Linh Kha's town

Linh Kha emigrated from Vietnam to the United States with her parents and younger sister when she was twelve years old.  The family settled in a working-class neighborhood in the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia. Before moving to Philadelphia, Pa.  Clarendon is also called “Little Saigon”.  This neighborhood became the hub of Vietnamese commerce and social activity during the late 70’s and early 80’s (cite1).  Linh speaks fluent Vietnamese.  Her parents do not speak any English.  Linh spent up to 5th grade in a Vietnamese school in Virginia where she was only exposed to Vietnamese.  This is Linh’s 2nd year in an English-speaking school. Linh Kha moved in to a three-bedroom house that was rented by an uncle and his wife who had arrived in the United States ten years earlier. Her uncle and his wife, also Vietnamese, owned and worked in a manicure and pedicure salon that was open seven days a week.  Linh’s parents began to work in the same salon.
 

Linh had completed the fifth grade in Vietnam and loved to draw and paint. In Vietnam, Linh had owned a dog, a Phu Quoc Ridgeback, a breed native to Vietnam, that she called Bien, which means sea in Vietnamese.  She chose the name because she thought his eyes were as deep as the sea. Bien was playful and loved the water. When the family emigrated to the United States, Linh was heartbroken that she had to leave Bien in Vietnam. She painted a picture of Bien, which she brought with her to Philadelphia.
Linh is in the sixth grade. She was not prepared either academically or socially to achieve success in an American public school. Shy by nature, Linh made few friends in her new school and struggled in all her classes except art.  Her English was limited. Moreover. In Vietnam, the class structure had been highly authoritarian and focused on memorization rather that critical thinking and problem-solving skills. It quickly became apparent to her new teachers that Ming needed extra assistance and she was provided with an IEP.
In Vietnam, education is highly valued. The educational achievement of a child is seen as a reflection on the entire family. Still, her parents were unfamiliar with American public education, as were her uncle and his wife, who did not have children. Linh’s parents did not understand the importance of parental involvement.  They were unable to help her with homework or to understand American norms of behavior. Her parents did not know how to drive or have access to a car, so even if they had understood English and American education, it would have been difficult for them to attend school functions and parent-teacher conferences. ​