Family Language Policy Among Vietnamese Sojourner Families in Australia the “What”, the “How” and the “Why”

Using semi-structured interviewsInterviews, the current study investigates how twelve VietnameseVietnamese sojournerSojourner parentsParents perceived and performed family language policyFamily language policy and practices with their primary school children during their temporaryTemporary residence in AustraliaAustralia. Results reveal that translanguagingTranslanguaging was commonplace in family settings. It was a challenge for parents to systematically practise any particular language use rules to assist their children’s maintenanceMaintenance of their mother tongue. Anxiety about futureFuture reintegration into formal schoolingSchooling back in VietnamVietnam and reluctanceReluctance to send the children to Vietnamese community languageCommunity language classes were also major themes. This reflects how family language policy and practices were shaped by parents’ language and cultural ideologyIdeology and imaginedImagined communitiesCommunities. The chapter raises issues and provides several suggestions that stakeholders may need to consider about community language education to accommodate sojourners’ language needsLanguage needs, too.