TTLA: Contrasting the language of motherhood in English and Vietnamese motherhood blogs

1. Full name of doctoral candidate: Pham Hoang Long Bien 2. Gender: Female
3. Date of birth: March 4, 1983 4. Place of birth: Phu Tho
5. Decision on admission of doctoral students: Decision No. 2775/2020/QD-XHNV dated December 31, 2020, of the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi; extension document No. 5109/QD-XHNV dated December 4, 2023, of the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, for a period of 12 months from November 31, 2023, to November 31, 2024.
6. Changes in the training process:
The thesis title has been adjusted from “A Comparative Study of the Language Expressing the Mother's Role in English and Vietnamese Parenting Blogs Based on Evaluation Theory” to “A Comparative Study of the Language Expressing the Mother's Role in English and Vietnamese Parenting Blogs” according to Decision No. 3490/QD-XHNV dated September 12, 2023, of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
The thesis title has been changed from “Comparative Language Expressing the Role of Mothers in English and Vietnamese Parenting Blogs” to “Comparative Language Expressing the Role of Mothers in English and Vietnamese Parenting Blogs” according to Decision No. 1222/QD-XHNV dated March 6, 2024, of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
7. Thesis Title: A Comparative Study of the Language Expressing the Role of Mothers in English and Vietnamese Parenting Blogs
8. Specialization: Comparative and Contrastive Linguistics 9. Code: 9229020.03
10. Scientific supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lam Quang Dong
11. Summary of new results of the thesis:
11.1. Research Objectives and Subjects
- Research objectives:
This study aims to achieve three basic objectives: a) to analyze the linguistic features that express the role of motherhood in English and Vietnamese blog posts (including the experiential value of vocabulary, the expressive value of vocabulary, and the use of metaphors) in English and Vietnamese blog posts; b) to compare the similarities and differences in linguistic features expressing the role of motherhood in two datasets of motherhood blogs in English and Vietnamese. From this, we will find the relationship between these linguistic features and the expression of maternal views and thoughts in American and Vietnamese cultures (following a critical discourse analysis approach).
- Research subjects:
The subject of this thesis is the linguistic features that express the role of the mother in English and Vietnamese blog posts. Specifically, we analyze the experiential value of vocabulary, the relational value of vocabulary, the expressive value of vocabulary, and the metaphors used in 1000 posts across two datasets.
11.2. Research Methodology
The thesis employs the following main research methods:

11.3. Main results and conclusions
Analysis of vocabulary characteristics in the two datasets revealed many similarities and a few differences. Regarding the experiential value of vocabulary, both American and Vietnamese mothers use a very diverse and rich vocabulary within each topic. However, the vocabulary in English parenting blog topics mainly consists of synonyms/phrases, while the vocabulary in Vietnamese parenting blog topics includes both synonyms/phrases and vocabulary repetition.
Regarding the relational value of vocabulary, both English and Vietnamese blog posts exhibit a less formal writing style (through the use of colloquialisms, linguistic variations, and euphemisms). The difference in the relational value of vocabulary is that the Vietnamese corpus also contains the insertion of foreign words (English), while this is absent in the English corpus. In the English corpus, the less formal language is further demonstrated through the use of colloquialisms (characteristics of spoken texts) in the articles, and the use of verbs more than nouns in describing the interactive roles of mothers with their children (low nominalization).
The expressive value of vocabulary in both corpuses is demonstrated through the use of evaluative language belonging to the Attitude category related to the role of motherhood (including evaluative language of Emotion, evaluative language of Behavior, and evaluative language of Judgment). Both corpuses have a higher frequency of positive evaluative language than negative evaluative language. The frequency of evaluative resources in the sub-items of the English corpus is higher than in the Vietnamese corpus (except for the sub-item of Behavioral Judgment). In the English corpus, the frequency of evaluative language is higher than evaluative language of Behavior, with evaluative language having a higher proportion than evaluative language in the Vietnamese corpus.
Regarding the use of metaphors, conceptual metaphors (MOTHERHOOD IS A JOURNEY, and the conceptual metaphor "heart") are frequently used in both corpuses, contributing to the profound expression of the emotional states (positive and negative) of mothers during the process of caring for and raising their children. The frequency of the metaphor MOTHERHOOD IS A JOURNEY is higher in the English corpus than in the Vietnamese corpus, while the conceptual metaphor "heart" is more frequent in the Vietnamese corpus than in the English corpus. Specifically, within the conceptual metaphor "heart," the frequency of the metaphor HEART IS AN OBJECT is higher in the English corpus than in the Vietnamese corpus, while the frequency of the metaphor HEART IS A CONTAINER OF EMOTIONS is higher in the Vietnamese corpus than in the English corpus.
- Novel contributions of the thesis:
In theory
Currently, there is virtually no research in Vietnam related to parenting blogs; therefore, this can be considered one of the first studies on this topic. This thesis presents the theoretical basis related to critical discourse analysis, corpus analysis, and systemic functional grammar; it synthesizes domestic and international research related to critical discourse analysis, corpus-based discourse analysis, and evaluation theory. Therefore, the thesis contributes to enriching the theoretical framework related to the aforementioned topics. Furthermore, the application of corpus analysis and critical discourse analysis to the analysis of parenting blogs is a novel research direction in Vietnam, so this thesis will contribute to suggesting new research directions (for the author and other researchers) in the future.
During the course of this thesis, we independently constructed two datasets of parenting blogs in English and Vietnamese, totaling 1000 articles. The large-scale dataset, combined with the use of the quantitative data analysis tool Sketch Engine, allowed for the analysis of a vast amount of data, enhancing the representativeness of the research. Furthermore, these two datasets will be crucial for future linguistic and sociological studies on parenting blogs, a topic that is still under-researched in Vietnam.
In practical terms
In practical terms, research findings related to lexical features reflecting maternal roles would be a useful reference for language teachers and learners (English and Vietnamese). Furthermore, research findings on the linguistic representation of maternal roles in parenting blogs would be a valuable resource for researchers in linguistics, culture, sociology, or gender roles, etc.
12. Further research directions:
The thesis offers several suggestions for future research directions as follows:
- Firstly, the author will expand the size of the two datasets, increasing the number of articles, the number of blogs, and the posting time of the blog posts.
Secondly, this study only initially explores lexical features related to the role of motherhood in blog posts based on some basic tools of corpus linguistics. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the linguistic features describing the role of motherhood, future studies could expand to grammatical features and discourse cohesion structures.
- Thirdly, the study of language in motherhood blogs is a rich and growing field of research, intersecting with many different disciplines, including sociology, gender studies, media studies, and psychology. Future interdisciplinary studies may explore several aspects such as: a) studying how mothers use language to construct personal and maternal identities in motherhood blogs; b) studying the linguistic interaction between blogging mothers and their readers; c) studying the changes in the themes of motherhood blogs over time, examining whether these changes reflect changing societal views on motherhood; d) comparing the linguistic features expressing maternal roles in motherhood blogs with other forms of media (such as newspapers, magazines, and television).
13. Publications related to the thesis:
1. Pham Hoang Long Bien (2023), “Intensive mothering in Vietnamese mommy blogs: A thematic analysis”, International Graduate Research Symposium, ULIS -VNU, ISBN 978-604-384-167-1, pp.196-210.
2. Pham Hoang Long Bien (2023), “Linguistic depiction of mother's roles as children's playmate in English and Vietnamese mommy blogs: a comparative study”, International Conference on Interdisciplinary Research in Linguistics and Language Education, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University, ISBN: 978-604-489-031-9, pp.77-85.
3. Pham Hoang Long Bien (2023), “Depiction of motherhood in American mommy blogs: An analysis of evaluative language of attitude category in the light of Appraisal Theory”, International Conference of Teaching English for specific purpose: perspective, policies and practices, ULIS, VNU, ISBN: 978-604-369-478-9, pp.365-372.
4. Pham Hoang Long Bien (2023), “Thematic analysis of American mommy blogs”, International Conference of Teaching English for specific purpose: perspective, policies and practices, ULIS, VNU, ISBN: 978-604-369-478-9, pp.373-383.
5. Pham Hoang Long Bien (2024), “Analysis of vocabulary characteristics expressing the role of mother in English parenting blogs according to the approach of critical discourse analysis theory”, Journal of Language and Life (3), pp.106-119.
6. Pham Hoang Long Bien (2024), “Conceptual “heart” metaphors in American mommy blogs”, Vietnam National University Journal of Foreign Studies (VNU Journal of Foreign Studies) Vol. 40 (3), ISSN: 2525-2445, pp.35-47.

 

 

INFORMATION ON DOCTORAL THESIS

 

1. Full name: Pham Hoang Long Bien 2. Sex: Female
3. Date of birth: March 4, 1983 4. Place of birth: Phu Tho
5. Admission decision number 2775/2020/QD-XHNV dated December 31, 2020 by University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi; extension document number 5109/QD-XHNV dated December 4, 2023 by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, for a period of 12 months from November 31, 2023 to November 31, 2024.
6. Changes in academic process:
Change in thesis title from “Comparing the linguistic depiction of mother's roles in English and Vietnamese mommy blogs in light of Appraisal theory” to “Comparing the linguistic depiction of mother's roles in English and Vietnamese mommy blogs” according to Decision No. 3490/QD-XHNV dated September 12, 2023 of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU Hanoi.
Change in thesis title from “Comparing the linguistic depiction of mother's roles in English and Vietnamese mommy blogs” to “Linguistic depiction of motherhood in English and Vietnamese mommy blogs: a contrastive discourse analysis.” according to Decision No. 1222/QD-XHNV dated March 6, 2024 of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU Hanoi.
7. Official thesis title: Linguistic depiction of motherhood in English and Vietnamese mommy blogs: a contrastive discourse analysis
8. Major: Contrastive - comparative Linguistics 9. Code: 9229020.03
10. Supervisors: 1. Assoc. Prof. PhD. Lam Quang Dong
11. Summary of the new findings of the thesis:
- Research objectives:
The study aims to a) to analyze the linguistic features that express the role of the mother in
English and Vietnamese blog posts (including the experiential value of vocabulary, the
expressive value of vocabulary, and the use of metaphors) in English and Vietnamese blog
posts; b) to contrast the linguistic depiction of mothers' roles in English and Vietnamese mommy blogs. From there, the authors analyze the relationship between linguistic features and the mothers' ideology in American and Vietnamese societies (in light of critical discourse analysis).
- Research area:
The research object of this thesis is the linguistic features that express the role of the mothers in English and Vietnamese blog posts. specifically, we analyze the experiential value of vocabulary, the relational value of vocabulary, the expressive value of vocabulary, and the metaphors used in 1000 articles in two corpora.
11.2. Research methods
The thesis utilizes the following main research methods:

11.3. Major results and conclusion
The analysis of the lexical features in the two corpora shows many similarities and a few differences. Regarding the experiential value of vocabulary, American and Vietnamese mothers both use a very diverse lexical field in each topic. However, the lexical field topics in English motherhood blog topics are mainly constructed by synonymy, while the lexical field in Vietnamese motherhood blog includes both synonymy and antonymy.
Regarding the relational value of vocabulary, both English and Vietnamese blog posts show a less formal writing style (through colloquialisms, linguistic variations, and euphemisms). The difference in the relational value of vocabulary is that: in the Vietnamese corpora, there is also the phenomenon of code-mixing (English), while this does not appear in the English corpora. In the English corpus, less formal language is also demonstrated through the use of colloquial language, and the use of verbs rather than nouns in describing the mother's interactive roles with her children (low level of nominalization).
The expressive value of vocabulary in both corpora is demonstrated through evaluative language in the Attitude category (including Affect, Judgment and Appreciation). Both corpora have a higher frequency of positive evaluative language than negative one. The frequency of evaluative resources of the sub-items in the English corpus is greater than that in the Vietnamese corpus (except for the Judgment language). In the English corpus, the frequency of Appreciation language is greater than that of Judgment language, while Judgment language has a higher rate than that of Appreciation in the Vietnamese corpus.
Regarding the use of metaphors, conceptual metaphors MOTHERHOOD IS A JOURNEY, and the conceptual “heart” metaphors are used extensively in both corpora, expressing the mother's emotional states (positive and negative). The frequency of the metaphor MOTHERHOOD IS A JOURNEY is greater in the English corpora than in the Vietnamese corpora, while the conceptual metaphor “heart” is greater in the Vietnamese corpora than in the English corpora. Specifically, in the conceptual metaphor “heart”, the frequency of the metaphor HEART IS AN OBJECT is greater in the English corpora than in the Vietnamese corpora, while the frequency of the metaphor HEART IS A CONTAINER OF EMOTIONS is greater in the Vietnamese corpora than in the English one.
- Thesis's major contributions:
Theoretical contributions:
Currently, there is almost no research related to mommy blogs in Vietnam, so this can be considered one of the first studies on this topic. This study provides the literature review related to critical discourse analysis, corpus-based discourse analysis, systemic functional grammar; reviews studies related to critical discourse analysis, corpus-based discourse analysis, and Appraisal theory. Therefore, the thesis contributes to enriching the theoretical aspects related to the above topics. In addition, the application of corpus analysis and critical analysis discourse to the analysis of mommy blogs is a new research direction in Vietnam, so this thesis may suggest new research directions (for other researchers) in the future.
Two corpora of mommy blogs in English and Vietnamese, with a total of 1000 articles are built in this study. This, combined with the use of the quantitative data analysis tool Sketch Engine, helps to analyze a very large amount of data, improving therepresentativeness of the research data. In addition, these two corpora will be valuable resources for future linguistic and sociological studies on mommy blogs, a topic that has not been properly studied in Vietnam.
Practical support:
The research results related to the lexical features expressing the role of mothers will be a useful reference for language teachers and learners (English and Vietnamese). In addition, the research results related to the language express the role of mothers in mommy blogs are valuable resources for researchers in linguistics and sociology, etc.
12. Further research directions:
- First, the corpora for future studies includes the larger number of articles, higher number of blogs to increase representativeness.
- Second, to have a more general view of the linguistic features depicting the role of mothers, future studies can investigate grammatical features and the linking structure in the discourse.
- Third, future interdisciplinary research about mommy blogs might explore: a) how mothers use language to construct their personal and maternal identities in mom blogs; b) the linguistic interactions between mom blogging mothers and their readers; c) changes in the topics of mommy blogs over time, whether these changes reflect changing social attitudes toward motherhood; d) the linguistic representations of mothers in media (eg, newspapers, magazines, television).
13. Thesis-related publications:
1. Pham Hoang Long Bien (2023), “Intensive mothering in Vietnamese mommy blogs: A thematic analysis”, International Graduate Research Symposium, ULIS -VNU, ISBN 978-604-384-167-1, pp.196-210.
2. Pham Hoang Long Bien (2023), “Linguistic depiction of mother's roles as children's playmate in English and Vietnamese mommy blogs: a comparative study”, International Conference on Interdisciplinary Research in Linguistics and Language Education, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University, ISBN: 978-604-489-031-9, pp.77-85.
3. Pham Hoang Long Bien (2023), “Depiction of motherhood in American mommy blogs: An analysis of evaluative language of attitude category in the light of Appraisal Theory”, Teaching English for specific purpose: perspective, policies and practices, University of Foreign Languages ​​and International Studies, VNU, ISBN: 978-604-369-478-9, pp.365-372.
5. Pham Hoang Long Bien (2023), “Thematic analysis of American mommy blogs”, Teaching English for specific purpose: perspective, policies and practices, University of Foreign Languages ​​and International Studies, VNU, ISBN: 978-604-369-478-9, pp.373-383.
5. Pham Hoang Long Bien (2024), “An analysis of lexical resources that depict motherhood in American mommy blogs in light of critical discourse analysis”, Language and Life, 3(351), pp.106-119.
6. Pham Hoang Long Bien (2023), “Conceptual “heart” metaphors in American mommy blogs”, VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 40(3), ISSN: 2525-2445, pp.35-47.