According to her in-home interviews, Quyen's English language use seems closely tied to her formal study of English and her work status. In 2004, she was studying English but not working. The opportunities to use English that workplaces afford learners, (‘speaking to customers', ‘speaking to supervisor and co-workers', ‘writing forms and reports', etc) were not available to Quyen in 2004. It was in 2004, however, when she was taking English classes that Quyen reported speaking English for an hour a week with friends.
Her report of what language she used outside the home is also telling in this respect. During her time of taking ESL classes (in interviews from 2003, 2004, and early 2006), she reports using some English outside the home. In 2006, that was speaking to customers at her job. But after having finished her studies, in 2006, in response to the question "what language do you usually use outside the home?" she indicated Vietnamese. Though she reports using English on the job in 2006, it was so little (5-10 minutes a day) that she still considered her language use outside the home to be Vietnamese.
Quyen's goals for further education also changed over the past four years. While in our 2003 interview she indicated that her goal in education was to get a four-year college degree, by 2004 that goal had changed to obtaining a two-year degree and in early 2006, she had that same goal.
In a break-time discussion involving Quyen and two of her Vietnamese-speaking peers, students discuss a number of issues relevant to language learning and immigrant-learner identity as they discuss their own experiences with and ideas about language learning (full excerpt, in Vietnamese QLoC1) (Requires Internet Explorer).
| June 23, 2003 | |
| English language learning and use | |
| 1:49:41 Q: | did you study English before you came here? |
| 1:49:42 C: | a little bit. |
| 1:49:46 Q: | I studied before, but quit seven years ago already. |
| 1:49:48 C: | I only know a little but…if I look at the vocabulary, then I know. But I can't pronounce it. |
| 1:49:56 Q: | right, it's hard to practice when living in Vietnam. ((30 seconds unrecoverable)) |
| 1:50:27 Q: | no, we talk ….like the Chinese in Vietnam, remember? They come in and they ask for something. They only say one or two words and we already know what they want. So it's the same for us coming over here when we talk. |
| 1:50:41 C: | for example, in a sentence if we know two words, then they will know. |
| 1:50:43 Q: | from there they'll know the meaning. If you just think about the Chinese in Vietnam. |
| 1:50:48 Km: | you know how to write and talk a little bit. |
| 1:50:50 Q: | I write very well. It's just that I don't talk a lot, like coming over here I just close my mouth. |
| 1:50:53 Km: | I can't speak nor write. |
| 1:50:54 C: | ((speaking to Q)) I'm the same. I know the vocabulary. |
| 1:50:54 Km: | I can't speak. I can't write. |
| 1:50:59 C: | I know the vocabulary but… |
| 1:51:00 Q: | Earlier you should have gone to school to learn the basics for a few months. Like when we… |
| 1:51:06 Km: | let me ask you. My house is far, how could I have gone? In that place [Long Khanh], there was no way for me to go. |
| 1:51:11 Q: | at that time did you have anyone living in the city? |
| 1:51:12 Km: | no relatives. Then afterward, the [immigration] paperwork came unexpectedly. |
| 1:51:17 Q: | too suddenly. So this man is from Long Khanh also. |
| 1:51:20 Km: | yes, my grandmother and… |
| 1:51:24 Q: | if during that time, if there were people in the city. |
| 1:51:26 Km: | or else I would have been ready to go the city to study. |
| 1:51:27 Q: | right, right go to the city to study for three to four months |
| 1:51:28 Km: | three months |
| 1:51:29 Q: | then you understand a little bit. In the beginner's course, I study at the city center. Instead of learning at in the city center, last time I study, instead of having free time, three months in the city, you study day and night. Just eat and go to school. Just like that for three months, then you will be better off. |
| 1:51:48 C: | better off. |
| 1:51:50 Q: | ( ) |
| 1:51:58 Q: | since we are over here, it's ok to study from the beginning. |
| 1:51:58 Km: | that's why starting over is ( ) |
| Hide Conversation | |
In the very rich discussion above, Quyen reports that she had studied English in Vietnam, seven years before coming to the U.S. and comments on the difficulties of learning a foreign language in a foreign country (Click to View) (Requires Internet Explorer).
| 1:49:41 Q: | did you study English before you came here? |
| 1:49:42 C: | a little bit. |
| 1:49:46 Q: | I studied before, but quit seven years ago already. |
| 1:49:48 C: | I only know a little but…if I look at the vocabulary, then I know. But I can't pronounce it. |
| 1:49:56 Q: | right, it's hard to practice when living in Vietnam. |
| Hide Conversation | |
Students discuss their understanding of the need to study a foreign language early, but of the difficulties involved for them in learning English in Vietnam - the need to move to the city and live with relatives (Click to View) (Requires Internet Explorer).
| 1:51:00 Q: | Earlier you should have gone to school to learn the basics for a few months. Like when we… |
| 1:51:06 Km: | let me ask you. My house is far, how could I have gone? In that place [Long Khanh], there was no way for me to go. |
| 1:51:11 Q: | at that time did you have anyone living in the city? |
| 1:51:12 Km: | no relatives. Then afterward, the [immigration] paperwork came unexpectedly. |
| 1:51:17 Q: | too suddenly. So this man is from Long Khanh also. |
| 1:51:20 Km: | yes, my grandmother and… |
| 1:51:24 Q: | if during that time, if there were people in the city. |
| 1:51:26 Km: | or else I would have been ready to go the city to study. |
| 1:51:27 Q: | right, right go to the city to study for three to four months |
| 1:51:28 Km: | three months |
| 1:51:29 Q: | then you understand a little bit. In the beginner's course, I study at the city center. Instead of learning at in the city center, last time I study, instead of having free time, three months in the city, you study day and night. Just eat and go to school. Just like that for three months, then you will be better off. |
| 1:51:48 C: | better off. |
| 1:51:50 Q: | ( ) |
| 1:51:58 Q: | since we are over here, it's ok to study from the beginning. |
| 1:51:58 Km: | that's why starting over is ( ) |
| Hide Conversation | |
Having experience interacting with learners of Vietnamese in Vietnam speakers of their own language allows the students (Quyen and Canh) to assess their situation as language learners in the U.S. as not something all that strange or perilous. Quyen reminds her peers of the Chinese whom they communicated with in Vietnam. Canh and Queyen see an important lesson for them in reflecting on the situation of the Chinese in Vietnam - as they were able to communicate with just a few words, so these learners of English in the U.S. can manage with active listeners (Click to View) (Requires Internet Explorer).
| Quyen: | no, we talk ….like the Chinese in Vietnam, remember? They come in and they ask for something. They only say one or two words and we already know what they want. So it's the same for us coming over here when we talk. |
| Canh: | for example, in a sentence if we know two words, then they will know. |
| Quyen: | from there they'll know the meaning. If you just think about the Chinese in Vietnam. |
| Hide Conversation | |