Language choice in peer interactions and the role of peers in minority language maintenance A case study from Vietnam Trang Thi Thuy Nguyen and M. Obaidul Hamid University of Queensland Drawing on the positioning theory and the conditions for language use, this article examines Vietnamese ethnic minority students’ language choice in interactions with their same-ethnicity and majority peers, focusing particu- larly on their communication motives underlying this choice. Findings sug- gest that in regulating their language alternation practices across peer groups in diferent contexts, the students shifed their participation status – from aligning (being alike) to disaligning (being distinct) – to (re)position themselves in relation to their peers. As their desires for alignment or dis- alignment were either supported or disrupted by their peers, peer attitudes played a critical role in providing opportunities and encouraging minority students’ willingness to use their L1 in school and ethnic community spaces. Implications are suggested for engaging peer support as a resource for maintaining or widening L1 use among young minority people in both of the domains. Keywords: language choice, language use, language maintenance, positioning, peer interactions, minority students Introduction Research suggests that school-age students are profoundly afected by their peer groups. They consider peers’ attitudes and values as shared norms in positioning themselves and expressing their identity. Their relationships with their peers pro- vide a kind of group membership through which they evaluate and afrm their own images. They use language as one of the key means to establish and main- tain their peer relationships, as well as to construct their images and positions (Miller 2000). For minority students who speak their ethnic language (L1) and the https://doi.org/./lplp..ngu | Published online:  September  Language Problems and Language Planning issn - | e‑issn - © John Benjamins Publishing Company