Translanguaging as trans-identity: The case of ethnic minority students in Vietnam

This article examines Vietnamese ethnic minority students’ translanguaging beliefs and practices, and their identity construction through translanguaging. It specifically explores how the students’ translanguaging between their ethnic language (L1), Vietnamese (L2) and other languages is related to their language shift and identity transformation as they participate in the mainstream society where Vietnamese is dominant. Data for the study were obtained from multiple semi-structured interviews with a group of college-age students and their parents/family members. Findings suggest that the students revealed or performed different features of their trans-identity such as dual/multiple identities, neutral identity or shifting identity in their perspectives on and experiences of translanguaging practices. Their translanguaging between their ethnic language and Vietnamese mostly reflected their ongoing shift from the L1 to Vietnamese rather than in the opposite direction. Translanguaging hence may be a threat for endangered minority languages in monolingual ideology polities such as Vietnam. Appropriate strategies in dealing with young minorities’ translanguaging in their family/ethnic community as well as in mainstream institutions and society may be useful to preserve minority languages in these polities.