Phân tích nghĩa liên nhân trong chuyên mục phản hồi của độc giả gửi ban biên tập bằng tiếng Anh và tiếng Việt theo thuyết Đánh giá

n cỏ, bẻ hoa lá, chen chúc nhau 
giành lối đi [Negative Jud] lại xảy ra. Đây 
là những hình ảnh đáng xấu hổ mà năm nào 
cũng nói, năm nào báo chí cũng phản ánh 
nhưng chẳng ăn thua gì. 
Extract 4: 
(VL 4) Các cơ quan chức năng địa phương 
làm gì [Negative Jud], có xử lý hay làm 
ngơ [Negative Jud] cho bến xe dù hoạt 
động? Trách nhiệm [Negative Jud] trước 
hết của tình trạng này thuộc cơ quan chức 
năng địa phương và lực lượng CSGT. 
In extract 1, judgement items ‘unfairly 
neglected or unaware of’, ‘fall between the 
cracks’ are negative values, and only one 
positive item ‘to deal with’ is employed. Two 
sides of polarity interplay to reflect the reality 
of incapacity and the way Congress did to solve 
Van Thu Van, Ha Nhu Hang / Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Đại học Duy Tân 02(45) (2021) 126-140 137 
that problem. A mix of negative and positive 
assessment passed on the Congress to persuade 
the readers to place their positions at a certain 
stage to give solution to the situation. Similar to 
extract 1, extract 2 conveys an interpersonal 
position between the readers and the writer 
through a positive judgment ‘right’ and a 
negative one ‘wrong’ to evaluate the act of 
David L. Kirp. In the same way, VLTEs’ 
authors show their assessments in a 
combination of negative and positive judgment. 
However, Vietnamese letters’ writers would 
rather express the weak points than give the 
praises. Most of the Judgment values in letters 
are negative ones. In extract 3, ‘ý thức của 
nhiều người quá kém’, ‘xả rác bừa bãi’, ‘giẫm 
đạp lên cỏ’, ‘bẻ hoa lá, chen chúc nhau giành 
lối đi’ are expressions conveying negative 
judgments criticizing the unconscious behavior 
of visitors to Huong Pagoda. Additionally, a lot 
of negative judgments used in extract 4 are 
aimed at evaluating the irresponsibility of 
officials related, and influencing public 
opinions directly. 
Appreciation in ELTEs and VLTEs 
Frequency of appreciation values in ELTEs and 
VLTEs 
The overall distribution of Appreciation and 
its subtypes found in the two corpora. In 
ELTEs, there are 88 instances of valuation, 
accounting for 40.55% of the total Appreciation 
values; the second highest is composition with 
65 instances, which constitute 29.95%; reaction 
with 64 instances, making up 29.5%. The 
Vietnamese counterparts show the same pattern 
of valuation use that is, the valuation (45.9%) 
with 106 instances, composition (40.7%) with 
94 instances, and reaction (13.4%). Both sets of 
data are coded with valuation which reflects the 
worth, significance of things appraised. This 
similarity in the two languages shows a 
common interest in the evaluation of their 
social significance in relation to culturally or 
ideologically established conventions. The 
examples below are evident for the dominance 
of values of Appreciation performed in the two 
languages: 
(EL17) While online shopping may not 
always offer the precise level of 
personalization Ms. Ephron requires, it is a 
growing [valuation] part of retailing - and 
for good [valuation] reason. It offers 
convenience, saves time, adds value and 
provides access to goods and services 
[valuation] that might otherwise be difficult 
to obtain. 
(VL 7) Tôi tự hỏi, với bộ máy nhà nước dày 
đặc [composition]từ Trung ương đến địa 
phương như thế tại sao lại để “lọt” được 
những hàng hóa “rác” [valuation] như thế? 
Mà có phải lọt ít đâu [composition] hàng 
loạt container chứ không phải một hay vài 
ký. Với sự kiểm soát lỏng lẻo, thiếu chuyên 
nghiệp, vô trách nhiệm [composition] như 
thế thì ai biết liệu còn những hàng hóa nguy 
hiểm [valuation] nào sẽ lọt vào Việt Nam, 
khi ấy hậu quả là khôn lường [valuation]. 
As with valuation, reaction appreciations 
have to do with the degree to which an entity, 
process, or phenomenon capture our attention 
and the emotional impact it has on us. In terms 
of this reaction values, VLTEs contain fewer 
items than ELTEs. 
(EL5) If only it were simply a fear of 
forgetting [Reaction - impact]. Alzheimer’s 
is so much more [Reaction- impact]. It is, in 
our case, a comatose [Reaction - impact] 
state with eyes wide open and the experience 
of watching a kind and funny man become 
an agitated, angry and afraid person with no 
connection to the world in which he sits 
(because he cannot stand or walk anymore). 
Van Thu Van, Ha Nhu Hang / Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Đại học Duy Tân 02(45) (2021) 126-140 138 
In the English example, many reaction 
values of Appreciation are displayed by the 
writer. Here, the author uses evaluative 
resources to describe the emotional impact of 
Alzheimer’s (a serious disease) on the readers. 
In VLTEs, the amount of the reaction 
appreciation is too small, only 31 instances per 
50 texts. 
(VL 12) Việc VNPT, Vinaphone ban hành 
quyết định kỳ quặc này không những xâm 
phạm quyền lợi của đại lý mà còn xâm phạm 
nghiêm trọng quyền lợi khách hàng, là 
những người đã mua sim/kit của Vinaphone 
nhưng chưa sử dụng. Khi mua sim/kit trả 
trước, khách hàng không hề được thông báo 
thời hạn bắt buộc phải kích hoạt cũng như 
việc nếu không kích hoạt sim sẽ bị hủy. Sẽ 
có hàng ngàn khách hàng bị ảnh hưởng 
[Reaction - impact]. nếu quyết định này đi 
vào thực tế. Hiện nay, không chỉ Vinaphone, 
VNPT có cách làm lạ đời như thế, một số 
nhà mạng khác cũng chẳng vừa, khách đã 
mua sim và đã dùng, nhưng vì lý do riêng, 
vài tháng khách không sử dụng sim thì bỗng 
nhiên số bị cắt, bán cho người khác, khiếu 
nại [Reaction-quality]. 
Another interesting feature found from the 
examples in both sets of data is the 
Appreciation valuations and compositions 
embedded within evoked Judgment values. 
Instances of Appreciations at one level 
contribute to the representation of Judgment at 
another. This phenomenon is performed in the 
English example below. 
(EL12) Clearly, this is a serious 
[App/Composition - Jud / capacity] matter 
that must be handled in a professional 
[App/Valuation - Jud / capacity] manner. 
There are lives at stake [Composition] in 
addition to TV ratings. 
(EL3) We certainly acknowledge that what 
is warranted in this situation is a sincere 
[App/Reaction - Jud/ veracity] apology - but 
not a generalized [Valuation] defamation of 
an efficient and valuable [Valuation] way 
of shopping today. 
Similarly, this feature is also realized in the 
Vietnamese data: 
(VL 1) Sau khi Thanh Niên các số ra ngày 
28 và 29.1 đăng các bài viết Bát nháo ở 
chùa Hương,Mạo hiểm hành hương và Lộn 
xộn trước chùa Hương Tích, nhiều bạn đọc 
có ý kiến bức xúc về những hình ảnh phản 
cảm, thiếu văn hóa [Reaction - quality] tại 
các lễ hội và lo ngại cho sự biến tướng 
[Valuation] của lễ hội. 
Appreciation reaction referring to quality 
demonstrates the bad images happening at 
festivals where there should have been 
significant values of culture represented. 
Additionally, appreciation valuation evaluates 
the criticism of the bad act done by 
irresponsible and unconscious people. From 
this instance, it is noted that different sub- types 
of Appreciation (valuation and reaction in the 
examples above) are embedded within invoked 
Judgment. In other words, instances of these 
appreciation values represent of some kinds of 
other Judgment. 
Positive and negative appreciation in ELTEs 
and VLTEs 
Vietnamese have significantly higher 
frequencies of negative Appreciation items than 
positive ones. Only 60 instances out of 231 
values of Appreciation convey positive 
assessements on events, process, products or 
the happenings. English shows a more balanced 
pattern in appraising entities. There are 110 
instances of positive values, making up 
approximately 50 % like negative ones. 
Van Thu Van, Ha Nhu Hang / Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Đại học Duy Tân 02(45) (2021) 126-140 139 
(EL38) In “Honor Code” (column, July 6), 
David Brooks writes that in the Western 
world, “the education system has become 
culturally cohesive, rewarding and 
encouraging a certain sort of person: one 
who is nurturing, collaborative, disciplined, 
neat, studious, industrious and ambitious.” 
And this is a complaint! 
(VL 28) Dù đã trải qua nhiều lần chỉnh sửa 
nhưng SGK cũng như các loại STK hiện nay 
vẫn không hết được những sai sót và 
không có sự đồng nhất. Giải pháp an toàn 
và để các học sinh không bị mất điểm oan 
uổng là dạy cho học sinh bám sát kiến thức 
trong SGK. Tuy nhiên, bản thân lịch sử đã 
đòi hỏi tính chính xác nên dạy thì vẫn phải 
dạy nhưng đôi khi thấy băn khoăn và áy náy 
với chính bản thân mình. 
Theoretically, the present study is expected 
to reaffirm the importance of Systemic 
Functional Grammar in analyzing and 
understanding online news, letters to the Editor 
as a genre, a class of communicative events, the 
members of which share some set of 
communicative purposes. Moreover, it will 
hopefully provide scholars who are interested 
in Appraisal with the enrichment of knowledge 
of evaluation language, by which an Appraisal 
analysis shed light on the interpersonal 
meaning. Practically, our findings may offer 
some advantages and be instructive for writing 
and teaching letters to the Editor column in an 
article, a discourse of media genre. 
5. Conclusion and Implications 
Our comparative analysis of Attitudinal 
meanings, especially of the three systems 
(Affect, Judgment and Appreciation), shows 
that there are similarities and differences in the 
ways the writers of ELTEs and VLTEs express 
their attitude to convey interpersonal meanings. 
Appreciation is predominant in the attitudinal 
coding. The second highest is Judgement found 
in the two languages. Affect is found to occur at 
the lowest rate in the two corpora. These 
findings indicate that there is a common 
tendency of the normative assessment of human 
behavior and assessment of forms, aesthetics, 
and system of social values rather than 
evaluations by means of disclosure of personal 
emotions to the phenomena mentioned by the 
writers of both languages. However, our 
analysis shows a difference in the rate of 
distribution of subcategories in each language. 
The English writers pay attention to both 
negative and positive sides of the problem to 
invite the audience to have an argument. On the 
contrary, Vietnamese writers put emphasis on 
the effect of what is going on, what is right, 
what is wrong, and trace to the responsibility of 
individual and group involved. The finding is 
very meaningful for both teachers and students 
in teaching and learning reading, academic 
writing and journalism. For the language 
teaching, this study may emphasize the need of 
teaching students to exploit the evaluative 
linguistic resources in writing skill, especially 
skill of writing academic texts, articles, and 
LTEs in an effective way. Further, language 
and culture are two important elements in 
making a successfully interactive relation in 
cross – cultural interactions. Thus, the findings 
will help students express their attitudinal 
meanings in public with a polite strategy and 
focus them on choosing the linguistic resources 
to express assessments with argumentative and 
informative attitude. For journalism students, 
understanding and mastering language used in 
writing genre is very necessary and 
challenging. The way the students employ 
evaluative language to express objective 
viewpoints embedded in their pieces of writing 
based on various cultural aspects is very 
important. Specifically, the ability to do 
Van Thu Van, Ha Nhu Hang / Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Đại học Duy Tân 02(45) (2021) 126-140 140 
judgments and associate emotional responses 
with participants and processes deployed in 
either spoken or written form is of great 
importance. LTEs genre is a type of opinion 
news in public where language resources are 
evaluated with high criteria involving 
objectiveness, depth, accuracy, completeness, 
source reliability, newsworthiness, interactivity, 
and trustworthiness. Therefore, values of 
attitudinal meanings play an important role in 
helping the writers choose the effective 
resources of persuasion exposed in the public 
news texts. For scholars, especially linguistic 
scholars, this small study contributes a humble 
part to knowledge of evaluative language. 
Moreover, the present study is expected to 
reaffirm the importance of Systemic Functional 
Grammar in analyzing and understanding 
online news and letters to the Editor as a genre, 
a class of communicative events. The study was 
limited to LTEs in English and in Vietnamese 
in terms of interpersonal meanings based on 
Appraisal analysis. One of the restrictions of 
this thesis is the limited number of letters (100 
in total). The future research should employ a 
wider range of selected LTEs. In addition, 
Attitude is the only one system investigated 
among the three ones in relation to Appraisal 
Theory. It is of great relevance and importance 
for future research to employ Engagement and 
Graduation as a tool to explore interpersonal 
meaning. Finally, as far as interpersonal 
meaning is concerned, it is more adequate for a 
research to employ Mood and Modality 
analysis as well. 
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