• Two national linguistics organisations have awarded a top prize to a Charles Sturt University PhD candidate for her 2022 thesis
• The thesis explored home language maintenance among Vietnamese-Australian families and was hailed as ‘a remarkable achievement of scholarship of the highest quality’

A Charles Sturt University alumna and researcher has received a national linguistics award for her PhD thesis contribution to immigrant bilingualism and language contact.

Adjunct lecturer Dr Van Tran (pictured, top) in the Charles Sturt School of Education has been announced as the winner of the annual 2023 Michael Clyne Prize which is jointly administered by the Australian Linguistic Society (ALS) and the Applied Linguistics Association of Australia (ALAA).

The prize was established in 2006 for ‘the best PhD or MA (Research) thesis with a focus on some aspect of immigrant bilingualism and language contact’.

To be eligible for the prize, the thesis must have been passed, or the degree awarded, at an Australian university in the past year. Dr Tran conducted her research as a Charles Sturt University PhD candidate and graduated in 2022.

The title of Dr Tran’s PhD thesis is Home language maintenance among Vietnamese-Australian families.

The study explores factors associated with home language maintenance among Vietnamese-Australian families. It found that children’s Vietnamese proficiency does not negatively impact their English proficiency, and parents’ language use and attitudes towards home language maintenance are key factors in successful home language maintenance.

This was Dr Tran’s second PhD; her first PhD was a systemic functional linguistics-based linguistic research on the quality of postgraduate education in Vietnam.

The notification of the Michael Clyne Prize to Dr Tran said her application ‘ … was highly regarded by all on the panel, and you were unanimously ranked first among the applicants. Your thesis is a remarkable achievement of scholarship of the highest quality’.

Dr Van Tran said she is grateful to the Australian Linguistic Association and Applied Linguistics Association of Australia for this honour.

“The Michael Clyne Prize is a prestigious award that every researcher in the field of immigrant bilingualism and language contact would dream of receiving,” she said.

“The award boosts my confidence in the importance of home language maintenance and in the value of our research.

“I hope that our work, together with other studies on home language maintenance, will help to raise awareness of the value of home language maintenance and the need for changes to the national language policy for a true, equitable multilingual Australian society.”

Professor of Speech and Language Acquisition Sharynne McLeod in the Charles Sturt School of Education was one of Dr Tran’s PhD supervisors.

“My colleagues and I are very proud of Van,” Professor McLeod said. “She’s worked so hard and has such insight into multilingualism.

“In 2022, Van was awarded the Charles Sturt University Higher Degree by Research Thesis of the Year.

“She also won ‘People’s Choice’ award in the University’s section of the 2022 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition describing her research; this shows she has an important message that resonates with lots of people about ‘home language maintenance’.”

Dr Tran thanked her PhD supervisors, Professor Sharynne McLeod, Associate Professor Sarah Verdon, and Dr Audrey Wang, and all who have been a part of her journey.

“I thank my supervisors for their kind guidance and support during my PhD candidature,” she said.

“I would definitely not have been able to achieve this without their great supervision and encouragement.”

The winner of the Michael Clyne Prize receives a $1,000 cash prize and a contribution of up to $500 to cover costs (travel, accommodation, conference registration) for the recipient to attend either ALS or ALAA conferences to present a paper on the research, with a guaranteed slot at their chosen conference. A summary of the thesis will be published in newsletters of both associations when the award is announced, and the winner will be announced at the AGMs of each society.