Confucian Values as Challenges for Communication in Intercultural Workplace Contexts: Evidence from the Motivational Concerns in Vietnamese Politeness Behaviour

Abstract

The present chapter explores salient issues regarding Confucian values that occupy politeness behaviour of the Vietnamese in Vietnamese – Anglo-cultural interactions in intercultural contexts in Vietnam. We will present an analysis of the literature on the impact of Confucian values on Asian communication and Vietnamese politeness, broadly interpreted, and then describe the empirical data of how Confucian values have an impact on the fundamental motivational concerns underlying politeness behaviours of Vietnamese working in intercultural contexts. From the findings, relevant implications for the teaching of English as a foreign language in various Asian Confucian cultures in general and in Vietnam in particular are suggested in order to prepare English language learners better for intercultural communication contexts.