Vietnamese Heritage Research Articles

German-dominant Vietnamese heritage speakers use semantic constraints of German for anticipation during comprehension in Vietnamese

AbstractTo test effects of German on anticipation in Vietnamese, we recorded eye-movements during comprehension and manipulated i) verb constraints (different vs. similar in German and Vietnamese) and ii) classifier constraints (absent in German). In each of two experiments, participants listened to Vietnamese sentences like “Mai mặc một chiếc áo.” (‘Mai wears a [classifier] shirt.’), while viewing four objects. Between experiments, we contrasted bilingual background: L1 Vietnamese–L2 German late bilinguals (Experiment 1) and heritage speakers of Vietnamese in Germany (Experiment 2). Both groups anticipated verb-compatible and classifier-compatible objects upon hearing the verb/classifier. However, when the (verb) constraints differed (e.g., Vietnamese: mặc ‘wear (a shirt/#earrings)’ – German: tragen ‘wear (a shirt/earrings)’), the heritage speakers were distracted by the object (earrings) compatible with the German (but not the Vietnamese) verb constraints. These results demonstrate that competing information in the two languages can interfere with anticipation in heritage speakers.

Multilingual Speech Acquisition by Vietnamese-English-Speaking Children and Adult Family Members.

This article presents a large-scale example of culturally responsive assessment and analysis of multilingual Vietnamese-English-speaking children and their family members using the VietSpeech Protocol involving (a) examining all spoken languages, (b) comparing ambient phonology produced by family members, (c) including dialectal variants in the definition of accuracy, and (d) clustering participants with similar language experience. The VietSpeech participants (N = 154) comprised 69 children (2;0-8;10 [years;months]) and 85 adult family members with Vietnamese heritage living in Australia. Speech was sampled using the Vietnamese Speech Assessment (Vietnamese) and the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (English). Children's Vietnamese consonant accuracy was significantly higher when dialectal variants were accepted (percentage of consonants correct-dialect [PCC-D]: M = 87.76, SD = 8.18), compared to when only Standard Vietnamese was accepted as the correct production (percentage of consonants correct-standard [PCC-S]: M = 70.34, SD = 8.78), Cohen's d = 3.55 (large effect). Vietnamese voiced plosives, nasals, semivowels, vowels, and tones were more often correct than voiceless plosives and fricatives. Children's Standard Australian English consonant accuracy (PCC-S) was 82.51 (SD = 15.57). English plosives, nasals, glides, and vowels were more often correct than fricatives and affricates. Vietnamese word-initial consonants had lower accuracy than word-final consonants, whereas English consonant accuracy was rarely influenced by word position. Consonant accuracy and intelligibility were highest for children with high proficiency in both Vietnamese and English. Children's consonant productions were most similar to their mothers' than other adults or siblings' productions. Adults' Vietnamese consonants, vowels, and tones were more likely to match Vietnamese targets than their children's productions. Children's speech acquisition was influenced by cross-linguistic, dialectal, maturational, language experience, and environmental (ambient phonology) factors. Adults' pronunciation was influenced by dialectal and cross-linguistic factors. This study highlights the importance of including all spoken languages, adult family members, dialectal variants, and language proficiency to inform differential diagnosis of speech sound disorders and identify clinical markers in multilingual populations. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.23290055.

Things We Lost to the Water. By Eric Nguyen

History is cyclic. And so is the theme of Eric Nguyen’s debut novel that begins and ends with a Vietnamese refugee woman bearing a storm in America. A beautiful, intimate tale of overlapping histories, Things We Lost to the Water mediates on the theme of water to link the disparate colonial histories of place and persons. The story begins with a family of Vietnamese refugees finding their way in the American city of New Orleans in the late 20th century. Hương, the matriarch and protagonist, lost her husband as they were fleeing Vietnam post-Vietnam/American War. She raises two sons in America as a single mother. The main question of this novel is what happened to Hương’s husband, Công, who was left behind in Vietnam during their escape. While trying to make sense of resettlement and figuring out the whereabouts of their father, life goes on for Tuấn and Bình (Ben), sons of Hương. Tuấn finds community in the Southern Boyz, a Vietnamese street gang in New Orleans comprised of teenagers that formed to protect the Vietnamese community from racism and harassment in America. Tuấn is dating Thảo, the unspoken matriarch of the Southern Boyz. She is a Vietnamese American girl that embraces and is prideful in her Vietnamese heritage. Whereas his brother veered towards a life on the streets, Ben found solace in his studies. Ben is a young queer Vietnamese American boy who is finding himself in New Orleans as he looks for his father around the world. His childhood best friend, Adelaide (Addy) Toussaint, is a witty young Haitian immigrant girl from a single-father household.

Archaeological site management and the legislation challenge in Vietnam: a case study of Vuon Chuoi

Purpose This paper aims to examine the management status quo of archaeological heritage in Vietnam seen in the case of Vuon Chuoi, a complex of Bronze Age sites located in Central Hanoi, which has been believed to be Hanoi’s first human settlement. Like other archaeological sites located in urban areas, this site has been under threat of destruction caused by land encroachment pressure. Although researchers have long waged a campaign for preservation, the dissensus among key stakeholders and the dispute over responsibility have left this site at the heart of an interminable polemic over legislation.Design/methodology/approach This research utilises a qualitative approach, and the primary data were collected throughout multiple field trips in 2019 and 2020. Several open-ended interviews were conducted with various state and nonstate actors involved in the Vuon Chuoi Complex’s management process. The discussion was also supported by analysing related legal documents retrieved from national archives and official online directories.Findings This paper dissects the current legislative and administrative framework applied in governing heritage in general and archaeological sites in Vietnam, in particular. The results indicate that existing flaws in Vietnam’s legal system are detectable, and the unsystematic organisation has led to deferment of the decision-making processes. Also, there is an apparent difference found in the attitude of the bodies in charge toward the treatment of listed and unlisted sites.Originality/value This research outlines that in the wake of urbanisation and industrialisation in Vietnam, a consensus among key stakeholders and an inclusive legal system are required to help preserve archaeological sites in urgent need of attention. Although several Vietnamese laws and regulations have been put into practice, they have shown critical barriers and gaps in conserving Vietnamese cultural heritage.

Digital Marketing in World Heritage for Tourism: Evidence From Vietnam

This paper aims to better understand digital marketing practices in Vietnamese heritage sites, focusing on practical research using digital marketing tools and critical obstacles in digital marketing implementation. Qualitative research methods (interviews and field surveys) have been applied in this research. It found that digital marketing activities have been initially used in heritage sites in Vietnam, and it has a positive impact on tourist attractions. However, this application is still minimal due to many financial, cognitive, human, and old technological infrastructure obstacles that need to be removed. The research results are considered a valuable reference for heritage managers in finding new marketing solutions to increase tourist attraction, create motivation for conservation, and promote heritage values in the context of digital transformation

Sojourning as a wife, a mother and a daughter: a critical autoethnography of a Vietnamese doctoral student in New Zealand

ABSTRACT This study is a critical autoethnography in which I recorded how I, as a Vietnamese student pursuing a doctoral degree in New Zealand with accompanying children, navigated between cultures and learned to raise children to be well adaptive to the New Zealand context and at the same time sustained the bond with the Vietnamese heritage. Based on theories of transnationalism, space and place, I explored my own spatial production and place-making process during my first year of candidature when my family had just entered New Zealand. Going beyond the description of the conventional enculturation and the detailed account of social and academic challenges that are normally found in previous literature on international doctoral students, the paper focuses on the way I myself got used to spatial practices outside Vietnam, the way I grew to become ‘a cultural translator’ for my parents, the way I made my home a space of cross-cultural exchanges and inter-generational legacy inheritance. In that sense, my motherhood, daughterhood, and studenthood entangled in a complex network of different cultures, lifestyles and social structures. The paper also features a shift in family dynamics and the reconfiguration of power in a Vietnamese family in New Zealand.

Promoting biculturalism and biliteracy for Vietnamese American children through cultural performing arts

ABSTRACT Under the theoretical underpinnings of language socialization and continua of biliteracy, this ethnographic case study documents how cultural performing arts, as part of extracurricular activities, promote bicultural identity and biliteracy development among Vietnamese American children. The study was set in two transnational contexts: a community-based Vietnamese heritage language school and a Vietnamese dual-language two-way immersion program, both located in a southwestern U.S. city. Data was drawn from observation field notes, interviews, teachers’ testimony, and visual records. Findings show cultural events created by and for Vietnamese Americans create affordances for dialogic teaching on culture, language play, and cultural identity formation through collaborative efforts between home, school, and community. This paper implies a need for (1) purposeful integration of cultural events held by transnational communities into school curricula and (2) an in-depth focus on the sociocultural aspects of language programs, especially among the less-commonly-taught-language groups.

Profiles of Linguistic Multicompetence in Vietnamese-English Speakers.

Purpose Speech-language pathologists work with increasing numbers of multilingual speakers; however, even when the same languages are spoken, multilingual speakers are not homogeneous. Linguistic multicompetence (aka multi-competence) considers competency across all languages and is associated with multiple demographic, migration, linguistic, and cultural factors. Method This article examines the linguistic multicompetence of adults with Vietnamese heritage living in Australia (n = 271) and factors associated with varying profiles of multilingualism. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire (available in English and Vietnamese) regarding their language proficiency and associated factors. Results Participants were largely (76.6%) first-generation migrants to Australia. Three distinct profiles of linguistic multicompetence were statistically identified using a cluster analysis: (a) Vietnamese proficient (n = 81, 31%), (b) similar proficiency (n = 135, 52%), and (c) English proficient (n = 43, 17%); that is, half were proficient in both languages. Multinomial logistic regression analyses compared participants profiled as having similar proficiency with those who were more dominant in one language. Factors associated with the Vietnamese proficient group (compared with the similar proficiency group) were that the participants used Vietnamese much more than English with different people across different situations, were more likely to believe that maintaining Vietnamese helped them communicate in English, and earned less. Participants in the English proficient group used English more than Vietnamese with different people across different situations, were more likely to have lived in English-speaking countries longer, were younger in age, and were less likely to believe that maintaining Vietnamese helped improve academic study than those with similar proficiency. Conclusion Undertaking a comprehensive language profile is an important component of any multilingual assessment to enable speech-language pathologists to develop an understanding of different presentations of linguistic multicompetence, engage in culturally responsive practice, and acknowledge that high levels of competence can be achieved across multiple languages. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14781984.

Vietnamese-Australian parents: factors associated with language use and attitudes towards home language maintenance

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to identify factors associated with Vietnamese-Australian parents’ language use and attitudes towards home language maintenance. Vietnamese-Australian parents (n = 151) with children aged under 18 completed a survey regarding demographic factors and factors conceptualised by Spolsky’s language policy theory: language practices, language ideologies, and language management. Bivariate analyses and multiple regression models were conducted to explore associations between parents’ language use and their attitudes towards home language maintenance and associated factors. Parents’ language use with their child was significantly associated with their language practices (parents’ language use in social situations). Parents’ language use in social situations was significantly associated with language practices (parents’ Vietnamese and English proficiency, parents’ language use with their child), language management (frequency of attendance at community events), and one demographic factor (age). Parents’ attitudes towards home language maintenance was significantly associated with language ideology factors (perceptions of cultural identity, belief in the importance of English language maintenance, belief that home language strengthens relative bonds and widens career options), and one demographic factor (income). The results can be used to assist families with Vietnamese heritage to maintain their home language by informing targeted approaches to supporting language maintenance at the community and family level.

Wellbeing and experiences of Chinese and Vietnamese carers of people with mental illness in Australia.

Many studies show that carers of people with mental illness experience a negative impact on their wellbeing. Given the growing number of people relocating to Australia every year, there are limited studies examining the experience of carers of people with mental illness from culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia. Using cultural safety as a conceptual framework, this exploratory study recruited 14 carers of Chinese and Vietnamese heritage who were attending culturally and linguistically oriented support groups in Sydney, Australia. Standardised, validated scales were administered to measure carers' wellbeing and knowledge of recovery. Structured interviews were conducted to understand carers' perceived needs. Descriptive statistical and qualitative thematic analysis were used. Findings show that carers experienced social isolation and psychological distress, had multiple diverse needs and had a reasonably good understanding of recovery. Six themes were identified: i) obtaining information in own language; ii) attaining emotional support from support groups; iii) needing respite services to cope with caregiving responsibilities; iv) involvement in planning of treatment and care; v) migration process influencing caregiving, and; vi) cultural and transcultural factors influencing caregiving experience. Findings indicate that some carers might be experiencing some level of culturally unsafe practices in mainstream mental health services. Implications for support groups and mental health services are discussed.

Phạm Duy Khiêm, classical reception, and colonial subversion in early 20th century Vietnam and France

AbstractThe tradition of the Vietnamese reception of classical literature has not yet been examined, and this article is the first to venture into this intersection between Classics and Vietnamese studies. In this article, I focus on Phạm Duy Khiêm (1908–74) and his use of Classics to translate and mediate his Vietnamese heritage to his French audience. Phạm lived during a particularly turbulent time in Vietnamese history: he experienced Vietnam as a French protectorate called Annam, he witnessed his compatriots defy French rule and win independence for Vietnam, and he saw the civil war that challenged that new independence. Throughout these changing political contexts, Phạm navigated the politics of polarity that separated the colonizer from the colonized as he struggled to make sense of these supposedly irreconcilable differences between the two, which contested his own intercultural identity. In this article, I argue that Phạm used his classical education and its cultural capital not only to explain Vietnamese culture to his French audience, but also to elevate it as equal, and perhaps even superior, to that of the French and their supposed classical inheritance.

Space and time in Vietnamese heritage language maintenance

ABSTRACT This paper provides a qualitative account of Vietnamese language maintenance in Manchester. Through ethnographic observations of distinctly Vietnamese locations, Vietnamese language practices are shown to create spaces in which Vietnamese is the dominant language, and in which Vietnamese norms and expectations, or scales, are able to influence and contest other behavioural norms. These scales are viewed as social practices, and they are derived from interviews with Vietnamese speakers and observations of Vietnamese spaces, and special focus is given to the linguistic resources used to conduct them. The analysis reveals ideas of language competence and politeness which compete and interact with norms from outside the spaces, and non-linguistic behavioural norms which contribute to language maintenance. Vietnamese is shown to be maintained through micro-interactions which make the heritage language the norm, and business and religious practices are found to promote heritage language use by requiring heritage language practices to participate.

Having breast reconstruction post-mastectomy: barriers and facilitators reported by Vietnamese- versus English-speaking women with breast cancer

ABSTRACT Objective: Little is known about the experience of women of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds in relation to breast reconstruction following mastectomy as treatment for their breast cancer. The aim of this study was to explore the factors that influenced Vietnamese- and English-speaking women’s decisions about breast reconstruction post-mastectomy for their breast cancer, in Australia. Design: The participants in this study comprised of Vietnamese-speaking women of Vietnamese heritage, and English-speaking women from mixed ethnicities (Vietnamese included). In this qualitative study, Vietnamese-speaking and English-speaking women who had breast cancer treated by mastectomy with or without breast reconstruction participated in in-depth interviews. Interviews were undertaken in the woman’s chosen language (Vietnamese or English), audio-recorded, transcribed/translated and analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Fourteen Vietnamese-speaking and 13 English-speaking patients were recruited. Participants identified age, lack of information, concerns regarding surgical procedure, fears about complications and cancer recurrence as barriers to breast reconstruction. Many more Vietnamese-speaking participants identified lack of information about breast reconstruction as a barrier compared to English-speaking participants. Both groups described the ability to wear clothing of their choice, partner influence, and the need to feel ‘normal’ as facilitators to having breast reconstruction. Vietnamese-speaking participants in particular identified doctor recommendation of breast reconstruction as a major facilitator. Conclusion: Lack of information about reconstruction was a persistent theme, though it was identified by more Vietnamese women as a barrier to having breast reconstruction. The results reinforce the importance of doctors’ recommendations in helping particularly the Vietnamese women make an informed decision about reconstruction following mastectomy as treatment for their breast cancer.

Language Proficiency, Use, and Maintenance among People with Vietnamese Heritage Living in Australia

Multilingualism provides cultural, economic and social benefits to individuals and societies. Many people with Vietnamese heritage have migrated to English-speaking countries such as Australia, Canada and the US. This study describes language proficiency, use and maintenance of 271 adults with Vietnamese heritage living across Australia. The majority were first-generation immigrants (76.6%), spoke Vietnamese as their first language (94.3%), and indicated Vietnamese was their most proficient language (78.5%). The majority were more likely to use Vietnamese (than English) with their mother, father, older siblings, Vietnamese-speaking grandparents, relatives in Vietnam, and Vietnamese friends. They used English and Vietnamese with their partners, children, younger siblings and English-speaking grandparents. They were more likely to speak English when working, studying and watching TV, but used English and Vietnamese equally on social media. The most important reasons for maintaining Vietnamese were: maintaining bonds with relatives, maintaining Vietnamese cultural identity, and building friendships.

Photo Essay: “Vietnamese Here Contemporary Art and Refections” Art Exhibition, Melbourne, Australia, May 2017

Anh Nguyen was co-curator, with Nadia Rhook, of the “Vietnamese Here Contemporary Art and Refections” exhibition about Vietnamese migrants in Melbourne, Australia, May 4–26, 2017. Phuong Ngo’s work, the basis of this photo essay, was part of the exhibition, which featured visual art, performance art, and readings refecting on Vietnamese heritage, history, and memory in the diaspora. The exhibition was sponsored by the Australian Research Council’s Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laureate Fellowship, of which Anh Nguyen is a researcher.

Language Use and Sustainable Development: Opportunities and Challenges for Policy-Makers and Educators in Northeast Vietnamese Areas

Vietnam represents a country with 54 ethnic groups; however, the majority (88%) of the population are of Vietnamese heritage. Some of the other ethnic groups such as Tay, Thai, Muong, Hoa, Khmer, and Nung have a population of around 1 million each, while the Brau, Roman, and Odu consist only of a hundred people each. Living in northern Vietnam, close to the Chinese border (see Figure 1), the Tay people speak a language of the Central Tai language group called Though, T'o, Tai Tho, Ngan, Phen, Thu Lao, or Pa Di. Tay remains one of 10 ethnic languages used by 1 million speakers (Buoi, 2003). The Tày ethnic group has a rich culture of wedding songs, poems, dance, and music and celebrate various festivals. Wet rice cultivation, canal digging and grain threshing on wooden racks are part of the Tày traditions. Their villages situated near the foothills often bear the names of nearby mountains, rivers, or fields. This study discusses the status and role of the Tày language in Northeast Vietnam. It discusses factors, which have affected the habitual use of the Tay language, the connection between language shift and development and provides a model for the sustainability and promotion of minority languages. It remains fundamentally imperative to strengthen and to foster positive attitudes of the community towards the Tày language. Tày’s young people must be enlightened to the reality their Tày non-usage could render their mother tongue defunct, which means their history stands to be lost.

Students of Vietnamese Heritage

Studies of immigrant students in upper secondary school in Iceland often highlight low attendance rates and early school departure. This article interrogates this view through an exploration of the perspectives of 13 students of Vietnamese heritage in two upper secondary schools. The article mobilizes multicultural education which sees education as inclusive, insisting on valuing diversity and equal opportunity regardless of gender, religion, belief, ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, disability, or other statuses. Analysis of interviews shows that students, despite their positive feelings towards their teachers and their belief that their teachers were trying to do their best, understood that they were perceived to be deficient due to their lack of Icelandic language proficiency. Teachers' perceptions were thus limited, and they overlooked the students' academic and heritage resources that could have provided advantages in the learning process and contributed to student motivation and attainment.

CGRA16: A CASE OF DEADLY SWELLING

Cytophagic histiocytic panniculitis is a rare form of panniculitis with its most detrimental phenotype thought to be related to subcutaneous panniculitis-like T cell lymphoma, itself an uncommon malignancy. Here, we describe the case of a 27 year old female of Vietnamese heritage who presented with a six week history of severe periorbital oedema and multiple nodules on her extremities. Her investigations revealed anaemia, neutropenia, mildly altered liver function tests, a weakly positive Coomb's test and a titre of ANA with negative ENA, anti-ds DNA and complements. Skin biopsy was consistent with lupus profundus. Diagnosed with a systemic lupus erythematosus and managed with steroids with partial effect, she was closely followed in the Immunology-Rheumatology clinic. She continued to have deranged liver function tests, anaemia, neutropenia, and a rising ferritin level. Further work up also showed an increased ACE level and a positive myositis specific antibody, anti PL-12. Due to her incomplete response to steroids and a worsening ferritin level, investigations to look for evidence of a macrophage activation syndrome returned with an increased soluble CD25 level. Despite the addition of hydroxycholoroquine and mycophenolate, deterioration of her liver function progressed. An emergent hospital admission for acute onset jaundice and general malaise, found her severely anaemic and coagulopathic with active melaena. A review of her initial skin biopsy was done, this time revealing subtle features consistent with a subcutaneous panniculitis-like T cell lymphoma. An emergency bone marrow biopsy confirmed evidence of haemophagocytosis. T cell gene rearrangements on both bone marrow and skin further supported a diagnosis of a peripheral lymphoma. Within her first 48 hours in hospital she required an admission into ICU, multiple endoscopies, a laparotomy and massive blood transfusions. Initially treated with dexamethasone and etoposide, she was started on cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, etoposide, vincristine and prednisone with remarkable results.

A comparison of heritage language ideologies in interaction

In Canada, the notion of a heritage language ideology is often conceived of as a natural by‐product of official multiculturalism. By contrast, Germany has long struggled with its status as a multilingual and multicultural country. By comparing two corpora of interviews with immigrants to each of these two countries (Canadians of German heritage and Germans of Vietnamese heritage), this paper aims to explore to what extent these different language ideologies are reconstructed in the interviews. It will be argued that the interviewees construct different sociolinguistic spaces and take up different positions within them in terms of centre and periphery. Our analysis shows that the German‐Canadian interviewees construct public sociolinguistic spaces in which they position themselves as German even when they do not have an active knowledge of their heritage language. By contrast, despite the monolingual habitus in Germany, the German‐Vietnamese respondents endorse a heritage language ideology; the space they claim for speaking Vietnamese, however, is restricted to private or family conversations.

Vietnamese Foodways and Viet Kieu Postmemory in Clément Baloup's Graphic Narratives

In recent years, more attention has been paid to the cultural contributions of the Vietnamese diaspora as its representatives become better integrated in French and American society. To continue shedding light on this community, the present article explores the efforts of a French cartoonist of Vietnamese heritage, Clément Baloup, who uses postmemorial narrative in comics to transcribe and transmit the varied experiences of the overseas Vietnamese of the '1.5 generation'. While challenging current understandings of transnationalism, hybridisation and patterns of acculturation, this article demonstrates the value of studying the cultural signifier highlighted in Baloup's creations – ethnic foodways, which are sometimes deemed insignificant on account of their associated biological functions. I argue that foodways are symbolically important because they determine insider/outsider status with respect to the group, they facilitate interpersonal communication and the act of testifying and their significance is constantly evolving to reflect new sociopolitical contexts and environments.