Hostname: page-component-77f85d65b8-7lfxl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-04-18T21:51:04.321Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Vietnam's trillion-dong attempt to reform English education

A laudable reform or a costly failure?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2019

Xuan Minh Ngo
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In Vietnam, English has been held in high regard since the country embarked on its economic reform known as Doi Moi (Renewal) in 1986 (Ngo, 2018a; Nguyen, 2016). Yet, over the past decades, the country's English teaching sector has consistently been underperforming (Le, in press; Ngo, 2018a, 2018b; Nguyen, 2016; Nguyen & Nguyen, 2019).

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
English Today , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , June 2021 , pp. 115 - 119
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Council of Europe. 2001. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Dudzik, D. L. & Nguyen, Q. T. N. 2015. ‘Vietnam: Building English competency in preparation for ASEAN 2015.’ In Stroupe, R. & Kimura, K. (eds.), ASEAN Integration and the Role of English Language Teaching. Phnom Penh: CamTESOL, pp. 41–71.Google Scholar
Freeman, D. & Drean, L. L. (eds.) 2017. Developing Classroom English Competence: Learning from the Vietnam Experience. Phnom Penh: IDP Education (Cambodia).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le, V. C. 2015. ‘English language education innovation for the Vietnamese secondary school: The Project 2020.’ In Spolsky, B. & Sung, K. (eds.), Secondary School English Education in Asia: From Policy to Practice. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 182–200Google Scholar
Le, V. C. in press. ‘Remapping the teacher knowledge-base of language teacher education: A Vietnamese perspective.’ Language Teaching Research.Google Scholar
Le, V. C., & Nguyen, T. N. 2017. ‘What can the National Foreign Language Project 2020 learn from Asian experiences?’ VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 33(4), 10–23.Google Scholar
Mai, N. K. 2018. ‘The need to establish and sustain language learning communities for EFL teachers in Vietnam.’ In Hashimoto, K. & Nguyen, V. T. (eds.), Professional Development of English Language Teachers in Asia: Lessons from Japan and Vietnam. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 149–164.Google Scholar
Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). 2014. ‘Circular No. 01/2014/TT-BGDĐT on the Foreign Language Competency Framework for Vietnam.’ Online at <https://e-ict.gov.vn/laws/detail/Thong-tu-Ban-hanh-Khung-nang-luc-ngoai-ngu-6-bac-dung-cho-Viet-Nam-119/> (Accessed August 7, 2019).+(Accessed+August+7,+2019).>Google Scholar
Ngo, X. M. 2017. ‘Diffusion of the CEFR among Vietnamese teachers: A mixed methods investigation’. Asian EFL Journal, 19(1), 7–32.Google Scholar
Ngo, X. M. 2018a. ‘Sociopolitical contexts of EFL writing assessment in Vietnam: Impact of a national project.’ In Ruecker, T. & Crusan, D. (eds.), The Politics of English Second Language Writing Assessment in Global Contexts. New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 47–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ngo, X. M. 2018b. ‘A sociocultural perspective on second language writing teacher cognition: A Vietnamese teacher's narrative.’ System, 78, 79–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nguyen, C. D. 2017. ‘Beyond the school setting: Language teachers and tensions of everyday life.’ Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 23(7), 766–780.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nguyen, H., Do, T. M., Do, T. T. H., Nguyen, T. N. Q., Dang, T. T., Nguyen, T. Q. Y. [ … ] & Pham, T. T. T. 2014. The Development and Validation of the Vietnamese Standardized Test of English Proficiency (VSTEP). Hanoi: University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.Google Scholar
Nguyen, H. T. M., Nguyen, H. T., Nguyen, H. V. & Nguyen, T. T. T. 2018. ‘Local challenges to global needs in English language education in Vietnam: The perspective of language policy and planning.’ In Siew Kheng, C. Chua (ed.), Un(intended) Language Planning in a Globalising World: Multiple Levels of Players at Work. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Nguyen, N. H. 2013. ‘Directions in testing and assessment of English and other foreign languages in the national education system from 2013 to 2020.’ Paper presented at the Project 2020's Strategies for the 2014–2020 period, Hanoi.Google Scholar
Nguyen, N. T. 2016. ‘Thirty years of English language and English education in Vietnam: Current reflections on English as the most important foreign language in Vietnam, and key issues for English education in the Vietnamese context.’ English Today, 33(1), 33–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nguyen, V. H., & Hamid, M. O. 2015. ‘Educational policy borrowing in a globalized world: A case study of Common European Framework of Reference for languages in a Vietnamese University.’ English Teaching: Practice & Critique, 14(1), 60–74.Google Scholar
Nguyen, V. H., Hamid, M. O. & Renshaw, P. 2016. ‘Language education policy enactment and individual agency: The cauldron of conflicts in policy positions in implementing the Common European Framework of Reference for languages in Vietnam.’ Language Problems and Language Planning, 40(1), 69–84.Google Scholar
Nguyen, X. N. C. M., & Nguyen, V. H. 2019. ‘Language education policy in Vietnam.’ In Kirkpatrick, A. & Liddicoat, A. J. (eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Language Education Policy in Asia. London: Routledge, pp. 185–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tran, D. T., Kettle, M., May, L. & Klenowski, V. 2016. ‘Mediation of institutional English language policies on Vietnamese university teachers’ classroom practices.’ Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 25 (5-6), 791–799.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tran, P., Nguyen, H., Dang, T., Nguyen, M., Nguyen, L., Huynh, T. [ … ] & Davidson, F. 2015. ‘A validation study on the newly-developed Vietnam standardized English proficiency test.’ Paper presented at the Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC) 2015, Toronto.Google Scholar
ULIS (University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi). 2015. Vietnamese Standardized Test of English Proficiency (VSTEP) Sample Test. Hanoi: Vietnam National University Press.Google Scholar
Vietnamese Government. 2008. ‘Decision 1400 on teaching and learning foreign languages in the national education system from 2008 to 2020.’ Online at <http://www.chinhphu.vn/portal/page/portal/chinhphu/hethongvanban?class_id=1&_page=18&mode=detail&document_id=78437> (Accessed August 5, 2019).+(Accessed+August+5,+2019).>Google Scholar
Vietnamese Government. 2017. ‘Decision 2080 on the adjustment and extension of the National Foreign Language Project from 2017 to 2025.’ Online at <http://vanban.chinhphu.vn/portal/page/portal/chinhphu/hethongvanban?class_id=2&_page=1&mode=detail&document_id=192343> (Accessed August 5, 2019).+(Accessed+August+5,+2019).>Google Scholar
Vu, S. 2015. ‘VSTEP: A breakthrough in foreign language assessment reforms.’ Online at <https://www.vnu.edu.vn/ttsk/?C1654/N18421/VSTEP:-Giai-phap-dot-pha-trong-doi-moi-kiem-tra-danh-gia-nang-luc-ngoai-ngu.htm> (Accessed August 5, 2019).+(Accessed+August+5,+2019).>Google Scholar
Wall, D. 2012. ‘Washback.’ In Fulcher, G. & Davidson, F. (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Language Testing. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 79–92.Google Scholar
World Bank. n.d. ‘Vietnam data.’ Online at <https://data.worldbank.org/country/vietnam?view=chart> (Accessed August 5, 2019).+(Accessed+August+5,+2019).>Google Scholar