Cross-Linguistic Analysis of Vietnamese and English with Implications for Vietnamese Language Acquisition and Maintenance in the United States

Authors

Giang Tang, University of MinnesotaFollow

Abstract

Two overall goals of this paper are a) to provide a linguistic basis for promoting first language maintenance of Vietnamese in a larger United States context and b) to stimulate future research in language acquisition of Vietnamese-English speakers. This paper is divided into three sections. Section 1 discusses previous studies on first language (L1) maintenance among Vietnamese Americans. Section 2 presents a cross-linguistic comparison of Vietnamese and English across speech-sound, word, and grammatical language levels. A cross-linguistic analysis may help educators better understand speaking patterns of Vietnamese American students. Based on this cross-linguistic comparison, Section 3 presents potential bi-directional interactions between Vietnamese and English within an individual speaker. These predictions are intended to provide a framework for future empirical studies related to bilingual development.

Recommended Citation

Tang, Giang (2007) "Cross-Linguistic Analysis of Vietnamese and English with Implications for Vietnamese Language Acquisition and Maintenance in the United States," Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement: Vol. 2 : Iss. 1, Article 3.
DOI: 10.7771/2153-8999.1085
Available at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/jsaaea/vol2/iss1/3