Ho Chi Minh City University of Education

English Department

Contrastive Linguistics
2411ENGL1415

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Full Name: THÁI GIA HUY

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CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS ESSAY

Nouns play an important role in the formulation and building of sentences, beginning
with the simplest element and expanding to bigger structures. Noun phrases must be
identified because of a sentence's distinctive, systematic structure. According to what I
studied in Linguistics 2, the structure of noun phrases is both complex and methodical. This
structure contributes to the diversity of subject and predicate components that include nouns
as primary parts in sentences. Furthermore, to make it easier to translate and amend key
papers, I did a comparative examination of the structural components of Vietnamese noun
phrases. This not only benefits the academic sector, but it also emphasizes the contrasts and
oppositions in language that numerous authors have investigated and examined. I
specifically examined Bui Thi Le Minh's research paper "A Study on Noun Phrases in
English and Vietnamese." The author gives views and analytical approaches for clarifying
the structure of noun phrases, which are then compared to noun phrases in Vietnamese to
provide a more complete understanding of semantics and syntax. To delve deeper into the
comparison of noun phrases in English and Vietnamese, I investigated Chung T. T.
Nguyen's perspectives and techniques in "A Structural Analysis of Noun Phrases in English
and Vietnamese: Comparative Study." Chung T. T. Nguyen, like Bui Thi Le Minh, provides
thorough insight into the structure and components of noun phrases in both languages.
Notably, the author adopts a strategy that begins with the syntactic structure of noun
phrases, examining the essential components using syntactic theory before gathering data to
support their findings. Finally, to supplement the conclusions and study of the two
aforementioned authors, Duong Tuan Son's paper "A Contrastive Analysis of English and
Vietnamese Noun Phrases" provides a detailed analysis based on existing premises,
revealing findings related to the composition of noun phrases.

In terms of definitions, all three authors begin by defining noun phrases in English.
"A noun phrase is briefly defined as a group of words with a noun or pronoun as the main
part, and these phrases may consist of one word" (Le Minh, 2022, pp. 60). Additionally,
Howard (1982) states, "According to Howard (1982), the noun phrase in English is
composed potentially of three parts…" (Le Minh, 2022, pp. 60). In addition, a table
describing the structure of a noun phrase based on Howard's theory is supplied, which
includes the components premodification, head, and post-modification, as well as definitions
and specific examples. Similarly, Chung T.T. Nguyen's work relies on the assumption that
"A noun phrase functions as a subject, an object, or a complement of a clause, or can be
considered as a modifier to a preposition. It is referred to as a noun phrase as its head is a
noun. The head noun can be accompanied by a determiner like 'a,' 'the,' or 'his,' or one or
more modifiers, including premodifiers and postmodifiers" (Leech & Jan, 1975), (Chung
T.T. Nguyen, 2024, pp. 1339). For Duong Tuan Son, he references the definition,
"According to Gelderen (2002), a noun phrase is a group of words centered around a noun."
Regarding definitions of noun phrases in Vietnamese, in her research, Le Minh draws on the
theoretical basis "According to Doan, Nguyen, and Pham (2021), a Vietnamese noun phrase
is defined as 'a free combination of a noun nucleus and one or more subordinate elements.'"
while also incorporating the observation of Diep Quang Ban (2008, p. 79): "... claimed that
front elements are the words of quantity of the nucleus, and the elements are words of
quality of the nucleus." Duong Tuan Son takes a similar analytical approach to Vietnamese
noun phrases and explores the definition: "Mai, Vu, Hoang (2006) defined NP as a phrase in
which the noun phrase functions as the main part." Subsequently, all three authors begin
with a solid theoretical framework, applying existing theories about noun phrases in English
before switching to Vietnamese. Through their three definitions, it is clear that each author
presents separate arguments and evidence for their varying definitions of noun phrases, all
of which ultimately spring from the core components that comprise a noun phrase in English
and are then related to those in Vietnamese.
 I chose these three studies because they offer in-depth and complex insights on the
structure of noun phrases in both English and Vietnamese, which is an important topic in
contrastive linguistics. Each study addresses the subject from a unique perspective,
highlighting the similarities and differences between the two languages. This, in turn,
facilitates language learning and instruction while also contributing to more contrastive
linguistic theory. Duong Tuan Son's (2021) research focuses on describing the grammatical
characteristics of English and Vietnamese noun phrases, comparing their similarities and
differences. This helps students and teachers better comprehend how the language works.
Chung T.T. Nguyen's (2024) work is distinguished by its wide use of qualitative analytic
approaches, which allowed the author to delve deeply into grammatical structures and
Clarify the semantic features of each noun phrase to increase learners' knowledge and
language use. Finally, Bui Thi Le Minh's (2022) research emphasizes the importance of
comprehending noun phrases when learning and teaching English, as well as
recommendations for effective teaching practices. The purpose is to help students identify
and rectify errors in their English usage.

Concerning the methodology, Le Minh's work "A Study on Noun Phrases in English
and Vietnamese" (2022) relies mostly on qualitative analysis. Specifically, after defining
noun phrases, the author illustrates and provides actual instances based on Howard's (1982)
noun phrase theories. The author then delves deeper into the structural components modeled
in Table 01 (Le Minh, 2022, pages. 60), followed by a thorough assessment of the
subcomponents, focusing on each part of pre-modification, head, and post-modification (Le
Minh, 2022, pp. 60-62). The author continues to compare and contrast with Vietnamese,
presenting particular instances to support the theoretical framework for noun phrases in
Vietnamese, which consists of three primary components: front elements, nucleus, and end
elements (Le Minh, 2022, pp. 62-64). Finally, by reviewing numerous examples of noun
phrases, the author highlights several discrepancies in noun phrase construction in both
languages, focusing on four major distinctions: demonstratives, possessives, noun modifiers,
and ordinals. It is clear that Le Minh (2022) has focused on a quantitative analysis
technique, as the author supports their claims and research background with illustrative
examples in both English and Vietnamese. The author analyzes each language in depth and
presents typical examples for each minor component, leading to conclusions regarding a
series of characteristic contrasts between the two and making recommendations for use in
the teaching process. Duong Tuan Son's work "A Contrastive Analysis of English and
Vietnamese Noun Phrases" (2021) takes a similar technique to Le Minh's (2022). This
investigation began with definitions as well. However, Duong Tuan Son's (2021) work
stands out for its particular and extensive analysis of the idea of noun phrases in both
English and Vietnamese. The author of this study does not go into as much information as
Le Minh (2022). Beginning with the notion, it is clear that the author only presents a few
illustrative instances, lacking the in-depth examination and comparison of each component
constituting a noun phrase as presented in Le Minh's (2022) study, which is illustrated in
detail through tables. Regarding the author's approach to comparison, while focusing on
facts and examples, Duong Tuan Son (2021) studies Vietnamese noun phrases before
concluding on the contrasts between the two languages. Chung T. T. Nguyen's (2024)
research shares similarities with the previous two writers in that it begins with a deep
assessment of the components that make up noun phrases in both English and Vietnamese.
Similarly, the author examines the syntactic components of a noun phrase (Nguyen, 2024,
pp. 1340), including determiners, pre-modifiers, and post-modifiers, followed by a
comparison to Vietnamese. However, it may be mentioned that Chung T. T. Nguyen (2024)
implements a high level of pragmatism by applying qualitative approaches relevant to the
economic area, gathering statistical data from 15 English and Vietnamese articles. Statistics
on the number of elements used in these articles are translated into percentages to
demonstrate the effectiveness of each component utilized in economics articles (Nguyen,
2024, pp. 1342–1343). The author also examines the usage of each form of noun phrase,
using data from articles to present a more realistic summary than illustrative examples
(Nguyen, 2024, pp. 1343). The author does a similar analysis of Vietnamese noun phrases.
Unlike the two previous studies, in the concluding section, when analyzing the differences
between noun phrases in English and Vietnamese, Nguyen (2024) effectively compares and
contrasts the differences, supported by statistical evidence to demonstrate the frequency of
noun phrase use in both languages. For each type, the author studies and contrasts the
various utilization levels, highlighting representative examples of noun phrases that are
commonly used in normal articles. The minor syntactic components of noun phrases are also
based on survey results.

When referencing, reading papers, and conducting a comparative analysis among

the three authors regarding the focus on noun phrases in English and Vietnamese, I gained
an overall view of two approaches: from the specific to the general, aiming to develop
existing theoretical frameworks and provide illustrative examples for each discovery and
assertion that reinforces the research topic. I've learnt a variety of strategies from the writers'
noun phrase theories, especially those of Duong Tuan Son and Bui Thi Le Minh. Both
authors share a common purpose, and after comparing their methodologies, I considered Bui
Thi Le Minh's (2022) analysis to be especially thorough. It described the many components
of the research topic and provided clear, scientific examples. The most interesting part was
the analysis of data from 15 English and 15 Vietnamese articles, which demonstrated the
topic's practical relevance. This method effectively gathered evidence, ran analyses, and
divided ratios correctly, demonstrating the widespread use of noun phrases in practice.
Furthermore, I obtained a better comprehension of the author's qualitative analysis, allowing
me to apply this practical knowledge to future research publications in the same linguistic
subject.

REFERENCE

Duong, T. S. (2023). A contrastive analysis of English and Vietnamese noun phrase.

[Tạp Chí Khoa Học Việt Nam Trực Tuyến].
https://vjol.info.vn/index.php/hubt/article/download/78705/67035/
Nguyen, C. T. T. (2022). A structural analysis of noun phrases in English and
Vietnamese: A comparative study.
https://tpls.academypublication.com/index.php/tpls/article/view/8149
Bui, T. L. M. (2022). A study on noun phrases in English and Vietnamese. [Tạp Chí
Khoa Học Việt Nam Trực Tuyến].
https://vjol.info.vn/index.php/otn/article/download/76951/65504/