Pragmatic functions of self-repair in conversations from Vietnamese television films

ct and Perlocutionary act; however, Searle (1969) classified illocutionary 
acts into five different categories such as Representatives, Directives, Commissives, Expressives and 
Declarations. Each category of the illocutionary acts consists of different functions. This research was 
carried out on the base of Searle’s theory of illocutionary act. 
2.3.1. Representatives 
 The purpose of the members of the representative class is to commit the speaker to something’s being 
the case. The different kinds are: suggesting, putting forward, swearing, boasting, concluding, etc. 
 (2) S: “No one makes a better cake than me.” (Searle, 1969) 
In this example (2), the speaker is boasting of himself/herself. 
2.3.2. Directives 
They try to make the addressee perform an action. The different kinds are: asking, ordering, 
requesting, inviting, advising, and begging. 
 (3) S: “Could you close the window?” (Searle, 1969) 
In this example (3), S performs an action of requesting when S wants the hearer to close the window 
for her/him. 
2.3.3. Commissives 
They commit the speaker to doing something in the future. The different kinds are: promising, 
planning, vowing, betting, and opposing. 
 (4) S: “I'm going to Paris tomorrow.'' (Searle, 1969) 
In this example, S talks about her/his future plan. 
2.3.4. Expressives 
They express how the speaker feels about the situation. The different kinds are: thanking, 
apologizing, welcoming, and deploring. 
 (5) S: “I am sorry that I lied to you.'' (Searle, 1969) 
In this example (5), S feels sorry and makes an apology. 
2.3.5. Declarations 
The purpose of the members of the declarative class is to bring into existence the state of affairs to 
which it refers. The different kinds are blessing, firing, baptizing, bidding, passing sentence, and 
excommunicating. 
 (6) S: “You are fired, I swear, I beg you.” (Searle, 1969) 
This example (6) shows that the speaker makes a declaration to the hearer. 
3. Methods 
This study adopted descriptive and analytic methods. Two criteria to select data from Vietnamese 
films were established: (1) the samples have to be conversational utterances that contain self-repair, (2) the 
samples are taken from Vietnamese films. The episodes of forty-seven films were randomly chosen. The 
years of the films’ release are from 1990s to 2010s; hence, the utterances in conversations are up-to-date 
and similar to what people say in everyday life conversations. 
With the above set criteria, 518 English conversations from forty-seven Vietnamese films were 
collected to build up the data. Such a number of conversations can be reliable enough to represent various 
pragmatic functions of self-repair. 
4. Findings 
The results of investigating 518 conversations from 47 Vietnamese television films show that 2 of 5 
categories of illocutionary acts classified by Searle (1969) appear in utterances of self-repair: 
Representatives and Expressives. These two kinds of illocutionary acts show a lot of pragmatic functions 
of self-repair in conversations. Their results are presented in the following sub-sections. 
4.1. Representatives 
 The data shows the functions of representatives of self-repair in conversations are assertiveness, 
information and explanation. 
4.1.1. Assertiveness 
 (7) S: Anh là...là anh Tú vịt...đúng rồi...anh là Tú vịt đúng không? 
 (S: Are you...are you Mr Tu “duck”...ah...yes...Mr Tu “duck”?) 
 (Ngày hè sôi động, Tập 3, 01:03:00) 
 (The active summer, Episode 3, 01:03:00) 
In (7), S recognizes that the boy standing in front of her is her brother’s friend and he has got a 
nickname Tú vịt (Tu “duck”), but she is not sure because they have not met for a long time. However, the 
way that she recalls him Tú vịt (Tu”duck”) after her hesitation makes sure that she knows him clearly and 
exactly. 
4.1.2. Information 
 (8) S: Thưa Thầy, Thầy có nhớ cô gái ngày xưa hay đi với con ở trường Hàng Cót, cô gái ấy là hoa khôi của 
trường ta thời ấy ạ. 
 (S: Dear Madame (the nun), do you remember the girl who used to go to Hàng Cót school in the old days, the 
girl who was the beauty Queen of our school at that time? 
 H: Vâng, tôi nhớ rồi. Cô Thơ hay còn gọi là cô Lụa. 
 (H: Yes, I do. Ms Thơ or the other name is Ms Lụa.) 
(Nếp nhà, tập 1, 00:04:54) 
(Family’s Habits, Episode 1, 00:04:54) 
In this setting (8), two women visit the old pagoda where they used to come when they were young. 
One woman asks the superior monk to try to remember the name of the other woman. Her explanation in 
the same turn reminds the superior monk of the woman’s name. 
4.1.3. Explanation 
 (9) S: À má, con nghĩ mình nên về quê coi mấy bác ra sao nghe má. Ý con nói là ngó qua cho biết thôi chứ con 
đâu có ưa mấy bác đâu. 
 (Nước chảy xuôi dòng, 02:27:48) 
 (S: Mum, I think we should return to our hometown to visit our uncles. I mean we only drop over them because 
I do not like them) 
 (Smooth water, 02:27:48) 
 In the above example, the mother does not want to return to her husband’s hometown because she 
does not like the relatives there. She left the hometown and stayed all her life with her children on the boat 
when her husband died. However, her daughter wants to return to the hometown and visit her uncles. She 
tries to explain her thoughts in the most persuasive way so that her mother can accept her suggestion. 
Table 1. Pragmatic functions of representatives of self-repair in Vietnamese television films 
Order Functions Occurrences 
1 Assertiveness 13 
2 Information 21 
3 Explanation 19 
Figure 1. Pragmatic functions of representatives of self-repair in Vietnamese television films 
 Figure 1 shows that the functions of representatives of self-repair in conversations from Vietnamese 
television films consist of assertiveness, information and explanation. Of these three functions, information 
has the highest occurrences. 
4.2. Expressives 
 The survey shows the functions of expressives of self-repair in conversations are feelings of surprise, 
embarrassment, anger, panic and worry. 
4.2.1. Surprise 
(10) S: Sao? Cậu định đằng sau quay, đào ngũ? Tớ hiểu rồi, bây giờ cậu muốn đi. 
 (S: What? Are you going to about-turn, desert from the army? I know, you want to leave now.) 
(Đường lên Điện Biên, Tập 9, 00:25:11) 
 (Ways to Dien Bien, Episode 9, 00:25:11) In this 
conversation (10), the captain says to the young soldier in his battalion. The captain feels surprised by the 
soldier’s negative attitude because this soldier has always been active and optimistic. Self-repairing his 
utterance by using the word đào ngũ not only helps the soldier understand what he is saying clearly but also 
shows the captain’s surprising attitude to the active soldier. 
4.2.2. Embarrassment 
(11) S: Cháu muốn, cháu muốn mượn lương của cô tháng nay được không ạ? 
(S: I want, Could I borrow your salary this month, please?) 
(Ngày hè sôi động, Tập 4, 00:16:32) 
(The active summer, Episode 4, 01:03:00) 
In this setting, the girl repairs her utterance by expressing her wish to borrow money from her aunt; 
however, her self-repair shows her embarrassment in her saying. She knows that her aunt is not rich and 
her borrowing may cause some difficulties for her aunt. 
4.2.3. Anger 
(12) S: Cậu phải như tôi đây này, có ai động vào đâu. Ý tôi nói là mình phải khéo léo, nhẫn nhịn. 
 (S: You must behave as the same way as I do so that no one dare say anything. I mean you must be clever and 
patient) 
 (Khi đàn chim trở về, tập 36, phần 3, 00:41:06) 
(When the birds return, Episode 36, Part 3, 00:41:06) 
In (12), this is the conversation between the manager and the employee. The manager repairs his 
utterance for his employee to understand his meaning, but he also wants to show his anger because the 
employee has not got his advice before. 
4.2.4. Panic 
(13) S: Cái gì? Con cá sấu chúa, vợ em tới công ty hả? 
(S: What? Is the Queen crocodile, my wife coming to the company?) 
 (Thuê chồng, 00:43:02) 
(Husbands for rent, 00:43:02) 
In this conversation, when one of three men who work for a company named “Husband for rent” 
hears the nickname “cá sấu chúa” (the Queen crocodile), he repairs his utterance in his turn by explaining 
that cá sấu chúa (the Queen crocodile) is his wife. His explanation also shows that he feels so panic when 
his wife is coming to the company. 
4.2.5. Worry 
(14) S: Cô ơi, cô làm ơn cho tôi hỏi con trai tôi chờ ở đâu ạ? Hành khách chuyến bay hoãn sẽ chờ ở đâu ạ? 
(S: Excuse me, madame, do you know where my son is waiting? Where will passengers whose flights are 
delayed wait? 
 (Tết không chỉ có hoa đào, tập 6, 46:30) 
(Tet not only has peach blossom, Episode 6, 46:30) 
In this film, the father always thinks that the boy is not his son. After many years of studying and 
living abroad, the son returns home, but the father always keeps his distance from him. When knowing that 
his father needs to transplant the liver, the son is willing to do that. Being refused from the father, the son 
decides to go abroad again. However, the farther goes to the airport and tries to find his son. He feels so 
worried because the flight nearly departs. When he asks “Cô làm ơn cho tôi hỏi con trai tôi chờ ở đâu ạ”, 
he recognizes his trouble source and starts repair in the same turn. His worry is expressed via his ways of 
saying and repairing. 
Table 2. Pragmatic functions of expressives of self-repair in Vietnamese television films 
Order Functions Occurrences 
1 Surprise 21 
2 Embarrassament 7 
3 Anger 6 
4 Panic 3 
5 Worry 5 
 Figure 2. Pragmatic functions of expressives of self-repair in Vietnamese television films 
 Figure 2 shows that the functions of expressives of self-repair in conversations from Vietnamese 
television films consist of surprise, embarrassment, anger, panic and worry. Of these five functions, 
surprise has the highest occurrences. 
5. Discussion and implications 
 The results show that the categories of illocutionary acts classified by Searle (1969) such as 
representatives and expressives appear in self-repair in conversations from Vietnamese television films. 
The functions of representatives consist of assertiveness, information and explanation. Of these three 
functions, information has the highest occurrences. Learners of Vietnamese need to pay attention to the 
functions of representatives so that they can overcome the possible breakdowns during their conversations. 
Especially, learners should give clear utterances which contain enough information for the listeners. Beside 
that, the functions of expressives of self-repair in conversations from Vietnamese television films consist 
of surprise, embarrassment, anger, panic and worry. Of these five functions, surprise has the highest 
occurrences. These results help learners of Vietnamese know that speakers can use self-repair with a lot of 
pragmatic functions. The best way for learners to understand the interlocutors’ underlying meanings is that 
they should observe the attitudes of the speakers during their conversations. When the interlocutors know 
how to self-repair to correct their trouble sources and know how to use self-repair to convey their feelings, 
they will gain effective conversations. 
6. Conclusion 
 The research reveals the results that two of five categories of illocutionary acts namely 
Representatives and Expressives classified by Searle (1969) appear in utterances of self-repair. The 
functions of representatives consist of assertiveness, information and explanation. The functions of 
expressives of self-repair in conversations from Vietnamese television films consist of surprise, 
embarrassment, anger, panic and worry. The results show that more speakers use self-repair with the aim 
of providing information for their trouble sources than other functions such as assertiveness and 
explanation. Besides, speakers use self-repair to express their different feelings such as surprise, 
embarrassment, anger, panic and worry. Especially, the results show that most of the Vietnamese people 
use self-repair to express their surprise towards something. It is concluded that Vietnamese speakers use 
self-repair to make their utterances clearer by giving more information in the same turn. Simultaneously, 
they also show a lot of different feelings when they self-repair their utterances. Among the functions of 
expressives, showing the attitude of surprise takes the highest rate. 
 The findings of the research can be applied into teaching and learning Vietnamese speaking skill. 
When learners know the pragmatic functions of self-repair, they can choose the suitable way to 
communicate with their interlocutors so that they can have a more effective conversation. 
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Trần Thùy An (2016). Một số thủ pháp chỉnh sửa của lời chỉnh sửa do người nói khởi xướng, người nói 
chỉnh sửa trong giao tiếp hội thoại tiếng Việt. Hội thảo Ngôn ngữ học Quốc tế lần thứ II. 
CHỨC NĂNG DỤNG HỌC CỦA LỜI THOẠI TỰ SỬA LỖI 
TRONG PHIM TRUYỀN HÌNH VIỆT NAM 
Tóm tắt: Tự sửa lỗi lời thoại là cần thiết để giúp cho người nói thể hiện rõ hơn những vấn đề mình đang 
nói với người nghe. Đồng thời, việc người nói tự sửa lỗi cũng giúp cuộc nói chuyện được duy trì và hội 
thoại trôi chảy, hiệu quả hơn. Có nhiều nguyên nhân khiến người nói muốn tự sửa lỗi phát ngôn của 
mình. Dựa vào lý thuyết về tự sửa lỗi lời thoại của Schegloff và cộng sự, dựa trên dữ liệu được trích 
xuất từ các đoạn hội thoại trong phim truyền hình Việt Nam phát hành từ những năm 90 đến nay với 
các chủ đề quen thuộc hằng ngày và lý thuyết ngữ dụng học của hành vi tại lời, bài viết nghiên cứu các 
chức năng ngữ dụng học của việc tự sửa lỗi trong lời thoại nhằm giúp những người nói tiếng Anh học 
tiếng Việt nắm được và đoán được các dụng ý của người nói khi họ tự sửa lỗi để có thể đạt được hiệu 
quả cao trong giao tiếp. 
Từ khoá: Hội thoại, chức năng dụng học, tự sửa lỗi, phim truyền hình Việt Nam