LANGUAGE CHOICE IN COMMUNICATION: A CASE STUDY OF CHINESE COMMUNITY IN VINH CHAU DISTRICT, SOC TRANG PROVINCE

Abstract

This article analyzes the domains of language use and choice of the Chinese speaking community in Vinh Chau district, Soc Trang province in relation to Chinese dialect maintenance in a multilingual region. Language use and choice has been a debated issue whenever languages come into contact. It refers to a situation where members of a speech community try to keep a language the way it has always been used despite linguistic challenges emerging from a multilingual convergence. In this paper we argue that Chinese dialect, a minority language spoken in Chinese community in Vinh Chau district, Soc Trang province, is expected to face maintenance challenges. However, the results of study reveal that: 100% Chinese community can speak Vietnamese, Khmer language and their mother tongue fluently, because they have lived in multilingual region and seem to thrive in various domains of language use and have the natural choice at home. But the roles of each language of each domain of language use in a region of linguistic diversity is quite evident.