ABSTRACT
Extensive language training is not typically provided to immigrant manual laborers, as it is presumed unnecessary for their jobs. Such a tendency may further deepen these laborers’ social and economic disadvantages. This study examines the changing situation of Vietnamese workers in the Czech Republic (CR) in this regard. It maps the organization of their employment over several decades, considering the historical-economic context and its influences on access to language education, and subsequently, potential for further mobility. The professional trajectories of several individual (former or current) workers are explored, highlighting conditions and processes that are often beyond their control. The analysis suggests that given these individuals’ situations, Czech state language policy, consisting of an exam for permanent residence after five years, is an insufficient remedy to the language and communicative problems many first-generation immigrant workers face.
