Luan Van Phuong

8/3/2019 Luan Van Phuong

1/22

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale

Nowadays computer has become so common that people who are

unaware about computer are referred as clumsy. Computer is used in

each and every aspect of human life.

The beginning of the 1990's is marked by the era of computers.

Everywhere we look, we see computers. They have become an essential

part of our every day life. If the world's computer systems were turned

off even for a short amount of time, unimaginable disasters would occur.

Over the last ten years, demand for computer engineers has grown

due to the rapid growth and advances in the computer industry.

Computers are everywhere, and they are utilized to perform a variety of

functions. In industry, computer-aided drafting programs are used to

design manufacturing processes which provide a high degree of

efficiency and quality. You are already familiar with some of the

benefits of using computers in the workplace-for example, computers

make it easier to manage the company database, accounting, and

finance-related activities, and communications among different

departments in a company

Computer Information systems contain both hardware and

software. Hardware is any tangible item in a computer system, like thesystem unit, keyboard, or printer. Software, or a computer program, is

the set of instruction that direct the computer to perform a task. Software

falls into one of two categories: system software and application

software. To apply any uses of the computer, we must install their

software. When we setup any software we can see the software license

agreement.

1


2/22

What is the Software License Agreement? According to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_license_agreement:A Software

License Agreement is a contract between the licensor and purchaser of

the right to use software. The licensor write a contractunderwhich the

owner of a copyright, know how, patent, servicemark, trademark, or

otherintellectual property, allows a licensee to use, make, orsellcopies

of the original. Such agreements usually limit the scope or field of the

licensee, and specify whether the license is exclusive or non-exclusive,

and whether the licensee will payroyalties or some otherconsideration

in exchange.

I choose to study the License Agreement of Software Product

online in English in the thesis for the following reasons:

Firstly, nowadays many companies spend a lot of money buying

and selling usage rights to software. As such, various types of software

license agreements are becoming ever more important for both IT

companies and their customers.

Secondly, today due to its historic role and overwhelming

popularity, English is chosen as the primary and international-standard

language in the computer. Language of the Software License Agreement

is executed in English language and may be translated into other

languages. In case of any conflict, discrepancy or contradiction betweenthe English version and translations, the version of the Agreement in

English language shall prevail for purposes of its performance,

interpretation and settlement of disputes. Software license agreements

can sometimes be extremely complex and detailed in their content.

When you work with the purchasing of software products and associated

services, it is important to check drawn up agreement documents with,

2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_license_agreementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contracthttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/contract.htmlhttp://www.investorwords.com/11391/under.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/owner.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/copyright.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/know-how.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/patent.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/trademark.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/intellectual-property.htmlhttp://www.investorwords.com/8807/allow.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/licensee.htmlhttp://www.investorwords.com/10256/make.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/sell.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/copy.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/original.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/agreement.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/scope.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/field.htmlhttp://www.investorwords.com/11154/specify.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/license.htmlhttp://www.investorwords.com/1815/exclusive.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/pay.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/royalty.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/consideration.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/exchange.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_license_agreementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contracthttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/contract.htmlhttp://www.investorwords.com/11391/under.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/owner.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/copyright.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/know-how.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/patent.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/trademark.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/intellectual-property.htmlhttp://www.investorwords.com/8807/allow.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/licensee.htmlhttp://www.investorwords.com/10256/make.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/sell.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/copy.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/original.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/agreement.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/scope.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/field.htmlhttp://www.investorwords.com/11154/specify.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/license.htmlhttp://www.investorwords.com/1815/exclusive.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/pay.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/royalty.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/consideration.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/exchange.html


3/22

for example, appropriate checklists in order to avoid losing important

parts that ought to be regulated. Therefore, to create an effective contract

as well as to understand best the contract, this depends much on how

such contracts are drafted and translated. So the learner and the teacher

of English need be equipped with the necessary knowledge of language

and sentence structures used in contracts. How can such students, who

may later work in information field, deal with the work of translating

and drafting contracts in the license? Isn't it a big consideration? The

study is expected to help answer this question.

Thirdly, as a communicating tool in the Software License

Agreement, English has distinctive writing styles,

grammatical structures, and items of vocabulary. These specific

characteristics of English in the Software License Agreement require an

in-dept research into such features to ensure the success of every using

computer and installing software.

Mastering English and its specific features in the Software License

Agreement is indispensable for both the licensors and purchasers of the

right to use software. For a licensor, his work is to write a contract.

Hence, he has to be equipped with the skills, good experience and

English fluency in this field to complete his work. For a language

learner, he should discover how English is used for specific purposes.English in specific usage surely carries particular characteristics

distinctive from English in daily life. The research on English is not only

to serve the purposes of teaching and learning but also to work out how

English is used effectively in the computer world. This is why this paper

is done. This work also benefits those who wish to have an insight of

3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softwarehttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/contract.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softwarehttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/contract.html


4/22

English in creating or understanding the contract in the software and use

it successfully in their jobs.

For all the above reasons, I have decided to carry out A

discourse Analysis of License Agreement of Software Product online

in English. I try to describe the characteristics of the language in the

Software License Agreement. In addition, this study on discourse

analysis might help us deal with this part of the English language more

carefully to contribute a small part to the learning and teaching English.

Therefore, it is hoped that the findings of this study would contribute to

supporting those of many previous studies and also show distinguishing

features of the Software License Agreement.

1.2 Significance of the Study

1.3 Aims and Objectives

1.3.1 Aims

This study aims to examine the linguistic features in the

Software License Agreement at discourse level to help the licensors as

well as the writers and the purchaser of the right to use software to have

a critical evaluation and the mastering of the use of linguistic devices in

creating an effective and understandable contract.

1.3.2. Objectives

The study is intended to achieve the following objectives:- To set up a theoretical framework in order to identify and

describe the discourse features of Software License Agreement (their

layout, lexical features, syntactic structures and cohesive devices).

- To examine the characteristics of language used in the Software

License Agreement

4


5/22

- To improve the use of English in this particular field - English in

software technology.

- To suggest some implications for teaching English to

Vietnamese learners, especially the students of the information

technology.

1.4 Scope of the Study

This study is mainly concerned with main components in the

License Agreement of software product online. The research primarily

concentrates on the layout features, lexical and syntactic features and

especially the Speech acts used in Software License Agreement in

English.

The study will be based on Software License Agreement taken

from the internet.

1.5 Research Questions

The research is to answer the following questions:

1.What are the common type of Software License Agreement?

2.What are the typical discourse characteristics of Software

License Agreement in terms of their layout, lexical features,

syntactic structures, cohesive devices and Speech acts?

1.6 Organization of the Study

The study is organized into five chapters as follows:

Chapter 1 Introduction

This chapter presents the rationale, the aims and objectives of the

study, scope, research questions, research design, research methods and

data collection and organization of the study.

Chapter 2 Literature Review and Theoretical Background

5


6/22

This chapter reviews prior studies on discourse analysis, related

theoretical matters are also presented.

Chapter 3 Research Methods and Procedures

This chapter concerns itself with the research methods, data

collection as well as techniques of data analysis.

Chapter 4 Findings and Discussion

This chapter deals with analyzing and surveying the layout

features, lexical and syntactic features of the Software License

Agreement in English.

Chapter 5 Conclusion

This chapter summaries the issue studied in the thesis, the

implications and suggestions for further study.

6


7/22

Chapter Two: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides the literature review and the theoretical

background for the study. In the theoretical background, it concentrates

on the key concepts in discourse analysis and some important issues

relevant to Sofware License Agreement. Speech acts and some relating

concepts that cast from the perspective of Pragmatics will be shown.

These key points are viewed briefly and organized under the following

headings: preliminaries of discourse, register and discourse genre, the

overview of Software License Agreement and Speech acts used in

Software License Agreement in English.

2.1 Literature review

2.2 Theoretical Background

2.2.1 Text and Discourse

It is important to distinguish the difference between

discourse and text, two basic terms in the theoretical discourse

analysis. In fact, discourse analysts approach them differently.

2.2.1.1 Concepts of Text

The term "Text" is defined differently by many linguists.

Originally, "text" acquired its interpretation as a type of linguistic unit

beyond the sentence level because linguists were not satisfied with thetraditional understanding of linguistic levels where the sentence was

generally regarded as the largest unit.

Halliday and Hassan (1976) view Text as a "semantic unit"

characterized by cohesion or a framework that is logical and general and

use Discourse to explain Text "A text is a passage of discourse". Brown

and Yule [4, p.6] sees Text as a technical term referring to "the verbal

7


8/22

record of a communicative act" or Widdowson [31,p. 100] as "the

linguistic product of a communicative process". Brown and Yule [6, p.6]

considers text as "verbal record of communicative act" and Nunan [53]

views texts as a "written record of a communicative event which

conveys a complete message". Texts may vary from single words (for

example, "Stop!", "Exit") to books running to hundreds of pages.

McCarthy and Carter [48] focus learners' attention on whole, rather than

parts of, texts from as early as possible in their language development.

Whole texts are generally understood to be chunks or stretches of

language that make sense in their own right. Texts, for example, can be

as long as essays or as short as a reply left on an answering machine.

Besides, there are more concepts of the term Text, for example;

"Text: a piece of naturally occurring spoken, written, or signed

discourse identified for purpose of analysing. It is often a language unit

with a definable communicative function, such as a communication, a

poster". (Crystal [6, p.72]) or "Text: a stretch of language interpreted

formally without context".(Cook [5, p. 15 8]).

In this study, the concept of "Text" is understood as a semantic

unit of language in written form which is complete in form and

structure.

2.2.1.2 Concepts of Discourse

Discourse is the term now quite widely used in a number of

different disciplines and schools of thought, often with different

purposes. Since its introduction to modern science the term Discourse

has taken various, sometimes very broad, meanings. In order to specify

which of the numerous senses is analyzed in the dissertation it has to be

8


9/22

defined. Originally the word 'discourse' comes from Latin 'discursus'

which denoted 'conversation, speech'. This understanding about

Discourse, however, refers to a very wide area of human life, therefore

onlyDiscourse from the vantage point of linguistics, is explained here.

The different concepts of Discourse will be displayed through the

following statements:

Brown and Yule (1983: iii) say that "discourse is language in

use" and remark that "the term Discourse Analysis has come to be

used with a wide range of meanings which cover a wide range of

activities at the intersection of many disciplines from sociolinguistics,

psychological linguistics to computational linguistics".

Cook (1989: 156) claims that "Discourse is stretches of

language perceived to be meaningful, unified and purposive".

Nunan (1993: 5) says that "Discourse can be defined as a stretch

of language consisting of several sentences which are perceived as

being related in some way." Sentences can be related not only in terms

of the ideas they share, but also in terms of their functions".

Crystal (1992: 25) states that discourse is a continuous stretch

of (especially spoken) language larger than a sentence, often

constituting a coherent unit such as a sermon, argument, joke or

narrative.Widdowson (1994: 100) considers discourse as "a

communicative process. Its situation outcome is a change in a state of

affairs: information is conveyed, intentions are made clear, its

linguistic product is text".

From the above statements, obviously, it is sometimes impossible

to make a clear cut between discourse and text. They are like two sides

9


10/22

of a paper. Nevertheless, our study will follow the approach to make a

distinction betweenthese two terms.

Following this trend, discourse brings together language and the

context within which the language is used. Obviously, context is a key

concept in discourse analysis, which will be discussed in the next

section.

2.2.2 Concepts of Discourse Analysis

The term "discourse analysis" is hard to define with precision as it

has become to be used with a wide range of meanings which cover a

wide range of activities. The study of discourse or "discourse analysis" is

concerned with "the study of the relationship between language

and the contexts in which it is used" (McCarthy [47, p.5]). Crystal [18,

p.25] defines discourse as, 'a continuous stretch of language larger than a

sentence, often constituting a coherent unit'. In practical terms it focuses

on the actual operation of language, beyond the restrictions of grammar.

Using discourse analysis at one level, that of language beyond the

sentence level, refers mainly to the linguistic analysis. A second level of

discourse analysis concerns with the language which can be used to

examine utterances in terms of communication intention and

appropriateness to the social content, i.e., to interpret them. When it is

restricted to linguistic issues, discourse analysis focuses on the record(spoken or written) of the process by which language is used in some

context to express intention.

Discourse Analysis has been used to apply to both spoken and

written language. The discourse analysis of written text provides a

method for systematically describing texts that students read as well as

those they write. Canale [9], who first proposed the construct of

10


11/22

"discourse competence," conceptualized it as an attribute that helps a

learner to achieve 4'unity of a text...through cohesion in form and

coherence in meaning". An English written text includes discourse

features conforming to rules that most successful writers unconsciously

follow and native readers unconsciously expect to find. Some of the

features in written discourse analysis are completeness in form, cohesion

and coherence, that is, the extend to which the text hangs together and

make sense.

Generally, discourse analysis focuses on linguistic units above the

rank of clause and on their sequences, and takes into consideration

situational context and existential meaning. In this paper, I decided to

limit my investigation to the use of cohesive devices in terms of Halliday

and Hasan's [29] cohesion theory and coherence evaluation based on the

basis of Grice's maxims of relation, quantity, and manner.

From the above concepts of "discourse analysis", we realize that

the concept "discourse analysis" is the study of how language is used in

linguistic products with reference to social and psychological factors

that influence communication.

+ meaningful, pointing out benefits that makes the product

desirable or interesting to consumers.

+ believable, so that consumer will believe that the product orservice will deliver the promised benefits.

+ distinctive, telling people how the product is better than

competing brands. [14, p.21, 22]

2.2.3 Cohesion and Cohesive in Discourse

Beaugrande & Dressier [3, p.3] defined texts as vehicles of

purposeful interaction, and coherence and cohesion are two of seven

11


12/22

standards of textuality. Cohesion is the surface structure of text that has

some grammatical dependencies. It is like a framework for textual

communication. Meanwhile, coherence is the deep structure of a text that

has some conceptual and propositional dependencies. Coherence is the

result of these relations. It is like the spirit of a text. A text without

coherence can be cohesive but not alive.

2.2.4 Speech act functions

2.2.4.1 What is a Speech Act?

We perform speech acts when we offer an apology, greeting,

request, complaint, invitation, compliment, or refusal. A speech act

is an utterance that serves a function in communication. A speech act

might contain just one word, as in "Sorry!" to perform an apology, or

several words or sentences: "Im sorry I forgot your birthday. I just let it

slip my mind." Speech acts include real-life interactions and require not

only knowledge of the language but also appropriate use of that language

within a given culture.

Here are some examples of speech acts we use or hear every day:

Greeting: "Hi, Eric. How are things going?"

Request: "Could you pass me the mashed potatoes, please?"

Complaint: "Ive already been waiting three weeks for thecomputer, and I was told it would be delivered within a week."

Invitation: "Were having some people over Saturday evening and

wanted to know if youd like to join us."

Compliment: "Hey, I really like your tie!"

Refusal: "Oh, Id love to see that movie with you but this Friday

just isnt going to work."

12


13/22

Speech acts are difficult to perform in a second language because

learners may not know the idiomatic expressions or cultural norms in the

second language or they may transfer their first language rules and

conventions into the second language, assuming that such rules are

universal. Because the natural tendency for language learners is to fall

back on what they know to be appropriate in their first language, it is

important that these learners understand exactly what they do in that first

language in order to be able to recognize what is transferable to other

languages. Something that works in English might not transfer in

meaning when translated into the second language. For example, the

following remark as uttered by a native English speaker could

easily be misinterpreted by a native Chinese hearer:

Sarah: "I couldnt agree with you more. "

Cheng: "Hmmm." (Thinking: "She couldnt agree with me? I

thought she liked my idea!")

An example of potential misunderstanding for an American

learner of Japanese would be what is said by a dinner guest in Japan to

thank the host. For the invitation and the meal the guests may well

apologize a number of times in addition to using an expression of

gratitude (arigatou gosaimasu) -- for instance, for the intrusion into the

private home (sumimasen ojama shimasu), the commotion that they arecausing by getting up from the table (shitsurei shimasu), and also for the

fact that they put their host out since they had to cook the meal, serve it,

and will have to do the dishes once the guests have left (sumimasen).

American guests might think this to be rude or inappropriate and choose

to compliment the host on the wonderful food and festive atmosphere, or

thank the host for inviting them, unaware of the social conventions

13


14/22

involved in performing such a speech act in Japanese. Although such

compliments or expression of thanks are also appropriate in Japanese,

they are hardly enough for native speakers of Japanese -- not without a

few apologies!

2.2.4.2. Speech Acts Theory

2.2.4.3 The Classification of Speech Acts

2.3 An overview of Software License Agreement

2.3.1 Definition of Software License Agreement

Whenever you install software on a computer, you will have

to face the inevitable: agreeing to the Software License

Agreement or the EULA (End User License Agreement). But how many

of us really go through all those paragraphs filled with legal terms?

The percentage of software users that actually read the terms of

any license agreement is rather low, mainly because these agreements

are too stuffy and, most of the times, almost incomprehensible for the

average-educated software user. Also, there's the common belief that all

EULAs are practically the same, so users just skip reading them and go

straight to ticking the "I Agree" checkbox and pressing the "Next"

button. For that reason, many software users are confronted with usually

unpleasant situations that could have been avoided, should they have

read the EULA beforehand. So, what is the Software License

Agreement?

The definition given by Walker & Jocke (1995-2011) [X] states:

A software license is usually an agreement that grants a right to use

software code to someone else. A license usually grants less rights than a

sale of a copy of the software. The rights to use the code are defined by

14


15/22

the terms of the license.

(http://www.walkerandjocke.com/pages/licensing.html#anchorc536025f)

According to wikipedia [X]: A Software License Agreement is a

contract between the licensor and purchaser of the right to use software.

The licensor write a contract under which the owner of a copyright,

know how, patent, servicemark, trademark, or other intellectual property,

allows a license to use, make, or sell copies of the original. Such

agreements usually limit the scope or field of the license, and specify

whether the license is exclusive or non-exclusive, and whether the

license will pay royalties or some other consideration in exchange.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_license_agreement

The EULA (The EULA: End User License Agreement also is

often referred to as the software license or user license) is, as its name

shows it, a contract between the software developer and a potential user.

By means of this contract it is established that the developer of the

software is its de facto owner, and that a copy of the respective software

bought from a vendor (or downloaded from the Internet) only licenses it

to a user, and does not transmit any intellectual rights whatsoever on the

software. [X] http://www.avangate.com/articles/eula-software.htm

As in typical legal contracts, the EULA protects both parties from

liability if the software is used in a way not intended by the manufactureror author.

2.3.2 The importance of Software License Agreement

Software is important; therefore software licenses are important.

Today's businesses rely upon software to perform many critical

functions. Software makes machines and systems work in every sector of

the world economy - everything from applications that control advanced

15


16/22

medical devices to programs that analyze the behavior of financial

markets.

However, the reason why a software contract is so important, so is

some of these complexities address. While the international status of

things like software license agreements can be more difficult things than

necessary, a contract can ever create even the best solution for all terms

on the table, and an environment that mutual trust between buyer and

seller. In essence, there is software licensing, to try and protect those that

distribute software and designed it. Obviously, if you construct

something, you do not want a person to buy it and then make a copy for

all their friends. Good software license agreements to protect the

interests of software developers, while high-end product provides for the

end user. Each step along the way creates the need for the status of

software license agreements to determine: Who owns what, and when

they themselves, the terms with them, that to assume the responsibility.

This is what a good software contract should be about.

It is why you should look to software license agreements as an

integral component of a good software contract for your company.

There is only one way to avoid the problems of Software License

Agreement. No matter how boring license agreements are, try to always

read them from beginning to end.2.3.3 General characteristic of Software License Agreement

As mentioned before, most software license agreements are

similar. They share similar terminology, as well as similar structures.

Following are the most important four parts of a EULA: [x]

Licensing: In this section you will establish the rights that you wish to

grant to the users over your product. It is of utmost importance to make

16


17/22

it clear that the users do not have any intellectual rights over the software

about to be installed / used, but that you are only licensing it for use

according to your terms, to which the user may or may not agree, at their

own discretion. You must also specify if any attempt to reverse-engineer,

redistribute, copy, clone, modify or alter in any way the licensed

software without your specific approval is strictly prohibited or

permitted under certain, well-defined, conditions. It is also

recommendable to make specifications as to how many

terminals/computers can benefit from this license (one or more).

Warranties: This section should contain a Disclaimer of Warranty,

stating that even if the software is most likely to work on the user's

machine, it may as well not, and it may not even be your fault. After all,

should the product be exposed to, for example, atmospheric conditions

that might alter the CD's / DVD's performances, you should not be held

responsible for that.

Liability: It is important to state the extent to which you can be held

financially responsible for any mishaps that might incur as a result to the

use of your software. Create a Limitation of Liability section, in which

you will state clearly to what amount (if any) a user is entitled should

your software damage the computer or cause legal problems by

interfering with other third-party applications. Laws: Do not forget to mention specifically what laws control or apply

to the license agreement that the user is supposed to agree to. A

jurisdiction must be defined and any complaints or lawsuits can only be

made or filed within the respective jurisdiction. If your software is

supposed to have global distribution, make sure you find out which

international laws apply to the EULA. Keep in mind though that, even if

17


18/22

the EULA pattern is practically the same in most cases, yours should

reflect your needs and your vision, your approach to the market and to

the prospective users.

2.3.4 Classification of Software License Agreement

Not every EULA is the same. Some contracts stipulate acceptance

of the agreement simply by opening the shrink-wrapped package; some

require the user to mail back to the manufacturer a signed agreement or

acceptance card; some require the user to accept the agreement after the

application is installed by clicking on an acceptance form that appears on

the users monitor. This last method is typical of applications that can be

downloaded from the Internet. In all instances, the user has the option

of not accepting the EULA, subsequently surrendering the rights and

ability to use the software.

End User License Agreements can be presented in two forms. One

is the so-called "shrink-wrap license". This type of license is usually met

in the case of packaged products, when a label clearly states that tearing-

open the package or breaking the seal automatically means that the

buyer/user accepts the EULA found inside the package, even before

reading it. The other type is the "click-wrap" / "click-through license",

which is available to the user while installing the software. In order to

continue the installation of the respective software, the user must checkan "I Agree" box.

Many form contracts are only contained in digital form, and only

presented to a user as a click-through where the user must "accept". As

the user may not see the agreement until after he or she has already

purchased the software, these documents may be contracts of adhesion.

18


19/22

These documents often call themselves end-user licensing agreements

(EULAs).

2.4 Summary

19


20/22

Chapter Three: METHODS AND PROCEDURES

3.1 Research Methodology

With the aim of achieving the set goal "to find out typical

discourse features of English in Software License Agreement, I conduct

this study with a combination of several methods.

Firstly, the descriptive method is used in order to give a detailed

description of some typical discourse features of English in Software

License Agreement. The descriptive method seems to be the most

popular tool in doing any linguistic research since linguistics is by nature

a descriptive science.

Secondly, the analytic method is also indispensable. By using

this method the researcher can clarifies and justifies a certain feature or

characteristic. In doing an analysis, she can use arguments, specific

examples or relevant issues to support her viewpoint.

Thirdly, the research is carried out by the qualitative method and

illustrated by examples from about 100 samples of Software License

Agreement collected from internet online sources in order to highlight

the characteristic of their lexical features, syntactic structures and

cohesive devices. Additionally, in our descriptions and interpretations,

the deductive method is also used.

In summary, together with the combination of qualitative andquantitative approaches, a number of methods as mentioned above are

guidelines in conducting the research. However, depending on the set

goals of the thesis, descriptive and comparative methods are chosen as

the dominant ones which are most frequently used in the thesis.

3.2 Research Procedures

3.3 Samplings

20


21/22

100 samples of Software License Agreement in English will be

collected at random to study and analysis.

3.4 Data Collection and Analysis

3.4.1 Data Collection

In regard to the availability of material, compared with other

fields, the Software License Agreement can be more easily found in the

internet and freely downloaded. Therefore, it did not take us much time

and money to collect data for our study. Most of the data used in this

study were downloaded from the websites in Vietnam as well as in the

world. We selected Software License Agreement mainly from three

websites:

http://www.download.onboom.com

http://www.computerhope.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_license_agreement

3.4.2 Data Analysis

Firstly, depending on the elements contained in the license, the

data collected were divided into three groups: simple, medium and

complex.

Secondly, the Licenses were analyzed in terms of their layout,

lexical feature, syntactic structure, and cohesive devices. Here are

specific tasks:For the layout, I focused on the twofold format: the Lead or

Introduction and the Body. The organization of a license is very

important because it not only provides a frame for the author to write but

it also guides the readers through the license. A well- formatted paper

will hold readers' interest and convince them of the validity of the

license's information.

21
http://www.download.onboom.com/http://www.computerhope.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_license_agreementhttp://www.download.onboom.com/http://www.computerhope.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_license_agreement


22/22

For the lexical and syntactic analysis, the study examines the use

of words and sentence patterns in all sections and the use of words and

sentences. The quantitative method would help to define the percentage

of each category. Based on this result, some further analysis was

conducted to give some implications. The qualitatively, describe,

analyze and survey the data of the generic structure and linguistic

features - processes, clause complex, nominalization, and cohesion.

For cohesive devices, I dealt with the issue concerned based on

Halliday and Hassan's framework. First, all the articles were carefully

read and marked as R (reference), S (substitution), E (ellipsis), C

(conjunction) and Lex (lexical). Then, the number of each type

would be counted and followed by its frequency. The result would be

presented in percentage terms for analysis and evaluation.

3.5 Reliability and Validity

Since the licenses collected from active websites for this study are

a totally authentic source of data, not invented examples, the quality of

the data is quite reliable. Additionally, in this study, the researcher sets

out her work from the analysis of evidence, statistics, frequencies, then

comes to conclusion; so she is not driven by presupposed results. In

other words, the objectivity of study is assured.

The results of study, on the one hand, provide some theoreticalbackground for studying one type of discourse, on the other hand, it

makes a certain contribution to the learning and teaching of English in

Vietnam. Thus, the research results are significant both theoretically and

practically.

22

Luan Van Phuong

Documents

Transcript of Luan Van Phuong