Vietnamese Catholic immigrants in Australia and France: a comparative study of their cultural and linguistic adaptation, 2000-2005
Date
2018
Authors
Tran Thi Nien, Marie
Editors
Advisors
Secombe, Margaret Joyce
Smolicz, Jerzy Jaroslaw
Smolicz, Jerzy Jaroslaw
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Theses
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Abstract
This thesis endeavoured to examine and compare the experiences of cultural adaptation, in the
context of family, school and community, amongst people of Vietnamese background who
were members of Catholic communities in Adelaide and Paris during the period 2000-2005.
The research methodology used in this study was a qualitative method based on the framework
of the humanistic sociological research initiated first by Thomas and Znaniecki in America
and Poland and later in Australia by Smolicz. The fundamental assumption of humanistic
sociological method is that cultural and social phenomena can only be fully understood if they
are studied from the participants’ perspective rather than an outside observer’s. The main data
were collected from sixteen written memoirs, forty-one oral memoirs and 340 questionnaires
from respondents of first and second generation Vietnamese in Australia, plus thirteen oral
memoirs and 60 questionnaire responses from respondents in France. Almost all of these
respondents were drawn from the Vietnamese Catholic communities in Adelaide and in Paris.
Other sources of data included in-depth interviews with community leaders and educational
authorities and the use of Vietnamese community publications such as magazines, newsletters,
community reports and constitutions. These sets of data were interpreted in the light of the
knowledge and understanding obtained through the researcher's participant observation in the
life of the Vietnamese people in Vietnam, France and Australia over a period of more than
thirty years. The data collected were analysed in the light of the humanistic sociological
framework of group and personal cultural values. The conceptual framework and methods of
research of this study were discussed in Chapters 3 & 4.
The cultural adaptation experiences of the respondents into the host society whether Australia
or France were examined, with special focus on language maintenance and educational issues.
Vietnamese language teaching programs across three education levels from primary to tertiary
in the context of the language policies in Australia and France were examined in Chapter 5.
The respondents’ patterns of linguistic proficiency, activation and evaluation as well as their
Vietnamese learning experiences were analysed in Chapters 6 & 7. The language maintenance
and transmission data were examined in conjunction with the language theories of Fishman
and Clyne. The study also investigated the extent to which family life (Chapter 8) and community
organisations, especially the religious organisations (Chapter 9) had contributed to the
respondents’ cultural adaptation and influenced the construction of their personal and
collective cultural identity in Adelaide and Paris. Smolicz’s theory of core values and cultural
identity was used to interpret the data on family.
From a comparative perspective, the findings indicated that Australian social and educational
policies, favouring cultural diversity and supporting the teaching of ethnic languages such as
Vietnamese, had resulted in a higher level of language maintenance and transmission among
second generation Vietnamese participants in Adelaide compared with those in Paris.
However, clear signs of language shift and language loss among respondents of second
generation were apparent in both communities. Participation in community and family life
also proved to be one of the most effective ways for preserving language and culture
traditions. The Vietnamese Catholic communities were found to be important social systems
for the Vietnamese immigrants in Adelaide and Paris. These organisations had contributed
significantly to their successful cultural integration and played a vital role in the construction
of a strong Vietnamese collective identity in Australia, and to lesser degree in France.
Vietnamese family and linguistic values were highly evaluated and identified as core values of
the Vietnamese culture by both groups of respondents in Adelaide and Paris. In the absence of
a multicultural policy in France, the Vietnamese community organisations in France were not
supported financially by the government, and consequently they were found to be less
effective in helping members in their cultural adaptation process, compared with those in
Australia, which received a substantial amount of money in subsidies each year to support
their activities.
Overall, many of the respondents in this study were able to maintain their linguistic and
cultural values in the family and Vietnamese communities as a vibrant part of their cultural
and social life in the new country, but at the same time many had achieved a high degree of
successful integration into the way of life of the host society, in the areas of education and
occupation. In addition to their theoretical significance, these findings have important policy
implications for the Vietnamese community members, educational authorities and government
agencies.
School/Discipline
School of Education
Dissertation Note
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Education, 2018
Provenance
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