
“Accordingly … I took leave, and turned to the ascent of the peak. The climb is
perfectly easy …” (Halliday and Hassan 1976:278)

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Climb refers back to ascent in a way that both terms have the same level of
generality and are therefore synonym in a narrower sense.
Near-synonym
Near synonyms are words that have the same meaning but differ in lexical
nuances. Hassan and Halliday (1976) exemplified this issue with the following
extract:
Then quickly rose Sir Bedivere, and ran,
And leaping down the ridges lightly, plung’d
Among the bulrush beds, and clutch’d the sword
And lightly wheel’d and threw it. The great brand
Made light’nings in the spendour of the moon…
In this example, brand refers back to sword, of which it is a near synonym.
Superordinate
One more method of linking words in a text and creating coherence is to
refer back to a word by using what is called a superordinate. Here is an example:
“Henry’s bought himself a new Jaguar. He practically lives in the car” (Halliday
and Hassan 1976:278)
In this case, car refers back to Jaguar; and car is a superordinate of Jaguar –
that is, a name for a more general class. Likewise, vehicle is a superordinate of car;
spoon is superordinate of teaspoon, flower of rose, and so on.

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1.1.4.2. Collocation
Collocation refers to the natural combination of words, the way in which
English words are closely associated with each other.
Benson, Benson and Ilson (1986a-b) defined collocation as follows:
In English, as in other languages, there are many fixed, identifiable, non-idiomatic
phrases and constructions. Such group of words are called recurrent combinations,
fixed combinations, or collocations. Collocations fall into two major groups:
grammatical collocations and lexical collocations. (1986b: ix)
Examples of grammatical collocations include: account for, by accident, take
over, etc. They consist of a noun, an adjective, or a verb, plus a preposition of
grammatical structure such as an infinitive or clause. Lexical collocations, on the
other hand, do not contain prepositions, infinitives, or clauses, but consist of various
combinations of nouns, adjectives verbs and adverbs. Benson (1986) categorizes
several types of lexical collocations:
1. Verb + Noun: make decision, run a company,
2. Adjective + Noun: strong coffee, profitable business
3. Noun + Verb: economy grows, sales increase
4. Noun1 + Noun2: a herd of buffalo, business trip
5. Adverb + Adjective: slightly different, hugely profitable
6. Verb + Adverb: change rapidly, spend lavishly
Within the scope of this minor thesis, the author has no ambition to cover
both grammatical and lexical collocation. Instead, she just makes an attempt to

22. 12
explore the use of lexical collocation in business news on both English and
Vietnamese newspapers.
1.2. Online newspapers
1.2.1. Definition of online newspaper
An online newspaper is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-
alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Online newspapers
stand many good chances of competing with broadcast journalism (such as radio
and television) in updating breaking news in a more timely manner. Actually, online
newspapers share some common features with printed newspapers, such as having
legal boundaries regarding libel, pricacy and copyright.
Nowadays, there is an increasing number of online newspapers offering news
about all aspects of life ranging from education to business. Most visited newpapers
in English include: BBC, CNN, Bloomberg, etc. The logos of some best-known
sites in English are presented below.
Figure 1.1: Logos of some prestigious English online newspapers
Regarding online newspapers in Vietnam, on November 19th
1997, our
country officially joined global information network as a direct consequence of
radical growth in online newspapers worldwide. In February 1998, the online

23. 13
version of “Que huong” became the first electronic Vietnamese
newspapers on the Internet. Up to the present days, Vietnam has witnessed a
boom in the development of hundreds of online newspapers. The following logos
represent prestigious sites of Vietnamese online newspapers:
Figure 1.2: Logos of some famous Vietnamese online newspapers
1.2.2. Features of online newspapers
Online newspapers have the following noticeable features:
 Online newspaper can be published in real time, updating breaking news and
events every minute.
 Online newspaper can comprise multimedia elements such as: text and graphics
(newspapers and books), sound, music, motion video, and animation (broadcast
radio, TV, film), 3D, etc.
 There is a high interactivity on online newspapers. Precisely, hyperlinks help to
link various elements of a lengthy and complex work, introduce numerous
points of view, and add depth and detail. Sometimes online newspapers
comprise of hyperlinked set of web pages which can themselves include
hyperlinks to other websites.

24. 14
 Readers can respond instantly to articles presented by the online journalists; this
response can take several forms. Email to the reporter or editor resembles the
traditional letter to editor of print publications, but email letters can be published
much sooner online than in print.
 Online newspapers can also take advantage of threaded discussions that let
readers respond immediately to an article, and to the comments of other readers,
in a bulletin board-style discussion that can be accessed at any time.
1.3. News
1.3.1. Definition
According to Richard Campbell (2013), news was defined as follows:
“News is the communication of selected information on current events which is
presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass
audience.”
Oxford Advanced Learners’ dictionary explains that news is “reports of
recent events that appear in newspapers or on television or radio”
Another noteworthy definition specifies that news is all of the following:
- information, especially information you haven’t heard before,
- something interesting or important to you,
- something that has or will have an impact on you and others,
- what the media report.
(James Schaffer, 2009)

25. 15
Putting it all together, we say news is information we haven’t had before that
is delivered through a mass medium and has some impact on our lives.
1.3.2. Characteristics of news
People, events and information that are newsworthy share common
identifiable characteristics. Not all characteristics are present in every news story,
but every item that is newsworthy will have one or more of these characteristics:
timeliness, prominence, proximity, conflict, impact and human interest.
 Timeliness: an event is reported as soon as it happens. An accident, a fire, the
signing of a peace treaty or the result of an election is news when it happens.
 Proninence: is about someone whose name or job (such as the president of the
United States) is well known and easily recognized by the public.
 Proximity: refers to a news story that happens close to home.
 Conflict: involes two sides engaged in a “battle” from which one will emerge the
winner, such as a story about war, an athletic competition or an election.
 Impact: is based on the effect or cosequence the story will have on the audience.
 Human interest: refers to story that satisfies your curiosity about other people
and what happens to them.
1.3.3. Business news
It is without a doubt that business news involves news about business and
investment. The Telegraph online specifies that business news involves “what is
happening in the economy, companies, share and money markets and how you can
make the most of your personal finances.”
With regards to business news on English online newspaper, there is a wide
range of topics such as Markets, Economy, Investing, Small business,
Entrepreneurship, Companies, Stock markets. Likewise, business news on

26. 16
Vietnamese online newspapers is commonly categorized into various groups like:
Stock Market, Entrepreneur, Real Estate, Market, Tech, Companies, Finance and
Banking, Macro-economics.
Obviously, all the articles on both English and Vietnamese online
newspapers share the same visible features. For instance, both present financial
facts and figures, analyze and evaluate current situations and give prediction to the
future.
1.4. Related studies
Cohesion in general and lexical cohesive devices in particular has long been of great
interest to many researchers. For instance, in her graduation paper, Bui Thi Nhung
(2007) has made an attempt to analyse lexical cohesive devices used in English
letters of enquiry. The paper draws some conclusions about the frequently used
devices including reiteration and collocation in letters of enquiry in English and
makes some suggestions for further studies. Likewise, Tran Thi Thanh Hai (2001)
has conducted a study entitled: “A Contrastive Analysis of English and Vietnamese
Sales Letters” to identify the similarities and differences between the use of lexical
cohesive devices, namely reiteration (including repetition, synonyms, near-
synonyms, superordinate) and collocation (comprising Noun-collocations and
others) in English and Vietnamese sales letters. It is also worth mentioning a
another research by Pham Phuong Lan (2012) which analyses lexical cohesive
devices from some reading texts of the course book "English for Business Study".
Pham points out some common lexical devices used in several selected texts in
Business English course book based on the taxonomy of cohesion by Halliday and
Hasan. The result of study shows that of all the devices, repetition occurs most
frequently in creating the cohesion of the texts.
Apparently, among previous studies, none has been talked about the use of
lexical cohesive devices in business news, to be more specific, in business online

27. 17
news in English and Vietnamese newspapers. This encourages the author to do
research on this issues with the hope to bring to light the similarities and differences
in the use of lexical cohesive devices in English and Vietnamese business online
news.

28. 18
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHOD
2.1. The subject of the study
The subjects of the study comprise 30 pieces of news of which 15 pieces
come from English online newspapers and the same amount are taken from
Vietnamese ones. With regard to English news, two world-wide prestigious news
agencies, namely BBC and CNN are fully exploited. Specifically, the author
gathered news in business section on http://www.bbc.com/news/business/ and
http://money.cnn.com/. In an effort to compare and contrast the use of lexical
cohesive devices between English and Vietnamese online news, two Vietnamese
sites: http://vneconomy.vn/ and http://cafef.vn/ are taken advantage of.
The length of these news items varies from 126 to 500 words and covers a
wide range of business-related topics. As seen from the homepage display of BBC,
the business section on http://www.bbc.com/news/business/ is categorized into:
Market Data, Economy, Entrepreneurship, Business of Sport, Companies,
Technologies of Business, and Knowledge of Economy. Whereas, business news on
http://money.cnn.com/ is composed of Market, Investing, Economy, Tech, Personal
Finance, Small Business, Luxury, Media. Regarding Vietnamese news on
http://vneconomy.vn/, the following sections are displayed on homepage: Breaking
news, Finance, Stock Market, Real Estate, Market, World, Tech. Meanwhile,
http://cafef.vn/ offers to readers various sections including Stock Market, Real
Estate, Companies, Finance and Banking, International Finance, Macroeconomics,
Mechandise, Data.
To ensure the reliability and validaty of the study, a variety of topics on the
above mentioned newspapers are exploited and examined thoroughly for later
calculation and synthesis of lexical cohesive devices.

29. 19
The following tables state the code, headlines, source and the date release of
30 selected news in English and Vietnamese online newspapers.
Code News’ Headlines Source Date
released
BNE01 Boeing raises 2014 profit forecast http://www.bbc.com/news/business-
27126940
23 April
2014
BNE02 Microsoft set to axe 18,000 jobs http://www.bbc.com/news/business-
28348223
17 July
2014
BNE03 US car makers report strong sales
figures for May
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-
27687909
3 June
2014
BNE04 Hewlett-Packard to cut up to 16,000
more jobs
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-
27530592
23 May
2014
BNE05 U.K. CEOs make 131 times more than
workers
http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/18/n
ews/economy/executive-pay-uk/
August
18, 2014
BNE06 Wages are falling in this booming
economy
http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/13/n
ews/economy/wages-uk-economy/
August
13, 2014
BNE07 Another fruit company wants to merge
with Chiquita
http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/11/n
ews/companies/chiquita-banana/
August
11, 2014
BNE08 Sony reports first annual profit in five
years
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-
22460957
9 May
2013
BNE09 Russian import ban fuels food price
rises
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-
europe-28849726
19 August
2014
BNE10 Billionaire buys $201 million life
insurance policy
http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/16/n
ews/billionaire-life-insurance/
March 16,
2014
BNE11 U.K. bank hit with $300 million New
York fine
http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/19/n
ews/companies/stanchart-money-
laundering/
August
20, 2014
BNE12 McDonald's coffee coming to
supermarkets
http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/19/n
ews/mcdonalds-coffee/
August
19, 2014
BNE13 Google revenue helped by ads as
business boss leaves
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-
28359349
18 July
2014
BNE14 Eurozone inflation falls to 0.5% in
March
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-
26817775
31 March
2014

30. 20
BNE15 French business output grew in
March, PMI survey says
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-
26712891
24 March
2014
Table 2.1: List of business news on English online newspapers
Code News’ Headlines Source Date released
BVN01 Quý I, chứng khoán Việt Nam tăng
mạnh thứ 2 thế giới
http://cafef.vn/thi-truong-chung-
khoan/quy-i-chung-khoan-viet-
nam-tang-manh-thu-2-the-gioi-
2014040217012558712ca31.chn
02/04/2014
BVN02 Ồ ạt dòng vốn rẻ từ các ngân hàng http://vneconomy.vn/tai-chinh/o-
at-dong-von-re-tu-cac-ngan-
hang-20140408021845373.htm
8/4/2014
BVN03 EVN “lãi vượt kế hoạch” nhờ tăng
giá điện
http://vneconomy.vn/thi-
truong/evn-lai-vuot-ke-hoach-
nho-tang-gia-dien-
20140630115052927.htm
30/6/2014
BVN04 Vì sao thị trường bất động sản
không sụp đổ?
http://vneconomy.vn/thi-
truong/bat-dong-san-
20140630115052927.htm
30/05/2014
BVN05 “Lãi suất có điều kiện để tiếp tục
giảm”
http://vneconomy.vn/tai-
chinh/lai-suat-co-dieu-kien-de-
tiep-tuc-giam-
20140803022318568.htm
03/08/2014
BVN06 Tăng lương quá nhanh, thất nghiệp
sẽ tăng
http://cafef.vn/tin-tuc-toi-
thieu/trang-2.html
05/08/2014
BVN07 Doanh thu của Starbucks ở Việt
Nam “vượt kỳ vọng”
http://vneconomy.vn/doanh-
nhan/doanh-thu-cua-starbucks-o-
viet-nam-vuot-ky-vong-
20130518010825479.htm
18/5/2013
BVN08 Gói 30.000 tỷ: Lãi suất vẫn cao,
hạn vay lại ngắn
http://vneconomy.vn/bat-dong-
san/goi-30000-ty-lai-suat-van-
cao-han-vay-lai-ngan-
20140418102414363.htm
18/4/2014
BVN09 HUD1: Lợi nhuận tăng 23% sau
kiểm toán
http://cafef.vn/doanh-
nghiep/hud1-loi-nhuan-tang-23-
08/04/2014

31. 21
sau-kiem-toan-
201404080013278677ca36.chn
BVN10 Bánh kẹo hải hà: Điều chỉnh tăng
lợi nhuận sau thuế năm 2013 thêm
1,4 tỷ
http://cafef.vn/doanh-
nghiep/hud1-loi-nhuan-tang-23-
sau-kiem-toan-
201404080013278677ca36.chn
08/04/2014
BVN11 7 tháng: VietJet đạt doanh thu hơn
3.800 tỷ đồng, nộp ngân sách gần
350 tỷ
7 tháng: VietJet đạt doanh thu
hơn 3.800 tỷ đồng, nộp ngân sách
gần 350 tỷ
/08/2014
BVN12 Nga muốn rót 3 tỷ USD vào lọc
dầu Dung Quất
http://cafef.vn/kinh-te-vi-mo-
dau-tu/nga-muon-rot-3-ty-usd-
vao-loc-dau-dung-quat-
201408221124012077ca33.chn
22/08/2014
BVN13 VST: Chưa hạch toán 51 tỷ đồng
chi phí lãi vay, 6 tháng vẫn lỗ ròng
63,6 tỷ đồng
http://cafef.vn/doanh-nghiep/vst-
chua-hach-toan-51-ty-dong-chi-
phi-lai-vay-6-thang-van-lo-rong-
636-ty-dong-
201408181450250303ca36.chn
23/08/2014
BVN14 Khung giá đất có thể tăng gấp đôi http://vneconomy.vn/bat-dong-
san/khung-gia-dat-co-the-tang-
gap-doi-
20140822122444623.htm
22/8/2014
BVN15 Giá xăng trong nước giảm 600
đồng/lít
http://vneconomy.vn/thi-
truong/gia-xang-trong-nuoc-
giam-600-donglit-
20140818034152802.htm
18/8/2014
Table 2.2: List of business news on Vienamese online newspapers
2.2. Methodology
To attain the contrastive analysis of lexical cohesive devices used in business
news on English and Vietnamese online newspapers, the thesis adopts the following
steps and corresponding methods:

32. 22
Step 1 - Qualitative method: description and interpretation of some notions
based on the works of gurus and outstanding authors related to cohesion, lexical
cohesion, online newspapers and news are revealed. Alongside, the author’s
observation through a number of articles on online newspapers also helps to
envision the overall features of online news in genreral and the use of lexical
cohesive devices in both English and Vietnamese news in particular.
Step 2 - Quantitative method: Each type of cohesive devices in both English
and Vietnamese news are discovered, then counted separately, and finally
calculated into the form of percentage for comparison.
Step 3 - A combination of Qualitative and Quantitative methods: the
percentage of each type of cohesive devices in English and Vietnamese news are
categorized in groups for comparing and contrasting. It is through this process that
the significant level of each lexical cohesive devices used in business news is
explored thoroughly.

33. 23
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
3.1. Frequency of using lexical cohesive devices in English and Vietnamese
online newspapers.
3.1.1. Reiteration
The following tables will demonstrate clearly the frequent use of repetition,
synonym, near-synonym and superordinate of business news on English and
Vietnamese online newspapers. The figures are then calculated in the form of
percentage for further comparing and contrasting between English and Vietnamese
news.
BNE Repetition Synonym Near synonym Superordinate
01 10 2 0 0
02 8 2 1 0
03 11 3 1 1
04 15 0 3 2
05 11 2 0 0
06 8 0 2 1
07 11 0 0 1
08 15 0 2 1
09 14 2 0 4
10 7 0 0 0
11 8 2 0 1
12 9 0 0 2
13 6 1 0 1
14 12 0 0 0
15 6 0 1 2
Total 151 14 10 16
Percentage 79.1% 7.3% 5.2% 8.4%
Table 3.1: The frequency of reiteration in business news on Vietnamese online
newspapers

34. 24
BNVN Repetition Synonym Near synonym Superordinate
01 11 0 1 1
02 11 1 2 2
03 14 0 1 3
04 15 0 2 1
05 11 0 0 2
06 14 1 2 1
07 16 3 4 3
08 17 0 2 4
09 14 0 0 2
10 9 0 0 1
11 12 2 0 2
12 14 0 0 1
13 13 0 1 0
14 15 2 0 3
15 14 0 0 0
Total 200 9 15 26
Percentage 80% 3.6% 6% 10.4%
Table 3.2: The frequency of reiteration in business news on English online
newspapers
Repetition Synonym Near-
synonym
Superordinate
English 79.1% 7.3% 5.2% 8.4%
Vietnamese 80% 3.6% 6% 10.4%
Table 3.3: The frequency of reiteration in business news on English and
Vietnamese online newspapers
As shown from tables above, repetition constitutes the largest portion of all,
which respectively accounts for 79.1% and 80% in English and Vietnamese news.

35. 25
Accordingly, synonym, near-synonym, and superordinate merely make up a small
percentage. It is noticeable that English news employs twice as many synonyms as
Vietnamese one; the former occupies 7.3% and the later only make up a modest
percentage of 3.6%. Additionally, there is a slight difference in the use of near-
synonym in English and Vietnamese news: 5.2% in English as compared to 6% in
Vietnamese. Lastly, the percentage shows that superordinate ranks second after
repetition in terms of frequency of occurrence. Business Vietnamese news has the
tendency to use more superordinate rather than English one. Precisely, about 8.4%
of superordinate is adopted in creating the cohesion of the text in English whereas, a
higher percentage of 10.4% is utilized in Vietnamese news.
In general, the above figures unfold the fact that repetition is by far the most
frequently used in business news in both English and Vietnamese. Needless to say,
it proves to be the most effective tool to maintain the cohesion in any text.
Furthermore, other lexical cohesive devices like synonym, near-synonym and
superordinate also play vital roles in the creation of united meaning for the whole
text.
3.1.2. Collocation
The tables below will elaborate the frequency of occurrence of collocation in
English and Vietnamese news. Six components of collocation namely Verb+Noun,
Adj+Noun, Noun+Verb, Noun1+Noun2, Adverb+Adjective and Verb+Adverb are
counted and expressed as a percentage. Obviously, the figures will serve as a source
to identify which subtype is mostly used in English and Vietnamese news and then
the contrast between the two will be analyzed.

36. 26
BNE Collocation V+N Adj+N N+V N1 + N2
(N1 of
N2)
Adv+Adj V+Adv
01 6 0 0 2 4 0 0
02 6 4 1 0 1 0 0
03 9 0 2 3 3 1 0
04 10 4 1 2 2 0 1
05 4 1 2 0 0 1 0
06 12 1 6 0 4 0 1
07 3 2 1 0 0 0 0
08 7 3 2 0 2 0 0
09 5 2 3 0 0 0 0
10 6 1 2 0 3 0 0
11 5 1 1 0 3 0 0
12 3 0 2 0 0 1 0
13 5 2 0 2 1 0 0
14 5 2 2 0 1 0 0
15 4 0 1 2 0 1 0
Total 90 23 26 11 24 4 2
Percentag
e
100% 25.6% 28.9% 12.2% 26.7% 4.4% 2.2%
Table 3.4: The frequency of collocation in business news on English online
newspapers
BNVN Collocation V+N Adj+N N+V N1 + N2
(N1 of
N2)
Adv+Adj V+Adv
01 4 0 0 0 0 0 4
02 12 3 0 2 2 1 4
03 15 4 1 4 6 0 0
04 8 2 0 2 4 0 0

37. 27
05 14 6 0 2 4 0 2
06 14 6 0 1 6 0 1
07 15 7 0 0 6 1 1
08 9 3 0 1 5 0 0
09 6 0 0 0 6 0 0
10 7 1 0 1 5 0 0
11 11 2 2 1 6 0 0
12 5 3 1 0 1 0 0
13 6 0 2 0 4 0 0
14 3 1 1 0 1 0 0
15 3 1 0 0 2 0 0
Total 132 39 7 14 58 2 12
Percentage 100% 29.6% 5.3% 10.6% 43.9% 1.5% 9.1%
Table 3.5: The frequency of collocation in business news on English online
newspapers
Percentage V+N Adj+N N+V N1 + N2
(N1 of N2)
Adv+Adj V+Adv
English 25.6% 28.9% 12.2% 26.7% 4.4% 2.2%
Vietnamese 29.6% 5.3% 10.6% 43.9% 1.5% 9.1%
Table 3.6: The frequency of collocation in business news on English and
Vietnamese online newspapers
The table 2.8 reveals that in English news, Adjective+Noun is the most
frequently used among all subtypes of collocation with the percentage of 28.9%. On
the contrary, a very low portion, approximately 5.3% of Adjective+Noun is used in
Vietnamese news. Another aspect concerning Noun+Noun collocation shows that
Vietnamese news has the highest usage of this type which represents 43.9%;
whereas only 26.7% is practised in English news. As far as Verb+Noun collocation
is concerned, there is a considerable rate of Verb+Noun collocation in English and

38. 28
Vietnamese with 25.6% and 29.6% respectively. Although Noun+Verb collocation
appears to take a small percentage of 12.2% in English and 10.6% in Vietnamese,
the proportion of Adverb+Adj is even lower than Noun+Verb which makes up 4.4%
in English and 1.5% in Vietnamese. It is noteworthy that Verb+Adverb collocation
merely constitutes 2.2% in English news; however in Vietnamese news the
percentage is nearly five times as much as English one.
It can be concluded that in English business news, Adjective+Noun is likely
preferable than any other types of collocation. Meanwhile in Vietnamese business
news, Noun+Noun collocation is deemed the most effective tool to maintain the
cohesion of the text.
3.2. Similarities and Differences in the use of lexical cohesive devices in
business news on English and Vietnamese online newspapers.
3.2.1. Similarities
The first noticeable similarity is that the mostly used cohesive device in
both languages is the repetition of the content words or sometimes key words
throughout the articles. In English news, the frequently occurred words are listed as
follows:
Profit, earning, quarter, share, revenue, firm, sales, jobs, business, employee,
company, economy, etc.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese news inclines to use the following words at high
frequency:
doanh nghiệp, doanh thu, khách hàng, thị trường, lãi suất, ngân hàng, lợi nhuận,
thuế, dự án, đầu tư, etc.

39. 29
Actually, such words in both languages occurred so frequently due to the fact
that they are associated with key issues in business such as profit, revenue,
company, etc. These common terms are always of great concern for readers as well
as firms or those who take interest in economy.
The second common thing in lexical cohesive devices between English and
Vietnamese news is the repetition of proper nouns including proper names,
company names, countries, cities, etc. For instance, the following words are
mentioned repeatedly in some English and Vietnamese news items:
CEO Howard Schultz, Boeing, Microsoft, UK, US, HP, Sony, Russia, , Hud1, Bánh
kẹo Hải Hà, VietJet, Nga, Gazprom Neft, VST, Hà nội.
The third prominent similarity is easily recognizable through the use of
superordinate. Truly, superordinate in both English and Vietnamese rank second
after repetition in forming the unity of the whole text. Superordinate is commonly
known as a word that includes the meaning of more specific words.
The following cases are good examples of superordinate found in some
English and Vietnamese news items:
o Car makers: General motor, Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Volkswagen.
(BNE03)
o Income: pay, bonus, salary, wage (BNE06)
o Fruit: oranges, apples, peaches, lemons. (BNE07)
o Currency: yen, US dollar (BNE08)
o City: Moscow, St Petersburg (BNE09)
o Country: Russia, Ukraine, US, China (BNE09)
o Quốc gia: Việt Nam, Dubai, Philippines, Ai Cập, Quartar, Indonesia, Nga,
Trung Quốc (BNVN01)

40. 30
o Ngân hàng: HD bank, Ocean bank, AB bank, Ngân hàng Nhà nước
(BNVN02)
o Luật: Luật nhà ở, luật kinh doanh bất động sản (BNVN04)
o Giá: giá lương thực thực phẩm, giá hàng hóa cơ bản (BNVN05)
o Vay: vay nội tệ, vay ngoại tệ (BNVN05)
o Thành phố: London, New York, Hồ Chí Minh, Bangkok (BNVN07)
Finally, in terms of collocation, English and Vietnamese share one thing in
common which is clearly seen from the figures above. Both languages make use of
a small percentage of Noun+Verb pattern, and both even use smaller portion of
Adverb+Adjective collocation. Undoubtedly, not much attention is given to these
two types in the process of unifying the whole text in both English and Vietnamese
news.
Some examples of N+V in English news are:
Revenue rises
Revenue decline
Earnings fall
Sales jump
Shares rise
Shares fall
Employment increases
Examples of Adv+Adj in English business news include:
o Slightly different
o Highly-anticipated
o Firmly established
The following examples illustrate the occurrence of N+V in Vietnamese
news:
o Giá điện tăng
o Vốn đầu tư

41. 31
o Bất động sản phá giá
o Bất động sản tồn đọng
o Lãi suất giảm
o Thất nghiệp tăng
o Lợi nhuận tăng
Very rare cases of Adv+Adj combinations in Vietnamese news are found:
o Kém hiệu quả
o Khá thấp
3.2.2. Differences
The first recognizable difference involves the dissimilar use of synonym in
English and Vietnamese news. There is a strong likelihood that English news
employs a large number of synonyms rather than Vietnamese news. To be more
precise, synonyms used in English news are twice as many as Vietnamese ones.
This is partly interpretable by the fact that English is a language known for its
enormous vocabulary; hence, English is very rich in synonyms. Infact, a large
number of synonyms come from borrowed words, for example: to ask (native) - to
question (Latin) – to interrogate (Latin).
Some typical examples of synonyms found in English business news are
listed as follows:
o A = per
o Increase = rise
o Aircraft = aeroplane = plane
o Axe = cut (job)
o Car manufacturer = car maker
o Drop = fall

42. 32
Regarding Vietnamese news, synonym usage seems to be given little
consideration by most of the reporters. Apparently, a small number of synonyms are
used in Vietnamese news in comparison with English ones. The following
illustrations are discovered in some Vietnamese news:
o Mất việc làm = thất nghiệp (BNVN06)
o Người tiêu dùng = khách hàng (BNVN07)
o Cố gắng = nỗ lực (BNVN07)
o Trong nước = nội địa (BNVN11)
o Nước ngoài = quốc tế (BNVN11)
Secondly, the huge gap between the use of Adjective+Noun pattern in
English and Vietnamese reveals a big difference to this end. English news items use
nearly six times as many Adj+Noun as Vietnamese one and this pattern also has the
highest ranking of all subtypes of collocation in English news. The underlying
reason for this incident may lie in the fact that English has the tendency to use a lot
of nouns in the written text rather than any other part of speech. Some samples of
terms are:
o Strong sales (BNE03)
o Increasing demand (BNE03)
o Rapid growth (BNE05)
o Financial year (BNE05)
o Booming economy (BNE06)
o Economic recovery (BNE06)
Meanwhile, some instances of terms in Vietnamese news are:
o Bất ổn chính trị (BNVN11)
o Ngắn hạn (BNVN13)
o Dài hạn (BNVN13)

43. 33
The third noticeable difference is concerned with Noun+Noun combination
which ranks the highest among all kinds of collocation in Vietnamese news. This
pattern in Vietnamese news is twice as much as English ones. The low frequency of
N+N pattern in English is understandable because in English adjectives modify
noun. As such, Adj+Noun is preferable and more widely used than N+N
collocation.
Some examples of N+N pattern in English are:
o Tax settlement
o Cash flow
o Car sales
o Sales figures
o Revenue growth
o Consultancy firm
o Growth forecast
o Labor market
o Market leader
o Life insurance
o Tax bill
o Insurance company
Examples related to N+N in Vietnamese news are listed below:
o Mặt bằng lãi suất
o Tỷ suất lợi nhuận
o Tín dụng thương mại
o Thị trường bất động sản
o Tình hình kinh tế
o Lãi suất tiền gửi
o Chi phí vốn
o Giá thành sản phẩm
o Hương vị cà phê
o Chuỗi cửa hiệu
o Báo cáo tài chính
o Báo cáo kiểm toán
One more striking difference is connected with V+Adv collocation which
Vietnames news employs a high percentage in comparison with a rather low rate in
English. Actually, a lot of attention has been paid to the use of Adj+N in English for
English has the inclination to use more nouns than any other part of speech.

44. 34
Accordingly, V+Adv tends to be transferred to the patterning Adj+N, which
also occurs at highest frequency.
Samples of V+Adv in Vietnamese news are listed as below:
o Diễn biến tốt
o Diễn biến tệ
o Tăng mạnh mẽ
o Ảnh hưởng lớn
o Tăng trưởng đều
o Tăng trưởng tích cực
o Thành lập mới
o Lạm phát ổn định
o Giảm nhanh
o Tăng đột biến
o Tăng trưởng yếu
Examples of V+Adv combinations in English include such a small number as
follows:
o Change rapidly
o Fall sharply

45. 35
PART C: CONCLUSION
1. Recapitulation
As the study draws to a close, emphasis should be placed on the contrastive
analysis of lexical cohesive devices in business news on English and Vietnamese
online newspapers.
It is without a doubt that lexical cohesive devices comprise two basic
categories, that is to say, Reiteration and Collocation. Reiteration is broken into four
subtypes namely repetition, synonym, near-synonym and superordinate. Meanwhile,
collocation is involved with six patterns including: V+N, Adj+N, N+V, N+N,
Adv+Adj, V+Adv.
In this thesis, the data derived from 30 pieces of business news on renowned
English and Vietnamese online newspapers has significantly laid a good foundation
for comparing and contrasting the two languages. The findings unveil some
similarities and differences between English news and Vietnamese counterpart.
It is revealed that there are some common things which are shared between
English and Vietnamese news in the use of lexical cohesive devices. The first
predominant similarity is concerned with the highest frequency of repetition in two
languages. This is to say repetition in a text is a powerful technique for achieving
and maintaining cohesion. Obviously, the repeated words or phrases aim at
emphasizing connections between related ideas which create the unity for the whole
text.
Another apparent similarity is that both English and Vietnamese business
news uses superordinate as the second most effective tool to achieve cohesion. It is
common knowledge that a superordinate term acts as an “umbrella” that includes
within it the meaning of other words. Thus, superordinate plays a vital role in
promoting cohesion of the text by helping readers envision the items that belong to
superordinate terms throughout the text.
Tải bản FULL (80 trang): https://bit.ly/3KqTFdh
Dự phòng: fb.com/TaiHo123doc.net

46. 36
The last similarity is connected with the low frequency in the use of N+V
and Adv+Adj patterns. These two combinations are not preferred in the creation of
the cohesion of the text in both English and Vietnamese news.
Apart from aforementioned similarities, the use of lexical cohesive devices in
business news on English and Vietnamese online newspapers also differs in many
aspects. The very first difference is easily recognizable through the use of synonym
when English news employs twice as many synonyms as Vietnamese one. It is
associated with the fact that English has a countless synonyms in comparison with
Vietnamese. As such, that English synonyms are utilized at a high percentage is
interpretable.
The second difference is concerned with the most frequent occurrence of
collocation type in English and Vietnamese news. While English news has the
tendency to use the highest proportion of Adj+N pattern, Vietnames one is in favour
of N+N combination. The most satisfactory explanation for this incident is that
much attention has been paid to the use of noun in English; therefore, Adj+N seem
to occur regularly in the text.
The last dissimilarity deals with the use of V+Adv combination between the
two languages. In fact, greater number of V+Adv is used in Vietnamese news rather
in English counterpart. It is explicable that this pattern tends to change into Adj+N
collocation in English news.
In a nutshell, lexical cohesive devices used in business news on English and
Vietnamese online newspapers resemble and differ from each other in many
aspects. Both share some common traits such as predominant use of repetition and
superordinate in creating the cohesion of the text. Additionally, the differences are
found mostly in the area of collocation, which the use of Adj+Noun combination in
English news dominates the remaining patterns; whereas, in Vietnamese news,
Noun+Noun collocation are prevalent among all patternings.
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2. Implications
It is no doubt that adequate understanding about lexical cohesive devices will
pave the way to the comprehension of news in general and business news in
particular. The reality proves that one of the best methods to ensure success in
studying business English for English majors at Vietnam University of Commerce
is through reading business news. Surely, business news not only helps them to
constantly update current issues relating to economy which, in turn, will reinforce
their knowledge but also assist them in enriching their vocabulary and expressions
about business. Accordingly, special attention should be paid to the teaching and
learning of lexical cohesive devices for a surefire success in learning business
English. The following points will clarify the implications for EFL teaching and
learning:
In the first place, it is the teacher’s role to highlight the importance of lexical
cohesive devices in the process of learning English in general and understanding
business news in particular. Thus, the basic knowledge about these devices should
be thoroughly interpreted right at the beginning of any business English courses at
university. By this way, students will benefit enormously from keeping the right
track on learning business English at the onset.
Secondly, it is advisable for both teachers and students majored in business
English to fully exploit the rich sources of business news on the Internet for
teaching and learning English. On the one hand, teachers should select typical news
on prestigious online sites like BBC or CNN, Bloomberg, The Financial Times, and
Forbes, etc. to apply in teaching English, especially in writing and translating skill.
These news items should have an appropriate length and a relevant level with
students so that they will take interest in exploring the news. In addition, students
should be encouraged to stay updated with daily news by accessing to the Internet
and regularly visiting the above mentioned websites. By doing so, students will
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