Youth’s individual language policy in shaping family-community citizenship

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines minority youth’s daily language life in the family and ethnic community domains. It focuses on young ethnic minorities in a subtractive language context in Vietnam and how they construct their individual language policy through their language practices, beliefs and management in responding to language policies of the family and community of which they are members. Ethnographic interviews with college-age students were the main data sources. Findings suggest that the youth’s L1-oriented individual language policy was strongly informed by their family and ethnic community’s (in)visible language policies, peer culture and the culture of respect, as well as the broader local and mainstream social settings. The youth’s individual language policy reflected their awareness of family and community desires for them to speak the ethnic language and nurture positive L1 attitudes tying to their family-community citizenship. Developing young people’s sense of family-community citizenship through language, as well as building family – community partnership for conserving a common L1-priority policy among members, may be potential grassroots initiatives which can help effectuate minority language maintenance efforts.