Abstract
This study aimed to investigate reported family language policies (quy tắc sử dụng
ngôn ngữ cho gia đình) and language maintenance practices among Vietnamese–Australian
parents. This mixed-methods study collected 151 Vietnamese–Australian parents' responses
to close- and open-ended questions within an online questionnaire that was available
both in English and Vietnamese. Bivariate analyses and logistic regression were conducted
to explore associations between family language policies and factors related to demographics
and Spolsky's language policy theory. Content analysis was undertaken in NVivo to
investigate family language policies. One-third of the participants (35.6%) reported
to have a family language policy and 72.5% of those with a policy indicated that they
consistently implemented their policy. Significant factors associated with having
a family language policy were parents' higher Vietnamese proficiency, more Vietnamese
language use with their children, and intention of future residence in Vietnam. The
four identified language policies were as follows: (1) using Vietnamese with the nuclear
family (FLP1), (2) Vietnamese outside the nuclear family (FLP2), (3) English at home
(FLP3), and (4) English outside the home (FLP4). Some families used more than one
of these concurrently. This is one of the first large-scale mixed-method studies to
explore family language policies, and the first to explore this issue with Vietnamese-speaking
families in Australia. Many Vietnamese–Australian families do not explicitly have
a family language policy aimed at maintaining Vietnamese at home; therefore, the Vietnamese–Australian
community is at risk of a shift toward English language dominance and home language
loss. As a result, the benefits of multilingualism within the Vietnamese–Australian
community may be lost without support from the government and community to maintain
their home language.
Keywords
language policy - Spolsky's language - demographics - Vietnamese–Australian parents
