Sociocultural Competence and Critical Consciousness: Stories of the First Vietnamese Dual-Language Program in the United States

• In Event: Linguistic Equity, Competence, and Academic Achievement

Abstract

Drawing upon the theoretical underpinnings of sociocultural competence and critical consciousness as two key components in the guiding principles for dual-language education (Howard et al., 2018; Palmer et al., 2019), this paper documents the first Vietnamese dual-language program in the U.S. Findings reveal that a critical consciousness of the emergent language loss phenomena has helped the program’s stakeholders strategically change the program model from developmental bilingual education to dual-language two-way immersion to ensure the survival of the Vietnamese language and culture. The stakeholders’ criticality is also reflected via a robust multilayered integration of the sociocultural competence pillar at four levels: community, school, classroom, and transnational. Those insights carry significant implications for less-commonly-taught-language groups and future research.

Author

• Nguyen Dao, Skagit Valley College
  Presenting Author