6. Conclusion
This study showed that politeness is still of major concern in Vietnamese society. It focused on
the ways in which address terms are used to promote effective conversation between young
females from the northern area of Vietnam. The common terms of address among these young
Vietnamese females were “bà‐ tôi” and “mình”, which are commonly used to refer to persons of
the same age, gender and educational background. The study also found that young females
address each other in new ways, which do not fit any conventional rules in the language
system, but convey an adequate level of informality and politeness. For females with a different
age and social status, the kinship term “chị‐ em” seems to be favoured in any situation, and it is
unchangeable in meaning and usage. Any age distance requires politeness. This is so regardless
of how close or distant the relationship is, in terms of intimacy, and informality or formality of
the discourse. By observing the use of such terms, people can guess how close the relationship
between the speaker and hearer is, and they can make assessments about the personality and
manners of the speaker.
Since this study focused on the ways in which young females from the northern area of
Vietnam express politeness, there may be a difference in the use of address terms and the
flexible choices of lexical items in conversations among those of the same age from other areas.
Additionally, another important thing that is considered effective in the politeness strategies of
young females is facial expression, especially the smile. In informal conversation, these young
people tended to say directly what they wanted to say by producing questions in the form of
words only, or imperatives or incomplete statements to which the smile was added. The smile
together with their utterances appeared to create a great effect on the hearer. In much of the
conversation, the speaker smiled and the talk ran informally and smoothly and politely enough.
In fact, this non‐verbal form of expression appeared to contribute to the success of the
interaction.
In conclusion, it is argued that besides the linguistic choices of suitable words, behaviours
and attitudes can draw the hearer’s attention and impression to what the speaker wants to
convey. The effect of these factors on the form of a speech act is taken into account as matters of
politeness (Homes, 1992). It is, therefore, suggested that linguists, socio‐linguistics, inter‐
cultural analysts and others with a concern about social changes in politeness strategies used by
young Vietnamese females from the northern areas of the country, and young Vietnamese
people in general, should investigate and consider the diversity of new norms in address terms
– to distinguish the sociolinguistic variables between young Vietnamese people and others.
Then, if there exists a new standard way with conventional meaning and usage in expressing
politeness, it could be possible to fill the socio‐linguistic gap (between different regions with
different language use and between the sexes) to avoid misunderstandings in interaction. This
study has shed some light on the ways in which politeness is used by members of Vietnam’s
new generation of women.