THE ROLES AND STATUS OF ENGLISH IN PRESENT-DAY VIETNAM: A SOCIO-CULTURAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

Starting from a collection of dialects in the southern counties in England, the English language has moved far beyond its nation and has now consolidated its power as the most widely used lingua franca in the world for business, science, communication and technology, and for many other purposes (Cheshire, 1996; Crystal, 1997, 2012; Halliday, 2017). In Vietnam, since Đổi mới (Renovation) which was initiated by the Vietnam Communist Party in 1986, English has become the most important foreign language being taught and used nation-wide, second only to Vietnamese – the national language. Why has English gained such a predominant status in the Vietnamese linguistic space? What are the roles and status of English in present-day Vietnam? Does the expansion of English pose any threat to Vietnamese? To what extent does the expansion of English challenge other foreign languages being taught and learned in Vietnam? Will English become a second official language in Vietnam? The answers to these questions constitute the focus of analysis in this paper and will be addressed throughout.