LANGUAGE AS AN ACCESS TO VIETNAMESE STUDIES

Abstract

Viewing at Land and People as a humanistic entity in relations with the external world on both synchronic and diachronic axes, Vietnamese studies is an interdisciplinary area. Right in its foundation and development growth, this branch of study has witnessed a great number of changes in its approach to perspectives as well as applicable orientation-employing the research outcomes corresponding to socio-political goals. This context is also a reflection of the changes in the International Oriental Studies in which Vietnamese Studies is part and portion. Like any languages in the countries of Orient in Oriental Studies, the language plays a role of paramount significance in the area of Vietnamese Studies. As far as the language is concerned, it includes Vietnamese and the whole Vietnamese language pack (community) related to Vietnamese Studies. The function as well as the importance of each language or language group in the community, however, vary from time to time in the course of each development. To the Vietnamese researchers of the young generation, foreign languages are becoming not only indispensable instruments with which they might fully exploit the data on Vietnam collected in the world's various institutions, but also a sufficient condition to expand and enrich international relations. And Vietnamese as the national language, the one used as the main vehicle of communication in the Vietnamese community nowadays is not only the target (object) language of linguists, but is also been gradually considered as a real access for those who wish to study Vietnam, personally approaching their objects of study through recorded texts together with the living speech used by the very people studied.