English language acquisition in the Lao refugee community of Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract

The Lao community in Wellington consists of approximately 90 families, who started arriving in Aotearoa/NZ in 1980 as part of the exodus of refugees from the three Indochinese countries of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. This study surveys the English language acquisition of a sample of people from the Wellington Lao community. None of the participants was born in Aotearoa/New Zealand; they were were born either in Laos or in refugee camps in Thailand. A questionnaire in English and Lao was used as the main method of data collection. It was administered in person to 115 members from 35 families, taken at random from a community list. The questionnaire investigated the participants' language ability in English, Lao and other languages, their patterns of language use, their need for English, their experiences of English language study, their social networks and their attitudes towards the languages and cultures of Laos and Aotearoa/NZ. The results showed that most of these community members now have some proficiency in English. However, there is some dissatisfaction with their level of English language acquisition in terms of its translation into employment opportunities. Strong positive relationships were found between English language ability and the participants' years of education in Aotearoa/NZ, and between English language ability and their ages. Negative links with English ability were found for their integration into the Lao community, and with positive attitudes towards the Lao language and culture. The main conclusion of the study is that the provision of appropriate English language courses is essential for refugee and immigrant groups such as the Lao community, and that the most effective way for this to be achieved will be through the social networks which exist in the community.