Family Language Policies and Linguistic Identities of Three Generations of Vietnamese in Iceland

In 1979, at the behest of the Icelandic government, the Icelandic Red Cross resettled 34 Vietnamese refugees in Reykjavik. Through the decades, the group has expanded into three generations. This contribution explores the development of refugees’ descendants’ linguistic identities that are linked to Vietnamese and Icelandic, and answers the research question: How have the linguistic identities of the young people of Vietnamese descent developed as a result of family language policies? The study is grounded in theories about linguistic identities and family language policies. Linguistic identities are the expression of individuals’ connections with their languages. Family language policy addresses how languages are managed, learned, and negotiated within families. The data included were from six semi-structured interviews with participants aged 13–25. Methods of thematic analysis and the linguistic categories of expertise, affiliation, and inheritance were applied to analyze the data. The research found that the expertise in using the language dropped drastically between the first and the second generation due to the lack of Vietnamese in the family environments. They wish to learn and transmit the Vietnamese language and culture to their children. The third generation started exploring their roots, i.e., by connecting to the Vietnamese community and traveling to Vietnam.