Marginal words - sophisticated attitudinal meaning making resources in the Vietnamese language: Implications for the shaping of Vietnamese teaching in the Australian curriculum: Languages (Vietnamese)

Abstract

Evaluation is an important aspect in communication in any language as it not only functions to express language users' evaluative stance but also to construct and maintain relations between interactants. In the teaching of languages in addition to English, paying attention to evaluative language contributes to an understanding of the interrelationship between language, culture and learning, the foundation to the teaching and learning of languages in Australia. In the Vietnamese language, there are distinctive language resources that could be considered as marginal words in the English language but in fact are used to express the subtlety in people's feelings and attitudes. These resources include person reference terms, the modal particles 'duoc', 'mat', 'phai' and the final polite particle 'a' This article discusses the extent to which the evaluative meanings of these resources are incorporated in the Draft F-l0 Australian Curriculum: Languages (Vietnamese). It also makes suggestions for teaching the distinctive features of Vietnamese attitudinal language resources in an effective way.