Educational mottos of tertiary institutions in vietnam and English - Speaking countries: A study of syntactic features

EDUCATIONAL MOTTOS OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS 
IN VIETNAM AND ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES: 
A STUDY OF SYNTACTIC FEATURES 
Nguyen Thi Bich Phuong* 
University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi 
Received: 01/08/2019; Revised: 18/09/2019; Accepted: 25/12/2019 
Abstract: It should be noted that at present educational sector has clearly shown its worth in accordance 
with the development of human society. The fact remains that numerous Vietnamese universities and 
colleges have penetrated into overseas educational sector, receiving thousands of foreign students 
annually and adopting various advertising campaigns using a wide range of English mottos. It is 
inevitable that those universities and colleges may make some mistakes when creating fitting mottos for 
their vision and mission. On the basis of the analyzed results, the study is expected to give an in-depth 
insight in one of the most integral aspects of linguistic characteristics of educational mottos, syntax, 
which centers on investigating the way structural components are arranged. Furthermore, similarities 
and differences in the way of writing educational mottos between Vietnam and English-speaking 
countries (ESCs) are also briefly summarized before proposing some useful hints for Vietnamese 
authorities in creating educational mottos. 
Key words: Syntactic features, educational mottos, tertiary institutions, Vietnam, English-speaking 
countries 
1. Introduction 
 According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training (Nick Clark, 2014), in 1987 
Vietnam had just 87 higher education institutions, but this number had risen up to 235 universities (2017) 
and 219 colleges (2016). In the past few years, there has been growing awareness of the need to boost 
international student enrolments in some key universities and Ministry of Education and Training in 
Vietnam (MOET). In his statement to the National Assembly, the former Vice-Minister of Education and 
Training, Bui Van Ga, has stated that “international student enrolment is one of the criteria to rank 
Vietnamese universities. Attracting foreign students is also a way for Vietnam to promote Vietnam’s 
education to the world” (as cited in Tran et al., 2014). In 2016, Vietnam hosted about 20,000 international 
students and most of them come from the Asia Pacific region, including China, Japan, Korea, Australia, 
Laos, Cambodia and Thailand (Tran et al., 2014) and has set an ambitious target of 15,000 international 
student enrolments in Vietnamese universities by 2020 (MOET, 2008). 
When it comes to higher educational system in ESCs, without a doubt, The United Kingdom and The 
United States are seen as the most favorable destinations for any international student to dream of. The 
number of international students traveling to the United Kingdom for higher education was 431,905 by 
2015 (British Council, 2013). The report from the British Council’s Education Intelligence Service also 
predicts that in the upcoming time, the United Kingdom will still retain its position as the world’s second 
most popular study destination after the US, attracting an extra 126,000 international students between 2011 
and 2024. 
It appears to be a must for each university and college to compete and persuade students to reconsider 
their offers and their attractors. One of these pivotal attractors which should be considered is the motto of the 
* Email: phuongntb.unesco@gmail.com 
university, the inspiring educational message of each institution. In reality, not all universities and colleges 
possess a motto, but numerous schools have done it. Educational motto can be seen as a key factor to make 
the very first strong impression on students or potential learners, which to a great extent, determines their final 
success of nurturing the talent for society. As is known to all, “the school motto is the soul of forming the 
school spirit and also keeps a core position in the campus culture” (Zhao, 2003). In plain word, similar to the 
function of slogans, vaunted and unique mottos enable brand identity and brand image of the schools to be 
persistently left in students’ minds, also leave them with unforgettable impression. 
However, not every single motto can fulfill its duty successfully, which leads to a challenge in artistic 
tactics of utilizing just a handful of words to express an immense meaningfulness along with a profound 
insight in an abundance of linguistic aspects. Furthermore, while more and more cultural exchanges are 
conducted between Vietnam and foreign countries, a myriad of university mottos fail to convey the spirit 
and their own distinctive characteristics. Thus, a deep understanding of them can help to overcome language 
barriers, promoting the educational cooperation. 
From the points mentioned above, the thorny problem that is often raised for any motto-writer is how 
to create a perfect motto. In order to compose a meaningful motto wrapping up the essence of the long-
standing educational tradition, it is a must-have requirement to fully exploit all linguistic aspects from 
phonology, lexicology to semantics and pragmatics. Realizing the critical value of educational mottos to 
each university and college, this study is conducted to focally investigate the stylistic feature syntax of 
English mottos of some tertiary schools in Vietnam and ESCs, as well as their similarities and the 
differences to hopefully draw out some useful strategies for designing effective educational mottos. 
 With the view to achieving the aims and objectives of the study, these three following questions 
would be answered: 
 1. What are the syntactic features of the English educational mottos of universities and colleges in 
Vietnam and English-speaking countries? 
 2. What are the similarities and differences in terms of syntactic features of the English educational 
mottos of universities and colleges in Vietnam and English-speaking countries? 
2. Theoretical framework 
2.1. Motto as a core value of tertiary education 
 According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2018), motto is defined as “a short sentence or 
phrase that expresses the aims and beliefs of a person, a group, an institution, etc. and is used as a rule of 
behavior”. Being synthetic, a motto concentrates on key concepts and creates a spectrum of meanings. Some 
universities use mottos to increase the suggestion power for their potential students about their mission, in 
order to get more chances for building up their competitive advantage in a strategic analysis (Carpenter & 
Sanders, 2007; Dess et al., 2006). 
“In a global market for higher education, universities must compete for students re-thinking their offer, and 
their attractors. One of these attractors is the motto of the university, which suggests an inspiring message 
A motto can be a useful attractor for the potential students, and thus many universities associate such mottos 
to their vision and mission statements.” 
(Management & Marketing, 2009) 
2.2. Syntax 
2.2.1. Notion of syntax 
 Through the lens of Fromkin et al. (2000), syntax is described as a part of our linguistic knowledge that 
decides what constitutes a well-formed string of words and how to put words together to form phrases and 
sentences. Properly speaking, those principles staying in our subconscious mind may be acceptably employed 
in the language of one society but wrong in other ones. Similarly, Jim Miller (2002) points out that basically, 
“syntax is to do with how words are put together to build phrases, with how phrases are put together to build 
clauses or bigger phrases, and with how clauses are put together to build sentences” (p. 7). In a word, without 
syntax, human beings would be unable to construct complex messages conveying information about complex 
situations, proposals or ideas (Miller, 2002). Syntactic patterns display the close-knit relationships between 
words and larger units including phrases, clauses, and sentences. Nevertheless, owing to the scope of this 
study, the authors can only focus on two major aspects: phrases and sentences. 
Phrases 
 Richards (1992) claims that a phrase is “a group of words which form a grammatical unit” and “does 
not contain a finite verb and does not have a subject-predicate structure.” (p. 153). Nonetheless, Miller 
(2002) shows his disagreement against the aforementioned perception by affirming that “phrase is a slot in 
which one or more words can occur, or indeed in which other phrases can occur” (p. 18). There are five 
main types of phrases in English encompassing noun phrase, verb phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase 
and prepositional phrase. 
 A noun phrase must consist of two major components, namely a noun head and other modifiers. The 
latter includes two other elements: a premodifier and a postmodifier (if any). 
(1) Head: Get wisdom, get understanding (Eastern Kentucky University) 
 Premodifier(s) + Head: Create the difference (Staffordshire University) 
 Head + Postmodifier(s): Excellence in Diversity (Oxford Brookes University) 
 Premodifier(s) + Head + Postmodifier(s): The road to success (University of Economics and 
Business, VNU) 
 A verb phrase has a verb head and five formula possibilities (Delahunty & Garvey, 1994, p. 191). 
(2) a. Head: Be Still and Know (University of Sussex) 
 b. Auxiliary(ies) + Head: Freely you have received, Freely give (Pepperdine University) 
 c. Head + Object(s)/ Complement: Winging your wishes (Sai Gon Technology University) 
 d. Head + Modifier(s): Educating for the Real World (University of Bridgeport) 
 e. Combination of the above: The truth shall make you free (California Institute of Technology) 
 An adjective phrase includes five formula possibilities (Delahunty & Garvey, 1994, p. 179). 
(3) a. Head: A Creative Constellation (University of the Arts London) 
 b. Intensifier(s) + Head: The most valuable possession is knowledge (Cardiff Metropolitan 
University) 
 c. Head + Complement: Not unmindful of the future (Washington and Lee University) 
 d. Intensifier(s) + Head + Complement: You are extremely beautiful in this dress. 
An adverb phrase combines a head and possibly an intensifier (Delahunty& Garvey, 1994, p. 180). 
(4) a. Head: Educator for tomorrow (The University of Education) 
 b. Intensifier + Head: They may have life and have it more abundantly (York St John University) 
A prepositional phrase is a combination of preposition and noun phrase: 
(5) Synergy for excellence (Hue University) 
Sentences 
 A basic sentence is a complete thought or idea which composed of subject and predicate (Grammar 
Handbook, 2011). There exists a myriad of ways to categorize sentence depending on different criteria, and 
in this study, sentence is classified on the basis of discourse purposes. 
Statement is sentence in which the subject is present and generally precedes verbs to “give information” 
(Quirk et al., 1985, p. 803): 
(6) We follow the light. (University of Exeter) 
 Question is employed in order to ask for information. This type of sentence is normally marked in 
one of two ways including yes-no interrogatives and wh-interrogatives. In the structure of interrogatives, 
the former possesses the operator positioned in front of the subject while the later has the interrogative wh-
element placed initially (Quirk et al., 1985, p. 803). In view of structure, an interrogative sentence is 
typically marked by inversion of the subject and predicate which means the verb comes before the subject. 
It should be noted that this type of sentence ends with a question mark: 
(7) Did you follow the class rules? 
 Imperative is utilized to not only give an order, advice or instruction but also indicate a request or a 
command to listeners. (John Eastwood, 2005, p. 9). Imperatives are sentences, which normally have no 
overt grammatical subject, and whose verb has the base form (Quirk et al., 1985, p. 803). An intriguing 
example to illustrate this type of sentence is the educational motto of International School, VNU: 
(8) Study and Create with the World 
Exclamation is sentence expressing a feeling, which has an initial phrase introduced by what and how, 
usually with subject-verb order (Quirk et al., 1985, p. 803). An example given: 
(9) Behold, how good and joyful a thing it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity! (University of the 
South) 
3. Methods 
 Two hundred educational mottos chosen were collected from the official websites of 200 tertiary 
institutions in which 100 mottos are of Vietnamese universities and colleges, and the remainder are of ESCs. 
As for the mottos of universities and colleges in ESCs, 50 educational mottos were taken from British 
institutions and the rest were from American ones. The mottos of tertiary institutions in ESCs were taken 
from the official websites of the world-famous universities and colleges which are recorded in the world-
famous ranking systems, The Times Higher Education - World Reputation Rankings 2017 and the 
University League Table 2017. 
 In the first place, a table with nine criteria namely noun phrase, verb phrase, adjective phrase, 
adverbial phrase, prepositional phrase and other sentence types such as statement, question, imperative, 
exclamation will be generated to place mottos into the most fitting one. In applying qualitative methods, 
each motto will be carefully analyzed by clarifying its sentence elements. After the careful investigation of 
syntactic features, the next step involves working out the proportion of mottos possessing each feature with 
the view to figuring out the prevailing trends in using syntactic features in educational mottos of the 
investigated universities and colleges. A general comparison between Vietnam and ESCs in using higher 
educational mottos will be clearly stated in the light of the data analyzed. 
4. Findings 
4.1. The syntactic features of the English mottos of tertiary institutions in Vietnam 
4.1.1. Phrases 
Verb phrases 
Table 1. Verb phrase patterns used in mottos of Vietnamese tertiary institutions 
Structure Occurrence Percentage (%) 
Head 6 15.38 
Auxiliary(ies) + Head 1 2.56 
Head + Object(s)/ Complement 28 71.79 
Head + Modifier(s) 4 10.27 
Combination of the above 0 0 
Total 39 100.0 
 From the Table 1, we can infer that verb phrase tends to be employed much less, making up roughly 
20 percent in a total of 100 collected mottos and varies in all four types. Despite the modest number of 
educational mottos using verb phrase with just 18.48 %, it is still worth taking this syntactic feature into 
account in some aspects. Head + Object(s)/ Complement appears to be the major type of verb phrase 
possessing hefty usage rate of over 70 percent, compared with merely 2.6% of Auxiliary(ies) + Head. It 
should be noted that these verb phrases exist predominantly in one crucial type, nonfinite verb phrase 
encompassing the infinitive and -ing participle. 
(10) a. Invest in education – Change your life (Dong A University) 
 Head Modifier 
 b. Creating opportunities together (University of Languages and International Studies) 
 Head Object 
Noun phrases 
Table 2. Noun phrase patterns used in mottos of Vietnamese tertiary institutions 
Structure Occurrence Percentage (%) 
Head 32 33.33 
Premodifier + Head 40 41.67 
Head + Postmodifier 13 13.54 
Premodifier + Head + Postmodifier 11 11.46 
Total 96 100 
 Due to outstanding characteristics of educational mottos, namely short, easy to remember or unique, 
they mainly appear in the form of phrases with incomplete sentence. Based on the analysis of the mottos in 
Vietnamese tertiary institutes, the use of noun phrases is deemed the most remarkably employed (over 
46%). The Premodifier + Head is used as the most common type in educational mottos of Vietnamese 
schools occupying more than 40%. 
(11) a. Updated knowledge – Advanced methods (Hanoi College of Education) 
 Premodifier Head Premodifier Head 
 b. Open Education (Hanoi Open University) 
 Premodifier Head 
 c. Dynamism, aspiration, vision (Diplomatic Academic of Vietnam) 
 Head Head Head 
 The other kinds of noun phrases share the similar percentage of no more than 14%. This reflects a 
fact that Vietnamese authorities only show their little interest in adopting this use of noun phrase when 
writing mottos. 
a. Synergy for excellence (Hue University) 
 Head Postmodifier 
 b. The road to success (VNU University of Economics and Business) 
 Premodifier Head Postmodifier 
 Noun phrase serves a variety of roles in sentence. It can be used as a complement in a prepositional 
phrase: 
An object: 
(13) a. Knowledge for justice (Ho Chi Minh University of Law) 
A complement of a sentence: 
 b. Knowledge is power (Hanoi Community College) 
Or merely noun phrases: 
 c. Creativity – Quality – Development - Effectiveness (Hanoi University of Industry) 
Adjective Phrases 
Table 3. Adjective phrase patterns used in mottos of Vietnamese tertiary institutions 
Structure Occurrence Percentage (%) 
Head 28 90.32 
Intensifier(s) + Head 1 3.22 
Head + Complement 2 6.46 
Intensifier(s) + Head + Complement 0 0 
Total 31 100.0 
 The adjective phrase is similar to verb phrase in the rate of occurrence with nearly 15%. Adjective 
phrases are principally found in the simple form of Head rather than Intensifier(s) + Head or Head + 
Complement (about 90%). 
(14) a. Be international (Dong Do University) 
 Head 
 b. Active, Creative, Effective (University of Information & Communication Technology) 
 Head Head Head 
 c. Training highly qualified human resources (Thai Nguyen College of Economics & Finance) 
 Intensifier(s) Head 
 d. Creative and self-motivated spirit adaptable to the renovations (College of Food Industry) 
 Head Complement 
Adverb Phrases 
Table 4. Adverb phrase patterns used in mottos of Vietnamese tertiary institutions 
Structure Occurrence Percentage (%) 
Head 11 100.0 
Intensifier(s) + Head 0.0 0.0 
Total 11 100.0 
 Adverb phrase is hardly employed in creating an educational motto when the rate just falls in 11 
times out of 100 sample mottos. Among all five categories of investigated phrases, this type is used least, 
comprising just about 5% and all of the adverb phrases used are in the Head form. 
(15) Always innovative, forward-looking (Nha Trang University) 
 Head 
Prepositional Phrases 
Table 5. Prepositional phrase patterns used in mottos of Vietnamese tertiary institutions 
Structure Occurrence Percentage (%) 
Preposition + Noun, Pronoun, Gerund, or Clause 21 62.86 
Preposition + Modifier(s) + Noun, Pronoun, Gerund, or Clause 13 37.14 
Total 34 100.0 
 The prepositional phrases are applied with constitution of just over 16%. The major category of 
prepositional phrase employed is Preposition + Noun, Pronoun, Gerund, or Clause accounting for roughly 
63 percent. 
(16) a. Dream of Innovation (FPT University) 
 Preposition Noun 
 b. Across the national border to develop (Thai Nguyen University of Technology) 
 Preposition Modifier Noun 
 c. UET – Advanced Technology with Innovation (University of Engineering and Technology) 
 Preposition Noun 
4.1.2. Sentences 
Statement 
 With the aim of being memorable and recited, shortness and plainness appear to be a must of 
educational motto. To achieve this goal, authorities at tertiary institutions can write their mottos in many 
ways in which sentence is one of the effective choices. Nevertheless, the findings show that merely 23 out 
of 100 sample mottos employ this linguistic device in which statement exists in the tiny proportion of just 
over 30%: 
(17) a. We bridge the world (School of Foreign Language – Thai Nguyen University) 
 b. Learning, the key to personal fu