Language choice, identity and social distance: Ethnic minority students in Vietnam

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trang Thi Thuy Nguyen ◽  
M. Obaidul Hamid
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Minority Students ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Language Choice ◽  
Communication Accommodation ◽  
Ethnolinguistic Vitality ◽  
Communication Accommodation Theory ◽  
Ethnic Minority Students ◽  
Accommodation Theory ◽  
Structural Influence

AbstractDrawing on concepts such as convergence, divergence and maintenance associated with Communication Accommodation Theory, this article examines a group of Vietnamese ethnic minority students’ language choice in relation to their identity and social distance between them and their interlocutors. Our analysis suggests that the strategies of accommodation deployed by individuals can be related to common values/tendencies that are maintained by the groups and communities to which they belong, raising issues about structural influence on individual language choice and agency. We observe that enhancing the ethnolinguistic vitality of the home and the community in which senior members hold the key to language maintenance should be considered vital in reducing the new in-group distance created by young members. Moreover, multilingual policies which enable flexible attainment goals for all languages may provide a way forward for equity and reduction of social distance between different ethnic groups in society.

Social Markers in Language and Speech

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Jane Pitts ◽  
Cindy Gallois
Keyword(s):  
Skin Color ◽  
Intergroup Bias ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Communication Accommodation ◽  
Ethnolinguistic Vitality ◽  
Communication Accommodation Theory ◽  
Social Markers ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Accommodation Theory

Social markers in language and speech are cues conveyed through verbal and nonverbal means that serve to identify individuals to the groups to which they belong. Social markers can be linguistic, paralinguistic, or extralinguistic in form, and can range from intentional and purposive (e.g., language selection or dialect accentuation) to unintentional and uncontrollable (e.g., vocal features that mark age or sex). They help to provide context for social organization. Extralinguistic cues are those that may be conveyed through gesture and physical appearance (i.e., skin color). However, social markers in language and speech focus on the paralinguistic (i.e., vocal cues such as pitch and tone) and linguistic cues (i.e., language choice, language style, accent, dialect, code-switching, and multilingualism) that mark social categories. Relevant social categories that are made distinctive through language and speech markers include age, sex and gender, social class, ethnicity, and many others. Scholars across disciplines of psychology, social psychology, linguistics, and communication have approached the study of social markers from different perspectives, resulting in theoretical (e.g., communication accommodation theory, ethnolinguistic vitality theory, linguistic intergroup bias) and methodological (e.g., matched-guise technique and ethnography of communication) advancements.

Why to speak French to French speakers? Outgroup vitality, motivation and linguistic accommodation in the Aosta Valley

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laszlo Vincze ◽  
Jessica Gasiorek ◽  
Marko Dragojevic
Keyword(s):  
Language Choice ◽  
School Students ◽  
Communication Accommodation ◽  
Communication Accommodation Theory ◽  
Linguistic Accommodation ◽  
Cognitive Motivation ◽  
Accommodation Theory ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City ◽  
Theory Framework

AbstractUsing a communication accommodation theory framework, the purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between perceived French vitality, cognitive and affective motivations for convergence, French skills, and convergence to French speakers among a group of young Italian speakers in the Aosta-Valley, Italy. Questionnaire data were collected among secondary school students in the city of Aosta (N = 169). The findings indicated that perceived French vitality resulted in greater cognitive motivation for speaking French, which, in turn, led to an increased use of French with French speakers. Additionally, and contrary to expectations, cognitive motivation had a greater impact on actual language use among those who reported poor French skills than among those reporting good French skills. At the same time, and also contrary to expectations, affective motivation did not predict language choice. Findings and implications are discussed in relation the bilingual accommodation.

Slovene Immigrants and their Descendants in North America: Faces of Identity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nada Šabec
Keyword(s):  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Choice ◽  
Ethnic Identification ◽  
Communication Accommodation ◽  
Communication Accommodation Theory ◽  
Symbolic Value ◽  
Accommodation Theory ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Rapid Shift

The monograph consists of two complementary parts: the first presents the author's research on Slovene American and Canadian communities, the second narratives by the immigrants and their descendants themselves. Language use and attitudes of Slovene Americans and Canadians as well as the relationship between their sense of ethnic identity and the degree of mother tongue maintenance is examined. A rapid shift from Slovene to English is observed across generations. Language choice both on individual and community levels is explained within the Communication Accommodation theory (Giles and Ogay 2007). Despite the relatively high symbolic value that the participants attribute to Slovene, it is not central to their ethnicity. The most important ethnic identification factor is culture in its broadest sense (from customs to sense of belonging). The majority feels more bicultural than bilingual, American and Canadian, but also Slovene, which they perceive as a source of pride and an enrichment of their lives.

Italy's School System: An Approach to Integrating Ethnic Minority Students

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Costantino ◽  
Francesca Fantini ◽  
Erminia Costantino ◽  
Carolina Meucci
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Minority Students ◽  
School System ◽  
Ethnic Minority Students

Inventory of College Challenges for Ethnic Minority Students

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Wen Ying ◽  
Peter Allen Lee ◽  
Jeanne L. Tsai
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Minority Students ◽  
Ethnic Minority Students

Allochtonen en keuze voor technische opleidingen: een onbenut potentieel

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arie Gelderblom ◽  
Jaap de Koning ◽  
Lyda den Hartog
Keyword(s):  
Vocational Education ◽  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Minority Students ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
Choice Behaviour ◽  
Technical Direction ◽  
Ethnic Minority Students ◽  
Specific Position

Ethnic minorities and the choice for technical directions in education: an unutilised potential Ethnic minorities and the choice for technical directions in education: an unutilised potential There are a lot of studies which focus on the choice of technical directions within vocational education. But in these studies, little attention is given to the specific position of ethnic minorities. To what extent is their choice behaviour different? Statistical data show that ethnic minorities are underrepresented in technical directions in vocational education. A specific survey on backgrounds for this phenomenon shows that there is a relatively large group of ethnic minority students who do not choose for a technical direction, in spite of the fact that they have a talent in this direction and are interested in technology. This result holds in a multivariate analysis in which also several other factors are taken into account. We also investigate to what extent those with a technical direction in vocational education want to work in a technical profession and/or the manufacturing industry afterwards. Finally, a number of recommendations are given how to reach higher shares of ethnic minority students choosing technical directions.

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