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

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharynne McLeod ◽  
Sarah Verdon ◽  
Cen Wang ◽  
Van H. Tran
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
First Generation ◽  
First Language ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
First Generation Immigrants ◽  
The Us ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Watching Tv ◽  
Older Siblings

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.

scholarly journals QUESTIONING EAP: A CRITIQUE OF THE ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES COURSES AT UNIVERSITY

2021 ◽  
pp. 401
Author(s):  
Natalia Fedorova
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
First Language ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Academic Environment ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Language Requirement

Pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses are meant to prepare international students for their undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in an English-speaking academic environment. Prospective university candidates for whom English is not the first language are required to complete a pre-sessional EAP course if their IELTS score is lower than the admissions requirements. Even though, in terms of the language requirement, the lack of language proficiency is the only reason preventing international students from entering their degree programmes directly, the course they are required to take is an EAP course rather than a General English one, hence, not directly addressing their lack of general language proficiency. In this essay I question the need to impose such a course on international students: is EAP in its current shape necessary for their success at university or is it merely a product of neoliberalism in higher education?

Serving Multicultural Elders: Recommendations for Helping Professionals

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 42-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilary N. Weaver
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Old Age ◽  
First Generation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Helping Professionals ◽  
American Population ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
First Generation Immigrants ◽  
Demographic Patterns

As demographic patterns shift in the United States, helping professionals are likely to see more clients of color, including those who are first-generation immigrants. Additionally, given the aging of the American population, helping professionals are likely to encounter more elderly clients and their families. It is crucial that helping professionals be prepared to respond to elders from various cultural populations in effective and respectful ways. This article gives an overview of how old age may interact with cultural identity. This information can be useful for professionals in many different settings working with elders from various cultural backgrounds.

Intra-Generational Attrition

2019 ◽  
pp. 445-457
Author(s):  
Fatih Bayram ◽  
Diego Pascual y Cabo ◽  
Jason Rothman
Keyword(s):  
First Generation ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Attrition ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
First Generation Immigrants ◽  
Heritage Speaker ◽  
First Language Attrition ◽  
Linguistic Input ◽  
Ultimate Attainment

This chapter contributes to the emerging literature on heritage speaker bilingualism by weighing in on the potential role that intra-generational attrition plays in changing the path of heritage speaker bilingual development. Previous work has generally documented heritage speaker ultimate attainment differences as compared to that of monolingual speakers despite both groups having been native childhood acquirers of the same language. This chapter highlights that fact that some of the ubiquitously noted heritage speaker differences may be ascribed to how the primary linguistic input to which heritage speakers are exposed is qualitatively different or shifting from that which monolingual speakers are exposed to, and in part this is due to a process of trickled down first language attrition in the first generation immigrants.

scholarly journals Language Proficiency and Cultural Identity as Two Facets of the Acculturation Process

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 192-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Łukasz Kmiotek
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
First Generation ◽  
French Language ◽  
Bicultural Identity ◽  
School Students ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Language Competencies

Abstract This article describes a cross-cultural study comparing bicultural identity of first generation Poles and high school students in the Rhône Alpes region (France), as well as French language university students in Poland. Studies show that two components, language and identity, are related. This article intends to answer questions regarding the relationship between the migrant’s bicultural identity and language proficiency. Bilingualism is operationalized as (i) listening comprehension and (ii) bidirectional translation. The results do not confirm that there is a relation between bilingual skills and identification with shared French and Polish values. Cultural identity appears to be inversely related to country of residence: Polish identity is strongest amongst immigrant youth in France and French identity is strongest amongst Polish students of French language and culture. These identities run in opposite direction to language competencies. The results suggest internalization of one of the cultures' negative stereotypes towards the other or towards itself.

scholarly journals Estas rimas son para ti: Exploring Learners Comprehension of Spanish Language Music Containing Dialectical Features

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 37-59
Author(s):  
Avizia Yim Long ◽  
Megan Harsh
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Proficiency Test ◽  
Public University ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
The Us ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Language Proficiency Test ◽  
Listening Task ◽  
Music Lyrics

This paper reports the findings of a study that examined native English‐speaking learners’ comprehension of Spanish language music containing Caribbean dialectal features. Twenty‐one learners enrolled in 300‐ and 400‐level Spanish content courses at a large, Midwestern public university in the US participated in this study. Each participant completed the following five tasks: (1) listening task, (2) listening task difficulty questionnaire, (3) vocabulary familiarity task, (4) Spanish language proficiency test, and (5) background questionnaire. The listening task contained short clips of Spanish language music, several of which contained dialectal features present in Caribbean speech and music. The results revealed that comprehension accuracy was very low on the listening task, and listening task items containing dialectal features were more difficult to comprehend for learners. Additionally, listening task scores were significantly correlated with knowledge of vocabulary items present in the music lyrics.

scholarly journals Native vs. non-native EFL teachers: Who are better?

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-147
Author(s):  
Kurniawati Kurniawati ◽  
Dini Rizki
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
First Language ◽  
Quality Teachers ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Native English Speaking ◽  
Native English Speaking Teachers

This paper discusses possible advantages of having Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers (NNESTs) to teach English as a Foreign-Language (EFL) especially in Asian countries when they are often regarded as inferior to their Native English-Speaking Teachers (NESTs) counterparts. A native speaker fallacy has emphasized that NESTs are better teachers of EFL and have put NNESTs at a disadvantage. Actually, NNESTs possess advantages that can make them better teachers for teaching English in an EFL/ESL setting connected with their own EFL learning experiences and with sharing the same first language and cultural background with their students. While considered to have lower English language proficiency and lower self-confidence compared to NESTs, NNESTs who have made the effort to become quality teachers can position themselves as ideal English teachers in their own environment.

Profiles of Linguistic Multicompetence in Vietnamese–English Speakers

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Cen Wang ◽  
Sarah Verdon ◽  
Sharynne McLeod ◽  
Van H. Tran
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Culturally Responsive ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
Self Report ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
First Generation Migrants

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

scholarly journals Cultural Identity of the First-Generation Immigrants in Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter and Lahiri’s The Namesake

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 55-64
Author(s):  
Nagendra Bahadur Bhandari
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Host Country ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Third Space ◽  
Cultural Space ◽  
First Generation Immigrants ◽  
The Third ◽  
Cultural Negotiation ◽  
Cultural Spaces

This article examines the problematic cultural identity of the first-generation immigrants in Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter (2001) and Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake (2003). The immigrant characters problematize their cultural identity by oscillating in the cultural spaces of their home country and the host country. They tend to adopt new cultural identity of their host country while sustaining the old one of their home country. As a result, they negotiate their cultural identity in the shared cultural space which Homi K Bhabha terms as the third space. While analyzing the third space of cultural encounter, I refer to homeland culture as the first and the host land culture as the second cultural space of immigrants. Negotiating in the third space of the diaspora, the immigrants embody fluid and dynamic cultural identities that go beyond the binary of the host and home country. The process of the cultural negotiation of the immigrants is analyzed in the critical frame of Stuart Hall’s cultural identity and Homi Bhabha’s third space in this article.

Teaching and Researching American Literature and American Realism in China

2019 ◽  
pp. 647-663
Author(s):  
Yuping Wang
Keyword(s):  
American Literature ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Cultural Transformation ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Careful Study ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Political Incentives ◽  
History Of ◽  
English Speaking

The study and teaching of American literature and American realism in China mirrored the social development and cultural transformation in China and was often fueled by political incentives. This chapter examines the cultural and political forces affecting the reception of American literature in different stages of Chinese history and investigates the teaching of American literature and of American realism in Chinese university classrooms. Different from the teaching of American literature in English-speaking countries, the American literature course in China serves a twofold purpose: to provide cultural nutrient for the cultivation of a broader mind by highlighting the cultural norms and rubrics in literature and to promote students’ language proficiency by a careful study of the text and formal elements of literary works. The history of the Chinese reception of American literature thus reflects the resilience and openness of Chinese culture in its negotiation with foreign cultures.

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