English in Vietnam
How did the language come to be?
What does the dialect look like? Where do we go from here? ...a World Englishes Project |
How did the language come to be?
What does the dialect look like? Where do we go from here? ...a World Englishes Project |
Landscape
With a climate varying between hot and humid monsoons to frigid dry spells, Vietnam is a land of rich diversity. Along the coastal country's length, the south largely consists of tropical weather, while the north is dominated by monsoonal hot, rainy seasons (May to September) and warm, dry seasons (October to March). The country of Vietnam has considerable size, with land that is approximately three times as large as Tennessee and is slightly larger than New Mexico (see adjacent map). While politically distant with its neighbors, Vietnam is physically hemmed in by China along 1,297 km of its border, Cambodia for 1,158 km, and Laos with the largest shared border of 2,161 km. Known for its rice paddy fields bordering urban landscapes, Vietnam enjoys a large agricultural countryside with 34.8% of its land being used for farming. Of that 34.8%: - 20.6% is arable land - 12.1% is permanent crops - 2.1% of the land is permanent pasture. Besides having a third of the country as agricultural lands, Vietnam also boasts forests that envelop 45% of the country. These densely-packed forests provided the North coverage during the Vietnam War to facilitate guerilla tactics, so much so that the United States resorted to chemical warfare, dropping a lethal defoliant named "Agent Orange" on Vietnam. |
Figure 1: Area comparison map (CIA World Factbook, 2018)
Figure 2: Sapa rice paddy (Cook, 2014)
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Figure 3: Ugly war in Vietnam (Burrows, 1964)
Figure 4: Nhà máy chè (Roegner, 2005)
Figure 5: A bundle of hope (Associated Press, 1967)
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Political Climate
As country steeped in communist belief through decades of colonial rule, Vietnam has fought for its right to independence. Beginning in 1858 and lasting until 1884, the country of France conquered Vietnam, incorporating the area into what the deemed "French Indochina" in 1887. Though Vietnam declared independence after World War II, France still ruled until Ho Chi Minh and his communist forces defeated the foreign intruders in 1954. After this monumental victory, the Geneva Accords of 1954 divided Vietnam into communist North and anti-communist South. Through the 1960s, US economic and military aid to South Vietnam increased in an attempt to bolster the government. However, after a cease-fire agreement in 1973, US armed forces were withdrawn from the region, opening the floodgates to northern invasion. North Vietnamese forces overran the South, reuniting the country under communist rule. Although the country soon returned to a time of relative peace, Vietnam struggled greatly with economic growth due to the conservative communist regime that unfortunately signed-off on the expulsion numerous southern Vietnamese people who were actually aiding the economy. The government of Vietnam soon realized it had made a mistake. In 1986, Vietnam enacted their "doi moi" (renovation) policy, committing to liberalizing and modernizing the economy by shifting to competitive, export-driven industries (Denham, 62). The communist government still keeps a tight rein on political speech but have moved towards better protection of human rights. Small-scale protests are still common in the country, often for land-use issues, calls for increased political space, or the lack of fair conflict-resolving organizations. The small-scale protests in the urban areas are often organized by human rights activists, but many occur in rural areas, often involving the various ethnic minorities (i.e., the Montagnards of the Central Highlands, the Hmong in the Northwest Highlands, and the Khmer Krom in the southern delta region). Sean Leavey, Winter 2018 |