Code choice in the Vietnamese community in Sydney

Abstract

Approximately 0.9% of the Australian population speak Vietnamese at home (2001 Census), putting Vietnamese in the group of minority languages that have the most speakers in the country. Like other migrant communities, the question of what is happening to the native language of this socially dynamic and relatively young migrant community due to linguistic and socio-cultural contact is inherently an interesting one and will contribute to the long-term study of this community and its language. The data of this thesis was collected during fieldwork undertaken in Sydney (which hosts more than one-third of the overall Vietnamese population) and Vietnam by the researcher in 2007. The purpose of these field trips was to study the idiosyncratic linguistic features of the Vietnamese Australians' speech and how the individuals in this community use their linguistic repertoire (Vietnamese and English) strategically. The field trip in Vietnam took place when the researcher followed a three-generation Vietnamese family who went back to Vietnam for a two-week holiday. The opportunity to study language behaviour of a three-generation family allowed me to obtain valuable insights into the role of older family members in the maintenance of the native language as well as traditional social and cultural values. Among idiosyncratic linguistic features found in the participants' speech include the tendency of using English personal pronouns in lieu of Vietnamese addressing/referring terms in Viet speech and the opposite tendency of using Vietnamese free forms of address in English discourse. These practices provide great insights into people's perceptions of traditional social and cultural values as well as Australian social and cultural values. They also provide evidence for contemporary linguistic debates.