ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses transnational Vietnamese parents’ efforts in maintaining Vietnamese as a heritage language, looking closely at how parent decisions on educational intervention outside the home domain are arrived at. Data were obtained from two sources: in-depth interviews with parents and naturally occurring communication among parents on an online social media group for Vietnamese parents. Thematic analysis of the dataset adds insights into how beliefs influence parents’ respect for child agency when it comes to formal learning of community languages. It shows how parent decision making was influenced by peer parents on social media and how the sense of simultaneity in transnational family life encourages parents to consider alternative options to traditional community language schools. The findings contribute to understanding forces influencing parents’ management efforts and can be of assistance to families, language providers and policy makers to devise more effective and sustainable plans to maintain heritage languages.
