English Tertiary Education in Vietnam 9780415791977, 9781315212098

Table of contents :
Cover
Title
Copyright
Contents
Acknowledgements
Notes on contributors
Foreword
1 Vietnamese foreign language policy in higher education: a barometer to social changes
2 Globalisation and Vietnamese foreign language education
3 Nation building and language in education policy
4 Current challenges in the teaching of tertiary English in Vietnam
5 Vietnamese higher education language planning and university students’ career development
6 Textbooks as cultural mediators: exploring representations of culture in Vietnamese tertiary EFL textbooks
7 General English for non-majors in higher education
8 EFL speaking assessment in Vietnamese tertiary education
9 Business students’ perspectives on the use of English medium instruction in Vietnamese universities
10 Rural students’ motivation for learning English: implications for transition to tertiary education
11 Examining the motivation and achievement of Vietnamese university students as they undertake English classes
12 Learner autonomy in tertiary English classes in Vietnam
13 Vietnamese EFL teacher training at universities: review of the design and cultural aspect of the curriculum
Index

Citation preview

English Tertiary Education in Vietnam

As part of a long series of Vietnam’s policy objectives, English education has been identified as key to improving the quality of its rapidly expanding tertiary institutions and is crucial to the larger aim of modernising and internationalising its economy. Bringing together a wide range of Vietnamese and foreign English education scholars, and tertiary educational practitioners, this book documents the significant progress and challenges in the realisation of Vietnam’s English language policies as they are enacted in the higher education sector. Changes to Vietnam’s higher education system remain unstable, unsystematic, and insubstantial. This book provides insights into how recent Vietnamese government policy is providing for a substantial and comprehensive renewal of Vietnam’s tertiary education as part of their 2020 plan. Academics and students of English education, language policy, and nation building within the context of increased globalisation and marketisation in developing nations and Vietnam, in particular, should find this book valuable. James Albright is Professor of Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia

Routledge Critical Studies in Asian Education Series Editors: S. Gopinathan, Wing On Lee and Jason Eng Thye Tan

Making Sense of Education in Post-Handover Hong Kong Achievements and challenges Edited by Thomas Kwan-Choi Tse and Michael H. Lee English Education at the Tertiary Level in Asia From policy to practice Edited by Eun Sung Park and Bernard Spolsky English-Medium Instruction in Chinese Universities Perspectives, Discourse and Evaluation Edited by Jing Zhao and L. Quentin Dixon Rethinking Madrasah Education in a Globalised World Edited by Mukhlis Abu Bakar Policies and politics in Malaysian education Education reforms, nationalism and neoliberalism Edited by Cynthia Joseph The Sustainability of Higher Education in an Era of Post-Massification Edited by Deane E. Neubauer, Ka Ho Mok and Jin Jiang Emigration, Employability and Higher Education in the Philippines Yasmin Y. Ortiga Literature Education in the Asia-Pacific Policies, practices and perspectives in global times Edited by Chin Ee Loh, Suzanne Choo and Chatherine Beavis English Tertiary Education in Vietnam Edited by James Albright For the whole list please visit: www.routledge.com/Routledge-Critical-Studiesin-Asian-Education/book-series/RCSAE

English Tertiary Education in Vietnam Edited by James Albright

First published 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 selection and editorial matter, James Albright; individual chapters, the contributors The right of James Albright to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-415-79197-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-21209-8 (ebk) Typeset in Galliard by Apex CoVantage, LLC

Contents

Acknowledgementsvii Notes on contributorsviii Forewordxii   1 Vietnamese foreign language policy in higher education: a barometer to social changes

1

LAM THI LAN HUONG AND JAMES ALBRIGHT

  2 Globalisation and Vietnamese foreign language education

16

THI THUY LE AND SHEN CHEN

  3 Nation building and language in education policy

28

PHUONG ANH VU

  4 Current challenges in the teaching of tertiary English in Vietnam

40

TRINH THI THU HIEN AND MAI THI LOAN

  5 Vietnamese higher education language planning and university students’ career development

54

THUY BUI, THI THOM THOM NGUYEN AND AN DUC NGUYEN

  6 Textbooks as cultural mediators: exploring representations of culture in Vietnamese tertiary EFL textbooks

68

TRINH THI THU HIEN

  7 General English for non-majors in higher education

86

LOAN THI LAM

  8 EFL speaking assessment in Vietnamese tertiary education NAM LAM

102

vi  Contents   9 Business students’ perspectives on the use of English medium instruction in Vietnamese universities

119

LE THI THUY NHUNG

10 Rural students’ motivation for learning English: implications for transition to tertiary education

132

CUONG PHAM AND CYNTHIA WHITE

11 Examining the motivation and achievement of Vietnamese university students as they undertake English classes

145

TRUONG CONG BANG AND JENNIFER ARCHER

12 Learner autonomy in tertiary English classes in Vietnam

158

NHUNG BUI

13 Vietnamese EFL teacher training at universities: review of the design and cultural aspect of the curriculum

172

MAI THI QUYNH LAN AND PHAM THI THANH THUY

Index185

Acknowledgements

This book is the primarily work of many committed Vietnamese scholars. Its conception rests within the ongoing dialogue held in the University of Newcastle’s (Australia) School of Education Vietnamese doctoral student colloquium. Meeting bi-weekly, this dedicated group of Vietnamese tertiary lecturers, for the most part supported by their government, who have come from varied institutions across the country, have shared their research in EFL policy, leadership, training, curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment. These students are often separated, in whole or in part, from their families. They come to study in a country that is very different from their own and place themselves under the supervision of other scholars, who come from other academic traditions. They must learn to read, write, revise, and edit in their second language at the same level of proficiency as a native speaker. Their scholarship is a testament to their desire to improve the outcomes and opportunities to be afforded to new generations of Vietnam’s students. Joined by others, at home in Vietnam or studying elsewhere, they have collaborated to produce this book. I have been honoured to be their editor. Any errors are clearly mine. I want to single out for individual thanks, my student, Lam Thi Lan Huong, who has worked tirelessly to facilitate the communication among this book’s many collaborators and completion of the manuscript. Huong returns to Vietnam this year after successfully concluding her doctoral studies. I appreciate and acknowledge her diligence and hard work. All the book’s contributors owe her a debt. I wish her well in her future teaching and research at Thuyloi University, in Hanoi.

Notes on contributors

An Duc Nguyen graduated from the MA program in TESOL at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. She currently works as a university lecturer of English in a multi-ethnic, underserved, and mountainous province, Son La, Vietnam. She has also served as a teacher trainer for the National Foreign Languages 2020 Project since 2011. Her research interests include EFL, English for community, employability, minority, and CALL. As an active and enthusiastic language educator, she is involved in community-based English projects to contribute to her province’s socio-economic and educational development. Cuong Pham is an English language lecturer at the University of Economics and Law, Vietnam National University. He obtained his PhD in Applied Linguistics from Massey University, New Zealand. Pham has a wide range of teaching and research experience in both EAP and ESP contexts in New Zealand and Vietnam. His research interests include language learning motivation and emotion, learner agency, ecological systems theory, lifewide adaptive language learning, and language learning and teaching in rural settings. Cynthia White is Professor of Applied Linguistics, Massey University, New Zealand and has published widely on affect, agency, and identity in online language learning and teaching, and in out-of-class settings for language learning. She is on the Editorial Boards of eight international journals, including TESOL Quarterly and is Associate Editor for Language Learning & Technology. She has been plenary speaker at international conferences and workshops in Germany, Thailand, Singapore, China, UK, Hawai’i, and Malaysia and has completed collaborative research projects with Oxford University, Open University UK, and Nottingham University. Her most recent project concerns agency and emotion in teacher narrative accounts of conflict in an L2 classroom. Jennifer Archer works as an educational psychologist in the School of Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She holds a PhD in educational psychology from the University of Illinois. Her research interests lie in the field of motivation, including achievement goals, attribution theory, the expectancyvalue model, and the way in which students’ motivation to learn is affected by socio-economic status.

Notes on contributors ix Lam Thi Lan Huong is a foreign language lecturer at Thuyloi University, Hanoi, Vietnam. Her research interests include intercultural communication, EFL textbook evaluation, and language learning in non-major university contexts. She holds her PhD in Education from the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her thesis focuses on cultural representations in EFL textbooks and intercultural competence in English learning. Le Thi Thuy Nhung is currently a Division Head/Lecturer at the Department of Foreign Languages, Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She completed her MA in TESOL Studies at the University of Queensland, Australia and PhD in Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her research interests include but are not limited to TESOL, teacher professional development, language policy, intercultural communication, and internationalization of higher education. Mai Thi Loan is a Doctor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University of Hanoi. She earned her PhD from Social Scientific Academy, Institute of Linguistics in Vietnam in 2012. She has nearly 20 years of experience in teaching and conducting research. Over the last years, she has published more than ten journal articles in the field of linguistics, terminology, pedagogy, and EFL Teacher Education. Currently, she is the Vice Dean of Faculty of English at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University of Hanoi. Her academic interests are applied linguistics, terminology, motivation enhancement, learner autonomy, professional development, language teaching, ­English in tertiary education, material development, and curriculum. Mai Thi Quynh Lan is a researcher at the Institute for Education Quality Assurance, Vietnam National University – Hanoi. She completed her PhD degree in (Higher Education) Sociology at University of Queensland in 2015, under scholarship of Vietnam Ministry of Education. She has been working in Education Quality Assurance area for more than a decade. She is interested in research on educational policy, graduate attributes, graduates’ employability, and intercultural competence. Nam Lam is a lecturer of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at Vietnam Aviation Academy. He also has experience as an examiner in oral language assessment for the National EFL Examinations and many other language schools in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He is doing his PhD in Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia. His research interests include cooperative learning in EFL/ESL classrooms, and most recently language testing and assessment in tertiary education. Nhung Bui is currently a lecturer of English at the Faculty of English for Special Purposes of Foreign Trade University, Hanoi Campus, Vietnam. She gained her MA in English Linguistics at the University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National University in 2008 and her PhD in Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia in 2017. She has been involved in a number of professional projects at the faculty and university level which

x  Notes on contributors target enhancing the English subject curriculum, textbooks, and lecturers’ teaching methods. Her research interests include English teacher development and learner autonomy in the context of teaching English as a Foreign Language at the tertiary level in Vietnam. Pham Thi Thanh Thuy has been a lecturer at the Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (ULIS, VNU) since 1989. She received her Master’s Degree in English Language Teaching in 2001 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2005. Besides, she has been an active Master Trainer in Primary English Language Teaching and has participated in a number of Pre-service and In-service Teacher Training Programs in the National Foreign Language Project 2020. Her recent research interests include Creative Writing, ET Methodology, TEYLs, and Cultural Studies. Phuong Anh Vu is a lecturer in the Department of Foreign Languages, Academy of Journalism and Communication, Hanoi, Vietnam. She obtained her MA TESOL from University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi and is doing her PhD in Education at the University of Newcastle. Her academic interests are mainly in language teaching, English in tertiary education, educational policy, and the socially constructed relationship between national culture and education. Shen Chen is currently an associate professor in School of Education, Faculty of Education and Arts at University of Newcastle, Australia. He had taught in Melbourne University, Deakin University in Australia before he moved to University of Newcastle in 1993. Since then, he has been a research fellow and a visiting professor in Cambridge University, Warwick University, University of California, Berkeley, University of British Columbia, and University of Hong Kong. His contribution has been in the teaching and research of language and culture and second language teacher education. He was the recipient of the University Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1998 and 2012 as well as the Australian National Teaching Award in 2014. His established record as an excellent researcher has been demonstrated by 12 funded research projects with successful completion and 75 publications including six books with high quality as well as professional consultancy provided in Australia and abroad. Loan Thi Lam is a lecturer at Khanh Hoa University, Vietnam where she specialises in educational foundations. Loan Lam’s teaching and research focus is on English education, educational management and leadership, teaching and learning, gender, social work, and office management. She is an IFP alumna of the Ford Foundation International Fellowship Program since she obtained a Master’s Degree of Non-formal Education and Training for Development from the University of Reading, England. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her thesis focuses on leadership of

Notes on contributors xi women executive leaders in higher education in Vietnam and Australia. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Thi Thom Thom Nguyen is a teacher educator in the Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Language and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (ULIS-VNU). She obtained her MA (Applied Linguistics) in 2006 and has also been working as a Master Trainer in Teacher Education in the National Foreign Languages 2020 Project in Vietnam. She is currently taking her doctoral degree at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her research interests include EFL Teacher Education, Intercultural Communication, Language Policy and Professional Development. Thi Thuy Le is currently teaching at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (ULIS-VNU). She was awarded a degree of PhD at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Dr Le was selected for the Solidarity Award by the Conference Committee at the 18th World Congress of Applied Linguistics held in Rio de Janeiro in July 2017. She was one of the 14 award winners, and the only winner representing A ­ ustralian universities. Her research interests lie in the areas such as intercultural communication, EFL teacher education, and curriculum development. Thuy Bui graduated from the doctoral program at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, USA. She held a position as a visiting scholar in the Department of Education and Social work at The University of Sydney, Australia 2015. She currently works as a senior academic manager and a researcher in Vietnam. Her main research interests include language policy and socio-economic equity, engaged ethnography, youth ideologies and activism, and the interconnection of globalization, language, and multilingual education. Trinh Thi Thu Hien obtained her PhD in Education in 2016 at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She has been working as an English lecturer at National University of Art Education (NUAE) in Vietnam since 2004. Her research interest focuses on English language teaching and learning, specifically English language teaching pedagogy and material development for Vietnamese tertiary teachers. She has conducted a number of studies at faculty, NUAE and Ministry of Education and Training levels. She is currently participating in the project Developing EFL curriculum for Fine Arts students towards Competence Based Approach (2017–2019), funded by Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training. She has published in the Asian EFL Journal and in proceedings of international/national conferences. Truong Cong Bang works as a lecturer in English at the University of Economics and Law (Vietnam National University) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He holds a PhD from the University of Newcastle, Australia. His research interests focus on motivational theories, particularly the constructs of ­expectancy-value and self-efficacy.

Foreword

English is a global language and an important means of international business and trade among people from different national, cultural, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds. English is the mother tongue and official language in the Inner Circle countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It is not the native tongue but an official language at an institutional level in the Outer Circle countries such as Singapore, the Philippines, and India. In the Expanding Circle countries such as China, Japan, or Vietnam, English is spoken as a foreign language (Kachru, 1992). In addition to the immense contribution of the dominance of English to Inner Circle and Outer Circle countries (Hu & McKay, 2012; Phillipson, 1996; Schneider, 2011), the increasing number of people speaking English in the Expanding Circle increases its significance, making English truly a lingua franca (Dinh, 2014; Hu & McKay, 2012; McKay & ­Bokhorst-Heng, 2008). In an era of international integration, having a workforce fluent in English is a basis for social and economic development. English language education, without exception, receives great attention in Vietnam (V. V. Hoang, 2011; H. T. Le, 2012). The introduction of English into Vietnam is not officially recorded (V. V. Hoang, 2011). The English language was taught during French colonial rule. English foreign language (EFL) teaching at that time was not well documented. From reviewing the content of English textbooks by French authors of the colonial period, such as L’anglais Vivant: Classe de sixieme and L’anglais Vivant Classe de troisieme, it can be inferred that the grammar-translation method was the prevalent methodology employed in the teaching of English at that time (V. V. Hoang, 2011). Later, from 1954 to 1975, with the partitioning of the country, EFL teaching and learning varied greatly. In South Vietnam, English was the official foreign language due to the dominant influence of the US alliance. In contrast, in North Vietnam, only some EFL classes were taught in big towns and cities, with the goal of “know[ing] the USA and to fight against the US invasion on the diplomatic front” (V. V. Hoang, 2011, p. 8). In 1975, Vietnam was re-unified and the country was reconstructed with Russian and Eastern Bloc support. This period saw the decline of EFL education at secondary and tertiary levels across the whole country (V. V. Hoang, 2011). Every year, only a small number of Vietnamese teachers and interpreters were sent to English

Foreword xiii speaking countries, such as Britain, Australia, or New Zealand, for graduate studies in EFL teaching (Do, 1996). The origin of this book is 1986 when Vietnam initiated an overall economic reform named Doi Moi, opening the country to the outside world (Dang, Nguyen, & Le, 2013). In line with this broad policy shift, English became the main foreign language to be taught in Vietnam. Vietnamese educational reforms introduced EFL teaching across primary to tertiary curricula (T. M. H. Nguyen, 2011). Since 1986, the rapid growth and expansion of English has been due to the growth of international business and trade in the new market economy, and the increasing number of foreign tourists coming to Vietnam. As English has become an international language, Vietnamese EFL learners have desired to use English as a medium of international communication (Ho, 2011). ­English is taught in schools, universities, and the booming evening language centres across the country. The development and expansion of English language centres is fuelled by Vietnamese of all ages who attend English evening classes after daytime work or study. Since the introduction of English into the national teaching curriculum, the quality of English teaching and learning at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels has been “problematic for recent governments of Vietnam” (Wright, 2002, p. 225). The grammar-translation method in which “teacher and textbooks are authoritative sources of knowledge” prevailed for a long time in English Language Teaching (ELT) (Jin & Cortazzi, 1998, p. 102). The focus of English teaching on grammar and vocabulary positions language as an object of study rather than an effective means of communication (Maley, 1998). This traditional memory-based English teaching approach is “usually devoid of contextual meaning and takes precedence over meaningful communication” (Maley, 1998, p. 105). Further, as Vietnam belongs to the Expanding Circle of countries where English is a foreign language (Kachru, 1992), learners have few opportunities to use English outside the classroom. Also, limited class hours, large class sizes, and teachers’ poor language proficiency and inappropriate teaching methods all contribute to the learners’ difficulty with speaking and listening abilities (Gonen & Saglam, 2012; Hoang, 2013; Phan, 2004). After four years of lower secondary school and three in upper secondary school, students’ English language proficiency is “limited within some basic tasks such as introducing oneself or describing some simple objects in the house” (H. T. Le, 2012, p. 66); they “failed to use even common and simple sayings to communicate” (Khuong, 2015, p. 68). Students may be very fluent in grammar and lexical items but show less confidence in communicating with foreigners (Nguyễn, 2003). They learned to know about the language, not to use it in communication. Despite considerable efforts made by the Vietnamese government and the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) during the last few decades, ­English education in Vietnam has failed to meet policy makers’ and learners’ expectations (Mai & Iwashita, 2012). With rushed development, and without major changes and improvement in the curricula, methodology, and teaching materials, English education in Vietnam has not fulfilled the main objectives of

xiv  Foreword the national curriculum. The quality of EFL teaching and learning, in general, has been inadequate to meet that necessary for the socio-economic development of the country (V. V. Hoang, 2011; H. T. Le, 2012). MOET is determined to “develop English language skills on a long-term strategic basis” (To, 2010, p. 106). Given the important role of English and the urgent need for communicative competence in language learning, the Vietnamese government and MOET have made efforts to develop solutions to improve the quality of English teaching and learning. For example, they have organised a series of international and national conferences and seminars about English language education (H. T. Le, 2012). These efforts have also been acknowledged and reconfirmed through the decisions and decrees regarding foreign language policy issued by the government and MOET (Fry, 2009). Since the late 1980s, English is a compulsory subject in the educational system. The focus of primary and secondary EFL teaching and learning is grammar and vocabulary and reading, and do not currently concentrate on the development of communicative skills (Nguyen, 2008). Traditional teaching methods are maintained with a view that learning grammar in a systematic set of rules can enable learners to use English proficiently. In each unit within Vietnamese EFL textbooks, grammar and reading comprehension sections seem to dominate, while listening and oral skill practices are barely recognised (T.M.H. Nguyen & Q. T. Nguyen, 2007; V. V. Hoang, 2011). This type of teaching and learning is maintained by both teachers and students to pass end-of-term exams or the National Entrance Exam, which focuses on checking language knowledge rather than language skills (V. V. Hoang, 2011, p. 16). As a result, many students can barely use English in everyday communication (Nguyen, 2008; Nunan, 2003). For 7-year program students, although they are expected to reach an upper-intermediate level at the end of the course, their English proficiency is generally somewhere between elementary and lower intermediate. Students from rural or disadvantaged areas who study the 3-year program attain poorer results. The second origin of this book is in 2008 when MOET launched a wideranging new education plan, National Foreign Language Project (NFLP) 2008– 2020, which reinforced the need for a systematic English education at the primary level. Therefore, 2020, as the plan came to be called, implemented two programs from primary to secondary schools: the 7-year program and the 10-year program (T.M.H. Nguyen, 2011; V. V. Hoang, 2011; H. T. Le, 2012). English was a compulsory subject at primary, lower, and upper secondary schools with three hours a week. The 2020 plan demonstrated the Vietnamese government’s ongoing desire to develop students’ English communicative competence. MOET has only recently ‘refreshed’ the NFLP 2020 for 2017–2020 and issued guidelines for the period 2017–2025. These changes are available only in Vietnamese and may be viewed via this link: https://dean2020.edu.vn/vi/laws/detail/Quyetdinh-Phe-duyet-dieu-chinh-bo-sung-De-an-day-va-hoc-ngoai-ngu-trong-hethong-giao-duc-quoc-dan-giai-doan-2017-2025-60/; they are reflected in this volume’s chapters. In general, there is a strong culture of centralism in decision-making in Vietnamese higher education, despite considerable education reforms since 1986.

Foreword xv Line-management of ministries has been eliminated to increase institutional autonomy, giving them the right to be responsible for training, research, human resource management, and budget planning. However, reform seems to be a slow and complicated process, which needs a longer time and great efforts from key persons as well as a significant level of capacity building to achieve institutional autonomy (Hayden & Thiep, 2010). In this context, the changes and diversification in education entail both challenges and opportunities for EFL teaching and learning across the country. Readers may be interested in recent scholarship of note, including Grant Harman, Martin Hayden, and Pham Thanh Nghi’s (2010) and Johnathan D. London’s (2011) edited collections detailing the rapid expansion of Vietnam’s higher education sector. More recently, Tran et al. (2014) have provided commentary on some of the challenges and possible solutions facing Vietnam’s universities and colleges. Further, Pham Thi Hong Thanh’s discussion of educational reforms in Confucian heritage cultures provides a compelling framework for understanding many of the challenges presented by this volume’s contributors. Vietnamese tertiary students learn English as their major or as a subject. In the first category, where English is a discipline, students are trained to become teachers, translators, and/or interpreters and researchers in English linguistics or English teaching methodology. In these curricula, English is taught intensively and comprehensively (Nguyen, 2008). Significant hours are allocated during the 4 years of an undergraduate degree, most of which are spent on language skills and the rest on teaching methodology, linguistics, and English-speaking cultures and countries. Graduates from these majors are expected to have a good command of the English language and its culture. As a compulsory tertiary subject, MOET introduced a common national English curriculum framework for this language, from 10 to 15 credits in undergraduate programs, five to seven credits for graduate programs, and two to three credits of self-study for doctoral programs (V. V. Hoang, 2011). Limited contact hours may vary within this framework. Students’ exposure to English depends on each educational specialisation, which may have a great deal or little association with this language. For example, students from engineering block universities are allocated with fewer English hours in their curriculum than students coming from economic block universities. Students from these technical universities have extremely varied starting levels in English. To enter these universities, students take the National Entrance Exam in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry. As might be expected, they do not pay attention to English learning during their upper secondary schools but tend to focus on the required subjects for the National Entrance Exam. Their English proficiency levels may vary from beginner to lower intermediate, depending on the 3-year or 7-year program that they have taken. To save labour and lower expenses, many of these universities seek language programs for elementary (sometimes beginner) learners (H. T. Le, 2012, p. 66). The language knowledge and skills that students are taught at secondary and high school (if any) are therefore repeated during their undergraduate degrees. English language education faces other constraints. The average class is large, sometimes up to 65 students (Bock, 2000): classroom acoustic quality is poor,

xvi  Foreword with just a blackboard and a cassette; curriculum does not meet the students’ needs, and motivation is directed at success on exams, not communication (Hoang, 2013). In most cases at both institutional and national levels, exams focus on only linguistic competence rather than communicative competence. From the influence of such exams, English teaching and learning continues to be grammar-based (Mai & Iwashita, 2012; Tomlinson, 2005). In this learning environment, teachers and textbooks are the only language input in the classroom. This low exposure to the target language decreases students’ learning motivation, and combined with limited contact hours in class, students’ language is less likely to improve significantly. With few opportunities to use English outside classrooms (D. M. Le, 2012), English competency “is still beyond the reach of a majority of students at school, especially those from the rural or disadvantaged areas” (H. T. Le, 2012, pp. 66–67). Many university graduates “are still unable to carry out even a simple conversation in English” (Hoang, 2013, p. 77). The aim of this book is to provide an understanding of how recent Vietnamese government policy is providing for substantial and comprehensive renewal of Vietnam’s tertiary education as part of the 2020/2025 plan. The book brings together a wide range of mainly Vietnamese and some foreign English education scholars and tertiary educational practitioners. Academics and students of English education, language policy, and nation building within the context of increased globalisation and marketisation in developing nations and Vietnam should find this book valuable. The collection is organised in increasing specificity. The early chapter provides context. Chapter 1 presents an orientation to the important milestones throughout its history that has led to the emergence of English language education and significant changes and expansion in Vietnamese tertiary education. Chapter 2 focuses on the influence of globalisation on Vietnamese society since 1986. Chapter 3 argues that language policy does more than just serve to produce efficient individuals, skilled workers, and a sense of belonging but also contributes to nation building. An overview, analysis, and understanding of issues related to Vietnamese EFL higher education instruction is discussed in Chapter 4. The central set of the volume’s contributions provide insight into those most affected by Vietnamese English language policy and provision. The focus shifts in Chapter 5 to a study of the high level of uncertainty experienced by current Vietnamese tertiary students regarding their English proficiency and its implications on their employability. Chapter 6 presents research examining if, and to what extent, the teaching of cultural competence by Vietnamese tertiary teachers is influenced by textbook content. Chapter 7 provides policy analysis regarding general English tertiary education for non-majors to identify possible explanations why tertiary graduates are not meeting standards. Second language oral testing and assessment is discussed in Chapter 8. Chapter 9 concerns Vietnamese business students’ perspectives on the effectiveness of the implementation of English as the medium of instruction in their programs. Rural students’ motivation to learn English is examined in Chapter 10. A study of students’ expectations about how they would perform on English exams is presented in Chapter 11. Chapter 12

Foreword xvii examines university lecturers’ attitudes towards learner autonomy in Vietnamese tertiary EFL contexts. And, the collection ends with a review of Vietnamese EFL teacher training in Chapter 13. Lam Thi Lan Huong, Thuyloi University, Hanoi, Vietnam James Albright, The University of Newcastle, Australia

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xviii  Foreword Le, H. T. (2012). ELT in Vietnam general and tertiary education from second language education perspectives. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 29(1), 65–71. London, J. D. (Ed.). (2011). Education in Vietnam. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Mai, N. K., & Iwashita, N. (2012). A comparison of learners’ and teachers’ attitudes toward communicative language teaching at two universities in Vietnam. University of Sydney Papers in TESOL, 7, 25–49. Maley, A. (1998). XANADU – “A miracle of rare device” – the teaching of English in China. In J. M. Valdes (Eds.), Culture bound: Bridging the cultural gap in language teaching (pp. 102–111). New York: Cambridge University Press. McKay, S., & Bokhorst-Heng, W. D. (2008). International English in its sociolinguistic contexts: Towards a socially sensitive EIL pedagogy. New York: Routledge. Nguyen, H. C. (2008). Teaching and learning of foreign languages in Vietnam: The current situation and some solutions. Social Sciences Information Review, 1(1), 43–52. Nguyễn, P. S. (2003). Yếu tố văn hóa trong dạy-học và đánh giá năng lực ngoại ngữ. VNU Journal of Science - Foreign Languages, 19(1), 15–23. Nguyen, T. M. H. (2011). Developing EFL learners’ intercultural communicative competence: A gap to be filled? From Defining EIL Competence to Designing EIL Learning, 86. Nguyen, T. M. H., & Nguyen, Q. T. (2007). Teaching English in primary schools in Vietnam: An overview. Current Issues in Language Planning, 8(2), 162–173. Nunan, D. (2003). The impact of English as a global language on educational policies and practices in the Asia-Pacific region. TESOL Quarterly, 37(4), 589–613. Phan, L. H. (2004). University classrooms in Vietnam: Contesting the stereotypes. ELT Journal, 58(1), 50–57. Phillipson, R. (1996). Linguistic imperialism: African perspectives. ELT Journal, 50(2), 160–167. Schneider, E. W. (2011). English around the world: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. To, T. H. (2010). Insights from Vietnam. In R. Johnstone (Ed.) Learning through English: Policies, challenges and prospects: Insights from East Asia (pp. 96–114). Malaysia: British Council. Tomlinson, B. (2005). The future for ELT materials in Asia. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 2(2), 5–13. Trần, L., Marginson, S., Đỗ, H., Đỗ, Q.,Lê, T., Nguyễn, N., Vũ, T., Phạm, T., & Nguyễn, H. (2014). Higher education in Vietnam: Flexibility, mobility and practicality in the global knowledge economy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Wright, S. (2002). Language education and foreign relations in Vietnam. In J. W. Tollefson (Ed.), Language policies in education: Critical issues (pp. 225–244). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

1 Vietnamese foreign language policy in higher education A barometer to social changes Lam Thi Lan Huong and James Albright Vietnam’s language policy demonstrates a close alignment to its socio-­political frames. Throughout its history, Vietnamese governments have had varied responses to powerful foreign interventions. Historical shifts in Vietnamese policy responses to dominant external powers have determined the instructional medium used in its tertiary institutions. Commencing with the Chinese invasion in 110 BC, Vietnam has managed the various foreign languages that have been introduced into Vietnamese higher education. At present, the Vietnamese government’s current internationalisation policy affects its choice of English as the official foreign language in its higher education system. This chapter provides a history of Vietnamese foreign language policy in higher education. Each period of Vietnamese history has led to socio-political changes. In this chapter, we argue that its educational language policy is a barometer for these socio-political changes. Vietnamese higher education has long been influenced by external factors exerted by other dominant cultures (Fry, 2009; Hoa & Tuan, 2007). Each change in Vietnam’s foreign language instruction and higher education has reflected a shift in the social, economic, and political policy of the country (Do, 1996; Pham & Fry, 2004). In its history, Vietnam’s foreign language policy and higher education have been influenced by and shifted according to the dominance of three countries: China, France, and Russia (Welch, 2010). Post-independent Vietnam’s Doi Moi policy (1986), which opened the country to international commerce and engagement with the West, has once more realigned its language policy. English is now the dominant foreign language of Vietnamese higher education.

The influence of Chinese Confucianism The first and most abiding influence in Vietnam’s higher education system came from China. Confucian ideals remain central to Vietnamese culture and education. China ruled Vietnam for a thousand years, from 111 BC to AD 938 and “Vietnamese education was in Chinese and followed the Chinese model” for some time after that period (Wright, 2002, p. 226). During the Chinese occupation of Vietnam, Mandarin and Chinese calligraphy became essential tools for civil administration and other different areas such as economics and culture;

2  Vietnamese foreign language policy however, it was only taught to a few Vietnamese in service to the Chinese feudal government (Giáp, 2006). Language during this period was an important instrument of power and supported Chinese feudal rule in Vietnam. ­ hinese After the country gained its first period of independence in AD 938, C economic and cultural influence remained strong (Hoa & Tuan, 2007). Mandarin was used in daily life as a means of communication and for economic transactions with Feudal China (Wright, 2002). To reinforce its newly gained independence, Vietnam maintained and increased its use. Feudal China never abandoned its intention to conquer Vietnam and turn Vietnam into a Chinese province. During the period of the Ly dynasty (1009–1225) and Tran dynasty (1225–1400), Feudal China attempted to invade Vietnam several times.1 Vietnam’s Ly-Tran dynasty’s (1009–1400) language policy promoted the continued use of Mandarin as the official language of the country (Giáp, 2006). Mandarin was the formal medium of instruction and the language of examination (Bianco, 2001; Hac, 1993). Chinese Confucianism became an essential ideological tool for the establishment of a centralised government following the imperial Chinese model, as well as the basic principle of national governance (Đặc trưng tư tưởng văn hoá thời Lý Trần, 2015). In alignment with its political and economic growth, Vietnamese culture flourished with a Chinese voice. Important Vietnamese works of art and literature from this period, written in Mandarin, taught and retaught over the millennia, ensured that Confucianism remained deeply rooted in Vietnamese culture (Fry, 2009) and its education system. Chinese imperial rule and the strong influence of Chinese Confucianism on Vietnamese education was reflected in the importance of learning and the respect for teachers, scholars, and mentors (Fry, 2009; Hoa & Tuan, 2007; T. K. Q. Nguyen, 2011; Welch, 2010). The Royal College (Quoc Tu Giam) – the oldest recorded institution of higher education in Southeast Asia, which was built in 1076 – is illustrative of the importance of Confucianism in Vietnamese education (Pham & Fry, 2004; Welch, 2010; Wright, 2002). This institution originally provided “moral education and training to the sons of dignitaries” (Sloper & Le, 1995, p. 43). Gradually, the Royal College became an “incubator for bureaucratic scholars” who would work for the Vietnamese state (T. K. Q. Nguyen, 2011, p. 126). Every 4 years, male scholars from all walks of life and from all over the country went through a civil service examination. This examination involved several rounds, with progressively more difficult levels that reduced the number of participants. Those male scholars who won regional exams would compete in a final exam. Membership in ruling elites would be awarded to successful scholars who would be assigned to important positions within the Vietnamese state (London, 2011). The Tran dynasty (1225–1400) and its successors continued to employ Mandarin in education. Again, the language of instruction and assessment illustrated a strong tie to Vietnam’s political and social policy frames, and was as a powerful tool of governing. In the thirteenth century, scholars developed Nom letters or “southern script” – a Vietnamese writing system largely based on Chinese calligraphy (­ London, 2011, p. 8; Pham & Fry, 2004) – to record the language of the Vietnamese

Vietnamese foreign language policy 3 nation. The development of Nom signalled a push for greater socio-cultural and political independence from China and the strengthening of national identity. Initially, Nom was just characters used to transcribe foreign words or proper Vietnamese names that Mandarin could not express (Giáp, 2006). As the system of Nom letters was further developed, the two writing systems were used simultaneously. Chinese calligraphy was used as the language of law and government, while the Nom script was used for Vietnamese culture. By the thirteenth century, Nom was popularised by the poet Nguyen Thuyen (later renamed Han Thuyen). Some other classical Vietnamese authors who used Nom were Nguyen Si Co, Tran Nhan Tong, Mac Dinh Chi, and Chu Van An (Đặc trưng tư tưởng văn hoá thời Lý Trần, 2015). The Nom writing system was not fully developed until the seventeenth century, which was marked with popular poems by Ho Xuan Huong. However, during this period, Chinese calligraphy continued to be used by elite bureaucrats. Seven hundred years after Chinese occupation, Mandarin and Chinese calligraphy remained a profound influence on Vietnamese society. In the seventeenth century, Vietnamese scholars, with the help of a French missionary, developed a “relatively simple Romanised Vietnamese script” known as Quoc Ngu (Wright, 2002). In order to promote Christianity, French missionaries developed Quoc Ngu to evangelise the Vietnamese. Many illiterate Vietnamese were unfamiliar with Nom characters, which made it an ineffective means to proselytise Christianity. The accessibility of alphabetic Quoc Ngu (Giáp, 2006) led to its eventual adoption throughout Vietnam (Pham & Fry, 2004, p. 202). With the introduction of Quoc Ngu, along with Vietnamese Nom and Chinese calligraphy, the three writing systems co-existed in practice. Day-to-day, Vietnamese people spoke mutually comprehensible dialects (Nguyen Nhu Phong, 1995, cited in Wright, 2002). The employment of Quoc Ngu, although having many of the advantages of the Latin alphabet, was confined to religious documents and communication among Vietnam’s small Christian community (Giáp, 2006). Not until two centuries later did Quoc Ngu become a useful tool of French colonialism.

The influence of French colonialism In 1858, the French colonial regime assumed rule in Vietnam. The French Navy first landed in Da Nang port and then invaded Saigon. In 1862, King Tu Duc ceded Saigon and three neighbouring provinces to France. In 1869, France occupied the next three provinces to form the Cochinchine colonial territory. By 1885, France invaded the remainder of Vietnam. France claimed “protection” of northern and central Vietnam, where they continued to maintain the Nguyen emperors (Thoi Phap thuoc, 2016). Under the French regime, three languages – French, Vietnamese, and Mandarin – and four writing systems – French, Quoc Ngu, Nom, and Chinese calligraphy – were used in Vietnam. Under colonial rule, French became the premier language, weakening long-established Chinese dominance in administration, economy, and education. “The elitist modern educational system which privileged the French language” replaced an educational system that was still influenced by Chinese Feudal Confucianism (Pham & Fry,

4  Vietnamese foreign language policy 2004, p. 203). French colonialism also increased the importance of Vietnamese. The French colonial language policy focused on assimilation, both in terms of language and culture. This policy encouraged the Vietnamese to use the French language and to accept French political and cultural influences, which supplanted Mandarin and minimised the influence of Chinese culture in Vietnam. The employment of French in government and education limited the use of Mandarin and Chinese calligraphy (Giáp, 2006). To spread the use of French and expand the influence of French culture, as a means of strengthening its colonial regime, the colonial government in Vietnam had to use Vietnamese as a translation medium. To this end, the Vietnamese language and Quoc Ngu, formerly confined to religious documents and used among Christian Vietnamese, gradually became a common medium of instruction. The French government permitted the teaching of Quoc Ngu and the Vietnamese language in schools. Mandarin was abandoned in village schools, as these schools were merged into provincial schools that taught Quoc Ngu. In 1865, the Gia Dinh newspaper was established to promote the policy of using Quoc Ngu (Vy, 2011). As an official newspaper of the French colonial regime, it was a powerful tool to enlist the support of the Vietnamese elites and masses. All government documents and correspondence between the Nguyen dynasty and the French government were to be written in Quoc Ngu (Giáp, 2006). But, the colonial administration used Quoc Ngu and the Vietnamese language as a translation medium with reluctance. Before the August Revolution in 1945, Quoc Ngu was only taught in the first grade. In the second and third grade, Quoc Ngu and the French language were taught in tandem. From grade four to high school, French became the sole medium of instruction. The colonial government intended that French be the privileged language in Vietnam. The colonial education system was designed to train a small number of Vietnamese to become functionaries. As a consequence, the higher education sector during Vietnam’s colonial period was small (Kelly, 2000; Pham & Fry, 2004; Wright, 2002). Although French was the official language, this period was characterised by “a mixed education system with French schools, Franco-Vietnamese schools and Confucian feudalist schools and classes existing side by side” (Hac, 1991, p. 6). Nevertheless, the official examinations for the whole education system were administered in French by colonial authorities. French was required to “gain access to social mobility” (Do, 1996, p. 32). Between 1919 and 1942, the colonial administration established several tertiary education faculties which specialised in Natural Sciences, Medicine, and Agriculture. These faculties later constituted the first Southeast Asian university in modern times, the University of Indochina (Pham & Fry, 2004; Welch, 2010; Wright, 2002). This university also served Laotian and Cambodian students, two other French colonies in the Indochina peninsula. As a tool of colonialism, the University of Indochina did not enjoy a robust academic environment or institutional autonomy. The students did not have access to international sources of scientific knowledge or technological innovation. Students were trained in the basic skills essential to the purposes of French colonialism (Nguyen, 2011).

Vietnamese foreign language policy 5 French colonial language policy did not go unchallenged. Some Vietnamese intellectuals considered Quoc Ngu and French instruction as a colonial imposition on Vietnamese society and culture and as a medium of Christian indoctrination. They sought to maintain the Chinese language and writing system. Other Vietnamese intellectuals soon recognised the important role of Quoc Ngu in the modernisation of their country. They embraced the effectiveness of education via the medium of the mother tongue. In 1938, 95% of the Vietnamese population was illiterate (Giáp, 2006). That year, an organisation to spread the use of Quoc Ngu was founded to reduce illiteracy among Vietnamese people. Before the August Revolution in 1945, this organisation helped lift 70,000 Vietnamese people out of illiteracy (Giáp, 2006). This mass literacy campaign was an important milestone in the development of Vietnam’s language policy. The use of Chinese calligraphy, French, and Quoc Ngu played a role in the development of Vietnam. While some Vietnamese intellectuals used Mandarin and Chinese calligraphy to resist the imposition of French colonisation, the education system had a role in preparing most of the Vietnamese revolutionary elite and connecting the country to global political, economic, social, and cultural flows. Other Vietnamese intellectuals promoted the use of Quoc Ngu as an effective means to popularise modernisation and develop a sense of national identity. The employment of these three languages in educational policy demonstrated the strong link between foreign language instruction, power, and culture in Vietnam during this period.

Foreign language policy after the August Revolution From 1945–1954, Vietnam underwent several important turning points. In August 1945, the Revolution gave birth to the Vietnam Democratic Republic. Despite the formation of several colleges in revolutionary-held areas in the North, the development of the tertiary sector during this period was slow. These colleges offered essential fields of study such as Pharmacy, Medicine, or Pedagogy (Fry, 2009). It was during this period that Vietnamese language was made the medium of instruction in Vietnamese schools (Ministry of Education, 1990). The first action of the Revolutionary government was to declare Vietnamese language the official language of the nation. The return of the French after the Second World War held back the development of Vietnamese higher education. This period was characterised by Vietnamese resistance to the resumption of French colonial rule. The French controlled urban areas, where French was the official language of education; Vietnamese Viet Minh – an organisation led by the Indochinese Communist Party founded in 1941 – occupied mostly remote and rural areas and promoted the use of the Vietnamese language. During this time, there were centres for teacher training in Thanh Hoa, and Medicine and Pharmacy in Viet Bac (Sloper & Lê, 1995). Although the provision of higher education in this period was retarded, the use of the Vietnamese language as a medium of instruction marked an important point in the language’s history. For the first time in the history of the nation,

6  Vietnamese foreign language policy Vietnamese people had the right to use their own language for education, and this represented an achievement in its struggle for independence. Language policy had demonstrated its vital role in social and political change.

The partition period 1954–1975 and influence of Russia and the United States The historical milestone of the Dien Bien Phu victory and the Geneva Treaty of 1954 ended French neo-colonialism on the Indochina peninsula. French was no longer an official language of Vietnamese education (Nguyen, 2011). In accordance with the Geneva Treaty, Vietnam was separated into two states under the patronage of the two rival military blocs. This initial temporary separation lasted longer than was originally planned because the Southern Vietnamese government refused to hold elections. As the subsequent civil war between the North and the South escalated, most young people were enlisted to fight. Education was given a low priority, as resources were reserved for the war. Higher education institutions moved to safe areas in the mountains or forests. This period marked a difficult stage in the country’s development and a standstill in education (Wright, 2002). The two Vietnamese states followed different policy orientations in line with their alliances: the North with the USSR and Chinese, and the South with the United States and her allies (Denham, 1992). These political divisions had a great influence on the foreign language policies of the two states. There were two different systems of higher education, each “politically allied with a world superpower” (Hoang, 2011, p. 8). With the assistance from the USSR and the Eastern Bloc, the educational system in the North was influenced by the Soviet education model. The Vietnamese language became the medium of instruction across all educational levels, while Russian and Chinese were promoted as the predominant foreign languages taught in its system (Bianco, 2001; T. H. Do, 1996; Pham & Fry, 2004). Thousands were sent to Russia and China to study, and returned to hold important positions in the Vietnamese government. In the North, English instruction was limited to a few classes in towns or large urban areas (Nguyen Ngoc Quang, 1993, p. 1). In South Vietnam, the US alliance promoted English foreign language education “in relation to political and economic cooperation with other capitalist societies” (Do, 1996, p. 36). As an American ally, the South adopted the US education model (Fry, 2009; Nguyen, 2011). Consequently, English became the predominant foreign language (Wright, 2002). French retained its status due to several factors. The French government continued to economically and politically support Saigon, and French-educated elites held key positions within its government. For example, important members of the University of Saigon, a leading university, received their education in France during this period (Do, 2006). Alliance Francaise, a non-profit organisation devoted to promoting French language and Francophone cultures, was encouraged to develop the French language and a French school system in South Vietnam. However, this school system only served the elites and wealthy urban people, as a mark of social distinction from the Vietnamese masses. Yet despite the continued presence of French within the

Vietnamese foreign language policy 7 educational system, the country’s policy encouraged the rise of English in Vietnamese education. The presence of thousands of American educators, civilians, military officers, and soldiers in Saigon underscored the need for English to facilitate communication between Saigon’s population and Americans. Hundreds of English classes were organised in response to this need. Foreign language centres mushroomed, attracting many ordinary people who needed to communicate with the Americans in their daily life. Because of this high demand, English became the main foreign language taught at schools and in higher education. The English language increased its popularity through “the availability and free supply of English textbooks and teaching equipment” (Do, 1996, p. 38), as well as the spread of English language mass media to serve the needs of US soldiers, their allies, and the local population (Hoang, 2011). English was used not only in classrooms, but also at work and in the streets. English was used in some specialist newspapers and magazines. The Allied Armed Force Radio broadcasted world news in English, and the US government set up a TV channel for news and movies in English (H. T. Do, 2006). English was, therefore, promoted and spread widely as a means of communication and as a policy tool for the American-supported government in the South. The promotion of Russian and Chinese in the North and English in the South during this period reflected the differences in social and political directions of the two states. This situation was maintained throughout the Civil War and lasted until the reunification in 1975.

The influence of Soviet communism after the 1975 reunification After the country’s reunification in 1975, the Soviet Union maintained and strengthened its position as an important political, economic, and educational ally of Vietnam. The flow of aid, material, and advisors from the Eastern Bloc to Vietnam increased (Wright, 2002). As part of this alliance with the Soviet Union, Russian became the main foreign language across all educational levels. The two systems of education in North and South Vietnam were unified to align with the Soviet education model in the North. This educational model emphasised applied sciences and specialised knowledge. During this period, approximately 70 higher education institutions were established (Fry, 2009; Welch, 2010). Influenced by its central command economy, the Vietnamese higher education system also became strongly centralised. Thirteen ministries jointly held responsibility for all higher education public-sector institutions. As the Russian language became the official foreign language in the national teaching curriculum approved by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), thousands of language students and teachers were sent to the Soviet Union to study Russian (Do, 1996; Hoang, 2011). The use of the Russian language quickly increased across the country: Bookstalls in the cities are filled with Russian language works that are inexpensive because they are heavily subsidised. . . . Soviet films are common fare at movie theatres throughout the country, and Soviet science and education

8  Vietnamese foreign language policy films are used widely in the schools. Television has perhaps the greatest impact in introducing the Vietnamese to the USSR. (Pike, 1987, pp. 214–217) The Russian language maintained its dominance in education and in workplaces in the North, and was also widely introduced into the South. Teachers of ­Russian from Language Departments in the North were sent to universities and colleges in the South. As Russian became the dominant foreign language across the country, French and English lost their status. Higher education enrolments in ­English in the South dramatically decreased during this period (Hoang, 2011). Yet, because English was well established in the South, it was not completely dropped from the curriculum (Do, 1996). Even when schools were nationalised, there were not enough Russian teachers for all schools to switch from teaching English to Russian, and so English continued to be taught in some classes in urban areas where there was a shortage of Russian teachers. Hundreds of private English centres were closed (Do, 2006). During the period of 1975–1986, Vietnam was politically isolated from the world. Its economy stagnated. Other communist countries restricted their aid to Vietnam as their domestic difficulties increased with the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. Vietnam urgently needed to reestablish its own independence. For the development of the nation, the Sixth National Congress of Vietnamese Communist Party in 1986 decided to change its political and economic paradigm.

The Doi Moi policy and the trend of international integration The year 1986 saw comprehensive political and economic reform in Vietnam with the launch of an open-door policy named Doi Moi (George, 2010; Hayden & Thiep, 2007; Hoang, 2011; Le, 2012; T. K. Q. Nguyen, 2011; Tuyet, 2011; Van Khanh & Hayden, 2010; Wright, 2002). Doi means renovation and Moi means renewal. This reform referred to “the country’s policy of opening up to the outside world, mostly in terms of foreign investment and the global market” (Huong, 2010, p. 100). The adoption of Doi Moi moved the country from bilateral to multilateral relationships across the political landscape and economy (D. Nguyen & Sloper, 1995; Tien, 2012; Wright, 2002). Following this important policy landmark, Vietnam became a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1997, and joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2007. Vietnam changed significantly, moving from a centrally planned economy to a multi-sector, commodity-based one that operated with market mechanisms under state control. The implementation of the policy encouraged more foreign investment into the country and strengthened the trend towards internationalisation (D. Nguyen & Sloper, 1995). After years of isolation and economic stagnation, the country became more integrated with an international economic, political, cultural, and development system. Instead of restricting its relations to socialist countries, Vietnam decided to expand its

Vietnamese foreign language policy 9 relations to many countries regardless of their political systems (Tien, 2012). Vietnam’s openness resulted in an increasing number of countries with which it had trade and investment relations. “After ten years of liberalisation, Vietnam had developed trade relations with more than 100 countries and direct investment from more than 50 countries” (Wright, 2002, p. 239). As a result, the number of English-speaking tourists and business travellers increased. The country adopted a market-oriented economy, which bid “a farewell to the subjective, obsolete conservatism of the past” (Do, 1996, p. 45). Doi Moi impacted on Vietnamese’s foreign language provision. In response to these changes in socio-economic policy, the Vietnamese higher education sector adopted important reforms. Central to these reforms was higher education being transformed to “satisfy the increasingly diverse demands of various sectors of the new economy, and to prepare competent human resources for the nation’s industrialisation, modernisation and global integration” (Nguyen, 2011, p. 129). The higher education system expanded the number and variety of its institutions. The establishment of private sector higher institutions was encouraged (Kelly, 2000). For example, Thang Long University, the first non-government higher education institution, was established on a trial basis in 1988. Following this, other private institutions were quickly opened. These private higher institutions rapidly expanded to meet the population’s demand to be trained and qualified for a changing employment market (George, 2010). In spite of these rapid changes, the Soviet model continued to underpin the Vietnamese higher education system (Hayden & Thiep, 2007). The state had official control over the performance of all higher education institutions, even those within the non-public sector. This governmental authority was implemented through various ministries, some with responsibilities across the system and others with line-management responsibilities for different universities and colleges (Hayden & Thiep, 2010; Kelly, 2000; Welch, 2010). This centralisation had an important impact on foreign language provision across the education system. In line with the country’s political, social, and economic reforms, English reemerged as the major foreign language across the whole education system. English was introduced across teaching curricula and became one of the employment criteria for government bureaucrats (Do, 1996; Hoang, 2011). English language learning accelerated due to the influx of investment capital to Vietnam from capitalist countries. English emerged as the most common means of communication at the workplace with foreign partners (Do, 1996; Hoa & Tuan, 2007). In response, English language education experienced significant growth during the early 1990s, with private language centres springing up across the country (Denham, 1992; Do, 1996; Hoa & Tuan, 2007; Pham & Fry, 2004). Some 99.1% of all junior secondary schools taught English, and English also became one of the five compulsory subjects in the final national exams (Hoa & Tuan, 2007). As a result, the use of Russian dramatically decreased due to a fall in demand. The Doi Moi policy was an important milestone that marked dramatic changes in the Vietnamese history of education.

10  Vietnamese foreign language policy

English and the internationalisation of higher education in contemporary Vietnam During the past few decades, the provision of English language education has strongly developed in Vietnam, both in terms of quantity and quality. It is estimated that about 90% of foreign language learners have studied English (Do, 2006). English is introduced to the curriculum in the third grade across the whole country,and is taught in high schools for at least 3 hours a week. During their tertiary education, students study English as their major or as a part of their study program. In addition to this, various language centres offer a wide range of courses, programs, or types of training to serve the learning needs of different types of students. Other foreign languages, for example, French, Chinese, and Japanese, are also available as options. Most students choose to learn English to qualify for better jobs, to be eligible for promotions, or to undertake overseas study. English is now widely used at schools, in higher institutions, at work, or in everyday communication as millions of foreign tourists and business people come to Vietnam, who often bring their families and contracts with them for the further development of businesses. The Vietnamese government’s policy seeks to boost English learning and teaching on a long-term basis in order to effectively compete in international markets and achieve sustainable economic growth. Decision 1400-QD-TTg targeted the improvement of foreign language teaching and learning in the national educational system for the 2008–2020 period, in conjunction with MOET’s project entitled, Reforming and Improving the Effectiveness of Teaching and Using ­English in Vietnam’s National Education System, 2008–2020 (Hoa, 2011; Huong, 2010; Le, 2012; Manh, 2012). This project’s goal was critical and comprehensive change in English teaching and learning across the entire education system. By 2020, Vietnamese high school, college, and university graduates were expected “to be able to use English to communicate confidently and be able to study and work in a multi-lingual and multi-cultural environment; thus better enabling young Vietnamese people to contribute to the industrialisation and modernisation of the country” (Huong, 2010, p. 106). The National Foreign Language Project 2020 (NFLP 2020) demonstrates the government’s strong determination to improve English education in Vietnam. With this goal of reforming the higher education system, MOET permitted selected Vietnamese universities to implement its Advanced Program (Tran et al., 2014). The goal of this project was to import American programs, curriculum, courses, materials, and teaching styles. One of the most important advantages of these programs was the use of English as a medium of instruction. This requirement meant that sufficient levels of English proficiency were compulsory for teachers and students in these programs. For the first few semesters, foreign lecturers from American universities taught courses in these advanced programs, and then Vietnamese teaching staff gradually took over these roles. Vietnamese lecturers involved in these advanced programs were sent to their counterpart universities in the United States for a semester to learn about the subjects

Vietnamese foreign language policy 11 that they were responsible for delivering. This project was initiated in 2006 with ten programs across nine universities, and a budget of up to US$40 million for the first three years (MOET, 2008). As such, advanced programs in Sciences, Technology, Business, and Agriculture from high-ranking American universities have been implemented at Vietnamese universities with English as a medium of instruction. In 2008, the second phase of this project was extended to a broader number of universities (Tran et al., 2014). The second phase of the project broadened its focus to include education institutions beyond the United States. In addition to American higher institutions, this phase also included the participation of some universities from the United Kingdom and Australia. Among the 17 advanced programs developed between 2006 and 2008, 14 were implemented in partnership with American universities and three with UK universities (Anh, 2009). Many of these universities have agreed to award 3+1 or 2+2 degrees to Vietnamese students pursuing advanced programs. In other words, after two or three years studying advanced programs, these students are sent to their counterpart universities to study and gain their degrees if they satisfy the English and subject requirements. The implementation of these advanced programs has provided several university lecturers and advanced program students with opportunities to study at American higher institutions. Although this has not been fully documented, it appears that most graduates from these advanced programs either have more opportunities to further study abroad, or better employment prospects, thanks to their fluency in the English language and these highly valued degrees. In addition to these international arrangements, the last two decades have also witnessed another decisive change in Vietnamese higher education. Through the implementation of advanced programs or joint programs, Vietnam has become a partner in educational cooperation instead of an educational importer. This new status has also been reinforced by the establishment of foreign-owned campuses in Vietnam (Tran et al., 2014). Vietnamese government leaders have now recognised the advantages of opening the education sector to foreign investors, and have turned Vietnam into an attractive destination for transnational education. Since the first fully foreign-owned university, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), was licensed to establish its campus in Vietnam in the year 2000, there have been an increasing number of these foreign-owned university campuses in Vietnam. Such campuses are located mostly in political, economic, and cultural centres such as Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. In addition to RMIT Vietnam, there is the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) from Thailand, ­Vietnamese–German University from Germany, Roger Williams University Campus from the United States, and Troy University Campus, also from the United States (Tran et al., 2014). Recently, Harvard University has received nearly $17 million from Congress and $2.5 million from the US State Department to establish a private university in Ho Chi Minh City. The foundations for this new university were established nearly two decades ago when the Fulbright Economics and Teaching Program (FETP) was established by the Ash Center, in partnership with the University of

12  Vietnamese foreign language policy Economics, Ho Chi Minh City and Harvard Kennedy School (Fulbright University Vietnam, 2015). The not-for-profit Fulbright University Vietnam is expected to provide academic freedom, innovation, and an association with Harvard itself in order to meet with the country’s pressing need for highly qualified graduates. The US policy makers consider this university to be an important step in the establishment of foreign relations and academic exchange between the two countries. Fulbright University aims to enrol 2000 students in the first five years of operation (Fulbright University Vietnam, 2015). The implementation of advanced programs in Vietnamese higher education, and the establishment of foreign-owned university campuses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, has reinforced the trend for internationalisation of education. The use of English as a medium of instruction in both advanced programs and at these foreign-own university campuses has strengthened the increasing role of English in education within an era of international integration. Although Vietnam has formed education partnerships with many countries, American advanced programs and American university campuses outnumber those of other countries. These numbers reflect an increasing trend of educational cooperation with the United States as an educational partner of Vietnam. At the same time, these numbers emphasise the special status and popularity of English, particularly when it is used as a medium of instruction in these programs and at these university campuses.

Conclusion A brief overview of important milestones throughout the history of Vietnamese education has confirmed the influence of external factors from dominant countries, particularly on foreign language instruction. Foreign language instruction is described as “a barometer of social changes in Vietnam” (Wright, 2002, p. 243) and has had an important role to play in the economic, political, and cultural development of the country. Being a small country with rich natural resources, Vietnam has experienced near continuous control by different external forces, including invasions, protracted wars, and separation. With regards to higher education and foreign language policy, until recently the general tendency throughout its history was to “conform to Vietnamese attitudes toward nations associated with those languages” (Gayle, 1994, p. 1, cited in Do, 1996, p. 33). From Chinese feudalism to French colonialism and Soviet Union socialism, each period of higher education and foreign language instruction not only reflected the economic and political policies of Vietnam, but also profoundly changed the cultural landscape of the entire country. The adoption of the Doi Moi policy in 1986 represented an important turning point. This dramatic change in political and economic policy resulted in dramatic changes to the whole society, especially in education and foreign language policy. In addition, the internationalisation of the curriculum, as well as the establishment of foreign-owned university campuses in Vietnam in recent years, reflects the current unique status of E ­ nglish in Vietnamese higher education. In the process of international integration,

Vietnamese foreign language policy 13 Vietnam has gradually become less dependent on other influential nations in the educational sector. Instead of being an educational importer, Vietnam has spectacularly become a partner in educational cooperation with powerful nations. In the process, English as an international language has become the key to success for many Vietnamese.

Note 1 Vietnam won against Nam-Han invaders twice, defeated 30,000 Tong invaders twice, and triumphed over the Nguyen-Mong invaders three times (Đặc trưng tư tưởng văn hoá thời Lý – Trần, 2015)

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2 Globalisation and Vietnamese foreign language education Thi Thuy Le and Shen Chen

Foreign language education (FLE) in Vietnam is more than a pedagogical issue. The teaching of foreign languages is a political, social, and cultural activity, and decisions over which methods to use can only be answered with reference to the local socio-political and cultural environment. This chapter aims to provide insights into the situation of Vietnamese FLE in light of globalisation. The chapter focuses on the influence of globalisation on Vietnamese society since 1986, when Doi Moi, the policy of innovation, was adopted. Recent changes in FLE, especially English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching and learning, will be discussed with an emphasis on the role of English in formal and informal education systems.

Globalisation and FLE Globalisation is a multifaceted process, which refers to “the intensification of social, political, economic, and cultural ties across borders” (London, 2010, p. 361). This trend offers developing countries both opportunities for cooperative development and challenges in the preservation of national assets. How to respond to the pressures of globalisation is an important issue for policy makers and educators. Western and Asian tertiary education scholars have shared the view that reforms that are designed to improve the quality of English teaching and learning should be a priority (Lam, 2011). The challenges of globalisation push Asian countries, in general, and Vietnam, in particular, to improve their higher education institutions to meet international standards, which would allow them to compete with developed countries. Globalisation has both positive and negative economic, political, cultural, and education impacts on Vietnamese society. Vietnam has enjoyed an economic revival, with increased economic growth and international recognition. Globalisation has enabled Vietnam to develop trade and cooperation with many countries and to engage with international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the field of education. Vietnam has access to funding sources from international agencies such as the World Bank, Asian Development, UNICEF, and ODA-Japan, as well as forms of bilateral overseas development assistance (P. L. Huong & Fry, 2004). Globalisation has helped Vietnam

Globalisation 17 enhance its integration into every aspect of late modernity. Vietnamese students and teachers now have more opportunities to interact with global educational policy and discourses. In turn, these global educational flows have placed pres­ nglish sures on the national education system to improve students’ and teachers’ E proficiency. Current tertiary education policy posits that Vietnam’s future rests on knowledge workers using English to participate in nearly every aspect of the globalised world. Yet, challenges have resulted from the processes of globalisation. One of particular significance is that contacts with world cultures have affected Vietnam’s national culture. Outside cultures may clash with the nation’s existing value system. The traditional culture values may ignore or undervalue the deep-rooted cultural values of the Vietnamese people. Globalisation has made possible English becoming the dominant foreign language in Vietnam and English has made possible the processes that have opened its economy, politics, culture and education to the world. English language educators in Vietnam have become more concerned about the issue of communication with diverse cultures. In the context of Vietnam today, the role of English as an international language contributes to the demand for intercultural communication, and this is between Vietnamese learners and English native speakers or non-English speakers. English is increasingly recognised as an international language (EIL). E ­ nglish owes its position as an EIL to the historical, political, and economic power of the English-speaking countries, especially the United States (Clyne & Sharifian, 2008). The globalisation of English has challenged the assumption that the ability of non-native speakers of English to understand native speakers would automatically help them to comprehend other fluent non-native speakers. The native-speaker (NS) model in EFL is open to question. The spread of English as a medium of intercultural communication has bolstered the native-speaker model, which reflects British and American linguistics, sociolinguistics, discourses, and strategic norms, in English language classrooms in countries where English is learned as second or foreign language. Several studies have investigated teachers’ and students’ beliefs about the NS model (e.g. Kuo, 2006; Mollin, 2006; Sewell, 2009; Sifakis, 2005; Timmis, 2002). These studies show that NS norms dominate EFL teachers’ beliefs. And, many EFL students are oriented towards a NS standard and desire to approximate this standard as closely as possible. The NS model may not satisfy learners’ needs (Alptekin, 2002; Álvarez, 2007; Byram, 1997; Canagarajah, 2006; McKay, 2002, 2003; Nunn, 2007a, 2007b, 2011). The English-speaking world cannot ignore the co-existence of the many different English varieties that are used by non-native speakers. Learners of ­English are now expected to be able to accommodate English speakers from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, with greatly varying levels of competence in particular speech situations (Mollin, 2006). Kachru (1989) divided the English-speaking world into three groups, which he termed the Inner Circle, Outer Circle, and Expanding Circle. The Inner Circle refers to countries where English is spoken as the first/indigenous language (e.g. the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), or what may be termed

18  Globalisation “norm-providing” countries. The Outer Circle and Expanding Circle include countries where English is learned as an ESL and EFL, respectively. The situation is complicated when we consider the diverse purposes for learning English in the Expanding Circle countries. For example, there are learners who need to demonstrate a degree of English mastery to secure a place in an education program, or to gain employment within their own countries or abroad (Ha, 2007; Kuo, 2006). Also, there are those learning English as a means of intercultural communication. The NS model becomes inadequate because it does not acknowledge the existence of the various forms, varieties, and functions of English from the Outer and Expanding Circles. The notion of EIL recognises the diversity of native English. It empowers non-native English teachers in EFL contexts. While English in the Inner Circle countries (Kachru, 1989) is equated with greater power or a sort of superior status, and English native speakers assert their ownership of English, the value of EIL may be seen in actual intercultural communication practices. Through such intercultural interactions, non-native speakers of English assert their intelligibility, thereby claiming an equal status with English native speakers. It has been widely accepted among scholars and language educators that English is not a means for learners from non-English speaking countries to acquire English cultures. Rather, it is a means to express their own culture to each other and to those from English-speaking countries (Kachru, 1987) or a means for promoting their own culture and identity to the world (Ha, 2013; Hashimoto, 2000). English represents a symbolic domination of the EFL context, largely because of its dominance in local and international communication (Yeh, 2013). English has become a dominant (foreign) language in many Asian countries, and this is thanks to its promise to bring opportunities such as jobs, social status, heightened international profile, and competition. In other words, it has become an empowering language. Language policies in Asian countries aim to promote English as a dominant and powerful language. In common with many Asian countries, Vietnam considers English a dominant symbolic resource.

Status of the English language The dominant position of the English language in Vietnam was promoted with the introduction of the Doi Moi policy in the late 1980s. The adoption of the policy marked Vietnam’s attempt to become politically, economically, and culturally integrated with the wider world, and also represented a fundamental change in the outlook of Vietnamese leaders (Abuza, 1996). This movement led to other significant changes across political and administrative spheres (London, 2010) and bid a farewell to the obsolete conservatism of the past (Thinh, 1996). This new economic policy attracted foreign investment and increased scientific and technical links with many countries, regardless of their political and economic differences. English proficiency is increasingly significant for realising many Vietnamese students’ dreams of overseas study. Numbers of Vietnamese tertiary students

Globalisation 19 choose English-speaking countries such as Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom (UK). They must meet English requirements to receive an offer, obtain a student visa, and successfully navigate their studies (listening to lectures, discussing, presenting, and completing assignments). Recently, more Vietnamese tertiary students have been attracted to study in Asian countries, but English is still necessary for intercultural communication, as this helps them adjust to learning and living in these countries. English may also remain the medium of instruction in these countries, as well. Vietnam’s access to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has facilitated increasing numbers of foreign, private education providers investing in Vietnam (London, 2010). Accordingly, in addition to Vietnamese students travelling abroad to seek academic excellence, an increasing number have chosen to study at foreign schools within Vietnam, where often English is used as a medium of instruction. This growing influence of English as an international language brings “prestige in the domains that requires its proficiency” (Kachru, 1986). The current popularity of EFL learning is partly the result of a history that dates back to the 1954–1975 period. At that time, English received widespread support in the South, because those competent in English were offered recruitment opportunities and higher salaries (D. T. Huong, 2004, p. 71). After the commencement of the Doi Moi policy in 1986, Vietnam witnessed a great increase in demand for English across all aspects of life. Indeed, in the decade of 1996–2006, English developed with “an unprecedented speed” (Thinh, 2006, p. 8). The Vietnamese public recognises that English is of practical use. This pragmatic use of English shapes learners’ attitudes towards learning English. Learners are instrumentally motivated (Thinh, 2006), because, as an international language, English may enable them to access international knowledge and skills in science and technology. The Vietnamese government has made significant investments in English language education. To keep pace with global trends and to prepare Vietnamese learners for participation in the national and international arena, many English Language Teaching (ELT) projects have been proposed in Vietnam. For example, the project of “Foreign Language Education in the Vietnamese Educational System for the 2006–2010 Period” was carried out by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). English is now considered the most important foreign language in the educational system and is taught as early as grade 3. Students are assessed according to a proficiency framework developed by the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE). On September 30th, 2008, the Vietnamese Prime Minister issued Decision No 1400/QD-TTg on Approving the 10-year National Project for “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Formal Educational System in the Period of 2008–2020” (the National Foreign Languages 2020 Project, hereafter referred to as the Project). The general aim of the Project was for most Vietnamese learners to be able to use foreign languages, mainly English, effectively in communication, study, and work in an integrated, multilingual, and multicultural environment; such proficiency would in turn contribute to the industrialisation and modernisation of the country (MOET, 2008).

20  Globalisation In response to the increasing social demand for teaching and learning English at a primary level, many foreign-owned/invested or private educational institutions have opened, (T. T. T. Huong, 2010), which are often located in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. These schools offer English as a medium of instruction for pre-school children and university students. Instructors that are recruited to teach in these schools need to satisfy the teaching MOET requirements for primary EFL teachers (Nguyen, 2011). The requirements for international primary schools are even higher. Teachers are required to be either native teachers of English, or to have attained a high standard of English proficiency. Their teaching has to be considered engaging and unique. In addition, there are criteria regarding teachers’ personal characteristics, because these are considered important when working with children. Successful candidates are generally believed to be the most competent. As a result, they receive better salaries and training opportunities, especially overseas professional development. International primary school students receive more exposure to native English speakers and are likely to be more confident when communicating with English speakers. Of course, this type of schooling is expensive and not many parents can afford its fees. As such, these schools benefit only a small segment of the Vietnamese population. At a tertiary level, EFL is an important instructional focus. English is increasingly used in content-based language instruction learning (CLIL), where students learn core subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and some other specialised subjects in English. This perspective is promising by enabling “the killing two birds with one stone”: students achieve the content-related objectives and are filled with real and meaningful communication in English. However, the use of English as the mode of instruction is challenging Vietnamese tertiary instructors as they must teach both the subject matter and English. In face of the demands for curriculum coverage, teachers face the risk of either failing to promote the English proficiency or their subject matter. Tertiary English language programs group learners as either English majors or non-English majors. The former category includes students who are trained to be teachers and translators/interpreters. The latter category includes students who study fewer hours of English, over a 4-year period, as a subject to help them upgrade their general English proficiency (T. T. T. Huong, 2010) and accommodate their learning in specialist areas. In Vietnam, there are two separate systems for ELT training. Three-year college programs are responsible for training lower secondary (year 6 to year 9) ­English teachers, whereas 4-year university programs take charge of upper secondary (year 10 to year 12). At a university level, English language teacher training programs grant a Bachelor’s degree in ELT. After graduation, student teachers work as English teachers within the secondary school system, but normally at an upper secondary level. Students are allocated four academic years (eight semesters) to complete their Bachelor degree. During this training period, students have to complete three strands of knowledge to earn enough credits for graduation: foundation knowledge, subject-matter knowledge, and professional knowledge

Globalisation 21 (teaching methodology and a 6-week practicum in the final semester before graduation). The 4-year program is usually structured into two stages. The first stage focuses on basic language skills and grammar, whereas the second stage’s focus is on professional knowledge such as linguistics, literature, culture, and English language teaching methods. At a university level, the Vietnam MOET is responsible for building the curriculum framework; this serves as a compulsory design guide for curriculum development in both public and private universities. English language teacher education has been affected by English education instructional policies, as well. Attempts to improve English teaching methods have been made in order to standardise learners’ English proficiency to overcome the pedagogical legacy of the traditional methods in language learning, with its focus on grammar, translation, and drills, which still has a strong hold on Vietnamese ELT. As teachers play an essential role in enhancing their students’ ­English levels, policy makers have paid increasing attention to the improvement of English teacher training. Nevertheless, the government’s efforts are largely limited to in-service teacher training programs. Vietnam has experienced a boom in both online and on-campus programs in English teacher training and has hosted many ELT conferences. Several projects involving teacher training have been supported by the British Council and MOET. One of them was the VTV Project (Vietnam English Teacher and Trainer Network), which aimed to develop networks for training key English teachers at secondary and tertiary levels in the provinces and cities. Founded in 2000, in 20 provinces and cities, and then rolled out across the country, this project attracted much attention, thanks to its significant influence and use of learner-centred and context-based methods (British Council, 2013). English has become privileged in Vietnam’s education system, but the teaching of English, particularly ELT and English language teacher training, are not yet adequate (Hiep, 2005; Ho, 2011; Nguyen, 2013; Tomlinson, 2004; Tran & Duong, 2015; Nguyen, 2005). Many unresolved issues concerning curriculum, methodology, and textbooks remain. In response to these weaknesses, many students turn to private English language centres to meet their needs. The increasing demand of students to improve their communicative skills has caused these centres to mushroom across the nation. They range from widely recognised centres, such as the British Council, American Apollo, Language Links, and Access, to a diverse range of language schools, the language centres of universities, and private enterprises throughout the country. In English centres, English native teachers are privileged over local teachers, and receive more income than local teachers. Their recruitment process is not as strict. They are required to have a Bachelor degree, a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certificate, and a CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) certificate. The number of English native teachers in English language centres has increased. Some have questioned the quality of these language centres, expressing concerns about the quantity of these native English teachers, who may lack formal second language teaching qualifications, and their loose oversight by MOET (Carmichael, 2002). Many language centres in Vietnam also employ non-qualified teachers (Ha, 2017). These “teachers”

22  Globalisation are sometimes tourists or native-English native students. Even without adequate teaching qualifications, they are employed for short-term contracts. Although these “teachers” are role models for English pronunciation, which is not the only measure of a teacher’s competence, their main duty is to facilitate communication classes.

New directions for ELT in Vietnam Becoming a member of the ASEAN community and establishing diplomatic relations with the United States has increased Vietnam’s profile in the world. Vietnam’s foreign policy defends its political independence and sovereignty, while encouraging “open door”, multilateral, and diverse external relationships (Elliot, 2012). Vietnam attempts to balance itself between two powerful countries, the United States and China. Although the United States has ceased to be as dominant as it was in the 1950s, when its economy and military strength outweighed the combined force of all other countries in the world (Elliot, 2012), it has remained an extremely powerful nation. In the meantime, China has been increasing its power. Vietnam’s relations with China, predicated on its national interest rather than socialist solidarity, has played a crucial part in its national security decisions. Vietnam’s core strategic policy concern remains national security. The nature of international relations is experiencing novel transformations. In the new world order, no matter how powerful it may be, no country can dominate all the other countries. In other words, the world has become multipolar, rather than bipolar or tripolar as it was in the past. The large powers may still play important or even decisive roles, but the last few decades have also seen the rise of small and mid-sized countries. Their strength may come from their economy, politics, military, science/technology, population, cultural heritage, and natural resources. Together, they all contribute to the fate of the world. As a mid-sized country, Vietnam has proved itself to be a proactive member of the world community. The issue of how to manage Vietnam’s relations with the outside world and to create socio-economic advantages, needs to be addressed by the Vietnamese education system. This is especially the case in foreign language education, which is supposed to empower the individual and society. Vietnam’s concern with the influence of Western culture is the fear of losing its national identity, especially in the context of globalisation, when many of its cultural values tend to be challenged by dominant Western trends. Vietnam has experienced many historical struggles and successfully deployed “nationalism” as a powerful weapon against military and cultural invasion. As such, its nationhood and Vietnamese language and culture have remained relatively secure. The strength of its nationalism and national identity form some of the most significant parameters of Vietnamese politics and society (Salomon & Ket, 2007). Throughout its history, the issue of identity has always played a crucial role in political policy and Vietnam’s relation with foreign countries. Language is not only a means of intercultural communication: it defines the identity of the speaker who

Globalisation 23 uses this language. English dynamically contributes to identity formation at all levels and in a myriad of ways. In Vietnam the increasing privilege of English language learning challenges the preservation of national cultural identity. Thus, Vietnam needs to find a balance between its internationalisation agenda and the building and development of national identity. Within Vietnam’s economic, political, and cultural global integration and engagement, English is a means to connect Vietnam with the world. The question becomes whether the English language can be considered as a tool for national development and cultural enrichment. In other words, the issues are how English can be taught in a way that facilitates change, but also maintains Vietnam’s traditions and how it is used to represent it to the world, while promoting its distinctive culture and identity. English should be considered as a medium to raise the Vietnamese people’s awareness of their own identities; similarly, English should be used as a mode for representing Vietnamese thoughts and values in the international context. Through learning English, Vietnamese learners can understand and know how to preserve their national cultural identity, particularly as this is challenged by globalisation and an invasion of Western values. It is necessary for English to serve the twin aims of enhancing and preserving Vietnamese values. This may point to the need to include the core identities of Vietnam in language pedagogy, such as a sense of nationalism, a sense of patriotism, a belief that everyone’s fate is ordained, and a desire for saving “face”. These are portrayed by Ngoc (1998) as four “F” values, namely, “Fatherland”, “Family”, “Fate”, and “Face”. These elements are intertwined and influence one another. Yet, it is impossible for Vietnamese values and traditions to remain unchanged. Vietnam, as an open and welcoming country, is likely to experience changes in its culture and national identity. Maintaining tradition and encouraging change are two fundamental goals of Vietnamese education in general and English language education in particular. The Vietnamese government wants to foster good citizens who represent the best aspects of its traditional identity, but at the same time needs citizens who are prepared to change if such changes are in the best interests of Vietnam. In any country, changes happen on the foundations of learning and an understanding of traditions or national identity. This applies to Vietnam, too. Teaching a foreign language, particularly English, must necessarily address some questions: what are Vietnamese core values and national identity? How are they to be preserved? The world is shrinking and becoming more interdependent. Any country’s ability to establish, maintain, and master relationships with the outside world will play as criteria for measuring its power in the world. Navigating these relationships and balancing powerful countries’ influence on Vietnamese society is a central issue that is becoming increasingly complicated. Awareness as well as the skills for handling power relations should be included in foreign language education, especially in ELT. ELT no longer considered native speakers as the sole owners of the English language; English was no longer the property of the Inner Circle countries (­Pishghadam & Zabihi, 2012). Unfortunately, ELT teachers in Vietnam place

24  Globalisation a privilege on acquiring, conforming, and approximating the native norms of English. The time has come for Vietnamese teachers to shift into new paradigms in treating the issue of culture in English foreign language education. English should be considered as a basic educational requirement, rather than simply as a desirable accomplishment (Maurais & Morris, as cited in Her, 2007). Learners of English should not be regarded as mere imitators or followers of ­English cultures and values. Instead, they need to use English as a means to express their ways of thinking. The role of English as a global language, one used across diverse cultures, requires English educators to not only be culturally and linguistically competent users, but also for curriculum designers to have an international and multicultural focus (Nault, 2008). This radical idea has aroused Vietnamese researchers’ interest in how to address culture when teaching English, and has created heated discussions about what culture(s) and how to teach in this area.

Conclusion Globalisation has affected Vietnamese foreign language education so profoundly that it has shaped new directions in culture teaching. It has also shifted the goals of ELT to meet the demands of the new context. In a globalised and diversified world, the questions of NS or non-native speaker (NNS) models, native teacher or non-native teacher, or native culture or nonnative culture become less important. What increasingly matters is how to enhance Vietnamese students’ capacity for effective communication in intercultural contexts, and how to train teachers who know how to navigate diverse cultures and multiple identities. As such, there is a growing call to reform FL education, as well as the ELT curriculum, in Vietnam. In the new millennium, the knowing of cultural facts is not as important as the understanding of and sensitivity to multiple identities. The move towards intercultural awareness in foreign language teaching and learning, which enables understanding, sensitivity, and awareness to other “foreignness”, has become evident at a global level. The raising of intercultural awareness provides foreign language learners capacities to manage tensions, to create mutual understanding among nations, and to enhance every country’s integrity. For these socio-political purposes, the teaching of culture should be innovated by introducing intercultural awareness to Vietnamese EFL education. Teachers are central to the education process, and any new model of English language education will stand little chance of success without the direct participation of teachers. This paper advocates that Vietnamese teachers need to change the way they teach. Teachers should not be expected to act in an authoritarian manner, particularly when teaching foreign languages. As learning a language is a creative process, overemphasis should not be placed on teachers’ roles as moral educators and as authoritative sources of knowledge, as a Vietnamese saying: “first learn the morality, then learn the knowledge”. The aim of Vietnamese education to produce teachers who act as moral guides or role models, which has been inscribed in the Education Law of Vietnam (Ha, 2008; Linh, 2013), needs to be revised. The globalised teaching context requires new teaching roles to emerge.

Globalisation 25

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26  Globalisation Kachru, B. B. (1986). The alchemy of English: The spread functions and models of nonnative Englishes. Australia, NSW: Pergamon. Kachru, B. B. (1987). World Englishes and applied linguistics. Paper presented at the 8th World Congress of Applied Linguistics, Sydney, Australia. Kachru, B. B. (1989). World Englishes and applied linguistics. Studies in the Linguistic Sciences, 19, 127–152. Kuo, I-C. (2006). Addressing the issue of teaching English as a lingua franca. ELT Journal, 60(3). Lam, T. L. (2011). The impact of Vietnam’s globalization on national education policies and teacher training programs for teachers of English as an international language: A case study of the University of Pedagogy in Ho Chi Minh City. (Doctoral dissertation), Alliant International University, San Diego, CA. Linh, L. T. (2013). Teachers as moral guides: A case study of Vienamese pre service teachers of English in contemporary Vietnam. (Doctoral dissertation), Monash University, Australia. London, J. D. (2010). Globalization and the governance of education in Vietnam. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 30(4), 361–379. McKay, S. L. (2002). Teaching English as an international language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. McKay, S. L. (2003). EIL curriculum development. RELC Journal, 34(1), 31–47. MOET. (2008). Educational development policy 2006–2010. Hanoi, Vietnam: MOET. English curriculum framework. Hanoi, Vietnam: MOET. Mollin, S. (2006). Euro-English: Assessing variety status. Tubingen: Narr. Nault, D. (2008). Going global: Rethinking culture teaching in ELT contexts. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 19(3), 314–328. Ngoc, P. (1998). Ban sac van hoa Vietnam. Hanoi, Vietnam: NXB van hoa thong tin. Nguyen, H. T. M. (2011). Primary English language education policy in Vietnam: Insights from implementation. Current Issues in Language Planning, 12(2), 225– 249. doi:10.1080/14664208.2011.597048 Nguyen, T. L. (2013). Integrating culture into Vietnamese university EFL teaching: A critical ethnographic study. (Doctoral dissertation), Aukland University of Technology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10292/5975 Nguyen, T. T. (2005). Incorporating culture into English language teaching in Vietnam. (Doctoral dissertation), University of Melbourne. Nunn, R. (2007a). Competence and teaching English as an international language. Journal of English as an International Language, 1, 11–24. Nunn, R. (2007b). Redefining communicative competence for international and local communities. Journal of English as an International Language, 2, 7–49. Nunn, R. (2011). From defining to developing competence in EIL and intercultural communication. Journal of English as an International Language, 6(1), 21–46. Pishghadam, R., & Zabihi, R. (2012). Crossing the threshold of Iranian TEFL. Applied Research in English, 1(1), 57–71. Salomon, M., & Ket, V. D. (2007). i mi, education and identity formation in contemporary Vietnam. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 37(3), 345–363. Sewell, A. (2009). World Englishes, English as a lingua franca, and the case of Hong Kong English. English Today, 25(1), 37–43. Sifakis, N. C. (2005). Pronunciation issues and EIL pedagogy in the periphery: A survey of Greek state school teachers’ beliefs. TESOL Quarterly, 39(3), 467–488.

Globalisation 27 Thinh, D. H. (1996). Foreign language education policy in Vietnam: The reemergence of English and its impact on higher education. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation), University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. Thinh, D. H. (2006). The role of English in Vietnam’s foreign language policy: A brief history. Paper presented at the English Australia Conference 2006 – Reevaluating methodologies: How we teach, who we teach, Perth, WA. Timmis, I. (2002). Native-speaker norms and international English: A classroom view. ELT Journal, 56(3), 240–249. Tomlinson, B., & Dat, B. (2004). The contributions of Vietnamese learners of ­English to ELT methodology. Language Teaching Research, 8(2), 199–222. Tran, T. Q., & Duong, T. M. (2015). Intercultural language teaching: Rethinking the objectives of English language education in the Vietnamese context. English for Specific Purposes World, (46). Yeh, L-M. (2013). World Englishes and identity construction: A qualitative analysis of two Taiwanese EFL undergraduates’ viewpoints. Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 22(3), 327–340.

3 Nation building and language in education policy Phuong Anh Vu

In addition to its primary role as a mode of knowledge transmission, language, throughout history, has been attributed with other political, social, and economic responsibilities. During colonisation, Asian, American, and African schools’ language instruction was a tool for assimilating cultures and minds (Altbach & Kelly, 1984; Thiong’o, 1986). Since the rise of the modern nation-state, first in Europe and then on other continents, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, language has been the binding glue for the realisation of imagined communities (Anderson, 1990). Throughout historic waves of globalisation, and particularly in our current intensified period, language instruction is increasingly perceived as making a substantial contribution to national and international economic development. Within this context, governments have attended closely to language policy. Vietnam is no exception. In response to the increasing global demands for greater economic integration, Vietnam’s Doi Moi policy (1986) pivot has affected political, economic, and social change. Vietnamese language policy was aimed at transformation. This chapter analyses the extent to which this policy shift has influenced the reconstruction of language instruction in relation to Vietnamese national identity as expressed in its tertiary education policy. I argue that Vietnamese policy on languages has always been an integral part of its nation-building project. I begin with a brief discussion of the construction of language policy in Vietnam, from the nation’s declaration of independence in 1945 to post Doi Moi in 1986. Since Chapter 1 presented an account of the development of languages in Vietnam, this chapter focuses on the relationship of languages to the grand plan of nation building after the birth of Vietnam as a modern nation-state. I analyse three major policy documents: the Law of Education (1998), the Law of Education (2005), and the Law of Higher Education (2012). My analysis addresses the construction of Vietnamese as the core language of instruction, within an official pragmatic shift in foreign language education to English, as the country has increasingly integrated into the world economy over the last 30 years. This gradual yet dramatic shift reveals an historic policy strategy by a succession of Vietnamese administrations in a program of nation building and promotion. My analysis considers political and economic development contexts in that development. I conclude with a discussion of the challenges and implications

Nation building and language 29 of Vietnam’s language policy and argue that the policy consistently serves the educational purposes of promoting a sense of collectiveness among individuals, within the project of nation building, and producing efficient skilled workers for economic development. The policy also represents the challenge of balancing what is being constructed as the desired knowledge, and what signifies a politics of identity and equity, when the country is increasingly embracing globalisation.

Historical background Language policy, like any other, does not simply start from scratch: the analysis of language policy cannot be carried out apolitically or ahistorically. This analysis of language policy in Vietnam, thus, should be performed under a full awareness of the country’s long history of multi-colonisation, the political and ideological regime of socialism, and its position as a developing or semi-peripheral country in the world economy system. The important role of language in the nation-building process has been reflected in many studies (Anderson, 1990; Gellner, 1983; Hobsbawm, 1996). The ideology of one language – one people – one nation promoted since the Second World War has given rise to the language policies of many newly independent African and Asian countries. When viewed as an indispensable factor in nation building in the postcolonial period, language policy has combined recuperative attempts to forge a national identity with the rationalist goals of enabling and standardising communication (Blommaert, 2009). Language policy and language planning, consequently, have been an inseparable part of nation-building projects. In post-independence African nations, for example, many have retained their coloniser’s language as an official language to resolve tensions among competing ethnic groups over language policy (Bray, Clarke, & Stephens, 1986). The adoption of colonial languages, in these cases, has helped unify the various nations. In Asia, the selection of national languages is more varied. In Malaysia, for example, Malay became the medium of tertiary education. Both Tagalog and English are recognised as official languages in the Philippines. Hong Kong and Taiwan are among those who chose English as the single official language and language of instruction. In 1945, at independence, Vietnamese was adopted as the official language of government and the language of instruction in all educational institutions (Pham, 1998). As noted in earlier chapters in this collection, French colonial governments actively assisted in the development of the Vietnamese writing system and its adoption in the colonial educational system. The promotion of Vietnamese in education, however, was dissimilar to language policies pursued in other French colonies in West Africa between 1918 and 1938 (Kelly (1984). While French, and no indigenous languages, was promoted in those countries, Vietnamese language was first employed by the French government “as a means to train minor native functionaries and to filter out incendiary ideas emanating from Paris” (Marr, 1981, p. 137). Its patriotic potential, inadvertently, was then perceived by the Vietnamese intelligentsia as a means of being independent from other foreign

30  Nation building and language languages. Vietnamese, consequently, was considered “an essential component” (Marr, 1981, p. 138) of national cultural identity in building and strengthening the nation-state. The adoption of Vietnamese as the official language at independence broke linguistic ties to China and to France. It signalled the “end to French colonisation and linguistic dominance” with the aim of “unify(ing) the country’s sense of national identity” (Phan, Vu, & Bao, 2014, p. 234). Chinese, French, Russian, and later English, when used in Vietnam, came to be treated as foreign languages. Early language policy in Vietnam was framed in terms of Marxist-Leninist concerns of balancing multiple ethnic and national identities within the socialist state. Nationality policy promoted under the Soviet-styled regime attempted to unify ethnic groups sharing no past memory or history within the nation-building project (Slezkine, 1994). Unity would be realised as characterising the promotion of collective assets being developed, while ethnic particularities were maintained to ensure the support of minorities. Vietnam is home to 54 ethnic groups, with about 100 spoken languages belonging to different linguistic families, including Austroasiatic, Hmong-Mien, Austronesian, and Sino-Tibetan (Lavoie, 2011; T. G. Nguyen, 2006). Being well aware of this diversity, the Vietnamese government employed a “fairly open” (Phan et al., 2014) language policy having regard to minority languages, while simultaneously working to advance Vietnamese language as the official language. Vietnamese language policy between 1945 and 1986 clearly demonstrates an official attempt to consolidate national unity among ethnic groups. The Vietnamese Constitution of 1960 stated that minority ethnic groups have the right to study in their own languages (Article 15), the right to preserve their traditional customs, to use their languages and writing systems, to develop their cultural identity (Article 3), and to use their languages in court (Articles 66 and 102). These rights were reconfirmed by the Constitution of 1980 (Articles 5 and 60). Since independence, Vietnamese governments have incorporated minority languages in the national curriculum as compulsory subjects in primary education, both in bilingual and multilingual areas of the country (Archibald, 1988; Bui, 2003). Vietnamese was first pronounced the national language in the revised Constitution in 2014. Also, contributing to the formulation of Vietnamese language policy has been the country’s relative position in the world economic system. From a world system theory perspective, Vietnam is a developing country and a semi-peripheral country. Vietnam’s economic development is contextualised within intensely globalised trading, science, and technology flows. Governments regularly consider international languages, particularly English, as “a symbol of internationalisation” (Duong & Chua, 2016), or “a means to economic progress” (Tupas & Sercombe, 2014). In many nations, whether they have a legacy of colonialisation or not, English is promoted as key to national development (Altbach, 1998). Singapore, for example, recognises Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil as national languages; but English is the language of governance and education (Rappa & Wee, 2006, p. 27). Japan,

Nation building and language 31 having no colonial heritage, promotes English as “the window to the world” (Altbach, 1998). Nation building is increasingly conjoined to both economic development and English, respectively. Foreign languages have always been included in the Vietnamese national curriculum. Among the commonly taught languages are Russian, Chinese, French, and English. As discussed earlier in this volume, changes to preferred foreign language status have reflected shifts in reframing of the Vietnamese national project (Pham, 1998). Understanding Vietnamese politics and socio-economic responses to changing global developments is key to understanding the (re)construction of language policy since independence. Most recently, the Doi Moi policy pivot has brought marked changes to all aspects of Vietnamese life, including language policy.

Doi Moi and the language of instruction in Vietnamese education Vietnam faced significant challenges in the 1990s. National income averaged at 0.4% growth during the 5-year plan of 1976–1980 (Cheng, 2002), and the inflation rate was estimated to be over 700% in 1986 (Mallon & Irvin, 2001). Politically, among the Vietnamese populace the Party’s leadership was being questioned. The country’s financial hardship was perceived as the Party’s failure (Cheng, 2002). Accordingly, during the Sixth Communist Party Congress of Vietnam in 1986, a new policy, Doi Moi, was introduced as a “renovation of the country”, aimed at improvement in the social and economic conditions being experienced by the population. The Doi Moi policy pivot brought changes to every aspect of Vietnamese life. The most dramatic changes were the introduction of a multi-sectorial economy, the appearance of domestic private enterprises, and the development of direct foreign investment, mostly into what were formally public ventures (Collins, 2009, p. 38; Tonnesson, 2001, p. 119). These changes were enabled by Vietnam’s increasing integration into the regional and international economic and political environments. The market economy in Vietnam, however, remains under State control; and the political regime continues to be controlled under the one-party rule of the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP). Accordingly, the central role of the State and the VCP has remained as strong as ever (Jonsson, 2007, p. 38; London, 2006, p. 8), leaving Vietnam one of the few socialist countries remaining in the world. Since the adoption of an open market approach in Vietnam in 1986, the education sector has been experiencing significant reforms. Some of the changes that have taken place include: narrow specialisations in university education giving way to broader and multiple academic fields; the partial abolition of state subsidies in all educational levels apart from primary level; the introduction of tuition fees beginning in the tertiary level; more university autonomy in finance and management; and increased privatisation in the provision of education (Huong & Fry, 2004). A new Law of Education (1998) was promulgated to guide these reforms.

32  Nation building and language This policy was replaced in 2005 to meet demands for an increased integration into the world economy; and further policy changes to develop a mass tertiary education system led to the Law of Higher Education (2012). These reforms heightened the Vietnamese government’s concerns about national unity. Vietnam’s re-integration into the world economy after more than 10 years of economic isolation, with limited political relations and economic transaction with other countries in the Socialist Bloc, had isolated the nation. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990–1991 resulted in the official understanding that global integration, to some extent, posed both an opportunity and a threat to Vietnamese independence. In the Vietnamese government’s attempt to reinforce national culture, Vietnamese was consistently reasserted as the official language. The Law of Education (1998) confirmed, “Vietnamese language is the official language used in the schools” (Article 5). Vietnamese language was affirmed as an effective tool of cultural identity that helped promote community solidarity. The promulgation of Vietnamese as the means of instruction in all sectors guaranteed the promotion of shared cultural and civic values. The promotion of Vietnamese as the language of instruction was aimed at bringing together citizens from diverse linguistic groups and cultures across remote areas of the country into a single political entity. With the considerable expansion of the higher education system over the years of 1998–2005, the Law of Education (2005) was a further attempt by the State to directly link language policy to the national education objectives of producing loyal citizens. While still confirming Vietnamese as the official language used in schools and all other educational institutions, Article 7 of the 2005 Education Law opened the possibility of using a foreign language as the language of instruction, depending on educational goals and the specific requirements of the curriculum. For the first time, foreign languages were mentioned in the education law, although languages such as Russian, French, Chinese, and English had previously been taught in Vietnam from the founding of its tertiary sector. Given the history of teaching of foreign languages in Vietnam, this official acknowledgement represented a shift in the perception of foreign language instruction as an integral part of the national project. The recognition of foreign languages, particularly as languages of instruction, had important implications for the development of education. The increased use of foreign languages in universities in imported educational programs was strongly encouraged as part of the government’s desire to promote international cooperation to modernise Vietnamese education. This increase in the use of imported curricula reflected the penetration of international agencies such as the World Bank (WB) or the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in Vietnamese education. It must be noted that the WB-funded higher education projects stimulated the adoption of imported foreign programs, which helped standardise competing Vietnamese tertiary curricula (Dang, 2009). The promotion of tertiary foreign language instruction also targeted a greater economic integration of the nation’s future labour force. Higher education was

Nation building and language 33 expected to provide effective workers ready for their participation in the domestic economy (especially in joint ventures with foreign capital) and in the international economy (providing workers overseas). The Law of Education (2005) thus conveyed different meanings for the development of national education. On the one hand, it re-emphasised Vietnamese as the official instructional language, which affirmed the government’s strong desire to construct a linguistic identity among the people. On the other hand, its recognition of foreign language study in schools revealed a greater awareness of the nation’s integration into the world economy and a deeper concern for economic competitiveness and labour productivity. The above-mentioned government concern may be partially explicated through a brief look at the Vietnamese economic context. Since the Doi Moi reform, Vietnam has experienced greater economic variability. After the application of an open-door economic policy as part of Doi Moi, the country officially joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Free Trade Area in 1995. During the early years of economic integration, Vietnam was able to weather the Asian economic turmoil of 1997–1998 with minimal impact (Vuong, 2014). Its economic boom starting in 2002 was escalated by its official admission into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2007 and then subsequently slowed down by the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, leaving the country’s economy unstable. Vietnam being fully integrated into the world economy, to some extent, would result in its increasing exposure to world economic turbulence. This economic crisis put greater pressure on the development of the national education system. Ongoing reforms promoted foreign language education, chief of which was Project 2020 (Decision 1400/QD-TTg dated 30/9/2008). The Project, indeed, privileged English over other foreign languages to be taught in schools as a compulsory subject. In the process of reforming the tertiary sector, the Law of Higher Education in 2012 was introduced as a response to the growing need to promote national unity and strengthen the economy. Before 2012, Vietnamese linguists, sociologists, and educators had expressed concerns about the social position, function, and construction of the Vietnamese language. Their perception was that the increasing use of foreign languages in educational institutions also reflected their wider use in every aspect of life. Vietnamese cultural conservatives saw this development as a potential threat to the Vietnamese language. M. T. Nguyen (2009), for example, noted that there existed a blurring of Vietnamese and other languages, a mixed use of languages, or the creation of a new “language” among users, especially the young. Consequently, the reaffirmation of the status of the Vietnamese language in the Law of Higher Education (2012) is understandable. Article 10 confirmed Vietnamese as the official language of instruction in tertiary institutions. Although not given official status as the national language until 2014 by the revised Constitution, as noted previously, various earlier law documents did stipulate Vietnamese as the official language of instruction. This recent policy, however, has not resolved the tension between Vietnamese and English education. The 2012 Higher Education Law renewed the push for

34  Nation building and language foreign language learning in tertiary institutions. Article 10 ceded institutional autonomy to “make decisions on the teaching and learning in foreign languages in schools”; but, the article was constructed with some ambiguity. It left the criteria and process for language choice to be guided by later policy documents. This policy indeterminacy had also been evident in the earlier Law of Education (2005). The general nature of the direction provided in the Law of Education (2005) and the Law of Higher Education (2012) might be perceived as a reflection of the intent behind the policy. This intent might be identified in the Prime Ministerial Decision No. 72/2014/QD-TTg dated December 17th, 2014. This document was the first of its kind that provided institutional guidance for the teaching and learning in foreign languages. It promulgated the overall objective of the national scheme on foreign languages as: by 2020, most young Vietnamese graduates of professional secondary schools, colleges and universities will have a good command of foreign languages, this will enable them to independently and confidently communicate, study and work in a multilingual and multicultural environment of (world) integration; and to turn foreign languages into an advantage of the Vietnamese in their service of national industrialisation and modernisation. The document repeatedly revealed the Vietnamese government’s high ambition towards foreign language education. English, as explicitly identified in Project 2020, was expected to become a strong point of the Vietnamese workforce by 2020. A roadmap was sketched out to help realise this goal. Project 2020 required that both basic and major attainment levels should be met by 20% of national, provincial, and other strategic university students by 2010. Further, this percentage was to be increased every year until all universities, nationwide, would have implemented intensive language training by 2020. A timeframe of 12 years, from 2008 to 2020, was also set for policy implementation. The policy of English education, with its high goal for language proficiency among Vietnamese students within such a short timeframe, has revealed persistent problems in the system. First is the pace of policy change in Vietnam. The country seems to be in a hurry of “economically catching up” with other countries in the world. The better Vietnam becomes integrated into the world economy, the more pressure for economic development the Vietnamese government seems to perceive. As the result, the government has come out with many new laws, new programs, and new projects at a faster pace than the system and the people might absorb. Second, funding has remained a challenge to the accomplishment of the expected changes proposed by the government. For instance, the adoption of the European framework in assessing English proficiency in Vietnam, the plan of professional development, the roadmap to raise standards in term of the proficiency of English teachers and standards of graduate proficiency of students, all require considerable financial support to be implemented nationwide. Third, Vietnamese laws and policy tend to be left with loose guidance. Lack of detailed guidance on how to interpret and implement new laws or policy may result in the “failure” of

Nation building and language 35 the project. These issues may also be attributed to the Minister of Education and Training’s admitting in 2016 that the Project 2020’s goals were “unachievable”. Although difficulties in policy implementation are persistent and unavoidable, the Vietnamese government has expressed a consistent effort in improving the English proficiency among tertiary students. December 2017 witnessed the government’s approval of Refreshed 2020 Project for the period of 2017–2025. This refreshed project, in re-emphasising the significance of foreign language competence to national economic development, extends the timeframe of implementation to the year 2025. In addition, this renewed project directly calls for the participation and financial contribution from both individuals and organisations, within the country and overseas, to the national scheme of making foreign languages an advantageous trait of Vietnamese people.

Language policy of English: challenges and implications The importance of English to Vietnam’s economic development after Doi Moi has been acknowledged at policy level. The introduction of Doi Moi in 1986 was to recover a stagnant economy and pre-empt the possibility of any political instability that might pose challenges to the VCP leadership. Up to now, it may be said that Doi Moi has been successful in terms of people’s improved living standard and of the nation’s political stability. In this process, English has been increasingly embraced as a part of the nation’s trajectory of development. The officially acknowledged status of English in Vietnam, particularly its linguistic role in the nation’s education system, reveals some challenges. It is important for Vietnamese governments to balance a language policy that is ideologically aimed at creating loyal citizens and imbuing a sense of unity among learners, while pragmatically equipping them with linguistic competencies that are economically directed to produce an efficient and effective national and global workforce. In the first place, language policy is aimed at creating a sense of nationhood among the people. After many years of colonisation and fragmentation of the nation, the central task for Vietnamese governments has been to form a new country and unify a diverse population who have historically been politically divided. As a result, Vietnamese language has been consistently promoted. It has been constructed as the sole linguistic bond to unify people of different ethnic groups under the project of nation building. Another major task of Vietnamese governments has been to create a Vietnamese “socialist person”. To help construct this type of citizen that fits the ideal of socialist ideology, language policy is an important issue to call upon. French and English were no longer the languages of instruction in tertiary institutions in the North and South Vietnam, respectively, after 1975. Instead, Russian became the major foreign language to be taught. Importantly, Vietnamese language has all along been considered the official means by which to produce “Vietnamese socialist” citizens. The compulsory use of Vietnamese language in the educational system, understandably, is expected to help learners of different ethnicities and backgrounds to absorb the targeted knowledge. The reinforcement of

36  Nation building and language Vietnamese language status by the State, thus, has been intentionally to maintain both national and ideological values. After Doi Moi, Vietnamese governments have found themselves increasingly presented with the challenge of making that “Vietnamese socialist” person economically competitive in a globalised world. To accomplish this task, the command of English has become a widely appointed requirement for Vietnamese people and for Vietnamese students. While the status of the Vietnamese language has remained a policy priority in national education as the core language of instruction, English has increased in importance. Everywhere else in the world, English linguistic dominance has been well researched (Pennycook, 1994). In Vietnam, policy makers are also aware of this dominance. Although English is not likely to be made the official second language in Vietnam for ideological reasons, it has been both explicitly and implicitly announced as the major foreign language to be taught in schools and universities. As already mentioned, plans to improve the competence level of English among teachers, students, and officials have been sketched out (The Prime Minister, 2008). These have placed high demand upon the educational system to provide quality instruction in English. Language policy in Vietnam thus has reached beyond simply unifying the country’s minorities and majorities and constructing the political ideology. In opening the country to the world and embracing globalisation, English has been adopted as a targeted potential means of economic development. This might be identified in the general policy frame of the recent policy, in terms of what educational goals are prescribed in Article 5 of the Law of Higher Education (2012): a

b

Training human resources, improving people’s knowledge, fostering talents; doing science and technology researches to create knowledge and new products serving socio-economic development, assuring national defense and security and international integration; and Training students that possess political quality, ethics; possess knowledge and professional practical skills, possess capability of researching and applying science and technology corresponding to their level of training; have good health; possess creativity and professional responsibility and adaptability to the working environment; have a sense of serving the people.

The three educational tasks of ensuring national unity, imbuing ideological values, and embracing globalisation, in short, have constituted a challenge for the government. The challenge that remains is how to arrive at compromises between maintaining the national and ideological value of the Vietnamese language and, at the same time, balancing the economic value of English for national development. The development of language policy in Vietnam has implications for the issue of educational equity. When Vietnamese language is prescribed as the means of instruction in all educational institutions, there may be limited access to tertiary education by students coming from minority ethnic groups. Although the Law of Education in 1998 and the Law of Education in 2005 opened the possibility

Nation building and language 37 of using minority languages at the tertiary level, the Law of Higher Education in 2012 excluded this by not mentioning the use of other ethnic languages, apart from the Vietnamese language, as the language of instruction. The promotion of English as a favourable foreign language taught in schools, an “advanced” means of instruction, and a desired quality of the future labour workforce of Vietnam has extended the boundaries of the equity issue in the country. The issue of educational equity may be observed among groups of students from different ethnic, geographical, and economic backgrounds. To students of minority ethnicities, the increased level of command of English as a standardised requirement for tertiary students has restricted their access to higher education. This is due to their having to master the Vietnamese language and manage to have a good command of English at the same time. The linguistic barrier potentially both discourages them from, and imposes limits to, their further study. Students from geographical locations such as rural areas or remote mountainous areas also find themselves in a disadvantaged position compared with their peers living in big cities or urban areas. In big cities, it seems to be easier for learners to have access to good studying facilities such as language course books, computers, films in English, language centres for extra tuition etc. Meanwhile, the lack of teachers of English remains a problem in many rural areas in Vietnam. From this background, the goals of Project 2020 may be perceived as being unrealistic – particularly when it required the implementation of this foreign language project in all 63 cities and provinces of Vietnam, regardless of the wide variety of educational backgrounds. Last, but not least, is the educational inequality between students of economically advantaged and disadvantaged groups. Even among students of the majority ethnicity living in a big city, the affluent ones benefit the most. Since education is no longer free in Vietnam, English tuition, English books, and other educational facilities necessary for the study of English might cost a prohibitive amount of money that is only affordable to a small group of advantaged learners. While financial support from the government remains an issue, disadvantaged students are left with little opportunity of access to English. The educational inequity also carries implications to policy development in Vietnam. Being a socialist country, the Vietnamese government commits to guaranteeing equality among ethnicities and among people of different backgrounds. However, policy for promulgation of English inadvertently provokes greater inequity, particularly to students of minority groups who are also likely to live in rural or mountainous areas and experience financial hardship. The policy on English language, along with the required and standardised competence in ­English for tertiary education, may potentially impact access to education for certain groups of students in Vietnamese society. In short, the development of language policy in Vietnam since Doi Moi has revealed a consistent commitment to education for the country’s project of nation building. The main educational objectives in this project remain the reinforcing of national unity among the diverse population, creating loyal Vietnamese citizens, and at the same time, producing an efficient and productive labour force

38  Nation building and language for the nation’s economic development. In this project, English has increasingly been embraced by the Vietnamese government as a potential means for advancing the national economy. However, the government’s support to English education has also entailed challenges to the nation’s political system and socialist ideology. How to maintain the balance between the national, ideological, and economic issues has become a major task for the Vietnamese government within the process of opening the country to the world and embracing globalisation. Moreover, the policy on language retains some implications on the issue of educational equity. Striving for better equality in educational access among students from different backgrounds remains a continuing challenge that the Vietnamese educational system needs to address.

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Nation building and language 39 Jonsson, K. (2007). Authoritarian states in Southeast Asia in tiems of globalization: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. In T. Chong (Ed.), Gobalization and its counter-forces in Southeast Asia (pp. 21–50). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Kelly, G. P. (1984). Colonialism, indigenious seociety, and school practices: French West Africa and Indochina, 1918–1938. In P. G. Altbach & G. P. Kelly (Eds.), Education and the colonial experience (pp. 9–32). New Brunswich: Transaction Books. Lavoie, C. (2011). The educational realities of HMong communities in Vietnam: The voices of teachers. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 8(2), 153–175. doi:10. 1080/15427587.2011.571348 London, J. D. (2006). Vietnam: The political economy of education in a “socialist” periphery. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 26(1), 1–20. Mallon, R., & Irvin, G. (2001). Systemic change and economic reforms. In C. Brundenius & J. Weeks (Eds.), Globalization and Third-World socialism: Cuba and Vietnam (pp. 153–176). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Marr, D. G. (1981). Vienamese tradition on trial: 1920–1945. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Nguyen, M. T. (2009). Protecting Vietnamese, an issue of integration period. Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 2. Nguyen, T. G. (2006). The application of Vietnamese linguistics. Hanoi, Vietnam: Vietnam National University Press. Pennycook, A. (1994). The cultural politics of English as an international language. London: Longman. Pham, M. H. (1998). Vietnam’s education: The current position and future prospects. Hanoi, Vietnam: The Gioi Publishers. Phan, L. H., Vu, H. H., & Bao, D. (2014). Language policies in modern-day Vietnam: Changes, challenges and complexities. In P. Sercombe & R. Tupas (Eds.), Language, education and nation-building: Assimilation and shift in Southeast Asia (pp. 232–244). London: Palgrave Macmillan. The Prime Minister. (2008). Decision approving the scheme on foreign language teaching and learning in the national education system in the 2008–2020 period. (No.1400/QD-TTg). Hanoi, Vietnam. Retrieved from https://thuvienphapluat. vn/van-ban/Giao-duc/1400-QD-TTg/83815/tieng-anh.aspx?tab=1 Rappa, A. L., & Wee, L. (2006). Language policy and modernity in Southeast Asia: Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand (Vol. 6). New York: Springer. Slezkine, Y. (1994). The USSR as a communal apartment, or how a socialist state promoted ethnic particularism. Slavic Review, 53(2), 414–452. Thiong’o, N. W. (1986). Decolonising the mind: The politics of language in African literature. London: James Currey. Tonnesson, S. (2001). Vietnam in the Asian crisis. In C. Brundenius & J. Weeks (Eds.), Globalization and third-world socialism: Cuba and Vietnam (pp. 168–196). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Tupas, R., & Sercombe, P. (2014). Language, education and nation-building in Southeast Asia: An introduction. In P. Sercombe & R. Tupas (Eds.), Language, education and nation-building: Assimilation and shift in Southeast Asia (pp. 1–21). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Vuong, Q. H. (2014). Vietnam’s political economy: A discussion on the 1986–2016 period. CEB-ULB WP, 14(010), 33. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2439809

4 Current challenges in the teaching of tertiary English in Vietnam Trinh Thi Thu Hien and Mai Thi Loan

The quality of Vietnamese EFL education has been subject to much recent evaluation (Ho, 2009; Hoang, 2010; Nguyen, 2007; Vu, 2007). This chapter argues that the improvement of English education is crucial to Vietnamese economic and its political development. The chapter aims to provide an overview and initial analysis of the current situation of Vietnamese tertiary EFL instruction, followed by challenges affecting teachers’ and students’ classroom practices. Finally, it presents some recommendations for improving EFL education in order to better the integration of Vietnam in a globalised community.

Vietnamese tertiary EFL education Vietnamese EFL education is a national strategy period 2011–2025 goal (Prime Minister, 2012, 2017). English is taught as a compulsory subject across primary to tertiary education. Students must obtain standardised English proficiency at each stage attained. English mastery is based on the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), which includes six levels (MOET, 2014; Prime Minister, 2014). The English proficiency requirement for each educational level is presented in Table 4.1. Primary school students should attain level 1 after 5 years of English education; lower secondary and vocational training students, level 2. Students graduating from upper secondary schools, non-English major colleges/ universities are required to achieve level 3; tertiary students level 4 or 5 after completing their studies at Vietnamese English major colleges or universities (Ho Chi Minh People Committee, 2014; Mai, 2014; MOET, 2014). The goal of Vietnamese EFL education aims to prepare students to become competent English users who can “study and work in a multilingual and multicultural environment of integration” (Prime Minister, 2008, p. 1). All Vietnamese high degree students must meet the English proficiency requirements. Students graduating from Master Programs require level 3 English competence; those completing doctoral training, level 4. Students taking English entrance exams must meet at least 50% of these requirements. Currently, at many Vietnamese tertiary institutions, students can submit an equivalent international or local English certificate for all graduate programs.

Current challenges 41 Table 4.1 English proficiency requirement for students in Vietnamese educational system Level 6 Level 5 Level 4 Level 3 Level 2

English proficiency

English major university students

English major college students

Non-English major university students

Non-English major college students

Vocational training school students

Upper secondary school students

Lower secondary school students

Primary school students

Level 1

English-major colleges and universities prepare students to become English teachers or interpreters. Because there is a common proficiency requirement for initial students, these students are required to have entrance English tests. Their start-up English levels may be varied as some may just meet the entrance requirements, while others may well exceed them, depending on their backgrounds. Non-English major institutions do not offer a degree in English studies. The initial students do not have to take English entrance tests but other subjects, depending on their majors. There is also a considerable difference in these nonEnglish major students’ English competence, according to the research findings by Hoang (2008) and Le (2013). The majority of them have elementary English level, which is equivalent to level 1 rather than level 3 as required after graduating from upper secondary schools. As a result, many higher institutions have to provide English programs from elementary level up to lower or upper intermediate levels. The curriculum is divided into two stages: (1) General English focused on listening, speaking, reading, and writing to develop proficiency; (2) theoretical subjects appropriate to students’ majors such as Methodology, Translation, Pragmatics, Cross Culture etc. for English-major students and Economics, ­Construction, Fine-Art, Cultural Management, Law, Informatics etc. for nonEnglish-major students. The total number of requisite units in English is 20, including General English (GE) and English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The GE course, which focuses

42  Current challenges on improving the four basic modes (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) and providing students with the general knowledge necessary to master English, accounts for 14 to 15 units. The ESP course, which focuses on learning vocabulary and reading skills development, accounts for four to five units. There are no common English teaching materials for non-English major students. Consequently, Vietnamese teachers and students use various textbooks and learning resources. Curriculum planning for Vietnamese tertiary EFL instruction focuses on the purposes of assisting students to have a good command of a foreign language which enables them to independently and confidently communicate, study and work in a multilingual and multicultural environment of integration; to turn foreign languages into a strength of the Vietnamese people to serve national industrialization and modernization. (Prime Minister, 2008, p. 1) This orientation informs the policy goal of developing communicative skills for Vietnamese students. As demonstrated previously, EFL teaching and learning is promoted in the Vietnamese educational system. English proficiency enables those who wish to learn abroad or work and live in an English-speaking environment in Vietnam or in other countries (Duong, 2011; Hoang, 2010). As a result, the curriculum makes a strong case for English learning and intercultural learning. The curriculum aims to develop students’ four English skills and set up a foundation for the improvement of these skills at a higher level. However, the real EFL teaching and learning quality cannot help students obtain the required English level or assist them in strengthening their language proficiency. Vietnamese students cannot communicate with English-speaking people in the most common cases or use English socially in the workplace (Duong, 2011; Kieu, 2010).

Current challenges Vietnamese EFL education has made significant progress; however there exist many challenges which affect classroom practice. A recent study was conducted at English-major and non-English major institutions in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. There were 20 teachers from the English Faculty at these universities who agreed to participate in the research. All of the teachers were female and had a wide range of experience, from 13 to 21 years. They were trained as EFL teachers at either University of Languages and International Studies or Hanoi University. Of the 15 EFL teachers, 13 of them hold Master’s degrees as their highest qualification. At the data collection time, there were two teachers awarded doctoral degrees in EFL teaching and two teachers doing doctoral courses in linguistics. Survey questionnaires and face-to-face interviews were two strategies employed to construct the data for the study. The findings indicate six common challenges faced by EFL teachers. These challenges relate to the culture

Current challenges 43 of teaching and learning in the Vietnamese EFL context, large-sized classes, lack of teaching facilities, inappropriate materials, students’ low motivation, and the testing-oriented system. Further, this study found that cultural factors related to a Confucian education philosophy, time constraints, students’ low and unequal English proficiency, and their limited knowledge in the field of ESP teaching affect EFL teachers’ work at non-English major institutions.

Teaching and learning culture EFL teachers must negotiate the Vietnamese traditional and Western educational learning economies. Asian education privileges teachers as the authoritative transmitters of knowledge (V. C. Le, 2011) and students as “passive, rote learners” (Pennycook, 1998, p. 162) who prefer listening and compliance (Kyung Soon & Angela, 2006). Constructivist Western teachers and students are normatively different: teachers act as facilitators who provide guidance and promote communication; students develop independent and competitive learning strategies (V. C. Le, 2011; Lewis & McCook, 2002). These two educational traditions exist in Vietnamese EFL classrooms. Cultural differences in English teaching and learning methodologies challenge Vietnamese EFL teachers and students. Lecturing is still the most popular technique Vietnamese EFL teachers employ (V. C. Le, 2011). Students are highly dependent on these lectures and are given few opportunities to practice English communication skills. English lessons tend to emphasise the development of language knowledge, but do not address “professional or common skills such as team work, oral and written communication in English, project management, problem solving methods, initiative-taking, lifelong learning, etc.” (Director, Doughty, Gray, Hopcroft, & Silvera, 2006, p. 11). This pedagogy does not develop students’ independent and critical-thinking skills. Yet, some Vietnamese EFL teachers involve students in varied and engaging classroom activities such as discussion, paired and group work, and presentation. However, these teaching methods are not appreciated as being effective, especially by non-English major students, who as passive learners are unfamiliar with what these pedagogies ask them to do and are reluctant to express their ideas or raise questions. Vietnamese students’ learning is limited to the classroom context (T. M. H. Nguyen, 2007). Teachers generally organise EFL lessons where students are provided opportunities to practice their English with other students. Furthermore, they bring students to the world of English-speaking people by utilising authentic documents such as pictures and posters or by providing them with opportunities to learn about foreign cultures by watching movies, reading stories etc. By doing this, teachers support students in building an English intercultural learning environment. However, similar culture-based activities that are designed to enhance students’ independent learning outside English classrooms are overlooked. Vietnamese students are not familiar with communicating in English, have difficulty gaining access to other cultures, and have little contact with foreigners. As a result, students have a lack of practical skills and strategies with which to facilitate

44  Current challenges appropriate interactions in English. English, much like any other academic subject, tends to be taught and used only inside the classroom. As a result, the quality of the teaching in EFL classrooms is low. After completing a course, students are often still unable to use English to communicate effectively. Vietnamese tertiary EFL teachers focus on teaching linguistic elements. They divide instruction to cover separate linguistic elements, such as: Grammar, Vocabulary, Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking, and Pronunciation. They provide practicing activities and exercises aimed at developing students’ mastery of grammatical structures and syntactic rules. EFL teachers are flexible and responsive in adjusting their teaching to offer students guidance in learning grammar, appropriate pronunciation, new vocabulary etc. across the four language modalities – listening, speaking, reading, and writing. However, they develop students’ linguistic competence rather than communicative competence. The teachers rarely provide students with opportunities to practice their English skills through student-centred activities. English teaching tends to be conducted with the aim of deepening students’ understanding about language elements. Thus, we would argue that Vietnamese teachers’ teaching practices do not meet the requirement of teaching both linguistic and communicative competence required by Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) pedagogy. CLT is basically focused on acquiring the necessary skills to communicate and participate in teaching techniques such as role play and real situations. Teachers act as the guides and students take the initiative of language learning; language is used “productively and receptively in any unrehearsed situations” (Brown, 1994, p. 245). However, EFL teachers of this current study did not focus on providing students with opportunities to use their studied language for communicative purposes. Most frequently used classroom activities such as lectures, sentence making, and exercise practicing limited teachers to “engage students in the pragmatic, authentic, and functional use of language for meaningful purposes” (Brown, 1994, p. 245).

Large EFL classes Large classes negatively affect Vietnamese EFL teaching and learning (Ming & Jaya, 2011). Vietnamese tertiary EFL classes are crowded (Le, 2011; Trinh, 2016). On average, class sizes are 30 students in practical English language subjects and about 60 students in theoretical English language subjects at Englishmajor colleges/universities. The number of students in EFL classes at non-English major institutions varies from 50 to 80. Teachers have difficulty in managing these large classes and providing students with opportunities to practice English through student-focused activities such as discussion, group work, pair work etc. Crowded EFL classes hinder teachers from employing more engaging teaching methods and limit the communication between teacher and students. There was not enough time (see later section) for teachers to employ communicative techniques; their focus is on providing information through lecturing.

Current challenges 45 EFL student are restricted to acquiring linguistic knowledge rather than participating in communicative activities. The findings indicate that Vietnamese EFL teaching and learning focuses on teachers’ participation rather than students’ involvement. There is not much opportunity for students to take the initiative in EFL classrooms. CLT English learning is a way of knowing and understanding communicative interactions, together with the strategies to negotiate and adjust to different communications (Castro, Sercu, & García, 2004). It would be better for Vietnamese teachers to go beyond the stage of just providing students with information. It is more beneficial for students to have opportunity to learn EFL via practicing and experiencing themselves in the world of native English speakers.

Lack of teaching facilities The conditions for Vietnamese EFL instruction are inadequate, due to a lack of teaching facilities and self-study support materials. Various classes are not equipped with computers, loudspeakers, and projectors. The classrooms are narrow with a large number of students in each. The teaching materials are simply comprised of textbooks, blackboards, chalk, and cassette players. More importantly, reference works and publications about English-speaking countries are not available for either teachers or students at non-English major institutions. These factors hinder language teaching and learning in the Vietnamese higher education system. Specifically, Vietnamese EFL teachers are facing the inconvenience of employing technology-based activities in English lessons. As the teaching facilities are unavailable, EFL teachers tend to organise students with lectures or discussions. They simply spend time engaging their students in non-technology based activities. They rarely design classroom tasks “for which the technology served as a visual aid or used the tool to do similar non-technology based activities in a more efficient manner” (Hollebrands, McCulloch, & Lee, 2016, p. 273). The utilisation of teaching facilities, such as televisions, CD players, projectors etc. allows them to present a realistic depiction of foreign countries, through which their students could obtain a more relative understanding of people’s cultural practices or behaviour. However, they have limited opportunities with which to enable the creation of a technology-based learning environment.

Inappropriate English teaching and learning materials Within the Vietnamese context, textbooks are the most commonly used teaching resources. Vietnamese teachers base their lesson plans mainly on the textbook content. As noted earlier, there are no common English teaching materials for non-English major students. Teachers utilised various kinds of textbooks, among which some of them were used officially while others were employed as supplementary materials. The content of their currently used textbooks focuses on

46  Current challenges providing students with opportunities to develop their linguistic competence rather than allowing them to engage in more interactive and experiential learning activities for the development of communicative competence. The textbook information was dated as it reflected past issues, which happened before the publication year. Further, these textbooks were limited to the provision of cultural knowledge related to English-speaking countries rather than students’ local and international target cultures. The same challenge about the teaching materials was found among Englishmajor universities. It is reported that the most challenging problem about the teaching materials is institutionally composed textbooks. These textbooks are extracted from numerous sources to meet students’ needs and the school curriculum. They do not have clear sources of references. Teachers using these books were ashamed and frustrated as they always remind students not to plagiarise, while they do not set good examples for them to follow. Further, these compiled textbooks’ content is unsuitable and outdated. There are too many theories in the textbooks, which confuses students. Many of these theories are unessential and difficult to understand, and there are no practical exercises to apply these theories. Besides, these textbooks lack culturally appropriate topics and Vietnamese content. There are no parts about the Vietnamese country, people, economy, culture, and society.

Students’ low motivation English-major students do not put a great investment in learning although ­English is considered their job-oriented subject. Based on the findings, EFL teachers show a tendency to motivate students and make their EFL lessons easy to understand. They first give clear instructions and explain relevant theories. They then create opportunities for the students to work in pairs and in groups to exchange ideas and express themselves. However, because young learners do not have much exposure to the real life and practical experiences, they cannot meet teachers’ requirements in performing their tasks. These tasks sometimes greatly pressure students and they become frightened of communicating with their teachers. Besides, EFL teachers’ fast speed of speaking is considered a factor which prevents students from profiting from knowledge and understanding the lessons. These teachers just keep talking without caring about the learners’ learning needs and degree of taking in the knowledge. As a result, students exhibit low motivation in learning. Similarly, non-English major students do not attach much importance to ­English although it is a compulsory subject. They learn English passively and uninterestedly in order to complete the course as part of their programs. They devote little time and effort to English learning. The moral economy of Vietnamese classrooms and the shortage of teaching facilities contribute to EFL students’ lack of motivation. Vietnamese students enjoy listening to their teachers. They are afraid to make mistakes or to lose face in class. They tend to be silent and are hesitant to work out problems. They also expect the teacher to know everything

Current challenges 47 about the subject and to control the class. With regards to teachers, they are used to traditional teaching methods which focus on providing students with information. Furthermore, traditional Vietnamese EFL teachers lack teaching aids and reference materials with which to promote communicative competence. They have limited opportunities to use authentic sources from foreign communities to help students to be involved in realistic cultural experiences. Because teachers restrict their utilisation of visual aids, they cannot provoke students’ interest, curiosity, and creativity, which consequently allow them to improve their learning outcomes.

Testing-oriented system As noted, Vietnamese students have opportunities to learn English from primary to tertiary level. They can also learn English at many foreign language centres. A problematic issue in Vietnamese EFL education is that the primary purpose of learning English is simply getting a language certificate but not improving English competence. In the current Vietnamese education system, students have to face many examinations, and thus learning is characterised as an “examinationfocused” activity (Trinh, 2005, p. 15). Students are accustomed to sitting for examinations and may “achieve the highest scores in the exams but fail to show their excellence in the real life performance” (Hoang, 1999, p. 79, cited in S. T. Le, 2011). Examinations in English focus on grammar and vocabulary and are mostly constructed in written form. This kind of test-oriented system hinders teachers from teaching English for communicative purposes, as well as improving Vietnamese students’ English proficiency. Vietnamese EFL students must take the tests every semester. Teachers assess their language proficiency based on their performance on these tests. Teachers follow the curriculum assigned by the university or by MOET in order for students to pass the examinations (S. T. Le, 2011). They use a set of English tests to assess grammar and vocabulary presented in the textbooks. Although there is a link among teaching, learning, and assessment, knowledge in the examinations is more challenging than those provided in textbooks. As a result, teachers and students place more emphasis on linguistic knowledge rather than communicative strategies to enable students to do the tests well. Besides, students do not have much time for exam revision and consolidation, which makes them always stressed due to exam pressure. Teachers do not have enough time to cover both the language curriculum and to develop students’ communicative competence. They also must mark a huge quantity of students’ assignments and final tests, which constantly puts great pressure on them, especially those working with large classes and in charge of many classes simultaneously. We have presented six common challenges faced by EFL teachers either teaching at English or non-English major institutions. EFL teachers working with non-English major students seem to have more challenges in their teaching profession as they are facing four more difficulties as described in greater detail as follows.

48  Current challenges

Cultural factors Vietnam is a socialist country with different cultural values than English-­speaking countries. Collectivism and Confucian philosophy in education influence the national school system (P. M. Nguyen, Terlouw, & Pilot, 2006; Tran, 2012). All educational policies and activities are made top down from the highest authority. There are three levels within the Vietnamese hierarchical educational system, among which the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has the highest power. The second level includes tertiary institutions, and the classroom is allied to the lowest level. The MOET issues educational guidelines; the institutions follow the guiding principles; and the teachers and students make use of these guidelines. Teachers and students experience and understand most teaching and learning processes; however, their opinions and feedback are not appreciated. There is a lack of two-way interaction, which influences the development of education. Currently, EFL teachers and students lack support from the universities and the MOET. They are not provided with opportunities to develop communicative ­English teaching and learning. There are no programs to assist students in promoting English competence except 150-period GE and 45-period ESP programs defined by the MOET. There are no professional development activities such as seminars, conferences, or workshops for teachers in order to improve their teaching practices. When asked for suggestions for the university and the MOET, teachers referred to their teaching obstacles and wished to be supported in developing their EFL teaching practices, such as creating a communicative English teaching and learning environment, taking opportunities for teacher professional development etc. It is concluded that Vietnamese cultural values with top down decision making contribute to the difficulty in the process of developing EFL instruction.

Time constraints The time allocated for English is limited (see Table 4.2). GE is introduced using five periods a week for 30 weeks in three semesters, for a total of 150 periods. ESP is taught five periods a week for 9 weeks in one semester, for a total of 45 periods. Students at the Vietnamese tertiary level in general begin to study English after they have completed a 7-year English program in schools with the total of 700

Table 4.2  Allocated time for the English subject Type of English training

Amount of allocated time

Total Periods

Hours

GE

5/week/30 weeks

150

112.5

ESP

5/week/9 weeks

45

33.75

195

146.25

TOTAL

Current challenges 49 periods (Hoang, 2008; MOET, 2008). As each period is 45 minutes long, the total amount of English contact hours is 146.25 hours per academic year. Apart from English, the students take many other courses each academic week, and the total number of lectures for students ranges from 35 to 40 periods a week. The school day lasts for more than 8 hours. Because students have limited time to study ­English in classrooms, an increasing number of students join additional private English evening classes. This is common for university students in Ho Chi Minh City where 51% of all students take extra English courses (Vu & Nguyen, 2004).

Students’ low and uneven English proficiency Vietnamese tertiary students had low English competence. Despite spending up to 7 years learning English at lower and upper secondary schools, they obtain a limited English level. Few students have basic grammatical knowledge while almost all of them are at beginning level. Vietnamese tertiary students come from different places in the country, which contributes to differing English abilities. Those who live and learn in big cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Da Nang etc. are assumed to have better English mastery compared with those in rural areas. In EFL classes, it is difficult for teachers to conduct teaching and learning activities. When dealing with a specific textbook content, some students could understand the knowledge provided while others could not. Non-English-major students do not have to test English in their entrance exams, which results in a disparity of English abilities. Many universities decide to classify students’ start-up English levels to make it easier for teaching and learning by group levels. However, such a teaching model has not been deployed in some universities due to their management system, while in others the implementation of these English classes is not appropriate. The common prospect of Vietnamese tertiary EFL education can be still understood to include students with unequal English levels and having them in the same class. This fact brings some negative consequences as follows: (1) it demotivates students who have sound English competence because they have to re-start learning English from the beginning level; (2) it worries students who have limited ­English abilities because they may feel inferior to their friends; and (3) EFL teachers find it hard to organise classroom activities, especially taking care of each student.

Teachers are not trained to teach ESP Beside teaching GE, EFL teachers are responsible for teaching ESP. Almost all EFL teachers find it hard to teach ESP. They are trained to work as EFL teachers whose duties are to develop students’ English proficiency. They have limited knowledge in ESP courses such as English for IT Students, English for Fine Art Students, or English for Students of Mathematics. They do not completely understand specialised terminologies provided in ESP textbooks. They therefore have to spend more time and effort increasing their knowledge in the students’ professional field and designing lessons. Some teachers decide to adjust the textbook

50  Current challenges content or use supplementary materials; however, they struggle with text selection for adaptation. Not being experts in the students’ specific area, they cannot determine which kind of text should be revised. Further, the modified text should not be too difficult as neither teachers nor students have a high level of specialised knowledge. Also, the text must not be too easy as students may lose their motivation.

Recommendations for EFL teaching and learning in Vietnam In this chapter, we have provided a discussion about factors causing the poor quality of Vietnamese tertiary EFL education. Based on these challenges, to improve the teaching and learning of English in Vietnamese higher institutions, we present some recommendations as follows: The culture of teaching and learning in the Vietnamese context is not effective for certain shy and passive learners. To solve the problem, teachers should become friendlier with the students to be able to understand the students’ needs and wants as well as their learning styles. Teachers should also have suitable techniques to check the students’ thorough understanding of the lessons and have proper adjustments in their teaching methods. Another solution is that the combination of both the learner-centred approach and teacher-centred approach should be adopted, although the learner-centred should be more favoured and widely applied than the teacher-centred. The teachers can also resort to varied motivation-enhancing strategies and create small projects for the students to participate to develop self-learning strategies and express themselves confidently. The process of teaching and learning English in the Vietnamese context focuses on examinations. Students are used to taking tests and teachers’ assessments of students’ English proficiency are based on their performance in these tests. The suggestion is that the knowledge in the exam should be closely connected with the knowledge during the process of teaching and learning. Exam questions should evoke students’ creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills instead of just checking students’ rote memorisation of the learned knowledge. Final tests can be replaced by other forms of assessment such as writing essays, writing assignments, doing projects, making portfolios, or making presentations. Another recommendation is that testing methods should be renovated by alleviating the number of regular tests and assignments in one subject. Instead of having to take the exam right after finishing the subject, students should have time for better revision for the exam. In addition, the lecturers should be financially supported when marking a great number of essays, portfolios, projects, and other kinds of assignment. In light of the CLT pedagogy, the teaching of the English language requires teachers to assess students’ linguistic and cultural competence (Skopinskaja, 2009). It is necessary for educational authorities and policy makers to be aware of the need to provide teachers with instructions about teaching and learning assessment from a CLT perspective. These issues may help teachers change their ways of teaching and assess students’ learning outcomes to meet the aim of developing students’ English communicative competence.

Current challenges 51 The large-sized classes and the lack of modern technology such as computers, loudspeakers, and projectors make it difficult for the teachers to manage the class and organise group learning activities. To tackle these troubles, it is essential to restrict the number of students to about 20 in each class as this will be convenient for both teachers and students to apply new teaching and learning methods. Apart from chalks, blackboards, and cassette players, more sophisticated and modern facilities such as computers and projectors should be installed in all the classrooms. It is necessary to improve teaching and learning facilities to support EFL education in ways that provide teachers and students with opportunities to make their lessons more meaningful and motivating by making use of visual aids and the application of modern technology. Students can obtain much more information than they can without visual support, and consequently they can enhance their understanding of a new concept and improve their learning outcomes. At the university level, it is recommended to define English proficiency required for each learning stage (English proficiency requirement after each semester) to help students obtain appropriate English mastery required by the MOET. There should be a department which oversees classifying students’ start-up English levels and testing their after-course English abilities. There should be a supportive environment for EFL teachers and students in teaching and learning English upon CLT pedagogy. The policy makers at both the university level and national level need to provide their teachers with opportunities to improve their professional qualifications and capacities, as well as their pedagogical knowledge and skills. To make this support possible, educational authorities and policy makers should send EFL teachers to national or international professional development programs that are related to the teaching and learning of English language in the globalised world and will introduce teachers to new teaching goals, practical techniques, and teaching materials etc. Further, they need to make sure all teachers are informed about these programs so that they will not miss opportunities to update their knowledge and teaching methods. Although EFL teachers at English-major institutions have various priorities for professional development activities from the board of school administrators, it is recommended that more workshops, conferences, and activities for the teachers to exchange experiences and improve teaching methodology continue to be organised.

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52  Current challenges Duong, T. T. U. (2011). Một số góp ý về việc giúp sinh viên phát triển kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh ở Trường Đại học Kinh tế TP.HCM để đáp ứng yêu cầu của nhà tuyển dụng (Some suggestions for students to develop English speaking skill at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City in order to meet the requirement of employers). Paper presented at the Nâng cao hiệu quả dạy và học tiếng Anh tại đại học Kinh tế TP.HCM (Enhancing the effectiveness of English teaching and learning at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City), Trường Đại học Kinh tế TP.HCM (University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City). Retrieved from http://bnn.ueh. edu.vn/hoi_thao_26_10_2011.htm Ho Chi Minh People Committee. (2014). Quyết định số 384/GDĐT-VP về chuẩn đầu ra Tiếng Anh của học sinh, sinh viên TP. HCM (Decision No 384/GDĐT-VP on standardised English competence of Ho Chi Minh City students). Ho Chi Minh City: Ho Chi Minh Department of Education and Training. Ho, S. T. K. (2009). Addressing culture in EFL classrooms: The challenge of shifting from a traditional to an intercultural stance. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 6(1), 63–76. Hoang, T. (1999). Learner’s fondness for knowledge revisited? Giáo dục và Thời đại (Education and Times Newspaper). Hoang, V. V. (2008). Những yếu tố ảnh hưởng đến chất lượng đào tạo tiếng Anh không chuyên ở Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội (Factors affecting the teaching quality for non-English major students at Ha Noi National University) Tạp chí Khoa học ĐHQGHA (Journal of Science, Ha Noi National University), 24, 22–37. Hoang, V. V. (2010). The current situations and issues of teaching of English in ­Vietnam. Ritsumeikan Language Culture Study, 22(1), 7–18. Hollebrands, K., McCulloch, A. W., & Lee, H., S. (2016). Prospective teachers’ Incorporation of technology in mathematics lesson plans. In M. Niess, S. Driskell, & K. Hollebrands (Eds.), Handbook of research on transforming mathematics teacher education in the digital age (pp. 272–292). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Kieu, H. K. A. (2010). Use of Vietnamese in English language teaching in Vietnam: Attitudes of Vietnamese University teachers. English Language Teaching, 3(2), 119–128. Kyung Soon, L., & Angela, C. (2006). Korean college students in United States: Perceptions of professors and students. College Student Journal, 40(2), 442–456. Le, H. T. (2013). ELT in Vietnam general and tertiary education from second language education perspectives. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 29(1), 65–71. Le, S. T. (2011). Teaching English in Vietnam: Improving the provision in the private sector. (Doctoral dissertation), Victoria University. Le, V. C. (2011). Form-focused instruction: A case study of Vietnamese teachers’ beliefs and practices. (Doctoral dissertation), University of Waikato. Lewis, M., & McCook, F. (2002). Cultures of teaching: Voices from Vietnam. ELT Journal, 56(2), 146–153. Mai, N. K. (2014). Towards a Holistic approach to developing the language proficiency of Vietnamese primary teachers of English. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 11(2), 341–357. Ming, C., & Jaya, S. G. (2011). Factors affecting the implementation of communicative language teaching in Taiwanese college English classes. English Language Teaching, 4(2), 3–10. MOET. (2008). The project: Teaching and learning English language in the national education system from 2008 to 2020. Hanoi, Vietnam: Education Publishing House.

Current challenges 53 MOET. (2014). Khung Năng Lực Ngoại Ngữ 6 Bậc dùng cho Việt Nam (Vietnamese 6-level foreign language competence framework). Ha Noi, Vietnam: Education Publishing House. Nguyen, P. M., Terlouw, C., & Pilot, A. (2006). Culturally appropriate pedagogy: The case of group learning in a Confucian Heritage Culture context. Intercultural Education, 17(1), 1–19. doi:10.1080/14675980500502172 Nguyen, T. M. H. (2007). Developing EFL learners’ intercultural communicative competence: A gap to be filled? Asian EFL Journal, 21, 122–139. Pennycook, A. (1998). English and the discourse of colonialism. London: Routledge. Prime Minister. (2008). Quyết định số 1400/QĐ-TTg phê duyệt đề án “Dạy và học Ngoại ngữ trong hệ thống Giáo dục Quốc dân giai đoạn 2008–2020” (Decision No 1400/ QĐ-TTg on the approval of the project “Teaching and learning English language in the National education system from 2008 to 2020”. Hanoi, Vietnam: MOET. Prime Minister. (2012). Quyết định số 711/QĐ-TTg về việc phê duyệt “Chiến lược phát triển giáo dục 2011–2020” (Decision No 711/QĐ-TTg on education and training development period 2011–2020). Hanoi, Vietnam: MOET. Prime Minister. (2014). Thông tư số 01/2014/TT-BGDĐT Ban hành Khung năng lực ngoại ngữ 6 bậc dùng cho Việt Nam (Circular No 01/2014/TT-BGDĐT issued in relation to Vietnamese 6-level foreign language competence framework). Hanoi, Vietnam: MOET. Prime Minister. (2017). Quyết định số 2080/QĐ-TTg về việc phê duyệt điều chỉnh, bổ sung đề án dạy và học ngoại ngữ trong hệ thống giáo dục quốc dân giai đoạn 2017– 2025 (Decision No 2080/QĐ-TTg on the approval of revising and supplementing the project on teaching and learning English language in the National education system period 2017–2025). Hanoi, Vietnam: MOET. Skopinskaja, L. (2009). Assessing intercultural communicative competence: Test construction issues. Pays Riverains de la Baltique, 6, 135–144. Tran, T. T. (2012). Is the learning approach of students from the Confucian heritage culture problematic? Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 12(1), 57–65. Trinh, Q. L. (2005). Stimulating learner autonomy in English language education: A curriculum innovation study in a Vietnamese context. (Doctoral dissertation), University of Amsterdam. Trinh, T. T. H. (2016). Achieving cultural competence in Vietnamese EFL classes: A case study from an intercultural communicative competence perspective. (Dotoral dissertation), University of Newcastle, Australia. Vu, T. P. A. (2007). Học Tiếng Anh 10 năm không sử dụng được: Đâu là nguyên nhân và có chăng một giải pháp (Ten years for learning English at school but students cannot use the language: What are the reasons and what are the solutions?). Viet Bao. Retrieved from http://vietbao.vn/Giao-duc/Hoc-tieng-Anh-10-namtrong-truong-khong-su-dung-duoc-Kiem-tra-danh-gia-dang-la-khau-yeu-nhat/ 40224569/202/ Vu, T. P. A., & Nguyen, B. H. (2004). Năng lực Tiếng Anh của sinh viên các trường đại học trên địa bàn TP. HCM trước yêu cầu của một nền kinh tế tri thức: Thực trạng và những giải pháp (English competence of tertiary students in Ho Chi Minh City: Current situation and solutions). Ho Chi Minh: University of Science and Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City.

5 Vietnamese higher education language planning and university students’ career development Thuy Bui, Thi Thom Thom Nguyen and An Duc Nguyen The expansion of English language education (ELE) has been motivated via persistent and questionable assumptions regarding the role of English in preparing university students for the job market (Seargeant & Erling, 2013; British Council, 2014). The diversification of the economy in Asia is the impetus for the rise of English language education reforms (Erling, 2014; Coleman, 2011). Students are required to learn English to foster their employability (Erling, 2014). Facility in English is central to achieving more desirable jobs (Aslam, M., De, A., ­Kingdon, G. & Kumar, R., 2010; Grin, 2001; Ku & Zussman, 2010). Various studies in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have explored the extent to which university students were prepared in learn English to advance their careers (Coleman, 2011; Erling & Seargeant, 2013). Research on the relationship between English language policy planning and Vietnamese students’ employability is scant given recent extensive ELE reforms. The global expansion of English has powerfully driven wide-ranging Vietnamese language policy shifts. The current policy promotes English as a competitive edge that supports the nation’s socio-economic development. English education is mandated for all students. Since the 2000s, English has been emphasised as the vital skill-set necessary for Vietnamese students to fully participate in the twenty-first century, which will enable them in achieving success, privilege, and high status in regional and global employability (Nguyen, T. T. T., forthcoming). Calling on data from a recent mixed method study in four universities in different sub-regions across North Vietnam, this chapter describes the role that the current Vietnamese English language policies play in fostering university students’ employability. Between September and December 2016, we delivered surveys to 527 full time undergraduate in 20 different majors such as Sewing and Fashion Technology, Accounting, Economics, Information Technology, Physics, and Mathematics (See Table 5.1). Most of the participants (97.9 %) had learned English for more than 7 years prior to their university enrolment. They all took 14-credit-hour English courses at their university and were required to meet their institutional English requirements as per graduation

Vietnamese higher education 55 Table 5.1  General information on the research sites and participants University

Number of Number Majors of students surveyed full-time of students students surveyed

University 1 10,000

123

Sewing and Fashion Technology, Accounting, Economics, Information Technology

University 2 10,000

142

Physics, Mathematics, Mathematics-English Pedagogy, Information Technology, Primary Education, Nursery Education, Tourism, Vietnam Studies – Cultural Tourism

University 3 15,000

132

Agriculture, Economics, Electro-mechanics

University 4

130

Economics, Biology-Chemistry, Mathematics, Information Technology, Environment

5,000

criteria. We also invited three EFL lecturers and five students from each of the four universities to voluntarily participate in individual semi-structured interviews (n = 32). Each interview was within 15 to 20 minutes and accomplished outside classroom hours. Both the quantitative and qualitative data analysis indicated lecturers’ and students’ perceptions regarding students’ employability capacity. Students tended to show their lack of confidence in their English skills for employability as well as their poor command of career-related skills performed in English. Grounded on Bourdieu’s social reproduction theories and the notions of development and a review of the Vietnamese policy frame for tertiary ELE and employability, we discuss a mismatch between university students’ English language learning and employability. When current tertiary English programs fail to address students’ needs for improving their English skills and soft skills required for their future career such as debating and presenting in English, students tend to lose opportunities to possess Bourdieu’s linguistic capital. Students can hardly access other related capitals to take full advantage of their potential, leading to a question of how they can set a secured foundation for their individual future and multifaceted developments, let alone the goal of national development as targeted in the policy. This chapter is therefore organised in two sections and advances three related arguments. We first review the current policy frame for tertiary ELE and employability, then discuss the application of Bourdieu’s social reproduction theories and the notions of development to Vietnamese language policies. These reviews set foundations for our further discussions regarding (1) disconnect between English language programs and employability, (2) disconnect between English language programs and career-related skills, and (3) facilitating students’ employability, as presented in the sections that follow.

56  Vietnamese higher education

Tertiary English language education and employability As discussed in previous chapters, prominent political and economic shifts of the nation since the time of Doi Moi (Renovation) have posed various English language policy reforms in Vietnam. Under the socialist-oriented market economy and with a strong attempt to save the country from potential economic isolation after a 10-year period (1975–1985), Doi Moi decentralises the state’s power over private and local enterprises and foster multi-dimensional domestic and international collaborations. Such a less authoritarian, more multifaceted, multi-segmented model of governance (McCargo, 2004; Gainsborough, 2010) has flourished in wide-ranging education and language reforms, including the rapidly growing demand to learn English in Vietnam (Bui, T. T. N. & Nguyen, 2016). The National Foreign Languages Project 2020 (hereafter referred to as the 2020 project) launched in 2008 has received noticeable attention, as it is by far the most marked language reform of the nation. The project puts a great emphasis on equipping young Vietnamese citizens with English language skills for the strong development of both national and regional employability, as well as job competitions, especially in the context of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation’s (ASEAN) economic integration (Government of Vietnam, 2008). This policy calls for great innovation in ELE across all education levels and disciplines. To prepare for the English expansion, the state has fostered a series of top-down strategic activities ranging from establishing national language testing centres, developing intensive English programs for both teachers and students at colleges and universities, and offering intensive courses in English for specific majors such as engineering, tourism, business, finance, and technology (Plan 808/KH-BGDĐT, 2012). Pedagogically, the national language policy reforms encourage student-centred approaches to be widely applied in the English curriculum, stimulating students’ creativity and engagement in the learning process. As part of the 2020 project and in the newly arisen context of a competencebased approach in assessment, university graduates have been trained to own a certified level of English, equivalently ranging from B1 – CEFR for English nonmajors – to C1 for English majors. Institutional provision of English language programs and standardised qualifications aim at catering for a higher demand of both domestic and international labour forces. The policy has also facilitated innovative curriculum and English teacher education, especially sending teachers abroad in collaboration with regional and international counterparts to promote English in the nation (Bui, T. T. N.& Nguyen, 2016). Though aspirational, this policy seems ambitious in its objectives, thus leaving a vague impact on the students’ employability. After two thirds of the time frame (2008–2016), the 2020 project was reported to be infeasible in terms of overspread and “loud” goals, with much less than 50% of the set tasks being fulfilled. Representatives of the Ministry of Education and Training admitted that most English language teachers were under- standardised. Teachers’ poor instructional quality resulted in students’ poor English competencies, which could hardly satisfy the purposes of employability (Luong, 2016). The goals of the 2020 project,

Vietnamese higher education 57 accordingly, have been re-considered with a prolonged timeline up to the year 2025 suggested, with the newly lesson-drawn modifications targeting to enhance English for employability for 100% of non-English major graduates, 90% of vocational students, and 60% of employees in public sectors (Hoang, 2016). This fact resulted in a re-emphasis of the connectedness between ELE education and employability, stated in an official refreshed version of the 2020 project, called the 2025 project, launched by the Vietnamese government in late December 2017. The 2025 project addresses three general goals: (1) renovating foreign languages education ​​in the national education system, continuing to implement new foreign language programs at all levels, and improving learners’ foreign languages competence ​​to meet the study and work demand; (2) strengthening the competitiveness of human resources in the integration period, contributing to the purpose of national development; and (3) establishing a nationwide foreign language foundation for general education in 2025 (Government of Vietnam, 2017). Despite the intensive emphasis on English, researchers (e.g. Tollefson, 2013; Phillipson, 2012) and scholars focusing on the role of ELE (e.g. Ferguson, 2013; Seargeant & Erling, 2013) express their great concern for the vitality of ­English for career development because the notion of English in development is largely contested, complex, and controversial. Thus, to understand the role of the current ELP to the students’ development, in the following section, we utilise Bourdieu’s social reproduction theories and the notion of development as a theoretical foundation for our study.

Applying Bourdieu’s theories of social reproduction and the notions of development to Vietnamese English language policies Studies unravelling cross-disciplinary relationships between inequality and power widely employed social reproduction theories developed by critical theorist, Pierre Bourdieu. Bourdieu maintains that education discourses – including educational mandates, curriculum, and evaluation systems – function as a de facto mechanism to legitimate social inequalities because they often reward students from the dominant groups with legitimised knowledge and skills to obtain socioeconomic and political distinctions (Grenfell, 2012; Hanks, 2005). Insufficient academic distinctions sanctioned and naturalised by the dominant discourse may lock working-class students into low social and economic ramifications (Kramsch, 2008). Social reproduction is largely operated through the intersection of censorship, symbolic power, capital, field, and habitus (Grenfell, 2012). Educational discourses critically establish habitus – a well-recognised and transposable d ­ isposition – that one must possess to develop successful ways to being, seeing, and obtaining social status. Habitus further embodies ways of communicating, socialising, and understanding forms and formalities that are legitimised by the expectations of upper class members (Hanks, 2005). Along with habitus, Bourdieu holds that cultural capital, the independent form of knowledge, dispositions, and aesthetic codes,

58  Vietnamese higher education critically fabricates cultural reproduction. Therefore, success or failure in the education system is contingent on individual gifts one possesses. Linguistic capital, which is formed through cultural capital, functions as a symbolic power authorised by a certain dominant cultural milieu. Linguistic capital sanctions certain ways of speaking while de facto silencing others, intimidating or censoring other speeches. An effect that Bourdieu alludes to is “censorship naturalization” – “the muting of critique and individual expression according to what is rewarded or sanctioned in the field” (Hanks, 2005, p. 76). Bourdieu’s (1991, p. 97) social reproduction theory represents structured social spaces formed by discourse and social activity. Social reproduction theory suggests critical implications around the need for students to be aware of knowledge, dispositions, language, and literacy as situated practices manifesting larger systems of power relations, both in their education system and the society at large (Grenfell, 2012; Kramsch, 2008).

Notions of development In promoting English for personal and national development, several scholars hold that the concept of development is contested, multi-layered, and transformed over time. In the late 1940s, while the term development was fundamentally limited to economic growth, new perspectives of human development and social change have been greatly inclusive (Coleman, 2010). Development embodies a process to improve economic and social needs in terms of good governance, human rights, welfare, freedoms of social and economic engagement, employability, health care, and civil rights (e.g. Coleman, 2011; Bruthiaux 2002). Development is also defined as freedom to accommodate voices and choices, which gives rise for participation in planning and implementing interventions for human beings (Seargeant & Erling, 2013). Development has been intrinsically linked to education in a sense that education offers the knowledge economy for national development. Scholars argue that language proficiency and literacy programs function as the heart of advancing human capital and sources for development into other disciplines, which significantly fosters wide-ranging economic and social dimensions and functions as an essential source of high income, better health care, and environmental protections (Coleman, 2010; Kirkpatrick & Sussex, 2012; Seargeant & Erling, 2013). Similarly, English has been promoted as a vital literacy instrument for ameliorating socio-economic and cultural capital for people (Seargeant & Erling, 2013). Notions of development and Bourdieu’s theories of social reproduction offer a crucial framework for the interpretation of employability development in the current Vietnam English language policies. In this chapter, we see that both the theories and the notion of development are interrelated. While cultural capital, especially English language capital that students gain from the current ELP, can help accumulate other social gifts such as power, economic benefits, and political distinctions, the notion of development is not restricted to economic development but highly and inclusively secures one’s rights, privileges, health, education,

Vietnamese higher education 59 and social well-being. We utilise the theories and the concept of development to draw implications as to whether the current English language policies endow students with sufficient linguistic capital to obtain employability advantages and other forms of capital in life. We question whether there is any strong form of English language capital produced by the current ELP to support students, or whether such English language policies greatly disadvantage them in employability. Building from the notion of development and the social reproduction theories, we assume that if students possess a strong form of English language capital, such capital can offer an interpretation to their future employability and development. In other words, English language capital can help give rise to students’ other and abundant forms of capital, which enables them to negotiate social, educational, and economic advancement. In this chapter, we further discuss this assumption via our research findings presented in the following section.

Disconnect between English language programs and employability Our analysis of the data indicated that English language programs played a minimum role in supporting students’ English for employability skills. A large percentage of students (greater than 70% to 80%) were uncertain of their abilities to accomplish various activities in English such as listening to different topics (14.04% and 67.74% for “very unconfident” and “unconfident”, respectively), collecting information (29.41% and 48.01%), answering phone inquiries (20.49% and 58.44%), and ability to understand human resource documents (22.96% and 54.65%) in English (See Table 5.2). Moreover, students were very uncertain of handling other activities at the workplace including understanding schedules, reading comprehension, reading information on the company websites, and creating documents, letters, reports, and invoices in English. Students’ limited English for employability skills was explained by various factors from the university English programs themselves to the issues related to students’ learning. Both the lecturers and students interviewed tended to agree that the lack of an emphasis on communicative teaching hindered most of the students from communicating in English effectively or taking over various tasks in English. A student of economics indicated a reality of his English: I am not confident with my English for employability because our English program in Vietnam does not focus on educating students for communicative skills but on grammar and theories. Moreover, I did not learn English systematically when I was young so I am afraid of re-learning it. Other students encountered the same issue with communicating in English because they did not feel confident, and they failed to respond naturally. Consequently, students did not feel confident about job environments which require English. An expression of a math student further explained students’ uncertainty about their communication skill. He confessed: “I am not confident with my

155 74 108 108 115 62 113 86 96 86 121 112

105 117 96 106 85 112 136 138 140 128

  I English skills  1 Ability to collect information  2 Ability to listen to different topics  3 Ability to communicate  4 Ability to answer phone inquiries  5 Ability to do presentations  6 Ability to introduce yourself  7 Ability to answer interview questions  8 Ability to comprehend readings  9 Ability to understand timetables and job-related agendas 10 Ability to read information regarding companies online 11 Ability to understand human resource policies 12 Ability to create documents, for example, letters, instructions, annoucements, forms, and email

II English as an employability skill 13 Ability to work with colleagues in groups 14 Ability to solve problems 15 Ability to share, collaborate, support, and cooperate 16 Ability to use information technology 17 Ability to do business in English 18 Ability to function as a leader 19 Ability to debate 20 Ability to find good jobs 21 Ability to work with people worldwide 22 Ability to search for scholarships to study abroad to develop your professionalism 19.92 22.20 18.22 20.11 16.13 21.25 25.81 26.19 26.57 24.29

29.41 14.04 20.49 20.49 21.82 11.76 21.44 16.32 18.22 16.32 22.96 21.25

281 291 295 272 272 268 285 263 266 240

253 357 281 308 253 229 285 236 264 286 288 271

53.32 55.22 55.98 51.61 51.61 50.85 54.08 49.91 50.47 45.54

48.01 67.74 53.32 58.44 48.01 43.45 54.08 44.78 50.09 54.27 54.65 51.42

%

N

n

%

2 – Unconfident

1 – Very unconfident

Table 5.2  Student’s English skills and English as an employability skill

71 55 69 82 93 72 47 59 54 40

72 51 60 59 80 161 59 127 86 94 47 66

n

13.47 10.44 13.09 15.56 17.65 13.66 8.92 11.20 10.25 7.59

13.66 9.68 11.39 11.20 15.18 30.55 11.20 24.10 16.32 17.84 8.92 12.52

%

3 – Confident

13 9 13 17 16 14 10 8 12 7

8 7 26 10 22 22 19 18 13 17 12 10

n

2.47 1.71 2.47 3.23 3.04 2.66 1.90 1.52 2.28 1.33

1.52 1.33 4.93 1.90 4.17 4.17 3.61 3.42 2.47 3.23 2.28 1.90

%

4 – Very confident

57 55 54 50 61 61 49 59 55 112

39 38 52 42 57 53 51 60 68 44 59 68

n

10.82 10.44 10.25 9.49 11.57 11.57 9.30 11.20 10.44 21.25

7.40 7.21 9.87 7.97 10.82 10.06 9.68 11.39 12.90 8.35 11.20 12.90

%

5 – Not sure

Vietnamese higher education 61 English for job related purposes in the future because my English skills are not enough for communication”. The students’ responses greatly echoed the lecturers’ perspectives that their students’ English was limited. The lecturers were sceptical about students’ capability to function at a workplace that requires English. They reflected that “most students think that their English is not sufficient for employability purposes”, or “only a small number of students have enough English knowledge and skills for English-related jobs”. As a result, students must go back to their university to “relearn English” to meet their job requirements. Summarising, it seems that the English programs played a fragile role in helping both the lecturers and students feel confident about students’ English for employability. Such uncertainty was rather complex and contingent on wideranging issues including program development, students’ unsystematic English language education, lack of environment to practice communicative English, and students’ low motivation to learn the subject.

Disconnect between English language programs and career-related skills The English language programs seemed to insufficiently prepare students to perform career skills in English when the students’ level of certainty about performing career skills in English was rather low. Students indicated they were largely incapable of debating (25.81% and 54.08%), solving problems (22.2% and 55.22%), and working with people worldwide (26.57% and 50.47%). Besides these activities, most of them were incapable of performing many other careerrelated skills including group work, interpersonal skills, using technology, leadership, finding good jobs, and searching for scholarships in English. Accomplishing career skills in English such as these seemed to be unachievable when both the lecturers and students encountered various challenges. While lecturers indicated that students “are lazy” and “do not want to talk”, many students faced problems with the lack of vocabulary to express their ideas and making mistakes in speaking. Consequently, students’ performance of skills such as problem solving, group work, debate, and leadership performed in English only ranged from insufficient to average level. A lecturer’s response further highlighted students’ career skill performance: Students are unable to work in groups effectively so sometimes we must ask them to prepare topics in both Vietnamese and English. Students do not want to talk. With problem solving skill, students do not attempt to think because they are familiar with lecturers providing options for them to choose from. Therefore, they can’t think about solutions and even if they have some solutions, they are unable to express them in English. Commenting on the students’ debating or presentation skills, she further added that “students do not want to talk because their vocabulary is limited. They speak slowly and have many repetitive phrases or sentences”.

62  Vietnamese higher education Regarding the students’ ability to communicate with people in the workplace and worldwide in English, all students asked indicated that they were not confident as their English and communicative skills were inadequate. The students’ expressions further showed the similar trend in terms of the students’ communicative skills in the workplace. Sharing the same perspective, almost all the lecturers were ambivalent about the students’ ability to communicate with others in English in their workplace. A lecturer in business management reflected: I think students can only function some simple conversations in English. Only a small number of students can work effectively with people in the region and worldwide in English. When students are not confident about their English ability, they are not able to perform soft skill activities such as debating, presentation, working in groups, and showing their role as a leader in English effectively. The reasons for all this resulted from the students’ English ability and teaching pedagogies embedded in their English courses. Thus, while this study exclusively focuses on the role of English with the students’ career development, its implication has been drawn from not only English programs but also ways of doing education at the tertiary level. We will discuss this in more detail in the implications at the end of this study.

Facilitating students’ employability Our further inquiry into improving students’ English as an employable attribute obtained several suggestions from both the students’ and lecturers’ perspectives. Recommendations elicited from our study place a great emphasis on appropriate teaching methods, diversifying language programs, and offering multiple skill-based courses for job applications at the institutions. Students’ requests illuminated their needs for having meaningful, practical, and hands-on teaching pedagogies as well as opportunities to practice job interviews. Talking about the institutional language program improvement, a student recommended: We need to practice our communicative skills. Also, the university programs are unpractical and the teaching methods are not very easy to understand. Thus, we need to be offered with more practical, comprehensive, and impressive lectures. Regarding teaching methods, the lecturers stressed the importance of offering appropriate teaching methods that are “appropriate with students’ needs, ages, and soft skills” and “help students to be more active learners”. In addition to improving teaching methods, it is essential to devote more time in teaching students more about listening and speaking skills because students “have learned mainly reading and writing” in their secondary and high schools. More activities such as English clubs and interacting with employers would offer

Vietnamese higher education 63 students ample opportunities to sharpen their English and English-related skills. Likewise, structuring institutional English programs with diverse soft skill courses and job searching workshops would help students feel more prepared with their English skills for their future employment. This reflection manifested many other students’ need to be equipped with more skill courses. This student expressed: “We need to practice soft skills such as communication, debating, and technology much more in our university”. Suggestions from the lecturers and students further highlighted the need to have a program development division in each university which can “collaborate with companies to know their demands for employees” to “tailor programs according to employers’ needs”. This division will ease the lecturers’ burden in terms of time constraints while supporting them in incorporating “employment scenarios” and information on the labour market in their teaching. A lecturer of automobile major recommended adding English for job interviews in her institutional curriculum and improving assessment tools to better aim at outcome-based assessment. For example, students’ English competence should also be officially measured in terms of communicative skills, not just “lexico-grammar oriented tests”. Another possible explanation for students’ incapability to communicate in English after over 7 years of learning was students’ unawareness of the importance of learning the language when they entered their programs. Therefore, it is essential to stress both the importance of learning English and promoting the habit of learning English among students in a responsible, persistent, and systematic manner to benefit their employability skills. Improving English teaching and learning in the context of this study seems to be challenging, complex, and involves multiple stakeholders. Such recommendations further imply that many aspects such as teaching methods, program development, students’ needs, and employers’ requirements need to be taken seriously into account to improve English for students’ career development.

Discussion Our purpose of the study is to contribute to the dearth of the literature that uncovers students’ English for their future career’s development, especially in the context of wide-ranging educational and language shifts such as have occurred in Vietnam. The students’ striking lack of both English and English-related skills for employability indicates the very fragile role of English language education policy in both individual and the national development. Aligning the research results with Bourdieu theories suggests various issues with the current English education policies. Bourdieu views educational mandates, curriculum, and discourses as a mechanism to endow or sanction students’ culture capital and other abundant resources for them to obtain an approval as legitimate individuals in their society. However, such institutional language programs fail to offer them solid English language proficiency – a concrete language capital that can operate as a good indicator for their future employability. Specifically, if we equate students’ English

64  Vietnamese higher education ability with Bourdieu’s perspective of habitus (a well-recognised and transposable disposition), students seem to be unable to utilise their English to negotiate, communicate, or socialise in ways that are expected by employers, their society, and beyond. Their English knowledge is unable to function as an individual gift or a secured linguistic capital, authorising them with knowledge, dispositions, and ways of seeing and being in their social world. Aligning with Bourdieu’s theories further suggests evidence of educational inequalities stemming from loosely regulated, contested, and structured English programs. They largely de facto censor students’ cultural capital while likely stealing their valuable time and energy for other meaningful and practical educational activities. Educational discourses, or the language programs in this context to be specific, may mute students’ multiple opportunities when their goals, programs, and teaching and learning activities are still incomprehensive, contested, and controversial. We can also see a strong correlation between Bourdieu’s perspective and the notion of development. If Bourdieu’s language capital is considered as a powerful mechanism for other successful socio-economic and educational opportunities to thrive, being employed opens individuals to a secure foundation for their future and multifaceted developments. As we have discussed earlier in the chapter that the notion of development is getting inclusive and employability is a great indicator for individual and state development initiatives, we can imply that such an initiative to boost Vietnamese students’ English as a strength for multifaceted development is rather worrisome and problematic regardless of the well-intended policy discourse. In other words, while a priority target of university education is having students being employed or self-employed to secure their economic purposes, which can help their educational, political, and social well-being to flourish, the current language programs at the universities could significantly hamper students and the nation from obtaining intended goals in development. Another purpose of the study is to offer some responsible and rigorous recommendations for policy makers, lecturers, and associated stakeholders to work towards promoting programs to enhance students’ English and employability capacities. First, we strongly suggest the need for a systematic English education from the primary level onwards. This will address the burning issue raised by both the lecturers and students that students’ English is still poor even though they have studied the language for at least 7 years. Although most students could gain some benefit from their English language programs at a tertiary level, this still cannot compensate for their lack of pre-existing basic English knowledge from their primary level. This deficiency results from unsystematic and problematic instruction quality offered at the lower levels as many lecturers and students indicated (Bui, T. T. N., forthcoming). Thus, in the tertiary context, students seem to struggle to either acquire or revise their English with other courses’ requirements and the need to fulfil credits for graduation. This is evidenced by our results which show that more than 75% of the students were not confident in performing a job using English.

Vietnamese higher education 65 Second, the students need to be offered effective orientation and guides to help them realise the importance of English as well as a mindset of life-long language learning. Since it usually takes a tremendous amount of time for a student to be proficient in English, students need to learn it in a more frequent and strategic manner. We support the students’ comments that lecturers should guide students to self-study and suggest lecturers help students to become key agents of their own learning (Bui, T. T. N., forthcoming). Scholars such as Luke (2008) and Darling-Hammond (2009) highlight the importance of multi-literacies in language teaching and learning. Thus, it is vital for lecturers to guide students to mobilise abundant online materials including websites, videos, magazines, and films as resourceful tools to enhance their English and soft skills. On the other hand, obtaining English proficiency seems to be insufficient for students to enter the job market when their socio-economic background knowledge is limited. This matter was apparent from the data and could further jeopardise students’ opportunities to compete in the demanding job market and improve their socioeconomic well-being (Erling, 2014; Hamid, 2015). We urge educators and their associates to re-conceptualise what it means to provide English as well as general education for youth. We suggest the state, the institutions, and educators rethink and reposition the goal of education. This would create more complete individuals who possess not only knowledge and skills in English but also sound sociopolitical, educational, and economic foundations to make contributions on the individual, national and international scales. Finally, promoting sound English programs to secure students’ career development requires a collaborative, sustainable, and supportive relationship between universities and employers in fields related to their majors. Building from the suggestions of both the lecturers and the students in the study, we suggest the institutions establish a career development unit which collaborates well with employers to gain knowledge, insights, skills, and demands. Such a unit should function as a plausible ground for program developers, lecturers, and their associates to structure, sustain, and develop diverse skill-based courses to prepare students for job markets (Ku & Zussan, 2010; Lee, 2012). We also recommend institutional provision of more career-orientation workshops as well as internship programs integrated in the university English language programs. This provision addresses students’ pressing needs for more extracurricular activities and better understandings of the labour market requirements. Students will benefit more from hands-on experiences and have more opportunities to build relationships with companies and employers (Pooja, 2013). We believe that English as an employability skill for development should be developed in a systematic, collaborative, diverse, and conscientious approach to meet the ever-demanding requirements of both domestic and international employers. This involves tremendous effort and active engagement of a range of stakeholders in this context: the students themselves, the institutions, and the tertiary governance, to collaboratively build a highly skilled workforce. When comprehensively and rigorously structured, institutional English language programs under the current national language policy will promote this workforce development.

66  Vietnamese higher education

References Aslam, M., De, A., Kingdon, G., & Kumar, R. (2010). Economic returns to schooling and skills - An analysis of Pakistan. Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge. Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In: J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). Westport, CT: Greenwood. Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Cambridge: Polity Press. Bruthiaux, P. (2002). Hold your courses: Language education, language choice, and economic development. TESOL Quarterly, 36(3), 275–296. Bui, T. T. N., & Nguyen, T. M. H. (2016). Standardizing English for educational and socio-economic betterment: A critical analysis for English language policy reforms in Vietnam. In R. Kirkpatrick (Ed.), English language education policy in Asia (pp. 363–388). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. Coleman, H. (2010). The English language in development. London: British Council. Coleman, H. (Ed.). (2011). Developing countries and the English language: Rhetoric, risks roles and recommendations. London: British Council. Darling-Hammond. (2009). The flat world and education: How America’s commitment to equity will determine our nation’s future. New York: Teachers College Press. Erling, J. E., & Seargeant, P. (2013). English and development: Policy, pedagogy, and globalization. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. Erling, E. J. (2014). The roles of English in skills development in South Asia: Policies, interventions and existing evidence. London: British Council. Ferguson, G. (2013). English, development and education: Charting the tensions. In E. Erling & P. Seargeant (Eds.), English and development: Policy, pedagogy, and globalization (pp. 21–44). Toronto, Canada: Multilingual Matters. Gainsborough, J. (2010). Vietnam: Rethinking the state. London and New York: Zed Books and Silkworm Books. Government of Vietnam. (2008). Decision 1400/QD-Ttg on the approval of the project “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Education System, Period 2008–2020”. Government of Vietnam. (2017). Decision 2080/QD-Ttg on the refresh of the project “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Education System, Period 2017–2025”. Grenfell, M. (2012). Bourdieu, language and education. In M. Grenfell, D. Bloome, C. Hardy, K. Paul, K. Rowsell, & B. Street (Eds.), Language, ethnography and education: Bridging new literacies and Bourdieu (pp. 50–70). New York: Routledge. Grin, F. (2001). English as economic value: Facts and fallacies. World Englishes, 20(1), 65–78. Hamid, O. (2015). English and employability, mobility and development. Retrieved from www.britishcouncil.org.bd/sites/default/files/bc_think_piece_obaid_hamid_08_ 10_2015.pdf Hanks, W. F. (2005). Pierre Bourdieu and the practices of language. Annual Review of Anthropology, 34(1), 67–83. doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203.143907 Hoang, P. (2016). Đề án ngoại ngữ gần 9400 tỷ sau 8 năm làm được những gì. Retrieved from http://vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/giao-duc/de-an-ngoai-ngu-gan-9400-ty-sau-8-nam-lam-duoc-nhung-gi-3470788.html Kirkpatrick, A., & Sussex, R. (2012). English as an international language in Asia: Implications for language education. New York: Springer. Kramsch, C. (2008). Pierre Bourdieu: A biographical memoir. In J. Albright & A. Luke (Eds.), Pierre Bourdieu and literacy education (pp. 33–49). New York: Routledge.

Vietnamese higher education 67 Ku, H., & Zussman, A. (2010). Lingua franca: The role of English in international trade. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 75(2), 250–260. Lee, C. G. (2012). English language and economic growth: Cross-country empirical evidence. Journal of Economic and Social Studies, 2(1), 5–20. Luke, A. (2008). Using Bourdieu to make policy: Mobilizing community capital and literacy. In J. Albright & A. Luke (Eds.), Pierre Bourdieu and literacy education (pp. 347–361). Malwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Luong, H. N. (2016). Đề án ngoại ngữ quốc gia 2020 thất bại vì đâu. Retrieved from http://baoquocte.vn/de-an-ngoai-ngu-quoc-gia-2020-that-bai-vi-dau-39673. html McCargo, D. (2004). Introduction. In D. McCargo (Ed.), Rethinking Vietnam (pp. 1–12). London: Routledge. Nguyen, T. T. T. (forthcoming). Professional development: Vietnamese EFL teacher educators’ perceptions and experiences. (Doctoral Dissertation), The University of Newcastle, Australia. Phillipsons, R. (2012). Linguistic imperialism alive and kicking. The Guardian. Retrieved from www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/mar/13/linguistic-imperialismenglish-language-teaching Plan 808/KH_BGDDT. (2012). Kế hoạch triển khai đề án ngoại ngữ 2020 trong các cơ sở giáo dục đại học giai đoạn 2012–2020. Retrieved from www.moet.gov. vn/?page=6.21&script=%20congvan&namxly=-1 Pooja, B. (2013). English for employability-A challenge for ELT faculty. Research Journal of English Language and Literature, 1(3), 350–353. Seargeant, P., & Erling, E. J. (2011). The discourse of ‘English as a language for international development’: Policy assumptions and practical challenges. In H. Coleman (Ed.), Dreams and realities: Developing countries and the English language (pp. 248–267). London: British Council. Seargeant, P., & Erling, E. J. (2013). Introduction: English and development. In E. Erling & P. Seargeant (Eds.), English and development: Policy, pedagogy, and globalization (pp. 22–45). Toronto, Canada: Multilingual Matters. Tollefson, J. W. (2013). Language policies in education: Critical issues (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

6 Textbooks as cultural mediators Exploring representations of culture in Vietnamese tertiary EFL textbooks Trinh Thi Thu Hien Culture is a broad concept that embraces almost all aspects of human social life. Culture is addressed by scholars from various fields, such as cultural anthropology, cultural studies, communication studies, sociology, and education. Scholars from the field of foreign language teaching and learning share common conceptualisations of culture: “culture is the ideas, customs, skills, arts, and tools that characterise a given group of people in a given period of time” (Brown, 1994, p. 380); “culture is a complex system of concepts, attitudes, values, beliefs, conventions, behaviours, practices, rituals, and lifestyles of the people who make up a cultural group, as well as the artefacts they produce and the situations they create” (Liddicoat, Papademetre, Scarino, & Kohler, 2003, p. 45); and “culture tended to mean that body of social, artistic, and intellectual traditions associated historically with a particular social, ethnic or national group” (Sowden, 2007, pp. 304–305). Language is described by applied linguist Halliday (1973, 1985) as “the systematic resource for expressing meaning in context, not the set of all grammatical sentences” (Halliday, cited in Jordan, 2004, p. 6) which is used by people as a means to “deal with the external world . . . and . . . with each other” (ibid., p. 7). From this view, language can be understood as a set of linguistic units – morphemes, words, sentences – that people use as a tool for communication or to express their own feelings, thoughts, and attitudes. Culture and language are heavily entwined. Language is created by human beings, so the development of language parallels the development of human society. Culture represents human society, because it reflects all aspects of human social life, the relationship among community members, and their history and development. From that view, language is a part of culture and people use language to enact and reflect on culture. People from different cultures have their own ways of doing things, so the language they use in communication reflects cultural differences. Language and culture have an inextricable and interdependent relationship (Choudhury, 2013); they are not separable, but depend on each other, each supporting the development of the other (­Mitchell & Myles, 2004).

Textbooks as cultural mediators 69 As this chapter aims to investigate cultural content embedded in EFL textbooks, the following section will review the literature on the presentation of culture in teaching materials.

Cultural representation in EFL textbooks The cultural content in EFL materials is “the hidden curriculum” (Cunningsworth, 1995, p. 90), which forms part of the EFL program. The hidden curriculum is “unstated and undisclosed” (Wala, 2013, p. 123) and it “refers to the unintended or implicit values cultivated in the practices exercised in the classroom and educational institutions through the application of the curriculum” (Konieczka, 2013, p. 250). The EFL hidden curriculum promotes a view of the world and cultural awareness and may be perceived differently by teachers and students. Embedded in the EFL school curriculum, the hidden curriculum may be in the information selected for inclusion in textbooks, the register of teachers’ discourse, the selection of classroom activities, and classroom structure. Its significance may not be realised by students and is unlikely to be questioned by EFL teachers (Lee, 2014). EFL textbooks provide cultural information from three sources: source culture, target culture, and international target culture (Cortazzi & Zin, 1999). Textbooks employ source culture to cultivate learners’ knowledge of their own identity, but not the cultural backgrounds of any other countries. Target culture focuses on native English-speaking countries (e.g. England, the United States, Canada, Australia) to provide EFL students with similar content. Others reference various English-speaking and non-English-speaking cultures. Numerous EFL textbooks include English-speaking cultures, while others focus on non-English speaking cultures (Aliakbari, 2004). For example, the textbooks from China, Venezuela, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia focus on non-English speaking cultures and those from the United States (e.g. Success – ­Communicating in ­English) and England (e.g. English Occasions, The Language of Business) usually focus on Anglophone cultures. Target culture is integrated by native English textbook writers, because it is easy for them to present their own culture’s values (Alptekin, 1993). Source culture is introduced in national EFL teaching materials. Intercultural target cultures seem to be more appropriate for global classrooms and bring students to international English environments (McKay, 2000). The inclusion of cultural elements differs in EFL textbooks. Internationally distributed EFL textbooks typically represent Anglophone cultures rather than those from non-English-speaking countries. Locally produced EFL textbooks focus on the source culture and lack target cultural knowledge (Shin, Eslami, & Chen, 2011). The foci of these three types of textbooks shape students’ acculturation and influence their development of Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC). Culture in EFL textbooks can be classified as “big C” culture (the visible aspects of cultural creations) and “little c” culture (an invisible and deeper sense of the

70  Textbooks as cultural mediators target culture) (Elham, 2013; Liu & Laohawiriyanon, 2013). Big C concerns geography, architecture, classical music, literature, and history. Little c relates to information about the way people live, for example their opinions, gestures, food, hobbies, and popular issues. EFL textbooks should include both types of culture in order to provide students with a general knowledge of target culture, learner’s culture, or intercultural target culture (Liu & Laohawiriyanon, 2013).

Cultural content in textbooks Textbooks play a significant role in EFL teaching and learning, because they provide teachers and students with “the foundation for the content of lessons, the balance of the skills taught, as well as the kinds of language practice” (Cheng, Hung, & Chieh, 2011, p. 94). From an ICC perspective, cultural values must be included in EFL textbooks along with the linguistic forms. Many researchers have offered models for determining the cultural content within textbooks (Byram, 1993; Cortazzi & Zin, 1999; Cunningsworth, 1995). Textbook cultural content may include: Social identity and social groups; Social interaction; Belief and behaviour; Social and political institutions; Socialisation and life-cycle; National history; National geography; and Stereotypes and national identity (Byram, 1993). To investigate in greater detail the cultural content of two Vietnamese EFL textbooks, the study employed Byram’s eight categories of culture checklist and a modified version with 33 subcategories classified from his checklist (see Appendices A and B).

Cultural forms presented in Vietnamese tertiary EFL textbooks Two commonly used Vietnamese EFL textbooks are Lifelines Elementary and Lifelines Pre-Intermediate (Bui, 2000). These two textbooks are both written by Tom Hutchinson (1995a, 1995b) and published by Oxford University Press. Both textbooks mix cultural content alongside linguistic content. These textbooks cover many of the cultural checklist categories; however, the distribution for each category differs (Table 6.1). The most frequent distribution of cultural references is to “Social interaction” in both textbooks. The textbooks’ writer focused on introducing EFL teachers and students to cultural conventions of making conversations in interactive situations both verbally and non-verbally. The situations of communication derive from daily and social interactions among people, such as First meeting/Making friends with others; Having a conversation with friends/family members/colleagues/strangers; Making an appointment; Invitation/Suggesting others to do something etc. Besides, these textbooks provide information describing the ways people greet or make farewell to each other formally or informally in different cultures (for example: Hello, How are you, or Good morning), the ways people address others (for example: English people use first names or shorten names in informal conversation, whereas they use family names with titles to address people in formal situations) or show their manners/

Textbooks as cultural mediators 71 Table 6.1  The distribution of references to eight categories in Vietnamese Cultural categories

Textbooks

Social identity and social groups Social interaction Belief and behaviour Social and political institutions Socialisation and life-cycle National history National geography Stereotypes and national identity

Lifelines Elementary

Lifelines Pre-Intermediate

226 627 271 25 29 1 213 46

372 518 250 20 82 8 223 54

actions in communication (for example: close friends usually make informal chat while strangers tend to perform formally in communication). These two Vietnamese EFL textbooks specifically provide teachers and students with cultural knowledge under “Social identity and social groups”, “Belief and behaviour”, and “National geography” categories. This knowledge refers to different aspects of culture, such as dinning etiquette, shopping, recreation, social class, ethnic and cultural minority, occupational identity, geographic factors etc., which helps construct “the experience in the real world” (Byram, 1997, p. 65). Lifeline Elementary and Lifelines Pre-Intermediate give few opportunities for students to connect their learning to socialised issues such as school and education, employment, life-cycle, voting, and elections. Similarly, these textbooks’ cultural content restricts students’ learning about contemporary issues. There are few references to the subject of “National history”, considering that a number of scholars identify that understanding history is a crucial step to understand the culture of any country (Davcheva & Sercu, 2005; Parkes & Sharp, 2014). Historical information about a country is background information, which enables students to gain in-depth insight into a country. These textbooks provide few examples of national historical and current events; therefore, they may hinder students from properly understanding any specific country. These textbooks have a similar approach to cultural content in terms of subcategories. The top ten most frequent occurrences are listed in Table 6.2. The theme “Modes of addressing” within the “Social interaction” category is the most frequent in both textbooks. The textbooks’ writer introduces a wide variety of names and addressing systems in English and non-English speaking countries. This information enables students to become familiar with the uses of names and titles in different countries, which differ from Vietnamese cultural conventions. Such information may help students avoid experiencing cultural shocks and enable them to be more confident in cross-cultural communication. From an ICC approach, the textbooks integrate a specific cultural aspect in language education and focus students on an aspect of language, which may cause difficulty in student learning.

72  Textbooks as cultural mediators These textbooks allow students to investigate cultural information about the area or population of a country, the localities belonging to a country (such as states, cities, counties, districts etc.), the national parks, the neighbouring countries and boundaries, the nature of the country/vegetation, the maps and the climate of the country. Most frequently, this information is about cities in ­English-speaking countries rather than non-English speaking countries. The Elementary level and Pre-Intermediate textbooks primarily mention London, New York, and Manchester and refer to them many times throughout the textbook, while other cities are mentioned much less frequently in passages, conversations, or pictures. The geographic information may assist students in getting acquainted with a few English-speaking countries, but these textbooks disregard others. As a consequence, while students may acquire an understanding of English culture and appreciate the position of English in the contemporary world as an international language (McKay, 2002; Sharifian, 2009), these two textbooks provide limited information regarding its use in non-English speaking countries. These textbooks also focus on cultural representations of the way people live (opinions, conventions of behaviour, food, hobbies, and popular issues) under the themes, namely “Dining etiquette”, “Greetings”, “Recreations”, and “Sports”. The information focuses mainly on native target language countries and only on a very few countries where English is spoken as a second language. Some non-English speaking countries, such as France and Nepal, are mentioned, but little is presented about French and Nepalese culture. Vietnamese culture is not addressed in Lifelines Elementary and emerges once in Lifelines Pre-Intermediate. Information illustrating the nature of communication (formal, semi-formal, and informal), situations of interactions (people having conversations in different contexts (at home, at the university, at the airport) about popular topics (families, hobbies, holidays, entertainment)), social class (middle class, working class, upper class), and occupational identity (different professions) are also the focus Table 6.2  Top ten cultural themes presented in Vietnamese tertiary EFL textbooks Ranking order in Lifelines Elementary 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Subcategories/ Cultural aspects Modes of addressing Geographic features present the country Dining etiquette Countries Regional identity Occupational identity Greetings Social class Recreations Sports Degrees of formality Situations of interactions

Ranking order in Lifelines Pre-Intermediate 1 3 5 8 4 2 7 6 9 10

Textbooks as cultural mediators 73 throughout these textbooks. However, such cultural information is brief and outdated, which may hinder students’ learning process. From an ICC perspective, these textbooks may not help students develop a thorough understanding of any cultural background.

Cultural information presented in the textbooks mostly relates to the target culture Throughout the textbooks, English-speaking countries rather than non-English speaking countries are the focus. Specific representations of English culture ranging from daily lifestyles to national identity are presented. For example, systems of address and the use of first names in Lifelines Elementary present characters using first names in communicating with others, even with those they have met for the first time. Full names are sometimes employed in the case of formally introducing somebody in public, such as the case of being introduced by a broadcast presenter. The presentation of full names is also found outside of dialogue passages in these textbooks. Most are English names. There is no instance of the use of Vietnamese names and addressing systems. There is naming and addressing from other cultures, however with some examples. Most examples of English in use is contextualised in England, Britain, the UK, the United States, Australia, and Canada throughout the two textbooks. The inclusion of different countries and places in EFL textbooks helps teachers cultivate a global worldview among their students. The two Vietnamese EFL textbooks present several locations around the world, which enable teachers to bring students to a multicultural world with the participation of people from diverse countries and different regions within a country. These textbooks give students the chances to investigate the representative countries of English culture, but limit their exploration about countries where English can be used for intercultural communication. In this sense, these textbooks may present insight into any countries of English-speaking people; however, they did not explore intercultural issues within these. Such knowledge focuses on training students to be more like “native speakers” rather than “intercultural speakers”. These textbooks link the teaching of English language to the introduction of the dominant English-speaking countries and appear to ignore the claim that foreign language students should be exposed to a variety of “others” by creating many opportunities for them to work with different cultures (Kramsch, 1997). Addressing intercultural issues within foreign language education moves beyond providing students with geographic information. Presenting different situations from different contexts helps to bring students into the real world, because through this process students can develop understanding about “others”. In these textbooks, countries provide a representation for “others”. The inclusion of examples of how English is used in countries outside the Anglosphere in EFL textbooks provides students with opportunities to develop greater knowledge about “others”. Within the content of these textbooks, students may only develop an outsider’s perspective appropriate for only English-speaking

74  Textbooks as cultural mediators countries. In this sense, these textbooks do not provide enough intercultural contexts for students to work through. Students may not fully acquire intercultural knowledge and skills. It is better for them to develop perspectives on their own culture and other diverse cultures (Kramsch, 1997). The limitations of these two textbooks’ content might restrict students to partial cultural understanding and consequently they might experience unsuccessful cultural encounters. It is rare to find in these textbooks information related to Vietnamese students’ local culture. No mention of the cultural background of Vietnam is made by the textbook writer in Lifelines Elementary, while only there is one reference regarding Vietnamese war in Lifelines Pre-Intermediate. Numerous scholars support the significance of culture in foreign language education, particularly the differences between cultures. Each country has its own culture, which people from other countries should acknowledge to be able to make appropriate international interactions. The teaching and learning of foreign languages relies on textbooks, especially when cultural information is concerned, because “the textbook provided a potential core of information” for teachers and students (Byram, Estarte-Sarries, & Taylor, 1991, p. 351). However, the Lifelines Elementary and Lifelines Pre-Intermediate texts do not present students with many opportunities to broaden their knowledge of their own cultural roots and ascertain the value of their own identity. Therefore, these textbooks may not assist Vietnamese students in developing a strong sense of self-awareness such that they are better able to adapt themselves in communications across cultural contexts. The two Vietnamese EFL textbooks contain different cultural elements that aim to assist students in understanding and becoming familiar with the cultural conventions of different countries around the world. Three sources of culture are mentioned; however, the students have more opportunities to work with the target culture. In the context of Vietnamese tertiary classrooms, EFL students can build their cultural knowledge, because their current textbooks offer a cultural frame for them to work with. Nevertheless, the limited cultural information about non-English speaking countries in these textbooks has influenced them in creating intercultural communicative interactions with other English language users. As they have little or no understanding of other English language users’ cultural backgrounds, students may not know how to conduct themselves properly or they may confront cultural challenges. Such international interactions require the students to have appropriate intercultural knowledge. Therefore, the study found that one of the shortcomings of these textbooks is that they hinder students in demonstrating English intercultural learning for the development of ICC.

Textbooks contain two groups of culture, including “Big C” and “Little c” cultures Throughout the textbooks, both “big C” and “little c” cultures are presented. In terms of “big C” culture, these textbooks mention education, literature, music, geography, and institutions, while “little c” culture is represented through the

Textbooks as cultural mediators 75 introduction of people’s ways of thinking, behaving, treating other people, or using a language. These textbooks introduce “Schools and education” to students by naming several educational institutions (for example, Gordon Language School, Westin High School, York University) and discussing the schooling of some textbook characters (for example, Giani’s and Mary’s conversation in Getting started, Lifelines Pre-Intermediate). Some examples of the social and political institutions are named, including Midland Bank, Federal Reserve Bank, Bank of England, Bank of France, Fort Knox post, Science Museum, and Grand Theatre. The “Law and order” theme is discussed through an introduction to Britain’s laws, with a total of 14 rules, and there is one reference to “Voting and elections”. “National cultural heritage” is one among eight cultural checklists categories defined by Byram (1993), which belong to the “big C” group. It describes the valued historic products created by the members of a country that are passed down from one generation to another. The two Vietnamese EFL textbooks provide information about famous monuments, literary works, and art works of ­English-speaking countries. Vietnamese EFL teachers using these textbooks could help students obtain background knowledge about “facts and statistics relating to the arts, history, geography, business, education, festivals and customs of a target speech society” (Damar, 2013, p. 753). In other words, these textbooks enable students to obtain “big C” cultural knowledge. These textbooks present students with opportunities to learn about invisible “little c” culture. These cultural aspects may not be obvious or well known to outsiders and may often create cross-cultural misunderstanding and communicative obstacles. Many instances of “little c” culture provides a setting of interaction and they combine to create a fully illustrated picture of human society from different perspectives. People talk at a school, a hotel, a pub, a station, a clothes shop, a travel agent’s, a doctor’s, work place, home, a party, and a concert, and about families, hobbies, holiday, entertainment, shopping, health, daily life, and future plans. These communicative situations reflect humans’ everyday activities, which are one among seven cultural topics suggested for English programs by the Council of Europe (2001). The teaching and learning of culture in English language education is closely linked to the integration of “little c” culture. As stated by Tomalin and Stempleski (1993), “little c” cultural knowledge plays a very significant role in promoting students’ ICC, because it contributes to students’ abilities to function socially in a cultural group/community. In such a way, these textbooks may help Vietnamese students familiarise themselves with foreign language societies, their people, and their life-styles. Consequently, they may develop their English learning both linguistically and socio-culturally. These textbooks enable Vietnamese EFL students to investigate English-­ speaking people’s daily activities. They introduce characters enjoying themselves via different forms of recreation to make their days and their lives more important by different activities (watching television, playing the piano, listening to music, eating out, going on holidays, going to the pub, going to the cinema). Apart from this cultural content, the two textbooks portray people’s beliefs and

76  Textbooks as cultural mediators behaviours, including people’s opinions on social problems (for example: noisy neighbours in Unit 1, marrying without parents’ permission in Unit 3, Lifelines Pre-­Intermediate) or the belief about doing the right things (for example: treating other people well in Unit 9, Lifelines Elementary; being an honest person in Unit 9, Lifelines Pre-Intermediate). The presentation of such cultural information emphasises “the notion of developing a socialist citizen” (Doan, 2005, p. 451), which enables teachers to integrate moral education into their EFL teaching practices. The textbooks I analysed give students opportunities to learn about the “perspectives, viewpoints and behaviours of people in such social relations as self in relation to other persons, groups and organisations” (Doan, 2005, p. 452). Such cultural content in these two textbooks is an example of a hidden curriculum. It plays a significant part in EFL curriculum, assisting teachers in enacting social and moral values in their pedagogies in order to prepare students for life in multicultural societies, both academically and as moral citizens (Kaur, 2015). In foreign language teaching and learning, the integration of “big C” and “little c” cultures into teaching materials helps to raise students’ cultural awareness. It also provides students with communicative strategies drawn from many realistic situations in English contexts. As a result, students can develop their cultural competence alongside their linguistic competence. These textbooks focus on “big C” and “little c” cultures. They appear to be important cultural sources for EFL teachers and students.

Textbooks focus on providing “Big C” and “Little c” cultural knowledge rather than practical strategies Lifelines Elementary and Lifelines Pre-Intermediate represent cultural content in the form of information, through which students can demonstrate an understanding and awareness of “big C” culture and “little c” culture. Almost all of the cultural instances in the texts provide students with factual information about tangible creations (the representation of “big C” culture) and intangible creations (the representation of “little c” culture), but give few opportunities for them to experience culture-based activities to improve their intercultural skills. In these textbooks, culture is integrated with language content and serves as a reference for teachers to facilitate the teaching of linguistic competence. Each unit within these textbooks is divided into five linguistic sections, including Grammar, Vocabulary, Reading and writing, Listening and speaking, and Pronunciation. The learning tasks designed for each section aim to drill students in grammar, vocabulary, and four language skills. There are no tasks or instructions that guide teachers in dealing with cultural content. Although cultural content is available in these textbooks, it is not provided as a separate or extra component of EFL teaching and learning. The approach of the cultural content of these textbooks does not allow students to engage in more interactive and experiential learning activities, such as discovering aspects of a chosen culture or experiencing the cultural context for themselves. These textbooks are insufficient for intercultural education. English intercultural teaching and learning requires teachers to

Textbooks as cultural mediators 77 be aware of the important role of culture and the components of ICC (Byram, 1989; Deneme, Ada, & Uzun, 2011). Of the five significant abilities of ICC (attitude, knowledge, skills of interpreting and relating, skills of discovery and interaction, and critical cultural awareness (Byram, 1997), these textbooks focus only on cultural knowledge. Consequently, these textbooks limit Vietnamese tertiary EFL students’ mastery of ICC. Providing cultural information can be understood as a first stage through which students can enrich their cultural knowledge (Moran, 2011). In order to become competent users of the studied language, students need to practise using learned knowledge in communication across cultures. In this regard, students should have opportunities to demonstrate not only an understanding of different cultures, but also their abilities to make use of that knowledge in a realistic context. The use of Lifelines Elementary and Lifelines Pre-Intermediate in Vietnamese tertiary EFL classes enables teachers to infuse “big C” and “little c” cultural knowledge into their students; however, it restricts them in providing activities to develop students’ abilities to use English in pragmatic situations and across cultures.

Textbooks restrict content regarding information about history, stereotypes, and identity The study revealed that the EFL textbooks introduce several cultural topics; however, when it comes to national history, the information presented is brief and simplistic. There are ten references to historical events, of which only one is investigated in Lifeline Elementary. Further, there is no information in these textbooks related to current periods and events in the constitution of a nation and its identity. As the information provided is dated, there are no opportunities for students to connect their learning to contemporary issues. Many scholars state that learning historical information can help to introduce students to the specific characteristics of a country alongside the common characteristics shared with other countries (Dweik & Al-Sayyed, 2015; Parkes & Sharp, 2014). It can also assist students to appreciate different cultures, and the different changes and events occurring in a particular country. Students taught through an ICC pedagogy not only possess cultural knowledge of diverse countries, but also make a clear distinction with others. As historical cultural background teaching is mostly absent from these textbooks, students may not obtain a full understanding about other cultures, and consequently may fail to develop ICC. With regards to stereotypes and national identity, these textbooks provide some facts about England, France, Russia, and the United States relating to famous people, literary works, art works, and scientific achievements. The little information provided is insufficient for students to gain any deep understanding of these countries. EFL textbooks can provide insight into culture through discussions of social class, gender, and religion. These textbooks have missed those opportunities to develop in Vietnamese students’ an extensive understanding of diverse countries.

78  Textbooks as cultural mediators

Discussion These Vietnamese tertiary EFL textbooks include both linguistic and cultural information. Their linguistic content is more substantial than their cultural content. These textbooks provide students with opportunities to learn English both linguistically and culturally. However, they restrict students’ development of cultural awareness through their focus on grammatical structures, vocabulary items, phonetic rules, and the four language skills (reading, listening, speaking, and writing). Furthermore, these EFL textbooks provide cultural information in order to assist teachers in teaching linguistic competence. Cultural content acts as a means to help students learn grammatical structures and syntactic rules, but not social and cultural practices. Although these textbooks present cultural information about foreign countries, they do not draw students’ attention to the challenges that intercultural encounters may entail. In EFL classes, teachers using only these textbooks may not address culture as a core component. They may not help students demonstrate their learning of diverse cultures and strategies to communicate across cultures. It would be better if EFL textbooks invite teachers to incorporate intercultural teaching into their EFL instruction. These textbooks were published in 1996. Many parts of these textbooks, especially those related to politics, science, population, and famous people are dated. The information provided in these textbooks reflects the world of the 1990s, from more than 20 years ago, in the areas of: people, lifestyle, viewpoints, society, environment etc. While this dated cultural information may not affect students’ linguistic competence, it may lead to students’ misunderstandings or confusions. Obtaining knowledge from textbooks is a valuable way to enable students to cultivate a healthy and updated global view. These textbooks do not contain current knowledge; therefore, they may adversely affect students’ learning. The number of references to different cultural categories is distributed unequally in these textbooks. As presented in the previous sections, the most frequent occurrence of references is to: “Social interaction”, “Belief and behaviour”, “Social identity and social groups”, and “National geography”. In contrast, the subject of “National history” receives the least amount of attention. These textbooks introduce students to the historical background of only a few countries. Moreover, the embedded information is brief and simplified. In this sense, these textbooks are insufficient for students to obtain a rounded understanding of any cultural background. The same unequal distributions of references to different cultural subcategories are found in these textbooks. These textbooks provide students with opportunities to demonstrate an understanding and awareness of “big C” and “little c” cultures, however, the texts focus on introducing cultural information rather than offering the practical strategies necessary for intercultural communication. From an ICC perspective, students may be good at developing their intercultural knowledge, but may have problems performing at an international communication level. These textbooks may not help students to apply learned knowledge for the development of intercultural skills. In this sense, EFL textbooks could

Textbooks as cultural mediators 79 include content that involves students engaging in cultural practices around the world, focuses them on cultural encounters, and prepares them for some of the challenges in communication with people from different cultural backgrounds. The cultural practices could be culture-specific and culture-general, as this may enable students to obtain a clear understanding of specific countries and culture, as well as the cultural references to multicultural contexts. Additionally, the textbooks can make it possible for students to explore the differences between cultures and accumulate the strategies for coping with intercultural encounters. These textbooks present three sources of culture: target culture, source culture, and international target culture. However, the number of references to different cultural sources is distributed unequally in these textbooks. Target culture is highlighted through the introduction of cultural topics related to England and the United States, while far fewer examples of specific cultural aspects refer to international target culture. Information about the source culture or Vietnamese culture is hardly included in either textbook, except for one reference in Lifelines Pre-Intermediate. It might be more effective if EFL textbooks presented more information about the students’ cultural background. Textbook designers could provide students with more opportunities to learn about Vietnamese culture, so that they can enhance their language learning. The textbooks focus on the inclusion cultural backgrounds of some dominant English-speaking countries, such as England, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand instead of diverse cultures. It is suggested that the textbook authors/providers should consider international and intercultural issues when designing textbooks for EFL students. As English is used as a lingua franca in contemporary society, it is important for EFL textbook designers to help EFL learners communicate successfully with English users from different countries. Cultural values/conventions vary across countries; therefore, the modes of communication in English-speaking cultures may not be in harmony with those in other cultures. As a result, English learners cannot use English-speaking cultures as references for any intercultural interactions.

References Aliakbari, M. (2004). The place of culture in the Iranian ELT textbooks in high school level. Paper presented at the 9th Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics Conference, Namseul University, Korea. Retrieved from www.paaljapan.org/ resources/proceedings/PAAL9/pdf/Aliakbari.pdf Alptekin, C. (1993). Target-language culture in EFL materials. ELT Journal, 47(2), 136–143. Brown, H. D. (1994). Principles of language learning and teaching (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents. Bui, H. A. (2000). Bàn về sự ảnh hưởng của các yếu tố văn hóa trong việc giảng dạy ngoại ngữ trên cứ liệu giáo trình “Lifelines” (Discussion about the influences of cultural aspects to foreign language teaching based on “Lifelines” textbook). Paper presented at the Culture element in foreign language teaching and learning, University of Languages and International Studies, Hanoi, Vietnam.

80  Textbooks as cultural mediators Byram, M. (1989). Cultural studies in foreign language education. Philadelphia: ­Multilingual Matters. Byram, M. (1993). Criteria for textbook evaluation. In M. Byram (Ed.), Germany: Its representation in textbooks for teaching German in Great Britain (pp. 31–40). Frankfurt am Main: Diesterweg. Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Byram, M., Estarte-Sarries, V., & Taylor, S. (1991). Cultural studies and language learning: A research report. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Cheng, W. W., Hung, L. C., & Chieh, L. C. (2011). Thinking of the textbook in the ESL/EFL Classroom. English Language Teaching, 4(2), 91–96. Choudhury, M. H. (2013). Teaching culture in EFL: Implications, challenges and strategies. IOSR Journal of Humanities And Social Science, 13(1), 20–24. Cortazzi, M., & Zin, L. (1999). Cultural mirrors, materials and methods in the EFL classroom. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Culture in second language teaching and learning (pp. 196–219). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Council of Europe. (2001). Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching and assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing your coursebook. Oxford: Heinemann. Damar, E. A. (2013). Culture: Is it an avoidable or adorable concept in EFL settings? Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 93, 752–755. doi:10.1016/j. sbspro.2013.09.275 Davcheva, L., & Sercu, L. (2005). Culture in Foreign language teaching materials. In L. Sercu, E. Bandura, P. Castro, C. Laskaridou, U. Lundgren, M. D. Carmen, M. Garcia, & P. Ryan (Eds.), Foreign language teachers and international competence: An international investigation (pp. 90–109). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Deneme, S., Ada, S., & Uzun, K. (2011). Teaching a Foreign language and Foreign culture to young learners. International Journal of Business, Humanities and Technology, 1(1), 152–164. Doan, D. H. (2005). Moral education or political education in the Vietnamese educational system? Journal of Moral Education, 34(4), 451–463. doi:10.1080/ 03057240500414733 Dweik, B. S., & Al-Sayyed, S. W. (2015). Analyzing the cultural content of Action Pack “12”. International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research, 3(2), 1–28. Elham, N. M. (2013). Analysis of English language textbooks in the light of English as an Intercultural Language (EIL): A comparative study. Intercultural Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning, 2(2), 83–96. Halliday, M. (1973). Explorations in the functions of language. London: Arnold. Halliday, M. (1985). An introduction to functional grammar. London: Arnold. Hutchinson, T. (1995a). Lifelines elementary. Great Clarendon Street. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hutchinson, T. (1995b). Lifelines pre-intermediate. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Jordan, G. (2004). Theory construction in second language acquisition. Philadelphia: John Bensamins. Kaur, S. (2015). Moral values in education. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), 20(3), 21–26. doi:10.9790/0837–20332126

Textbooks as cultural mediators 81 Konieczka, J. (2013). The hidden curriculum as a socialization of schooling is in process at all times, and serves to transmit messages to students about values, attitudes and principles. Advanced Research in Scientific Areas, 2(6), 250–252. Kramsch, C. (1997). The cultural component of language teaching. British Studies Now, 8, 4–7. Lee, J. F. K. (2014). A hidden curriculum in Japanese EFL textbooks: Gender representation. Linguistics and Education, 27, 39–53. Liddicoat, A. J., Papademetre, L., Scarino, A., & Kohler, M. (2003). Report on intercultural language learning. Canberra, Australia: The Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training. Liu, S., & Laohawiriyanon, C. (2013). Cultural content in EFL listening and speaking textbooks for Chinese university students. International Journal of English Language Education, 1(1), 82–93. McKay, S. L. (2000). Teaching English as an international language: Implications for cultural materials in the classroom. TESOL Journal, 9(4), 7–11. McKay, S. L. (2002). Teaching English as an international language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mitchell, R., & Myles, F. (2004). Second language learning theories (2nd ed.). ­London: Arnold. Moran, P. R. (2011). Teaching culture: Perspectives in practice. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle. Parkes, R. J., & Sharp, H. (2014). Nietzschean perspectives on representations of national history in Australian school textbooks: What should we do with Gallipoli? ENSAYOS, Revista de la Facultad de Educación de Albacete, 29(1), 159–181. Sharifian, F. (2009). English as an international language: Perspectives and pedagogical issues. Salisbury, UK: Multilingual Matters. Shin, J., Eslami, Z. R., & Chen, W-C. (2011). Presentation of local and international culture in current international English-language textbooks. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 24(3), 253–268. doi:10.1080/07908318.2011.614694 Sowden, C. (2007). Culture and the “good teacher” in the English Language classroom. ELT Journal, 61(4), 304–310. Tomalin, B., & Stempleski, S. (1993). Cultural awareness. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Wala, D. A. S. (2013). The instructional design of a coursebook is as it is because of what it has to do – an application of systemic functional theory. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Developing materials for language teaching (2nd ed., pp. 119–137). London: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Appendix A Byram’s checklist of cultural content in textbooks

Byram explores cultural content through eight areas (Byram, 1993, pp. 34–35): •

• •

•

•

•

•

•

social identity and social groups: groups within the nation-state which are the basis for other than national identity, including social class, regional identity, ethnic minority, and which demonstrate the complexity of individuals’ social identities and of a national society social interaction: conventions of behaviour in social interaction at differing levels of formality, as outsiders and insiders within social groups belief and behaviour: routine and taken-for-granted actions within a social group − national or sub-national − and the moral and religious beliefs which are embodied within them; second, routines of behaviour taken from daily life which are not seen as significant markers of the identity of the group social and political institutions: institutions of the state which characterise the state and its citizens and which constitute a framework for ordinary, routine life within the nation and sub-national groups; provision for health care, for law and order, for social security, for local government etc. socialisation and life-cycle: institutions of socialisation – families, schools, employment – and the ceremonies which mark passage through stages of social life; presentation of divergent practices in different social groups, as well as national auto-stereotypes of expectations and interpretations national history: periods and events, historical and contemporary in the constitution of the nation and its identity – both significant and, not necessarily identical, perceived as such by its members national geography: geographical factors within the national boundaries which are significant in members’ perceptions of their country; other factors which are information (known but not significant to members) essential to outsiders in intercultural communication stereotypes and national identity: for example, German and English notions of what is “typically” German and English national identity; the origins of these notions – historical and contemporary – and comparisons among them; symbols of national stereotypes and their meanings, e.g. famous people or monuments and people

Appendix B A priori classification of data

Form 1: Social identity and social groups Social class: the group of members of a society with the same social, economic, or educational status (e.g. upper/middle class). Regional identity: the distinct characteristic representing a group of people (e.g. villagers, mining workers), the use of language and dialect (e.g. English, French, Vietnamese), the location within a country (e.g. London, Sydney, New York). Ethnic minority: small community that has different national or cultural traditions from the majority of the population (e.g. Australian Aboriginal minority, Aussielder, Karelia minority). Occupational identity: the distinct kind of jobs employed by people (e.g. teachers, workers, businessmen, reporters). Form 2: Social interaction Greetings: the way to welcome others by giving a word or a sign in meeting (e.g. Hello, how are you, how are you going). Modes of addressing: the use of names or names with titles to address people (e.g. John, John Adamson, Mr/Dr Adamson). Degrees of formality: the specific level of manner/action performed in communication (e.g. formal, informal). Situations of interactions: the condition or position in which the interactions take place (e.g. two students have a conversation at the university). Use of slang: the use of informal language characterising for a particular group of people (e.g. No worries! Good on ya!). Form 3: Belief and behaviour Moral belief: the belief in principles of doing the right or wrong things or standards of socially acceptable behaviour and character in daily activities (e.g. the way to treat the elder or the youth, how to have appropriate behaviour in a party). Religious belief: the belief in a supernatural power that control human destiny (e.g. the belief for Christian religion). Daily routines: the habit of doing the same things every day (for example, getting up early, leaving home at 7am). (Continued)

84  Textbooks as cultural mediators Dining etiquette: the eating habits or polite manner (for example, kinds of food such as rice, bread; the use of fork and knife). Sports: the distinct kinds of activities requiring physical exertion, skill and competition (for example, football, basketball). Recreation: the activities that help people to refresh especially renew health and spirits (e.g. listening to music). Shopping: the act of searching or purchasing commodities from shops (e.g. buying souvenirs, buying food and drink). Form 4: Social and political institutions State institutions: the organisations founded by the government for a specific purpose (e.g. Parliament Office, banks). Health care centres: the servicing places for preserving mental and physical health or treating illness (e.g. hospital). Law and order: legal document issued by the government (e.g. Britain’s laws: What you can do when you are 18 years old). Organisations: the groups of people working together for a specific purpose (e.g. a business organisation). Voting and elections: the act of choosing someone for a political position. Form 5: Socialisation and life-cycle Schools and education: the institutions for educating children (e.g. Jesmond Public School, University of Newcastle). Families: the groups of people having blood or marriage relationship living together as social units (e.g. a family). Employment: the state of giving work to someone or the occupation for which someone is paid (e.g. a bicycle factory offers a lot of jobs for local people). Ceremonies: the formal activity performed to celebrate a particular event which marks significant moment in the life-cycle (e.g. engagement, wedding, birthday, graduation, etc.). Life-cycle: the series of changes in the life of a person (e.g. being born, pass away, age). Form 6: National history Historical periods and events represent national identity: the set of circumstances happened in the past referring to the development of a country (e.g. Timeline of Australian history, A history of England and Wales). Contemporary periods and events represent national identity: the set of circumstances happened at the present time referring to the development of a country (e.g. Modern liberalism in the United States). Form 7: National geography Geographic factors: the features related to the area and population of the country, the distribution of population, the distribution of industrial area or agricultural area, the capital city, the climate etc. Countries: the nation with its own government, occupying a territory (e.g. the United States, England, Australia).

Textbooks as cultural mediators 85 States: the territory occupied by one political community under one government within a country (e.g. New South Wales is a state of Australia, Florida is a state of the United States). Cities: the large towns of a country (e.g. London, Paris, New York). Counties: the regions created by territorial division for local government (e.g. Kent in England). Districts: the areas of a town (e.g. Hollywood in the United States). National parks: the large public area in a town used for recreations (e.g. Luna park in Sydney, Australia). Neighbouring countries and boundaries: the countries which are next to each other or share boundaries (e.g. Peru and Bolivia, Italy and France). Maps: the diagrammatic representation of an area of the earth (e.g. map of England, map of Vietnam). Climate: the weather of a location over a period of time (e.g. winter in Europe is very cold and snowy). Form 8: Stereotypes and national identity National cultural heritage: the valued historic products that are created by members in a country and were passed down from previous generation (e.g. historic monuments, literary works, art works). Famous monuments: the significant sites that are preserved as public properties (e.g. the Opera House in Australia). Literary works: the pieces of imaginative or creative writing (for example, Hamlet – the tragedy written by Shakespeare). Artworks: the collection of illustrations, photographs, or other non-textual material prepared for inclusion in a publication (e.g. paintings, photos, music, sculpture, films). Famous people: the widely-known people (e.g. Bill Clinton – the former President of the United States). Flags: the rectangular cloths with distinctive designs representing countries (e.g. the flag of Australia: a blue ensign defaced with the Commonwealth Star in the lowest hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half). National buildings: the structures that are owned and maintained for public by the national government (e.g. the National bank). National stereotypes: the typical characteristics that describe people of any country (e.g. some positive stereotypes of Americans include generosity, optimism, hardworking, volunteerism, materialism, racism, and obesity). Common symbols present the country: the visible things that by association present the country (e.g. the cup with a map of Australia or the Opera House). Notes: The elaborations of cultural themes are made based on Concise Oxford English Dictionary, Twelfth Edition, edited by Angus Stevenson and Maurice Waite, 2011.

7 General English for non-majors in higher education Loan Thi Lam

Recognising the importance of tertiary foreign language learning, Vietnamese policy makers have developed plans to enhance the study of foreign languages at Vietnamese universities. English is a global language and the dominant foreign language taught in Vietnam (Lam, 2011; Nguyen, 2011; Sullivan, 1996). Vietnam’s international relationships and economic cooperation with such organisations as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), World Bank (WB), Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APECT), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Crystal, 1997) rely on English for communication (To, 2010). Vietnamese employers require their employees to be proficient in English (Son, 2011). Higher education students work to master English to prepare for their future careers, but also to earn the opportunity to attend Vietnam’s international universities or the chance to study overseas (Loi, 2011; Son, 2011). Vietnamese foreign language education policy reflects the late 1980s, the Open Door – “Doi Moi” policy pivot towards the West, particularly, the United States. English replaced Russian and French as the dominant languages in Vietnamese education. One of the first policies enacted by the Vietnamese government was Circular No 442/TT, signed by the Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, which required Vietnamese government officials to master a foreign language, preferably English (Vo, 1994). More recently, to improve the Vietnamese labour force’s English proficiency for a twenty-first century economy, a national education project, “Teaching and learning foreign languages in the national education system in the period of 2008 – 2020”, and known as “the National Language Project 2020” or “the Project 2020” was approved and launched in 2008. In this Project, the Vietnamese government identified four foreign languages, English, Chinese, Russian, and French, as optional subjects to be taught at all education levels. Of these four foreign languages, English was identified as the main foreign language (MOET, 2008; Nguyen, 2003). The current Refreshed 2020 Project in the period of 2017–2020, which was approved on December 22nd, 2017, focused on how to improve the English proficiency of Vietnamese labour force at all levels. This Refreshed 2020 Project identified eight main targets by 2025: creating a breakthrough in the quality of teaching and learning English; applying advanced technology; creating communication environment; ensuring English

General English for non-majors 87 capacity and pedagogical capacity of teachers; strengthening assessment; prioritising remote areas; socialising the role of language centres; and management renovation (MOET, 2017). Responding to both Projects, since 2008, the Vietnamese government has invested in English teaching and learning in training English teachers, initiated English course books from grades three to twelve, and held workshops on improving teaching and learning English at all educational levels (Ngan, 2011). In the higher education sector, an extensive English language program was implemented. This program adopted the Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR), which was developed by the Council of Europe, as the standard measure of English proficiency. Vietnamese policy makers hope that the successful implementation of the Refreshed 2020 Project will contribute significantly toward improving the quality of foreign language education, including the General English programs. It is important to note that the General English program application which is consistent across all Vietnamese universities is different, however, from the ­English applications provided by universities, most of which rely on application formulations which differ from each other, and differ even more so from the General English program application. Because of the complexity associated with different requirements in language skills amongst universities, it has made it very difficult to achieve consistent performance outcome assessments across the nation. Given these discrepancies, there has been widespread debate and various predictions that both of the Project 2020 will fail due to: 1 2

The inadequacy of the English proficiency assessment measures; The restriction on time constraints which will not allow the program to take effect by 2025 (The government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 2016; Thuy Linh, 2016).

Based on this likely failure, an intensive exploration of the effect of the CEFR on teacher and student reflection within the contexts of General English programs in Vietnam was conducted at the end of 2017. This study was conducted amongst first-year university students in Khanh Hoa Provinces, the central region of Vietnam in which the CEFR was utilised as the primary measure of E ­ nglish proficiency. This study used questionnaires to explore the application of the CEFR, given that “survey researchers collect quantitative, numbered data using questionnaires, and statistically analyse the data to describe the trends” (Creswell, 2012, p. 376). The voluntary participants included 13 practising general ­English teachers, and 513 voluntary general English students from two universities, Khanh Hoa University and Nha Trang University. This chapter also critically reviews the current stage of the CEFR standards to identify possible explanations why tertiary graduates are not meeting these standards. Finally, the chapter will provide a brief analysis of the type of recommendations necessary for elevating the quality of general English education.

88  General English for non-majors

Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) The Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) measures the specific level of language proficiency of participants in the test. The European Union Council Resolution declared that all European countries should set up “systems of validation of language ability” in November 2001 (The Council of Europe’s, 2011, p. 1). The CEFR has been increasingly adopted in many countries in the Middle East, Australasia, Latin America, and Asia, including Vietnam (Cambridge University, 2013). Schools, colleges, and universities use this common framework for describing, assessing, and identifying language proficiency levels of learners, from beginner, intermediate, to advanced levels. The CEFR consists of six reference levels of proficiency, such as basic user (including levels A1, A2), independent user (including levels B1, B2), and proficient user (including levels C1, C2). Listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills are featured in each level to capture the learners’ language progress. MOET (The Ministry of Education and Training) issued a circular (Circular No. 01/2014/ TT-BGDĐT on January 24th, 2014) to identify an adopted framework known as the Common Framework of Reference for Language in Vietnam (CEFR-VN). The CEFR-VN points out similarities and highlights six distinct levels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, of which level one is equivalent to A1; level two is equivalent to A2; level three is equivalent to B1; level four is equivalent to B2; level five is equivalent to C1; and level six is equivalent to C2. It is imperative to acknowledge that distinct names have been ascribed to distinguish the names of the six reference levels of proficiency in the CEFR-VN. This framework is designed to accommodate both students majoring in E ­ nglish and those who are studying English at a more general level. For the General ­English program, university students need to achieve level three (B1), and college students need to achieve level two (A2) to graduate; students who are considered ethnic minorities (including highland and tribal students) need only to achieve a lesser proficiency level of 2/6 (A2) by the time they graduate. To contextualise the experiences drawn from students enrolled in different universities in Khanh Hoa Province, it will be very helpful to review the English programs as they exist in the curriculum of the universities who have applied the CEFR-VN.

CEFR-VN Application Responding to the CEFR-VN, various Vietnamese universities adopted different ways to organise the General English program, especially in placement tests, performance outcomes, and disparity in class levels as they relate to achieving a successful graduation.

Placement Tests Placement assessments refer to the tests which measure the English proficiency levels of students so that they are placed in classes appropriate to their level of

General English for non-majors 89 proficiency. Because the placement tests were independently designed by each university involved in the CEFR-VN, the resulting measure of students’ proficiency is being evaluated with different emphases on what each university values and regards as necessary to the students’ efficient command of English. The problem is that the results of the students’ tests reflect skills which are inconsistently represented in the CEFR-VN. This being so, it is difficult to rely on the outcome of the placement tests, because the test scores have been evaluated differently in each university. For example: In Sai Gon University, the General English program is divided into three class levels: • • •

English I, included two credits – 30 periods (one period is 50 minutes) English II, included two credits – 30 periods English III, included three credits – 45 periods

English I is the most basic level of the General English program. Students are required to do a placement test which includes their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. The maximum test score is 100. If the test score is from 30 to less than 60, students will be relocated in a lower level class which is called “English foundation two”. If the test score is under 30 students are relocated to a more basic class which is designated as “English foundation one” (Sai Gon University, 2014). Students who achieve scores of 60 up to 100 remain in the basic English class at level one of the General English program. Upon reflection, it seems inefficient to oblige students who have achieved a perfect score of 100 to remain at the same level of classroom learning which they have proven already to have mastered. How are these students supposed to improve their English if the only things they are being taught are equivalent to the things they already know and the skills they already possess? This is an issue which I believe badly needs to be addressed. For those who received the English certificate B (at National level) and A2 (as identified in the CEFR), TOEIC 400, TOEFL PBT 400, TOEFL iBT 35, IELTS 4.0, there is no need to take the placement test (Sai Gon University, 2014). In Da Nang University of Technology, students’ levels were also determined by placement tests. Different from Sai Gon University, the placement tests included only listening skills, reading skills, and grammar, while the test itself consisted of multiple choice questions. The maximum test score was the same as Sai Gon University, though the scores were evaluated differently to place students in class levels which were consonant with their English skills. The General English program was divided into five classes: • • • • •

Class level A1, included five credits Class level A2.1, included three credits Class level A2.2, included four credits Class level B1.1, included seven credits Class level B1.2, included seven credits

90  General English for non-majors If the students’ score falls under 35, they are placed in the study class A1 which is the most basic level (equivalent to 60 periods x 50 minutes). For those students whose performance level ranges from 35 to 69, they will have another opportunity ­ nglish to continue their study in class A2.1. Other students more competent in E who achieve higher scores from 70 to 84, will be placed in study class A2.2; and those students whose performances range from 85 –100, will be afforded an opportunity to study in class B1.1 (seven credits). After performing well at level B1.1, the brightest students from this group will be advanced to study English at the highest level B1.2 (seven credits). Students who graduate university majoring in English, and who have achieved an English certificate above level A2 are not required to sit for the placement test. Students who have already obtained a certificate issued by ETS (Educational Testing Service, United States), or the British Council, or ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages, England), including a certificate from the IDP (International Development Program, Australia), will have attained an English proficiency level equivalent to the certificate performance level they achieved (Da Nang University of technology, 2016). The placement tests are implemented specifically to measure the level of each student’s English proficiency upon their initial entrance to the university. Given these placement tests, the students are enrolled in a suitable class level of the General English program which is consistent with their skills. Associated with the placement tests, all students intending to graduate are required to demonstrate that their English proficiency levels are sufficient to meet the standards of competency set by the university. The required level of student performance for students to graduate varies to some extent amongst the universities involved.

Performance outcomes The required tertiary performance standard for English competency will thus be flexible. This being so, the student performance level in General English is unlikely to be uniform, even if they applied the CEFR-VN. For example, MOET requires that university graduates of General English achieve at least a level B1 performance level. The level of B1 is equivalent to the standard set by TOEIC 450, TOEFL PBT 450, TOEFL iBT 45, or even IELTS score of 4.5 (MOET, 2012). It is thus clear that the “standard” of English performance can be quite varied amongst universities. General English students who studied at the University of Agriculture and Forestry of Ho Chi Minh City since 2008 were considered to have met the required outcome performance, if they satisfy one of the following criteria: •

Having received one of the international English certificates: namely, TOEFL 400, TOEIC 450, IELTS 4.5, PET 70, BULATS 40 • Having an English proficiency equivalent to B1 from the CEFR, students will have to procure the certificate of competency from the Center for Foreign Languages ​​of Nong Lam University in Ho Chi Minh City.

General English for non-majors 91 Thus, the required TOEFL of this university was 50 points lower compared to the CEFR-VN. Similarly, Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport stipulates that students need to achieve IELTS score of 4.0. This score is 0.5 points lower than the standard set by MOET (Nguyen, n.d.). In contrast to the University of Agriculture and Forestry of Ho Chi Minh City and Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport, some universities including Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City University of Law, Foreign Trade University and Hoa Sen University raised their outcome performance standard for their students (Hoa Sen University. (2011). These outcome performances were higher than the CEFR-VN, such as IELTS 5.0, TOEIC iBT 64 (Nguyen, n.d.), even though there is an absence of socio-economic data to explain this discrepancy. Interestingly, Hoa Sen University has such regulations as to equip students with the foreign language skills necessary to be able to read materials in different foreign languages or ​​ to take part in some (or all) specialised subjects taught entirely in English. At the same time, such regulations meet the outcome learning standard of the university curriculum, thereby helping students to gain confidence and the ability to communicate fluently and effectively in the work environment, thus meeting international standards. Da Nang University of Technology, however, had more flexible criteria for the anticipated performance outcomes. For example, for B1, IELTS ranges from 4.0 – 4.5; TOEFL BPT ranges from 450 – 477; TOEFL iBT ranges from 45 – 53; and the range for TOEIC is 450 – 595 (Da Nang University of technology, 2016). The different university requirements for English proficiency outcomes reveal that the universities applied the CEFR-VN differently depending on each of their own contexts. This being so, the class standards which are organised to maximise the student performance outcomes were different amongst the various universities.

Class levels With the high demand placed on of the learning of general English as identified by MOET in Project 2020 and Refreshed 2020 Project, General English has become a compulsory subject in higher education. All students, apart from English major students, must learn general English. The required performance outcome for college students to achieve is at level two (equivalent to A2 in the CEFR) and university students to achieve is at level three (equivalent to B1 in the CEFR). Different class levels were organised to facilitate student learning. The class levels, however, were different from universities even in the same province. For example, in the Khanh Hoa University context, the CEFR of Khanh Hoa University (CEFR-KH) consists of eight class levels: A1.1, A1.2, A2.1, A2.2, A2.3, B1.1, B1.2, and B1.3, of which the class levels A1.1 and A1.2 are equivalent to level A1 of the CEFR. Correspondingly, the class levels A2.1, A2.2, and A2.3 are equivalent to level A2 of the CEFR; the class levels B1.1, B1.2, and

92  General English for non-majors B1.3 are equivalent to level B1 of the CEFR. However, Nha Trang University decided to organise different class levels. For example, the CEFR of Nha Trang University (CEFR-NT) consists of five class levels: A1, A2.1, A2.2, B1.1, and B1.2, of which the class level A1 is equivalent to level A1 of the CEFR. Similarly, the class levels A2.1 and A2.2 are equivalent to level A2 of the CEFR, while the class levels B1.1, and B1.2, are equivalent to level B1of the CEFR. Universities have different ways to adapt the CEFR-VN, given their contexts of specialisation as mentioned earlier. In other words, universities design their own general English programs to improve the general English proficiency of university students, depending upon the occupations in which they are expecting their students to engage. Universities are flexible in applying the General English program mentioned in the CEFR-VN by their context. During the process of implementing the CEFR-VN, many universities share similar challenges which in turn influenced the learning and teaching process. The substantial differences in implementing the CEFR-VN amongst universities, especially in the case of placement tests, performance outcomes, and specific class levels represent the challenges confronted in teaching and the learning processes which reflect the findings of this research. Given the complexity of these challenges, the objectives of the CEFR-VN might not be successfully implemented by 2025.

Discussion General English students receive support from their university and teachers. Thanks to the CEFR, the university is now able to identify the performance standards for students to meet the current English requirement. University leaders have tried to promote this positive framework by training teachers at every level, from primary to higher education. By improving teaching ability and skills, it is evident that teaching English in the classroom is greatly facilitated. In addition, using textbooks and relevant technology has served to enhance and complement the teaching activities which have been supported by MOET (UNESCO, 2007). Not only students but also teachers take advantages of using the CEFR. As the University of Cambridge reports, “It is a basic for individualising learning, as for each learner there is an optimal level at which they should be working. It allows teaching to focus on the strengths and weaknesses which are helping or hindering learners” (University of Cambridge, 2011, p. 13). The new focus on learning activities engages students to become involved in processes of learning which are now more active than passive. Universities have different ways to adapt the CEFR-VN in their context as mentioned previously. In other words, universities design their own general ­English programs in order to improve the general English proficiency of university students. Universities are flexible in applying the General English program mentioned in the CEFR-VN by their context. During the process of implementing the CEFR-VN, many universities share similar negative factors which influenced the learning and teaching process. These factors might cause the unsatisfied application result of the CEFR-VN.

General English for non-majors 93

Problems encountered during the process of implementing the CEFR-VN The General English program was designed to improve the English proficiency of learners; however, most of the student and teacher participants mentioned the negative experience they had encountered during the teaching and learning process. This study highlights the process of higher education students learning general English including the factors influencing and shaping this process. These factors include motivation, teacher engagement, the learning schedule, and communication environment.

Motivation Students who lacked motivation in learning English gave some examples of their own unwillingness to study sufficiently hard, especially when having to review their previous lessons, pay strict attention to the teacher’s lectures, thus sometimes preferring to sleep in the classroom rather than listen to their teachers. As a consequence, these unmotivated students often make themselves absent from school to avoid academic challenges. Students who studied basic English from year three discovered that when they entered university, their English proficiency even at the basic level had been lost. A number of students conceded that the demise of their English proficiency was due to their failure in practising their English continuously. Other students pointed out that their lack of competency in English was simply due to a lack of motivation, which could be regarded as a form of not being interested in learning. The description by some students of the loss of their basic English skills was reported in different ways. For example, one of them stated that “my listening skills and speaking skills are very weak, so I do not even understand what the teacher said”. Another respondent explained that his weak English skills were a result of his not having enough opportunities to speak English with those whose English was superior to his own. Given this problem, he considered: “I do not know anything about English; my vocabulary is weak; I can hardly speak any English; my pronunciation is bad; I am terrible at English grammar; and I use Google to translate any writing I have to do in English”. This situation creates a problem for these students who attend university, because by the time they get there, they either prefer not to speak English or they have completely lost their command of and interest in the language. It is difficult to conceive that students who had a reasonable grasp of the English language in year 12 could so quickly find themselves no longer able to speak, write, or even understand English. The placement test result also confirmed the low levels of the students’ English proficiency. The majority of students (90%) was organised to study at level A1 which is considered to represent the English outcome standards for high school graduate students. On the basis of this placement test score, it is actually a challenge for teachers and university policy makers to succeed in training students to achieve the required performance outcomes.

94  General English for non-majors Teachers also regarded the lack of student motivation as the primary impediment to learning English. Furthermore, teachers commented that their own difficulties in endeavouring to teach English have been hampered by the unmotivated attitudes of their students. This loss of the basic English language speaking skills students developed from years three to twelve caused a number of problems. One difficulty confronting students was that they found it extremely difficult to follow up further lessons in English, because they no longer had a working facility with the language. Teachers find it extremely challenging to have to create new lessons by way of which they can efficiently resurrect the loss of the basis English skills for students. What makes it even more complex is their trying to obtain the required level of English proficiency, especially when the time students have in the classroom in an English language learning context is rigorously limited. Student’s lack of interest may have been result of a lack of motivation. There were three main motivations that influenced the students enrolled in General English. These processes included development-motivation, intrinsic-motivation, and obligation-motivation. Development motivation relates to the students’ awareness of integral importance of achieving a high standard of English for their future careers. This level of student awareness will help them to generate attitudes of positive thinking about their language learning process (Βρεττού, 2011). Given their goals, they became motivated to achieve a high level of English facilities to prepare them for their future professional employment prospects. Students have developed an undaunted desire to secure a good job and develop a strong career pathway to follow graduation. To meet the standards of employability, students undertaking general English were inspired by development motivation to achieve a high standard of English. As a result, students studying General English set up their targets and study plans to advance individual development, and then find a variety of ways to continue to practise English. The other main determinant was intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation encouraged their determination to develop a range of internal interests and passions. Students began to feel autonomous and sufficiently competent to learn to speak English well if they were placed in relevant class levels, and had a background of English. Students felt obligated rather than interested in learning ­ English. These feelings were enshrined in their responses, though several them were “not sure whether they would keep on learning English after completing their general ­English program”. Some students only studied to meet the outcome requirement to graduate and get a degree, and once they achieved that goal they no longer had any interests in continuing to learn English. They had no commitment to continuing to learn and practise English. Students were unable to recognise the life-long importance of learning English. Thus, the less they felt competent about learning English, the lower levels of intrinsic motivation they had. The lower levels of intrinsic motivation also complement the concept of obligation motivation which derived from the university. Students studying General English identified their purposes in being willing: “to achieve the English learning outcome standard as required by university” and “because of the school

General English for non-majors 95 required program”. Students felt they were obligated to learn English rather than being able to enjoy learning it. To increase intrinsic student motivation, teachers can learn to play an essential role in improving the level of their students’ proficiency in how to learn ­English. However, the absence of a deep understanding by teachers about Project 2020 and Refreshed 2020 Project, the low level of teacher enthusiasm, and their lack of socio-cultural experience in an English-speaking country made it difficult for them to teach as effectively as those who have been trained in an English-­ speaking country.

Level of the teacher engagement Students’ motivation to learn English was also greatly influenced by lecturers. The lecturers organised the class activities. These learning activities are effective or not depending on how teachers create and carry out these activities. However, some teachers did not grasp the target of the General English program. For example, the General English program in some universities was carried out by their language centres. Some centres recruited some teachers from outside the institution, and these teachers assumed that they would not have the opportunity to benefit from any of the ideas drawn from the targets defined by Project 2020 and Refreshed 2020 Project. These outside teachers had either neutral opinions or “no opinion” at all. As one of the teachers reported, they had “no idea” of what was happening in Project 2020 and Refreshed 2020 Project. These teachers did not have much experience in teaching General English. Not understanding the project target, and their lack of experience led to these teachers being less effective at conveying the knowledge required and in advancing the purposes of transferable knowledge. The level of the teachers’ enthusiasm also influenced the students’ motivation. While teachers did the task of teaching, they did not show any positive emotions or passions for the lessons they gave. As one student observed “there are some teachers who are not enthusiastic, they are not excited in class, and they obviously did not enjoy teaching”, “Teachers do not have much fun when they come to class”, “Teachers only care about the results without paying attention to the comprehension of the students”. Noticeably, the students felt intrinsically motivated only when they felt connected to these significant teachers. The half-hearted attitudes of teachers have caused the low level of intrinsic motivation and increased obligation motivation in students studying General English. Students’ engagement in class activities also related to socio-cultural competencies of teachers. The English learning reflects the belief that “language teaching is culture teaching” (Byram, 1989, p. 42). Teachers need to understand the “cultural onion” (Shaules, 2010, p. 15) of English-speaking countries. However, General English teachers had limited familiarity with English languages usage in these countries. For instance, a few of them hold a teaching degree from an English-speaking country.

96  General English for non-majors

Timetabling Regarding constraints on learning and teaching, both students and teachers recognised that facilities and a shortage of study time were of paramount importance. These issues were reported frequently, especially by teacher participants. Most of the teachers proposed that the studying time schedule should be edited. The time for them to transfer knowledge is not enough, so sometimes they had to give a quick and short lecture, otherwise they cannot catch up with the teaching schedule associated with the required lesson plan. Teacher participants reported “the studying time is limited”, “it should reduce the learning content or increase the studying time”. For the students, an identical schedule of the two classes has influenced their studying, for instance “My gymnastics and English classes are scheduled at the same time”. It can be argued that the students are overloaded with too many classes. Thus, the inevitable decision to resolve the problem is that either the teaching time in the classroom increases in time or the required content will need to be reduced. The General English program schedule and activities also reviewed some disadvantages. One informant noted that, for each level, the CEFR identifies the relevant guided learning hours which is “the time that learners will typically need to spend undertaking various activities to achieve the qualification” (Isb, 2015. p. 3). Another informant added that it also refers to “the hours of guided learning under the immediate guidance or supervision of a lecturer, supervisor, tutor or other appropriate provider of education or training” (LC, n.d.). In this framework of the CEFR, for instance, the specific learning hours under the guidance of teachers is approximately 90 – 100 hours for level A1. However, the actual time required for level A1 of the CEFR-KH (87.5 hours) is lower than the requirement of the CEFR. At the higher level A2 (125 hours) and B1 (125 hours), the guided learning hours are extended, thereby further approximating the required CEFR (180 – 200 hours for level A2, and 350 – 400 hours for level B1). Although the learning hours are not enough for students, the problem is they also missed some classes due to the overlapping learning schedule. In fact, they were expected to attend two classes simultaneously on the same day. Students mentioned they sometimes could not attend the General English class without missing another class. Regarding their self-learning, the students did not take any extraneously offered English courses, only the courses at the university. And the time for self-learning which was available was calculated to be only 1 – 5 hours a week. Limited guided learning hours at the university and self-learning hours may thus serve as impediments to a more effective learning experience in English. Although there are placement tests to determine the level of English speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills, the actual level of skills is very different from one student to another, each of which has very different learning needs. For instance, some students who were once good in their reading skills must study with other students whose skills were not good in reading but good at speaking, listening, and writing end up with the same combined marks due to the disparate proficiency among the students with respect to the skills they are good at.

General English for non-majors 97 Unequal proficiency levels in a class not only slow the learning processes associated with their basic level of language acquisition, but also cause considerable difficulties for the teachers endeavouring to transfer knowledge.

Communication environment Students also lack support in opportunities for extra curriculum activities in which English is spoken both inside and outside the classroom. Another salient point to be emphasised is that most students have never had an opportunity to study ­English under the guidance of native speakers. In addition, even for those who have obtained a reasonable competency in spoken English from the classes, the problem is that they do not have the necessary opportunities to practise their English speaking, due to a lack of English-speaking environments in which their practice of English could be facilitated. This being so, it is vital that we encourage English learning activities that otherwise would not generally happen in the classroom or indeed outside of it in the context of some outdoor activities. Because the practice of spoken English only rarely takes place in the classroom, it is of paramount importance to provide opportunities for the practice of English to occur in a range of community contexts (OECD, 2010, p. 3). As we have discussed, both inside classroom learning activities and outside classroom environments are enormously important for students to reflect on what they have learned both inside and outside the classroom. Making it possible for these learning opportunities to happen is a crucial goal if ever we are to maximise the opportunities required for career success in Vietnam.

Considerations There was a wide variety of factors which negatively affected the English learning processes experience by students at the university. Among these factors are a lack of motivation, the level of the teachers’ enthusiasm, insufficient guided learning hours, learning environments which do not foster the speaking of English, the students’ all loss of their basic English skills, and the different levels of specific skills proficiency in a class. Students are mostly extrinsically motivated to learn general English (i.e. to respond to the required English program from the university, provided by General English teachers who hope to effectively prepare their students for a successful career). One of the things that is needed for assisting students to understand the importance of learning English is the potential they must maximise their career success by acquiring a competence in English. We need to make them feel that learning English is both interesting and enjoyable. Doing so may motivate them to engage more in English learning activities, and as a result, they become more responsible for their learning achievement. In addition, to enhance General English students’ intrinsic motivation, it is better to reduce the feeling of obligation in learning English. It is important for university authorities and teachers to make the students feel that recapturing their

98  General English for non-majors basic level of English proficiency is important and to focus on the basic English skills they would like to improve. It is evident that university authorities and teachers should organise or hold extra-curricular activities, such as English workshops, English seminars, or even English learning clubs. These activities do not only stimulate students to explore and to use English independently, but they also help them to develop English language speaking environments, where authentic English communication can be implemented. Regarding the different levels of English proficiency in a class, the placement test might have practical issues. For instance, the placement tests were designed by the university staff, and the test did not have any criteria and or guidelines on which to base the assessment, as is supported by the research of Yuko (2000) who said that “there is no established procedure or theoretical foundation for test development nor a guideline for statistical analysis that each school should follow” (p. 243). From this it follows that the placement test might not be able to identify the correct English proficiency levels of students. It is evident that we should be very careful in delivering evaluation and learning measurement with a high degree of certainty. Second, although the placement test modestly measured the four skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills), the students were nonetheless placed in their class depending on their total marks of the four skills. It is suggested that the classes should be reorganised without criteria based on four combined skills which could otherwise be assessed individually in the placement test. In other words, students should be able to sit the exam in different classrooms which reflect the different proficiency levels of the students involved. To enhance more support for students, especially creating a social-cultural and practical learning environment, exchange teacher programs or sending teachers to be trained in oversea countries should be supported by the government. It is recommended that General English teachers should undertake courses on native English cultures or cultural programs to improve their understanding of the cultural input on the speaking of English within distinct culture frameworks. English-speaking countries can thus provide teachers with English-speaking experience designed to enhance students’ motivation by focusing on the practice of English using innovative methods of giving feedback. Furthermore, it should be ensured that the English outcome standard of students at high schools is achieved by fostering their learning English while they are at secondary and high schools. Regarding students’ English outcome standards, a Language Testing Centre for the whole country should be established for testing, so that we can avoid the disparity levels in various educational institutions.

References Βρεττού, A. (2011). Patterns of language learning strategy use by Greek-speaking young learners of English. Retrieved from https://www.didaktorika.gr/eadd/handle/ 10442/24616 Byram, M. (1989). Cultural studies in foreign language education. Clevendon, Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters.

General English for non-majors 99 Cambridge University. (2013). Introductory guide to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for English language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from www.englishprofile.org/images/pdf/GuideTo CEFR.pdf The Council of Europe’s (2011). Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Retrieved from www.coe.int/t/dg4/ linguistic/Source/Framework_EN.pdf Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research planning, conducting and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson. Crystal, D. (1997). English as a global language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Da Nang University of technology. (2016). Quyet dinh so 389/QD-DHBK ngay 10 thang 10 nam 2016 ve viec ban hanh “Quy dinh ve yeu cau nang luc tieng Anh doi voi sinh vien dai hoc he chinh quy”. [Decision No. 389/QD-DHBK dated 10 October 2016 on launching “English Proficiency Requirements for Full-Time University Students.” Da Nang city, Vietnam. Retrieved from http://daotao. dut.udn.vn/Content/PDF/TinTuc/QCQD_Daihoc_QD389_QuyDinhNang LucTiengAnh_DH_CTDTDaiTra.pdf The Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. (2016). Toan canh: Bo truong Phung Quang Nha tra loi chat van [Overview: Minister Phung Xuan Nha responds to questions]. The government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Hanoi, ­Vietnam. Retrieved from http://baochinhphu.vn/Thoi-su/TOAN-CANH-Bo-truongPhung-Xuan-Nha-tra-loi-chat-van/291659.vgp Hoa Sen University. (2011). Quyet dinh so 1321/QD-BGH ngay 23 thang 9 nam 2011 ve viec “Cap nhat, bo sung mot so dieu cua quy dinh hoc va chuan dau ra ngoai ngu thu nhat trong chuong trinh dao tao chinh quy theo he thong tin chi truong Dai hoc Hoa Sen ban hanh theo quyet dinh so 738–2010/QD-BGH ngay 31/08/2010”. [Decision No. 1321/QD-BGH dated 23 September 2011 on “Updating and supplementing some articles of the regulations and standards for the first foreign language in the formal training program under the credit system of Hoa Sen University issued in accordance with the Decision No.738–2010 / QD-BGH dated 31/08/2010]. Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. Retrieved from www.sinhvien.hoasen.edu.vn/sites/default/ files/2013/10/user29/quy_dinh_hoc_nn1_he_tc_2011_0.pdf Information Standards Board (Isb), (2015). Standards development business analysis report for guided learning hours/credit value. ISB publication. Retrieved from https://data.gov.uk/education-standards/sites/default/files/ISB000332-­ Standards-Development-Business-Analysis-Report-Guided-Learning-Hours-v0-6. pdf Lam, T. L. (2011). The impact of Vietnam’s globalization on national education policies and teacher training programs for teachers of English as an international ­language: A case study of the University of Pedagogy in Ho Chi Minh city. (Ed. D Thesis 3463876), Alliant International University, San Diego, CA. Loi, N. V. (2011). Dynamic conceptions of input, output and interaction: Vietnamese EFL lecturers learning second language acquisition theory. (Ph.D. Thesis), University of Waikato, New Zealand. Language Cert (LC), (n.d). Guided learning hours. Retrieved from http://www. languagecert.org/en/Qualifications/Guided-Learning-Hours/Pages/GuidedLearning-Hours.aspx MOET. (2008). Quyet dinh ve viec phe duyet de an “Day va hoc ngoai ngu trong he thong giao duc quoc dan giai doan 2008–2020. No. 1400/QD-TTg. [Decision

100  General English for non-majors No. 1400/QD-TTg on the approval of the project “Teaching and learning foreign language in the national education system in the period 2008–2020]. Hanoi, Vietnam: Vietnam National Politic Publications. MOET. (2012). Bang tham chieu quy doi mot so chung chi ngoai ngu tuong duong cap do B1, B2 khung Chau Au. [The equivalent table of foreign language certificates at level B1 and B2 by the CEFR. Retrieved from www.ctu.edu.vn/vbdh/ vbcb/2012_05_TT_BGDDT_phuluc.pdf MOET. (2017). Quyet dinh ve viec phe duyet dieu chinh, bo sung de an day va hoc ngoai ngu trong he thong giao duc quoc dan giai doan 2017–2025. No. 2080/QDTTg [Decision No. 2080/QD-TTg on the approval, adjustment and supplement of the project “Teaching and learning foreign language in the national education system in the period 2008–2020]. Hanoi, Vietnam: Vietnam National Politic Publications. Ngan, N. T. (2011). West wind blows: Voices of Vietnamese teachers and students of English: A case study of Nha Trang University. (Ph.D Thesis), Ohio University, Ohio, USA. Nguyen, Q. (n.d). Chuan ngoai ngu: Moi truwowng mot kieu! English performance outcome: Different universities has different performance standards! Retrieved from www.cdsonla.edu.vn/daotao/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id= 466:chun-ngoi-ng-mi-trng-mt-kiu&catid=54:trao-i-nhanh Nguyen, T. M. H. (2011). Primary English language education policy in Vietnam: Insights from implementation. Current Issues in Language Planning, 12(2), 225. Nguyen, V. X. (2003). English language teaching in Vietnam today: Policy, practice and constraints. In H. Kam & R. Wong (Eds.), English language teaching in East Asia today (pp. 455–474). Singapore: Times Media Private. OECD, (2010). The nature of learning: Using research to inspire practice. OECD publication. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/50300814.pdf Sai Gon University. (2014). Cong van so 2895/DHSG-DT ngay 27 thang 10 nam 2014 ve viec to chuc day hoc cac hoc phan Tieng Anh khong chuyen. [Official letter No. 2895/ DHSG-DT dated 27 October 2014 on organised teaching non-English major courses]. Ho Chi minh city, Vietnam. Retrieved from http://thongtindaotao.sgu.edu.vn/ Upload/file/QD2895_ToChucDayHocCacHPTiengAnhKhongChuyen.pdf Shaules, J. (2010). A beginner’s guide to the deep cultural experience beneath the surface. Boston, MA: Intercultural Press. Son, L. T. (2011). Teaching English in Vietnam: Improving the provision in the private sector. (Ph.D Thesis), Victoria University, New Zealand. Sullivan, P. N. (1996). English language teaching in Vietnam: An appropriation of communicative methodologies. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Thuy Linh. (2016). Bộ trưởng Giáo dục thừa nhận Đề án Ngoại ngữ 2020 thất bại [The education minister acknowledged that the foreign language project 2020 failed. Retrieved from http://giaoduc.net.vn/Giao-duc-24h/Bo-truong-Giao-duc-thuanhan-De-an-Ngoai-ngu-2020-that-bai-post172498.gd To, T. T. H. (2010). Insights from Vietnam. In R. Johnstone (Ed.), Learning through English: Policies, challenges and prospects. Insights from East Asia (pp. 96–114). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: British Council. UNESCO. (2007). ICT in teacher education: Case studies from the Asia-Pacific region. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001567/156757e.pdf University of Cambridge. (2011). Using the CEFR: Principles of good practice. Retrieved from www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/126011-using-cefr-principles-ofgood-practice.pdf

General English for non-majors 101 Vo, V. K. (1994). Chi thi cua thu tuong chinh phu so No. 442/TT ve cung co va nang cao kha nang ngoaii ngu cho vien chuc nha nuoc Viet Nam [Prime Minister’s Order No. 442/TT on the collolidation and improvement of foreign language proficiency for government officials in Vietnam]. Hanoi Vietnam: Nha Xuat Ban Chinh Tri Quoc Gia [National Politics Publications]. Yoko, S. (2000). Survey research on the use of placement tests at four-year universities in Japan. Retrieved from http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/acd/re/k-rsc/lcs/kiyou/ 14-1/RitsIILCS_14.1pp.231-243SHIMIZU.pdf

8 EFL speaking assessment in Vietnamese tertiary education Nam Lam

Testing and assessment play an integral part in second language education regardless of the learner’s proficiency level. Tests can help not only to identify “strengths and weaknesses in the learned abilities of the student”, but also “to provide information about the effectiveness of programmes of instruction” (Henning, 1987, pp. 1–2). Assessment practices in schools do have an impact on the teaching and learning processes (Cheng, 2005; Bachman, 1990). In the field of language assessment, test developers are concerned with not only the extent to which a test can measure what it claims to measure (construct validity), but also the degree to which the test can produce consistent results (reliability). This concern is particularly true for oral language assessment when speech samples are judged by human raters, who might value different features of candidates’ language use differently. Assessing EFL speaking skills in this era of global integration has put language test designers and practitioners in front of many challenges to meet increased demands for ensuring the effectiveness and accuracy in higher education quality evaluation. However, in Vietnam empirical research is limited for language testing in general and for oral assessment in particular. This chapter presents findings from a mixed methods research project conducted at three universities in Vietnam, addressing concerns of oral test takers and raters, and concludes with a discussion of the implications for enhancing the quality of oral assessment in Vietnamese tertiary education.

Oral assessment Many language tests are designed to measure candidates’ language proficiency levels, e.g. TOEFL, IELTS, TOEIC etc. Others measure the degree to which students have achieved the expected objectives upon completion of a language course or program. Such are classified as achievement tests that institutions organised on a frequent basis to evaluate the quality of their learning outcomes. Oral English test formats can be categorised into three common types according to the number of candidates in each testing session: individual oral interview, paired speaking test, and group oral assessment. The one-on-one oral interview format examines candidates’ speaking skills in verbal interaction with an interlocutor or examiner. Recent studies suggest that

EFL speaking assessment 103 the construct validity of oral interviews (Dandonoli & Henning, 1990), interview variation and the co-construction of speaking proficiency (Brown, 2003), and relationship between test taker behaviour and performance (Huang & Hung, 2013; Kunnan, 1994) are important issues in face-to-face oral assessment. There is a considerable discrepancy between two dimensions: some researchers argue for the rater reliability and usefulness of the oral interview (Shohamy, 1983), whereas others criticise this mode for its lack of features typical for normal conversation in terms of turn-taking, topical nomination or negotiation, and communicative involvement (Johnson & Tyler, 1998). Assessing candidates in pairs allows a variety of interactional patterns between examiner(s) and examinees, and reduces anxiety for the candidates since they are interacting with partners (Saville & Hargreaves, 1999). The popularity of paired speaking tests has stimulated discourse analysis research, particularly the potential impacts of candidate’s non-tested factors on mutual performance. A recent investigation reported three interaction parameters identified in paired assessment process: non-verbal interpersonal communication, interactive listening, and interactional management. This research challenges our understanding of effective interaction when candidates are paired (Ducasse & Brown, 2009). Another question is whether a candidate’s speaking is influenced by their partner’s proficiency level. Some studies indicate different results on this issue. No matter how their partners’ speaking proficiency levels are, “they [candidates] are likely to obtain rather identical opportunities to display their communicative abilities” (Nakatsuhara, 2004, p. 57). In co-constructed oral performance, “being paired with a candidate who has higher linguistic ability may be beneficial for lower level candidates who are able to incorporate some of their partners’ expressions into their own speech” (Norton, 2005, p. 291). Grouping candidates is a practical option for many educational institutions to deal with the pressure of large numbers of students for assessment. Although positive feedback has been demonstrated for both test raters and test takers (Hilsdon, 1991), candidates’ authentic participation in group discussion and fairness of marks awarded is a real concern. Discourse analysis of group oral interaction during a college spoken EFL test reveal that “many candidates interpret [group] contribution in terms of quantity rather quality” (He & Dai, 2006, p. 391). Additionally, test designers find speaking tasks for group discussion challenging because a task is used for assessment makes it unlikely that participants will engage with it in the same way that they would if they were not being assessed, no matter how much the assessment task resembles a real-world task in other aspects. (Spence-Brown, 2001, p. 479) Different test tasks enable candidates to communicate with examiners (or partners) at different levels and produce different speech patterns for assessment. Test designers need to clearly predetermine what the test is aimed at measuring

104  EFL speaking assessment (test construct) prior to its administration. Whatever tasks are adopted, the spoken language abilities that speaking tests claim to measure may consider the aspects of language competence and strategic competence (Milanovic, Saville, Pollitt, & Cook, 1996, p. 16). The decision on what interactional format and oral production tasks to be used for assessing speaking depends upon the established course objectives and students’ level. Table 8.1 summarises five categories of speaking performance tasks in terms of the speech sample elicited and the degree of interaction required of candidates (Brown, 2004, pp. 141–142). These tasks range from imitative speaking performance (such as imitation of short stretches of spoken language) to extensive oral production in an individual long turn. A task might get candidates involved from no interactive competence to longer and more complex interpersonal exchanges. Test takers’ characteristics should be considered before any test development and administration (see Figure 8.1). Oral test validation includes the cognitive processes (theory-based validity) in which test takers monitor their language knowledge to produce overt speech when performing test tasks; the test setting (context-related validity) associated with the administrative context and demands of assessment tasks; and the rating (scoring validity) based on candidates’ responses to the tasks. Grades and scores are products of the rating process, but they are not the final consideration. Test validation may include its impacts (consequential validity) and score value comparison (criterion-related validity).

Table 8.1  Categories of speaking performance assessment tasks Speaking assessment tasks

Elicited samples of oral ability

Level of interaction

Example

1 Imitative

Imitation of short stretches of spoken language Production of short stretches of spoken language Production of very short exchanges

None

Mimicry tasks (a word/ phrase/ sentence repetition) Directed response tasks, limited picture-cued tasks, etc. Question and answer, paraphrasing, giving instructions, etc. Interview, role play, discussion, conversation, etc.

2 Intensive 3 Responsive 4 Interactive

5 Extensive

Interaction in form of transactional and/ or interpersonal communication Production of speeches in an individual long turn

Minimal Somewhat limited Longer and more complex Highly limited or ruled out

Oral presentation, picture-cued storytelling, retelling a story/news event, etc.

EFL speaking assessment 105

TEST TAKER’S CHARACTERISTICS

CONTEXT VALIDITY

THEORY-BASED VALIDITY

 Task seng  Administraon Seng  Task demands  Interlocutor

INTERNAL PROCESS  Monitoring execuve processes and execuve resources

TEST TAKER’S RESPONSE

SCORING VALIDITY RATING  Criteria/rang scale  Rang procedures  Grading and awarding

SCORE / GRADE

CONSEQUENTIAL VALIDITY SCORE INTERPRETATION

CRITERION-RELATED VALIDITY SCORE VALUE

Figure 8.1  A socio-cognitive framework for validating speaking tests (Adapted from Weir, 2005)

Testing EFL speaking skills in Vietnam In Vietnam, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has been adopted from primary schools through universities (Pham, 2007; Ngoc & Iwashita, 2012). However, it is not until entering university that students, usually English majors, take speaking tests in their training programs. Most English non-majors do not take oral tests, and before that, the national graduation examination of English for high school students is designed totally in a multiple-choice format focusing on reading comprehension and linguistic accuracy in grammar and vocabulary usage (Thi Quoc Gia, 2017; Thanh Tam & Phuong Hoa, 2006). Vietnamese educators assert that enhancing English competence is a step towards helping Vietnamese education integrate well into the global education

106  EFL speaking assessment system (Dao, 2015; Phuong Thao, 2015). English competence is an important goal of the National Foreign Language Project (from 2008 to 2020) to make substantial changes to foreign language education in Vietnam, especially English. The Project 2020 guidelines have adopted the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) as a national framework to assess language proficiency, justify curriculum design, establish teaching and learning strategies, and measure the outcomes to ensure the compatibility of different stages of foreign language teaching and learning in the educational system (MOET, 2014). The language-testing system for both students and teachers at domestic institutions is presently suspected regarding its trustworthiness (Viet Toan, 2013), and a common benchmark of English evaluation is controversial for educators and policy makers (Phan, 2014). Further, at most universities in Vietnam, students’ academic achievement is assessed using a 10-point grading system, rather than scales of letter grades, e.g. from A through D or F. This practice requires more meticulous consideration to ensure fairness and objectiveness in scoring because the test results contribute to orienting pedagogical activities as well as making other important educational decisions (Language Testing Service, 2003). Many students are fully aware of the importance of improving their English speaking skills, but others focus more on only grammar and vocabulary to handle with exams (Tu, 2013). Most Vietnamese tertiary students attain satisfactory scores for graduation, but their spoken English ability remains insufficient to communicate with foreigners (Nguyen, 2016; Vu, 2007) or to meet work requirements (Thanh Ha, 2008; Le Van, 2016). Therefore, to enhance the quality of language assessment, universities and colleges need to construct assessment criteria corresponding well with the language-­training syllabus. The CEFR needs to be applied not only in examination but also be included in institutional curriculum (Thanh Tam, 2016).

Overview of data collection procedure The study was conducted at three universities in Southern Vietnam between late 2015 and early 2016, when the end-of-semester examinations were taking place there. Research participants were second-year English major students (n = 352) as test takers, and EFL teachers (n = 35) as test raters directly involved in the examination of speaking skills held at these institutions, referred to as Universities A, B, and C in this chapter. Data were collected by means of test room observation, survey questionnaires, interviews, and documents related to the speaking test such as the course books, course outlines, assessment guidelines, and test scores. In the scope of this chapter, test administration, test takers’ characteristics, test tasks, stakeholders’ perceptions, and consistency in rating as key aspects of oral language assessment will be presented.

Teaching and assessing speaking skills Speaking skills courses are part of the training curriculum for EFL majors in their first two years at university. Speaking lessons are not taught separately but in

EFL speaking assessment 107 integration with listening lessons. At the institutions involved in this study, the length of these integrated listening-speaking courses varied between 45 and 60 periods including the speaking examination at the end of the course. The main purpose of oral assessment was to evaluate learners’ achievement in their study progress and credit their successful completion of the course, which served as a prerequisite condition for promoting to the next level. Despite following the general guidance by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) on the standards and benchmarks for the quality of the graduate outcomes, each institution maintains their right and accountability in course book selection, syllabus design, and methods of assessment. A combination of data from EFL course outlines and observational field notes reveals remarkable similarities and differences in oral assessment methods across the institutions. The results are summarised in Table 8.2. These institutions applied a direct speaking test format, which required live performance of candidates’ speaking skills. The common focuses in the assessment criteria were pronunciation and vocabulary. However, it was not overtly stated whether the test tasks were marked separately or altogether. There were neither detailed descriptions of each criterion nor clear guidance in the scoring rubrics. Interactional routines were found at different levels: rater-candidate in interviews, candidate-candidate in discussions, and monologue (no interaction) in describing pictures aloud. The weighting of the end-of-course speaking exam was stipulated differently across institutions, but none accounted as much as half (50%) of the total score. Each student received a final combined score both listening and speaking skills, which made them vague about their score for each component. Oral assessment was a regular school-based practice upon the completion of each course. Despite possible adjustments in the test contents and methods year after year to suit the course objectives, all the teachers asserted the legitimate importance of testing speaking skills in EFL pedagogy. The reason was not merely because “it is one of the four essential language skills for English majors”, but to a broader sense, In regard of educational aspect, I find testing (speaking skills) is quite important in that, first, we (teachers) can know where our students’ spoken ­English level is. Second, we can evaluate whether our teaching process is effective or not. Further, it reveals useful clues of what aspects in the current syllabus need improving.

Candidates’ characteristics Despite being in the same stage of their study, the young adult candidates taking part in the test had a remarkable discrepancy in their spoken English ability, oral test taking experience, and physical and psychological situations on the test day. Table 8.3 shows data obtained from the student questionnaire survey regarding test takers’ characteristics.

• Weighting of the speaking component

• Assessment criteria

• Test tasks and time constraints

• Examiners

• Response format

• Objectives Language for mini-talks and daily conversations Paired: rater-candidate; candidate-candidate Interlocutor included

University B

Individual: rater-candidate

Language skills for academic success

University C

One examiner (teacher as both interlocutor and assessor) Question-and-answer (3–5 minutes): 1 Question-and-answer (2 minutes): 1 Picture-cued (2 minutes): each The teacher rater read questions, each candidate answered 2–3 candidate took turn to describe a and the candidate was required questions in turn. different photo provided. to give extended responses. The 2 Discussion (4–5 minutes): each pair 2 Discussion (3–4 minutes): candidates questions were of different topics. looked at a mind map and discussed discussed either of the two questions a question. The topic of discussion provided. The discussion questions question may differ from those in were of the same topic as that of Task 1. Task 1. – Fluency and coherence – Grammar and vocabulary – Lecture language – Grammatical accuracy – Discourse management – Coherence – Lexical resource – Pronunciation – Fluency – Pronunciation – Interactive communication – Pronunciation and intonation 35% 40% 25%

Language for social, academic and professional purposes Paired: monologue; candidatecandidate Interlocutor included

University A

Table 8.2  Methods of assessing speaking skills across institutions

EFL speaking assessment 109 Table 8.3  Test takers’ characteristics Student questionnaire (% agree)

Uni. A

Uni. B

Uni. C

Nervousness during the test Attendance of less than half of speaking lessons Self-evaluation of spoken English ability: Good or Very good Fairly good Average Poor or very poor -

85.7% 13.4%

92.7% 43%

90.9% 29.9%

18.1% 43.8% 34.3% 3.9%

7.3% 21.9% 58.4% 12.4%

19.1% 36.4% 40% 4.5%

Causes of oral test anxiety: “My speaking ability is not good”, “lack of confidence”, “having no ideas to speak”, “incorrect grammar and vocabulary”, “score pressure”, “test room pressure”, “cooperation with partner” etc.

The overall EFL speaking ability self-evaluation of most students was between the Average and Fairly good levels. On average, three out of ten students attended fewer than half of the speaking lessons during the course. Most candidates felt nervous during the speaking test because of the score pressure, anxiety of making mistakes, raters’ severity, ineffective cooperation with partner, lack of confidence about English knowledge and speaking ability etc. When interviewed, a candidate admitted “I was nervous because of the pressure for scores. Sometimes the raters appeared too strict, which made me lose my confidence”.

Perceptions of the test administration Teachers’ and students’ opinions and perceptions of the oral test are presented in Table 8.4, which is combined results from the separate questionnaires for EFL teachers and students, and follow-up interviews with representatives from the survey participants. More than half of the teachers thought the test was organised in a formal atmosphere, but not many candidates (about 40%) found it stressful. Survey results from observations and survey questionnaires indicate that noise (from outside) distracted those taking the test. The temperature in the test room, which was either too hot or cold for them, affected many candidates’ (about 10%) oral production. Teachers supposed that the students all had known about the assessment criteria but many of them had not. A student expressed what she would like to be informed prior to the test: The teacher once told us that the test would be organized with two students each time, but we had no ideas about the assessment criteria, for example, how much the content weighed, how sentence structuring was assessed, how about grammar and vocabulary components. . . . So I did not know which part I should focus on.

110  EFL speaking assessment Table 8.4  A joint display for perceptions of cross-institutional test administration Test raters (% agree)

Uni. A

Uni. B

Uni. C

Students were informed of the assessment criteria before the test. The atmosphere of the test room was formal. Unexpected occurrences, which might have affected teachers’ rating during the test, included: Noise Temperature

83.3%

81.8%

91.7%

83.3%

54.5%

50.5%

41.7% 41.7%

9.1% 0%

25% 0%

Giving feedback on candidates’ performance: “should be avoided so as not to affect students’ psychology”, “candidates should be given a feedback report to know which part they need for further speaking practice”, “impossible as time does not allow” Candidates (% agree)

Uni. A

Uni. B

Uni. C

The atmosphere of the test room was stressful. Students were informed of the assessment criteria prior to the test. Students need the teacher’s feedback on their speaking performance External occurrences that might have affected candidates’ performance: Noise Temperature

41% 46.7%

40.9% 59.1%

40% 77.3%

88.6%

83.2%

90.8%

40% 16.2%

24.8% 5.8%

39.1% 10.9%

Receiving feedback from raters: “really helpful for self-improvement and preparation for following exams”, “being afraid of displeasure, partners do not give feedback”, “comments from an examiner would be more objective”, “left a lasting impression”

Candidates expected to receive raters’ comments on their speaking performance because they were not able to evaluate themselves. They supposed it would be more objective to have an (examiner) outsider listening and giving feedback so that they could know what they needed to improve about their speaking. However, an experienced rater shared this opinion: Immediate feedback right after candidates’ speaking should be avoided so as not to affect their psychological state, because they were also taking exams for other subjects. However, I think it’s advisable to send them feedback report later that day, so they’ll know which part they need for further speaking practice in the next semester.

Perceptions of the speaking test tasks Various aspects regarding test tasks were informed by the questionnaire surveys for test raters and candidates, and the field notes from test room observations. Voices from the testers and test takers were also illustrated through a joint display in Table 8.5.

EFL speaking assessment 111 Table 8.5 A joint display for speaking test tasks and perceptions from test raters and candidates Types of speaking assessment tasks adopted

Uni. A Uni. B Uni. C

 Pictures for extensive speaking Display questions for responsive speaking Referential questions for responsive speaking Discussion questions for interpersonal interactive speaking  Test raters (% agree)

 

 

Uni. A Uni. B Uni. C

The speaking task gave the rater an adequate opportunity 83.3% to evaluate students’ English-speaking ability. Candidates were familiar with these kinds of test tasks. 50% The test tasks were designed on the basis of the course 75% objectives.

72.7%

83.7%

81.8% 100%

50% 100%

Raters’ comments: “authentic”, “questions taken from the course book”, “contributed by EFL teachers in charge of speaking classes” Candidates (% agree)

Uni. A Uni. B Uni. C

The speaking tasks evoked candidates’ interest. 81% The test tasks were too difficult for the candidate. 18.1% The speaking tasks provided candidates with an adequate 42.9% opportunity to demonstrate their ability to speak English.

89.1% 25.5% 35%

80% 12.7% 52.7%

Candidates’ comments: “well-matched with topics in the course book”, “too theory-oriented, rare exposures in reality, not to go into details”, “good performance needs regular class attendance”

As shown in Table 8.5, most of the candidates found the speaking tasks interesting and not very difficult. The test contents were generally well-matched with the input domain coverage of the course books. However, fewer than half of the candidates reported that they had sufficient opportunity to perform the test task at their best because of psychological factors, time pressure, or unfamiliar speaking topics. A candidate’s opinions can illustrate this survey result: Although I had preparation for that topic, when facing someone who was superior to me, and when that person asked me, my anxiety made me forget what I was going to say. My vocabulary disappeared and I could not speak fluently. Variation in task designs enabled the elicitation of diverse speech patterns for rating and scoring to take place. These tasks varied from extensive production of monologue (University A) to responsive production of answers to display or referential questions (Universities B and C), and interpersonal interactive speaking on a topic provided (Universities A and B). Although the following comment by

112  EFL speaking assessment a candidate was not typical, it indicates that some questions were problematic in terms of their contents and the way they elicited speech samples from learners: The test room atmosphere shouldn’t have been stressful but facilitated the talk. What’s more, having to recite the knowledge from the course book was not very effective.

Inter-rater reliability in scoring A comparison of the test scores across the three institutions revealed that University B had the highest number of student participants in the study (n = 128), then University A (n = 86) and University C (n = 79). The descriptive statistics indicates that University B had the widest spread of scores (8.0), which ranged from 2.0 to 10.0. The ranges of scores of Universities A and C were narrower at only 6.5 and 5.7, respectively. Candidates of University A scored the highest mean (7.4). Lower mean scores were found at Universities B and C (6.6 and 6.9, respectively). The smallest standard deviation in the scores of the candidates from University A (1.2) tells us that the scores were more similar and tightly clustered around the mean than those at Universities B and C. Rater reliability of oral assessments has been one of the most controversial topics appealing much of debate from the start. A major difficulty derives from the fact that raters’ subjective evaluation counts in the rating process (Brown, cited in Zahedi & Shamsaee, 2012). Hughes (2003, p. 43) claims that “if the scoring of a test is not reliable, then the test results cannot be reliable either”. In other words, consistency needs to be established in the rater’s performance to minimise measurement error, so the test can become trustworthy in providing stable information about what it is supposed to assess. The inter-rater reliability (the extent to which different raters agree with each other on the scores awarded to a single test performance) was estimated by computing the correlation of the test scores awarded by two different raters assessing the same candidates in the same testing event (Bachman, 1990). In this study, a guest rater was invited to mark speaking skills at University C because this institution had only one teacher rater assigned for each test room. Twelve pairs of raters in six sample test rooms performed the scoring. As displayed in the scatterplots in Figure 8.2, the line of regression moving from bottom left-hand corner to the top right-hand corner informs that some evidence of a positive relationship can be seen between the scores awarded by pairs of raters. That means when the total scores, in general, given by Rater 1 to each candidate in a test room increased, so did the scores given by Rater 2 to the same candidate in that test room. However, the relationship was stronger for scores at Universities A and B than those at University C. Unlike at Universities A and B, the scores awarded by pairs of raters in University C were not clustered around but scattered away from the line. The R2 Linear statistics shown in the plot tells us that there was 75% and 79% shared variance between the two sets of scores in Universities A and B,

University B

University C

Figure 8.2  Scatterplots showing the relationship between scores awarded by pairs of raters across universities

University A

114  EFL speaking assessment respectively, whereas this value in University C was only 54%. This result indicates that the level of agreement between raters at University C was weaker than that at the other two universities.

Discussion As an achievement test, the EFL oral assessment under research was organised to assess how much of language knowledge and skills students had been learned after a period of study. Depending on the availability of human resources and facility, each institution had their own method of assessment to ensure the quality of their graduate outcomes. It is recommended that test taker characteristics be taken into account when designing a test for a particular use (Saville, 2016). Test takers’ age, gender, and experience are possible sources of bias that might affect their performance. Test takers’ anxiety caused by score pressure or raters’ seriousness as reported should be minimised before and during the test, so candidates can perceive the test as an opportunity for them to demonstrate their speaking ability. Ensuring the uniformity of test administration across test rooms is not only important as keeping the consistency in raters’ scoring but also giving candidates a sense of fairness. Noise, inequality in timing, or differences in delivering test tasks and pairing candidates all contribute to candidates’ perceptions of the test and motivation in their speaking performance. That many candidates do know, whereas others do not know, about the assessment criteria is a sign of inconsistency in test administration. Whether an interlocutor was included in a test room made the oral test different across institutions. While Universities A and B had a rater in each test room act as an interlocutor who raised questions and took part in spoken interaction with pairs of candidates, in each test room at University C the rater played more than the role of an interlocutor and fulfilled many other types of work within a limited time for a speaking test event: managing the list of candidates going into the test room, reading questions, listening with careful attention, reasoning his/her scoring, and timing to decide when to end a candidate’s speaking session. Qualitative data gathered from observational field notes and course outlines demonstrated a diversity of test tasks employed to elicit speaking samples from test takers. Although a direct (live) format was used at all the three institutions, each designed and used their own test tasks based on the time length, the level of candidates involved in interaction, and the types of speaking samples they aimed to elicit. Specifically, University A offered Task 1 that required each candidate to speak extensively (monologue) with highly limited interaction with the rater and their partner. Task 2 provided an equal opportunity for each candidate in pairs to perform their oral ability in an interactive speaking task (discussion). Task 1 of University B asked individual candidates to produce meaningful language in response to referential questions. Task 2 of University B was also “Discussion” but with procedures different from that in Task 2 of University A. As presented in Table 8.2, a mind map was given and pairs of candidates in University B were required to discuss a related topic while candidates in University A made a choice

EFL speaking assessment 115 between the two topics given to discuss. University C adopted a responsive speaking task with a list of questions to ask candidates in a one-on-one interview (Table 8.5). The interview questions can be categorised into two kinds: display questions intended to elicit a predetermined correct response (e.g. What is a Ponzi scheme? What is neuromarketing? etc.), and referential questions (e.g. Is multitasking good or bad, in your opinion? How can we orientate children to use media in the right way? etc.). Variations in testing methods directly shape the spoken language samples the candidates produce and indirectly contribute to adjusting the EFL teaching and learning strategies, and in the long run, the unequal quality of the graduate outcomes of each institution.

Conclusion and implications The EFL oral test under study was designed to measure the English-speaking ability of Vietnamese university students at the same educational period: they were English majors in the middle of their second year after having completed an English-speaking course. It is hoped that the comparability study presented in this chapter has not only contributed to more comprehensive understanding about the local practice of second language assessment but also demonstrating the benefits of using a mixed methods research design in examining a multifaceted social phenomenon of second language assessment. The discussion section in this chapter has pointed out implications for testing the English-speaking skills of Vietnamese university students. Such implications are pertinent now to ensure the quality of graduate outcomes in the context of global cooperation and communication.

Implications for speaking test administration Speaking tests should be administered with more attention to facilitate candidates’ performance and consolidate the sense of fairness in oral exams. First, all test takers should be apprised of the test content, tasks, and assessment criteria prior to entering the test room. Understanding these requirements renders them more confident during the test and enables better strategies of preparation. Second, there should be standardised rooms for speaking tests, at least with noise cancellation and appropriate seating arrangement for the examiners and candidates. Third, test takers should receive constructive feedback in the form of the assessor’s comments on their speaking performance. These comments are essential for students to know what and how to improve their speaking skills, and build up more effective test-taking techniques for themselves. If all these practices are assured within an administrative framework used across EFL classes and institutions, consistency is further strengthened.

Implications for test design and scoring Like testing the other language skills, the central concern in assessing speaking is whether the test can obtain its prescribed goals, i.e. measuring students’

116  EFL speaking assessment English-speaking ability with regards to the established course objectives. This requirement calls for more clearly stated specifications of what the test was designed to test. Therefore, test designers need to pay greater attention to their decisions on the response format and specific questions that determine all the candidates’ speaking performance, as well as more clearly defined assessment criteria and rating scale upon which assessors rely their judgement. Vagueness in employing the assessment criteria and rating scale designed for common use was sources of potential bias in the rating and scoring phase. Furthermore, it is important that differences in the difficulty degrees of test items be kept at a minimum so that candidates’ good (or bad) luck does not affect their speaking during the test, and therefore, the scores they are awarded. Scoring speaking performances is the most complicated part of the assessment process because human raters involved in the same testing event perceive the same candidate’s speaking performance differently. Thus, double marking by independent raters would help to improve test consistency. Vietnamese raters should have appropriate training in oral assessment to ensure that they understand the test purpose and descriptors in the rating scale before embarking on scoring. It is recommended that speaking exams be audio-recorded to retain evidence of candidates’ and raters’ performance as for tests of other subjects. Once audio-recording has become normal in oral test rooms, then it will not cause any anxiety to candidates, but contribute to both raters’ and candidates’ better performance because they understand that their speaking is recorded. Further, these recordings can be used as a rich data source for institutional research on ESL/ EFL speech patterns. In short, school-based language testing should not be viewed as a final procedure act by which scores are obtained to complete a cycle of teaching, learning, and testing, but rather, assessment for learning necessarily yields evidence useful for both teachers and learners “to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there” (Assessment Reform Group, 2002).

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118  EFL speaking assessment Phan, C. (2014). Vấn nạn về tiêu chuẩn tiếng Anh cho sinh viên tốt nghiệp Đại học (Challenges in EFL standardization for university graduates). Retrieved from http://cep.com.vn/index.php/Van-nan-ve-tieu-chuan-tieng-Anh-cho-sinh-vientot-nghiep-Dai-hoc-544.html Phuong Thao. (2015). Thứ trưởng Bộ Giáo dục lí giải điểm thi Ngoại ngữ kém (MOET Deputy Minister’s explanation for the low English exam scores). Retrieved from http://giaoduc.net.vn/Giao-duc-24h/Thu-truong-Bo-Giao-duc-li-giai-diemthi-Ngoai-ngu-kem-post160487.gd Saville, N., & Hargreaves, P. (1999). Assessing speaking in the revised FCE. English Language Testing Journal, 53(1), 42–51. Saville, N. (2016). Managing language assessment systems and mixed methods. In A. J. Moeller, J. W. Cresswell, & N. Saville (Eds.), Second language assessment and mixed methods research (pp. 17–31). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Shohamy, E. (1983). Rater reliability of the oral interview speaking test. Foreign Language Annals, 16(3), 219–222. Spence-Brown, R. (2001). The eye of the beholder: Authenticity in an embedded assessment task. Language Testing, 18(4), 463–481. Thanh Ha. (2008). Vì sao sinh viên ra trường không nói được tiếng Anh? (Why cannot graduates speak English?). Retrieved from http://tuoitre.vn/tin/giaoduc/20081208/vi-sao-sinh-vien-ra-truong-khong-noi-duoc-tienganh/291136. html. Thanh Tam (2016). Việt Nam thiếu trung tâm khảo thí năng lực ngoại ngữ quốc gia (Vietnam’s lack of a national English assessment centre. Retrieved from https:// vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/giao-duc/viet-nam-thieu-trung-tam-khao-thi-nang-lucngoai-ngu-quoc-gia-3483512.html Thanh Tam, & Phuong Hoa (2006). Thi trắc nghiệm 100% có thể là ‘bước lùi’ của môn tiếng Anh (100% multiple-choice examination is possibly a ‘backward step’ of the English subject). Retrieved from https://vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/giao-duc/thi-tracnghiem-100-co-the-la-buoc-lui-cua-mon-tieng-anh-3465561.html Thi Quoc Gia. (2017). 24 mã đề thi Tiếng Anh THPT Quốc gia năm 2017 (2017 English examination papers for high school students). Retrieved from http:// ­ thiquocgia.vn/news/view.php?id=766 Tu, A. (2013). Sinh viên thiếu khả năng thực hành tiếng Anh (Students’ weakness in English practice ability). Retrieved from www.baomoi.com/sinh-vien-thieu-khanang-thuc-hanh-tieng-anh/c/12342188.epi Viet Toan. (2013). English teaching in Vietnam: Teacher ‘re-education’. Retrieved from http://tuoitrenews.vn/education/8231/english-teaching-in-vietnam-teacherreeducation Vu, T. P. A. (2007). Học tiếng Anh 10 năm trong trường không sử dụng được: Kiểm tra đánh giá đang là khâu yếu nhất (Learning English at school for ten years, but students cannot use the language: Testing and assessment is the weakest component). Viet Bao. Retrieved from http://vietbao.vn/Giao-duc/Hoc-tieng-Anh-10-namtrong-truong-khong-su-dung-duoc-Kiem-tra-danh-gia-dang-la-khau-yeu-nhat/ 40224569/202/ Weir, C. J. (2005). Language testing and validation: An evidence-based approach Macmillan. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Zahedi, K., &Shamsaee, S. (2012). Viability of construct validity of the speaking modules of international language examinations (IELTS vs. TOEFL iBT): Evidence from Iranian test-takers. Educational Assessment, Evaluation & Accountability, 24(3), 263–277.

9 Business students’ perspectives on the use of English medium instruction in Vietnamese universities Le Thi Thuy Nhung In Vietnam, English has increasingly been adopted as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) in secondary school subjects such as Mathematics, Chemistry, and Science and courses in tertiary disciplinary areas including Business Administration, Engineering, and Information Technology. The move toward EMI is considered as a crucial part of the Vietnamese government’s perceived benefits of globalisation through national human capital development and internationalisation of education. EMI initiatives are motivated by academic institutional desire to improve the students’ English proficiency, enhance the quality of higher education, and raise the competitiveness of Vietnamese universities in the regional and global higher education market (Higher Education Reform Agenda (HERA): 2006– 2020, 2005; Vietnam Government, 2001, 2014, 2017). The increased adoption of EMI to deliver tertiary courses has raised concerns about the effectiveness of EMI in Vietnamese universities. Anecdotal evidence suggests that implementation of EMI in Vietnamese universities is problematic because there is a shortage of qualified teaching staff, study materials, and resources for implementation (Pham, 2010; Phap Luat, 2011; Thanh Nien, 2013). However, there is little empirical research into the current practices of EMI in Vietnamese universities to add weight to anecdotal accounts. The chapter outlines EMI development in Vietnamese academic institutions, presents findings from a recent study of nine focus group interviews with undergraduates enrolled in English medium courses at four urban universities in Vietnam, and concludes with a discussion of challenges facing stakeholders in implementing EMI education.

English Medium Instruction The growth of EMI in higher education in non-English speaking countries is driven by two major forces: globalisation and internationalisation (Baldauf, 2012; Coleman, 2006; Tollefson & Tsui, 2004). EMI is being introduced into universities in Europe and Asia because of national strategies for human capital development and internationalisation of education (Doiz, Lasagabaster, & Sierra, 2012). Many studies in Europe and North America have used surveys to identify attitudes of students and lecturers towards EMI (Aguilar & Rodríguez, 2012; Airey, 2011; Collins, 2010; Hunt, 2011; Jensen & Thøgersen, 2011; Tatzl, 2011).

120  Business students’ perspectives EMI appears to generate favourable attitudes among students. EMI prepares graduates for the international workplace and further education; it enhances students’ English proficiency and increases their self-confidence. Asian students’ motivations for EMI were mainly driven by career aspirations and the desire to study abroad (Byun et al., 2011; Chang, 2010; Manakul, 2007). Researchers also considered the impact of EMI on students’ performance and learning outcomes. EMI appears to increase students’ English language proficiency, especially their specialised vocabulary knowledge (Aguilar & Rodríguez, 2012; Byun et al., 2011; Costa & Coleman, 2012; Tatzl, 2011). Students’ reports of how well they understand content in English medium classes have been mixed. While some students claimed to have no difficulty understanding English medium lectures (Belhiah & Elhami, 2015; Joe & Lee, 2013; Ruiz-­ Garrido & Palmer-Silveira, 2008), others indicated that they experienced problems understanding lectures delivered in English (Airey & Linder, 2006; Byun et al., 2011; Chang, 2010; Evans & Morrison, 2011a; Hellekjaer, 2010; Kagwesage, 2012; Miller, 2009). Problems with EMI lectures include complicated specialised vocabulary and concepts, lecturers’ unclear pronunciation and unfamiliar accents, fast delivery rate, and students’ poor concentration during lectures. Ineffective lecturing styles reduce students’ comprehension. Some lectures delivered in English lack clarity and elaboration (Airey & Linder, 2006; K ­ laassen & Graaff, 2001; Vinke, Snippe, & Jochems, 1998; Yusof, Tayib, & Mansor, 2004). Lectures were described as less interesting partly because there were few jokes, anecdotes, and storytelling which helped to deepen students’ understanding of the content (Flowerdew & Miller, 1992; Sert, 2008; Shaw, Benson, Brunsberg, Duhs, & Minugh, 2008). Some students were critical of their lecturers’ English and blamed lecturers’ limited English proficiency for causing problems with comprehension (Aguilar & Rodríguez, 2012; Byun et al., 2011; Collins, 2010; Klaassen, 2003; Tatzl, 2011). Students also indicated that their own level of English proficiency led to problems with comprehension (Collins, 2010; Sert, 2008). Apart from having difficulties understanding lectures, students reported problems with academic reading, especially understanding new terminology and concepts in textbooks (Hellekjær, 2009; Kırkgöz, 2005). For written assignments, mastering relevant academic writing conventions was challenging for students (Campbell & Li, 2008; Evans & Morrison, 2011a). Spoken interaction was hard for many students in English medium courses. Interaction remained limited because of students’ lack of competence and confidence in speaking English (Aguilar & Rodríguez, 2012; Evans & Morrison, 2011a; Kırkgöz, 2009; Taguchi & Naganuma, 2006). There was evidence that EMI increased students’ and lecturers’ workload (Tatzl, 2011; Tsuneyoshi, 2005). Despite students’ positive attitudes towards EMI, there remained some dissatisfaction with EMI (Byun et al., 2011; Klaassen, 2003). In general, previous studies conducted internationally have demonstrated benefits of EMI. However, these studies showed mixed experiences among students undertaking EMI courses. Research even shows contrasting findings about the effect of EMI on students’ ability to understand subject matter.

Business students’ perspectives 121

Development of EMI in Vietnamese academic institutions In Vietnam, EMI has been adopted in international programs offered by local academic institutions affiliated with foreign educational providers. More often, these programs target students who demand an international education at home and are financially well-off to afford high tuition fees. However, recently, EMI has been introduced into regular programs for mainstream university students. EMI adoption is encouraged by the Vietnamese government through several policies and proposals. Some of them are: National Foreign Language Project 2017–2025 (Vietnam Government, 2017); Vietnam Educational Strategies 2009–2020 (UNESCO, 2013); and Fundamental and Comprehensive Reform of Higher Education 2006–2020 (Vietnam Government, 2014). These documents provide reasons for the introduction of EMI in Vietnamese academic institutions: to enhance graduates’ employability in the international workplace and thus enhance the quality of human resources; to boost the quality of Vietnamese higher education through a process of internationalisation; and to improve the English proficiency of Vietnamese lecturers through using English for teaching, research, and professional exchange. In response to EMI policy, there is evidence of an increase in the top-down demand to employ English as the medium of instruction in certain programs or courses in academic institutions (Table 9.1). There were 35 Advanced Programs initiatives supervised by Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) in 23 Vietnamese universities from 2008 to 2015 (MOET, 2010). These Advanced Programs allow selected Vietnamese universities to import curricula from prestigious universities abroad. The International Standard Programs (ISP) introduced at the Vietnam National University offered 16 training courses in English in 2008 (Vu & Burns, 2014). The High Quality Programs promulgated by MOET were launched in 2014 in several Vietnamese universities (MOET, 2014). The intention of these programs is to enhance the quality of university teaching and to improve students’ English proficiency, thereby enhancing graduates’ employability. EMI policy also triggered the establishment of English medium universities. In 2003, the International University, the first public English medium university, was established in the south of Vietnam to offer entire programs in English. In 2009, the government launched the New Model University Project to build four “world-class” universities with US$400 million in loans from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. These universities were to be research-oriented and English medium universities. Two of them are currently in operation.

Examining EMI implementation in Vietnamese universities A recent study which examined the current implementation of EMI in Vietnamese universities through students’ perspectives was undertaken at four urban

122  Business students’ perspectives Table 9.1  EMI provision in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Vietnam EMI programs

Statistics

EMI programs/universities

Two (public) English medium universities, approximately 70 universities offer EMI courses/ programs 235 programs at 72 HEIs in partnership with 28 countries 35 programs (at 23 HEIs) 55 programs Undocumented

International programs Advanced Programs High Quality Programs Gifted programs Source: MOET’s and HEI’s websites

universities in the south of Vietnam (Le, 2017). They are “recognised” institutions under the administration of MoET. Three universities offered full Business degree programs in English and one university offered EMI partially in the pilot phase of EMI implementation. Nine focus group interviews were organised with 47 students undertaking different majors in Business programs. The group interviews centred on students’ perceptions and experiences of EMI including their motives to enrol in EMI courses and programs, and their perceptions of the benefits and challenges of EMI courses. All the interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and entered into NVivo 10. The interview data were subject to content analysis, that is, analyses that focus on meaning of texts. The chapter reports important themes emerged from the analysis of the interview data.

Motives for choosing English Medium Instruction In the study, three universities offered full EMI study programs and allowed students to decide whether to choose an EMI program prior to their admittance to the university. One university required students to take six EMI courses before they could graduate from their undergraduate programs. The students in this university claimed to be “pushed” to take EMI courses when they were not ready to do them. In addition, these students were not satisfied with the high tuition fees charged by EMI courses, which were nearly double the fees for regular Vietnamese medium courses. In contrast, the students at public universities voluntarily chose EMI for the perceived prestige, high quality of teaching, and desire to study abroad. Meanwhile, the students who went to private universities considered EMI as a “compensation” for their failure to gain admission into a more prestigious public university. Particularly, the students at the English medium university described their university as “special” and “unique” because it was one of the first public universities in Vietnam to offer all degree programs in English. In addition, many students thought that their lecturers were highly qualified as they were trained in developed countries. Some students planned to further postgraduate study in an English-speaking country. EMI programs would provide them with prior experiences to pursue English medium education overseas.

Business students’ perspectives 123

Students’ general perceptions of English Medium Instruction Although the students differed in their initial motivations to enrol in EMI study, they shared similar views on the potential benefits of EMI for future careers. Most students agreed that EMI would prepare them for employment with both English proficiency and professional knowledge. These two attributes would provide them with an edge when applying for jobs, given the fact that many career advertisements in Vietnam list English proficiency as one of the most important criteria required in job applicants. With the belief that EMI would result in a high level of English proficiency, the students associated a high command of English with an opportunity to work for international organisations in Vietnam. International organisations would offer employees higher salaries, a better working environment, and more opportunities for professional development than Vietnamese-owned enterprises.

Perceptions of quality of instruction Students described EMI programs as “elite”, “advanced”, and “practical” in comparison with Vietnamese medium programs regarding curriculum and program delivery. The EMI curriculum adopted in part an international curriculum to provide students with the knowledge they would need for future employment. Specifically, EMI courses used English textbooks in the original by leading international publishers, whereas the Vietnamese medium courses use translations of these English textbooks in Vietnamese. Students saw this as advantageous because the content would not be misinterpreted or translated inaccurately. In addition, the use of English textbooks gave them more detailed and updated knowledge in Business studies. The students described their lecturers as being highly trained, knowledgeable, approachable, and responsive to students’ needs. The lecturers graduated from universities in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They had experienced international education and were assumed to have a high level of English proficiency. While most universities in Vietnam remain under-resourced by international standards, the students in EMI programs enjoyed better learning conditions than their cohorts in Vietnamese medium programs. The students were provided with high quality facilities including air-conditioned classrooms, better equipped libraries, and high-speed Internet access. The students at the English medium university valued the provision of tutorials and teaching assistants to assist them with academic needs. (This support is currently absent at most Vietnamese universities). The students believed the programs provided them with work-ready skills in preparation for international workplace. The generic skills gained from EMI courses such as teamwork, critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills would be highly sought after by international organisations. A student expressed opinion in this regard: In our courses, we are encouraged to express our personal ideas freely. The lecturers used to study overseas so they are very open-mined. They always

124  Business students’ perspectives encourage us to speak out what we think and not to care too much about whether our ideas are right or wrong. We can challenge each other and even challenge the lecturers. I’m sure this rarely happens at other public universities in Vietnam where students think that the lecturers are always right. (Le, 2017) The students also perceived better English proficiency due to frequent exposure to English in their courses. They accumulated more technical vocabulary as the result of reading specialised textbooks and reference materials in English. Some students reported significant gain in personal confidence.

Challenges of dealing with academic tasks in EMI courses Students encountered initial problems dealing with reading course materials in English. The textbooks used for EMI courses were hard to read as they were intended for Business students in English-speaking countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom. Some students had to rely heavily on dictionaries for difficult terminologies and concepts and sought translation and supplementary textbooks in Vietnamese to understand the course content in more depth. Lecturers’ spoken English posed another challenge. Some lecturers’ pronunciation was described as “unclear” and “incorrect” which made it harder for students to understand the subject matter. In addition, lecturers’ heavy use of jargon and new terminology added to students’ difficulty to understand course content. EMI lectures were less interesting than Vietnamese medium lectures because lecturers were unwilling or unable to elaborate on the content. Some lecturers followed the textbook strictly without adding any additional knowledge or personal contribution, and without any classroom dynamics. Also, students encountered problems with writing essays for their professional subjects. They had little knowledge of genres and technical vocabulary needed for specific writing assignments. Basic skills such as referencing and citation were unfamiliar to many students. The academic skills courses did not prepare students for different genres of writing. They had to search for additional materials and resources on the Internet to deal with specific writing tasks.

Difficulty in interaction in English Students generally indicated that they had problems with speaking English. They could not express themselves clearly and fluently about topics related to their disciplines. They often withdrew themselves from classroom discussions because they did not feel confident about their spoken English. The students pointed to the lack of vocabulary and fluency that hindered their oral interaction in English. The students who felt least confident about their English speaking were those from rural areas. They felt disadvantaged in comparison with their metropolitan classmates who had better access to resources and conditions to learn English at

Business students’ perspectives 125 an early age. They also felt more pressure to keep pace with their peers who possessed better English proficiency.

Irrelevant content and foreign knowledge Albeit the advantages of reading textbooks in the original, some students commented that unfamiliar Business concepts, foreign knowledge, and lack of any Vietnamese context in the English textbooks made the materials difficult to read. Some courses provide irrelevant knowledge to the needs of local Vietnamese students, which is expressed in the following statement: I found knowledge in the books quite foreign to us. It would be better for the course content to be modified to be more relevant to Vietnamese students. We want more knowledge and examples about Vietnamese contexts rather than those taken from foreign countries. For example, I would like to learn about Taxation in Vietnam rather than Taxation in the USA because it’s likely that many of us will work for Vietnamese companies after graduation. We should have learnt about the tax system in Vietnam. (Le, 2017) In addition, some students were concerned about the lack of content in EMI courses. The English medium courses tended to cover less content compared with Vietnamese medium courses. The students worried that they would miss out on important knowledge in comparison with the students who took Vietnamese medium courses. Despite the challenges in doing EMI, the students generally indicated that they valued the learning experiences of undertaking courses in English. EMI put them under pressure to study harder. It was worthwhile to do EMI because it brought benefits to their personal and professional development. The students believed that the economic returns of EMI would be greater than the costs associated with its undertaking.

Implementation of EMI in Vietnamese universities: gaps to be filled Students were motivated to select EMI education for several reasons, including association of EMI with high quality education and the perceived importance of English proficiency attached to postgraduate study and employment prospects. Instrumental motivation, a strong belief in the employment prospects and the economic returns of EMI, was the primary factor for students to undertake EMI programs. Vietnamese higher education appears undesirable to many domestic students, evident by reports on growing numbers of students who have sought education abroad (AEI, 2017; IIE, 2017). “International education” is considered more valuable and of higher quality than domestic education. Against this backdrop, the students associate EMI with high quality education.

126  Business students’ perspectives English is recognised as an important tool for employment opportunities and is one of the most sought-after attributes in graduates (Do, 2006). Vietnam has opened its doors to foreign investment and international economic, social, and political collaborations for decades which has resulted in increased opportunities for people to work in multinational companies. Students believed completion of EMI programs would provide them with a high level of English proficiency which would increase their employability. International research also showed that EMI was favoured by university students in non-dominant English speaking countries (Ball & Linsay, 2012; Costa & Coleman, 2012; Evans & Morrison, 2011a; Hu, Li, & Lei, 2014; Manakul, 2007; Tong & Shi, 2012). Students who majored in Business studies showed more favourable attitudes towards EMI and had stronger career-related motives for selecting EMI than students from other disciplines (Byun et al., 2011). Second, students’ challenges dealing with EMI programs were closely related to their English proficiency and academic abilities. The students reported problems dealing with the demands of EMI courses including comprehending textbooks and lectures, writing assignments, and participating in oral discussions. These problems were not unexpected, given the fact that the English language programs at secondary schools in many non-dominant English-speaking countries do not provide adequate preparation for students from mother tongue-medium schools to do well at English medium higher education institutions (Evans & Morrison, 2011a; Taguchi & Naganuma, 2006; Tsuneyoshi, 2005). In Vietnam, the English language training at secondary schools is examination-oriented with a focus on reading and grammar and little emphasis on developing practical communication skills (Nunan, 2003). Students are given limited opportunities to practise listening and speaking in English class. As a result, a vast majority of high school graduates have low levels of communicative skills in English. When these students took EMI programs at university, they struggled to deal with academic tasks. In addition, the preparatory English programs at university do not seem to equip students with the most-needed skills, including note taking in English lectures and academic reading skills, to deal with demands of EMI courses. There was little evidence of inclusion of Business-related topics and study skills in the study programs in the current study. Language-related problems facing Vietnamese students in the current study fit with previous investigations in Asian and European higher educational settings (Airey, 2010; Byun et al., 2011; Evans & Morrison, 2011b; Hellekjaer, 2010; Hu & Lei, 2014; Tange, 2010; Tsuneyoshi, 2005). These findings raise concerns about EMI courses for students with inadequate English. It is vital that students are provided with sufficient English training to enable successful EMI undertaking (Byun et al., 2011; Cho, 2012; Hellekjaer & Westergaard, 2003; Vinke et al., 1998). Third, students’ understanding of subject matter in EMI lectures was influenced by lecturers’ English proficiency and pedagogical skills. Students were not satisfied with the quality of lecturers’ spoken English with regard to their pronunciation. In addition, students were concerned about lecturers’ ineffective

Business students’ perspectives 127 lecturing styles (including lecture monologues, inflexibility, and unwillingness to elaborate on the subject matter because of linguistic barriers). Students’ criticism of lecturers’ oral English fluency might be explained considering their expectation of lecturers’ English proficiency. Some students may possess high English proficiency levels and expected lecturers to speak English fluently. Students’ dissatisfaction with lecturers’ pedagogical shortcomings could be traced to a lecturers’ lack of teaching experience and training in pedagogy. Although EMI has operated in Vietnamese universities for some time, there is an absence of teacher training exclusively on EMI education. This could be the result of administrators’ assumption that teaching in English is the same as teaching in Vietnamese and that lecturers would gain teaching competence over time. However, international research has identified differences between lecturing in English and lecturing in one’s mother tongue. These include speech rate, linguistic flexibility, ability to improvise, clarity, and accuracy of expression (Airey, 2011; Airey & Linder, 2006; Vinke et al., 1998). Teaching in English may be more problematic than teaching in mother tongue (Flowerdew & Miller, 1992). It would be desirable to provide formal exclusive training in EMI pedagogy to enhance lecturers’ teaching practices. Given the absence of formal training in EMI teaching in Vietnamese universities, lecturers gain teaching competency mainly through trial and error. Junior lecturers may be more proficient in English than senior lecturers but are often lacking in teaching experience and mastery of professional knowledge. In contrast, senior lecturers tend to possess extensive experience of teaching Vietnamese medium courses rather than EMI courses. They are more likely to make more linguistic errors and are inclined to employ inflexible teaching methods, such as monologues and co-switching, to compensate for their linguistic limitations. Lecturers’ ineffective pedagogy exerts a detrimental effect on students’ learning (Ball & Linsay, 2012; Klaassen, 2001). There is a need for well-designed training programs to improve pedagogical knowledge for EMI lecturers.

Concluding remarks In general, students were satisfied with their learning experiences in terms of overseas-trained lecturers, state-of-the-art facilities, practicality of the study programs, comfortable learning environments, improved technical English, and increased self-confidence. Students also expressed their concerns about their own inadequacies with English, problems with the teaching competence of some lecturers, and lack of study skills preparation. However, many students were determined to overcome these challenges and were content with their decision to do EMI programs. EMI was seen to add value to their qualifications. EMI is gathering momentum in Vietnam and in other non-dominant ­English-speaking countries in Asia and worldwide. EMI has received strong support from major stakeholders. The current question for administrators in Vietnamese higher education is not whether or not to adopt EMI but how to implement

128  Business students’ perspectives EMI to maximise its benefits and minimise its problems. There is evidence that EMI can be successful if it is carefully planned, providing highly qualified teachers (both in terms of English proficiency and pedagogical knowledge) as well as students with sufficient English proficiency. Poorly implemented EMI programs will waste university resources and cause distress for students who had high hopes for their universities studies and desirable careers following success at university. High commands of English proficiency have been a form of linguistic and economic capital for the Vietnamese people. The Vietnamese government has signalled its intention to join the global economy, and proficiency in English is a major platform of this bold initiative.

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Business students’ perspectives 129 Collins, B. A. (2010). English medium higher education: Dilemma and problems. Egitim Arastirmalari-Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 39, 97–110. Costa, F., & Coleman, J. A. (2012). A survey of English medium instruction in Italian higher education. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 16, 3–19. doi:10.1080/13670050.2012.676621 Do, H. T. (2006, September). The role of English in Vietnam’s foreign language policy: A brief history. Paper presented at the 19th Annual English Australia Conference, Perth, Western Australia. Retrieved from https://www.scribd.com/ document/351071072/The-Role-of-English-in-Vietnam Doiz, A., Lasagabaster, D., & Sierra, J. (Eds.). (2012). English medium instruction at universities: Global challenges. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Evans, S., & Morrison, B. (2011a). Meeting the challenges of English medium higher education: The first-year experience in Hong Kong. English for Specific Purposes, 30(3), 198–208. Evans, S., & Morrison, B. (2011b). The student experience of English medium higher education in Hong Kong. Language and Education, 25(2), 147–162. doi: 10.1080/09500782.2011.553287 Flowerdew, J., & Miller, L. (1992). Student perceptions, problems and strategies in second language lecture comprehension. RELC Journal, 23(2), 60–80. doi:10.1177/003368829202300205 Hellekjær, G. (2009). Academic English reading proficiency at the university level: A Norwegian case study. Reading in a Foreign Language, 21(2), 198–222. Hellekjaer, G. (2010). Language matters: Assessing lecture comprehension in ­Norwegian English medium higher education. In C. Dalton-Puffer, T. Nikula, & U. Smit (Eds.), Language use and language learning in CLIL classroom (pp. 233– 258). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Hellekjaer, G., & Westergaard, M. (2003). An exploratory survey of content learning through English at Nordic universities. In V. Leeuwen & R. Wilkinson (Eds.), Multilingual approaches in university education: Challenges and practices (pp. 65–80). Nijnegen: Valkhof Pers. Higher Education Reform Agenda (HERA): 2006–2020. (2005). Resolution No. 14/ 2005/NQ-CP, dated November 2, 2005. Hanoi Vietnam: Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Hu, G., & Lei, J. (2014). English medium instruction in Chinese higher education: A case study. Higher Education, 67, 551–567. doi:10.1007/s10734-013-9661-5 Hu, G., Li, L., & Lei, J. (2014). English medium instruction at a Chinese university: Rhetoric and reality. Language Policy, 13(1), 21–40. doi:10.1007/ s10993-013-9298-3 Hunt, M. (2011). Learners’ perceptions of their experiences of learning subject content through a foreign language. Educational Review, 63(3), 365–378. doi:10. 1080/00131911.2011.571765 Institute of International Education (IIE). (2017). Open doors data: Fact sheets by country 2017. Retrieved 20 April, 2017 from www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/ Open-Doors/Data/Fact-Sheets-by-Country/2017 Jensen, C., & Thøgersen, J. (2011). Danish university lecturers’ attitudes towards English as the medium of instruction. Journal of the European Association of Languages for Specific Purposes, 22, 13–34. Joe, Y., & Lee, H-K. (2013). Does English medium instruction benefit students in EFL contexts? A case study of medical students in Korea. Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 22(2), 201–207. doi:10.1007/s40299-012-0003-7

130  Business students’ perspectives Kagwesage, A. (2012). Higher education students’ reflections on learning in times of academic language shift. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 6(2), 1–16. Kırkgöz, Y. (2005). Motivation and student perception of studying in an English medium university. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 1(1), 101–122. Kırkgöz, Y. (2009). Students’ and lecturers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of foreign language instruction in an English medium university in Turkey. Teaching in Higher Education, 14(1), 81–93. doi:10.1080/13562510802602640 Klaassen, R. G. (2001). The international university curriculum: Challenges in English medium Engineering education. (Unpublished doctoral thesis), Delft University of Technology, Delft. Klaassen, R. G. (2003). English medium degree programmes in higher education: From implementation to quality assurance. In C. van Leeuwen & R. Wilkinson (Eds.), Multilingual approaches in university education: Challenges and practices (pp. 119–143). Nijmegen and The Netherlands: Uitgeverij Valkhof Pers & ­Universiteit Maastricht. Klaassen, R. G., & Graaff, D. (2001). Facing innovation: Preparing lecturers for ­English medium instruction in a non-native context. European Journal of Engineering Education, 26(3), 281–289. Le, T. T. N. (2017). Exploring students’ experiences of English medium instruction in Vietnamese universities. (Doctor of Philosophy), The University of Newcastle, Australia. Retrieved from http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/ Repository/uon:27503?exact=sm_type%3A%22thesis%22 Manakul, W. (2007). English in engineering education for Japanese graduate students. Australasian Association of Engineering Education, 13(2), 53–63. Miller, L. (2009). Engineering lectures in a second language: What factors facilitate students’ listening comprehension? Asian EFL Journal, 11(2), 8–30. Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). (2010). Advanced programs in Vietnamese universities 2008–2015. Retrieved 26 March, 2012 from dttt.vimaru.edu. vn/system/files/DeAnCTTT.pdf Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). (2014). Promulgation of high quality programs in Vietnamese universities. Retrieved from www.moet.gov.vn/?page=6. 10&view=251 Nunan, D. (2003). The impact of English as a global language on educational policies and practice in the Asia-Pacific region. TESOL Quarterly, 37(4), 589–613. Pham, T. L. (2010). Should we use English as the medium of instruction in Vietnamese universities? Paper presented at the Phat trien va giu gin su trong sang cua tieng Viet trong thoi ky hoi nhap quoc te hien nay [Promoting and preserving the purity of Vietnamese language in the current era of global integration], Ho chi minh University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology (HUFLIT), Ho chi minh City, Vietnam. Retrieved from http://lypham.net/joomla/index. php?option=com_content&task=view&id=190 Phap Luat (Producer). (2011). Sinh viên chê chương trình tiên tiến [Students turn away from advanced programs]. Retrieved from http://plo.vn/giao-duc/sinhvien-che-chuong-trinh-tien-tien-136085.html Ruiz-Garrido, M., & Palmer-Silveira, J. (2008). Content learning in business ­communication: A teaching experience within the new European framework. In I. Fortanet-Gómez & C. Räisänen (Eds.), ESP in European higher education: Integrating language and content (pp. 147–164). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Business students’ perspectives 131 Sert, N. (2008). The language instruction dilemma in Turkish context. System, 36, 156–171. Shaw, P., Benson, C., Brunsberg, S., Duhs, R., & Minugh, D. (2008). Preparing for international masters degrees at Stockholm University and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. In I. Fortanet-Gómez & C. Räisänen (Eds.), ESP in European higher education: Integrating language and content. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Taguchi, N., & Naganuma, N. (2006). Transition from learning English to learning in English: Students’ perceived adjustment difficulties in an English medium university in Japan. Asian EFL Journal, 8(4), 52–73. Tange, H. (2010). Caught in the tower of Babel: University lecturers’ experiences with internationalisation. Language and Intercultural Communication, 10(2), 137–149. Tatzl, D. (2011). English medium masters’ programmes at an Austrian university of applied sciences: Attitudes, experiences and challenges. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 10(4), 252–270. Thanh Nien (Producer). (2013). Chương trình tiên tiến đang..thụt lùi [Advanced programs are moving backwards]. Retrieved from http://thanhnien.vn/giao-duc/ chuong-trinh-tien-tien-dang-thut-lui-8583.html Tollefson, J. W., & Tsui, A. B. M. (2004). The centrality of medium of instruction policy in sociopolitical processes. In J. W. Tollefson & A. B. M. Tsui (Eds.), Medium of instruction policies: Which agenda? Whose agenda? (pp. 1–18). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Tong, F., & Shi, Q. (2012). Chinese-English bilingual education in China: A case study of college science majors. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 15(2), 165–182. doi:10.1080/13670050.2011.607921 Tsuneyoshi, R. (2005). Internationalization strategies in Japan: The dilemmas and possibilities of study abroad programs using English. Journal of Research in International Education, 4(1), 65–86. UNESCO. (2013). Vietnam’s education strategies: 2009–2020. Retrieved 15 October, 2013 from http://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/upload/Viet%20Nam/Viet_Nam_ Education_%20strategy_2009-2020_viet.pdf Vietnam Government. (2001). Chien luoc phat trien giao duc Vietnam giai doan 2001– 2010 [Vietnam education development strategies: 2001–2010]. Retrieved from www. moj.gov.vn/vbpq/lists/vn%20bn%20php%20lut/view_detail.aspx?itemid=22049 Vietnam Government. (2014). Fundamental and comprehensive reform of higher education 2006–2020. Retrieved December 5, 2014 from www.chinhphu.vn/ portal/page/portal/chinhphu/hethongvanban?class_id=509&_page=4&mode= detail&document_id=14954 Vietnam Government. (2017). Revised national foreign language project 2017–2025. Retrieved from http://vanban.chinhphu.vn/portal/page/portal/chinhphu/ hethongvanban?class_id=2&_page=1&mode=detail&document_id=192343 Vinke, A. A., Snippe, J., & Jochems, W. (1998). English medium content courses in non-English higher education: A study of lecturer experiences and teaching behaviours. Teaching in Higher Education, 3(3), 383–394. Vu, T. T. N., & Burns, A. (2014). English as a medium of instruction: Challenges for Vietnamese tertiary lecturers. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 11(3), 1–31. Yusof, R. N., Tayib, M., & Mansor, M. (2004). English medium instruction in nonEnglish higher learning institutions: Accounting lecturers’ experience versus students’ perception. In R. Wilkinson (Ed.), Integrating content and language: Meeting the challenge of a multilingual higher education. Maastricht: Universitaire Pers.

10 Rural students’ motivation for learning English Implications for transition to tertiary education Cuong Pham and Cynthia White English language learning and teaching in rural Vietnam are enmeshed in a constellation of challenges identified as lack of access to language resources, inadequate facilities, and the nature and level of teachers’ qualifications (Goh & Nguyen, 2004; Kam, 2002; D. C. Nguyen, Le, Tran, & Nguyen, 2014; X. V. Nguyen, 2003). Limited language affordances and the exam-oriented practices which characterise high school language teaching have been recognised as among the primary impediments to learners’ resilience and efforts (Pham, 2015, 2016b; Tran & Baldauf Jr, 2007). However, Vietnamese parents and other education stakeholders in rural areas have shown growing awareness of the value of language learning for socio-economic mobility, resulting in attempts to provide children with further affordances and learning opportunities within and beyond school settings, especially through private tuition (Dang, 2013; Hall, 2008; Pham, 2016b; Phan, 2009; Truong, 2017). Such efforts aim to compensate for the limitations confronting these students in formal schooling as well as to facilitate their access to higher education, since English is one of the mandatory subjects not only for the high school graduation examination and university admission but also for tertiary studies (Hayden & Pham, 2010; Pham, 2016b; Phan, 2009). Within Vietnam’s educational context, the transition from high school to university is deemed as a significant milestone determining students’ academic and socio-economic future, thus drawing widespread concerns from students themselves, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders. This transition is fraught with obstacles, and students from rural localities are more disadvantaged than their more urban counterparts (George, 2010; Pham, 2016b; Phan, 2010). As yet we know relatively little about rural students’ perceptions of this critical stage or about the nature and course of their motivation in response to the particular affordances and constraints of their learning contexts. This chapter draws on the person-in-context relational view of motivation (Ushioda, 2009) and the construct of agentive appraisal to explore the motivation of two rural high school students learning English throughout their transition from high school to university. This is part of a longitudinal case study with four high school students in rural Southern Vietnam that lasted one and a half years (Pham, 2016a). It aimed to gain further insights into their motivational trajectories under the impacts of a synergy of ecological and idiosyncratic elements within and across settings and relationships.

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Contextualised approaches to motivation in language learning In his research tracking learners’ motivational changes over the period from 2002 to 2015, Lamb (2016) emphasises the susceptibility of second language (L2) motivation to context and the impracticability of formulating predictable models demonstrating the interactions and impacts of various environmental factors. These arguments are not new given the substantial volume of research on L2 motivation (see Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011); yet, the longitudinal findings significantly substantiate the value of qualitative approaches in examining L2 motivation following the social turns in second language acquisition that “takes on board the complexity of context” (Block, 2003, p. 4). The intricate nature of context and interpersonal relationships in multiple learning settings and their synergistic impacts on learners’ cognitive and affective development have been focal considerations in contemporary research in applied linguistics (Bown & White, 2010; Larsen-Freeman, 2012; Mercer, 2011a; Oxford, 2017; Ushioda, 2015). More situated approaches are gaining prominence in L2 motivation research, as Ushioda (2012, p. 60) notes “current research perspectives on L2 motivation have become even more strongly socio-contextually grounded”. Each learner lives in their own world with an array of socio-cultural and idiosyncratic elements shaping and reshaping the ways in which they learn and respond to diverse aspects of the environment (Dörnyei, 2009; Dufva & Aro, 2014; Ryan, 2006). In re-positioning and reconceptualising language learners within such complexity, Ushioda’s (2009) person-in-context relational view of motivation conceives of each learner as a person with their own thinking, feelings, personality, goals, experience, background, and relationships. Her view dismisses the practice of seeing learners as theoretical abstractions that tend to classify them into certain types (e.g. low versus high motivation). Rather, it brings to the fore “the unique individuality, agency, intentionality and reflective capacity of human beings as they engage in the process of language learning” (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011, p. 76). As such, learner agency takes a central role in reflecting their perceptions of and approaches to the world around them, especially its affordances and constraints that either contribute to or hinder cognitive processes leading to learning. A second theoretical framework presented in this chapter relates to the construct of agency where learners’ participation in social interactions is mediated by semiotic means and socio-cultural values, and contingent on their abilities to control and regulate their behaviour to change the world resulting in personal change (Lantolf, 2013). Such processes are also attributable to learners’ differing degrees of engagement and their belief in the outcome of their behaviour, or in other words their “sense of agency” (Mercer, 2012, p. 41). Agency is often defined as “the socioculturally mediated capacity to act” (Ahearn, 2001, p. 112). However, Mercer (2012) argues that agency needs to be considered in close connection to physical, cognitive, affective, and motivational aspects. From this wider perspective, language learners’ agency concerns their ability to “direct, control, create and transform their own linguistic/cultural socialisation using the myriad social and cultural resources at their disposal” (Duff & Doherty, 2014, pp. 55–56). As

134  Rural students’ motivation part of these processes, learners perform on-going appraisals of affordances and constraints concerning themselves and their environment. Drawing on a sociocultural situated perspective, Beltman and Volet (2007, p. 315) view appraisal as involving “different levels of engagement and participation [which] are the result of personal and contextual affordances and constraints in the immediate but also sociohistorical contexts”. This points to learners’ agentive practices in determining the personal as well as contextual values that inform the extent of their involvement. Beltman and Volet’s (2007) study also reveals the relationships between motivation and learner appraisals with the former constantly mediated and shaped by ongoing personal and contextual changes along their learning trajectories. Gabryś-Barker (2011, p. 82) provides further evidence substantiating such links, maintaining that “appraisals are our idiosyncratic evaluations of a given situation, which bring about certain emotional reactions”. Such affectivity provoked by learners’ appraisals of context, as Gabryś-Barker (2011) concludes, is important to a diverse range of human activities, including language learning.

Rural Vietnam as rich settings for research on language motivation This chapter provides insights into the lifeworlds of two case study students Diem and Phong (pseudonyms) who learned English in rural Vietnam and were on the threshold of high school graduation and university admission. Their motivational trajectories as accounted for in the chapter not only demonstrate their affective responses towards the criticality of this transitional stage in their studies but also the ways in which they were preparing for entering university. Diem and Phong learned English as a mandatory subject that comprises three 45-minute sessions per week following the national curriculum for general education. Their school, located in a rural province and funded by the government, has approximately 50 teachers in multiple disciplines, including six English language teachers, and receives students from local and nearby communes. They were committed to learning English as it was seen as a passport to their university admission and occupational aspirations. These two case study participants were selected for analysis since their learning journeys demonstrated arguably typical challenges confronting Vietnamese high school students from rural areas as well as exceptional features pertaining to their own language learning contexts. Their transition from high school to university marked out different stages of preparation and different degrees of motivation. At the time of data collection, Phong (male, 16 years old) was a tenth grader who had a great passion for becoming an electrical technician. Phong was interested in learning English so that he could read documents on electronics and as a subject within the university entrance requirements. He had been living with his grandmother who helped his financially challenged parents with his daily expenses and tuition fees. Diem (female, 17 years old) was in Year 11 and had always hoped to set up a foreign language centre to offer free English courses for disadvantaged students like herself. Her parents were Cambodian

Rural students’ motivation 135 who migrated to Vietnam due to political unrest and had little formal education. This background was the primary driver for them to encourage her to pursue higher education. Data were gathered from diverse sources including interviews from a social practice perspective (Talmy, 2010), observations, casual conversations, and informal exchanges on Facebook Messenger, aiming to obtain rich information in multiple settings such as in school and participants’ homes. The data collection last approximately 18 months in two stages: on-site when the first author visited the school for participant recruitment and working with them there for six months and online when he returned overseas and maintained contact through social media. In addition to regular contact at school, the first author spent a significant amount of time going to participants’ homes for private English tutoring as part of his reciprocal approach towards them and their parents. Such activities contributed to developing rapport with the participants and their families, facilitating access to more in-depth data. Observations in multiple settings contributed to the focus of interviews which, based on social practice approaches, considered the contextual, interactional, and relational dimensions underpinning the coconstruction of meaning between the interviewer and interviewees (Talmy, 2010, 2011). The excerpts presented in this chapter capture “key moments” (Sullivan, 2012) during the process of transition from high school to university, shaping their agentive appraisals of affordances for and constraints in language learning within and across settings and relationships, and over time.

The case of Diem Diem perceived her English learning at high school as a decisive factor for successful university admission and upward social mobility. She developed a concrete plan for her studies, agentively appraising the affordances and limitations of her learning conditions within and across settings. Her outstanding academic performance in previous years afforded her a placement in the top class, one that was aspired to by most of the local students due to its special privileges such as having well-qualified teaching staff and especially the high possibilities of passing the university entrance examination. Excerpt 1 came from an interview at the beginning of Diem’s final year at high school reflecting her perspectives on the value of being in the top class to higher education.

Excerpt 1 All teachers assume that we are all excellent students in their subjects (U1). You know I focus and spend more time on English. The majority of my classmates are not so good at English because it is not their subject of specialty. . . . The teachers only follow the majority. They teach very fast and give very difficult questions, assuming that students already have the basic knowledge in their area (U2). Sometimes I feel I am drowning in their classes. I don’t dare to ask them to slow down because I may be among the few

136  Rural students’ motivation students to do so. They also expect us to have high scores. It is the school’s pressure on the teachers, which is passed on to us eventually. (ISDiem) Students in top classes were chosen based on academic merits in all disciplines and had a strong determination to enter university. Their school program was tailored with enhancement in natural science subjects such as Maths and Physics, somewhat more demanding than that of their peers, to enhance their competitive edge over students in more urban areas in terms of entry into university. Diem appraised her teachers’ assumptions about students’ abilities, expectations, and teaching approaches (U1 and U2) as an obstacle to her pursuit of English – her biggest strength. Her reflections showed a hierarchical representation of academic pressures initiated by multiple stakeholders and peers, and the constraints of English classes at school. This classroom reality drove her and those students who were interested in learning English to resort to private tuition classes for increasing opportunities for higher education in language-related fields. Since the beginning of her second year at high school, Diem had been going to private English classes with Mr Hung, a local English language teacher who worked at a different school from her own but his classes had a reputation for high university admission rates. Excerpt 2 provides a preliminary description of the nature of Diem’s private tuition classes.

Excerpt 2 One needs to have strong determination (U3) to attend the class because there is nothing interesting (U4) except for exercises and homework. We are given a lot of homework and have to memorise a lot of idioms, phrasal verbs, and vocabulary. Sometimes, when we procrastinate and do not do the homework (U5), Mr Hung will get upset, saying that we are wasting our parents’ money or we are studying for our own future, not for anyone else. Once he even threatened to cancel the class if we did not focus on our studies (U6). (CSDiem) Taking private tuition to gain further support and resources for learning is a common phenomenon in East and Southeast Asian countries, especially Vietnam (Bray, 2013; Dang, 2013; Dang & Rogers, 2008). Through U3 and U4, Diem emphasised her own volition in taking the private class and her perceptions of its value as a provision of additional language affordances to supplement her ­English classes at school so that she could better prepare for the university entrance exams, all of which represented her appraisals of the interaction between her agency and contextual factors. In Mercer’s (2012, p. 43) words, this is a process in which “The learner makes personal sense out of what they encounter and uses affordances in ways that are personally meaningful and relevant”. This excerpt also reveals the “ups and downs” (Shoaib & Dörnyei, 2005, p. 23) of her L2 motivation (U5). The roles of the private teacher as a mentor, a reminder, and especially a mediator (U6) were salient in these instances.

Rural students’ motivation 137

Excerpt 3 In this part of the interview, preceded by the first author’s casual conversation with Diem’s mother in relation to her family budget and attitudes towards higher education, Diem was asked to reflect on her private tuition teacher’s generous act of waiving the tuition fee that she had mentioned in earlier communication. I felt like I owed him something (U7). I have to study well to deserve his good deed. I always prepare homework and other things very well before going to his class. I think I have to double my effort. If I fail the university entrance examination this time, I will not dare to see him again (U8). (ISDiem) Not only did Mr Hung partially mediate Diem’s language learning process, he was also a motivator in providing her with free private tuition. Teachers are widely acknowledged as sources of motivation for language learners through classroom activities and affective strategies (Bernaus & Gardner, 2008; Williams & Burden, 1997); however, what is unique about this case was the fact that Mr Hung was a private tuition teacher who opened the class primarily for financial purposes and that he used the fee waiver as a means of motivation. Diem appraised his generosity as a moral debt (U7) that she compelled herself to pay through her endeavour to pass the university entrance examination (U8), reflecting agency as the ability “to understand the significance and relevance” (Lantolf, 2013, p. 19) of actions and as a driver for her commitment to higher education. This showed that multiple stakeholders from school to private classes contributed to learners’ persistence in their education pathways.

Excerpt 4 As the time for the university entrance examination approached, Diem developed doubts about her ability to pass. In a Facebook exchange one month prior to her university entrance examination, she shared her feelings: D:  There is only one more week before the end of the school year. My English is

still not good enough. I have tried some exam papers of previous years but my scores are not high. I am afraid I will fail the university entrance examination. Can I make a big improvement in one month, sir? C:  I think what you can do now is make general revision of all the knowledge you have learned. You can’t ask for much within one month. D:  So, you mean it is hopeless. C:  No, I don’t mean so. I mean you should try your best. You never know the future. . . . D:  If I fail this time, I don’t know what to do. (FSDiem)

138  Rural students’ motivation Examinations are usually viewed as the dominant source of pressure, anxiety, and to some extent a demotivator for language learners in most Asian contexts (Butler, 2015a; Kikuchi, 2009; Pham, 2016b; Tran & Baldauf Jr, 2007). In Diem’s circumstance, the causes of her anxiety were multiple, arising from her appraisals of her background as a learner from a rural school with limited language affordances and the constraints of studying in the top class mentioned earlier. Importantly too this was a critical transitional phase in her language learning trajectory significantly impacting on her future studies and socio-economic aspirations. Excerpt 4 also illustrated the mediating role of the first author who worked directly with Diem during the data gathering. Diem turned to him for language support and consultation in situations when her school and private tuition teachers were not available. This instance offered a situated perspective on the ways in which Diem exercised her agency which is “not the same always and everywhere, but how it plays out is dependent on the circumstances of specific context” (Lantolf, 2013, p. 19).

The case of Phong At the time of participating in this research project, Phong was attending a regular class and had decided to pursue English as a means of entering his desired university. By the end of his first year, Phong was relocated to the top class due to his outstanding GPA. He took this opportunity with reluctance, appraising his own abilities and the possible challenges confronting him in the new learning environment. However, he finally accepted his placement considering the reward of having a higher probability of university admission and the honour associated with being in the top class. Phong foresaw English as his winning card in the top class, insisting that “I can’t beat them in subjects like Maths, or Chemistry, but I may excel over some in English” (ISPhong). His strategies for coping with the changing learning conditions during this transitional stage enabled him to actively construct the terms and conditions of his learning as an agentic learner (Lantolf & Pavlenko, 2001).

Excerpt 5 Phong’s family background significantly impacted on his attitudes towards learning and his resilience in the top class and ultimately his desire to enter university. His pre-literate parents experienced job insecurity and other problems, thus fostering their positive view of higher education as a means for upward social mobility, as presented in the following interview excerpt with his mother. Nowadays, frankly speaking, it is a huge disadvantage to be without education. In my time, illiteracy was not a big issue but now the opposite is true. Now, to be eligible even for working as a security guard, one must have at least a high school diploma. Education should be the top priority. (IPPhong)

Rural students’ motivation 139 Their child-rearing principles lay in stark contrast with those of most of their neighbours in that they looked beyond immediate financial gains. Parental role and educational involvement in fostering learners’ beliefs in the value of higher education in Phong’s case align with those in many contexts in China, Indonesia, Japan, and Korea (Butler, 2015a, 2015b; Gao, 2012; Kim, 2009; Lamb, 2013). Phong’s decision to take on the challenges posed by the transfer to the top class and his preparation prior to the new academic year showed his exercise of agency, appraising his own affordances and constraints in response to the expectations and concerns of his parents and his grandmother who acted as mediators in family settings. Agency, from this perspective can be understood as situated in relation to other individuals “not only as interactional partners but also in respect to co-evolving and collective notions of agency” (Mercer, 2012, p. 57).

Excerpt 6 Prior to his university entrance examination, Phong was overwhelmed by the anxiety and fear of not doing well, which meant a failure to meet the expectations of social others. Excerpt 6was part of the on-going interaction on Facebook Messenger between Phong and the first author: C:  How is it going with your English learning? P:  I am among the best in my class but it doesn’t mean anything. C:  Why’s that? P:  Coz all my classmates are not good at English, so my teacher has been very

easy-going with her marking and test questions. I am fine with classroom tasks but when I work on the exercises in the supplementary books I bought, I find so many questions difficult. C:  You sound pessimistic? P:  I don’t really know my real English level (U9). I may be better than my classmate in English but compared with my peers from urban schools, I think they are far better than me. C:  How are your grades in English? P.  I took a mock test for the university entrance exam and I got only 50%. This worried me. The exam is approaching but I am not well-prepared for it. I am scared of failing it (U10). C: Why? P:  If I fail, I may end up working as a buffalo shepherd. My parent and grandma have been caring so much about my studies. If I fail, I won’t dare to look directly into their face when I see them. . . . P:  I am not worried about the high school graduation. I am more concerned about the university entrance exam. With my English level like this, I will pass the graduation but I am not sure about the university one. I wish I could be as good at English as you (U11).

140  Rural students’ motivation Phong’s language learning conditions at school were remarkably similar to those of Diem given the lack of support from language teachers and limited resources. He relied on supplementary materials as the main language affordances for his exam preparation, revealing his exercise of agency in actively constructing the learning resources for himself (Lantolf & Pavlenko, 2001). Another challenge confronting Phong was his appraisal of his ability as unknowable (U9), leading to his worry and further uncertainty and anxiety about exams. Such negative emotions were also partly attributable to his appraisal of his ability compared to students in more urban contexts who had better learning opportunities. The result of the mock test which indicated the gap between his performance in class and on a wider national scale intensified his worry and anxiety (U10). At this critical stage, his primary concern was to the national exam rather than his performance at school, showing the situated and dynamic nature of learner agency (Mercer, 2011b, 2012). In stating “I wish I could be as good at English as you” (U11), Phong appraised himself as not having the ability commensurate to the level required by the national examination. He saw the first author as a “near peer role model” who is “close to the learners’ social, professional and/or age level, and whom the learners may respect and admire” (Dörnyei & Murphey, 2004, p. 128) – a goal that he aspired to. In this case, the first author was not a neutral observer but rather a mediator and motivator for Phong.

Discussion This study has provided a person-in-context relational perspective (Ushioda, 2009) on the motivational constructions and the agentive appraisals of the language affordances and constraints of the two case study participants, Diem and Phong. By giving analytical attention to students’ appraisals of the learning opportunities in a range of contexts within rural settings we have presented detailed evidence of Ushioda’s (2015, p. 48) claim that “learners are not simply located in particular contexts, but inseparably constitute part of these contexts. Learners shape and are shaped by context”. Both Diem and Phong demonstrated differing degrees of agency and appraisals of such contextual elements, contributing to multiple shades of emotions, motivation, and resilience in their language learning over the transition from high school to university. Within the education context in rural Vietnam, limited learning resources and community support for language learning were found here to be a significant obstacle undermining the motivation of such avid learners as Diem and Phong in their pursuit of language studies for higher education. One of the primary concerns for education stakeholders and policy makers is to ensure more equitable learning opportunities and language affordances for these students. Further, the practice of placing students in top classes as an attempt to boost the school’s university admission rates without considering individual students’ desires needs to be considered seriously. The struggles and disadvantages that Diem and Phong experienced in their studies in the top classes, despite their resilience and personal endeavours, could have been alleviated if there had been classes for students specialising in English where

Rural students’ motivation 141 they could develop their unfulfilled potential. More importantly, students learning English in rural areas tended to be engulfed in anxiety and fear of not being able to compete with their more urban peers through their negative appraisals of their own abilities and affordances for university exam preparation. This would undoubtedly impact on their exam revision process and eventually their test performance. It is therefore critical that language teachers, school stakeholders, governmental bodies, and policy makers at municipal and provincial levels revise curricula and exam practices which could account for such differences as well as tailor the national program to local students’ specific needs to promote equity in relation to access to higher education.

Conclusion Accounts on the lifeworlds of the two case study participants offer an insightful view into the period of transition from high school to university, particularly revolving around their appraisals of the affordances and constraints on their language learning in rural contexts in Vietnam and how these elements impacted on their motivation and emotions. Further, these students showed the various ways in which they exercised their agentive appraisals of multiple learning settings and relationships and of personal abilities and the degrees of effort required to achieve their goals. Language teachers and other stakeholders, therefore, play an important role in fostering students’ agentive practices in identifying, appraising, and utilising the affordances that positively induce learning within and across different settings and relationships. Individual students’ language learning backgrounds, agency, other affective aspects, complex social relationships, and especially the challenges confronting them during the transitional stage from high school to university are to be taken seriously in order to foster their proactive attitudes towards language learning and to sustain their L2 motivation as they proceed to higher education.

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11 Examining the motivation and achievement of Vietnamese university students as they undertake English classes Truong Cong Bang and Jennifer Archer By the end of the 1970s, after many years of foreign domination and war, the Vietnamese people were exhausted and struggling economically. It was their resilience and a strong sense of community that kept the country going. Given its precarious financial state, the communist government decided to embrace change and trade with the wider non-communist world, especially the West. Vietnam would trade with Western countries and encourage Western companies to open offices and factories in Vietnam. This initiative, launched in 1986, was called Doi Moi (open door). As part of this push to engage with the West, the government decided that its citizens must develop competence in English. English was to be taught in primary schools, high schools, and universities (even for students not majoring in English). In this chapter, we explore the motivation of university students studying various Business studies but who also were required to study English throughout their degree. We used a widely-accepted model of motivation as a theoretical framework to our study. The expectancy-value model has been used in many contexts to examine students’ motivation to learn (e.g. Eccles, 2011; Eccles & Wigfield, 2002; Wigfield, Tonks, & Klauda, 2016). The model rests on two important predictors of behaviour: students’ expectancy of doing well or poorly on a task and the value (or values) they attach to the task. Students who expect to do well on a task (expectancy-related beliefs) tend to do well on the task. For example, Meece, Wigfield, and Eccles (1990) showed that students’ beliefs about their mathematics ability and expectancies for success were important predictors of their performance – even after controlling for their previous mathematics performance. The value side of the model concerns students’ purposes or incentives for engaging in a task. Values include attainment value (how important it is to do well on the task), intrinsic value (how enjoyable they find the task), utility value (how useful it is to do well on the task), and cost (a negative value to do with how much effort will be required to do the task). In addition to the values measured by the original model (noted earlier), we developed a new value we named family value. There is much research showing that Asian students want to do well at least in part to please their parents and

146  Motivation of Vietnamese university students bring honour to the family (e.g. Chow & Chu, 2007; Fuligni & Zhang, 2004; Hau & Salili, 1996; Urdan, 2004). This new subscale included four items about wanting to be successful to show appreciation of the family, not wanting to bring shame upon the family, and wanting to please the family. Expectancy and task value are positively related: students tend to value tasks in which they expect to do well and attach less value to tasks where they do not expect to do well. Students’ expectancies for success predict how well they do on a task. However, in terms of decisions to take more courses, the value students give to a task are more important than expectancy of success.

Study We approached students in three universities in Ho Chi Minh City to complete a survey. They were first-year students who were studying non-English majors but who were required to take English classes. The survey was completed by 1207 students (556 males and 651 females). In addition to the survey, we invited a sub-sample of students to take part in group interviews. There were 72 students (36 males and 36 females) who participated in interviews. We do not report the interview data in full here, but use them to complement and add to the survey results. In the survey, we used items adapted from those developed by Eccles and colleagues, with some re-wording to suit the Vietnamese context. We used 6-point Likert scales. Sample items are shown in Table 11.1. Students’ end-of-semester examination marks were used as achievement data. To obtain a measure of students’ willingness to do more study in English, there

Table 11.1 Sample items for students’ expectations to do well in English and their motivation for studying English Construct

Sample item

Anchors

Expectancy of success

How well do you expect you will do in your English course this semester?

(1) Not well at all – (6) Very well

Task value Interest Value

How much do you like learning English?

(1) Not at all – (6) Very much

Attainment Value/ Importance

How important is it for you to get good grades in English?

(1) Not at all important – (6) Very important

Utility Value

How useful do you think English will be when you get a job after graduating?

(1) Not at all useful – (6) Very useful

Family Value

Do you work hard in English to make your family proud of you?

(1) Strongly disagree – (6) Strongly agree

Motivation of Vietnamese university students 147 were two items in the survey: one asked students how willing they would be to take English classes in addition to university classes and one asked them how willing they would be to take English classes after they graduated from university (both using 6-point Likert scales). Given the high correlation between these two items, a combined score was used for willingness to take extra English classes.

Analyses Relationships among students’ expectancy to do well in English, intrinsic value of English, utility value, importance value, family value, students’ sex, choice to take additional English classes, and scores on English tests were examined using structural equation modelling (SEM). The dependent variables were students’ mark on the test and their willingness to take additional English classes. In the measurement model, the latent constructs (or factors) representing the influence of family (family value), expectations for success (expectancy), interest (interest value), utility (utility value), and intention to study more English (future) are associated with their respective indicator (or observed) variables, representing the most statistically significant survey items associated with each variable. Two value variables, cost value and importance value, do not appear in the final fitted model. The items in the importance value variable share considerable overlap with items in the utility value variable. Using the principle of parsimony, items that added unnecessary complexity to the model were removed from the SEM. The cost value variable showed no significant associations with other variables and so was removed from the analysis. The new construct of family value was added to the model. Attitudes and values of parents, shaped by the surrounding cultural milieu, can be considered antecedent factors. As such, we developed a three-level model. It was anticipated that family value would influence other values (especially utility value) which in turn would influence willingness to take additional English courses. If students wish to honour their families by getting a good job, then one would expect that these students would endorse the utility value of English because it would heighten their chances of getting a good job. The final fitted model is presented in Figure 11.1. The model shows the structural relationships but does not include the individual items associated with the latent variables because it produces a crowded model that is not easy to read. Factor scores were imputed for the latent variables from the indicators associated with each, following the approach recommended by Rowe (2006). The result is a set of factor scores proportionally weighted to retain meaning on the same 6-point Likert scale used with the related items in the survey. Table 11.2 presents descriptive statistics for the five latent variables and the two observed variables of Sex and Final Mark. Table 11.3 presents the inter-­ correlations among the observed and latent variables. The parameter estimates and fit statistics for the structural model are presented in the Appendix. The principles in the reporting of the SEM analysis

Expectancy (.03)

Family

.15 .22

Future (.20)

.50

.63 Interest (.46)

Final mark (.31)

.42 .18

.12

.10

.32 .17

Sex

Key:

Utility (.23)

.17

Latent constructs

Observed variables

Significant path (standardised)

(R2)

Figure 11.1  Path diagram for final fitted model showing standardised coefficients Table 11.2 Descriptive statistics and variance (R2) values for the latent and observed variables in the study

Family value Expectations Interest value Utility value Future Sex Final Mark

N

Min

Max

M

S.D

R2

1201 1203 1207 1206 1206 1207 1207

1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.0 2.0

6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 2.0 9.8

3.37 3.06 4.06 5.46 4.53 1.54 5.60

1.41 1.13 1.16 0.63 1.26 0.50 1.46

NA 0.03 0.46 0.23 0.20 NA 0.31

Note: R2 derived from the indicator variables shown in the final fitted model

Table 11.3  Inter-correlations among observed and latent variables R

Family

Expectations

Interest

Utility

Future

Final Mk

Sex Family Expectancy Interest Utility Future

0.04

0.16** 0.03

0.16** 0.14** 0.52*

0.21** 0.20** 0.14** 0.32**

0.17** 0.12** 0.11** 0.15** 0.30**

0.26** −0.06 0.49** 0.27** 0.08* 0.05

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) 1200 > N < 1207

Motivation of Vietnamese university students 149 follow those of McDonald and Ho (2002). As noted previously, the measurement model included the fewest number of indicator variables required to identify the latent constructs in a satisfactory manner. The structural part of the model shows only statistically significant paths representing the interrelationships among the two observed variables (Sex and Final Mark) and the five latent variables. There was very little missing data in the large data set, an advantage when using SEM. As shown in the Appendix, the strength of the path weights in the structural model (shown as standardised estimates) are evaluated using Cohen’s (1988) conventions to interpret effect sizes. Correlation coefficients around 0.10 are taken to represent weak or small associations; coefficients around 0.30 are considered moderate; and coefficients of 0.50 or larger are considered a strong or large correlation. Figure 11.1 provides the final fitted model showing relationships among latent constructs and observed variables. Standardised path coefficients are shown as well as R2 statistics (in brackets) that show the total amount of variance explained by the variables. There is a direct effect of sex on expectancy (0.18), on interest value (0.12), and on utility value (0.17). Examining the effect of sex on future (willingness to take additional English classes), there is a direct effect (0.10) and three indirect effects. The first indirect effect is via utility (0.17 × 0.42 = 0.07). The second small indirect effect is mediated via interest and utility (0.12 × 0.32 × 0.42 = 0.02). The third small indirect effect is mediated via expectancy, interest, and utility (0.18 × 0.63 × 0.32 × 0.42 = 0.02). The total effect of sex on future therefore is a small 0.20 (the sum of the direct and indirect effects). Examining the effect of sex on final mark, there is a direct effect (0.17) and an indirect effect via expectancy (0.18 × 0.50 = 0.09). The total effect of sex on final mark therefore is a small to moderate 0.26. Examining the effect of family value on future, there is an indirect effect via utility value (0.22 × 0.42 = 0.09) and there is a second small indirect effect mediated via interest value and utility value (0.15 × 0.32 × 0.42 = 0.02). The total effect of family value on future therefore is a small 0.11. There were no direct or indirect effects of family value on final mark. Examining the effect of expectancy on future, there is an indirect effect mediated via interest value and utility value (0.63 × 0.32 × 0.42 = 0.08). Examining the effect of expectancy on final mark, there is a strong direct effect of 0.50. Examining the effect of expectancy on interest value, there is a strong direct effect of 0.63. Examining the effect of expectancy on utility value, there is a small indirect effect via interest (0.63 × 0.32 = 0.20). Examining the effect of interest value on future, there is a small indirect effect via utility value (0.32 × 0.42 = 0.13). There is no direct or indirect effect of interest value on final mark. There is a moderate direct effect of utility value on future (0.42). R2 values are shown in Figure 11.1. They represent the total proportion of variance explained in the dependent (or endogenous) variables by the prior variables to which they are linked with significant paths. R2 for expectancy is 0.03; R2 for interest value is 0.46; R2 for utility value is 0.23; R2 for future is 0.20; and the R2 for final mark is 0.31. It should be noted that Sex and Family value have no

150  Motivation of Vietnamese university students prior variables linked to them in the model because they are exogenous variables. As such, they have no R2 values reported.

Measuring model fit Because there is no single answer to the question of the extent to which the data fit the model, the more criteria that a model satisfies in terms of fit statistics, the more confidence we can have in the model. The four fit statistics used here were the chi-square test of exact fit, the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), the Goodness of Fit Index (GFI), and the Normed Fit Index (NFI). For the chi-square test, a small and non-significant chi-square suggests “good” model fit. However, the chi-square test is not a good indicator of model fit with large sample sizes (the sample size here was more than 1200). With large sample sizes, very minor differences between the covariance matrix that was entered and the matrix implied by the model can produce a significant chi-square. This means that the model could be rejected when in fact it may be a good model. The chisquare in the current SEM (with 95 degrees of freedom) was 262.39 (p < 0.000). The RMSEA is another absolute fit index. Smaller RMSEA values represent a better fit to the data. Values below 0.05 indicate a good fit to the data. The RMSEA value in the current study was 0.038. The goodness of fit index (GFI) ranges between 0 and 1, with a value of over 0.9 generally indicating acceptable model fit. In the current study, the GFI was 0.973. The NFI is also known as the Bentler-Bonett normed fit index. The NFI in the current study is 0.95, that is, close to the ideal score of 1.0. Given these results for the chi-square, the RMSEA, the GFI, and the NFI, we concluded that the model was a “good” fit for the data. The two dependent variables, willingness to take extra courses (future) and final mark, have R2 values of 0.20 and 0.31, respectively. One can conclude then that the expectancy-value model (including the new construct of family value) is a useful way to understand Vietnamese students’ motivation to learn English and their achievement on an English test. This SEM analysis provides support for the expectancy-value model: expectancy of success predicts students’ achievement in the English examination while utility value predicts their willingness to take additional English classes. Expectancy also is a strong predictor of interest value. Sex had both direct and indirect effects on expectancy, interest value, utility value, future (willingness to take additional ­English courses), and final mark. The new family value variable was a direct predictor of interest value and utility value and an indirect predictor of future (willingness to take extra courses).

Focus group interviews The great majority of the students who were interviewed said they studied ­English to enhance their job opportunities. Also, they had to pass English tests to graduate. Quite a few said they worked hard to please their parents, to make their

Motivation of Vietnamese university students 151 parents proud, and because their parents valued English and helped them to learn it. Some said they wanted to learn English because that way they could access the vast array of information only available in English. Some students also said they found English interesting but they could not devote much time to English because they needed time to study their major. Many students described their English classes as boring, focused on grammar, memorisation, and written exercises. They wanted more opportunities to practise speaking in English. Smaller class sizes would make it easier to practise oral ­English. Also, there would be more focus by lecturers on oral English if there were an oral component on examinations. Students indicated they enjoyed their English classes if lecturers used interesting oral activities, if there was good rapport between students and lecturers, if lecturers provided encouraging feedback, and if lecturers had a good command of oral English. Students were less motivated when there was a distant and rather cold relationship between lecturer and students, when there was a lack of constructive feedback, and when lecturers could not speak English with fluency.

Improving the teaching of English in Vietnam Students’ expectancy of success strongly predicted their mark in the examination and their interest in English. The link between expecting to do well and interest makes sense. The experience of success is a great motivator. Once students start to develop mastery of a subject, its more interesting elements can emerge. In terms of willingness to take additional English classes, the utility of English emerged strongly. Getting a good job is the ambition of most young people. Vietnam remains a relatively poor country with limited social services. Many university students come from poor rural areas and are keen to get into university, graduate, and find well-paying jobs. In addition to their own lives, a well-paying job means that they can help to support their families. Given the current state of teaching English in Vietnam, it is not surprising that students reported interest in English did not predict their achievement or their willingness to take further study in English. Even though the government mandates that English is taught throughout the schooling system, proficiency remains low, especially oral proficiency. One of the causes of low proficiency is the way it is taught. Classes are dominated by grammar and comprehension exercises that prepare students for examinations. Little time is devoted to developing oral competence. Classes are very large, often more than 50 students. Vietnam’s Confucian heritage classrooms are strongly teacher-oriented with teachers controlling what occurs and students unwilling to question teachers’ directions and knowledge. We propose five ways in which students’ poor English oral skills could be improved. First, include an oral component in the end of semester examinations. As we know, assessment is the tail that wags the dog. Teachers are judged on the performance of their students; they will pay more attention to oral English if it is included in examinations. Second, encourage teachers to reduce their “presence”

152  Motivation of Vietnamese university students in the classroom even though this runs counter to traditional ways of teaching and learning in Vietnam. There must be less talking by teachers and more talking (in English) by students. Competence in oral English requires lots of practice and lots of mistakes. In the age of the Internet, there are many ways students can improve their oral English. Teachers must accommodate ways of learning English that do not have teachers as the authority figure at the centre of all activities. Third, provide students with opportunities to practise oral English outside the classroom. For example, parts of the campus could be designated as English-only areas. Students could be encouraged to go to parts of the city frequented by tourists and to engage them in conversation. Fourth, help teachers to improve their own oral English. English teachers in Vietnam have heavy teaching loads and large classes. There is little time for them to improve their oral English. Universities could reduce their teaching loads, reduce class sizes, and provide them with time and resources for professional development. Finally, teachers need strategies to increase students’ interest in English and to raise students’ confidence in speaking in English. For example, teachers could organise group work (in English) after students have watched an interesting video. Students could make presentations (in English) to each other on topics of interest. Teachers are held in high regard in Vietnam. Students would be pleased to receive feedback from teachers, particularly if they make positive comments and provide constructive advice for ways to improve.

The role of the family in education We successfully introduced a new family-oriented value to the expectancy-value model. Like many Asian countries, Vietnam has been described as a “collectivist” Confucian-based culture. Importance is attached to maintaining harmonious relations with other people, particularly parents and teachers. Young people are expected to honour parents and teachers by following their directions. It is interesting to consider the family in Vietnam from the perspective of socioeconomic status (SES). SES depends on a combination of variables, often including occupation, income, education, wealth, and place of residence. In the West, there is widespread concern about the “achievement gap” between students from high and low SES backgrounds (e.g. Berger & Archer, 2016; Bradley & Corwyn, 2002; Sirin, 2005; Strenze, 2007). This gap appears in the early years of schooling and increases as students move through school. The result is more high SES students entering and completing university than low SES students. There are many explanations for the SES “achievement gap”. Many argue that the main cause is inadequate funding of education in poor areas. Though no doubt funding is an important factor, there are other factors as well. In the United States, sociologists have argued that a breakdown in traditional family structure in low SES areas has had a negative impact on children’s education (e.g. Murray, 2012; Putnam, 2000). A strong family structure with an emphasis on education as a way of getting a good job now is more characteristic of high SES than low SES areas. High SES parents are keen for their offspring to succeed

Motivation of Vietnamese university students 153 in school (as they did) and spend considerable time and energy trying to make this happen. In low SES areas, on the other hand, there are many single-parent households living on parental allowances and unemployment benefits. There is much less emphasis on education as a means of “getting ahead”. Long-term goal setting, such as considering possible jobs and devising ways to get there, is less pronounced. In some low SES areas, children will have had little exposure to adults in full-time employment. In Vietnam, however, there is little evidence of different attitudes to education by high and low SES families. The traditional family structure remains strong throughout Vietnam. Teachers and parents are treated with respect. As noted earlier, many university students come from poor rural backgrounds. Even though we did not gather data about students’ SES in our study, it is well known that students from low SES backgrounds form the bulk of university students in Vietnam. Parents from the comparatively small group of high SES Vietnamese usually pay for their children to study overseas. Parents who are poor themselves are keen for their children to do well in school and university and find a well-­ paying job. In an economically poor country with no safety nets for the unemployed, the impetus to get a good job is strong. Several students interviewed said they came from poor backgrounds and were aware of the sacrifices their parents were making to allow them to go to university. They wanted a good job as a means of repaying their parents’ sacrifice. Many parents saw proficiency in English as a way out of poverty for their children: they encouraged them to study English; they made a point of speaking in English at home; they took them to clubs where English was spoken; and they paid for them to take extra English classes. What is notable here is parents from low SES backgrounds helping their offspring to plan long-term goals and to use strategies (such as taking additional English classes) to reach those goals. This sort of behaviour tends to be characteristic of high SES parents in the West but not of low SES parents. This is an interesting example of the influence of cultural milieu on attitudes and behaviour. Does socio-economic status operate differently in “collectivist” Confucian-based countries?

Conclusion Vietnamese university students’ achievement in English and their willingness to take extra English classes can be explained by their expectation that they will do well and the motivation (or values) they should study English. The value of English as a means of getting a desirable job was the most important motivation. In addition, our new value/motivation based on pleasing one’s family made a significant contribution to our study. Thirty years after the introduction of the Doi Moi policy, what can we say about learning English in Vietnam? The government continues to push for greater English proficiency in its populace. Students at all levels of education

154  Motivation of Vietnamese university students must learn English, even university students who are not majoring in English. For all that, English proficiency, especially oral proficiency, is not strong. Some of the factors that are impeding progress in oral English proficiency – such as respect for and obedience towards teachers – are deeply rooted in Vietnamese collectivist culture. It is somewhat ironic that the social cohesion that gave Vietnamese people the strength to survive their painful history may be inhibiting students’ ability to develop oral proficiency in English.

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Appendix Final fitted model (showing standardised coefficients)

Path

Stand. estimates

Structural model Interest