THE LANGUAGE LIFE IN VIETNAM : PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Abstract

Today, as often happens in the world, scientific and technological advanement and tragic socil und economic conflict exist side by side. In many respects, this parallel existence has been defining characteristic of the relationship between change and continuity the world over. Thus, the problems that flow from this dynamic have become a glogle concern. This is especially true in Vietnam, a country that has been experiencing unew the effects of modernization since undertaking reform measures in 1986. Recently, the impact of Vietnam's renovation were discussed at a 1997 Conference in Amsterdam (Holland) entitled: Vietnam Society in Transition: Continuity and Change. A centerpiece of the discussions was the unprecedented changes that have take place in Vietnamese hiistory has been the efforts of its people to reconcile chunge and continuity in the context of Vietnamese society. The effects of tradition and transformution on society can observed along many dimensions. However, one of the fields that cast these events into sharpest relief is language. It is especsiully true against the buck-drop of growing globalization in the world today. Vietnam is a particularly vivid example of this. That is, Vietnam is a multylingual sociesuty and as such it is a confluence of different languages, literally a living laboratory to study the roles of and the results that occur when different languages come into contact. More importantly, the change and continuity that is taking place along these linguistic lines, ales hus relevace for understanding forces and factore that are impacting other uspects of society both in Vietnam and elsewhere. As a result, based on the experience of the past and present, the author of this paper I would like to discuss the next stage of language life which Vietna will enter in the 21st century. The author's hope and intent is that from this study he can offer useful anulysis and foment discussion on topic and problems that various people-especially the people and countries of the ASEAN region-and countries in the world have, are und will experience.