This study aims at investigating three main features: degree of directness, formality and politeness, of an intercultural communication study “Small talk between an American and a Vietnamese”. It is designed as a case study to examine communication between individuals of different cultures: how communication evolves and its relationship with personal and cultural factors. | A case study of intercultural communication: Small talk at different stages of relationship between a Vietnamese and An american ISSN: 1859-2171 TNU Journal of Science and Technology 225(03): 26 - 32 e-ISSN: 2615-9562 A CASE STUDY OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION: SMALL TALK AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A VIETNAMESE AND AN AMERICAN Hoang Thi Thu Hoai1, Nguyen Thuy Linh2, Nguyen Thi Hong Ha2* 1 Thai Nguyen Medical College 2 TNU - School of Foreign Languages ABSTRACT In the trend of integration today, Vietnamese people have more opportunities to contact, mingle and work with English speakers. This leads to the fact that equipping university students with sufficient language knowledge and skills is crucial. In Vietnam nowadays, there have been a lot of studies on enhancing teaching methodology to help language students meet the standard required by MOET; however, social and cultural aspects have not been paid enough attention. This study aims at investigating three main features: degree of directness, formality and politeness, of an intercultural communication study “Small talk between an American and a Vietnamese”. It is designed as a case study to examine communication between individuals of different cultures: how communication evolves and its relationship with personal and cultural factors. The results of the study have consolidated the theories existing so far: when people of different cultures reach different stages of personal relationships, their language changes. Keywords: Linguistics; intercultural communication; small talk; culture; relationship. Received: 02/7/2019; Revised: 27/8/2019; Published: 28/8/2019 NGHIÊN CỨU GIAO TIẾP LIÊN VĂN HÓA: ĐẶC ĐIỂM HỘI THOẠI NGẮN THEO TỪNG GIAI ĐOẠN PHÁT TRIỂN MỐI QUAN HỆ GIỮA MỘT NGƯỜI VIỆT NAM VÀ MỘT NGƯỜI MỸ Hoàng Thị Thu Hoài 1, Nguyễn Thùy Linh2, Nguyễn Thị Hồng Hà 2* 1 Trường Cao Đẳng Y tế Thái Nguyên 2 Khoa Ngoại ngữ - ĐH Thái .
