A study examining the sociolinguistic context and emerging linguistic structure of English in a Northern Virginia Vietnamese community, based on taped interviews and limited writing samples, is presented. The subjects were 93 refugees categorized by age range (10-13, 15-18, 20-25, 35-55 years), length of residence in the United States (1-3 and 4-7 years), and sex. The community is described from a broad-based sociolinguistic perspective in order to assess community values and attitudes; an overview of the phonological and grammatical structure of the English variety is given; and a detailed linguistic analysis of the structural category of tense markings is made. Based on the results of the sociolinguistic description, a set of principles for teaching English as a second language within this context is suggested. Results of the study of writing samples, showing that writing problems stem largely from habituated patterns of spoken language divergence from standard norms rather than from mechanical or spelling problems, is discussed in the context of the underlying sociolinguistic values and attitudes within the community. (MSE)