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Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community
Phan Le Ha
Dat Bao
Joel Windle Editors
Vietnamese
Language,
Education and
Change In and
Outside Vietnam
This book series is committed to advancing scholarship on Vietnam and Vietnam-
related issues and to nurturing a new generation of Vietnam scholars in arts, human-
ities, education and social sciences, and interdisciplinary studies. It engages with
Vietnam in global contexts and with global Vietnam across time, space and commu-
nity. It features new writings and understandings that reflect nuances, complexities
and dynamic that Vietnam in all of its possible meanings and constructs has inspired,
generated and pushed. It recognises the ever expanding circles of Vietnam scholars
around the world whose scholarship can be seen as the products of a new era when
knowledge production has become increasingly globalized and decentralized. All of
these have been reflected and in motion in t he well-established over-a-decade-long
Engaging With Vietnam conference series, of which this book series is an offspring.
For more, visit: https://engagingwithvietnam.org/global-vietnam-book-series/
Phan Le Ha · Dat Bao · Joel Windle
Editors
Vietnamese Language,
Education and Change In
and Outside Vietnam
Editors
Phan Le Ha
Universiti Brunei Darussalam
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam
Joel Windle
University of South Australia
Adelaide, SA, Australia
Dat Bao
Faculty of Education
Monash University
Melbourne, VIC, Australia
ISSN 2731-7552 ISSN 2731-7560 (electronic)
Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community
ISBN 978-981-99-9092-4 ISBN 978-981-99-9093-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9093-1
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2024. This book is an open access publication.
Open Access This book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribu-
tion and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original
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Praise for Vietnamese Language, Education
and Change In and Outside Vietnam
“This book presents an eclectic collection of 15 chapters unified by an interest in
developing and teaching the Vietnamese language. To my knowledge, there has
been no previous attempt to make the national language of Vietnam a focus for as
many perspectives as are documented in the book. In this regard, the book makes an
original and intriguing contribution to the literature on Vietnamese culture, including
the culture of Vietnam’s expanding diaspora. The book is pioneering in the extent
to which it draws attention to the many roles played by a national language in a
nation’s political, social and cultural development. It also documents the challenges
of preserving a national language in settings where it is at risk of being marginalized.
It is pleasing that so many of the contributing authors are young Vietnamese scholars
who can provide a distinctly Vietnamese perspective on concepts and practices of
global significance.”
—Dr. Martin Hayden, Emeritus Professor of Higher Education, Southern Cross
University, Australia
“Vietnamese Language, Education and Change In and Outside Vietnam brings
together an excellent collection of chapters that highlight the diverse and important
but under-explored roles the Vietnamese language plays in different settings within
and outside Vietnam. The fifteen chapters of this much-needed book provide unique
insights into various aspects and meanings of Vietnamese language. Collectively, the
volume contributes to broadening our view about the evolution and transformation
of Vietnamese language under the impacts of local, national, regional and global
forces. The book invites readers to engage in a reflective and intersectional approach
to rethinking and re-examining our understandings of the changes and developments
of Vietnamese language over the history of the country.”
—Dr. Ly Tran, Professor, Centre for Research for Educational Impact (REDI),
Deakin University, Australia, and Founder: Australia-Vietnam International
Education Centre
v
Contents
1 Foregrounding Vietnamese Language, Education, and Change
in and Outside Vietnam ........................................ 1
Phan Le Ha
Part I Vietnamese Language Education and Language Issues in
Diverse Contexts
2 Literacy Education in Vietnamese Schooling System .............. 13
Hang Thi-Diem Ngo, Quynh Thu Nguyen, and Robert James Smith
3 Institutional Transformation for Internationalization: The
Making of National Language Program in Higher Education
in Contemporary Vietnam ..................................... 33
Hang Thi-Diem Ngo and Trong-Nghia Tran
4 Teaching Vietnamese as an Additional Language: A Case
Study from Explicit Pragmatic Instruction to Intercultural
Approach ..................................................... 53
Thi Minh Tran, Thi Ha Pham, and Hang Thi Diem Ngo
5 Language Ideology and Its Educational Impact: Insights
from Vietnamese Community Language Schools ................. 83
Hoa Do
6 Family Language Policy Among Vietnamese Sojourner
Families in Australia the “What”, the “How” and the “Why” ...... 107
Ha Thuy Dam
7 Vietnamese Heritage Language: From Silence to Voice ............ 129
Thi Minh Tran
vii
viii Contents
8 Languages and Ethnic Minority Students’ Access
to Education in Vietnam: Problems Turned into Opportunities
from the Perspective of Translanguaging ........................ 159
Chinh Duc Nguyen and Thanh Nguyen Thao Tran
Part II Contemporary Issues in Education and Training:
Language, Culture, Identity, and Curriculum
9 The Legacy of the American War Today: The Nation, Heroes
and Enemies in Vietnamese War Literature for the Youth ......... 183
Tú Anh Hà and Andrea Roxana Bellot
10 Writing Non-fiction Books on National Culture for Vietnamese
Children in the Age of Globalisation: The Process of Building
Intercultural Competence ...................................... 203
Thi Phuong Anh Dang, Tú Anh Hà, and Quang Anh Phan
11 Technological Competence for Graduate
Employability: Pedagogical and Professional
Perspectives from Cross-National Translation
Working Contexts ............................................. 223
Thu Do
12 Vietnamese Higher Education, Student Identity, and Human
Capital Futures: Who Do We Believe or Imagine University
Students to Be? ............................................... 245
Jonathan J. Felix
13 Engagement ofVietnamese Religious Communities in National
Education: Resources, Challenges, and Opportunities ............ 261
Duong Van Bien, Ibrohim, Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoan,
Nguyen Thi Trang, Nguyen Thi Kim Thoa, Vu Thanh Bang,
and Vu Van Chung
14 Expanding Knowledge and Enhancing Understandings
of Language and Education Issues in Global Vietnam:
Coming Together .............................................. 285
Phan Le Ha and Dat Bao
15 Framing Language in Contact Zones: A Commentary
on Vietnamese as an Expression of Globalisation(s) ............... 295
Joel Austin Windle
Index ............................................................. 301
Chapter 1
Foregrounding Vietnamese Language,
Education, and Change in and Outside
Vietnam
Phan Le Ha
Setting the Scene
This volume, long overdue, is the very first book that pays close attention to the varied
roles the Vietnamese language plays in different educational, sociocultural, polit-
ical, ideological, geopolitical, and linguistic contexts and settings in global Vietnam.
It recognizes and engages with major transformations and the ever-changing and
expanding roles of the Vietnamese language and its associated educational matters
in and outside the current Vietnam. Likewise, the volume introduces readers to many
ways in which Vietnam, the Vietnamese language, and their multiple accompanying
and arising meanings are established, evolve and mutate as a result of historical events
and encounters, change, development, mobilities of people and ideas, globalization,
and the processes of nation-building, among other factors and forces. It is important
to note that this volume is mainly focused on the spread, change, education, and
issues concerning the modern Vietnamese language written in the QuốcNgữ script
(the Latin script). This volume is neither about the history of the Vietnamese language
nor Vietnamese linguistics. However, these aspects are referenced and discussed to
varied extent in many chapters throughout the volume.
In Vietnam’s history, among very important historical events and encounters
leading to the massive transformation of the Vietnamese language as seen in its
current form are two milestones that must be named. The first event dates back to
the sixteenth century when Portuguese missionaries started to spread Christianity in
parts of what is now Vietnam, followed by their invention of a Latin script to record
the Vietnamese spoken language in the seventeenth century (Pham, 2019, 2023).
Phan Le Ha (B
)
Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Gadong 1410, BE, Brunei
e-mail: leha.phan@ubd.edu.bn
University College London, London, WC 1E6BT, UK
© The Author(s) 2024
Phan Le Ha et al. (eds.), Vietnamese Language, Education and Change In and Outside
Vietnam, Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9093-1_1
1
2Phan Le Ha
The second event was marked by France’s invasion of Vietnam, starting in 1858,
followed by its colonization of Vietnam for nearly 100 years which largely defined
the fate of Vietnam and the Vietnamese language in the later part of the nineteenth
century and almost the entirety of the twentieth century. During this period, important
reforms took place, notably the controversial introduction of the French language
and French schools to the then Vietnam that the French divided into three territories
with three distinctive political and administrative arrangements, the French colo-
nial regime’s determination to end the Sinitic education system active in the then
Vietnam (Altbach & Kelly, 1978; McConnell, 1988; Nguyễn, 2020), the gradual
introduction of the QuốcNgữ script into the then Vietnam’s educational system,
starting in 1906 alongside Chinese-medium instruction and French-medium instruc-
tion, and the Nguyen dynasty’s decision to hold its very last imperial examination in
1918 while also proactively promoting the use of QuốcNgữ and the French language
(for more information, see Kelley, forthcoming).
The twentieth century was mostly associated with colonialism, imperialism,
warfare, partition, various resistance movements against foreign invasion and occu-
pation, the declining role of the Nguyen royal court—Vietnam’s last royal empire,
the formation of the Communist Party in 1930, the official end of Vietnam’s last
monarchy in 1945, President Ho Chi Minh’s proclamation of the independent Demo-
cratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945, the First Indochina War against the French occu-
pation (1946–1954), the Second Indochina War (also known as the Vietnam War or
the Anti-American War 1955–1975), and the unification of Vietnam in 1976 (Asselin,
2018; Đinh, 2012; Goscha, 2016;Lê,
2012;Marr,
2013).
After the reunification of Vietnam in 1976, the country continued to be at the
receiving end of, as well as a player in, a series of notable internal and external
political events. These include the Cold War period that last until the collapse of
the Eastern Bloc in 1989, the tension and hostility between Vietnam and China
because of the border war between the two countries from 1979 to the mid-1980s,
the command economy implemented throughout unified Vietnam until about the
early 1990s, the almost 20-year economic sanction from America, and the game-
changing Doi Moi Reform policy (economic reform) introduced in December 1986
by the Vietnamese Communist Party that enabled far-reaching changes and trans-
formations of the society in the decades that followed. The past 35 years or so,
starting in the late 1980s, have witnessed the normalization of relations between
Vietnam and China in 1991, Vietnam’s diplomatic normalization with America in
1995, Vietnam joining ASEAN in 1995 and joining the World Trade Organization
in early 2007, Vietnam’s aspirations for international integration and globalization,
and the booming of the market economy under the direction of the Communist
Party, all of which have enabled Vietnam to join the global economy and the world
stage on all fronts (Baum, 2020; Do & Nguyễn, 2013; Gillen et al., 2021; London,
2022; Ljunggren & Perkins, 2023; Pham, 2018; Revilla Diez, 2016). These factors
and forces have also resulted in remarkable transformations in Vietnam’s education
system, which have simultaneously inspired and formed the foundation for Vietnam’s
large-scale reforms and expansions of its educational sector at all levels nationwide
(Duggan, 2001; Le, 2009;Leetal., 2022; London, 2011; Nguyen et al., 2020; Phan &
1 Foregrounding Vietnamese Language, Education, and Change … 3
Doan, 2020; Tran & Marginson, 2018). Accompanying these reforms and expan-
sions has been the changing and ever-growing role of the Vietnamese language and
its associated educational matters in Vietnam—a focus of this collected volume.
At the same time, the diverse vectors of human mobilities in and out of Vietnam
since the colonial time induced by the many major historical events and encounters,
and by internal and external forces and factors such as the nation-building project and
the processes of globalization and internationalization as briefly indicated thus far
(Amer, 1994; Dorais, 1998; Hoang, 2020; Nguyen, 2015a, b; Phan, 2022; Thompson,
1952) have resulted in the widespread yet nuanced use of and attitudes towards
the Vietnamese language beyond the physical border of Vietnam (Do, 2015;Hue
Binh, 2023; McLeod et al., 2019; Nikolaevich, 2021; Nguyen, 2022; Tran, 2008;
Tran, 2022; Yeh et al, 2015). This very phenomenon is also central to the scholarly
examination highlighted in this edited book. Such phenomenon, as it showcases and
embodies an angle of global Vietnam, makes the linguistic, cultural, educational,
political, and ideological landscape of Vietnamese language ever more complex and
omnipresent.
As shall be shown throughout the volume, Vietnamese is the national and official
language of Vietnam, a country of around 100 million people by the end of 2023.1 It
is also a second language or an additional language for ethnic minority communities
in Vietnam, which account for about 15% of the overall population.2 According to
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by the end of 2023, there were about 6 million Viet-
namese people living and working outside Vietnam, spread over 130 countries and
territories,3 making Vietnamese a heritage language in many of these places. Viet-
namese is the dominant language and the medium of instruction in Vietnam’s national
education system as well as in community schools and is adopted by other educational
providers countrywide. It is also a second language option for Vietnamese students
enrolled in schools overseas and in international schools in Vietnam. Vietnamese is
also one of the two media of instruction in bilingual schools and in a variety of interna-
tional schools in Vietnam. Further, as a heritage language of many Vietnamese dias-
poric communities around the world, Vietnamese is taught in numerous community
language schools globally. Likewise, Vietnamese is also included in the mainstream
curriculum for public schools and is promoted in various university programs in
countries where many Vietnamese live, study, and work, such as the United States,
France, Australia, Russia, South Korea, and Taiwan. Specifically, commencing in
2018, Vietnamese (together with seven other Southeast Asian languages) has been
taught in elementary schools in Taiwan as part of the core curriculum starting at
grade 3, as officially announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of
1 https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/vietnam-population/, accessed on 9 February
2024.
2 https://vietnam.opendevelopmentmekong.net/vi/topics/ethnic-minorities-and-indigenous-peo
ple/#:~:text=Vi%E1%BB%87t%20Nam%20l%C3%A0%20qu%E1%BB%91c%20gia,n%C6%
B0%E1%BB%9Bc%20(Xem%20b%E1%BA%A3ng%201), accessed on 9 February 2024.
3 https://tuoitre.vn/viet-nam-dang-co-khoang-600-000-nhan-luc-chat-luong-cao-O-nuoc-ngoai-
20231214182037416.htm, accessed on 9 February 2024.
4Phan Le Ha
China (Taiwan).4 At the same time, Vietnamese is a key language for research and
academic purposes for many foreign scholars and researchers specializing in Viet-
namese Studies. In the context of the internationalization of Vietnam’s higher educa-
tion, Vietnamese is also the medium of instruction in Vietnamese-medium programs
that enroll international students. Indeed, the teaching of Vietnamese to prepare
international students for Vietnamese-medium programs is rising in universities in
Vietnam (Mai & Chau, 2022; Phan et al., 2022). The multiple roles, functions, and
positionings of Vietnamese language in and outside Vietnam as briefed here are, for
the first time, brought together in this collection, making it a one-stop venue where
one can be informed of and engage (with) multi-faceted scholarly interrogations that
are long overdue.
The Conceptual Edge and Significance
The conceptualization of this edited volume has stemmed from a variety of scholarly
aspirations and emerging scholarship. First and foremost, this volume is the very
first collection that identifies, examines, and engages with Vietnamese language and
its underlying educational matters in varied contexts and settings in and outside
Vietnam. In this regard, the volume embeds a sense of global Vietnam, a sense
that has been developed in the well-established annual academic conference series
Engaging With Vietnam (EWV) and in recent EWV-informed scholarship that editor
Phan Le Ha has led over the years (Gillen et al., 2021; Kelley & Sasges, forth-
coming 2023; Phan & Doan, 2020; Phan et al., 2020; http://engagingwithvietnam.
org/). Global Vietnam signifies and brings to the fore multiple meanings attached to
Vietnam and the Vietnamese language. For instance, Vietnam can signify a country,
a memory, a place, a homeland, and an emotional attachment. Via multimodal repre-
sentations and discursive means, Vietnam and the Vietnamese language are projected,
discussed, appropriated, and embraced by different actors and entities across time and
space. These representations and means are often governed and shaped by specific
contexts and purposes within and between communities in global Vietnam. As shall
be seen throughout the volume, many roles played by and assigned to the Viet-
namese language as well as many meanings associated with Vietnam inside, outside,
and beyond its physical borders are illustrated, called upon, and engaged with.
By documenting and investigating multiple facets and processes of Vietnamese
language education in global contexts, and by engaging with global Vietnam
through the lenses of language and education, this volume breaks new ground
and advances existing scholarship, which remains extremely limited and scattered
(see for example, Do, 2015; Maloof et al., 2006; McLeod et al., 2019; Nguyen, 2020;
Nguyen & Ha, 2021; Nguyen & Huynh, 2021; Nguyen et al., 2001; Phan, 2019; Phan
4 https://nspp.mofa.gov.tw/nsppe/content_tt.php?post=105441&unit=&unitname=Taiwan-
Today&postname=SE-Asian-languages-to-be-included-in-school-curriculum, accessed on 9
February 2024.
1 Foregrounding Vietnamese Language, Education, and Change … 5
et al., 2014; Tran, 2008, 2021; Yeh et al., 2015). Specifically, the contributing chap-
ters, in diverse manners and to varied extent, examine how Vietnamese is perceived,
practiced, taught, learnt, institutionalized, kept, revised, politicized, personalized,
and given meanings by multiple communities and actors across time, space, and
contexts. The chapters take into consideration associated and broader sociocul-
tural, linguistic, educational, ideological, and political debates in local, transnational,
global, and inter-contextual settings and domains. As such, the volume also offers new
analyses, insights, and on-the-ground theorizations based on which further scholarly
inquiries could be enabled. In the same vein, it creates original scholarship, partic-
ularly in relation to the conceptualization of global Vietnam and global contexts
as policies, practices, and performances of the Vietnamese language and educa-
tional matters unfold. For more elaborations and discussion of the many scholarly
debates, aspirations, and contributions presented in the volume as a whole and in each
individual chapter, see the last two chapters—Chaps. 14 and 15—of this volume.
Another very important conceptual underpinning informing this volume lies in its
attempt to respond to scholarly calls to challenge hegemonic views and frameworks
of globalization, particularly in terms of knowledge production and in the domain of
language and education studies (see for example, Barnawi, 2018; Canagarajah, 1999;
Nonaka, 2018; Pennycook, 1994, 1998; Phan, 2008; Phillipson, 1992,Tsui, 2020;
Tupas, 2014; Windle et al., 2020). It puts Vietnam and its Vietnamese language and
educational matters at the center of inquiry from a global and evolving perspective.
It considers how Vietnam and Vietnamese are constructed globally and enacted in
global spaces of classrooms, textbooks, student mobility, and intercultural contacts.
It is one of the world’s most spoken languages and is ranked among the world’s top
20 in terms of the number of speakers. Yet, at the same time, as a ‘peripheral’ or
‘southern’ global language in the Global North–Global South spectrum, the dynamics
of multilingual and multicultural encounters involving Vietnamese generate distinc-
tive dilemmas and tensions, as well as point to alternative ways of thinking about
global phenomena from a fresh angle. Rather than being outside of the global, Viet-
namese, like many other ‘non-central’ global languages, is present in diasporas,
commercial and transnational structures of higher education, schooling, and in the
more conventional settings of primary and secondary school, in which visions of
culture and language also evoke notions of heritage and tradition as well as bring
to the fore deep-seated ideological conflicts across time, space, communities, and
generations.
Conceptualizing a volume on the Vietnamese language and its associated educa-
tional matters must not overlook the works of those practitioners and researchers
who are dedicated to this very language on a daily basis. Neither can it be accept-
able to only include authors who have mainly used English in all their research,
writing, and teaching. Hence, this volume features many authors who, up to this
stage, have hardly published in English. Most of these authors have been conducting
a good amount of research in the medium of Vietnamese. Likewise, they are also
experienced published authors in Vietnamese, whose perspectives, expertise, and
knowledge could be introduced, via this volume, to a more international audience.
In this aspect, this volume is refreshing and original.
6Phan Le Ha
As the very first volume documenting and examining Vietnamese language and
educational matters in varied contexts and settings in and outside Vietnam, this
volume, while refreshing, is still at the early stage of making substantial scholarly
contributions. Nonetheless, one has to start from somewhere, and hence this volume.
Chapter 14 of this volume presents and discusses in more detail a number of contribu-
tions made by the volume and the individual chapters to knowledge and knowledge
production regarding language and education, Vietnamese studies, and educational
matters in global Vietnam.
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Phan Le Ha is a Senior Professor at the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, Universiti
Brunei Darussalam. She also holds an Honorary Professorship at UCL’s IOE—Culture, Commu-
nication, and Media. She is the founder of Engaging With Vietnam (https://engagingwithvietnam.
org/), and founding editor of the Global Vietnam book series with Springer, and the Global
Vietnam journal with Amsterdam University Press.
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Part I
Vietnamese Language Education
and Language Issues in Diverse Contexts
Chapter 2
Literacy Education in Vietnamese
Schooling System
Hang Thi-Diem Ngo , Quynh Thu Nguyen, and Robert James Smith
Abstract Vietnam at its initial announcement of independence, in 1945, had a
remarkably high rate of illiteracy. The many wars that followed have contributed
to slow down the government effort in delivering literacy education to its citizens.
Yet, from the 1980s, Doi Moi marked the big shift in politics, economic policies, as
well as educational practices. The privatization of economic factors in Doi Moi went
with the liberation of social activities in other cultural fields. The late 1980s and
1990s saw the booming education market, which helped to increase the rate of
literacy. Subsequently, in the second decade of twenty-first century, there has been
another intensive innovation of education policies on literacy education, responding
to increasing social and economic globalization. This chapter provides an overview
of literacy education in modern Vietnam and brings those historical marking stones
into a discussion of current challenges toward the future for Vietnamese literacy
education. The chapter also unpacks current practices in the twenty-first century with
some significant landmarks of development toward globalization. Taking the outline
of literacy education in Vietnam to the point where it is today, the chapter shows
a shift from the centralized nationalist discourse toward a more critical approach,
looking outward to global standards and inter-connected settings.
H. T.-D. Ngo (B
)
Mount Carmel College, South Australia, Australia; and Thang Long Institute of Cognition and
Education Studies, Hanoi, Vietnam
e-mail: hang.ngo@mcc.catholic.edu.au
Q. T. Nguyen
Thai Nguyen University of Education, Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam
e-mail: quynhn@tnue.edu.vn
R. J. Smith
Southern Cross University, East Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia
e-mail: Robert.Smith@scu.edu.au
© The Author(s) 2024
Phan Le Ha et al. (eds.), Vietnamese Language, Education and Change In and Outside
Vietnam, Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9093-1_2
13
14 H. T.-D. Ngo et al.
Introduction
Literacy is the ability to read, write, view, comprehend, discuss, create, listen, and
respond in a way that enables individuals to communicate effectively (UNESCO,
2005). It also involves applying these skills to connect, discover, interpret, and
understand both written and verbal information. In Vietnam, being literate, or biết
chữ, commonly means knowing how to read and write with understanding simple
sentences in one’s national, ethnic, or a foreign language. The definition of being
literate can be curriculum-based or subjective. For instance, the Vietnam Population
and Housing Census gives the following definition:
persons were literate if they had completed grade 5 or higher or if the head of their household
(or the representative of the household who was interviewed by the census collector) believed
that they were currently able to read and write (Phan, Bilgin, Eyland and Shaw (2004), p. 4).
The language referred to in this definition is Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese), the national
language of contemporary Vietnam. It belongs to the Mon-Khmer linguistic branch
of the Austro-Asiatic language family and is both monosyllabic and tonal, with
the number of tones varying by dialect (six in the standard Hanoi dialect, five in
some southern and central regions). Vietnamese has a rich history of employing
Chinese characters, vocabulary, and grammar (Sino Nom) during the millennia when
the north and northern central region of Vietnam were under Chinese domination.
Subsequently, Vietnamese elites developed their own script (chữ Nôm), used by a
small, highly educated segment of the population (Hoàng, 2007). The emergence
of the Vietnamese alphabet (chữ Quốcngữ), or “national language script”, in the
seventeenth century, diminished the use of Nino-Nom, especially under the French
colonial rule. Nevertheless, Sino-Nom remained the official written language of
the Vietnamese government until the early twentieth century, when the Vietnamese
alphabetic writing system was adopted as the official script, a status it retains today.1
Thus, in Vietnam, language has been deeply intertwined with power, colonialism,
bureaucracy, and elites interest, influencing national, social, and regional resistance.
This historical context has led to evolving definitions of literacy, encompassing both
the capacity to read and write and the borader concept of literacy education.
This chapter provides an overview of literacy education in modern Vietnam, with
a particular focus on the contemporary period. It aims to trace the development of
literacy education from a centralized, nationalist discourse to a more critical, globally
integrated approach. The narrative begins with a brief history of literacy education in
Vietnam, leading up to the modern era, and continues with an examination of literacy
education following the establishment of the modern government. The chapter delves
deeply into the ongoing educational reform initiatives, highlighting the shift toward
global standards and interconnected education practices.
1 More discussion on the history of writing of the Vietnamese can be found in Hoàng (2007).
2 Literacy Education in Vietnamese Schooling System 15
Literacy Education in Vietnam: A Brief History
During the French colonial period (1861–1945), French was imposed as the language
of power, leading to a decline in the use of literary Chinese (Sino Nom), while the
status of the Vietnamese language increased among the populace. This era marked the
gradual replacement of Sino-Nom with the French and Vietnamese alphabetic script.
The French administration’s preference for using French in governance bolstered
French, language education, thereby diminishing the role of Chinese characters.
Concurently, Vietnamese language education was provided to French administrative
officials to facilitate policy implementation. In 1861, the French established a Viet-
namese language school in Saigon, adopting Quốcngữ as the medium for teaching
and learning, which further supported national language education and the prolifer-
ation of Vietnamese language newspapers. By 1904, a similar French-Vietnamese
educational program was introduced in the Northern region.
The colonial education system catergorized schools into various levels, making
the Vietnamese language a compulsory subject at the primary level. The Vietnamese
Literature Program was mandated for students in elementary education (grades 6–
9). At the high school levels (Baccalaureate), there was the Vietnamese Program
(Chương trình Việtvăn) was implemented in French-Vietnamese high school before
1940.2 Textbooks, serving as key education materials, implicitly contained these
requirements. Classroom activities were designed to facilitate comprehension and
retention of textbook materials, culminating in examinations.
From the early twentieth century, numerous Vietnamese intellectuals actively
participated in teaching the Vietnamese alphabetic script (chữ Quốcngữ), viewing
literacy as a tool to counteract colonial oppression, notably the “keep the people
stupid” policy (chính sách ngu dân). This educational movement also enabled the
exploration of Western educational paradigms, supported by the efforts of political
groups like the ViệtNamQuốcDân Đảng (Nationalist Party) and the Đảng Cộng
Sản Đông Dương (Indochina Communist Party).
The Revolutionary State and Its Literacy Education
Campaign (1945–1989)
In the process of The revolutionary leadership recognised literacy as essential for
the extension of nationalist ideology. General Giáp recounted Hồ Chí Minh’s curt
dismissal of one of Giáp’s compositions: “No peasant will understand this stuff”.3
2 The elementary curriculums were selecting essays or excerpting from the poetries and old story
books, or from the contemporary literature. At higher level, for example, curriculums for the first
year (grade 10) include popular literature; The influence of China; The regimes of learning and
examination; Texts; French influences; Language problems (Đỗ 2019).
3 Stanley Karnow, Giap Remembers, The New York Times Magazine, Section 6, page 22, https://
nyti.ms/29jUgjm.
16 H. T.-D. Ngo et al.
Consequently, in 1940, the ViệtMinh Đồng Minh Hội(Việt Minh) announced a
commitment to eradicate illiteracy through compulsory primary education. This
initiative was central to the political agenda of the Viet Minh, aiming to strategi-
cally educate communist ideology, to win the hearts of the people, and foster unity
among ethnic minorities.
Following the 1945 Declaration of Independence and the establishment of the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), the new government continued its policy
against illiteracy, prioritized nationwide literacy programs. Literacy education was to
be conducted under the will of the Central Party and the decisions of the government,
aimed for mass education (Malarney, 2012), and the ambitious goal of universal
education, or education for all. Over time, the campaigns became more sophisti-
cated and extensive. New methods were adopted to address the challenges of school
attendance and the retention of literacy skills among the populace.
The first literacy campaign spanned from 1945 to 1954, starting immediately
after Vietnam declared independence. On September 3, 1945, Ho Chi Minh initiated
the fight against “illiterate enemy”. This was followed by the launch of a mass
education movement on September 8. In 1945, the Central Party outlined Đề cương
văn hóa ViệtNam (Outline Propaganda for Vietnamese Culture) which set the task
of building “Vietnamese for all” (tiếng Việt toàn dân) and education in Vietnamese
for the masses. The government then issued three continuous executive orders to:
(1) establish Nha bình dân họcvụ, known as the Administration Institute of Mass
Education, (2) mass education classes to be established in every village, and (3)
compulsory literacy education for individuals aged eight and older.
The anti-illiteracy campaign was intertwined with the national call for “fighting
against the invaders” (Appeal for National Resistance, known as “Lờikêu gọi toàn
quốc kháng chiến” in 1946), emphasizing the strategic importance of education in
the political landscape of the newly established nation-state. President Ho Chi Minh
himself launched the campaign, his statement clearly linked the literacy situation
with the life of a nation:
“An Illiterate Nation is a Weak Nation,
… Eradicating the Illiteracy Issue is One of the Urgent Tasks of the New Democracy Nation
States”.
His saying about fighting against illiteracy became a popular lesson for the Viet-
namese masses, asserting that eliminating illiteracy was crucial for the development
of a democratic nation:
“Every Vietnamese needs to know their right, having knowledge and participate in the
national building project, t he first and foremost task is to be able to read and write
Vietnamese.”
In subsequent years, the top-down educational initiatives included the Directive of
Central Party in 1948, a “Call for patriotic competition”, which associated the eradi-
cation of illiteracy with patriotism. Efforts to expand educational infrastructure led to
the creation of new primary and secondary schools, and the reconstruction of univer-
sities (1949). In 1950, the Department of Art and Literature was established within
2 Literacy Education in Vietnamese Schooling System 17
the Ministry of Education, highlighting the government’s commitment to compre-
hensively educational development, including prioritizing Vietnamese language
education for both Kinh and the ethnic minority students.4
After the first campaign, Vietnam witnessed a remarkable surge in literacy rate
(Fraser, 1993). Before World War II, the illiteracy rate was between 80–95%. After
three months implementing the first campaign, by the end of 1945, it was reported
that 22,100 classes were successfully organized, with more than 30,000 teachers
teaching more than 500,000 people. By the close of 1946, the number rose to 75,000
classes, 95,000 teachers, and 2.5 million learners. By 1952, literacy had reached
10 million rural inhabitants, and by the decade’s end, the literacy rate for indi-
viduals aged 12 to 50 soared to 93.4%. The period of 1955–1975 saw the North
and South manage literacy education separately due to political divisions. Under the
Southern political regime, Ngữ văn, a Vietnamese language curriculum was designed
in 1957. This curriculum emphasized comprehensive linguistic fluency and cultural
appreciation, which was “to let students understand their mother tongue fluently and
fully, speak and write fluently, transparently, accurately, elegantly and purely; After
all, thanks to that language, people can train their character and aesthetic appeal”
(Ministry of Education, 1957).5 Then in 1970–1971, the revised curriculum was
introduced, focusing on enhancing literacy appreciation and linguistic skills, aiming
to deepen the understanding of national literature: “the main point is to help
students know how to listen, speak, read, write, enjoy literature to promote aesthetic
appeal, enrich feelings, and understand the general outline of the national literature’s
background in terms of words, art and thought” (Ministry of Education, 1971).
In the North, the second literacy campaign (1956–1958) coincided with “the
new period of revolution” (Alexander, 1983), prioritizing educational materials and
facility enhancement6 to improve the quality of education.7 Post-reunification in
1975, the third literacy education campaign happened in 1976. As the Northern
government gained control over the whole country, their educational model was
extended to the South,8 focusing on educating revolutionary cadres and the youth
involved in the protracted resistance efforts. This period marked a significant effort
to elevate educational standards and eradicate illiteracy across Vietnam.
4 Ban Bí thư [Party Committee Board], 1952, Directive dated August 16, 1952 on the implementation
of the policies for ethnic minority.
5 For this curriculum, the structure of the curriculum consists of the majority: Opening introduces
the purpose of the lecture; and shows how to choose the works. Curriculum’s structure is also
mentioned to Reference books. After the outline of the generalization, it is necessary to specify the
specific contents for each class with two items: Works and Prose, only naming the text (Đỗ 2019).
6 Ban Bí thư [Party Committee Board], 1962, Directive no. 54-CT/TƯ.
7 Ban Bí thư [Party Committee Board], 1969, Directive of the Party Secretary Board no.
8 TƯĐảng [Central Party], 1975, Directive no. 221-CT/TƯ.Chỉ thị củaTƯĐảng phát về công tác
giáo dục ở miền Nam [Directive of the Central Party about the Education Practices in Southern
Vietnam].
18 H. T.-D. Ngo et al.
The ĐổiMới Spirit and Reformation Processes of Literacy
Education in Contemporary Vietnam
Starting in 1981, Vietnam’s education system faces pressures from economic and
financial shift towards a market-based and globally integrated economy. These
changes led to increased inequality affecting various groups, including ethnic minori-
ties, prompting discussions about the decline in socialist values, “socialist ideology,
morality and personality in the Party and in society” due to the failure of the centrally
planned economy (Đảng, 2007). The inequality generated conflicts and competi-
tion among social groups, especially among ethnicities (Pelley, 1998; Salemink,
2003; Taylor, 2002, 2008; Ủy ban, 2011). The ĐổiMới reforms transformed
educational policies, emphasizing the need for education to develop a workforce
with both cultural and technical knowledge, disciplined and creative, to meet the
evolving dements of the economy, as said in the Party’s document: “train a contin-
gent of working people endowed with cultural and technical knowledge, with a
high sense of discipline and creativeness, rationally distributed among different
trades and branches, and thereby meeting the need for the social division of the
workforce” (Đảng, 2007).
Success in the reduction of poverty and improvements in national health laid a
stronger foundation for education reforms. In 1989, the National Committee for the
Eradication of Illiteracy was established, later renamed in 1992 as the National
Committee on Education for All, signifying a broader commitment to inclusive
education.
The Committee aimed to drastically reduce illiteracy, especially targeting the 15–
35 age group, planning to reduce 50% of the illiteracy number and to enhance access
to primary education for all children, particularly those from disadvantaged back-
grounds. In 1993, further reform were enacted to revitalize education and training,
with the government adopting a Communist Party decision, highlighting education
as the “driving force and basic condition for the realization of socio-economic objec-
tives”, and prioritizing educational investment as one of the principal directions of
investments for development. Efforts focused on eliminating illiteracy among youths
aged to 15, and adult from 15 to 35. It would do this through a redefinition of education
content, methodology, and accessibility, particularly in difficult and remote regions.
A 1994 UNICEF report recognized Vietnam’s commitment to education, noting
the government’s educational interest and its strategic plans for achieving universal
literacy and primary education, both under the motto of “education for all”. The
government introduced three types of curricula to cater the diverse needs of the
population: a standard curriculum of 165 weeks over 5 years for most children,
a 120-week curriculum for children from ethnic minorities or those in remote or
mountainous areas, and finally a 100-week curriculum for children with partic-
ular difficulties caused by disability, impoverishment or limited access to educa-
tion. The design aimed for comprehensive literacy within 3 years of schooling. To
attain universal primary education, stringent benchmarks were set, such as each
province, commune or village had to eradicate illiteracy for 90% of its people in
2 Literacy Education in Vietnamese Schooling System 19
the 15–35 age group, 90% of 6-year old going to school, 90% of first year enroll-
ment would continue to the fifth year, and 90% of 15-year old would complete
primary education. Through these goals, literacy was seen as a fundamental right
and a cornerstone for personal and national development.
Central Control Model of Literacy Education
in Contemporary Vietnam
The common curriculum with rigid outcome measures in contemporary Vietnam set
a uniform standard across all general schools. To facilitate this, a specific institute
within the Department of Education was tasked with writing textbooks. These text-
books, written in Vietnamese, included literature appropriate for each educational
level. Additionally, a wealth of reference books was produced to support the demands
of teaching.
This centralized model of literacy education in Vietnam represented a significant
shift from the more flexible approach used during the time 1945–1975, and contin-
uing until 1989. The earlier approach was flexible, prioritized the basic literacy skills,
and was deeply intertwined with the communist state’s ideology, reflecting Vietnam’s
national identity. Initially, this method primarily benefited a small, educated elite,
leaving the broader population with limited access to education. As time progressed,
the necessity for a more inclusive educational strategy became apparent. The govern-
ment, acknowledging the limitations of the previous system, moved towards a central-
ized model. This change aimed to democratize education, ensuring broader participa-
tion and alignment with the communist party’s vision of equitable and comprehensive
education for all Vietnamese citizens.
Achievements and Shortages
The aims expressed in legislation were always high, as we would expect from
lawmakers who had such a strong commitment to the benefits of improved national
literacy.
A survey of achievements in literacy over the most recent 30 years gave a sense
of the overall situation as well as the challenges confronting those lawmakers. In
February 1992, the National Committee on Education for All concluded that eight
cities and provinces out of 53 had reached the national standard for recognition in
the struggle against illiteracy.
It was reported that for adults aged between 15 and 35 in Vietnam, the literacy
rate increased from 86.1% in 1990 to 95.6% in 1998 (Education for All in Vietnam
(1990–2000). In some regions, the increase was much greater—in the Northeast from
68 to 93%, in the North West from 52 to 84%, and in the Central Highlands from
20 H. T.-D. Ngo et al.
53 to 88%. These figures were derived from reports of the National Committee for
Literacy, the Continuing Education Department, and the Ministry of Education and
Training.
Figures for 1993 showed that about 15% of primary age children did not attend
school. This became well over 50% in the most remote ethnic areas. The dropout
rate over the whole country was about 12%, and 11% of primary age children had to
repeat one or more years. Only about 60% of children who began grade 1 completed
primary education in the standard time. Vietnam’s problem was not just to get as
many children as possible to start school, it was also necessary to keep them there and
to ensure smooth progression through the grades. Again, substantial improvements
were evident in the figures for 1995, which showed the dropout rate for Vietnam had
fallen to 6.93% and the repetition rate to 5.09%.
By 1995, in urban and surrounding areas, about 80% of the 15–35-year-old group
had completed primary education and roughly 94% were literate, with an “average
mean schooling level of 9.5 years”. The National Committee’s figure of 9.5 years
did not correspond with the State Planning Committee, which reported that children
attended school for an average of 5.4 years (7.49 years in urban areas and 4.96 in
rural areas).
Up to 2000 classes to teach basic literacy had been established, catering for 70,000
people. There are no comparative figures to show the size of the increase, but it can
be assumed these classes did not exist when the campaign started in the early 1990s.
There are also no comparative figures showing what reduction had occurred in the
estimated two million people in the 15–35 years age group who were illiterate in 1991.
These figures must be offset against the rates for children in remote ethnic groups,
which are extremely low. In Lao Cai, only 12.6% of the school aged children attended
school, and in Son La, 7.7%. Only about 6–10% of those in the 15–35-year-old age
group in all remote areas were described as literate. The problem is multifaceted,
as the areas cannot be reached easily and if the effort is made, education becomes
expensive. Alternatively, in impoverished areas, locals cannot afford to establish
their own primary schools or to attract good teachers, and many ethnic people do not
see the value of education. Impressively, in 2011, male literacy was at 95.8% and
female literacy was at 91.4% (Malarney, 2012, pp. 83–84). Yet, these numbers vary
depending on region, gender, and ethnicity. A key highlight of these differences is
the matter of literacy education for ethnic minorities.
Since 2014, the Government of Vietnam has recommitted to its position by issuing
many policies to promote education universalization and illiteracy eradication. The
policies aim to strengthen Vietnamese language for preschool children and primary
school students in ethnic minority areas. The results of a survey conducted by the
Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs and the General Statistics Office in 2019
across more than 56,400, villages in ethnic minority communes nationwide showed
that more than 1.4 million children aged 5 to 9 years in ethnic minority areas had
access to primary school; among these, the ethnic groups with the largest number
of children of primary school age were Tay, Thai, Khmer, Muong, Mong, and Nung
(Ủy ban dân tộc, 2015).
2 Literacy Education in Vietnamese Schooling System 21
As of the 2019 report, the percentage of children going to school at the appropriate
age at all levels has increased, the percentage of ethnic minority (EM) children of
general school age who do not attend school has decreased in hafl, from 26.4%
in 2009 to 15.5% in 2019 (Ủy ban dân tộc, 2019). However, the survey results also
show that significant limitations remain in terms of inequalities in children’s access to
education across regions, especially for children of ethnic minorities in mountainous
areas. Ethnic minority children still face difficulties in accessing literacy, so illiteracy
among children has not been completely eliminated. The rate of older children not
attending primary school is 3.1%; it is 18.4% for lower secondary school, and 53%
with high school(ibid.). In general, around 80.9% of ethnic minorities aged 15 and
over can read and write (Ủy ban dân tộc, 2019).
From 2012 to 2020, MoET conducted the project “Building a learning society”. Of
the four main goals, the report claims that the project has achieved two major goals:
“Eradication of illiteracy and education universalization”, “Learning to improve life
skills, building happier individual and community lives”. All provinces and cities
have achieved level 1 illiteracy eradication standards, while 34/63 have reached level
2 illiteracy eradication standards; localities have organized illiteracy eradication for
over 300,000 people aged 15–60. The number of women who are literate is high,
helping the gender balance index to almost reach the absolute balance. Among the
newcomers to the position, more than 90% continue to study (Bộ Giáo Dụcvà Đào
tạo, 2021). For the period of 2021–2030, the Project on “Building a Learning Society”
aims to form an open, flexible, and interconnected education s ystem, ensuring that
by 2030, all people have equal access to education for quality lifetime.
Emerging Changes and Challenges for the Literacy
Education in Vietnam
In line with global trends, Vietnam is deepening its international integration, influ-
enced by rapid advancements in science and technology, educational science, and
the competition global landscape. This context necessitates educational reform to
keep pace with international standards (Vietnam Update, 2011).
Responding to these needs, in J une 2012, the Vietnamese government issued the
Strategies for education 2011–2020 (Chính phủ, 2012) analyzing the limitation in
educational practices, and outlining a comprehensive reform plan to overhaul educa-
tion management, teacher training, curriculum content, teaching methods, assess-
ment, and resources allocation. On November 4, 2013, the 8th Conference of the XI
Central Executive Committee issued Resolution 29-NQ/TW, further solidified this
commitment, advocating for fundamental and comprehensive change in education
and training to support the country’s industrialization and modernization within a
socialist-oriented market economy and global integration. The two central issues of
innovation being mentioned were: (1) strongly focusing on shifting from education
22 H. T.-D. Ngo et al.
for knowledge impartment to education for quality and capacity; (2) changing, reor-
ganizing education based on the requirements of learners’ personality and capacity
development. In short, this reformation spirit saw education addressing the human
resource requirement of contemporary society.
In its implement process, the Ministry of education and Training (MoET) initi-
ated a pilot reform in 2013 (Bộ Giáo Dụcvà Đào tạo, 2013), leading to a signifi-
cant directive from the Central Party to intensively reform the teaching and training
system, aligning with the nation’s industrialization and modernization agenda in
global integration, market-oriented economy (Ban chấp hành TƯĐảng, 2013). This
led to the proposal of school textbooks reformation in the National Assembly of
Vietnam (QuốcHội, 2014). Taking on board the proposal, the Ministry of Education
introduced a new national education curriculum, aimed at transforming teaching prac-
tices, learning assessment, educational materials, and overall schooling management.
This new curriculum, especially in language and literacy, is crucial for literacy educa-
tion, setting the stage for substantial educational advancement in Vietnam. It marks
a significant step toward modernizing the Vietnamese education system, aligning it
more closely with global standards and the evolving needs of the country’s socioeco-
nomic development. The following part unfolds a part of the new national education
curriculum that focus on literacy education via subject curriculum of Vietnamese
language and literature.
Reformation to Be Continued: The General Education
Curriculum and Its New Phase of Literacy Education
In 2018, MoET officially approved the new national education curriculum (Bộ Giáo
Dụcvà Đào tạo, 2018a), after many times of drafting, collecting comments and
refining; the official document, known as Circular No. 32/2018/TT-BGDĐTin
December 26, 2018, included the subject curriculum for Vietnamese language and
literature.
As part of this, the new curriculum of language and literature was also issued.
Compared with the current Literature Program (2006), the new document required
the achievement of three main goals: (1) to provide students with general, basic,
modern, systematic knowledge of language (focus on Vietnamese) and literature
(focus on Vietnamese literature), suitable for age development and human resource
training requirements in the period of industrialization and modernization; (2)
literature subjects form and develop students’ competencies in using Vietnamese,
receiving literature, perceiving aesthetics; learning methods, ideas, especially self-
study methods; the ability to apply what they have learned to life; and (3) literature
fosters students’ love of the Vietnamese language, culture, and literature; love of
family, nature, country; national pride; self-reliance and self-reliance; socialist ideal;
the spirit of democracy and humanity; educating students about civic responsibility,
a spirit of international friendship and cooperation, a sense of respect and promotion
2 Literacy Education in Vietnamese Schooling System 23
of the cultural values of the nation and humanity (Bộ Giáo Dụcvà Đào tạo, 2018b,
p. 5).
Literacy education is designed as the main task in the subject curriculum of Viet-
namese language and literature (it is called Vietnamese in primary curriculum, and
Language and Literature in secondary and high school curriculum) (ibid., p. 1).
Besides the old criteria of providing knowledge, attitude education, and emotion to
students, the new curriculum highlights t he requirement to implement an interdis-
ciplinary approach in content design, and a communication capacity focus in the
outcome (ibid., p.4). It is worth noting that the previous 2006 curriculum did not
give the same priority to learners’ capacity, but more to the content of knowledge.
The second highlight of the new curriculum is its openness spirit in limiting the
outcome on required standards of skills and knowledge, but not limiting the input
choices. This significant change will finalise the era of one curriculum—one textbook
system in Vietnamese national schooling. It also gives a certain level of freedom
for school leadership and teachers in choosing the textbook and related teaching
materials. In the implementation process, MoET has diversified the compilation of
textbooks. New textbook standards are issued together with MoET’s Circular No.
33/2017/TT-BGDĐT dated December 22, 2017. Instead of having only one set of
textbooks as before, now there are different books from different expert groups and
publishing presses.
In 2020, for the first time, five series of textbooks for grade 1 have been used in
Vietnamese schools. They are (1) For the equality and democracy in Education (Vì sự
bình đẳng và dân chủ trong giáo dục) (Education Publishing Press); (2) Connecting
knowledge to life (Kếtnốitri thứcvớicuộcsống) (Education Publishing Press); (3)
The horizon of creation (Chân trời sáng tạo) (University of Education Press, HCMC);
(4)Knites(Cánh Diều) (Education Publishing Press); (5) Learn together to develop
capacities (Cùng học để phát triểnnăng lực) (Education Publishing Press). Schools
and local authorities can consider their own priorities to decide the textbook they
want.
Literature is a compulsory subject in the field of Language and Literature Educa-
tion, studied from grade 1 to grade 12. In primary school, this subject is Vietnamese,
with 35 weeks per year and the number of lessons specified for each grade level: 1st
grade (420 h), 2nd grade (350 h), 3rd grade (280 h), 4th grade (245 h), 5th grade
(245 h). In middle school and high school, this subject is Literature, with each school
year lasting 35 weeks, 140 lessons for middle school, and 105 for high school. In
addition, there are 35 elective topics (Bộ Giáo Dụcvà Đào tạo, 2018b).
The Literature subject program is part of the system with the General Education
Program, in which reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills are core and main-
tained across three levels. The curriculum is designed to be “dynamic” and “open”.
This subject also has the advantage of forming and developing students’ language
ability and literary ability. Objectives of this subject at the primary level focus on
instrumentality (language competence); at the lower secondary level, it balances
language ability and literary capacity (basic); at the high school level, it focuses on
differentiation and literary competence (vocational orientation). Compared with the
previously implemented Literature Program (2006), the 2018 Literature Program has
24 H. T.-D. Ngo et al.
many changes in objectives, approaches, principles of program development, require-
ments to be achieved, teaching content, teaching methods, and assessing learning
outcomes. The following parts will focus on understanding and analyzing two main
contents related to the change of this program: teaching methods and testing and
assessment of learning outcomes.
Critical Changes in Teaching Methods
The General Education Program’s approach emphasizes shifting from content-
based teaching to capacity development. The subject of Literature incorporates
these common requirements. Specifically, there are four highlights: (1) Promote
the activeness of learners; (2) Integrated and differentiated teaching; (3) Diversify
teaching methods, forms and means; and (4) Promote the positive, proactive, creative
in learning and applying knowledge and skills of students. Teachers must choose
methods and forms of teaching organization that are suitable for the development
of key qualities and competencies for their particular students; At the same time,
it is also necessary to focus on promoting the initiative and creativity of students.
A focus on teaching methods for the subject is designed in the program in skills,
including methods of teaching reading; methods of teaching writing and methods of
teaching speaking and listening.
Methods of Teaching Reading
According to the Editor-in-Chief of the General Education Program in Literature (Do
Ngoc Thong, 2019), the main purpose of teaching reading in high schools is to help
students learn to read and read texts themselves; through fostering and educating
the quality and personality of students. Reading objects include literary texts and
informational texts. Each type of text has its own characteristics, so it is necessary
to have an appropriate way to teach reading comprehension.
Depending on the audience of students in each class and the genre of the text,
teachers apply appropriate methods, techniques and forms of teaching reading
comprehension such as: expressive reading, reading role-playing, story-telling, role-
playing to solve a situation, act out a play, use questions, guide notes in the reading
process with note cards, study sheets, reading diaries, organize students to discuss
texts, draw pictures, make movies, experience situations that characters have experi-
enced… Some other teaching methods such as dialogue, question and answer, lecture,
problem-solving can also be applied appropriately according to the development
requirements and capacity building for students.
2 Literacy Education in Vietnamese Schooling System 25
Methods of Teaching Writing
In addition to technical writing and correct spelling, the important purpose of teaching
writing in the subject of Literature is to train thinking and writing, thereby educating
the quality and developing the personality of students. Therefore, when teaching
writing, teachers need to focus on the requirements of generating ideas and knowing
how to present ideas in a coherent, creative and persuasive manner.
Teaching writing at the primary level, according to Do Ngoc Thong, has two
requirements: teaching writing techniques and teaching paragraph and text writing.
At the middle and high school levels, teachers ask students to perform more complex
tasks such as: gathering information from sources for writing; discussing and
analyzing the article evaluation criteria; know how to self-edit to improve the article
and reflecting after each writing task.
Methods of Teaching Speaking and Listening
The purpose of teaching speaking and listening is to help students have the ability to
express and present in spoken language clearly and confidently; have the ability to
understand correctly; respecting speakers and listeners; Have a suitable attitude in
exchange and discussion. Teaching speaking and teaching listening not only develops
communication capacity but also educates students’ self-esteem and personality.
Teachers can guide students to observe and analyze samples; guide how to orga-
nize for speaking practice. Students can prepare and present to the group or class
in speaking exercises. When teaching listening, teachers guide students on how to
grasp the listening content, how to understand and evaluate the views and intentions
of the speaker; how to check for unknown information; to have a positive listening
attitude and respect for speakers, respect for different opinions; and to know how to
cooperate, solve problems with a positive attitude.
For interactive listening and speaking skills, teachers can guide students to listen
and know how to ask questions to understand listening content, to speak in turn
in conversations, to know how to use other audio-visual means to support oral
presentation.
Do Ngoc Thong (2019) also gives four points to note about the method of teaching
the subject as follows: (1) the priority of teaching is to develop learners’ capacities,
especially language and literary competence; (2) the selection of teaching methods
and techniques should be flexible and contextualized; (3) the teaching quality should
go with whole school approach; and (4) the application of teaching methods should
be creative and innovative.
As for the content of Vietnamese language teaching appearing in the new
Middle School Program, Do Ngoc Thong (2021) commented on the emphasis
on communicative approach, focusing on abilities to apply the knowledge to life
circumstances.
26 H. T.-D. Ngo et al.
Recently, the Ministry of Education and Training (Bộ Giáo Dụcvà Đào tạo, 2022b)
has also issued a document guiding more specifically on the innovation of teaching
methods of Literature in high schools. The official dispatch clearly states that it is
necessary to renew the teaching and learning methods of Literature subject in several
points such as to (1) further enhance the students’ positivity, initiative, and creativity
in the process of studying; and (2) develop lesson plans that prioritize the application
of learners’ capacity through learning inside and outside the classroom.
Thus, in terms of teaching methods, an important point in the transformation of
the 2018 Program compared to previous programs is the shift from content-oriented
teaching/knowledge transfer to a capacity-oriented approach. Teachers focus on orga-
nizing activities to facilitate learning where the teaching content is designed to be
branched, with division by level and capacities of leaners. Hence, learners have many
opportunities to express their opinions and to participate in productive criticism.
Critical Changes in Assessment and Evaluation
Examination and assessment in education is an important part of educational manage-
ment. Evaluation is the process of collecting, synthesizing, and interpreting informa-
tion about the object to be assessed, thereby understanding, and making necessary
decisions about the object. Testing is a way of organizing evaluation. This is also an
integral part of the teaching process and an important tool for teachers. The general
purpose of testing and assessment is to provide information to make teaching and
educational decisions (Bộ Giáo Dụcvà Đào tạo, 2020).
The Literature Program determines the assessment of educational results to
provide accurate, timely, and valuable information on the level of satisfaction required
for the quality, capacity and progress of students in the subject. Then there are guide-
lines for learning activities, adjustment of teaching activities, program management
and development, to ensure the progress of each student and improving the quality
of education.
Teachers assess both the general and specific capacities (language competence and
language arts competence) (Bộ Giáo Dụcvà Đào tạo, 2018b). Assessment should
combine both quantitative and qualitative forms, through tests (reading, writing,
speaking, listening).
Assessment of reading comprehension activities: requirements to understand the
content and topics of the text; the writer’s point of view and intention, identifying
characteristics of the mode of expression (type of text, language used).
Evaluation of writing activities: ask students to create types of texts like narra-
tive, descriptive, expressive, elements of argumentative text, some types of explana-
tory and applied text. The assessment of writing skills is based on major criteria
such as: content, writing structure, ability to express and argue, language form and
presentation.
Assessment of speaking and listening activities: ask students to say the right topics
and goals; the speaker’s confidence and dynamism; pay attention to the listener; be
2 Literacy Education in Vietnamese Schooling System 27
able to argue and persuade, have appropriate speaking techniques, know how to use
non-verbal communication and assistive technology.
For listening skills, ask students to grasp the content spoken by others, grasp
and evaluate the speaker’s point of view and intention; know how to ask questions,
raise problems, exchange information to check unclear information; have a positive
listening attitude and respect the speaker; listen to and respect differing opinions.
In addition, the Ministry of Education and Training (Bộ Giáo Dụcvà Đào
tạo, 2020) also emphasizes the quality assessment integrated in the assessment of
language ability: focusing on behaviors, jobs, behaviors, and expressions of language
ability. students’ attitudes and feelings when reading, writing, speaking and listening.
This is conducted mainly by qualitative, through observations, notes, comments.
Assessment in Literature is designed in two ways: formative assessment and
summative assessment. Formative assessment is carried out continuously throughout
the teaching process by the teacher. For formative assessment, teachers can choose
various forms, such as: observing and taking notes about students, students answering
questions or giving presentations, writing analysis, writing summaries, and collecting
projects and doing research exercise, etc. The forms of summative assessment
include teachers evaluate students, students evaluate each other and students’ self-
assessment. These forms may include multiple choice questions, essays, test cards.
Along side this, teachers must assess students’ learning attitudes.
In the national curriculum, teachers are given suggestions on forms of assess-
ment, like written tests, presentations, question and answer method, learning profile,
and alternate learning products (ibid.). MoET issues the Training Manual for
Secondary School Teachers in which specific instructions and suggestions for
teachers are built in a matrix including relevant assessment specifics such as duration,
number of questions, question format, knowledge area, ability level of each question,
among others (Bộ Giáo Dụcvà Đào tạo, 2022a).
The new General Education Program and its Literature Program highlights the
competency approach in assessment design. This is a significant shift of focus from
assessment knowledge through memory check to evaluating the ability to apply and
solve practical problems with higher-order and creative thinking. Hence, assessment
has shifted from being seen as an independent activity after teaching to become
integrated into the teaching process, even as a teaching method.
Concluding Discussion: Toward Global Standards
and Inter-connected Settings
The significant shift in the new General Education Program resulted from a long
process of the Vietnamese educational reforming stakeholders’ interactions with
forces and sources outside of Vietnam, evident in its decades of opening policies
after Doi Moi, and the increase integration into global debates of literacy education
28 H. T.-D. Ngo et al.
through the engagements of multinational organizations and many other international
partnerships in education.
As stated by Nguyen Minh Thuyet, the general editor of the new general education
program, this reformative document has been planned for a decade, with the work
of intensive team base on the national context, international guidelines and lessons
learnt from many education reform agenda in developed countries (Nguyen 2019).
One key guideline underpinned for the writing of the new general education
program is about competencies approach. For example, the Definition and Selection
of Key Competencies issued by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Devel-
opment (OECD, 2005) has been used together with Europe’s Key Competencies for
Lifelong Learning—A European Reference Framework (2006). The idea of applying
technology into education reformation is also adopted from World Economic Fund’s
New Vision for Education: Unlocking the Potential of Technology (WEF, 2015).
During the writing process, Vietnamese scholars have reached out to examples
of national curriculum in developed countries for critical comparison studies. As
explained in the section about the introduction of five new textbooks collections,
each team has their own clarification of how they come up with their education
ideology implied in their textbooks. For example, Do Ngoc Thong (2019) provides
detailed samples of the Language Arts curriculum of US states, Australia, and the
UK, as the comparison for his justification of changes in the Language and Literature
Program in the Vietnamese new general education program.
While the constructing process has involved many interactions with international
forces and sources, the implementation practices of this new general education
program have been shaped in the inter-connectedness of dynamic national subjec-
tivities, such as the teachers, education managers, parents, and students, as well as
social media critics from a more general audience.
Only a few months into teaching with the new books, there are already various
criticisms from media about certain books. Some teachers were not confident with
the new textbook (Mạnh Tùng, 2020), some parents commented that the book price is
higher than average (VTV, 2020), some media claim that there are mistakes of content
in some textbooks (Thanh Nam, 2020). Together these responses reveal that there
are limitations in implementing the new policy and the reform model of education.
In 2020, while any new policy will have unexpected problems, with the emergence
and spread of COVID-19, there were even more delays, for example, in training for
teacher and school leadership (Tuệ Nguyễn, 2020). While there have been several
options for textbook, the issue of teaching literacy for ethnic minority students is still
under researched, both in Vietnamese and in their mother languages. In addition to
that, there has been limited integration of ethnic culture and values into the national
textbooks. While there are many changes, there are also numerous challenges for
literacy education in contemporary Vietnam. There are still unseen challenges that
teachers, school, students, and the system are facing in implementation of the new
program and the new textbooks. All the challenges and difficulties above are just the
observation of initial implementation. As the reform journey will be a decade long, no
one can predict all of the struggles ahead. However, there are also positive comments
2 Literacy Education in Vietnamese Schooling System 29
that the reform is on the right direction, promoting education for integration and
development (Trung Hieu, 2020).
Leaving analysis of the implementation practices for further research, this chapter
has illustrated the pathway to the present of literacy education in Vietnam in its
modern history. From the switch to quốcngữ instead of French or Sino Nom, the
establishment of education administration institutions, to the conduct of literacy
campaigns an education reform, it can be said that the twentieth century has witnessed
the fundamental establishment of modern literacy education in Vietnam (Duggan,
2001).
The chapter also unpacks current practices in the twenty-first century with some
significant landmarks of development toward globalization. Taking the explanation
of literacy education in Vietnam to the point where it is today, the chapter has shown
a shift from the centralized nationalist discourse toward a more critical approach
outreaching to global standard and inter-connected settings.
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Hang Thi-Diem Ngo is a registered teacher and community educator in South Australia, a
researcher in affiliation with Thang Long Institute of Cognition and Education Studies, Thang
Long University. Hang has participated in a number of projects and published in both Vietnamese
and English about different aspects of Vietnamese Studies. Her research interests include folklore
studies, religion and cultural anthropology, Vietnamese Studies, literacy education Vietnamese
teaching and learning as an additional language, and as a heritage language.
Quynh Thu Nguyen is a lecturer at the Thai Nguyen University of Education. She has 18
years of experience in teaching and scientific research. She has chaired one project funded
by the Endangered Languages Fund (USA), one project equivalent to the Ministry level, one
project at the university level, one project at the Grassroots level; participated in two projects
at the state level, and many other level topics. Her areas of research interest are Vietnamese
as a heritage language and additional language, Ethnic Minority Language Studies, Vietnamese
Studies, Language Education in Vietnam Schools, and Educating Traditional Cultural Values of
Vietn am.
Robert James Smith Ph.D., was a practicing teacher for over twenty years, mostly in Secondary
schools, but also with experience in Primary as well as Technical education and in administration.
Almost all of this experience was in regional areas of Australia. He took an early leadership in
professional development, helping to establish and to consolidate a regional professional associa-
tion for English teachers. For twenty more years, at Southern Cross University, Australia, he has
taken leadership in courses in English, as well as in professional accreditation, and in university-
wide academic accreditation. From being the inaugural Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, he is currently
Adjunct Associate Professor in Education.
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the copyright holder.
Chapter 3
Institutional Transformation
for Internationalization: The Making
of National Language Program in Higher
Education in Contemporary Vietnam
Hang Thi-Diem Ngo and Trong-Nghia Tran
Abstract This chapter looks at the institutional transformation of higher educa-
tion institutions (HEIs) through the case study of the program training Vietnamese
language for international students in contemporary Vietnam. The investigation
focuses on a HEI in the South of Vietnam, the birth and development of its Viet-
namese Studies program, in which the role of Vietnamese language education has
been key to the department’s success. The study is set in the context of post- Doi
Moi opening, with the surge of market-based economic, social mobility and glob-
alization, evident in the increase of international student mobility to Vietnam. The
chapter unpacks the practices of HEI who put effort in changing for good, including
curriculum development, textbook writing, research collaboration, leadership inno-
vation, and so on. Framing and linking these practices with the larger economic
and social movements, the chapter highlights the creative and active agency of Viet-
namese HEIs and their teachers in embracing the change and accommodating the
demand of language education from those who come to Vietnam for work, travel, or
education. Yet, it also points out the challenges of change and the stress on imple-
menting changes. The chapter reveals how institutions can position themselves for
opportunities and success through institutional transformation. It argues that HEIs
in Vietnam can be proactive agents in conducting transformation for international-
ization with the use of its national language programs. Despite the dual nature of
these practices, it opens up the opportunities for a much more globally connected
education system, where an emerging country like Vietnam can amplify its voice.
H. T.-D. Ngo (B
)
Mount Carmel College, South Australia, Thang Long Institute of Cognition and Education
Studies, Hanoi, Vietnam
e-mail: hang.ngo@mcc.catholic.edu.au
T.-N. Tran
Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Gadong, Brunei
e-mail: trong.tran@ubd.edu.bn
© The Author(s) 2024
Phan Le Ha et al. (eds.), Vietnamese Language, Education and Change In and Outside
Vietnam, Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9093-1_3
33
34 H. T.-D. Ngo and T.-N. Tran
Introduction
The issues of languages of instruction and language of knowledge development are
constant focuses of research on the internationalization of higher education (HE)
in contemporary Asia, in relation to students’ mobilities and HE transformations
(Collins & Ho, 2018;Ha&Fry, 2021). On the one hand, English has been estab-
lished as a dominant language contributing to the internationalization of HE in Asia,
with many countries implementing policies to enhance English (Ha, 2013). On the
other hand, Asian language programs for international students are also thriving. For
example, countries like China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand, to name just
some, have developed national language entry requirements for international students
(IS) pursuing higher education in these countries, using their national languages as
medium of instruction. This trend has opened other options for the international-
ization of HE. Higher education internationalization, with no dependent on, and no
offense to, the rise of English used as the dominant medium of instruction.
In the case of Vietnam, the context of Doi Moi implementation has brought
about abundant of changes to the landscape of its higher education, now influenced
by opened market policies, global integration, and internationalization tendencies.
From the perspective of education languages, it is the rise of central languages like
English, influenced by Western values, and its impact on local languages and cultures.
Previous research on HE in Vietnam post-Doi Moi have initially mentioned
changes in HE policies to develop curriculum to a “socialist-oriented market econ-
omy” and respond to the call of economic and cultural integration (Huong & Fry,
2004). Investigations have presented top-down factors in governmental strategies
for education development, Education Law and Higher Education Law. There are
also interpretations of how higher education institutions moved away from Soviet
influence models to Western ones. These include the rise of English as the domi-
nant medium of instruction for exchange education, co-training programs, and
internationalized programs (Phan & Doan, 2020).
In the context of the internationalization of Vietnam’s higher education system,
Vietnamese is also the medium of instruction in Vietnamese-medium programs that
enroll international students. Indeed, the teaching of Vietnamese to prepare inter-
national students for Vietnamese-medium programs is a significant part of some
universities in Vietnam. Yet, the role of Vietnamese in current dynamic picture of
higher education in Vietnam is not yet well investigated.
This chapter specially looks at Vietnamese and the education of the official
language of Vietnam to its international students, to see how it is constructed and
enacted in the national practices of internationalization in higher education. It does
this by investigating the policies of language education to IS, and the institutional-
ization of the programs in HEIs in Vietnam. It focuses on one case study of a self-
perceived successful internationalized program of Vietnamese Studies in a university
in Ho Chi Minh City.
3 Institutional Transformation for Internationalization: The Making … 35
An Overview of the Education Programs Vietnamese
for Foreigners
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the first language
of about 85% of Vietnam’s population and serves as a second language for ethnic
minority communities in Vietnam. Vietnamese is the dominant language and the
medium of instruction in Vietnam’s national education system. For people with
other linguistic backgrounds, coming from other territories to Vietnam to learn Viet-
namese for living, working and education purpose, Vietnamese is taught to them as
an additional language.
The term Vietnamese for foreigners mentioned in this article refers to all type of
language education courses for speakers of other linguistic backgrounds, aiming
to provide them with the knowledge and skills to use Vietnamese as a foreign
language. The teaching of Vietnamese to people coming from other territories and
other linguistic backgrounds is not new, if not saying that it is as old as the history
of foreign exchanges of the Viet population. Leaving aside the complicated history
of teaching and learning Vietnamese with its Sino Nom script, the following part
provides a historical summary of the teaching of Vietnamese with its Romanized
writing system.
Before 1945—The Spread of Religion by the West
and the Domination of French in Vietnam
The need to learn Vietnamese in this early period was mainly for the purposes of
religious propagation and colonial rule. The most obvious impression of foreigners
learning Vietnamese started in the seventeenth century, associated with the birth of
Chữ Quốcngữ—a script crafted by Western missionaries to facilitate the spread of
Catholicism in Vietnam. To do this effectively, they learn Vietnamese. “In order
to spread their religion, Western missionaries needed a means to communicate with
native speakers. The first task they undertook was learning Vietnamese” (Giap, 2006).
During the French domination (beginning in 1858), the French used Vietnamese
as a medium of communication. Consequently, they carried out the teaching of Viet-
namese to French administrative officials. In 1861, they established a Vietnamese
language school in Saigon to train French interpreters, and Chữ Quốcngữ was chosen
as the medium of instruction.
During the Japanese occupation (1940–1945), a number of Japanese scholars were
sent to Vietnam to learn the language and to study the country. Imprints left from
this period include research works and Vietnamese teaching textbooks (the language
was called Annamese during this time): Annamese dialogue by Taichi in 1941; An
Anamese Conversation by Nobukazu and Tsuneo in 1941; Matsumoto’s Introduction
to Annamese was published by the Indochina Research Association in 1942, Scholar
36 H. T.-D. Ngo and T.-N. Tran
Kin Eiken compiled Japanese–French–Annam conversational dictionary in 1942
(Masaaki, 2019).
The Period of the Two Governments, North and South
Vietnam: 1945–1975
Since 1945, Vietnamese became the national language, but during this period,
Vietnam had two coexisting governments: the North was the Democratic Republic of
Vietnam led by the Communist Party, the South was a pro-French and pro-American
government, leading to differences policies in teaching and learning Vietnamese.
The North implements language policy aiming at democratization and massi-
fication. In Hanoi, right after its establishment in 1956, Hanoi University held a
department teaching Vietnamese to foreigners, which later evolved into the Faculty
of Vietnamese Language and Vietnamese Culture for Foreigners (Giap, 2006).
In 1950s, Nguyen Tai Can was the first Vietnamese professor to teach Viet-
namese at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Leningrad University in the Soviet Union.
The lecturers of this university published a number of research works on Viet-
namese, such as: Vietnamese phonetic system by M.V. Gordon and I.S. Bystrov; Vi e t-
namese Grammar by I.S. Bystrov, Nguyen Tai Can and N.V. Stankevich; Vietnamese
grammar system by V.S. Panfilov.
With the assistance of the Saigon government, Vietnamese language teaching in
Korea began in the 1960s to serve the Korean army fighting in Vietnam. “The first
Vietnamese class in Korea started in January 1965, under the help of the Saigon
Embassy. In March 1967, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) officially
enrolled and trained Vietnamese for the first 20 students” (Tae, 1998). After the
Vietnam war ended, the demand for learning Vietnamese subsided, and the only
Vietnamese department in Korea existed in name only due to a lack of students.
The Vietnamese language programs for international students have been tied to
the nation-building agenda and foreign governmental affairs since the foundations
of its nation-states. To take a closer look at the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
government in North Vietnam (1945–1975) and then the current government of
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (since 1976), the programs primarily served the
foreign affairs of the communist government with countries like Laos, Cambodia,
Soviet Union, by providing Vietnamese language education to exchange democrats
and students from these countries coming to Vietnam.
For example, in the training history of the Lao Viet Friendship School in Thai
Nguyen, in 1955, they enrolled 150 Lao officials, soldiers and students in the Viet-
namese language program. The number of learners increased rapidly until the Viet—
Lao Treaty of Friendship and Comprehensive Cooperation (July 18, 1977), with
about 35,000 Lao students having received Vietnamese language training at the
school. Similarly, another Friendship School in Hanoi, found in 1980, specialized
3 Institutional Transformation for Internationalization: The Making … 37
in providing secondary education for Lao students under the Vietnamese govern-
ment scholarship, has recently expanded to provide Vietnamese language training
for higher education exchange students. In just one school year 2016–2017, this
school enrolled 287 Lao and 93 Cambodian graduate students (Vietlao, 2017). This
system of Friendship schools, as well as many training units in other universities,
has been founded to serve this training request from the Vietnamese government,
like the Vietnam National University in Hanoi (since the late 1950s) and Vietnam
National University in Ho Chi Minh City (since the 1980s).
From Period of Reunification to Doi Moi: 1976–1990,
the Period of Country Reconstruction After War
After the war, Vietnamese language education mainly focused on the implementation
of international missions aimed at strengthening security and fostering prospects for
economic development cooperation with foreign countries. Teaching Vietnamese to
Laotian and Cambodian officials served as a means to strengthen national security.
Meanwhile, the demand for learning Vietnamese in countries related to the Vietnam
War decreased significantly. “After 1975, due to differences in the political system,
Vietnam-Korea relations froze, and since then, Hankuk University has only recruited
around 20 Vietnamese students each year” (Minh and Woo, 2013).
However, with the introduction of Doi Moi reforms, as the results of the opening
policies in economic and social exchanges, the training practice radically shifted
from short courses for political purposes to independent programs responsive to
the globalization and internationalization of Vietnamese higher education.
In an effort to find solutions for developing, the Vietnamese government deter-
mined that it was necessary to renew its approach and decide on immediate action; as
a result, the Doi Moi policy was introduced in 1986, opening the country to foreign
investors. This led to an influx of foreigners coming to Vietnam to do business,
which inevitably increased the need for learning Vietnamese to communicate with
the native population.
The Context of Doi Moi and Governmental Policies Toward
HEI’s Vietnamese Language Education
Post-Doi Moi, Vietnam experienced a nationwide economic rise. The situation of
foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam has grown impressively. Data from the
General Statistics Office show that FDI from countries investing in Vietnam has
continuously increased, with the first quarter of 2019 reaching a record in the value
of registered investment capital over the same period in the previous three years
(Tuyet, 2018). Regional and global exchanges in all aspects of life in Vietnam, from
38 H. T.-D. Ngo and T.-N. Tran
politics to economic, have brought changes and transformations to higher education
(Tran & Marginson, 2018; Phan & Doan, 2020). General mobilities resulted in waves
of foreigners coming to Vietnam for a variety of purposes, length of stay, and types
of engagements. For a country not accustomed to such a large number of visitors,
and for visitors in a country not previously popular as an international destination,
language for communication became a focal point, leading to a surging demand for
Vietnamese language training, from basic to advanced levels, for living and working
purposes.
These eager learners are active in seeking out training centers, flexible in learning
arrangements, and paying US dollars for tuition. With thousands of foreigners in
Vietnam needing to learn Vietnamese, a new market emerged—teaching Vietnamese
to foreigners, and the post-Doi Moi policies have been just right for the birth of various
forms of education businesses (center-based short courses, private tutors, contracted,
and professional providers).
At the same time, globalization has led to an increase of international student
mobility globally (OECD, 2022), with directions to previously less-known destina-
tions, like Africa, Latin America, and Asia (Ha & Fry, 2021). If in early 2000s saw
Vietnamese media filled with news about studying abroad opportunities, a decade
later, there were more about international students in Vietnam.
The government has been supportive, allowing universities to open Vietnamese
language centers and Vietnamese studies programs (VSP) for foreigners. The
programs of teaching Vietnamese and using Vietnamese as a medium of instruc-
tion (VMI) were established in the 1980s and have seen significant growth since the
2000s, continuing to the present day. The open policies also allowed HEIs to be active
and responsive to educational market, being creative in seizing this opportunity.
The rise in demand for Vietnamese language education from learners meets
the active scholars and university leadership who promote scientifically and polit-
ically the establishment of a new graduate training program named Vietnamese
Studies,1 for both Vietnamese and international students. Since its first launch in
1998, which focused on defining Vietnamese Studies as a science and promoting Viet-
namese international affairs in academia, the International Conference on Vietnamese
Studies has been organized every four years, sponsored directly by the Vietnamese
government. Between 2001 and 2005, some universities launched their training units
and began enrolling domestic students in VSP at the bachelor’s level; for example,
Hanoi National University of Education welcomed its first-year students in 2002.
The field of Vietnamese Studies as a higher education training program was made
official in a decision by the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) in 2005 (see
Bộ Giáo dụcvà Đào tạo, 2005).
By the 2007–2008 academic, VSPs were present in 76 universities and colleges
nationwide. These programs used Vietnamese as a medium of instruction and
1 The field of Vietnamese Studies has got a long history, as summarized in the sessions above, with
the active involvement of the Chinese, Japanese, European intellectuals. Yet with the birth of the
university education systems in the second half of twentieth century in Vietnam North and South,
there has been no higher education program providing certificate for Vietnamese studies.
3 Institutional Transformation for Internationalization: The Making … 39
targeted both domestic and international students, contributing to the development
of Vietnamese language education at HEIs.
For this rapid development, in 2015, MoET issued its first milestone deci-
sion, Circular 17/2015/TT-BGDĐT, establishing a six-level language competency
framework in Vietnamese to assess foreign learners. In 2018, another circular was
issued outlining the Vietnamese language competency requirements for international
students studying at HEIs in Vietnam. Then, in November 2021, MoET issued another
circular regarding the organization of Vietnamese language exams for international
students. These circulars represent a series of top-down initiatives by MoET to insti-
tutionalize and standardize Vietnamese language education for international students
in Vietnam.
These circulars, in the second decade of the twenty-first century, response to the
rapidly developing programs teaching Vietnamese to foreigners in HEIs and private
centers across. This growth has contributed to the dynamics of internationalization in
Vietnamese higher education, a phenomena that, compared with the rise of English
in education, has been under-researched.
How do HEIs seize this opportunity and address the challenge to construct or adjust
their development strategies? To elaborate further on this point, we will delve into
the theoretical debate on institutional transformation at HEIs in the context of
increasing globalization and student mobilities. These theoretical debates will guide
our analysis of an accidental internationalization and strategic transformation for
internationalization in a HEI in Vietnam.
Institutional Transformation and Internationalization
of National Language Program at HE
The concept of institutional transformation is used here to frame the internal adjust-
ments of HEIs to adapt to changes stemming from factors like society, economic,
and politics, leading to the reconstruction of the institution for development.
According to Levy and Merry (1986), institutional transformation involves
planned alterations in the institution’s core elements, including authority, goals,
decision-making, practices, and policies. As outlined by Levy and Merry, insti-
tutional transformations are: (1) deliberate, purposeful, and explicit; (2) a “pro-
cess” of alteration; (3) engaging external or internal expertise; and (4) involving
a strategy of collaboration and power sharing between the experts and others (1986,
citedinFox,
2018, p. 83). In other words, transformation is a “strategic reorienta-
tion” (Wischnevsky & Damanpour, 2006, p. 104), involving purposefully changes
in the institution’s mission, organizational structure, management and leadership,
functional practices, and communication patterns (Levy & Merry, 1986).
What are the indicators of institutional transformation? Nutt and Backoff (1997)
categorize four main indicators: (1) changes in the institution’s vision, (2) changes in
action strategies, (3) changes in organizational structure, (4) changes in institutional
40 H. T.-D. Ngo and T.-N. Tran
culture or communication patterns. In terms of vision and mission, new discourses
would often present changes in the statements of the institution’s leadership, in
short- and long-term development plan, or, in other words, in the alternative “ways
of thinking”. This future vision is followed by evidence of alternative “ways of
doing” compared to the usual practices, in everyday practice. In a structural view,
it is evidenced in the de/restructure of the old with significant changes. And finally,
the fourth indicator refers to the expertise network and professional culture of the
institution, like teaching, research, and service (Eckel & Kezar, 2003, pp. 27–28).
Applied to higher education, Fox summarized others’ research to emphasize
four characteristics of transformation: (1) systemic, (2) deep, (3) intentional, and
(4) cultural (2008, 83–84). First, the systemic aspect discussed the interrelated-
ness between different parts of the institution, such as personnel policies and prac-
tices, faculty development, recruitment and admissions, research and publications
(Burkhardt, 2002, p. 120). Introducing change to one part of the institution can result
in stresses and tensions connected to other parts, potentially leading to resistance
to change (Astin & Astin, 2001). Second, transformation is deep because it affects
values and assumptions as well as structures and processes in the higher education
institution, encompassing both “interior” and “exterior” aspects (ibid.). Third, trans-
formation is intentional, involving deliberate and purposeful decision-making about
institutional actions and directions.
Elaborating on the key factors that facilitate transformation in higher education,
Burkhardt (2002) first emphasizes the leadership factor, which has the authority to
shape organizational visions, present institutional statement, and implement changes.
Another key facilitator of transformation is identifying stakeholders throughout an
institution who may be involved in designing and implementing activities for the
process of transformation. Effective networks (Eckel & Kezar, 2003) include pathway
for personal development, collaborated steps of change implementation, and training
to equipped human resources with new capacities to meet new expectations, or
so-called work innovation). In addition, transformation is enhanced by generating
supports outside of the institution, like agencies and foundations which provide both
material and symbolic support (Astin & Astin, 2001).
In what follows, we elaborate in more detail about institutional transformation
of HEIs in Vietnam, through the case of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies at
the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH), Vietnam National Univer-
sity in Ho Chi Minh City, to show how these institutions adressing the challenges and
developing its Vietnamese language education program for international students.
3 Institutional Transformation for Internationalization: The Making … 41
Vietnamese Language Education at the Faculty
of Vietnamese Studies Faculty
Strategic internationalization of higher education at Vietnam National University
in Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) began in the 1990s, but it was not until the
years 2000s that it really made its mark. The strategic plan for socio-economic
development of Vietnam for the period 1996–2000 clearly defined this as a very
important period for accelerating industrialization and modernization of the country,
promoting comprehensive and synchronous industrialization; it continued to develop
a multi-sector economy operating according to the market mechanism, creating a
solid premise for higher development at the beginning of the next century (Đảng
cộng sảnViệtNam,
2015, p. 427).
Following the national strategy, VNU-HCM identified that world higher educa-
tion had developed rapidly with obvious trends: massification, marketization, diver-
sification, and internationalization. In the general objective of period 2006–2010,
VNU-HCM promoted internal resources, integrated actively, strengthened interna-
tional cooperation, innovated training, and created a strong change in the quality of
training, science–technology, and international cooperation, contributing to meeting
the demand for high-quality human resources for society and develop VNU-HCM
on par with advanced universities in the Southeast Asia region (ĐạihọcQuốcgia
HCM, 2006).
In this section, we observe the case of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies at
the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) in VNU-HCM, the first
institution in the South of Vietnam to offer Vietnamese studies. Strategic institutional
transformation of VNS was the continuation of the implementation and concretiza-
tion of the strategies of the VNU, in which the market factor was particularly
focused.
The Birth of VNS at USSH
The Faculty of Vietnamese Studies (VNS) at USSH has led in training Vietnamese
studies and Vietnamese language for foreigners for over 20 years. Its initial purpose
was to carry out a political mission—to teach Vietnamese for national security and
then for nation building. After the liberation of Vietnam in 1975, the country focused
on reconstruction and strengthening solidarity with fellow socialist countries, under-
taking international missions where teaching Vietnamese to Laos and Cambodia was
seen as crucial for national security (Liên hiệp các tổ chứchữu nghị, 2020). Given the
complex geopolitical positions of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, heavily influenced
by international relations with major “ambitious” countries, all three shared a path of
liberation and a common front against aggression. Establishing a good relationship
would benefit all three countries, especially in terms of economy, politics, security,
and defense; helping Laos and Cambodia meant Vietnam was also helping itself.
42 H. T.-D. Ngo and T.-N. Tran
The year 1979 marked Vietnam’s significant involvement in Cambodia, supporting
the Khmer People’s National Liberation Front against the Pol Pot genocide. The
following year, 1980, the Ministry of Education summoned the leaders of the Faculty
of Literature at USSH to Hanoi to receive an urgent decision to establish a group of
experts to teach Vietnamese to Cambodians (Giang, 2018). This Group, with initia-
tively five lecturers under the Faculty of Literature, is the predecessor of today’s VNS.
According to the agreement between the two governments of Vietnam and Cambodia,
USSH-HCM annually trained 30 Cambodian students. From 1985 to 1990, USSH-
HCM annually sent lecturers to Phnom Penh to teach Vietnamese at Cambodian
universities. “During this period, the economic conditions were still difficult; we
lacked everything, even textbooks” (Lich, 2008, p. 663).
Prof. Bui Khanh The, former head of the Group of Experts teaching Vietnamese
(1986–1989), noted, “Cambodia at that time was almost ruined, all valuable knowl-
edge destroyed by the Khmer Rouge. We, along with some intellectuals of the newly
established Cambodian government, went to find survivors to bring back for training,
built a core force, and re-established Phnom Penh University” (VNS, 2018).
Teaching Vietnamese to Cambodian students was crucial as it enabled them
to access other science and technology subjects taught by Vietnamese educators.
Language education often leads the way for international cooperation and exchange
relationships, followed by the internationalization of higher education in Vietnam.
After the mission in Cambodia, USSH’s leaders decided to continue Vietnamese
language education, seeing an opportunity to serve many foreigners coming to
Vietnam for business. In 1990, the Group of Experts teaching Vietnamese split into
the Department of Vietnamese Language and Department of Vietnamese Culture,
both under the Center for Vietnam—Southeast Asian Studies.
Post-Doi Moi in 1986, Vietnam experienced significant changes, starting with
thought reform and opening door for economic growth (Chính Phủ, 2010). This
attracted foreign investment, with many foreigners coming Vietnam for business and
settlement. The Vietnam government encouraged activities promoting the develop-
ment of Vietnamese studies. In 1998, the first International Scientific Conference on
Vietnamese Studies was held in Hanoi, marking an important milestone for the birth
and growth of VNS. Concurrently, VNS was established as per Decision No. 439/QD/
ĐHQG/TCCB, signed on December 26, 1998, by the Director of VNU-HCM,2 based
on the Department of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese language for foreigners
at USSH, VNU-HCM.
Over 20 years (1998–2018), VNS saw a significant increase in enrollment, from
600 in 1998 to 2164 in 2018 (Lịch sử hình thành phát triển Khoa ViệtNamhọc,
2023). Initially, enrollment was 885 in 1998 (Hong Phuong, cited in ibid., Fig. 1),
doubling to 1719 in 2004, and doubling again by 2013, reaching half a million in
2017 and 2018 before COVID (Hong Phuong, cited in ibid., Fig. 2). The enrollment
rate increased rapidly from 2005 to 2008, then sharply decrease from 2008 to 2010,
before gradually increasing again from 2015 to 2018 (ibid.).
2 Vietnam National University is the management agency of USSH-HCM.
3 Institutional Transformation for Internationalization: The Making … 43
Regarding bachelor’s courses, from 2000 to 2018, VNS enrolled 19 courses
with 734 successful candidates and 470 graduates (VNS, 2018). The postgrad-
uate program, started in 2009, has trained 98 students, including 15% international
students from various countries, like Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and the USA.
To unpack the success of VNS, we consider key activities such as responding to
market’s needs, strategic transformation, student care, and research-based activities.
We also pointed out the challenges faced by VNS in its development history.
Responding to the Market’s Needs: VNS Strategic
Transformation
From the outset, VNS’s leaders prioritized flexible and strategic program develop-
ment. As stated in 1998, “Right from the time of developing program, we planned
it under the credit system. The program meets the needs of students, so the number
of students is continuously increasing” (Lich, 2008). VNS provided a variety of
courses, with short-term (including pre-university), graduate, and post-graduate
programs being the most prominent. Each course was designed to cater tostudentss
need at different stages, from basic to advanced, ensuring the continuity of the
program system. The primary reason students chose to study Vietnamese was for
job opportunities and the necessity of living in Vietnam. A March 2022 survey of 54
foreign students at VNS revealed that 57.4% aimed to find jobs, 50% intended to
reside permanently in Vietnam, 12.9% had interests in the history, culture, language
and people, with a noted cultural affinity between Vietnam and Korea, and 11.1%
followed their parents working and living in Vietnam, with some students citing
multiple reasons.
In addition to the standard admission process, VNS also participated in 2 + 2
and 3 + 1 cooperative programs (where students study 2 or 3 years in their home
country and then complete their education in Vietnam for the remaining 1 or 2 years
to obtain a bachelor’s degree) under agreements between Vietnamese and foreign
partner universities. These students can earn dual bachelor’s degrees, enhancing their
employment prospects in both nations and fostering bilateral relations and economic
human resource development. Since 2019, VNS has offered an online Vietnamese
studies bachelor’s program and short-term language courses, which gained increase
attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. These programs are accessible globally,
allowing students from Korea, the US, Japan, and elsewhere to enroll easily.
VNS has gained recognition for its “Methods of teaching Vietnamese as a foreign
language” course, which not only enhance its reputation but also increase its revenue.
The faculty saw the need from people who wanted to conduct training to be a quali-
fied teacher to teach Vietnamese as a foreign language. Consequently, these courses
initiated primarily for Vietnamese learners, have been offered since 2017, with 19
sessions over 300 individuals. The curriculum encompasses second language educa-
tion theory, teaching Vietnamese as a second language (TVSOL), and pedagogies
44 H. T.-D. Ngo and T.-N. Tran
for teaching core language skills. Delivered over three months, the course culmi-
nates in a practical teaching session evaluated by a committee of instructors. The
program also attracts international students graduates from bachelor’s and postgrad-
uate Vietnamese Studies programs aspiring to teach Vietnamese. For instance, in
2021, several Korean students enrolled. Despite the pandemic, online course delivery
continued, and international training, such as at Chihlee University of Technology in
Taiwan, proceeded as planned (VNS, 2022).
VNS also conductss Vietnamese language proficiency assessments for foreign
students. Designated by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MoET),
VNS administers tests and issues Vietnamese language proficiency certificates
according to the Vietnamese language proficiency national framework standard.
This certificate is crucial for foreigners seeking education or employment in
foreign-invested firms or any organization requiring Vietnamese communication
skills.
Taking Care of Students
A standout aspect of VNS is its commitment to prioritizing foreign students, encom-
passing both academic programs and extracurricular activities. This approach, novel
in the early 2000s Vietnamese higher education context, positioned VNS as a pioneer
in taking care of students like valued customers. The rationale is clear: foreign
students are viewed as highly beneficial, often referred to metaphorically as the
“goose that lays golden eggs”. The university has prioritized foreign students by
enhancing training quality, fostering teacher enthusiasm and care, and providing
top-notch facilities. A former VNS leader highlighted the keys to attracting students:
“The secret to attracting students lies in the quality of the training, the enthusiasm
and teaching methods of the faculty, and the teaching and learning facilities” (Lich,
2012, p. 628).
Notable activities at VNS include the orientation for new students and internships
for those nearing graduation. For local students, orientation is usually on-campus,
while for foreign students, this event is usually held in tourist destinations, creating
fun and relaxing environment for introductions to the school, faculty, and academic
programs, as well as for student socialization.
Similarly, the internships or field trip practice serve as significant attractions,
particularly for third- and fourth-year students, lasting about two weeks. These excur-
sions, often to areas with scenic beauty like traditional craft villages and cultural sites,
aim to encourage students to delve deeply into the local life. This allows them to
explore, experience reality firsthand, and employ their Vietnamese language skills
for interviewing and gathering data for their final graduation project survey reports.
3 Institutional Transformation for Internationalization: The Making … 45
Research-Based Activities and Connections with Foreign
Universities
Besides teaching, VNS has a strategy to develop its research capacity as an essential
component of its training and social service. The motto “research to support teaching”
underpoints this strategy, with specific goals such as compiling textbooks, reference
books, monographs, and encouraging the publication of scientific works in journals
(VNS, 2012). Each full-time lecturer is required to publish at least one paper or one
research work annually. This mandante is reflected in institutional policies and the
research profiles of its individual staff members. Official Letter No. 576/XHNV-TCCB
(USSH, 2020a) specifies that a lecture’s scientific research tasks must include at least
one scientific product from categories like articles with ISBN, textbooks, reference
books, published monographs (excluding reprints), or successfully defended Ph.D.
and master theses. Staff who achieve these scientific outputs are eligible for incentive
rewards, either as bonus points or cash. For instance, an article indexed with ISSN
earns two points, equivalent to 100,000VND; one with an international ISI index gets
30 points, or 15,000,000VND (USSH, 2023); and an article in the ISI/Scopus (Q1) list
equates to 1400 hours of scientific research (Official Letter No. 589/XHNV-TCCB).
Collaborated research efforts have seen significant interactions in materials and
curriculum design between scholars in Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Noi. The VNS’s
founders, like Bui Khanh The and Nguyen Van Lich from the south, had strong
connections with scholars in Ha Noi due to their time in the north during the war,
facilitating the development of this field. Nguyen Van Hue, a third-generation leader
of VNS, has significantly contributed to expanding VNS’s global connections. Bien-
nially, VNS collaborate with USSH Hanoi to host an Interfaculty Scientific Confer-
ence, continuing a decade-long tradition of cooperation between the two institutions
(USSH, 2020b). These scholars have worked together on creating teaching materials
for both domestic and international training, leading to the creation of textbooks like
Que Viet and Vietnamese Reading—Writing3 .
Scholars have also been sent abroad for teaching exchanges, fostering interac-
tional collaboration and impacting Vietnamese studies. For example, Nguyen Van
Hue promoted the Vietnamese as a Second Language (VSL)4 book series globally,
with institutions like Australian National University in Australia, Kanda University
of International Studies in Japan, Bushan University of Foreign Studies in Korean,
the University of Bonn in Germany), United States Department of State adopting
it. In another instance, Nguyen Quang Ninh from Hanoi National University of
3 Que Viet is a set of Vietnamese language teaching textbooks consisting of 06 books, divided into
three levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1and C2) edited by Mai Ngoc Chu (VNU, Hanoi) and Nguyen
Van Hue participates as a member editor. Vietnamese Reading—Writing A1&A2 is the series of
textbooks co-written by Nguyen Quang Ninh (Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE))
and Tran Trong Nghia (HCM-USSH) at Busan University of Foreign Studies (BUFS), South Korea.
4 The series of current VSL textbooks for foreigners consists of five books compiled by a group of
authors (edited by Nguyen Van Hue) is the result of 10 years of preparation of many lecturers. VSL
was first published in 2000, so far, they have been reprinted for 8 times and are still widely used in
many countries around the world like the US, Canada, Australia, Korea, Brunei.
46 H. T.-D. Ngo and T.-N. Tran
Education was invited to teach at Busan University of Foreign Studies (BUFS) in
Korea from 2015 to 2016, while Tran Trong Nghia from USSH at Ho Chi Minh City-
served as a lecturer in Vietnamese at BUFS from 2015 to 2018. Together with Korean
colleagues, they produced a series of Vietnamese Reading–Writing textbooks, now
used in Korean universities offering Vietnamese language courses.
VNS’s research initiatives focus on Vietnamese studies and Vietnamese language,
addressing both theoretical and practical issues. To date, they have published over
25 textbooks, hosted 14 domestic and 5 international conferences, and released more
than 350 articles. They maintain connections with numerous foreign universities to
collaborative training in Vietnamese studies and Vietnamese languages, with key
partners in Japan, Korea, France, Czech Republic, and Taiwan (VNS, 2018).
Current and Coming Challenges to VNS
Vietnamese studies are currently facing the challenges, including developing human
resources, constructing curriculum and teaching material banks, and improving
graduate employability.
Firstly, regarding human resource development, VNS acknowledges the need to
develop a team of professional lecturers ready for the internationalization of this
discipline. The VNS’s report for the academic year 2020–2021 indicates a shortage
of qualified teachers to replace those retiring. A 2022 survey of 59 discipline teachers
showed that 30.5% having a suitable background for TVSOL; 10.2% having highly
relevant backgrounds (like Vietnamese literature); 18.6% having educated in foreign
languages other than Vietnamese. However, 40.7% had less relevant backgrounds,
such as Sociology, Cultural Studies, Communication, and Asian Studies, facing diffi-
culties in teaching TVSOL without additional training in its pedagogies. Since 2020,
the discipline has required teachers from other backgrounds to undergo training in
TVSOL pedagogies.
Second, VNS is developing a systematic bank of textbooks and teaching resources.
The current stock does not fully meet the teaching and learning needs. Although
VNS planned to develop a new textbook series by 2020 (VNS, 2015), this has yet to
be completed as of 2024. Existing textbooks mainly support short-term courses;
with many subjects in the official training program lacking specific textbooks
for foreign students (VNS, 2021). A compilation committee, editor-in-chief, and
a comprehensive plan are needed to create a complete textbook set, building on the
curriculum from basic to advanced level.
Third, the employment rate of graduates is a concern, as students struggle to
find jobs due to an interdisciplinary but shallow knowledge base and lack of prac-
tical experience. With society needing more specialized skills, many students often
study some other additional fields to enhance job prospects. In 2020, only 71.15% of
graduates found employment, the lowest rate among USSH majors at VNU-HCM
(USSH, 2020d). VNS annually organizes meetings with employers to gather feed-
back to improve the training program, but more detailed post-training assessments
3 Institutional Transformation for Internationalization: The Making … 47
are needed, including job placement rates and the satisfaction level of employers, to
inform future training initiatives.
Wrapping Up Discussion: Accidental Versus Strategic
Internationalization of HE Beyond English
In researching on pathways of internationalization in Vietnam, Phan (2019) breaks the
ground to reveal the need for more research on internationalization in higher educa-
tion (HE) beyond English, emphasizing the alternative role of national language as
medium of instruction. This discussion section brings the case of VNS at USSH into
the context of internationalization beyond English, reveal different transformation
methods within HEIs during the same process of i nternationalization.
Phan, Dang and Ngo (2022) present a case study of HEI where internationaliza-
tion happened as an unintended gift resulting from increasing social and economic
exchanges between Vietnam and Korea. This led to a bottom-up demand of learning
Vietnamese and a rise in self-enrolled students at the institution. Vietnamese Studies
(VS) at Binh Minh University (BMU) in this article emerged not internally but
from economic impacts and external demand, described as “the relationship between
Vietnam and Korea kept getting warmer and the demand for VS from Koreans kept
rising”. The influx of Korean students to VS at BMU and the transformation of this
institution is termed as “accidental, bottom-up, responsive, and by-product interna-
tionalization of HE beyond English” (ibid., pp.11–13). Though not elaborated in the
article, the concept of accidental internationalization contrasts with other HEIs proac-
tively adopting “strategies gearing toward internationalisation” (ibid., 12), refering
to the development of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) programs that Phan
(2017, 2018) pointed out, with strategies like “internationalising their curriculum
and training programmes and attracting international students”.
This novelty concept of accidental internationalization inspires and enriches the
conversation in this chapter, especially in the critical comparison between BMU and
USSH. Unlike BMU, VNS at USSH has played in the game as pioneers, establishing
the norms, and leading the field. Unlike other HEIs that focus on EMI programs,
USSH has made its Vietnamese as a Medium of Instruction (VMI) program highly
sought after by international students in HCMC and abroad. This success is evident in
the institution’s transformation, marked by leadership, internal collaboration over an
extended period, and the development of external relationship. We posit that VNS at
USSH exemplifies strategic internationalization of HE using Vietnamese as medium
of instruction.
From its origin as a small department for training Cambodian learners, VNS
at USSH has evolved into an internationally recognized training unit, expanding
its learner network through Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for students
exchanges since 1975. Strategically, VNS at USSH has been proactive in changing
48 H. T.-D. Ngo and T.-N. Tran
core elements, such as devising its curriculum and teaching materials, devel-
oping internal policies to promote academic research alongside teaching improve-
ment, and establishing external partnerships to attract more international students.
These initiatives are, indeed, (1) purposeful; (2) part of a planned process; (3)
engaging both external and internal expertise; and (4) involving collaborative and
power-sharing strategies (Levy & Merry, 1986). In other words, it is “strategic
reorientation” within the institution (Wischnevsky & Damanpour, 2006).
Contributing to its success are actions aligned with Nutt and Backoff’s (1997)
four main indicators of institutional transformation: (1) changes in VNS’s vision
to become an international hub in the South, (2) changes in action in teaching and
promoting research, (3) changes in organizational structure, evidenced by the expan-
sion from a small unit to a department with 70 staff members, and (4) changes
in institutional culture, with responsive policies toward student care and service
quality. Changes in teaching, research, and service (Eckel & Kezar, 2003) are further
detailed in Mai and Chau (2022), highlighting that attracting international students
has been a central priority of USSH’s sub-institutions, including VNS.
However, the process of innovation within the institution has also faced challenges,
including stresses and tensions and resistance to change (Astin & Astin, 2001). We
have pointed out that VNS at USSH continues to confront the need to enhance the
quality of human resource and reduce resistance. The pressure to improve career
prospects for learners and increase the employment rate for has intensified, espe-
cially as the market grows and faces more competitors from private sector entities
with smaller and more agile organizational structures. Furthermore, these is an open
question regarding the investigation of the identities and agencies of stakeholders,
including teachers and students.
In conclusion, the case of VNS at USSH offers a unique story of strategic interna-
tionalization of HE beyond English. It provides valuable insights into the pathways
of HEIs in countries like Vietnam, which were previous less dominant and proactive
in the internationalization of HE.
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Chapter 4
Teaching Vietnamese as an Additional
Language: A Case Study from Explicit
Pragmatic Instruction to Intercultural
Approach
Thi Minh Tran, Thi Ha Pham, and Hang Thi Diem Ngo
Abstract This chapter presents a case study on teaching Vietnamese as a foreign
language, aiming to enhance students’ deep understanding of both their native
language and the target language while addressing individual language preferences
and complexities. It focuses on teaching Vietnamese compliments and responses to
Korean students in a higher education setting in Vietnam, employing an explicit
pragmatic and intercultural approach. Bridging the gap between cultural norms
and learners’ language, this study emphasizes the importance of cultural under-
standing for effective communication and interpersonal relations. The lesson plan,
informed by pragmatic investigation, fosters intercultural competence, encourages
self-expression, and boosts learners’ confidence in social interactions. Overall, it
offers a practical pedagogical framework for empowering learners in the classroom.
Introduction
When You Meet a Person of the Opposite Gender for the First Time, Who Has a
Very Good Appearance. What Would You Choose to Say to Express Your Opinion?
Consider These Options:
T. M. Tr an (B
)
Nguyen Tat Thanh Hi-Tech Institute, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
e-mail: ttminh@ntt.edu.vn; ttminhvs@gmail.com
T. H. Pham
Faculty of Vietnamese Studies, Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi, Vietnam
e-mail: hapt@hnue.edu.vn
H. T. D. Ngo
Mount Carmel College and Thang Long Institute of Cognition and Education Studies, Hanoi,
Vietn am
© The Author(s) 2024
Phan Le Ha et al. (eds.), Vietnamese Language, Education and Change In and Outside
Vietnam, Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9093-1_4
53
54 T. M. Tran et al.
A. Hello, you are very good-looking!
B. Hello, do you know that you are very good-looking?
C. You should not be so good-looking, because the more beautiful/handsome you
are, the more dangerous?
D. Not giving a compliment.
Ms. Han often used this example in her class teaching Vietnamese for international
students. Among the answers, there is no wrong option in terms of grammar, yet there
are options being chosen more by men than women (option A and B), and there are
options rarely used or considered inappropriate in Vietnamese culture (options C). To
Miss. Han, “teaching Vietnamese language is teaching Vietnamese culture”. Hence,
the successful learners should know how to use language appropriately in the target
culture.
However, Ms. Han also received different responses for her experimental ques-
tions. In her class of Korean students, 5% did not choose any options from A to D.
In another class of mixed Asian and Western students, one student commented that
they would never talk about someone else’s appearance, because the appearance of
somebody is given to that person and is unchangeable; another student spoke up and
commented that the issue of gender is very sensitive and should be avoided in the
class.
Students did not find any given answers suitable for themselves in a language-
in-use context. Students responded in an unexpected way to a topic or issue in the
class. Facing the situations that were out of her initial plan and expectations, Ms.
Han believed that she needed to investigate more about the suitable approaches in
teaching Vietnamese as a foreign language.
***
Ms. Han’s story is set as an inspiration for this experimental research on finding
how students and teachers respond to different approaches in language education, in
the case of teaching Vietnamese as a foreign language at higher education institutions
(HEI) in Vietnam.
The twenty-first century observed rapid internationalization and students’
mobility among Asian countries (Phan & Fry, 2021). In Vietnam, after the strong
implementation of the Doi Moi policies in all aspects (Harman et al., 2010), the
reformation of higher education happened in the first two decades of the twenty-first
century. There has been an obvious increase in Vietnamese language courses opened
for foreigners in Vietnam, by both private language centers and public higher educa-
tion institutions (Nhân Dân, 2008). This surging demand for Vietnamese language
education is considered a result of a significant rise in students’ mobility, as well
as the rise of Vietnamese as a medium of instruction (VMI) programs (Phan & Fry,
2021).
Yet, this rapid development also reveals a lot of gaps in curriculum and teaching
materials, mismatches between the views of teachers and students. Among the big
challenges are how to equip teachers with thorough knowledge of not just Vietnamese
but pragmatic concepts across cultures, and multiple pedagogic tools to deal with
multicultural learners, to overcome the traditional teaching method of prioritizing
4 Teaching Vietnamese as an Additional Language: A Case Study … 55
the target language and move towards an effective learning experience for learners
(Tran & Duong, 2018;Ho, 2009, 2011; Nguyen & Ho, 2013).
This research addresses the need of teachers like Ms. Han in understanding
the requirements and proposing solutions for effective teaching of Vietnamese. It
emphasizes the importance of equipping teachers with thorough knowledge not only
of the Vietnamese language but also of pragmatic concepts across cultures. Addi-
tionally, it highlights the necessity of providing teachers with multiple pedagogic
tools to effectively teach multicultural learners and to move away from traditional
teaching methods towards more responsive and individualized learning experiences
for students.
The research focuses on the case of teaching Vietnamese compliments and compli-
ment responses in Vietnamese. The experiment is conducted in a class of Korean
students in a language course for undergraduate programs at a university in Hanoi,
Vietnam.
The research’s aims and focus are:
To understand the applicability of explicit pragmatic instruction and intercultural
approach in foreign language education.
To understand cross-pragmatic compliments and compliment responses in
different languages and its related challenges in foreign language education.
To understand the challenges of teaching Vietnamese compliments and compli-
ment responses to speakers of other languages.
To design and experiment with a teaching model that can address cross-pragmatic
challenges and be responsive to individual learners’ needs.
The first part engages critically with the theoretical discussion of teaching model
in foreign language education, from explicit pragmatic instruction to intercultural
approach, applying to the case study of teaching Vietnamese at a HEI in Hanoi.
The second part is set up with a critical review of teaching pragmatic concepts
across languages and cultures, through the case of compliments and compliment
responses. It suggests that an intercultural approach would be effective in bridging
the gap and being responsive to diverse learners.
Yet, to apply intercultural approach to teaching, it is crucial to understand the
pragmatic concepts of compliment and compliment responses in Vietnamese, contex-
tualized in a case study of teaching Vietnamese for a group of Korean undergraduate
students at a HEI in Hanoi.
Based on that investigation, the author proposed an experimental teaching unit
to examine the affordances and challenges of teaching Vietnamese compliments
and compliments responses for Korean students, using explicit pragmatic instruc-
tion and intercultural approach. The experiment includes designing a pre-class
survey for target groups of learners, then designing a detailed lesson teaching the
language content while considering the specific background and previous knowledge
of learners. The experimental classes were observed and followed by semi-structured
interviews with learners and teachers after the class.
The experimental analysis suggests that the intercultural approach is effective
in teaching pragmatic concepts to learners of diverse backgrounds, such as Korean
learners in the study. The intercultural implied learning design has shown to improve
56 T. M. Tran et al.
the openness of learners in sharing their own cultural perspectives and come to respect
the differences of others, hence gaining meaningful learning experiences.
Teaching a Foreign Language: Requirement of a Teaching
Model for Cross-Pragmatic and Individualized Learning
Discussion of foreign language education is tightly linked with the view of language
and the nature of language acquisition. Because of English as a lingua franca, it is
not surprising that research on teaching English as a foreign language has set the
dominant paradigm in the field of foreign language education. This discussion is
heavily drawn from the literature on teaching English.
Traditionally, language has been considered as a system of codes for information
exchange. Therefore, language was seen as fixed, and learning a foreign language
meant understanding and repeating those patterns of words and word combinations.
Then, pragmatic scholars proposed that language includes not only lexical and gram-
matical principles, but also pragmatic rules (the use of language determined by
social conditions like gender, age, intimacy of participants), which adds complexity
and challenges for foreign language learners. Thomas (1983) pointed out that foreign
language learners often experienced pragmatic failure in using foreign languages:
(1) pragmalinguistics (translating utterance from their native language or previous
learning language to the target language); (2) sociopragmatics (referring to the social
conditions such as gender, age, intimacy to choose what to say and how to say it).
Pragmatic failure can lead to problematic communication between interactants
(Manes, 1983).
Explicit pragmatic instruction is considered an effective pedagogical method-
ology in teaching English (in different host countries) compliments and compliment
responses to English learners from different source cultures (Chen, 2011; Grosi, 2009;
Tajeddin & Ghamari, 2011). It means language learners are provided not only lexical
and grammatical knowledge of those compliment actions but also their pragmatic
knowledge regarding social conditions through language courses.
Recently, intercultural approach has been increasingly investigated in general
foreign language courses (Stoian, 2020). Barraja-Rohan (2011) proposed a detailed
teaching plan based on intercultural teaching approach, inspiring other scholars
to experiment in different topics of foreign language education (Jany, 2019) and
intercultural communication education (Allen, 2021).
Lesson phases according to Barraja-Rohan (2011: 488)
Reflection on how language works
Contrastive analysis of L1 and L2 structures with a specific learning objective
Analysis of L2 structures based on authentic conversation templates
Practice these structures in written and spoken forms
Translingual/intercultural discussion and reflection
4 Teaching Vietnamese as an Additional Language: A Case Study … 57
Following Barraja-Rohan (2011), Jany (2019), Stoian (2020), we consider the
possibilities of applying intercultural approach in the teaching design. This shift
away from structural and communicative viewpoints has led scholars to propose
second language development to be “the emergence of language ability through use
in real time” (Larsen-Freeman, 2015, p. 494), which highlights the constructions of
language from bottom-up manner, through frequent use in various places and times.
Consequently, the language learning process in the class is interactive, with linguistic
structure being used by learners to actively construct reality in interaction with others
(Kramsch & Whiteside, 2008).
With this view, learning practices are considered to be experiential. The affective
dimension of learning is emphasized, referring to learners’ feelings relating to self
and others, which emerge when engaging with class activities, which are emotion-
ally and motivationally loaded (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2007, p. 797). Experiential
learning theories prioritize what is lived over what is done, seeking meaningful inter-
cultural interaction in the classroom and co-construction of meaning (Liddicoat &
Scarino, 2013).
Within an intercultural orientation, language learning is proposed as a process
of becoming, where learners’ identity is considered in a learning plan that includes
multilingual and multicultural aspects (Byram & Wagner, 2018, p. 147). To adopt
an intercultural language teaching orientation, concept-based planning is proposed
to address ideational, linguistic and textual content, as well as language use through
interactions and experiences (Liddicoat & Scarino, 2013).
We propose that the concept of “language” in intercultural language education
should shift away from “language as a code” to being seen as something lived in
learning. In a Vietnamese class, where both teachers and learners having limited
knowledge about other languages, Vietnamese is also used as the medium of instruc-
tion. The Vietnamese language is lived in learners’ experience as they think through
their own language and the target language, relate to others, reflect on intercultural
exchanges, and develop their sense of self through those processes. The following
parts will first step by step understand “language as a system”, then move to designing
a lesson to enable “language as experience” (Kohler, 2020).
The Story of Teaching Vietnamese as a Foreign Language
at Binh Minh University
This section introduces the institution where we conducted our case study. Consistent
with academic norms to ensure continuity and comparability in scholarly discourse,
we adopt the anonymized name ‘Binh Minh University’. This designation was first
introduced by Phan et al. (2022) in their research on the internationalization process at
this university, particularly within the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies (2022). Utilizing
the same pseudonym as established in previous research allows for a coherent and
cumulative understanding of the institution’s evolving dynamics. It also aligns with
58 T. M. Tran et al.
the ethical practice of preserving confidentiality while facilitating cross-study anal-
ysis. This approach not only respects the anonymity established in prior scholarly
work but also aids in constructing a comprehensive narrative of the institution’s
development across different research projects, as partly mentioned in chapter 2
of this collection. In Vietnam, Binh Minh University is reknown in the education
field for its long training tradition. It offers training programs from undergraduate to
higher education in more than 30 fields of studies, with dozens of research institu-
tions acting under the university’s management. Historically, its students were mostly
domestic until the last decade of the twentieth century, when foreign students began
coming to Binh Minh for education, and teachers at the institution started teaching
Vietnamese aboard.
As Ms. Han’s recalled, the first Korean exchange students came to Binh Minh’s
Department of Linguistic to learn Vietnamese in the late 1990s, while the univer-
sity also sent its teachers to Korea and Japan to teach Vietnamese. Then, in 2002–
2003, a suprising increase in foreigner student enrollment occured, which was
considered a “strange phenomena” among the teachers.
This emerging demand has contributed significantly to the foundation of the
Department of Vietnamese Studies at Binh Minh University. By 2021, the depart-
ment has provided training for more than 700 Korean students enrolled in both
language courses and an undergraduate program. Ms. Han’s Department had about 30
staff members, who covered 70% of the Vietnamese Studies programs. The language
teaching group constituted one-third of the staff, mainly trained in Literature and
Linguistics. Ms. Han was the team leader of this language training group, responsible
for proposing textbooks, coordinating curriculum development, conducting course
evaluation, and monitoring teaching quality.
The example at the beginning of this article is mentioned in Ms. Han’s report
for a department’s professional development conference. It is used to emphasize
two issues of teaching Vietnamese for speakers of other languages (TVSOL) at the
department: firstly, the teaching materials were all in Vietnamese, using a grammar-
translation approach and centering on the target language (Pham & Tran, 2009);
secondly, teachers had limited or no knowledge of learners’ native language (Korean)
to understand the challenges in learning Vietnamese, and both teachers and learners
had limited knowledge about other languages (like English, Chinese, or French) for
cross-linguistic comparisons. Hence, often in classes, teachers found it difficult to
explain, and learners found it similarly difficult to express themselves.
Echoing what has been found by teachers at Binh Minh University, the teaching of
Vietnamese as a foreign language is stated as relatively under-researched (Ho, 2011).
The initial discussion of teaching Vietnamese in English materials was found in
the context of Vietnamese refugees teaching Vietnamese as a foreign language in
countries like the US or France (for example, Lam, 2006;Tran&Reid,
2006).
Some research has called for attention to explicit instruction pedagogies in TVSOL,
like Nguyen & Macken (2008) focused on errors in learning Vietnamese tones; Ho
(2009) investigated the application of blog writing in developing students’ reading
and writing skills while fostering their knowledge of the Vietnamese culture. Signif-
icantly, Nguyen and Ho (2013) showcased the communicative approach in teaching
4 Teaching Vietnamese as an Additional Language: A Case Study … 59
request-giving expressions and politeness strategies in Vietnamese (Nguyen & Ho,
2014).
While proving the role of explicit pragmatic instruction, these works have not
yet fully considered the learners as individuals, often missing the voices of learners
in their own learning experience. Hence, in this research, we worked with teachers like
Ms. Han to develop a more responsive teaching approach that considers both targeted
linguistic content and specific groups of learners. The following part conducts
a thorough comparison on teaching models for speech acts, investigates cross-
pragmatic compliment and compliment responses, before moving to our teaching
design experiment.
Teaching Compliments and Compliment Responses
in Foreign Language Class
According to Manes (1983), compliments and compliment responses are speech
acts that reflect and express cultural values. Therefore, foreign language learners
usually obtain pragmatic failure in the use of these actions in the foreign languages.
Thomas (1983) distinguishes two types of pragmatic failure: (1) pragmalinguistic
(translating utterance from their native language or previous learning language to the
target language); (2) sociopragmatic (considering social conditions such as gender,
age, intimacy to choose what to say and how to say it). Pragmatic failure can lead to
prolematic communication between interactants. Hence, investigating how to teach
compliments and compliment responses effectively can help language learners under-
stand these speech acts and feel more comfortable in using them in their conversations
in the target language.
Given English’s status as a lingua franca, it is not surprising that teaching compli-
ments and compliment responses in English has been extensively studied. Contrasting
studies (Azam & Saleem, 2018; Chen, 2011; Ibrahim & Riyanto, 2000) argued that
teaching pragmatic competence is essential for developing communicative compe-
tence. These studies also sought effective teaching methods to instruct for imparting
this knowledge and skill.
Grosi (2009) examined whether explicit pragmatic instruction positively affects
teaching and learning speech acts, using naturally occurring oral examples of the acts
collected in various settings (workplace, home) as teaching resources in the English
classroom. Explicit pragmatic analysis was provided during lessons, and the results
indicated that this teaching method effectively acquires the speech acts.
Similarly, Chen (2011) designed an experiment on explicit instruction in teaching
American English compliments and compliment responses to Chinese students.
An eight-hour intervention with 40 university students and three DCT task tests
(pretest, posttest and delayed posttest) were designed. The study suggested that prag-
matic instruction had a positive effect on the learners’ pragmatic ability to produce
60 T. M. Tran et al.
compliment exchanges in English, and this competence could be partially retained
over time.
While the courses of Grosi (2009) and Chen (2011) did not detail whether they
analyzed only pragmatic functions or also included cross-cultural exchanges, some
intercultural knowledge appears to have been exchanged, at least from the teacher’s
instruction.
Recently, intercultural approach has been increasingly implemented in teaching
compliments and compliment responses. Romanchuk and Perea (2019), Jany (2019),
and Stoian (2020) suggested intercultural exchange models to teach compliments
and compliment responses in English courses (Romanchuk & Perea, 2019), and in
German courses (Jany, 2019).
Romanchuk and Perea (2019) proposed a detailed suggestion for teaching compli-
ments and compliment responses in the English classroom in Ukraine, based on
intercultural pedagogy. Initially, the study focused on awareness-raising tasks about
the similarities and differences between compliments and compliment responses
in Ukrainian and American cultures (for the upper-intermediate level). These tasks
included discussion on the most interesting/surprising facts, students’ experience of
giving and receiving compliments, compliment stereotypes in their native languages,
and students’ perceptions of compliment acts with given data. Romanchuk and Perea
(2019) also recommended teaching techniques for primary, middle, and high school
students, mainly encouraged them to participate in lessons and share their ideas,
emotions, and perspectives, with specific tasks for understanding, exploring, and
creating compliments and compliment responses in English compared to their native
language.
In the same line, Jany (2019) provides a link between compliments, compli-
ment responses and the feeling of social belonging in teaching German as second
language (Deutsch als Fremdsprache, or DaF). The paper focused on the importance
of understanding and using compliment speech acts to foster social belonging. It high-
lights that students need basic knowledge about the lexical, grammatical, pragmatic,
and socio-pragmatic aspects of compliments and compliment responses to avoid
misunderstandings and perform these speech acts effectively in the target language.
Like Grosi (2009), Jany (2019) believed that naturally occurring language data and
explicit pragmatic instruction are appropriate ideas for having positive effects on
the compliment acquisition of German language learners. Jany (2019)’s plan for
teaching compliments and compliment responses is:
– Activating prior knowledge about compliments through icebreaker questions
(When did you receive/give the last compliment? Or how often is compliment
act used in your culture?)
– Discussing other speech acts (greeting, apology, …) to raise awareness of
interaction rules.
– Giving concrete examples of compliments.
– Practicing with visual materials in specific contexts.
– Raising awareness of language factors in compliments and compliment responses
(grammatical and lexical aspects).
4 Teaching Vietnamese as an Additional Language: A Case Study … 61
– Discussing intercultural exchanges between native and target languages.
– Emphasizing the non-existence of fixed rules in speech acts usage.
Additionally, Stoian (2020) proposed five activities to teach compliments and
compliment responses from a cross-cultural and inter-linguistic perspective: (1)
raising awareness of the importance of compliments for successful communication
through discussing about the relationship between compliments and their responses
with cultural patterns and values (the relationship between cultures and compliment
topics, addressees, understanding, and response); (2) raising awareness of compli-
ment patterns and topics (suggesting several possible ways of giving compliment
responses, compliment structures, and sharing compliment topics in pairs); (3) raising
awareness of the compliment patterns in one’s own culture (asking students about
compliments in their own languages through brainstorm and discussion in the class,
and assigning a mini project for students to collect data); (4) raising awareness
of the compliment patterns in other cultures (sharing knowledge about compliments
in many other languages); (5) discussing possible strategies to respond compliments.
During describing five specific and detailed activities, Stoian (2020) emphasized
several times that the given knowledge on compliments and compliment responses
was intended to help students understand more these speech act expressions rather
than to reduce stereotype behaviors. Therefore, Stoian noted that it is important to
pay attention to many different variables of the communication context in order to
decide how to use different variations of compliments and compliment responses.
The existing research and detailed teaching plans of compliments and compli-
ment responses based on explicit pragmatic instruction and intercultural approach
have suggested using naturally occurring data, pragmatic analysis, contrastive/meta
pragmatic analysis, and encouraging students to really participate and create the
content of teaching under guidance of the teacher. The above-mentioned studies
stated that explicit pragmatic instruction and intercultural approach bring positive
effects on the learners’ acquisition of compliment and compliment responses in
Vietnamese. Our study attempts to apply this approach to examine whether they
work in teaching Vietnamese compliments and compliment responses. In addition,
we will pay more attention to the feeling of the interactants in a cross-cultural
conversation because the most important aspect of communication is understanding
and feeling comfortable. Language is changing and people’s perspective and atti-
tudes are also regularly changing. It means the success of a conversation depends on
more factors than just the grammatical, lexical or even pragmatic rules. Jany (2019)
just proposed this idea, but it has been not received much attention in the reviewed
research. We will consider this factor in our present study when designing teaching
lesson, conducting survey, and interview.
62 T. M. Tran et al.
Cross-Pragmatic Compliments and Compliment Responses
Compliments and compliment responses are social actions that are strongly related
to politeness norms in communication. These social actions are negotiated among
people who employ various strategies from different languages and cultures. Feelings
of disconnectedness or misunderstandings can occur between interactants if there is a
lack of knowledge about the communicative strategies of the cultural and intercultural
background of communication attendants. Therefore, understanding the norms in
different cultures and people’s responses and expectations to the way of interaction
is considered a key to have an effective communication (good feelings between
interactants). This section provides a review about compliments and compliment
responses across cultures based on previous social, pragmatic, anthropology, and
linguistic studies.
Compliments and Compliment Responses in Different
Languages
Chen (2010) provided a comprehensive literature review of research on compliments
and compliment responses across different cultures. Through this work, strategies
in compliments and compliment responses in different cultures show both similari-
ties and differences at various aspects. Understanding the taxonomy of these social
actions in learners’ cultures is important for researchers, educators, and teachers
to plan a “bottom-up” and intercultural lesson plan. Due to the lack of studies on
this issue in Korean culture, a survey on the intercultural background of students was
conducted before developing the lesson plan. The results of these surveys showed that
the majority of Korean students have learnt English. Their experiences with different
cultures through learning a foreign language can be seen as an influencing factor
in acquiring other languages and cultures. In order to have a comprehensive theory
background to analyze our data of Korean students learning Vietnamese language,
this section reviews features of compliments and compliment responses in English
based on Chen (2010), in Vietnamese based on Pham (2020), and Korean based
on the survey, the interviews, and sharing during the learning time of this present
research. It is noted that language is viewed as communicative strategies that include
verbal and non-verbal forms.
Based on the main categories in Chen (2010), Table 4.1 summarizes the charac-
teristics of compliments and compliment responses in English language in different
variations (American English, New Zealand English, and so on) and other native
languages of target groups. English has received much more attention than other
languages and due to the little research on this topic in the concerning languages,
information about each language will be not equally demonstrated.
Table 4.1 summarizes general information of compliments and compliments
responses across cultures. In fact, compliments and compliment responses are more
4 Teaching Vietnamese as an Additional Language: A Case Study … 63
Table 4.1 Compliments and compliment responses across cultures
Language Compliments Compliment responses
Formulaic
utterances
Gender Topics Interlocutors Accept Reject Deflect/
Evade
Others
English – A small set of
structures: NP is/
looks (really) adj
I (really) like/love
NP
– Common adj:
nice, beautiful,
good
– Common verbs:
like, love
– Women pay and
receive more
compliments.
– Appearance and/
or possession
– Ability and/or
accomplishment
– More between
people of equal
status
(colleagues,
casual friends,
acquaintances)
– Rarely among
intimates (family
members)
High
(36%–60%)
Low
10%
Middle
40%
14%
(continued)
64 T. M. Tran et al.
Table 4.1 (continued)
Language Compliments Compliment responses
Formulaic
utterances
Gender Topics Interlocutors Accept Reject Deflect/
Evade
Others
Vietnamese – A set of structures
(short and long
sentences) and
additional
information:
Ôtô đẹp quá. Ông
tài thật đấy
(The car so is
beautiful. You are so
good.)
–Positive
adjectives: xinh
(beautiful), tốt
(nice, good) etc
–Verbs:
ngưỡng mộ
(admire), thích
(like), etc
– Women compliment
and receive
compliments more
than men.
– Women compliment
men’s ability firstly,
then their appearance.
For men compli-
menting women, it is
the other way around.
Men: possession,
health, ability
Women: appearance,
dress
Men: direct
Women: indirect
– More between
people of equal
status
(colleagues,
casual friends,
acquaintances)
– Rarely among
intimates (family
members)
High
53.2%
Low
24.8%
Low
13%
Low
21.9%
Korean Similar to English
and Vietnamese
Women pay and receive
more compliments.
Ability
Appearance
Men: Ability
Women: Appearance
– Use short
structures for
intimate
relationship
–Use full
structure for
loose/formal
relationship
High
(63,6%)
Low
(18,2%)
Low
(18,2
%)
4 Teaching Vietnamese as an Additional Language: A Case Study … 65
complicated because of language change (Chen & Yang, 2010) and their relation to
different indicators. For example, in English language, if compliments on appearance
can be delivered freely, compliments on ability usually occur in particular situations
from people with higher status to those of lower one (Chen, 2010, p. 80). Compli-
ment responses are also more complex with more than four general categories (Pham,
2020). The variables such as topics, gender, distance, age, and experience are mutu-
ally associated with each other in delivering compliments and compliment responses
in different languages (Tran, 2011).
Through Table 4.1, we can find similarities in compliments and compliment
responses among three languages in general: English, Vietnamese, and Korean.
However, these results should be interpreted with care because of the limitation of
survey answers from the in Korean group. Compliments and compliment responses in
Vietnamese as a target language will be described in more detail in the next separate
section.
Compliments and Compliment Responses in Vietnamese
Compliments in Vietnamese
In Vietnamese, the compliment wording khen is explained as “good evaluation”
(Hoang, 2010, p. 643). Like other languages, with regard to pragmatics, khen is
a grammatical verb reflecting politeness norms (Manes, 1983). Compliment topics
have a very wide range from appearance, ability, belongings, talents, etc. in order to
fulfill the most important function of these actions that is to establish and/or enhance
solidarity and camaraderie (cf. Chen, 2010, p. 80).
Combined with the result of an authentic speech survey (Pham, 2013c), the
purpose of compliments in Vietnamese can be generalized as follows:
(1) Show sympathy, support, admiration. For example:
“Siêu thế! Động lựcgìmàsiêuthế!… Hu hu hu, bao giờ tớ mới thoát cái món
nợđời này đây?” [Super! What motivation is for that super! … (Crying), when
would I escape from this life’s debt?] (Two female graduate students chatting
with each other).
(2) Be social to maintain the relationship or replace the meeting ceremony, break
up, thank you, apologize, … or open, connect, and maintain the conversation.
For example: “Hôm nay trông bảnh quá! Có cô nào để ýà?” [(you) Look cool
today! Any girls paying attention (to you)?] (A women and men meeting, instead
of greeting, the woman gives a compliment).
(3) To avoid face-threatening behaviors. For example:
“Tốthơntrước nhiềurồi. Nhưng mà vẫnphải gia công thêm.” [Better than
before. But still have to improve more.] (Professor X commenting on the
student’s work).
(4) Threatening the face of others (criticism, mockery, sarcasm). For example:
66 T. M. Tran et al.
“Vâng, bà thì đương nhiên lúc nào cũng là number one rồi! Bọntớ chỉ dám ếch
ngồi đáy giếng thôi!” [Yes, you are certainly a number one as always! We just
dared to be as the frogs sitting at the bottom of the well!] (One of the female
friends said to the person who just spoke).
According to Pham (2020), compliments can be delivered by linguistic expres-
sions including or not including the speech act verb. For example:
Example 1:
– A teacher said: “Cô khen bạn Anh Thư trướclớpvề tinh thầnhọctập; hăng
hái phát biểu”[I praise Anh Thu in front of the class for her learning spirit and
eagerness to speak up]. (p. 69).
Example 2:
– An adult said to a baby: “Cháu giỏilắm! Ngoan nhất nhà đấy!” [You are such
a good girl! You are the best at home!] (p. 70).
Example 3: (Seeing Vân wearing a new dress) An said: “Chắclại có chàng nào
việntrợ từ nước ngoài về,ViệtNamlàmgìđã có!” [Must be a guy providing aid
from abroad, as if Vietnam does not have it!] (p. 70).
The delivery of a compliment can be explicit (Examples 1 and 2) or implicit (Example
3). Direct compliments containing speech act verbs (khen—compliment, khen ngợi—
compliment, biểudương - glorify, tuyên dương—honor), are often used in formal
communication. For example:
Example 4:
– “Tôi xin thay mặt lãnh đạo công ty, nhiệt liệt biểu dương tinh thầnhăng say làm
việc, hoàn thành vượtmứckế hoạch của toàn bộ cán bộ công nhân viên chức
trong công ty”. [I, on behalf of the company leadership, would like to give an
appraisal to the enthusiastic spirit of work and the achievement exceeding the
plan of all officials and employees in the company”. (p. 82).
Interestingly, in Vietnamese daily life communication, the compliments
containing the verb ngưỡng mộ (admire) are used differently between men and
women. Men utilize this verb more frequently than women to compliment on many
different topics and in different situations. For example:
Example 5:
– Fema le : “Sếp mình xinh nhỉ!” [My boss is pretty!].
Male: “Mình ngưỡng mộ từ lâu rồi!” [I have admired her for a long time!] “.
(p. 83).
4 Teaching Vietnamese as an Additional Language: A Case Study … 67
In Vietnamese language, there are many linguistic structures to deliver direct compli-
ments such as following: (1) A complete sentence: (“Anh thấy em hôm nay lộng
lẫy quá!”[I find you gorgeous today!]); (2) A short phrase with the evaluated words
(“Giỏithật đấy!” [Good job!],“Giỏi!” [Great!]); (3) A comparison structure (“Xinh
như là minh tinh màn bạc!” [Pretty like a pure silver screen!] (compliment on
appearance)).
Like other languages, indirect compliments consist of: metaphor (“Anh có biết
anh đang là cục nam châm không?” [Do you know you’re a magnet?]); encour-
agement (“Giữ vững vị trí này nhé!” [Hold on to this position please!]); and
many different implications such as question, advice, assumptions, wish, request,
suggestion, announcement, thank, etc.
Specifically, compliments can be delivered in a structure with only the compared
phrase (“Như Tiên giáng thế” [Like the Fairy descending from Heaven] (compliment
on appearance); “Đúng là con nhà nòi” [rightly the child of the master] (compliment
on intelligence or talent).
Pham (2020) also suggested several common wording categories in compliments:
(1) verbs of five senses: thấy, trông, nhìn, ngắm (look, see), nghe (listen), ngửi
(smell), ect.; (2) adjectives indicating positive evaluation such as tốt (good), hay
(interesting),xinh (pretty), đẹp (beautiful), giỏi (mastering), ect.; (3) words indicating
the degree of the adjectives, hơi (slightly),tương đối (relatively),rất (very),lắm
(too), etc.; (4) words indicating emotions ôi chao (suprising), đấy (indicating), đúng
là (emphasizing), etc.
Compliments in Vietnamese in daily life are very diverse because of associated
variables such as age, relationship, purpose, etc. Gender is also one of influencing
factor on compliments in Vietnamese. Pham (2020) argued that men use direct
compliments more than women, while women use indirect compliments more than
men. This statement has been explained by traditional Vietnamese culture: women
prefer to be discreet, delicate and therefore are always able to control actions in
general and speech-language behavior, while men are more direct, more proactive
in expressing their opinions and feelings. Vietnamese men do not find it difficult to
compliment a woman. In contrast, Vietnamese women, though they respect the ability
and/or possession of a man but they often do not speak it out. In order to compliment
a man, women often have to choose an appropriate opportunity/situation.
Compliment Responses in Vietnamese
Compliments and compliment responses are social actions existing in a commu-
nication process. The interactants can respond compliments by verbal, non-verbal
elements, or both, or possibly a “gap” (silence)… (Holmes, 1988, p. 445).
If compliment serves as an introduction, accepting/reacting to a compliment as
a response, from which they form an adjacent pair in a conversation. Therefore,
compliments may be considered “active” status while compliment responses may
belong to “passive” status. A complimenter has the right to compliment someone due
68 T. M. Tran et al.
to his/her intention. It requires the complimentee to respond appropriately. Pomerantz
(1978) stated that the complimenter puts the complimentee into an awkward situation:
how to avoid conflict, disagreement with the appraisal, and avoid self-praise (p. 80).
Based on different investigations on authentic Vietnamese language, Pham (2011,
2012, 2013a, 2013b, 2015) suggested following common structures of compliment
responses: (1) Just say “Cảm ơn/cám ơn” [Thank you]; (2) Confirm and/or improve
the level of appraisal; (3) Praise back the person who praised him/her; (4) Say “Cảm
ơn” [Thank you] and share the information about the praised content; (5) Express feel-
ings; (6) Reject compliments; (7) Ask back about compliment content; (8) Silence;
(9) Talk about other things; (10) Reduce the level of appraisal.
The compliment and compliment responses in Vietnamese obtain both universal
and linguistic and cultural specific features. Teaching Vietnamese compliments and
compliment responses, therefore, needs to pay attention both aspects to help students
get to know these social actions effectively. Therefore, the present study aims to
answer research questions:
How can explicit cross-cultural pragmatic instruction in Vietnamese compliments
and compliment responses be implemented in an Vietnamese as a foreign language
classroom in Vietnam? How do the learners feel after the cross-cultural pragmatic
instruction? How do the teachers feel after the cross-cultural pragmatic instruction?
The study can be considered a pilot study for a long-term study to know whether the
mentioned approach improves performance of Vietnamese speech acts of students
at different language levels, different ages (children, adolescents, adult), different
learning environments (in Vietnam, in other countries, online, offline, homogenous
class, mixed class).
Research Design
Participants
Targeting Korean students and their learning experiences, the present study conducted
surveys, interviews, and provided a teaching lesson (Table 4.2).
Participants generally fall between the ages of 19 and 43. The students in Korean
groups are first to third-year university students at the faculty of Vietnamese Studies
at Hanoi National University of Education. They belong to upper intermediate and
advanced learners.
Their additional languages are usually English and Vietnamese, but the duration
of learning these languages is not homogeneous. They have intercultural experiences
Table 4.2 Summary of
number of Korean
participants in this research
Survey attendance Lesson attendance Interview
20 21 5
4 Teaching Vietnamese as an Additional Language: A Case Study … 69
mostly through learning foreign languages and working. Because of varying cultural
backgrounds and other variables related to intercultural background, this information
needs to be interpreted carefully.
Materials
In this study, a questionnaire was designed to gather information about participants’
personal information, their intercultural background and experience, the knowl-
edge on compliments and compliment responses of participants’ languages, and
a discourse completion test (DCT).
The questionnaire consists of 23 questions in total. Ten of these questions
address intercultural background and experience such as foreign language learning
history and intercultural encounters. Two questions focus on their feeling of compli-
ments and compliment responses in Vietnamese. Due to limited pragmatic research
on compliments and compliment responses in the Korean language and the need
to understand Korean intercultural norms, the remaining eleven questions deal with
compliments and compliment responses in Korean language and culture.
The DCT consists of eight hypothetical scenarios prompting compliments or
compliment responses. Four situations involve compliments, and four involve
responding. These scenarios reflect common communication context, focusing on
topics: competence, appearance, clothing, possessions, and work effort. They encom-
pass various settings (family or public) and relationship (hierarchical, or non-
hierarchical, intimate or non-intimate). Under each DCT situation, participants are
asked to explain the reasoning behind their choices in each scenario.
Additionally, a guideline for semi-structured interviews was developed to conduct
in depth interviews with select participants and teachers after teaching lesson.
The open questions for students consist of information about their experience on
learning Vietnamese, their intercultural experience, their feelings and comments
about teaching lesson, their demands on learning Vietnamese in the future, even their
recommendations. The open questions for teacher include their feelings after instruc-
tion, the advantages and disadvantages when implementing intercultural approach in
teaching, their feelings with reaction of students (agree, disagree, active, passive), the
advantages and disadvantages for the educational institutions in Vietnam, teaching
staff, leaners in the implementation the intercultural approach in teaching, as well as
the future of long-term treatment regarding intercultural teaching.
Lesson Design
As suggested in the review of the teaching of compliment and compliment responses
in foreign language classes, in a teaching design, the explicit instruction is useful
70 T. M. Tran et al.
for teaching language features, but more is needed to encourage cross-pragmatic
learning and individual appropriateness.
To facilitate this teaching model, we borrow Jany’s (2019) experimental design for
intercultural approach teaching, aiming to create classroom interactions that foster
meaningful learner participation. Here’s the breakdown of a 2-hour lesson about
Vietnamese compliments and compliment responses, designed for Korean students
with upper intermediate Vietnamese proficiency:
1. Warm up: Activate prior knowledge of Vietnamese compliments using a
questionaire.
2. Example: Vietnamese compliments and compliment responses.
3. Contrastive analysis: Facilitate discussion comparing students’ native language
(L1) compliments to Vietnamese (L2), emphasizing perspectives like gender.
4. Practice: Provide opportunities for students to practice giving and receiving
compliments.
5. Reassessment: Giving the questionnaire again to gauge post lesson changes).
6. Feedback: Collect the student comments, feelings, and suggestion on Padlet.
Procedure
At the beginning, the survey with a questionnaire and a DCT was distributed to the
learners. The lesson was taught by a Vietnamese native speaker. The entire instruc-
tional session lasted two class hours. The proposed teaching lessons as mentioned
above aim to “wake up” the demand and the voice of the learners and teachers
with the intercultural approach in teaching language and culture through the case
teaching compliments and compliment responses in Vietnamese. Immediately after
the completion of the instruction, the learners were asked to write their feelings,
demands, and comments on Padlet anonymously. Some learners and the teacher
were asked to do a semi-structured interview.
Data Analysis
Survey Analysis
Apart from the questions dealing with personal information and intercultural back-
ground, question 9 and question 11 reveal the attitudes of participants towards using
compliments and compliment responses with people from different cultures in Viet-
namese (from 1 very uncomfortable to 5 very comfortable). Figures 4.1 and 4.2
illustrate the results of these two questions.
4 Teaching Vietnamese as an Additional Language: A Case Study … 71
Fig. 4.1 Attitudes of Korean students in using compliments and compliment responses with people
from different cultures
Fig. 4.2 Attitudes of Korean students in using compliments and compliment responses in
Vietnamese language
Figures 4.1 and 4.2 show that for both people from different cultures and in situ-
ations using Vietnamese, Korean participants mostly feel “normal” and even “com-
fortable” using compliment or responding to compliments. However, in the situations
using Vietnamese language, they seem to feel more “comfortable” (level 4), even
more “very comfortable” (level 5).
The survey also explores the understanding of the students’ cultures of compli-
ments and compliment responses through seven multiple and open-ended questions.
Figure 4.3 demonstrates the responses of students for the question 13 “How often
do Korean people compliment?”. The answers range from “very rarely” to “very
often”). Figure 4.3 indicates that in Korean culture, compliments are used “often”
and “very often”.
72 T. M. Tran et al.
Fig. 4.3 Frequency of using compliments in Korean culture
Fig. 4.4 Frequency of compliment topics in Korean culture
Figure 4.4 illustrates the topics of compliments in Korean culture. It shows that
the most favored topics in compliments in Korean culture are talent, appearance, then
quality respectively.
Specifically, the relationship of gender and compliment actions is illustrated in
Fig. 4.5 as follows.
In Fig. 4.5, the statement 1, 3, and 4 which refer to women receiving compliments,
seem to be largely agreed upon by participants. Statements 2 and 5, dealing with man
and compliments, may be difficult for participants, leading them mostly to choose
“no opinion”. However, the sum of “right” and “absolutely right” is higher than other
choices in all five statements.
The strategies in compliment responses in both cultures are illustrated in Fig. 4.6.
It shows that Korean students tend to accept the compliments more than refuse or
evade this action. This is similar to the practice in English-speaking cultures regarding
compliment responses.
In general, the survey of Korean students in the experimental class echoes the
general findings presented in Part 3 on cross-pragmatic comparison. Korean students
in this class respond positively regarding giving and responding to compliments
within their own culture. They even perceive that complimenting behavior is more
4 Teaching Vietnamese as an Additional Language: A Case Study … 73
Fig. 4.5 Gender and compliments and compliment responses in Korean culture
Fig. 4.6 Compliment
responses in Korean culture
acceptable in Vietnamese culture (Fig. 4.3). Students in this class also consider
talent and appearance as the most two popular topics for compliments. However, the
combined focus on talent, success, and quality shows that students give relatively
less attention to compliments on appearance (Fig. 4.4). Figure 4.5 also suggests a
slight difference in opinions regarding gender. There’s a higher percentage of students
giving “no opinion” to the statement that men received more compliments on ability
and success, and that men give compliments to women more often than to men. This
difference will be further discussed in our analysis of students’ interviews after the
lesson. This analysis of students’ backgrounds before the lesson provides valuable
context for understanding the lesson practices and students’ learning experience.
74 T. M. Tran et al.
Experimental Lesson Observation Analysis
One trained Vietnamese teacher was recruited to observe and write a report. This
individual also conducted interviews with students and the instructor after the lesson.
The online lesson followed the preliminary plan.
The instruction proceeded at slow tempo, gradually creating a comfortable atmo-
sphere. To facilitate open discussion, the teacher frequently asked s tudents, how
Korean people typically compliment or response in specific situations, and how a
student personally acts in these specific situation. The teachers encouraged students
to be confident in their choice and use of Vietnamese compliments. Interestingly,
through discussion rooted in the students’ personal experiences, they expressed
opinions that were different from both the general findings in Part 3 and the pre-
survey discussed earlier. In the class discussion, some students stated that (they
believed) Korean people hesitate to compliment due to shyness. Additionally, they
felt that Korean avoid appearance-based compliments, as these could imply the recip-
ient doesn’t possess other praiseworthy characteristics. They asserted that the most
frequent compliment topic in Korean culture focuses on hard work and that men
often respond to compliments with smiles and silence.
With these new insights from discussion, the teacher suggested that the students
tried to implemente Korean strategies on compliments and compliment responses
to the Vietnamese conversation. Surprisingly, unlike the pragmatic challenges and
failures outlined in Part 2, these Korean students found that their Korean communi-
cation styles were well-received by Vietnamese speakers. This result helped Korean
learners feel less shy in making conversation with Vietnamese friends, and more
comfortable expressing their cultural values and opinions.
Interview with Students After the Experimental Lesson
At the end of the lesson, students anonymously shared their comments on Padlet.
Then we followed up with one-to-one interview with students and the teacher.
Five interviews with students were conducted by a Vietnamese native speaker who
observed the lesson and was trained in interview techniques.
Although the interviewees have different history of learning Vietnamese, they all
expressed their enthusiasm for discussing cultural differences between Korean and
Vietnamese compliments and compliment responses during the semi-structured inter-
view. The lesson’s energy lingered, with some students continuing to share their
changing perspectives on the Korean customs of compliments and compliment
response, and their personal experience of giving and responding to compliments.
Mon said that Korean men generally don’t want to receive the compliments about
appearance, even though they look good, as it makes them feel they lack other note-
worthy qualities to be complimented on. However, he emphasized that compliment
4 Teaching Vietnamese as an Additional Language: A Case Study … 75
culture is changing. Now he can accept compliments on appearance like “so beauti-
ful” and “so nice”. Regarding the same topic, Kin shared that he felt quite uncomfort-
able when he had to give compliment to someone. This, he explained, might be due to
the fact that his parents did not compliment him much, which he perceived as a reflec-
tion of the more reserved nature of Korean culture. Lee found that although people
come from different cultures, their thoughts and behaviors are similar in many situ-
ations. However, there are still differences between Vietnamese and Korean compli-
ment practices. In contrast, Jung found the exploration of similarities between Korean
and Vietnamese compliment cultures.
All students found that the instruction of compliments and compliment responses
was explicitly useful and immidiately applicable in everyday life. Further elaborating
on this point, students shared that the most influential factor on learning Vietnamese
for them was friends and neighbors (Kin, Lee, Hien, Jung), motivation (Mon), inde-
pendence (Kin), Viet books (Mon). Therefore, any new learning point that helps
them use the language more exactly outside the classroom such as pronunciation,
and vocabulary (Kin) and to gain deep knowledge about culture and language (Jung).
With regards to their experience of intercultural communication, Jungo provided
a significant sharing. She said that she used to feel ashamed because her Vietnamese
was not so good; yet the teacher made her believe that the expectation for her is not
to be “like a native”, but to be herself as a Korean learning Vietnamese. Hence, she
gained the confidence to speak out.
Especially, many students recognized the similarities between Vietnamese and
Korean language and culture, and they leveraged these insights to deepen their Viet-
namese learning. Hien, Jung, Mo felt particularly excited during the class discussion,
discovering that both Vietnamese and Korean cultures value idioms and share a
substantial amount of Sino-influenced vocabulary.
They also found that in this lesson, there were far more contributions from
students than other previous lessons (Hien, Jung). Most of them felt comfortable,
even though there were students from different courses attending this lesson. Only
Mon felt more “a little bit stressed” because of the attendance of students from other
grades. Many of them thought they needed more lessons like that. Ki simply said: “I
felt it was not enough”. Hien expressed that she liked it more than ordinary lessons
and “I want to have more lessons like that with different topics”. They mentioned
the need for teachers to care for diversity of students. Mon thought that teachers
should help Korean students to overcome their shyness and fear of being evaluated
to participate. He also suggested that he felt motivated when his interests and level
were paid attention. He thought that teaching Vietnamese as a second language in
Hanoi (where he has learnt) lacks study on this issue.
Interview with the Teacher After the Experimental Lesson
The interview with the teacher was conducted by the same interviewer who
observed the instruction and interviewed the attending students. The teacher was
76 T. M. Tran et al.
not completely satisfied with the instruction. However, she was surprised at the
informative contribution of the students, which was far more than her expectation.
The cross-pragmatic research on the topic of compliments and compliment response has
given me such a deep understanding of teaching Vietnamese language for foreigners. The
comparison was such a useful way to tackle the challenge that Korean students had when
learning Vietnamese. But it is a hard job that requires a lot from teachers.
Ms. Han reported that the implementation of explicit pragmatic and intercultural
approach has not been applied regularly in teaching Vietnamese for international
students in her institution and neighboring ones. She invested significant time and
effort in planning this experimental lesson. But as the team leader of the Vietnamese
teaching team, she felt it was her responsibility to explore this issue.
Ms. Han was initially disappointed by the limited pragmatic research on compli-
ments and compliment responses. However but when the idea of using students as
a source of information came up, Miss. Han was very delighted because she found
a valuable technique for teachers to navigate the complex nature of multilingual
classrooms. This approach emphasized the importance of teachers acquiring cross-
pragmatic knowledge of the teaching topic, but even more significantly, under-
standing their students’ linguistic backgrounds and using cross-pragmatic compar-
ison activities in the language classroom.
The intercultural teaching approach seems to be new for all of us, but the students embraced
it finally, we ended up sharing so much interesting things from all perspectives… I didn’t
know the students like that before.
In this case, the teacher and the students had established a strong rela-
tionship after two years at the institution. The students were accustomed to
the teacher’s existing methods; therefore, introducing a new teaching approach
initially created some uncertainty. When the students did not response to her ideas,
it affected her mood and made her feel discouraged. This experience highlights the
importance of intensive staff training that addresses not only teaching methodology
but also teachers’ well-being and resilience when implementing change.
During instructions, students may have felt more comfortable, therefore they
could contribute more to the lesson and create more output. Students were opened
to discussing about themselves. The open discussion that linked explicit comparison
of two pragmatic rules with the socio-cultural features of the two languages had
deepened students’ knowledge, encouraged high order thinking, and made learning
meaningful and relevant.
Therefore, with respect to the implementation of this teaching method in her
institution, Miss. Han believed that it improves the students’ learning experience.
However, there were still many difficulties in implementing this teaching method
because of such disadvantages that she also has faced: lack of understanding about
students’ cultures and languages and understanding about the teaching method. After
that, she said that the difficulties from students could be solved by spending time to
understand more about interests, motivation and demand of the students.
4 Teaching Vietnamese as an Additional Language: A Case Study … 77
Discussion
This research investigated and exprimentally applied the explicit meta-pragmatic
instruction and intercultural teaching approaches proposed by Chen (2019) and
Stoian (2020) in teaching Vietnamese as a foreign language. The lesson design for
compliments and compliment responses, tailored for Korean learners, was based on
both approaches. During the teaching process, students actively contributed a lot of
information to build the learning content. They were not only receiving informa-
tion from the instructor but also providing the main content for the learning. The
relationship between students and teachers became collaborative.
First, the survey results revealed a suprising number of many similarities between
compliments and compliment responses in Vietnamese and Korean cultures. These
similarites might even extend to universal features across different languages, as
evidenced by comparisons with English, including the formula for compliments, the
favoring of women with compliments, the relationship between favorite compliment
topics and gender, and the frequency of agreement in responding to compliments.
However, during the discussion and interview, many detailed and interesting
pieces of information ermerged that contrast with the characteristics collected
through the survey: shamefulness when giving and receiving compliments; a pref-
erence not to receive the compliments about appearance. Moreover, the interview
showed that the attention of personal and cultural identities that conceptualize their
emotions, feelings, interests, and motivations, is important for teaching success, or
at least for encouraging the active participation of students.
In the previous studies on teaching compliments and compliment responses,
Stoian (2020) emphasized that the contrastive analysis of different languages can
help students understand more about these speech acts rather than reduce stereotype
behavior. The contributions of students, therefore, can fill in the gap of the teaching
only from contrastive analysis. However, the form of contrastive analysis has its own
issue, by framing and contrasting the analysis categories. Our research group was
“homogenous” since they are all Korean learners but the results with focused inter-
view showed that the group was still very diverse as each of them shared a distinct
experience of language and about language use.
The instructor and the students all mentioned that they found the teaching
lessons are useful and practical. Inspire of limitation of training on intercultural
approach and the knowledge of Korean language and culture, the instructor felt
more comfortable than she expected. She found that students could offer a lot of
different views on an issue, encouraging them to talk more, to be really active and to
contribute to building up the lesson. The previous teaching design on compliments
and compliment responses based on explicit meta-pragmatic instruction and inter-
cultural approach in the review focused on the i nstruction of the teacher, and the
comparative knowledge that teachers can provide more than the “lively information,
fresh information” that comes from the discussion with students. Although (Jany,
2019) noted that there are no fixed rules in the use of speech acts, her teaching design
still emphasized “language as code”.
78 T. M. Tran et al.
Our teaching design was based on the voice of the learners more than the profound
knowledge of teachers. The teaching lesson became an adventure that makes both
teachers and learners to be eager with much different unpredictable new knowl-
edge from other perspectives. The acceptance, the empathy, the understanding about
the non-existence of fixed rules (stereotypes).
One of factor that previous experiment studies regarding intercultural approach in
teaching have not mentioned is emotion, feeling, and reaction of the interactants in the
communication. Language and culture do not only work like described stereotypes
and fixed rules in the contrastive analysis, but more diverse. Moreover, sometimes,
the language form at all linguistic levels doesn’t play the most important role for
the success of the communication. The classroom communication is self-motivated,
filled with emotions and feelings, hence creating a “language as experience”. The
feedback from Jung and Mo supports this argument.
In the interview, most of the students requested more time to experience Viet-
namese like the demo lesson. It is evident that the applied teaching lesson plan and
teaching methodology are effective to teach Vietnamese compliments and compli-
ment responses, and potentially applicable for other content areas of teaching Viet-
namese as a second language. However, the duration of an intervention should
be longer. This has led us to consider developing another long-term study to
obtain precise results in near future.
In the interview, the learners mostly expressed their positive attitudes toward the
lesson and felt very comfortable having the chance to share their ideas. However,
they still did not directly mention to the difference between this teaching lesson and
other lessons, nor did they discuss intercultural competence. Therefore, intercultural
training will be made more explicit in the long-term course. The suggestion of a
student, Mo, regarding the appropriate implementation of intercultural approach for
student group will be considered in the next lesson plan.
Conclusion
The current study aims to examine the effectiveness of using of intercultural approach
to teach Vietnamese compliments and compliment responses for Korean learners. To
achieve this, a pre-survey and an empirical teaching design were implemented with
Korean learners as the target group.
To experiment with this proposal, we initiated the study with a linguistic analysis
of compliments and compliment responses, which have been chosen because of their
common and diverse features in many languages, including Vietnamese, English, and
Korean. From this, we conducted a survey with our 20 potential Korean students and
analyzed it to understand their perspective of using compliments and compliment
responses in their language knowledge and their previous living experiences. Based
on our linguistic understanding and explicit pragmatic instruction, our knowledge
about learners, and our understanding of the intercultural teaching framework, we
then designed an experimental lesson. The experimental class was observed, and
4 Teaching Vietnamese as an Additional Language: A Case Study … 79
the teachers and students were interviewed after the lesson; with this qualitative
analysis, the article discussed the affordances and challenges of applying intercultural
approach in teaching Vietnamese to Korean students at Binh Minh University and
expanded beyond that boundary.
It is noted that although the target group seems to be homogenous with their Korean
cultural background, their previous intercultural experiences and personal identities
play a significant role in their learning of Vietnamese compliments and compliment
responses. Most learners want to have their voices included in the learning process.
The intercultural adjustment in teaching has helped them to feel “comfortable” in
learning, “opened to others”, and be more confident in talking in Vietnamese with
Vietnamese people. A comprehensive treatment within a minimum of two or three
20-min sessions to a maximum of 9-week sessions depending on the complexity of
the targets to be taught (Rose, 2005) will be developed in the near future to know
more exactly about the effectiveness of the teaching method and the maintenance
of the competence after the intervention. This result reveals further ground data
for the need of intercultural approach in teaching Vietnamese for speakers of other
languages in Vietnam and can be applied to other contexts of teaching Vietnamese
in other contexts.
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Tran, Thi Minh earned one bachelor’s degree in Philology and another one in English. She then
pursued a Master’s degree in Linguistics from Hanoi National University of Education, Vietnam,
and a PhD in Vietnamese Studies at University of Hamburg, Germany. Her main interests are
teaching Vietnamese language and culture, the Vietnamese diaspora worldwide, and the lifelong
development of the heritage language of immigrants. She has been lecturing and doing research
in the Vietnamese language, intercultural exchange, and education at different levels. She has
also participated in many projects regarding the Vietnamese language, teaching Vietnamese a s an
additional language, and education studies.
Pham, Thi Ha has a PhD in Linguistics and expertise in Language Education. She has been
lecturing and doing research in Vietnamese language, language and culture, Vietnamese for
foreigners at different levels. She has published many specialized journal articles and has partic-
ipated in many books and projects regarding teaching Vietnamese as a foreign language. Ha has
been a lecturer at Hanoi National University of Education and worked part-time for some univer-
sities in Hanoi. Her research interests include social linguistics, pragmatics, language and culture,
and Vietnamese Studies.
Ngo, Thi Diem Hang is a registered teacher and community educator in South Australia, and a
researcher in affiliation with Thang Long Institute of Cognition and Education Studies, Thang
Long University. Her research interests include folklore studies, religion studies, cultural anthro-
pology, Vietnamese Studies, literacy education, Vietnamese teaching and learning as an additional
language, and as a heritage language.
82 T. M. Tran et al.
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Chapter 5
Language Ideology and Its Educational
Impact: Insights from Vietnamese
Community Language Schools
Hoa Do
Abstract Drawing on Gal and Irvine’s (1995), (Signs of difference: Language and
ideology in social life. Cambridge University Press, 2019) concept of linguistic differ-
entiation, this chapter examines if and how teachers, principals and stakeholders
at Vietnamese community language schools (CLSs) in Australia were engaged in
linguistic differentiation and the extent to which their engagement influenced their
decision-making and classroom practices. Thematic analysis of semi-structured inter-
views demonstrates that the participants were actively engaged in noticing and justi-
fying linguistic differences. Language-in-education planning wise, it is argued that
the teaching of Vietnamese at the CLSs under study was, to some extent, politicized,
evidenced by the participants’ language standardization and low interest in resources
developed inside Vietnam.
Introduction
The postcolonial approach to language-in-education (LIE) policy has highlighted
the ideological, discursive and negotiating nature of educational language planning,
considering it as a practice distributed to and conducted by different actors at different
levels in the society, i.e. t he micro, local level and intervening level, as opposed to
being exclusively taken charge of by governmental and institutional bodies at the
macro level (Baldauf, 2006; Canagarajah, 2005; Liddicoat & Taylor-Leech, 2021;
Spolsky, 2009). Canagarajah (2005) further argues that LIE planning should take a
“ground-up” approach (p. 195) when developing and executing policies considering
how multifaceted and ideological sociolinguistic identity, language attitudes and
loyalty are and how mixed community needs can be in the current era of globalization
and transnationalism.
H. Do (B
)
La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
e-mail: thixuanhoa.do@latrobe.edu.au
© The Author(s) 2024
Phan Le Ha et al. (eds.), Vietnamese Language, Education and Change In and Outside
Vietnam, Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9093-1_5
83
84 H. Do
In one of his influential essays to argue for micro-language planning, Baldauf
(2006) makes an essential distinction between micro-implementation of macro poli-
cies and micro-language planning at specific sites, which he respectively terms
“implementation studies” and “micro-centric LPP studies” (p. 154, 158). According
to this distinction, the former looks at the instrumental role of bottom-up work in
carrying out top-down policies, which is the traditional direction in goal-oriented
LIE scholarship. The latter encompasses cases where individuals and/or groups and
organizations take initiative and exercise agency to develop their own language policy
and planning, which is not necessarily an outcome of a macro policy, but more of a
response to their own language needs and issues. In arguing for micro-level LIE plan-
ning and teacher agency in multilingual education and community language mainte-
nance, Liddicoat and Taylor-Leech (2014) point out that the absence of or inconsisten-
cies in macro-level frames and guidelines often result in community- and language-
specific needs and issues left unattended, prompting local actors to develop and
execute their own language planning activities to deal with the perceived issues. Some
may be tempted to think that this distinction goes against the micro–macro continuum
or the onion layers metaphor in LIE (Hornberger & Johnson, 2007). However, this
view of micro-centric language planning helps include minority communities and
their languages and aspects of minority languages which are small and highly negli-
gible in macro-level planning (Baldauf, 2006). It is, thus, sensible to consider micro-
centric language planning as complementary to micro-implementation of macro
policy and recognize it as a valid branch in LIE scholarship. This further embraces
the discursive and inclusive goal of LIE (Baldauf, 2006; Spolsky, 2009) and closely
resonates with the “localized orientation” Canagarajah (2005, p. 195) suggests.
Language Ideology in Micro-centric LIE
Central to micro-centric LIE is the discussion of the relationship between local
language planning work and local stakeholders’ language ideology.1 Language
ideology has been defined as sets of beliefs that language users articulate to justify
and rationalize their language use (Silverstein, 1979 cited in Woolard, 1998), and
these beliefs closely concern the role of language in language users’ individual and
group membership (Woolard, 1998). In the LIE literature, Shohamy (2009) explic-
itly endorses a highly similar view, according to which language is considered a
marker of nationhood, loyalty and conformity, and that language policies, rules
and regulations at any l evel are formulated based on stakeholders’ ideologies about
nations and groups, and about “who belongs, who doesn’t […] and who should not
belong” (p. 186). These comments lend themselves neatly to the ideology of linguistic
differentiation, an influential theme in linguistic anthropology and sociolinguistics.
1 While the distinction between the two terms “linguistic ideology” and “language ideology” is worth
discussing, the scope of this chapter does not permit it. They are, therefore, used interchangeably
in this chapter.
5 Language Ideology and Its Educational Impact: Insights … 85
Linguistic differentiation is, by definition, an ideological process in which linguistic
differences and language varieties are noticed, commented on, rationalized, justi-
fied and mapped on to perceived relevant and significant social groups and events
(Irvine & Gal, 2000). Irvine and Gal (2000) and Gal and Irvine (2019) identify three
linguistic differentiation processes: rhematization, erasure and fractal recursivity.
Rhematization, previously termed iconization, involves viewing linguistic features
as representative of “a social group’s inherent nature or essence” (p. 37). Erasure
entails linguistic features that do not fit or is inconsistent with a social group’s ideo-
logical scheme being made invisible or unnoticed (Irvine & Gal, 2000). They define
fractal recursivity as the projecting and/or performing of linguistic differentiation at
one level to another. The three processes of rhematization, erasure and fractal recur-
sivity do not happen in a linear sequence but are intertwined with one inviting the
other(s) (Gal, 1998).
The maintenance of a minority community’s language at community language2
schools (CLSs), not-for-profit community-based organizations offering language
programs for school-aged children outside school hours, is a prime example of micro-
centric LIE planning. This is because volunteer teachers, principals at CLSs and
interested community stakeholders take initiative to plan and implement measures to
address their own community- and language-specific needs which, in most cases, are
neither visible nor taken up at macro-level LIE planning and policies (Baldauf, 2006;
Liddicoat & Taylor-Leech, 2014). Local language planning at individual CLSs is best
observed in such culturally and linguistically diverse migrant countries as Australia
where more than one in every five Australians, or 22.8% of the population, reported
speaking a language other than English at home (ABS, 2022). Along with main-
stream schools and government specialist language schools that provide foreign and
community language programs, there are currently 738 CLSs teaching 93 commu-
nity languages to more than 105 thousand students in Australia (CLA, 2021). CLSs
have been found to play a pivotal role in helping students negotiating their identity
and developing stronger migrant communities and greater social cohesion for the
host country (Cruickshank et al., 2020). However, they are still marginalized, with
their operation and teaching activities generally considered a community’s private
issue (Liddicoat, 2018) and their volunteer staff and their language ideologies being
peripheralized (Nordstrom, 2020).
To offer a nuanced understanding of volunteer teachers and principals and their
decision-making process regarding planning and implementing local community-
and language-specific rules at CLSs, this chapter approaches the topic from a
language ideology perspective. Drawing on the concepts of linguistic differentia-
tion (Gal & Irvine, 1995, 2019; Irvine & Gal, 2000), this chapter seeks answers to
the following questions:
2 The term “community languages” is the Australian counterpart of heritage languages, which is
more commonly used in Northern America and other parts of the world. It implies a sense of
belonging and contemporaneity when it comes to language in education and language maintenance
(Lo Bianco, 2020), andisusedinthisarticle.
86 H. Do
1. In what way do Vietnamese CLS teachers, principals and community stake-
holders justify variants and differences if they notice them in the Vietnamese
language?
2. To what extent does their justification impact their decision-making process and
classroom practices at CLSs?
This chapter continues with an overview of the research context, i.e. the Viet-
namese community and Vietnamese CLSs in Australia. The methodology section
reports the way in which the participants were recruited, data were collected and
analysed, followed by the findings and discussion section. The chapter concludes
with a summary of the project and some implications for future research.
Research Context
It is generally accepted that the Vietnamese community in Australia is comprised
of war refugees and their relatives and offspring and a more recent wave of skilled
migrants, partner migrants, and graduates gaining permanent residency (Carruthers,
2008; DHA, 2019, 2020, 2022; Thai, 2007; Nguyen, 2012). There are stark differ-
ences between the two subgroups in their migration motives and pathways, aspiration,
attitudes towards and connections with the home and host country (Baldassar et al.,
2017). Despite the intragroup differences, the displaced and diasporic discourse of
the whole Vietnamese community is firmly instilled, evidenced by the prevalent
collective memory of the first generation’s trauma and refugeehood and the unre-
lenting anti-communist attitudes and distancing from the current regime in Vietnam
(Baldassar et al., 2017; Nguyen, 2013).
Vietnamese has been among the top five languages other than English (LOTEs)
spoken at home in most recent censuses (ABS, 2022). The maintenance of Viet-
namese has often been attributed to Vietnamese CLSs. Data collated from r elevant
state and territory government bodies and from Community Languages Australia
(CLA) show that there are some 50 Vietnamese CLSs in five states and one territory in
the country offering outside school hours Vietnamese lessons to some 8,800 students3
(CLA, 2021; CLSSA, 2023; DOET, 2021, 2022a, b;OMA,
2021). While there is
no official record of the first Vietnamese CLS in Australia, some schools report that
they started offering Vietnamese language lessons to children of Vietnamese origin
in as early as 1978 and the early 1980s. As such, most CLSs were pioneered, and
some are currently managed by first-generation Vietnam-born refugees (Table 5.1).
Vietnamese was identified as an “at risk” language whose enrolments dropped by
32% in a recent study on CLSs in New South Wales (Cruickshank et al., 2020, p. 18).
Considering these numbers and the fact that the Vietnamese community is now in
its third generation, a critical point where language shift is most likely to happen
3 There may be discrepancies in the number of schools and enrolments recorded and reported
by different departments and organizations. These discrepancies, to a certain extent, indicate the
peripheral status of CLSs in comparison with mainstream schools.
5 Language Ideology and Its Educational Impact: Insights … 87
Table 5.1 Number of Vietnamese CLSs and their enrolment
State and territory Number of Vietnamese CLSs Enrolments
Australian Capital Territory 186
New South Wales 20 2,305
Queensland 3NA
South Australia 4 1,535
Victo ria 12 4939
Tot a l 40 8,796
Source CLA (2021), DOET (2021, 2022a, b), OMA (2021)
(Fishman, 2001), it is timely to examine factors affecting the teaching of Vietnamese
at CLSs.
Method
Participants
Presented in this chapter is data taken from semi-structured interviews with 11 Viet-
namese volunteer teachers, principals and directors from nine CLSs. Most of the
participants were recruited through the snowball technique (Milroy, 2008). This tech-
nique helps accelerating the establishment of trust between newly recruited partici-
pants and the researcher (O’Connor, 2004). New informants were also recruited after
an interview where it was decided that more interviewees were needed to contribute to
the exploration of new understanding and meaning of the topic under study. While this
theoretical sampling required data analysis to be done concurrently with data collec-
tion, it was worthwhile since combining snowball sampling and theoretical sampling
could ensure both diversity, transferability and theoretical saturation (Conlon et al.,
2020). Table 5.2 outlines the interviewees’ demographics.
Interviews were conducted via either Zoom meeting or telephone during the period
from May to September 2021 due to the COVID-19 restriction on travelling. Written
participant consent forms were sent in the email invitation and verbal consent to
recording was gained at the beginning of each interview. Ten interviews were in
Vietnamese and one was in English. Interviews varied in length since they were
mainly interviewee-led.
88 H. Do
Table 5.2 Interviewees’ demographics
#Code Role Gender Years in
Australia
Migration
pathway
Language Interview
length mode
1TMS2 Teacher M>10 Skill Vietnamese 35 min/
Telephone
2TFS3 Teacher F 9 Skill Vietnamese 30 min/
Telephone
3TFS5 Teacher F23 Skill Vietnamese 84 min/Zoom
meeting
4TMR6 Teacher
Principal
M33 Refugee Vietnamese 40 min/
Telephone
5TMR7 Teacher M41 Refugee Vietnamese 63 min/
Telephone
6TMR8 Ethnic group
stakeholder
M>40 Refugee Vietnamese 65 min/
Telephone
7TFR9 Teacher F34 Refugee Vietnamese 95 min/Zoom
meeting
8TFR10 Teacher/
principal
F44 Refugee Vietnamese 51 min/
Telephone
9TFR11 Teacher/
principal
F40 Refugee English 82 min/Zoom
meeting
10 TFR12 Retired
teacher/
principal
consultant
F>40 Refugee Vietnamese 71 min/Zoom
meeting
11 TFR13 Teacher/
principal
FSkill
Data Analysis
The interviews were transcribed automatically on Transwreally.com. The tran-
scripts were then checked manually and revision was made where needed. Thematic
data analysis (Braun, 2022) was conducted on the original transcript in Viet-
namese. Interview extracts quoted in this chapter were translated into English by
the researcher.
Positioning: The Outsider, the Insider and the Critic
Since interpretation of qualitative data is significantly influenced by the investigator’s
background, social position and perspective in the research process (Malterud, 2001;
May & Perry, 2014), it is essential at this point that I briefly describe my positioning. I
considered myself an outsider of the Vietnamese diaspora in Australia in that I did not
5 Language Ideology and Its Educational Impact: Insights … 89
share their migration trajectories, their lived experiences of the Vietnam war-related
events and emotions and feelings. I considered myself an insider in that we are all
native Vietnamese speakers and are involved in maintaining Vietnamese despite our
differences. I was a critic of what I observed in my two other roles in that every now
and then I stepped back and used my research questions and my prior training as a
language teacher and teacher trainer to guide my listening and interpretation. The
knowledge and findings presented in subsequent sections are situated and described
in close relation to my positioning and lenses.
Findings
Interviews with the participants covered a range of topics related to maintaining
Vietnamese as a community language in Australia, challenges and opportunities for
this maintenance work, pedagogy and curriculum and other related topics. Relevant
to this chapter is the discussion of teachers’, principals’ and stakeholders’ language
ideologies and how such ideologies affect their local language planning and teaching
activities.
Linguistic Differentiation as a Common Practice
A strong theme emerging from the data is the interviewees’ critical comments on
different linguistic features they noticed. The interviewees differentiated and labelled
two varieties of Vietnamese: tiếng Việthải ngoại (overseas Vietnamese or OV) and
tiếng Việt trong nước (domestic Vietnamese or DV). OV is the Vietnamese brought
to the diaspora by the first generation and has been used since; DV refers to the Viet-
namese that is contemporarily used inside Vietnam and recently enters the diaspora.
Most comments on OV and DV focused on the lexicon including semantic changes,
etymology and orthography.
Senior teachers and principals expressed their strong criticism for some DV lexical
items for their overuse and irrational semantic changes. Table 5.3 outlines some of
the most problematic items perceived by the interviewees and the justification for
their criticism. Among these items, the word “hoành tráng” was repeatedly criticized
by many senior interviewees. They believed that speakers inside Vietnam and recent
arrivals in the community used the word excessively in almost any context. This
made the Vietnamese language less rich.
A teacher frankly criticized DV as “rấttệ” (very bad) and not as “phong phú”
(rich) as OV.
90 H. Do
Table 5.3 Critiqued DV lexical items
Differentiated item Critique Justification/perceived standard
meaning and use
Hoành tráng
as in “bữa ăn hoành tráng”;
“ngôi nhà hoành tráng”
Overuse The item is used in almost any
situation concerning a degree of
grandeur, making the range of
Vietnamese adjectives less rich
Corrected use:
Ngôi nhà hoành tráng – > ngôi
nhà nguy nga (a majestic house)
bữa ăn hoành tráng – > bữa ăn
thịnh soạn (a sumptous meal)
Vô tưIrrational semantic change The word originally means naive
or without any bad thoughts or
opinions, and should be used as
such
Nowitisusedtorefer to things
that are free, which is incorrect
and unacceptable by the
interviewees
Tham quan
as in “đi tham quan”
The word originally means “a
corrupted governmental official”,
and should be used as such
Now it is used to refer to a visit to
some place or to sightsee/go
sightseeing, which is hard to
explain
Khẩntrương
As in “Ănkhẩntrương”
Thewordisusedtodescribean
important or urgent situation, and
should be used as such
Now it is used as quickly as in the
command “ănkhẩntrương” (eat
quickly). This is incorrect
“Tôi cho rằng sau 1975 cho đến 1997 tôi
thấytiếng Việtvẫncònrấtlàtốt, vẫncòn
ảnh hưởng trước 1975, miềnBắcvàmiền
Nam. Nhưng mà sau 1997 thì tiếng Việt
trong nướcrấtlàtệ. Cái lý do là tạivìhọ
đổichữ, đổitừ ngữ[…]. Tối không thể dùng
mấycáichữđó.” (TMR7)
“I find that after 1975 to 1997, the
Vietnamese language was still very good,
still influenced by pre-1975(language), in
the North and the South. But after 1997, the
Vietnamese language inside Vietnam has
become very bad. The reason is that they
changed the words. […]. I can’t use those
words.” (TMR7)
TMR7’s reference to “the influence of pre-1975” suggested his recognition of
a variety of Vietnamese he was familiar with as the standard for the Vietnamese
language as a whole. In doing this, he was conducting the process of erasure by
simplifying the sociolinguistic field of Vietnamese and drawing attention to only one
of its aspects, the pre-1975 variety, and rendering linguistic forms appearing after a
5 Language Ideology and Its Educational Impact: Insights … 91
perceived point in time invisible. Similarly, his firm decision to not include perceived
wrong words in his own linguistic repertoire clearly reflected the working of erasure
in which Vietnamese was considered homogeneous with internal linguistic variations
being disregarded and vocabulary items that did not fit a standard being eradicated.
TFR10, a retired teacher-principal referred to post-1975 vocabulary items as“từ
cộng sản”(communist words). These vocabulary items were brought to the South by
northerners after April 1975 and later brought to the diaspora by later arrivals.
“[….] Nhưng vớinhững ngườimàhọ có
mối thù nó quá sâu nặng thì họ nói về
những cái đóthìhọđiên lên, nó sùng sục
sùng sục trong con ngườihọ,nhấtlànhững
ngườihồixưalàsỹ quan hay những người
mà trong gia đình họ bị cộng sảnnóápbức
hay cái gì đó. Con biếtlàở bên nước ngoài
này những người đó không ít đâu, rấtlà
nhiều đó.Rất là nhiềugia đình bị như vậy.”
(TFR10)
“[…] However, for people who have too
bitter feud (with the communist regime),
particularly those former officers (in South
Vietnam’s army) and those whose family
were suppressed by the communist side or
something like that, just the use of those
words could drive them nut and their anger
bubbled up. You should know that there are
not a few, but so many of them living
overseas. A lot of families were treated so.
(TFR10)
The label “từ cộng sản” (communist words) was a typical example of linguistic
differentiation where both rhematization and fractal recursivity were at play. Unfa-
miliar vocabulary used by northerners indexed communism and reminded some
people from the South of all the suffering and trauma they had been through. Labelled
“cộng sản” (communist), newly introduced lexical items were considered as having
the essence of communism, the perceived cause of all pains and trauma overseas
Vietnamese experienced. Since communism was believed to be “không bao giờ tốt”
(never good) (TMR6), communist words were not good either. This absolute gener-
alization and “totalizing vision” (Gal & Irvine, 1995, p. 974) was a textbook example
of rhematization where language use of the other is believed to originate from their
virtues not historical events (Irvine & Gal, 2000).
Fractal recursivity was also apparent in the label “từ cộng sản” (communist
words). During the Vietnam war, there was an opposition between the Republic of
Vietnam (South Vietnam) and the communist-led Democratic Republic of Vietnam
(North Vietnam). This political opposition was reproduced and projected onto a
linguistic level where communist words used in the North were contrasted with non-
communist words used in the South. This intergroup opposition happening inside
Vietnam then was brought outside Vietnam to Australia and recurred as an intra-
group opposition within the Vietnamese community. In this sense, the dichotomizing
process originally involving the opposition against communism inside Vietnam
recurred at both linguistic level and geographic level.
Linguistic differentiation was recorded among recent migrant teachers too, though
at a much milder degree. Junior teachers who migrated to Australia from Vietnam
as skilled workers, partners or who gained residency after their education also noted
92 H. Do
Table 5.4 Critiqued OV lexical items
Differentiated
item
Critique Justification/more contemporary alternative
Tam cá nguyệtArchaic
lexicon
The word sounds highly archaic since all three elements are
Sino-Vietnamese
More contemporary alternative:
Quý (a quarter)
3 tháng (3 months)
Lễ mãn khóa The word sounds highly archaic since all three elements are
Sino-Vietnamese
More contemporary alternative:
Lễ tổng kếtnămhọc/Lễ bế giảng (End-of-course ceremony)
Tu nghiệpArchaic
lexicon
Semantic
change
The word is nowadays used to refer to professionals going
abroad for further studies, usually for a long time
In OV, it is used to describe a professional development
activity such as a workshop or a short training session
More contemporary alternative:
Tậphuấn/đào tạo
Từng Archaic
orthography
“Từng” is not up-to-date orthography of the word meaning
floor or level
More contemporary orthography: Tầng
that some lexical items used by their senior colleagues’ language use and in the text-
books and materials were archaic, mainly due to their etymology.4 For example, in
Table 5.4, in each of the three words “tam cá nguyệt”, “lễ mãn khóa” and “tu nghiệp”,
all elements are Sino-Vietnamese. Sino-Vietnamese elements invoke abstractness,
archaism and elegance and are typical of formal language register. Perception of
and attitudes towards Sino-Vietnamese elements in Quốcngữ—the current official
language of Vietnam are ambivalent. While Sino-Vietnamese elements are widely
considered an important part of the Vietnamese language lexicon, using them exces-
sively is sometimes considered out-of-date and met with negative attitudes. Nguyen
(2013) argues that speakers of Vietnamese have a strong tradition of preserving
their language as a way of confirming and maintaining their identity during times of
colonization and liberation.
In their commentary on OV, more recent migrant teachers like TFS3 showed their
understanding of the features of OV and their reluctant acceptance and gradual use
of some OV lexical items.
4 It is estimated that the Vietnamese language borrows some 30%–60% Chinese words/elements
in the current lexicon (Le, 2002; Nguyen, 2000;Phametal.,
2019). With almost a thousand
years under Chinese rule, countless Chinese words entered the Vietnamese language. Vietnamese
speakers developed their own way of pronouncing these Chinese loanwords. They have also coined
new compound words from Chinese loanwords/elements besides borrowing complete words from
Chinese.
5 Language Ideology and Its Educational Impact: Insights … 93
Cái chỗ chị dạythìcáithầyhiệutrưởng mở
trường từ năm 1984, tứclà(trường) hơnchị
1tuổi. Thế hệ chị em mình là ở ViệtNam
nên là cái ngôn ngữ nó hiện đại đúng
không? […] Nên là ví dụ nhé, ví dụ thôi,
ngôn ngữ họ dùng rấtlàcổ xưa, mình cũng
chẳng blame ai đâu nhưng mà lúc đầumình
cũng hơikhóchịumộttí,nhưng mà về sau
thì mình cũng phảitìmcách để mình cố nói
như người ta, nói bằng thứ tiếng Việtcổ mà
củamiền Nam (TFS3)
“The place where I taught was established
by the principal in 1984, a year older than
me. Our generation (growing up) in
Vietnam so our language is modern, right?
[…] So for example, their language was
very ancient. I don’t mean to blame anyone
but at first, I was a little uncomfortable, but
later I had to find every way to try to speak
like them, speak the ancient southern
Vietnamese dialect.” (TFS3)
In this comment, OV was described as ancient as opposed to the perceived modern
DV. These features of OV were mapped onto first-generation migrant teachers who
established CLSs a long time ago. It is important to note that, unlike their senior
colleagues who labelled problematic items or excluded them from their own reper-
toire, TFS3 reported gradually familiarising herself with a different way of speaking
despite her initial reluctance. This means that the working of erasure was not present
in the case of TFS3. Her assimilation into the community of practice at CLSs could
be explained by their identity and power, which, due to space limit, cannot be fully
discussed in this chapter.
In short, both senior and junior teacher interviewees in this project were engaged
in the ideological processes of linguistic differentiation: rhematization, erasure and
fractal recursivity. Two varieties of Vietnamese, OV and DV, were identified and
contrasted. Linguistic differences between OV and DV were mainly lexical ones and
comments focused on their etymology, orthography and semantics. OV was praised
by senior teachers and principals for being better and richer but was criticized by
younger teachers as too archaic. DV was condemned by senior interviewees for its
semantic changes.
Language Standardization at Varying Degrees
This section focuses on the educational impact of the three linguistic differentiation
processes analysed earlier. Showing awareness of inevitable language change and
coinage of new words, senior volunteer teachers, however, seemed to strongly hold
on to prescriptivism and language standardization.
Some vocal teachers firmly reported their complete eradication of perceived
misused or oversued lexical items such as “vô tư” (naive), “khẩntrương” (hurry/
urgent), “tốc hành” (express), “hoành tráng” (majestic), “tham quan” (sightsee),
arguing that they interfered with students’ acquisition of new vocabulary and their
language learning.
94 H. Do
“Tôi không có thể soạngiáoánrồichochữ
“hoành tráng” vào đó.Cáigìcũng để
hoành tráng thì họcsinhnó đâu có hiểu đó
là cái gì. […] Cái gì mà cũng hoành tráng
thì ý nghĩ của các em nó bị frozen, bịđóng
băng đó. Có nghĩa là nó không tưởng tượng
được.” (TMR7)
“I can’t use the word “majestic” in my
lesson plan. If everything is majestic,
students will not understand what it means.
[…] If everything is majestic, their thinking
will be frozen. It means that they cannot
imagine.” (TMR7)
In this example, TMR7 mentioned the interest of his students to support his
decision to exclude certain vocabulary items from his lessons, which may sound
educational to a certain extent. However, language education-wise, this decision-
making process clearly illustrated the prescriptive approach TMF7 took in his lesson
planning, which has been unanimously considered detrimental to students under-
standing of how a language works and how to use it (Curzan, 2019). The adoption of
this prescriptive approach to teaching Vietnamese at CLSs raised concerns over the
knowledge and skills of volunteer teachers who may or may not have proper training
and expertise in linguistics, language education and pedagogy. This concern, in fact,
has been frequently discussed in studies on CLS volunteer teachers’ training, qualifi-
cations and professional development (Cruickshank et al., 2020; Cruickshank et al.,
2018; Nordstrom, 2020; Scarino, 2017).
Commenting on material development, other volunteer teachers shared a similar
approach to compiling and editing handouts or textbooks, according to which
perceived strange or sensitive words were avoided altogether and removed upon
being spotted in subsequent editions.
“[…] Cô giáo mà đikiếmtàiliệuthìcũng
phảikiếmtàiliệu nào trướcnăm 75. […]
Những ngườisoạnsáchhọ biếtnênhọ cũng
tránh dữ lắm.” (TMR10)
“[…] When looking for materials, teachers
would find materials that are pre-1975. […]
Textbook writers all know (this), so they try
hard to avoid it.” (TMR10)
This extract highlighted the direct influence of language standardization and the
ideology of erasure in language planning activities at CLSs. The reported inten-
tional search for pre-1975 materials and language and avoidance of unfamiliar words
suggested that changes in the Vietnamese language would not be made available to
CLS students. It seems apparent that these practices were supportive of maintaining
an acceptable variety or version of the language, not a living and evolving Vietnamese
nor the one used inside Vietnam.
The highest level of selectivity and standardization was recorded when an exclu-
sive adoption of pre-1975 language was endorsed by community stakeholders in
leadership roles. The justification for this endorsement was that language taught at
CLSs must be the one officially approved of by a perceived valid authority and should
not go against the expectations of parents and other community members. TMR8, for
example, only accepted vocabulary that he believed had been approved of by “Viện
Hàn lâm” (the Academy), an authority under the former South Vietnam government,
5 Language Ideology and Its Educational Impact: Insights … 95
and ignored items that were “không có trong từđiển” (not in the dictionary yet)
despite them being used widely.
“Là bởivìtrướcnăm75nướcViệtNam
chúng ta có cái ViệnHànlâmvàkhimà
ViệnHànlâmlànơimàngười ta quyết định
tấtcả những từ ngữ và những cái chữ
mà dùng rất chính xác mà mình dùng để ám
chỉ hay chỉđịnh mộtcáimónvật hay ý định
gì. Nhưngmàsau75tôiđã nhìn thấyrất
nhiềutừ ngữ nó đượcsử dụng rất quen
thuộcnhưng mà chưa được chính thức phê
chuẩn để mà chữđóámchỉ hành động hay
là những cái vật đónó đúng hay sai. Chính
vì vậy cho nên tấtcả các sách giảng dạy ở X
đều dùng những cái từ ngữ củatrước 1975
mà thôi.” (TMR8)
“This is because before 75 our country
Vietnam had the Academy and it was where
people decided all words and accurate
words to describe or denote an object or an
intention. But after 75, I have seen so many
words being widely used but they have not
been officially approved of as right or
wrong terms/words to denote an action or
object. Therefore, all textbooks in X use
pre-1975 words only.” (TMR8)
The interviewee insisted on exclusively using approved vocabulary and those
listed in a dictionary and his distinction of right and wrong vocabulary clearly indi-
cated his strong prescriptivism, standardization and codification. Actual use of new
vocabulary, though acknowledged, was not considered sufficient for lexical items to
be included in textbooks. The interviewee’s sole r ecognition of a past body and the
refusal of a current one signalled their political stance which intertwined with their
language ideologies. Despite their claim that “Chúng tôi dạy ngôn ngữ và văn hóa
và không bàn về chính trị hay tôn giáo” (We teach language and culture and don’t
talk politics and religion. (TMR8), politics seemed strongly influential in this local
actor’s decision-making at the CLSs.
While senior CLS teachers firmly expressed their resistance against perceived
problematic linguistic differences in both their own language use and teaching activ-
ities, recent migrant teachers tended to approach variants and differences they noticed
in the textbooks with understanding and a descriptive perspective.
“Tạivìhọ soạnsáchtừ lâu rồivàhồi đấylà
hồihọđivượtbiên, ở Sài Gòn họ dùng như
thế nhưng bây giờ thì nó khác rồi. Nhưng
mà họđâu có về ViệtNammàhọ biết đâu.
Cũng chẳng biết, toàn dân miềnNam,mà
dân miềnNamtừ hồixaxưa ấy, nên không
có cớ gì mà mình phảibắthọ nói theo thứ
ngôn ngữ tiếng Việthiện đại. Họđâu có về
đâu, họở bên này họ vẫnsử dụng như là
thờixưa thôi.” (TFS3)
“Because they developed their textbook a
long time ago since they crossed the border.
Back then in Sai Gon they used (language)
that way, but now it is different. But they
don’t come back to Vietnam so they don’t
know (about it). I don’t know. They are all
southerners, southerners from long long
time ago, so we have no reasons to force
them to follow the modern Vietnamese. They
do not come back; they stay here; they keep
using (language) like the old times.” (TFS3)
It seems evident from the explanation that as a later arrival, TFS3 acknowledged
the validity and the continued use of the archaic Vietnamese in the diaspora. Her
belief in not imposing DV or modern Vietnamese in the diaspora could be closely
96 H. Do
linked to her reluctant acceptance and use of OV discussed earlier. This signals her
open and descriptive attitudes towards language change and variation, and her weaker
language standardization than that of that her senior colleagues.
When it comes to classroom practices, instead of explicitly denouncing differences
in language use in textbooks and materials, junior teachers like TFS3 reported their
descriptive classroom practices where they advised their students of different ways
of speaking available for them to choose from.
“Chị không có ý blame là giáo trình ấy
không được, chị chỉ thấy nó không giống
vớithứ tiếng Việt hàng ngày mình dùng ở
Việt Nam. […]. Chịđiềuchỉnh để làm sao
cho giống giáo trình, mặcdù đôi khi mình
thấy là sai nhưng mình không nói là sai, mà
mình nói là hoặc là nói thế này, hoặc là nói
thế kia. Đó, kiểuthế.” (TFS3)
I do not mean to blame that the textbook is
not good, I just find it different from the
version of Vietnamese I use in Vietnam.
[…]. I adjusted to stay close to the
textbooks. Even though sometimes I find it
wrong, I don’t say it, but tell (students) that
we can either speak like this or like that.
Like so.” (TFS3)
In this example, even though TFS3 personally identified right and wrong ways
of speaking, she did not exclude any from the materials but introduced them to her
students and gave them alternatives. This, in a sense, enriched her students’ language
input and repertoire.
Low Interest in Resources Generated in the Home Country
Closely linked to the interviewees’ selectivity and standardization when it comes
to developing classroom materials and their reported classroom practices was their
lack of interest in resources for teaching Vietnamese as a second/foreign language
developed in Vietnam. Discussing the time and effort invested in designing their
own curriculum and developing materials, the informants shared that they did not
find the textbooks currently produced in Vietnam relevant to their context, mainly
due to political reasons. TFR12, a senior consultant who used to work as a principal,
described textbooks made in Vietnam as highly political and not age-appropriate for
their students.
“Tạivìmộtsố phụ huynh củatôilàgốctị
nạn không à, nếumàxinlỗi cô nhé , đưa
sách bên Việt Nam qua dạy nói về chính trị
nhiều quá con nít nó không (học được). Ở
đây nó phải ngây thơ,nóphảihọchỏi
những cái gì cho nó trong sáng, không có
nghĩ tớithùhận, không có nghĩ tớinhững
cái chuyệngìhết. Thành ra những gì chúng
tôi dạybên đây rấtthoải mái, không có áp
đặtvề tư tưởng hay tôn giáo” (TFR12)
Because some of the parents at my school
are refugees, excuse me for saying this, if we
use textbooks from Vietnam, which talks too
much about politics, to teach their children,
they can’t learn. Children are naïve here;
they have to learn things that are innocent
and without hatred or that stuff. So what we
teach here is light-hearted and (e don’t
impose religion or ideology. (TFR 12)
5 Language Ideology and Its Educational Impact: Insights … 97
Referring to the origin of the parents, TFR12 highlighted their diasporic nature
and assumed the opposition between them and the current Vietnam, implying parents
were a contributing factor in their disinterest in materials from Vietnam and their
general decision-making. What also stood out from this example was the inter-
viewee’s perception of textbooks produced in Vietnam: political and not age appro-
priate. It is important to point out that the textbook mentioned in the extract was
the one TRF12 got to read more than 10 years ago when she visited Vietnam. It
was designed to teach Vietnamese as a first language for primary school-aged chil-
dren born in Vietnam. It seems then that their impression of and knowledge about
language education and teaching resources inside Vietnam was not updated.
In the same vein, TRF11, who was a teacher-principal at a CLS she attended
when younger and came to the leadership role out of gratitude and respect for their
former teacher, elaborated on the pressure from senior community members on her
decision-making on certain resources from Vietnam.
“And you should also understand the underlying pressure we would be under if we were
to use textbooks from the current regime in Vietnam. We would be under a lot of backlash
from our elders and senior citizens because we’re not teaching the history of the country in
its origin, but teaching a brainwashed version of it, or a version that wouldn’t be accepted
by Vietnamese abroad.[…] It means out of respect for them. If they say: T, this particular
textbook disrespects them or their heritage, their upbringing and the trauma they went
through, then as a leader I would support that generation because they are my teacher.”
(TRF11)
This extract illustrated more than just a significant homage paid to senior members
and former CLS teachers. It highlighted the powerful impact of the community’s
collective memory (Agnew, 2005; Cohen, 2008; Nguyen, 2013) on contempo-
rary community language maintenance. As a discourse, senior members’ collective
memory of the Vietnam war, their escape from Vietnam and all the sufferings they
went through connected past and present and individualized the whole community.
This is evidenced by the decision-makers at the CLSs in this study upholding their
seniors’ values in their own language planning activities. It seems then that the
maintenance of Vietnamese as a community language at the CLSs under study was
essentially about whose language and whose heritage.
Despite their i nitial disinterest in resources and textbooks from Vietnam and their
considerable respect to parents and senior community members and former teachers,
the interviewees reported taking a more independent, informed and pedagogical
approach to utilizing and exploiting external materials and resources. It appears
essential to them that resources undergo thorough validation if and before they could
be used at their schools.
“I would be using parts of materials that are useful and validated from Vietnam textbooks
no matter what year they were made, before or after 1975. […] As a teacher and teaching
culture of origin, I would teach what would be relevant in our Australia, the current society
of Australia: freedom of speech, democracy and the ability to understand the quality of
life. I think if we can take resources from textbooks there that are relevant and filter out
the bureaucracy or the red tape and the politicalness of it and provide children with that
experience of learning that does not connect them to the war or the thing they are not exposed
to, then that would be my approach to it.” (TFR11)
98 H. Do
The extract points to two important aspects in the informant’s language education
ideology. On the one hand, validating and cherry-picking relevant and quality activi-
ties and details from different sources was a sound pedagogical principle. On the other
hand, the contrast between textbooks made in Vietnam and the Australian values of
democracy and freedom can be interpreted as an overgeneralization. This overgen-
eralization was supported by her impression of textbooks specifically designed to
teach Vietnamese as a first language to children in Vietnam.
Nhập gia tùy tục: Entering a House, Following Its Rules
CLS principals and community stakeholders also explicitly shared their expectations
of teachers regarding their language use and practice while teaching at CLSs.
TFS3, the only northerner teacher at her CLS, recalled her job interview with
the principal. At some stage during the interview, the principal asked if she could
drop her northern accent and mimic the southern accent while in class, at which she
was shocked and politely refused. Although there are officially three main regional
dialects in Vietnamese, including the northern (Ha Noi) accent, the central (Hue)
accent and the southern (Sai Gon) accent, the northern accent of TFS3 was requested
to be made invisible. This was most likely because it was different from that of the
majority of the community and did not fit their expectations and beliefs. This request
exemplified erasure and totalization where internal variation, particularly those that
do not fit the structure, is disregarded.
A similar expectation was shared when a community member stakeholder firmly
expected later arrival teachers to follow and respect CLSs’ program.
“Đương nhiên mỗingườicómột quan điểm
sống khác nhau. Tôi không bao giờ bảomọi
ngườilà:Tôithấy cái này là trắng thì mọi
ngườicũng phảibảolàtrắng. Không, Tôi
không bao giờ có cái quan điểmnhư vậy.
Mỗingười đềucónhững cái quan điểm
sống khác nhau, Nhưng có 1 điều tôi yêu
cầuvàtôichỉ xin tấtcả mọingười“Nhập
gia tùy tục”. Có nghĩa là khi mà qua tới đây
thì nên chịu khó theo nhữngcáigìmàbên
này ngườitađang có, đang sinh hoạt, đang
sống. Có nghĩalàkhimàđồng ý vô trong
trường Việtngữở tại X thì cái ngôn ngữ và
chương trình giảng dạymặcdùnócóthể
khác vớinhững gì mà những người này đã
từng học hay từng giảng dạy, hay từng làm
ở ViệtNam,nhưng mà mình qua tới đây thì
mình nên tôn trọng những cái ngôn ngữ và
chương trình các trường bên này ngườitra
đưara.”(TMR8)
“Of course, people have different
viewpoints. I never tell people: I see this as
white, so you have to see this as white too.
No. I never have that viewpoint. People
have different views on life. But the only
thing I require and beg of everyone is
“When in Rome do as Romans do”. This
means, once you have arrived here, you
should try to follow what people here are
having and the way they are doing things
and living. This means once you accept to
work in a Vietnamese community language
school, you should respect the language and
curriculum schools here issue, despite the
fact that they may be different from what you
learnt or taught back in Vietnam” (TMR8)
5 Language Ideology and Its Educational Impact: Insights … 99
In this comment, that later arrivals were expected to follow the perceived norms
at work, implying abandoning their prior social and linguistic experiences, could be
considered an endorsement of assimilation of CLSs’ ideologies. An important point
in this extract was the strong assertion of the Vietnamese community and Vietnamese
CLSs in Australia as a legitimate and independent entity from Vietnam. This assertion
echoes Baldassar et al. (2017)’s observation of the community’s complete distancing
practice from the political leadership involved in its refugeehood. This case is similar
to what Alfaraz (2018) observed in her study of the Cuban diaspora in the United
States. Through the same process of erasure and rhematization, the Cuban diaspora
confirmed their legitimacy and authenticity in relation to their homeland.
Competing sets of ideologies can be seen in the extract. On the one hand, the
participant acknowledged differences, freedom of beliefs and reported their practice
in line with their belief. On the other hand, he exercised his belief and power and
expected others to give up on differences and follow the perceived norms. This
stood in stark contrast with his other ideology. It seems then that the latter ideology
dominated the former and reshaped the participant’s practice. This also highlighted
the pluralistic and dynamic nature of language ideologies (Gal, 1998; Pennycook,
2004; Rampton & Holmes, 2019).
Discussion
Dabene and Moore (1995) cited in Gardner-Chloros (2009) discuss key linguistic
features of a migrant community. They state that there are disparities in language
use among migrant community members resulting from their different levels of
engagement with both the home and host countries. While linguistic differences can
be explained by drift and separation (Irvine & Gal, 2000), the case of the Vietnamese
community is more complex considering the historical and political events involved
in the community vintage.
In one of the few essays on language planning in Vietnam, Nguyen (1997)
discusses different language policies adopted by North and South Vietnam during the
division of the country. Both North and South Vietnam conducted their own language
planning and employed certain propaganda mechanisms whose tasks, among other
things, were to coin new vocabulary items to emphasize the dark nature of the other
side and highlight their superiority. In the North, lexical items such as “Nguỵ quân,
ngụy quyền” (puppet army, puppet gorvernment), “nợmáu vớinhân dân” (owe blood
debts to the people) or “tay sai” (henchman) were used widely to paint a picture of
an inhumane and ruthless South Vietnamese government (Nguyen, 1997, p. 154).
Similarly, in the South, such terms as “Cộng sản 3 vô: vô tổ quốc, vô tôn giáo, vô gia
đình” (Communists with 3 Nos: No nation, No religion and No family); Cộng sản
bán nước cho Nga, Tàu (Communists sell Vietnam to Russia and China) (p. 145) were
widely spread to defame t he Northern regime. While Nguyen (1997) notes a recon-
vergence of Vietna mese language planning inside Vietnam in the past three decades,
100 H. Do
one cannot deny the far-reaching impact of former planning, leading to the perva-
sive use of political and sensitive vocabulary items by Vietnamese living overseas,
clearly evidenced by the label “communist words” some 46 years after the fall of Sai
Gon. In her project with the Vietnamese diaspora in Canberra, Nguyen (2020)also
found that the participants in her project, who were first-generation refugees, explic-
itly supported and only used the ancient Sai Gon dialect (Tiếng Sài Gòn xưa) and
disapproved of the communist Vietnamese (Tiếng Việtcộng sản). It seems apparent
that the ideology and practice of linguistic differentiation, particularly through the
working of erasure and rhematization was a typical feature of the diasporic segment
of the Vietnamese community in Australia. This feature was consistent with Gal and
Irvine’s (2019) notes that people in the diaspora are most attracted to differences in
language use of the others “whose biographies differ from their own” (p. 229).
In the present project, senior first-generation CLS teachers were, understand-
ably, more actively engaged in linguistic differentiation than their junior colleagues,
causing them to directly equate linguistic features with the nature of their speakers
(rhematization), and firmly excluding lexical items that did not meet their standard
and norm (erasure). It can also be seen that the interviewees’ language ideologies were
entangled with their political ideologies and stances, so much so that any comment
on Vietnamese as a community language in the project ultimately ended up in a
discussion on the formation of the diaspora and the Vietnamese language as part
of the heritage they brought with them in their boat journey. This means while the
CLS teachers claimed that they did not talk politics and religion in language teaching,
their decision-making and reported classroom practices were tightly intertwined with
their political stances and were used as a marker of their “political loyalty and iden-
tity” (Gal, 1998, p. 317). In other words, Vietnamese CLSs are not just a provider
of Vietnamese language programs but also a means to maintain and transmit the
community’s legacy and heritage. The foundational generation’s shared discourse
of resisting and distancing from the political leadership in Vietnam was reflected
in their micro-centric language planning and policies. It can be concluded from the
analysis above that micro-centric language planning activities at the CLSs in this
study were, to a large extent, political.
Regarding the teaching of Vietnamese as a community language, there is a felt
need for Vietnamese CLS volunteer teachers, principals and local stakeholders to
reconceptualize the nature of language learning, and to redefine goals and peda-
gogies for their community language education. In recent years, researchers and
policymakers have highlighted the nature of language learning as intercultural, inter-
linguistic and meaning-making and specified the goal of teaching students language
variation in macro-level documents guiding the teaching of community languages
including Vietnamese in the Australian curriculum (ACARA, 2022; Lo Bianco,
2020; Lo Bianco & Kathryn, 2014; Scarino, 2017, 2021). However, it seems that
such changes are yet to be internalized and effectively implemented at the CLSs in
this project. Findings from this study reveal that the goals of teaching and learning
Vietnamese were mainly linguistic and communicative competence within the Viet-
namese community overseas. Given the changing composition of the Vietnamese
community, these goals place the language outside learners’ sociological world (Lo
5 Language Ideology and Its Educational Impact: Insights … 101
Bianco & Slaughter, 2009). This is likely to result in their lack of interest in and
motivation for learning the language and can even explain the drop-in enrolments at
Vietnamese CLSs as discussed in the literature (Cruickshank et al., 2020; Nordstrom,
2020).
In approaching linguistic differences between OV and DV, it is recommended that
CLS teachers, especially senior ones, take a more descriptive lens in their lesson plan-
ning and classroom practices. This will lead to varieties and dialects of Vietnamese
being used as educational resources, rather than obstacles, in the teaching and main-
taining the language. Another recommendation would be for the CLSs to update on
and utilize relevant materials from their home country to enrich their resources to
teach Vietnamese.
In the context of the peripheral status of CLSs in the education system, there
have been concerted efforts to advocate for CLSs in Australia in more recent years.
There have been strong calls from researchers for an ecological view (Liddicoat &
Taylor-Leech, 2014, 2021) of and a “differentiated approach” (Scarino, 2021, p. 21)
to support CLSs. Such a view and approach would mean differences among and
within communities, their community languages and individual learners are all thor-
oughly considered. This means that language specificity, a community’s history
and changing composition and learners themselves are considered the teaching of a
community language. A differentiated approach is then closely linked, if not similar
to micro-centric language planning at CLSs, in that community- and language-
specific features, which are less likely to be visible and taken up by macro-level
LPP, should be thoroughly examined and addressed when local language planning
is developed and executed. In the case of the Vietnamese CLSs, it is suggested that
future training and professional development activities should also adopt an individ-
ualized approach. By doing so, volunteer teachers and principals’ awareness of the
interrelationship between language ideologies and classroom practices, the changing
nature of language learning and community language education can be heightened.
This is likely to help them internalize and implement changes in their classroom
practices effectively.
Conclusion
This paper has illuminated micro-centric LIE planning at Vietnamese CLSs by
analysing the CLS teachers’, principals’ and community stakeholder’ decision-
making and reported classroom practices from the perspective of language ideology.
It has highlighted the prevalence of linguistic differentiation among CLS stake-
holders and the interrelationship between language ideologies and political ideolo-
gies. Micro-centric LIE at the Vietnamese CLSs in this project mostly concerned
with sociopolitical and sociolinguistic issues of the Vietnamese community as a
diasporic group and some technicalities of the Vietnamese language spoken over-
seas and inside Vietnam. It has also recommended that Vietnamese language varieties
and differences should be celebrated and used as teaching resources, rather than being
102 H. Do
viewed as a divider. Vietnam CLSs should continue cherry-picking relevant mate-
rials from their home country to enrich their resources. Professional development
activities for CLS teachers and principals should focus on individual communities’
history and development and their language technicalities to guide their classroom
practices.
While the absence of classroom observation and the small number of participants
in this project may limit the findings and implications, this study does contribute to
the depth of available literature on individual CLSs. It is recommended that future
studies can take an ethnographic approach to closely examine CLS teachers’ language
ideology, reported and recorded classroom practices and students’ perception and
reaction to have a more comprehensive picture of community language education.
Another topic worth examining is the opinions of experts, language educators and
language policy makers on language and community-specific issues in relation to
the host country’s macro-level directions and objectives to examine the status of
community language education.
Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincerest thanks to Professor Kaori Okano,
Professor James Walkers, Professor David Bradley, Professor Marija Tabain and the reviewers
for their constructively critical feedback in the writing of this chapter. All remaining shortcomings
are my own.
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Hoa Do has been working as a language teacher for more than 10 years in Vietnam and
Australia. She gained her master’s degree in Applied Linguistics in 2013 from Victoria Univer-
sity of Wellington, New Zealand, and is currently a Ph.D. student at Department of Languages
and Cultures, La Trobe University, Australia. Her main research interests include instructed home/
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family language policy among transnational migrant communities.
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not
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the copyright holder.
Chapter 6
Family Language Policy Among
Vietnamese Sojourner Families
in Australia the “What”, the “How”
and the “Why”
Ha Thuy Dam
Abstract Using semi-structured interviews, the current study investigates how
twelve Vietnamese sojourner parents perceived and performed family language
policy and practices with their primary school children during their temporary resi-
dence in Australia. Results reveal that translanguaging was commonplace in family
settings. It was a challenge for parents to systematically practise any particular
language use rules to assist their children’s maintenance of their mother tongue.
Anxiety about future reintegration into formal schooling back in Vietnam and reluc-
tance to send the children to Vietnamese community language classes were also
major themes. This reflects how family language policy and practices were shaped
by parents’ language and cultural ideology and imagined communities. The chapter
raises issues and provides several suggestions that stakeholders may need to consider
about community language education to accommodate sojourners’ language needs,
too.
Introduction
In the era of globalisation, the inevitable emergence of a broad range of fluid multilin-
gual and multicultural contexts that occur across borders requires renewed perspec-
tives on multi/bilingual language users. There are permanent immigrants who are
positioned in a context that requires the restructuring of their relations of power
in order to fit in with the cultural and occupational norms of the host country
(Norton Peirce, 1995). There is another increasingly large group which include short-
term residents or sojourners whose attachment to the home community differentiates
them from any other immigrant groups (Chao & Ma, 2019). As they are not destined
H. T. Dam (B
)
RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
e-mail: thuy.dam@student.rmit.edu.au
© The Author(s) 2024
Phan Le Ha et al. (eds.), Vietnamese Language, Education and Change In and Outside
Vietnam, Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9093-1_6
107
108 H. T. Dam
to mingle with the host culture for good or at least their future trajectories are “tran-
sitory in nature”, the way in which their linguistic behaviour is influenced by it does
not necessarily replicate what immigrants experience (Song, 2012, p. 508).
Along with the waves of transnational travellers, Vietnamese citizens work and
study all over the world, with Australia being one of the favoured destinations.
According to the Australian Department of Education, Skills and Employment
(2021), in the financial year of 2020–2021, more than 300 child dependants accom-
panied their parents to Australia during their parents’ pursuit of higher and/or further
education opportunities. Nearly one-third of this number attended primary schools
Australia-wide. Departing from their home country where English is now consid-
ered “as a symbol of quality education and as a mechanism for fuller participation
in national and international opportunities” (Bui & Nguyen, 2016, p. 367), these
sojourner children have been given a once-in-a-lifetime chance towards an imagined
successful future. This early opportunity enables the children to be fully immersed
in an English-speaking environment, yet at the same time accentuates the role of
families in general and parents in particular in sustaining their first language.
Although there have been numerous research projects on the way multi/bilingual
families use and learn their languages in home settings and the immediate and long-
term effects of these practices on children’s language use and development, most
of these studies have centred on long-term or permanent immigrant families and
the language practices performed in the second or third generation. Among the few
existing studies accommodating family language practices in short-term residents,
the authors tend to focus on family contexts from East Asian backgrounds (e.g.,
Chao & Ma, 2019; Kanno, 2003a; Song, 2012). There seems to be no substantial
study into Vietnamese sojourner families the world over in general, and in Australia
in particular.
My research project, which aims to investigate family language policy and prac-
tices in Vietnamese sojourner families in Australia, may be considered basis for
researchers of other less dominant ethnicities (in terms of worldwide population
distribution) to develop their interest in this subject matter. This research project
also hopes to serve as an evidence-based reference for relevant stakeholders (fami-
lies, schools, and policy makers) in similar contexts to make decisions related to
language education and language support programmes for the increasing popula-
tion of school-aged sojourners. This overarching research purpose is specified in the
following three research questions.
a. How are family language policy and practices performed at sojourners’ home?
b. What reasons do the sojourner parents give for their family language practices?
c. How do parents’ beliefs and the future socio-cultural contexts impact on
sojourners’ family language practices?
6 Family Language Policy Among Vietnamese Sojourner Families … 109
Family Language Policy (FLP) and Key Concepts
Family Language Policy
The broad field of language policy, according to Spolsky (2012), constitutes three
elements—the actual language practices of a speech community, the values assigned
to each language variety and the beliefs of those values, and the efforts by the authority
to influence the language practices of the community members. In line with that
definition, FLP focuses on what families believe about language and language use;
what they do with language in everyday interactions; and what efforts they make to
achieve outcomes related to language use and language learning (King et al., 2008).
The authority in the case of FLP as a bounded community on its own is generally
understood as parents and/or caregivers. Language planning within the context of
family is often “not consciously planned” and prone to external conditions “beyond
the family’s control” (Caldas, 2012, p. 351).
Research on bilingual families and their language policy and practices showcases
three major themes: the role of parents and other family members in the language
development of the children (King, 2013); the influence of the surrounding commu-
nities on the implementation of individual family language policy ( Oriyama, 2016);
and the connection between past experiences and future projections each family
imagines for themselves and the way FLP is practised (e.g., Chao & Ma, 2019;
Song, 2012). Among these factors, future projections appear to trigger the greatest
divergence between the way that permanent and temporary immigrant families treat
bilingualism and biliteracy in their home language practices (Refer to Dam, 2021
for a more detailed review). Generally, permanent immigrant families tend to treat
the majority language as a resource for survival and pay particular attention to the
minority language mostly as an emblem of ethnicity (Chao & Ma, 2019). In contrast,
sojourner families try to take advantage of their stay to master the majority language
of that community for the imagined economic and educational benefits it might bring
upon their return (Song, 2012).
FLP research has recently underlined child agency in the communicative practices
of mixed-language families. This body of research pinpoints the agentive and creative
role of children in influencing how languages are used and learnt in family contexts
(for a detailed review, refer to Smith-Christmas, 2020). For example, Said and Zhu
(2019) found that school-aged children in an Arabic family in the UK actively took
up a multilingual agentive position in their mixing of English and Arabic in family
conversations as they were fully cognizant of their parents’ flexible FLP; there seemed
to be a correlation between an open FLP and the children’s positive experiences with
both languages. Crump (2017) also concluded in her project with three multilingual
families in Canada that the participating pre-schoolers’ language practices are reflec-
tive of both their understanding of parents’ language planning and their own agencies
and individualities. The hierarchical order for their language of preference was nego-
tiated according to with whom, where and when they could do so, representing their
ability to position themselves as confident multilingual speakers in broader social
110 H. T. Dam
contexts. These studies suggest the importance of taking child agency in FLP into
consideration and extending the concept of authority in FLP to include children as
equally powerful agents.
Translanguaging in Home Settings
Since its original definition by Cen Williams in 1994, translanguaging has been
conceptualised and applied in an extensive body of research on language use and
language learning by multi/bilingual speakers (for a detailed review, refer to Xin,
Ping & Qin, 2021). As the focus of this project is on the use of two named languages
(English and Vietnamese) in family contexts, Otheguy et al.’s (2015) definition of
translanguaging is highly relevant: “the deployment of a speaker’s full linguistic
repertoire without regard for watchful adherence to the socially and politically
defined boundaries of named (and usually national and state) languages” (p. 281).
This conceptualisation highlights the contrast between an outsider’s view of a bilin-
gual’s linguistic repertoire as a sum of two named languages and an insider’s (or the
speaker’s own) view of his/her own linguistic repertoire as the one and only entity. It
also challenges the social and political constraints put on named languages, especially
minoritized ones, and therefore helps dismantle the “socially constructed language
hierarchies” (p. 283). Such a postulate is extremely meaningful to research on multi/
bilingualism in general, and research on FLP in multi/bilingual home contexts in
particular, during this era of transnational travel and immigration.
With regard to family language policy and practices, translanguaging has been
extensively researched in various family-related contexts. It was reported as an effec-
tive method used by young multi/bilinguals to showcase their linguistic ideologies
and cultural identities which diverge from their parents (Zhu, 2014), and their metalin-
guistic awareness and mobilisation of available linguistic resources depending on
interlocutors and places (Paulsrud & Straszer, 2018). It has also been successfully
employed to improve children’s multi/biliteracy by parents (Song, 2016)orona
larger scale, by the collaboration between family, school and community (Kim et al.,
2021). When combined with support materials/devices, translanguaging proves a
powerful tool to transfer cultural heritage from parents to children when learning
about the home country’s culture and history (Kwon, 2022).
Despite being advocated by researchers in the discipline, translanguaging still
provokes mixed reactions from parents, which results in incongruences among fami-
lies in their FLP and the actual approaches to children’s language development.
For example, many multi/bilingual parents choose to follow the One Parent—One
Language (OPOL) as they believe that language separation ensures a “balanced
and fluent” acquisition of the two languages by avoiding as much confusion as
possible from “mixed language use” (Park, 2008, p. 636). Even those who claim to
be supportive of a language mixing perspective actually perform language sepa-
ration with their children at home, suggesting that translanguaging or language
separation is not necessarily done on the basis of parents’ heteroglossic versus
6 Family Language Policy Among Vietnamese Sojourner Families … 111
monoglossic language ideologies (Wilson, 2021). These findings call for a more
holistic consideration of parents’ beliefs in their FLP practices.
Investment and Imagined Communities
In order to understand the effect of FLP on children’s use of languages, it is neces-
sary to mention the concept of investment (Norton, 2013) which initially highlights
“the connections between a learner’s desire and commitment to learn a language,
and their complex and changing identity” (p. 6). As language learners’ desires to
learn a language fluctuate, depending on their perceptions of the social interactions
and the classroom settings that they are situated in, learners’ sense of themselves
and their desires for future attainments also vary considerably by context. Fielding
(2015) emphasises that investment should come from both language learners and
the community in order for the individuals to develop language proficiency and the
desired cultural identity.
Inspired by Anderson’s (1983) original notion of “imagined communities”,
Norton (2001) developed her conceptualisation of imagined comminities which
refers to language learners and their desire to integrate with the target language
community. In her wake, there has been a great deal of research exploiting these two
notions to account for a variety of phenomena in Second Language Acquisition and
education (e.g., Norton & Kamal, 2003). I would argue that imagined communities
are not only formed by the language learners themselves, but that the communi-
ties and all other stakeholders are in turn able to form an imagined image of the
language learners. Therefore, there is a likelihood that the imagined vision formed
by different groups about one single language learner or one particular community
might not match or may even contradict each other, which consequently influences
the practice of FLP. Thus, I intend to also explore the parents’ imagined community
before they depart Australia.
In Kanno’s (2003a) project which was conducted over seven years with four
Japanese adolescents from when they attended secondary schools in America until
they returned to Japan for tertiary education, she discovered that while one of her
participants had formed an idealised imagination about his home country before
his return, it turned out to be so far removed from his imagination that he did not
want to identify as Japanese anymore. Kanno (2003b) also comments that the two
institutional settings (America and Japan) did not provide sufficient support and
acknowledgement for these students to develop their bilingual and bicultural iden-
tities. Although Kanno (2003a) did not utilise Norton’s notions of investment and
imagined identity and community in her original research, she did later use them
to explain part of her research results in their co-authored article (Kanno & Norton,
2003), suggesting the possibility of looking at stakeholders’ expectations from the
perspective of imagined identity and community.
112 H. T. Dam
Methodology
As the current study aims to investigate how FLP is practised in home settings
and what reasons parents give for such practices, semi-structured interviews were
conducted with the parents individually. The data collected were then analysed and
thematised based on the recurring concepts in the dataset.
The Participants
The parent participants were chosen based on a screening questionnaire delivered
on Qualtrics. Those who were willing to be interviewed filled in the form with their
contact details for further communication. Among the parents who agreed to follow-
up interviews after answering the questionnaires, twelve parents were invited for
interviews. At the time of interview, the participants were either reaching the end
of their sojourn in Australia or had recently returned to Vietnam within six months
and had one child or more who had been/were going to primary schools for at least
two years. The description of the family backgrounds in this section is based on
the parents’ questionnaires and interviews. All participants are given pseudonyms to
ensure confidentiality. Although the twelve families were located in different states
of Australia, they shared several defining characteristics that differentiate them from
other groups of immigrants. First, all the parents were currently or had been a PhD
candidate at an Australian university. Second, the twelve parents were sponsored by
the Vietnamese government for their PhD study, which mandated their commitment
to return and work in Vietnam upon the completion of their course. Third, they were all
living in Australia with their child(ren) (with or without spouse accompanying). The
educational qualifications of the spouses ranged from Bachelor to PhD degrees. One
last feature that most of these families had in common was the family structure which
included both parents and one or two children (only one out of twelve interviewed
parents did not live with their spouse during the sojourn).
Data Collection and Analysis
Data Collection
Parents voluntarily completed the survey on Qualtrics. The researcher screened
through their responses to select cases for the research project. There were thirty-
three questionnaire responses from parents. Among them, twelve parents agreed
to proceed with interviews. All interviews were done in Vietnamese—the parents’
mother tongue—to ensure they were able to fully express their thoughts.
6 Family Language Policy Among Vietnamese Sojourner Families … 113
Data Analysis
The extracts presented below were first translated by the researcher and cross-checked
afterwards by a colleague who holds a Master’s degree in Interpreting and Transla-
tion to ensure accuracy. The interpreted meanings behind each story told were then
classified by theme as in the “analysis of themes” that occurs across interviewed cases
(Creswell, 2007, p. 75). According to Creswell (2007), thematic analysis is not for
the purpose of generalising the results to a broader context, but for “understanding
the complexity of the cases.”
The coding process followed what is proposed by the grounded theory approach
in which coding is divided into stages in order to “illuminate the logic that underline
analysis” (Benaquisto, 2012, p. 87). The coding process therefore took place in three
steps: open coding, axial coding, and selective coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1998).
In the first step of open coding, transcripts were initially reviewed to identify as
many ideas and concepts as possible even if they were not directly related to the
aspects set in the interview questions. In the second step of axial coding, specific
ideas and concepts identified in the open coding step were reassembled and related
to each other. The last step of selective coding was done through a process of re-
reading and re-examining the dataset (with translated extracts used as examples)
from the very start of the data analysis until categories were merged into umbrella
themes which offered a systematic presentation of research findings. The selective
coding step yielded five major themes, including: translanguaging as a common
practice; children as English-speaking role models; Vietnamese language learning;
concerns about Vietnamese community language schools; and the overall influences
of parents’ ideologies and imagined communities on their family language policies
and practices.
Findings and Discussion
There are five outstanding themes that recur in the data r egarding how the parents
perceive and practise language use at home. First, translanguaging is considered a
norm in communication among family members with constant switching between
the two languages. Second, the fact that the children are proficient in English is
taken advantage of by their parents, turning the young English speakers into role
models for their parents’ language learning. Third, an opposite scenario is witnessed
when it comes to the children’s Vietnamese learning, where a lack of investment and
enthusiasm is evident from both parents’ and children’s sides. Fourth, the parents
show hesitation in sending their children to Vietnamese community language schools
in Australia and instead opted to teach their children themselves even though the
results do not reach their expectations. These practices are significantly influenced
by parents’ ideologies and the imagined communities they plan to be part of upon
return to their home country of Vietnam.
114 H. T. Dam
Translanguaging as a Common Practice
Interactions among family members created a “translanguaging space” (Wei, 2011),
where family language practices are negotiated over time according to the children’s
language development. Language use at home between adult family members and
children seem to depend on the children’s language of preference. While parents still
maintain communication amongst themselves in Vietnamese, they tend to switch
the language to fit the children’s preferred language when talking to them. In the
following extract, one mother acknowledged the gradual switch in language use at
home due to her child’s increased proficiency in English.
When we first came here, our family still talked in Vietnamese. But after that, Helen (the
daughter) went to school and brought home new concepts she learnt from school. And her
communication with us gradually changed. Her English concepts increased and there were
no Vietnamese equivalents. That’s why we gradually turned to English. (Hanh)
The extract suggests that it is more convenient for family members to use English
with the child because the girl could not find words with similar meanings in Viet-
namese. On one hand, this indicates the child’s improvement in English, thanks to
schooling in the host country of Australia and the levelling-off or even worsening
of their Vietnamese proficiency due to lack of formal education in the Vietnamese
language. This is in line with the findings in Lee et al.’s (2021) project where the
author followed three Korean sojourner families in the U.S. and found that the child
participant’s use of English at home increased over time thanks to his involvement
in the outside environment. On the other hand, the situation points to a scenario
where the children exercise their agency in deciding which language to use in the
home settings. Though the power they have over in-home language practices is not
overtly renounced, their parents seem to easily compromise with a view to facilitating
communication with the children.
In tune with this practice, another mother confessed:
His father had to teach at the university, so he wanted to practise English with him. That’s
why he spoke English with his father at first and I tried to continue using Vietnamese with
him. But now that we have to explain too much when speaking Vietnamese with him, it’s
too tiring that most of the time we use English. (Nhan)
The starting point of this family is different from the first one in that the parents
actively encouraged their son to use English with the father and Vietnamese with
the mother (as an example of the One Parent One Language - OPOL approach).
Although this OPOL practice is not totally for the child’s benefit but partly for
the father’s teaching, it does reflect the parents’ awareness of the necessity and
the initial intention to support their son’s maintenance of Vietnamese. However,
like the first family, together with the child’s improved English and the comparably
less used Vietnamese, English has become the dominant language of parent–child
communication in the interest of convenience.
Parents’ intended FLP seems open for negotiation because of the children’s actual
choice of languages. Even in cases where parents aim to maintain family interactions
6 Family Language Policy Among Vietnamese Sojourner Families … 115
in Vietnamese, their goals are hindered by the children’s inability to perform up to
their expectations. A mother of a seven-year-old girl stated:
We wanted to use Vietnamese only. But she couldn’t. So we have to mix [in original] because
it’s too time-consuming. Anyway, it’s better than finishing in Vietnamese and then explaining
all again in English. (Ngan)
Once again, the children’s role in deciding their family language policy and prac-
tices might not be active in its real sense. Yet, the fact that they cannot fully understand
and maintain the conversations in Vietnamese is a determining factor in their parents’
switch to English. In this case, the ones who are more bilingually flexible (the parents)
tend to be the ones who accommodate to the less flexible ones’ language needs (the
children).
While the prevalence of English over Vietnamese in parent–child communica-
tion in home settings is obviously represented through the parents’ interviews, they
also acknowledge that there are constant switches between the two languages, with
English used for more sophisticated topics and Vietnamese for more casual ones:
When I ask him to talk about a book he’s reading, he uses English. But when I ask him if
something is delicious or not, he uses Vietnamese. (Lan)
Such situations can be justified by the frequency of contact that the children
have with the two languages. While Vietnamese tends to be used only within family
settings, the children have significantly more contact with English, especially through
their schooling which is exclusively done in this language. Accordingly, they would
gradually find it challenging to find the Vietnamese equivalents for the concepts they
have internalised in English. It would be a hasty conclusion that their Vietnamese
has waned; yet, it is obvious that English has gradually taken over Vietnamese to
function as the children’s preferred language. A case in point can be seen in the
following excerpt:
She learns English concepts from school and there are no equivalents in Vietnamese. (Hanh)
Translanguaging is performed in different contexts among family members. The
switch between languages is not always as impulsive as commented but sometimes
is done strategically. For instance, one mother revealed that:
When the whole family’s together, we encourage him to speak Vietnamese. But when we go
out and there’re people around, we switch to English for politeness. (Sinh)
In this case, translanguaging appears to be a powerful tool for bilingual speakers
to take on different social roles to fit in with different social settings. In more detail,
in order to be considered legitimate and polite social actors in an English-speaking
country, the mother switches to English to talk to her son; and in order to maintain
their first language in home settings, she creates opportunities for her son to practise
Vietnamese. She further explained the technique she uses with her son:
I often ask him like, “what does it mean in Vietnamese?” or “please explain it to your Dad
in Vietnamese”. (Sinh)
116 H. T. Dam
As the father’s English is not very good, the child is placed in a situation where
he has no other choice other than to try to use his own Vietnamese to explain things
to his father. Interestingly, the mother commented that this method did not work
for her because her son knew that she understood English. This also suggests the
child’s consciousness of with whom and when he needs to adjust his language use
and his dynamic role in creating FLP through his resistance to using Vietnamese with
a competent user of English. This is in line with Miller’s (2017) findings about chil-
dren’s awareness of others’ language preferences and the need to adjust their language
use accordingly, or Crump’s (2017) conclusion about children’s self-positioning
as “confident multilinguals” who language flexibly with different interlocutors in
different places (p. 172).
Language selection is not only seen between father-child or mother–child inter-
actions but also between siblings and grandparent-grandchild, further substantiating
child agency in determining family language resources by considering “people,
space, and purpose” (Paulsrud & Straszer, 2018, p. 64). While the choice of languages
between parents and children can be reasoned by either parents’ proficiency in
English or communication purposes, language choice in siblings’ or grandparent-
grandchild communication is solely accounted for by the competence of the other
interlocutors in English and Vietnamese. It is typical for the children to converse with
their brothers or sisters in English as they feel more comfortable talking to each other
in this language. However, in situations where they need to talk to their grandparents,
Vietnamese appears to be the only means of communication as they are aware that it
is the only language their grandparents can understand and use. A mother elaborates
on this point:
When our parents visited us, I could see that his Vietnamese improved a lot because he had
to use Vietnamese to talk to them. But after they came back to Vietnam, his Vietnamese
deteriorated very quickly. (Nhan)
In these parents’ view, grandparents play a significant role in preserving not only
the Vietnamese language but the traditional culture among their grandchildren as
well. This is in keeping with Fielding (2015) who investigated English-French bilin-
gual children’s identity. These children also commented on how their grandparents
helped them connect with the more distant language and culture of France while the
seniors were visiting their families in Australia.
Children as English-Speaking Role Models
Another prominent theme in the interviews is that the parents have taken advantage
of their children’s proficient English in different ways. It is commonly believed that
these bilingual children would help their parents best in in social interactions where
they become the main language brokers on behalf of their parents (Bauer, 2016).
In this study, they are also considered language teachers or experts who provide
language examples for their parents to follow, which resembles what Lee et al. (2021)
6 Family Language Policy Among Vietnamese Sojourner Families … 117
found where parents assumed the role of language learners in discussions with their
children about the meaning of the expression “what the?”.
The less proficient parent in the family may learn how to speak English with
the child not only for general communicative exchanges or “to practise pronuncia-
tion” but also for academic and professional purposes as presented in the following
example:
His Dad has to teach at the university. So he [the Dad] wants to practise English with him.
Then it turns into a habit. (Nhan)
Interestingly, if the parents are engaged in finding a way to encourage the children,
the young ones can become unofficial teachers of English in the family in language
skills other than just oral communication. One such parent shared:
I often tell him to teach his Dad English at certain times. Like he asks his Dad to read
something and then he asks his Dad about that. At that time, he is allowed to speak English.
My husband’s English is at basic level. So, he likes to teach his Dad English very much.
(Sinh)
In this case, the child was motivated to teach his father how to read and understand
English because he was given a more powerful position over his parents where he
was the one to instruct and tell his student father what to do with his English.
Vietnamese Language Learning
As opposed to their confidence and proficiency in English, the children were said
to feel much less motivated to learn Vietnamese, which might be due to the limited
investment and rather traditional teaching methods that their parents use in teaching
them this language.
Almost all parents said that they did spend time teaching their children at home
with materials and coursebooks brought from Vietnam. However, when asked about
the effectiveness of these home-schooling practices, they accepted that the children
often showed limited enthusiasm. For example, one mother confessed:
Sometimes we teach her Vietnamese with the books we brought from Vietnam. But she has
no interest in learning Vietnamese. All lessons are like a battle. She cries, and I’m tired. So
we don’t teach much. And she understands nothing. She can spell and write some words but
doesn’t understand. She doesn’t know what she has been reading or writing out. (Mai)
The unexpectedly negative reactions from the children can be attributed to the
traditional teaching approach as the parents said they all taught by using Vietnamese
textbooks and followed the lessons in the books. It might also be due to the diffi-
cult phonemic and tonal system of the language that discouraged the children from
learning this language as commented by another mother:
And a, ă,â,o,ô, ơ,u, ư all mixed up. She can spell very simple words and simple math
questions but she just can’t understand the meaning. (Ngan)
118 H. T. Dam
In the above extract, the girl confused similar vowels in Vietnamese which are not
available in English (for example, /a/-/ă/-/â/ or /o/-/ô/-/ơ/). Not only did the children
meet with difficulty in differentiating between similar vowels, they also struggled
with the five tone marks when learning writing skills. Even children who had gone
to school in Vietnam before their sojourn in Australia quickly forgot the Vietnamese
writing rules. One father talked about his daughter who had nearly finished grade one
in Vietnam and had been able to read and write well in Vietnamese before departing
for Australia:
She can’t remember the / ~ / symbol. She calls it the “wave” [original in English].
(Tuan).
Apart from teaching the children by themselves, these parents also sought support
from other sources to help their children develop Vietnamese literacy skills. They
might send the children to private tutoring sessions in which a native Vietnamese
teacher taught the students literacy skills or arts lessons. One mother who sent her
daughter to a tutoring group said that it would be nice if the girl could learn something
before the departure:
It’s good for her to know something to go back rather than know nothing. If so, then she’s
completely done for. (Ngan)
In an exceptional case, one mother applied almost every available method in her
attempt to maintain her daughter’s Vietnamese. Following are her comments on why
she hired a Vietnamese piano teacher for her daughter:
When we first came here (Australia), I hired an Australian teacher. But after a year, I have
been hiring a Vietnamese one so that she can learn more Vietnamese and to diversify her
Vietnamese learning channels, not only from my accent but from others too. (Anh)
The mother tried to adjust her daughter’s contact with English and Vietnamese
at different points in time during their sojourn in Australia. At first, in order to
improve the girl’s English, she hired an English-speaking piano teacher. When she
felt that it was the right time to maintain her daughter’s Vietnamese, she switched
to a Vietnamese teacher. By increasing the girl’s contact time and diversifying the
content and speakers’ accents t he girl was exposed to, the mother hoped to achieve
better results from her investment in her daughter’s Vietnamese learning. She was
also the only parent who registered her daughter for online Vietnamese courses.
The daughter started her online courses after the community language school in the
neighbourhood closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Australia. Although this
study does not aim to investigate the connection between the parents’ investment
and their children’s level of proficiency in Vietnamese, it is worth highlighting this
particular case as this girl was the only child participant who filled in a journal with
Vietnamese handwriting (as part of a larger project).
As can be seen, all parents were highly conscious of the importance of providing
the children with some Vietnamese literacy skills to work as a buffer against the shock
they might encounter when going to school in Vietnam. However, except for the case
above, due to the limited success of their teaching and the children’s resistance to the
learning, the parents’ common reaction was reduced investment or even discontinued
teaching.
6 Family Language Policy Among Vietnamese Sojourner Families … 119
Concerns About Vietnamese Community Language Schools
Although the parents placed great emphasis on their children’s learning Vietnamese,
they showed hesitation in seeking help from community language schools (CLS)—an
official destination where Vietnamese immigrants send their children for Vietnamese
language learning. It is this reluctance that differentiates sojourners, or short-term
Vietnamese immigrants from permanent Vietnamese immigrants in Australia.
Most of the parents shared that they could not send their children to CLS because
they were too far from their places of residency. Even the one mother who sent her
daughter to the school for one term talked about the distance:
The school is about four kilometres from my house. I booked Uber for her. It cost about
twenty dollars for a return trip. (Anh)
Apart from the distance, the parents expressed more concerns over the content
of the lessons taught at CLS. Firstly, their concerns went to the language itself.
They commented that the language at those schools did not conform with modern
Vietnamese used domestically and that people in Vietnam “no longer use those
archaic words.” They also noticed that CLS often teach only the Southern Vietnamese
dialect. As the Vietnamese language has three distinct dialects (Northern, Central
and Southern Vietnamese), people from different geographical regions might have
difficulties in understanding people from other areas. Such differences discouraged
parents from North and Central Vietnam from sending their children to CLS in
Australia. One mother shared:
I saw their books. They (CLS) only teach the Southern dialect. She can’t use it when we get
back. I think it doesn’t help. (Ngan)
Besides, the parents expressed concerns about the possible religious and political
content of the lessons taught at CLS. In some states, community language classes
are organised by the regional churches. One of the mothers who knew about such
classes cited religious connections as the major reason why she refused to send her
child to those classes even though the price, in her opinion, was “very cheap.” She
said:
If we lived here, we might choose a religion. But we’ll come back. I want our mind to be
free. (Ha)
This mother distanced herself and kept her daughter separate from any religion
because the family planned to return to Vietnam. Bearing in mind that up to 86% of the
population in Vietnam follow no religion and only 6% consider themselves Catholic
and 1% Protestant (General Statistics Office of Vietnam, 2019), it is understandable
that the mother did not see a necessity to be affiliated to any particular religion.
To Vietnamese sojourners, the political content of the lessons taught at CLS
was also one of their major concerns. The history of the Vietnamese community
in Australia dates back to the Vietnamese refugee waves after the Vietnam War in
1975 (National Museum Australia, 2021). The content of what is taught at CLS
might to some extent have been influenced by this historical moment. Thus, these
120 H. T. Dam
Vietnamese sojourner parents, all of whom were sent to Australia by the Vietnamese
government offices and institutions, have a critical evaluation of what is offered at
CLS. One mother mentioned this as one of the reasons for not sending her daughter
to a CLS after one term:
They (CLS) bring bits related to pre- and post-1975 into the lessons. I don’t like it. (Anh)
Together with the lesson content, CLS teacher qualifications were also what the
parents cared about. Ten out of twelve parents in this project worked as university
lecturers before pursuing their PhD in Australia, which might account for the high
expectations they set for the teachers at CLS. One mother revealed that she would
rather teach her son herself than send him to CLS because she knew that “many of
the teachers there are volunteers” and they do not possess the right qualifications for
teaching languages to children.
Those concerns have discouraged sojourner parents from using CLS as an offi-
cial channel of Vietnamese language maintenance for their children, which in turn
contributes to the unsystematic and impulsive learning and teaching of this language
within the home settings and partly results in the counter-effectiveness of the process.
What the parents have done with in-home translanguaging, with their children’s
Vietnamese learning, and with the concerns over CLS can be attributed to what
they believe about language and language learning and also their ideologies related
to cultural and familial values and the imagined communities (IC) that they have
sketched out for their children upon return.
From the perspective of IC, the parents’ opposition to sending their children to
CLS can be considered an indication of their insistence on excluding these language
programmes from the imagined community of Australia which they hope to be part of
when residing in the country. Even the mother who reached out for a CLS programme
later found out that it should not be part of her and her daughter’s desired target
community due to conflicting ideologies. As can be seen, the act of envisioning
and getting immersed in an imagined community appears to be a selective process
in which its members/members-to-be can actively include a particular group of the
target community in or exclude it from their IC. They may accept or refuse member-
ship of that group, depending on their ideologies and beliefs and their future ICs,
too.
Parent’s Ideologies and Imagined Communities
What the parents do with their children’s use of languages at home vividly reflects
the beliefs they hold about different fields of life.
For those who put a great effort to maintain Vietnamese among their children, they
attach familial and traditional values to this language—a cultural function that many
parents in multilingual families assign to their mother tongue (Curdt-Christiansen,
2016). They believe that Vietnamese can serve as a bridge that connects their children
with family members back in Vietnam and narrows down the generation gap between
6 Family Language Policy Among Vietnamese Sojourner Families … 121
themselves and the children when the young ones grow up. In the following example,
one mother has employed a variety of methods to help her daughter improve her
Vietnamese so that the familial connection with her extended family is sustained:
She must understand her family members in Vietnamese. And when she grows up, there are
things she needs to confide in me like women’s stuff, love, etc. I don’t want to see a big
generation gap. (Anh)
For those parents who did not show great investment in teaching their children
Vietnamese and let the children use their preferred language of English, they believed
in a more flexible approach to language use. Interestingly, nine out of twelve parents
have a professional background in English language teaching. However, their family
language practices are mostly based on their observations, subjective beliefs or
personal exchanges with other Vietnamese sojourner parents rather than the language
teaching and learning theories in their field of expertise. One of them shared in the
interview:
She refuses to learn Vietnamese at home. But I’m not worried. Anyway, we are going back
soon and she did learn a little bit at school in Vietnam. And she has an aptitude for languages,
so she can catch up with others quickly. (Tuan)
As the father believed that his daughter had an aptitude for languages, he thought
she would not have many difficulties in learning Vietnamese once she returned to
school in Vietnam.
Apart from the cultural and language ideologies, these parents also transferred
their political and religious beliefs into family language practices. As discussed in the
previous section, they explicitly expressed their concerns over community language
schools due to the possible religious and political content of the lessons provided
there. Considering their future reintegration in Vietnam, they were not willing to
have their children get involved in what they saw as sensitive topics. This reluctance
contradicts the positive link found between religious factors and the maintenance
of heritage languages among immigrants (Revis, 2017), suggesting the need for a
multidimensional research lens on this topic among various groups of immigrants.
Parents’ imagined future also has an enormous influence on their family language
practices in Australia. The fact that many parents have a flexible approach to their
children’s language use can be attributed to their plan for the young ones’ future
schooling and reintegration in Vietnam. For example, a mother intended to send her
son to a private bilingual school upon return, which lessened the pressure placed
upon the child to improve his Vietnamese before going back because the school
programme would allow a great deal of content to be taught in English. She said:
When we go back, I will hire a tutor to teach him Vietnamese. We’ll send him to a bilingual
school, so I think he won’t have much problem re-integrating in Vietnam. (Hang)
Together with choosing a bilingual school for her son, the mother planned to hire a
tutor for him on their return so that the boy could feel more prepared for school. This,
however, created a more relaxing family atmosphere in Australia as the preparations
were delayed until their return to Vietnam.
122 H. T. Dam
In contrast, for another family who do not live in a big city in Vietnam, there
were limited choices of school for their son upon return. The mother confessed that
international schools in her province are expensive but the quality might not be as
good as state schools. They were therefore more serious about the maintenance of
Vietnamese f or the boy so that he would be able to attend a state school later. His
mother stated:
Teaching him Vietnamese now is influenced a lot by our decision to go back. We have to
teach him how to read and write, and to communicate so that he can talk in Vietnamese. If
he can’t, how can he survive upon return? (Sinh)
These competing beliefs coincide with what the literature about ICs among
sojourners suggest (Chao & Ma, 2019; Song, 2012). Parents’ ICs depend on the
coming societal conditions in which the families decide to settle down. If their ICs
appear to facilitate the children’s continued use of English, the parents seem to feel
less pressured about the children’s Vietnamese learning while in Australia. While the
parents’ ICs still function as an influencing factor on their family language policies
and practices in general and their children’s learning in the host country in partic-
ular, the stress among the parents with more schooling choices for their children
upon return seem to diverge from that among those with fewer choices.
Implications
Employing the conceptual framework from the perspective of family language poli-
cies (King et al., 2008) and the notion of investment and imagined communities
(Norton, 2001, 2013), this study has both aligned itself with the body of research on
what immigrant families do with their home language use and learning and provided
an insightful explanation for the distinctive language practices that short-term immi-
grants might perform differently from permanent immigrants. Several essential impli-
cations have emerged from the analysis, which might be helpful for relevant stake-
holders to provide adequate support for language maintenance and development
among sojourner families.
First, although all parents are well aware of the importance of the maintenance of
Vietnamese for their children, their language use is often negotiated to match the chil-
dren’s preferred language, which is in line with existing research. Even with parents’
occasional interventions, children have apparently become an active agent in moder-
ating the language practices at home with or without their own noticing. Thus, while
research often highlights the role of adult family members in family language policy
and practices (King, 2013), it is suggested from these observations that child agency
in FLP should be more carefully attended to so that efforts in language maintenance
and development pay off. Boosting up children’s motivation, therefore, appears to
be the key to home language maintenance. As traditional teaching seems less effec-
tive, incorporating web-based courses and age-appropriate entertainment and media
6 Family Language Policy Among Vietnamese Sojourner Families … 123
content in the children’s learning experiences should be encouraged. Media consump-
tion has been proved effective in enhancing heritage language learners’ proficiency
(Ardakani & Moloney, 2017). As there is a strong correlation between home language
maintenance and ethnic identity (Tran et al., 2021), regular practices of traditional
customs within family settings and active participation in Vietnamese community
events would also provide opportunities for the children to cherish the Vietnamese
culture and appreciate both the language and cultural value.
Second, translanguaging is a common practice among all the families, reflecting
parents’ tolerant attitudes towards translanguaging (Wilson, 2021). However, it is
often viewed as instances of code-switching or code-mixing, which to some extent
suggests a conventionally perpetuated monoglossic perspective when dealing with
this phenomenon in bilingual speakers (García & Lin, 2016). In order to understand
these sojourner children’s bilingual and bicultural identity negotiation in transna-
tional settings, it is advisable to use a translanguaging mindset to look at bilinguals’
language use. A translanguaging mindset contends that children are able to mobilise
their one integrated linguistic repertoire to accommodate their communicative needs
in myriad situations with a variety of interlocutors, instead of thinking about them as
having “two separate linguistic systems” which are switched on and off continuously
(Otheguy et al., 2015, p. 282). In fact, the ability to flexibly perform translanguaging
practices in their language learning process is said to be useful for the construction
of positive bilingual identities (Rabbidge, 2019). Flexible language use and mean-
ingful transition between the two languages in family conversations might facilitate
the development of both English and Vietnamese. Given that children are active
agents in home language maintenance, open discussion with them on how, when and
with whom which language (or a combination of them) to be used would increase
their cooperation in following family language policies. This can also be done with
home literacy activities such as bedtime reading where translanguaging is employed
to promote Vietnamese language learning while still allowing space for the use of
English.
Third, family language policy and practices are shaped by parents’ ideologies
and imagined communities, which resonates with the extensive research on ICs.
This finding also expands on existing literature on FLP at sojourners’ homes, espe-
cially at the end of their short stay in the host country, which varies according to
the parents’ imagination of their future communities, societal conditions and the
children’s schooling environment. This will in turn influence the amount of invest-
ment they make in maintaining and developing their children’s Vietnamese language.
While it is acknowledged that parents might not provide sustained support for home
language maintenance due to their specific relational or educational goals (Park et al.,
2012), short-term immigrant children should be well-prepared for the future transi-
tion to their home country when the sojourn ends. Raising parental awareness of the
importance of maintaining home language and promoting positive bilingual identity
for their children is essential to a successful journey home.
Fourth, the Vietnamese community language programmes seem to have not fully
accommodated the needs of short-term immigrants. Home/heritage language main-
tenance is said to be best achieved through linguistic exposure in both informal (i.e.
124 H. T. Dam
home environment) and formal educational contexts (Chik et al., 2017). However,
some geographical, administrative, cultural and political issues have prevented
sojourner parents from sending their children to community language schools. This
might require stakeholders to reflect on the implementation of community language
education. Such programmes should not only address the needs of second or third
generation long-term immigrants as has traditionally been the case, but also attend
to the complex backgrounds of short-term immigrants and skilled immigrants who
have recently arrived in Australia. Updating teaching materials, providing additional
specialised professional training for teachers in the areas seen to be lacking, and
ensuring appropriate distribution of classes among residential areas might be some
possible considerations as a first step to make community language programmes
more accessible to immigrants of varied backgrounds. The involvement of more
public schools in delivering community language courses as part of formal educa-
tion would also make the goal of home language maintenance more achievable to
various groups of immigrants.
Finally, support should be offered by the home country’s government as well. The
State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese —Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs
has also provided regular training courses (both online and offline) for those who
want to teach Vietnamese to the Vietnamese community and interested individuals
worldwide. However, this initiative has not been widely known to its intended bene-
ficiaries. Such initiatives s hould be further promoted to attract a larger number of
Vietnamese language teachers and learners overseas. The Vietnamese embassy in
the host country could also assist home language maintenance by coordinating and
facilitating accredited learning groups and cultural events where children are given
the opportunities to develop their mother tongue and sense of cultural identity.
Conclusion
Responding to the call for a qualitative study into parents’ attitudes towards home
language maintenance and associated factors by Tran et al. (2021) and extending to
an under-researched population of temporary immigrants, this chapter has provided
an insightful analysis of the family language practices of Vietnamese short-term
residents in Australia. The current research, however, is limited in some aspects,
given the fact that it is conducted on a small population of Vietnamese sojourner
parents at a certain point of time during their stay in Australia. Further studies on
sojourner children’s attitudes towards their parents’ FLP should be encouraged so
that the picture could be fully captured. Longitudinal research is also recommended
to investigate how home language policies and practices are adapted by families in
pre-, while- and post-sojourn stages.
Despite these limitations, the study has contributed to a further understanding
of family language policies and practices in an increasingly large group of short-
term immigrants. It has revealed that parents’ ideologies and imagined communities
are closely related to the way they provide scaffolding for their children’s home
6 Family Language Policy Among Vietnamese Sojourner Families … 125
language maintenance and preparation for future return. As such, family engagement
(through direct language support and informal learning experiences), pedagogical
and curriculum innovation, and top-down involvement from both the home and host
governments (in the form of language education policies and support initiatives)
are necessary for promoting a favourable environment to nurture multi/bilingualism
among children with immigrant backgrounds in general and sojourner children in
particular.
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128 H. T. Dam
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Chapter 7
Vietnamese Heritage Language: From
Silence to Voice
Thi Minh Tran
Abstract Immigration and emigration shape unique language contact environments
and multilingual settings, intertwined with language ideologies, attitudes, practices,
and the emergence of new contact languages. Heritage languages, spoken by immi-
grant children or individuals who migrated at a young age, have garnered atten-
tion, particularly in the United States and Canada since the 1960s and 1970s, and
later in Europe and elsewhere. However, despite approximately 4 million individuals
with Vietnamese immigration backgrounds worldwide, research on the Vietnamese
language has only spanned since the 2000s. This review assesses the current state
of Vietnamese heritage language studies, identifying topics explored, their develop-
ment, existing gaps, and potential research directions. It synthesizes diverse findings,
highlighting recent focus areas on heritage language loss, maintenance, ideology,
education, proficiency assessment, and linguistic characteristics. The review iden-
tifies limitations in existing literature and offers recommendations for addressing
them.
Heritage Language and Vietnamese Heritage Language:
Term and Principle
Ngoc Müller-Tran holds a Ph.D. in education studies and serves as the director of a
cultural program in Germany designed for individuals with immigrant backgrounds.
She arrived in Germany at the age of five, along with her parents, who were both
contract workers. Nga Schwenke, an IT professional, also arrived in Germany at the
age of five, the same as Ngoc. While Ngoc bears a Vietnamese first name and a
surname that blends Vietnamese and German heritage from her husband, Nga opted
to relinquish her original Vietnamese surname after her marriage. Both Ngoc and
Nga belong to the 1.5 generation of Vietnamese immigrants.
T. M. Tr an (B
)
Nguyen Tat Thanh Hi-Tech Institute, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
e-mail: ttminh@ntt.edu.vn; ttminhvs@gmail.com
© The Author(s) 2024
Phan Le Ha et al. (eds.), Vietnamese Language, Education and Change In and Outside
Vietnam, Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9093-1_7
129
130 T. M. Tran
Ngoc possesses a strong command of the Vietnamese language, having pursued
additional Vietnamese language courses in school and even selecting Vietnamese
as a subsidiary subject during her university studies. She has a deep affinity for
the Vietnamese language and culture, actively passing on her knowledge to her child.
Occasionally, she encounters challenges in formal writing, however her current time
constraints limit her pursuit of further improvement. Conversely, Nga exhibits profi-
ciency in understanding and speaking Vietnamese, but her writing skills remain
underdeveloped. Consequently, she enrolls in a virtual Vietnamese class for over-
seas Vietnamese. Nga welcomes the opportunity to delve into the intricacies of this
heritage language and culture, as it allows her to engage in discussions about music
and poetry with her Vietnamese language teacher.
Ngan Ha Nguyen, an eight-year-old born in Germany, retains her pure Vietnamese
name, which poses a challenge for her teachers and friends when attempting to
pronounce it correctly in her native language. Nevertheless, this does not hinder
her effective communication within her school environment, as she converses fluently
in Vietnamese with her mother at home. Additionally, she contacts her grandparents
in Vietnam every weekend, further solidifying her grasp of the language. While she
can read Vietnamese to some extent, writing remains a significant challenge due to
the absence of Vietnamese language classes in her school system. She doesn’t dwell
on this issue, however her mother has plans to provide her with additional instruction
at home.
Harry Tran, a nine-year-old born in Germany, comprehends Vietnamese well but
struggles with both speaking and writing in the language . He shows reluctance to
use Vietnamese and adamantly refuses to attend Vietnamese weekend classes.
Danny Schöning has a Vietnamese mother and a German father. He converses
in Vietnamese with a slight German accent and is currently enrolled in a virtual
Vietnamese class due to his mother’s insistence. Initially resistant, he has grown
more comfortable and now actively participates in discussions in Vietnamese within
the class.
These life stories, exemplified by Ngoc, Nga, Ngan Ha, Harry, and Danny, resonate
not only in Germany but also in many other countries with immigrant communities.
The choices they make regarding their names, either self-selected or given by their
parents, can influence their connection to their heritage language and culture. These
individuals exhibit a spectrum of proficiency in Vietnamese, ranging from limited
understanding like Harry and Danny, to greater proficiency demonstrated by Ngoc
and Nga. Numerous factors contribute to their heritage language proficiency and
motivation for its maintenance.
These individuals, along with millions of others who share similarly diverse
life experiences, are collectively referred to as heritage speakers of Vietnamese.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vietnam (2012), Vietnamese is
spoken in the homes of approximately four million individuals residing outside
Vietnam, making it a significant subject of interest in linguistic, cultural, and
educational research.
The Vietnamese language is one of many heritage languages outside borders of
origin countries. The term heritage language appeared in educational research on
7 Vietnamese Heritage Language: From Silence to Voice 131
the acquisition of languages other than English and French by bilingual students
in Canada in the 1970s. Later, in the late 1990s, this term was broadly used in the
United States to refer to ethno-cultural languages (Cummins, 1983, p. 7; Cummins,
2005, p. 585). Heritage languages may include immigrant languages (e.g., German
in the United States, Vietnamese in Germany), national minority languages (e.g.,
Basque in Spain, Hmong in Vietnam), and aboriginal languages (e.g., Navajo in the
United States, Dyirbal in Australia). More precisely, Rothman (2009, p. 156) defines
a heritage language as follows:
A language qualifies as a heritage language if it is a language spoken at home or otherwise
readily available to young children, and crucially this language is not a dominant language
in the larger (national) society. Like the acquisition of a primary language in monolingual
situations and the acquisition of two or more languages in situations of societal bilingualism/
multilingualism, the heritage language is acquired on the basis of an interaction with natu-
ralistic input and whatever in-born linguistic mechanisms are at play in any instance of child
language acquisition. Differently, however, there is the possibility that quantitative and qual-
itative differences in heritage language input and the introduction, influence of the societal
majority language, and differences in literacy and formal education can result in what on
the surface seems to be arrested development of the heritage language or attrition in adult
bilingual knowledge. (Italics in the original)
Other commonly used terms to refer to the heritage language of bilinguals are first
language (L1), mother tongue, ancestral language, ethnic language, third language,
non-official language, etc. (Cummins, 1983,p.7;Montrul, 2016, p. 13).
In many countries, especially in the United States and Europe, languages other
than the official language are often considered “foreign” languages. Nevertheless,
these languages are not “foreign” to many individuals or communities because many
people who live in those countries have cultural connections to them and know
languages other than the official ones (Cummins, 1983). Whether these people have
a high proficiency in these languages or cannot understand them, they always belong
to a family or a community where the language is used (Montrul, 2016). Kelleher
(2010, p. 1) emphasizes: “The term ‘heritage’ language can be used to describe any
of these connections between a non-dominant language and a person, a family, or a
community”. The literal meaning of the term heritage language already expresses
the connection of the immigrant group with the home country and the language of
their country of origin.
In Germany, the term Herkunftsprache (heritage language) has been used in
studies on multilinguals and multilingualism since the early 2000s (Flores & Rinke,
2016, p. 22) to define the special acquisition conditions of a minority language in
the context of migration. Reich (2009, p. 445) defined “Herkunftsprache” (language
of origin) to be migrants bring their mother tongues to other immigration coun-
tries (“Migranten als ihre Muttersprachen in anderssprachige Einwanderungsländer
mitbringen”). However, Fürstenau (2011, p. 31) criticized the term “Herkunfsprache”
because the regional origin does not always imply the actual language used, for
example, there is a sharp separation between the Turkish populations due to their 40
minority languages (Brizić, 2006, p. 36). In addition, the language of an emigrated
group may differ from the language used in the country of origin (Lüttenberg, 2010,
132 T. M. Tran
p. 306). For these reasons, in studies on the language of origin of migrants, the
terms “Muttersprache” (mother tongue), “Erstsprache” (first language), and “Fami-
liensprache” (family language) have often been used in Germany despite their differ-
ently potential meanings, which can include the language that was first acquired, the
language that is frequently used in everyday communication, the language that is
used fluently, the language that was preferred, or the language that can link migrants
with their specific cultural affiliation (König, 2016, p. 286; Lüttenberg, 2010, p. 307).
Meanwhile, the English term “heritage language” refers to the connection between
the migrants with their home culture and language (König, 2016, p. 286).
In studies on the Vietnamese language of immigrants in different countries, the
term heritage language may have been first used to refer to the Vietnamese language
in the United States i n the study of Maloof et al. (2006). Some other studies related to
the Vietnamese language of Vietnamese immigrants around the world also utilize this
term (Nguyen, 2020; Phan, 2017, 2018; Tran, 2018, 2019). Many different terms have
been used to refer to the Vietnamese language abroad, for example, home language
(Tran et al., 2021a), first language (Nguyen et al., 2001), and immigrant language
(Zhou & Bankston, 1998). The present study uses the term heritage language to refer
to the Vietnamese language of immigrants abroad to express the connection between
Vietnamese migrants and their home culture and language (König, 2016).
Heritage Language Studies: From the Margins to a Central
Focus
Nowadays, thanks to the so-called “social turn”, “the acquisition of heritage
languages has moved from the margins to become a central focus of study within
linguistics and applied linguistics” (Montrul, 2016, p. 6; Page & Putnam, 2015).
While only a few European languages such as Spanish and German heritage
languages in the United States were extensively investigated in the last decades, there
has recently been a series of publications concerning Asian languages such as Korean,
Japanese, and Chinese (He & Xiao, 2008; Lee, 2002;Mu,
2015; Zhang & Slaughter-
Defoe, 2009). In addition, the list of dissertations on heritage language education
from 2000–2012 by the Alliance for the Advancement of Heritage Languages, Center
of Applied Linguistics, impartially supplies evidence for this trend. Moreover, the
Heritage Language Journal (HLJ) was released in 2002 to provide a forum for
researchers to exchange research results and knowledge about heritage languages.
The dramatic change in research on heritage languages may have emerged from
the argument of language as a resource since 2001 (Nguyen et al., 2001). The
benefits of multilingualism for individuals and societies are manifold, including
the realms of intellectual life, culture, family, and economy. Lo Bianco (2017,
p. 65) argues that multilingualism benefits cultural diversity for both entire soci-
eties and minority communities, due to the increase intercultural understanding
7 Vietnamese Heritage Language: From Silence to Voice 133
through learning and practicing languages. Multilingualism, especially the main-
tenance of heritage languages, entails strong intergenerational ties for immigrants
who can benefit substantially in terms of health and psychological development, such
as sharing emotions and maintaining the authority of parents and caregivers. Aiko
(2017, p. 106) states that learning heritage languages and cultures helps heritage
speakers gain a sense of belonging, which supports a positive sense of identity and
the development of self-confidence. Therefore, heritage language use encourages
learners to transmit their own cultures from one generation to the next. However, it
is very difficult to maintain a language and a culture in an inappropriate educational
context. A question that emerges in this context is to what extent the maintenance
of a heritage language should or can be encouraged, for example, by organizing a
formal learning environment or offering interesting learning activities.
One of the most widely studied topics of heritage language concerns the attitude
of heritage speakers towards the maintenance of a heritage language from different
perspectives, because “language attitudes are collectively historically shaped and
can also be politically co-determined” (Franceschini, 2011, p. 346). Attitudes are
considered “powerful variables” (ibid., 346) that co-govern the development of
multilingual language use. Numerous studies have investigated the attitude towards
heritage language from parents’ perspectives (Nesteruk, 2010; Tran et al., 2021a;
Zhang & Slaughter-Defoe, 2009), teachers’ perspectives (Cummins, 2001; Liu, 2006;
Rodríguez, 2007), and students’ points of view (Liao et al., 2017;Oh&Nash,
2014). Cummins (2001) noted that international students enrolled at the Univer-
sity of Toronto (Canada) frequently complained about their elementary school chil-
dren rejecting their home language and culture. Many children refuse to use the
first language at home and want to anglicize their names in order to belong to the
culture of the school and peer group. In the case of immigrant parents with a low
proficiency in the languages of host countries, the rejection of the home language
of children and adolescents often leads to parent–child conflicts, decreased levels of
parental authority, and overall family cohesion issues (Chapman & Perreira, 2005;
Driscoll & Torres, 2013). However, the attitude of heritage speakers may change in
the course of their lifespans. For example, in a study on Chinese heritage language,
Mu (2015) cited a statement by an Australian-Chinese young adult:
I am completely lost. I am struggling with my belongingness. I am different in Australia
because I look Chinese. I am also different here because I look Chinese but I can’t speak
Chinese. I wish I had learned (Chinese) harder when I was in Saturday schools.
(Mu, 2015: xxi)
Regarding the educational perspective, all bilingual programs in the United States
and Canada function very well and have proved that children can acquire two
languages well at the same time (Cummins, 2001, p. 10). Therefore, there has
been an increasingly large number of studies on heritage language education (e.g.,
Cummins, 2001; Nguyen et al., 2001). However, heritage language instruction has
still been considered similar to foreign language teaching (Fishman, 2001; Valdés,
2001). The need to develop new programs and pedagogical materials to address the
134 T. M. Tran
specific requirements of heritage speakers has been shared by many language prac-
titioners (Brinton et al., 2008). Learning a heritage language is a necessary right for
all learners, because it can be a resource for individuals and society (Busch, 2011,
p. 544). One of many new pedagogical approaches that have been approved is service
learning (Moreno & MacGregor-Mendoza, 2017, p. ii). Heritage language studies
has become a central focus in linguistics and social studies in the last two decades
(Montrul, 2016, p. 45).
As per Boom and Polinsky (2014), despite heritage language research being
a relatively new field, it has garnered significant attention due to its relevance
in today’s multicultural society. Consequently, heritage languages have become a
subject of exploration across various disciplines. This inquiry ultimately equips
heritage speakers, often accustomed to linguistic silence in their first language, with
the tools to bridge the gap from silence to expression. Heritage language research
grants these individuals a new voice, enabling them to become truly bilingual and
bicultural (p. 17).
The concept of transitioning from “silence to voice” (Boom and Polinsky, 2014)
serves as an inspiration for delving into Vietnamese heritage language research. This
endeavor seeks to understand the scope of studies in this field, assess their level of
establishment, identify existing gaps, and determine potential directions for future
research. Such a review can shed light on the voices of heritage speakers, offering
insights into their experiences growing up with the Vietnamese heritage language in
Western countries across various aspects of life.
Vietnamese Heritage Language—Common Research Topics
in Western Countries
Despite the significant presence of approximately 4 million individuals with Viet-
namese immigration backgrounds worldwide (Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vietnam,
2012), research on the Vietnamese heritage language has yet to transition “from
margins to a central focus” as observed with other heritage languages (Montrul, 2016,
p. 45). In a comprehensive study by Wiley et al. (2014), spanning 300 years of heritage
language research in the United States, Vietnamese received only cursory mentions
within statistical tables, such as those detailing the most commonly spoken languages
at home among different age groups (“Language other than English most commonly
spoken at home” (2005–2009; 2010–2011), and “Language most commonly spoken
at home for 5–18 year olds” (2007–2011)). Although ranking seventh, sixth, and
fifth in importance in these tables, the Vietnamese heritage language did not receive
a dedicated section. However, research on this heritage language has been ongoing
for over two decades in Western countries. This paper aims to provide an overview of
common themes in the literature on the Vietnamese heritage language, particularly
in the United States, Australia, and Europe.
7 Vietnamese Heritage Language: From Silence to Voice 135
As previously mentioned, the study of Vietnamese heritage language emerged in
the United States in the early twenty-first century. In recent times, research on Viet-
namese heritage language has extended to various host countries. Table 7.1 outlines
the prevailing themes in research within this field.
Table 7.1 illustrates that research on the Vietnamese heritage language
commenced approximately two decades ago. Notably, many of the authors
conducting these studies possess names that suggest Vietnamese origins. Since its
inception, this field has consistently explored different facets and perspectives of the
language, with a gradual upward trend in research activity over time. Figure 7.1 visu-
ally depicts the evolving research trends within the realm of the Vietnamese heritage
language.
Figure 7.1 presents a clear trajectory of the evolving landscape of research on
Vietnamese heritage language. Notably, in recent years, particularly since 2011, there
has been a noticeable increase in both the quantity and regularity of studies within
this field. On average, 2.6 publications related to this topic have appeared each year.
This trend signals a positive and growing interest in gaining a deeper understanding
of Vietnamese heritage language.
The study of Vietnamese heritage language has witnessed significant growth and
development over the past two decades. Originating primarily in the United States,
this field has expanded to encompass various host countries, reflecting a broader
global interest in understanding and preserving this cultural and linguistic heritage.
The increasing number of publications in recent years, averaging 2.6 per annum since
2011, underscores the growing significance and commitment to exploring different
facets of Vietnamese heritage language. In Asia, such as in Japan and Taiwan, studies
Table 7.1 Studies on Vietnamese heritage language
Theme Study
Vietnamese heritage language loss and shift Ben-Moshe et al. (2016), Maloof et al. (2006),
Zhou (2001)
Vietnamese heritage language maintenance Beth and Tuckermann (2008), Lewis et al.
(2011), Nguyen et al. (2001), Schnoor et al.
(2017), Tran et al. (2021a), Young and Tran
(1999)
Vietnamese heritage language ideology and
language practice
Ben-Moshe et al. (2016), Bui (2016), Gogolin
et al. (2017), Hegele (2014), Heller (2012),
König (2014), Nguyen (2011), Pham (2015),
Tran (2006, 2013)
Heritage language education and policy Lam (2006), Potter (2014), Tran (2008), Tran
et al. (2021b)
The Vietnamese heritage language
proficiency assessment
Maloof et al. (2006), Nguyen et al. (2001), Tran
(2019)
Characteristics of the Vietnamese heritage
language
Dao (2012, 2016), Dao and Nguyen (2015),
Ho-Dac (2003), Hoang (2013), Nguyen (2012),
Phan (2017, 2018), Thai (2007, 2014), Tran
(2013), Tran (2018, 2019)
136 T. M. Tran
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
1999 2001 2003 2006 2007 2008 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021
Fig. 7.1 Number of research on Vietnamese heritage language in Western countries over the last
two decades
on Vietnamese as a heritage language or an inherited language have also started to
gain more attention (Yu-ching et al., 2015; Đỗ, 2023). This research trend bodes well
for enriching our comprehension of this unique language and its role within diverse
diaspora communities around the world. As studies continue to evolve and expand,
they contribute to bridging the gap between silence and voice for heritage language
speakers, empowering them to embrace their bilingual and bicultural identities.
Following are the main topics of research on Vietnamese heritage language up to
date.
Vietnamese Heritage Language Loss and Shift
The topic of language loss and shift has been studied earlier than other topics and
primarily introduced by Zhou (2001) in the United States. She designed a study with
363 Vietnamese teenagers in San Diego, using questionnaires and self-reports. This
study revealed a crucial aspect of language loss and shift: the timeline of change.
The result indicated a decline in the use of Vietnamese heritage language among
Vietnamese youths aged 14, with English proficiency increasing inversely to the
decline in Vietnamese heritage language literacy skills.
Another study in the United States, Maloof et al. (2006) argued that Vietnamese
heritage language loss usually occurs within 1.5–2 generations of residing in this
country. The convincing evidence for this loss is that only 15% of participants who
belong to the second generation still use Vietnamese with siblings. Further evidence
for this argument comes from the experience of many people living in the United
States. During the high school years, Andrew, a Vietnamese-American writer, lost
his grasp on Vietnamese (Lam, 2005). “Mouthfuls of consonants began to reform his
7 Vietnamese Heritage Language: From Silence to Voice 137
tongue, his teeth, his lips” (ibid., p. ix). Despite writing many books about hisViet-
namese and American worlds, he used only English, the language that gave him
confidence to write.
Pham (2011) collected Vietnamese and English data from Vietnamese bilinguals
in the United States at four different times to examine the language change of this
target group. The results showed that one of the two languages of the children
at school-age time grew positively. Particularly, during the middle childhood, the
dominant language shifted from the L1 (i.e., Vietnamese) to the L2 (i.e., English)
(p. 67).
Despite being an important home language of about 300,000 speakers in Australia,
Vietnamese is reported to be lost among the second and third generations (Tran et al.
2021a). Verdon et al. (2014) conducted a longitudinal study with 4252 young children
from different immigration backgrounds to identify patterns of language maintenance
and loss. The loss of other languages than English (heritage languages) including
Vietnamese heritage language occurred over the first five years of life regularly.
Between 3 waves (0–1 year, 2–3 years, 4–5 years), the maintenance of speaking
heritage languages decreased to 86.6%.
In summary, while there is a body of research on Vietnamese heritage language
loss and shift, its scope remains relatively limited, especially considering the various
ages and circumstances in which these changes occur. Existing studies have primarily
focused on identifying the timeline of language loss, but it is essential to acknowl-
edge that these dynamics are influenced by a multitude of environmental and personal
factors, including parental language use, family language policies, cultural connec-
tions, and language learning (Verdon et al., 2014;Tranetal. 2021b). A comprehensive
understanding of these intricate dynamics is crucial for addressing heritage language
preservation challenges effectively.
The findings of collected publications revealed a decline in Vietnamese heritage
language proficiency among Vietnamese heritage speakers, with an inverse relation-
ship observed between the decrease in Vietnamese literacy skills and an increase in
English proficiency. It brings “a voice” refers to the capacity or ability of Vietnamese
heritage language speakers to use and maintain their language skills, specifically their
proficiency in Vietnamese, amidst the influence of English proficiency. The decline
in Vietnamese language proficiency represents a weakening or loss of “the voice” of
the Vietnamese heritage language within this population.
Vietnamese Heritage Language Maintenance
The loss and transformation of heritage language within diasporic communities can
vary based on individual perspectives and the attitudes of parents of heritage language
speakers towards the preservation of the Vietnamese heritage language. This partic-
ular aspect has been a focal point of research within the field of Vietnamese heritage
language studies, as evident in Table 7.1. Pioneering studies by Young and Tran
(1999) and Nguyen et al. (2001) represent early efforts to explore these attitudes
138 T. M. Tran
regarding the Vietnamese heritage language. In their research involving 588 first-
to eighth-grade students of Vietnamese descent in California, United States, and
relying on self-reports, Nguyen et al. (2001) reported that a majority of partici-
pants (80%) emphasized the significance of preserving their Vietnamese culture
and language. Furthermore, 91% of these students deemed learning Vietnamese in
school as highly important, with 67% expressing a strong desire to receive formal
Vietnamese language education in school settings.
In addition, the findings showed that there is a correlation between the high levels
of spoken Vietnamese competence, as well as the high levels of communication
with parents of heritage language speakers in this heritage language, and English
competence. First-language use is, therefore, not detrimental to the development
of spoken English. Additionally, the correlation between English literacy and self-
reported competence in Vietnamese was close to zero, indicating that there is no
evidence of Vietnamese impeding English language literacy development.
Similarly, Ho-Dac (2003) did not find any evidence of a relation between the
intense contact between Vietnamese and English and the decline of the Vietnamese
language. In his study, code-switching was viewed as a strategy to overcome commu-
nication difficulties for Vietnamese immigrants living in Australia. In the same vein,
Pham (2011) found that children in bilingual contexts can develop both languages,
the heritage language, and the societal language at the same time (p. 68).
In the same vein, Maloof et al. (2006) selected 50 registered students at the Viet-
namese Outreach Center in Atlanta, Georgia, which was developed to foster the
maintenance of Vietnamese culture and language, and to promote biculturalism, to
explore students’ integrated cultural identities. Participants ranged in age from 9 to
18 and had lived in the United States for at least two years. The research employed
a questionnaire to access bicultural competencies and cultural identities as well as
background data such as class participation, length of attendance and pattern of atten-
dance. The findings showed a positive correlation between a strong cultural ethnic
identity and the ethnic language proficiency as well as English language proficiency.
Students who particularly have positive attitudes toward the ethnic culture tend to
have especially positive attitudes toward the English language use. Therefore, it is
undoubtedly true that positive feelings towards their home cultures enable students
to more readily embrace the host country’s language.
In the same vein, a study by Beth and Tuckermann (2008) in Germany argues that
maintaining a heritage language is key to cultural preservation. The stories of partic-
ipants provide evidence for this argument, as highlighted by Beth and Tuckermann
(2008). One of the most fascinating stories involves a 20-year-old woman who strived
to create a pleasant and supportive learning environment for her younger sister to
maintain their heritage language. The older sister was motivated by her discomfort
and distress seeing her sister’s detachment from their culture, evidenced by her limited
Vietnamese proficiency (about 10%) and having a German boyfriend). She believed
that learning Vietnamese would remind her younger sister of her root (Beth & Tucker-
mann, 2008, p. 319). The older sister conveyed that Vietnamese language competence
is an important part of retaining the heritage culture and should be maintained for
future life and career prospects. She expressed, “Of course, in Germany, Vietnamese
7 Vietnamese Heritage Language: From Silence to Voice 139
is not as necessary as German. However, I told her that it is our language. She can do
it. It’s in her essence. If she forgets or unlearns it, then someday she will not be able
to do that anymore. And that is just too bad, because she never knows when she will
need it again. She never knows if she might come back to Vietnam later. Not now,
but to work or in a relationship” (ibid.).
In 2011, Lewis et al. designed two case studies on Vietnamese heritage language
maintenance, the first being “The role of parent involvement in heritage language
maintenance within a Vietnamese heritage language school setting”, the second being
“Vietnamese American parents’ and students’ attitudes toward maintaining Viet-
namese as a heritage language”. The findings from the above case studies showed
that parent involvement and heritage language maintenance are key components for
preserving cultural identity and for academic, and economic success.
In the same year, Lam (2011) examined the experiences of parents in mixed
marriages (Vietnamese married to non-Vietnamese) regarding their efforts to main-
tain of the Vietnamese heritage language also in the United States. Although there
were at least three different family types where language shift occured, parents were
still trying to pass on the heritage language to their children.
Tran et al. (2021a) identified factors associated with language use of parents
and attitudes towards Vietnamese heritage language maintenance through a survey.
A analysis of 151 Vietnamese-Australian parents with children under 18 years old
showed that parents’ language use with their children and in social situations strongly
correlates with attitudes towards t he heritage language of their children. The attitudes
of parents towards the heritage language have strong influence on language ideology
factors of children (the perceptions of cultural identity, the role of learning new
language, and the potential resources for future career). The results of this study
are consistent with existing research and argue strongly that Vietnamese heritage
language maintenance is not a barrier to learn the language of host countries, but it
is a potential resource for learning different languages and developing intercultural
skills.
In summary, the current body of research consistently champions the preser-
vation of the Vietnamese heritage language, highlighting its myriad benefits for
individuals, immigrant communities, and host societies. Nonetheless, the bulk of
these studies have been confined to the United States and Australia, underscoring
the imperative for additional investigations in diverse host countries. This collective
“voice” resounds with advocacy and endorsement for the safeguarding and nurturing
of the Vietnamese heritage language within diasporic communities. It underscores the
heritage language’s intrinsic worth in fostering cultural identity, cultivating intercul-
tural proficiencies, and bestowing overarching advantages upon individuals, immi-
grant groups, and host societies. The extensive evidence in existing research over-
whelmingly supports heritage language maintenance and convincingly dispels any
notion that it impedes the acquisition of the host country’s languages. In essence,
this resounding “voice” unambiguously promotes the preservation of the Vietnamese
heritage language and fervently calls for further exploration of this pivotal subject.
140 T. M. Tran
Language Ideology and Language Practice
Attitudes towards the maintenance of the heritage language are strongly related
to the language ideology and language practice. Tran (2006, 2013) paid attention
to language practice of the Vietnamese diaspora community through the analysis
of communication between family members in Vietnamese immigrant families in
Nice, Paris and Lyon (10 registered families). Through the semi-structured inter-
views and participant observation, the study proposed a detailed picture of language
practice of Vietnamese families in France: in order to overcome difficulties in Viet-
namese communication at home, the children used various strategies, for example,
generalization, approximation, borrowing, structuring, and code-switching.
König (2014) examined the language setting of bilingual Vietnamese-German
adolescents during language biographical interviews to explore the linguistic
construction of different “language spaces”, in which the participants positioned
themselves as multilingual individuals. She found that the parents wanted their chil-
dren to be proficient in both languages, Vietnamese and German; however, prac-
ticing German to adapt at German schools was more important (p. 298). In addi-
tion, she examined the motivation of the teenagers and young adults to maintain
their heritage language. The case of Andrea showed that despite frequent use of the
heritage language before going to school, she had to give up learning it because she
did not have enough time (p. 304).
KiBis (Kinder auf dem Weg zur Bildungsprache) is another study in Germany that
sought to describe the heritage language literacy practices of Vietnamese-German
teenagers through qualitative analysis. As a case study, this research introduced the
cases of Tai and Trang. In Tai’s case, he wrote Vietnamese without diacritics or tone
marks and could not distinguish between tones such as thanh huyền (falling tone) and
thanh sắc (rising tone). His writing style in Vietnamese mirrored his German writing
(Gogolin et al., 2017, p. 42). Unlike Tai, Trang had to learn to write correctly in both
German and Vietnamese. Her parents checked her spelling in both languages. In addi-
tion, she practiced dictation with Vietnamese children once per week and therefore,
she could write quite well in Vietnamese.
Particularly, Tran (2021b) describes the family language policy of the Vietnamese
community in Australia. The analysis reveals that a third of the participants (35.6%)
had a family language policy and 72.5% of those consistently implemented it. Signif-
icantly, the parents in families with a family language policy obtained higher Viet-
namese proficiency, used Vietnamese more frequently with their children and often
intended to come back to Vietnam.
In examining the intricate interplay between heritage language attitudes, language
ideology, and language practice within the Vietnamese diaspora, a resounding voice
emerges. It underscores the dynamic nature of heritage language maintenance and
the complexities faced by individuals and families navigating this linguistic journey.
This voice emanates from Tran’s (2006, 2013) meticulous investigation of Viet-
namese immigrant families in France, revealing the ingenious strategies employed by
children to overcome communication barriers within their own homes. It resonates
7 Vietnamese Heritage Language: From Silence to Voice 141
in König’s (2014) exploration of bilingual Vietnamese-German adolescents, where
the aspiration for proficiency in both Vietnamese and German clashes with the prac-
tical demands of academic success in Germany. It is also evident in KiBis study’s
(Gogolin et al., 2017) depiction of Tai and Trang, two contrasting cases that illumi-
nate the challenges and successes in heritage language literacy. Moreover, this voice
finds resonance in Tran’s (2021b) description of family language policies within the
Australian Vietnamese community, where a commitment to such policies correlates
with enhanced Vietnamese proficiency and a profound connection to Vietnamese
culture. Throughout these narratives, the voice is one of resilience, adaptability, and
the enduring significance of heritage language in the face of evolving sociolinguistic
landscapes. It calls for continued exploration, recognizing that the intricate rela-
tionship between attitudes, ideology, and practice holds the key to preserving the
Vietnamese heritage language within diasporic communities worldwide.
Vietnamese Heritage Language Education and Policy
Heritage language schools or programs of heritage language education have also
received attention from researchers. The language use and cultural programs have
been examined in terms of their quality. Maloof et al. (2006) stated that heritage
language and cultural programs can promote the advantage of maintaining heritage
languages. However, the Vietnamese heritage language programs in the United States
still faced many difficulties as follows:
(1) a broad, uneven range of instructors’ skills levels and pedagogical training, (2) a diversity
of students’ skill levels and immigration patterns, (3) a lack of cultural sensitivity to diasporic
acculturation issues regarding homeland politics, (4) the U.S. national neglect of embedded
regional politics that play out in the classroom, (5) the possible geopolitical slant of resource
and instructional materials, (6) U.S. federal and local funding systems, and (7) academic
institutional infrastructural problems that affect interest in language study.
(Lam, 2006,p.2).
Tran (2008) introduced Vietnamese language education in the United States in
language schools and teaching programs at some institutions, such as the Vietnamese
literacy training program of the Parker Williams Branch Library in Harris County
in Texas, and teaching courses at some universities. These programs were organized
through the efforts of professors and teaching staff with Vietnamese migrant back-
grounds. Due to limited funding, these schools usually lacked well-trained teachers
and teaching materials (ibid., p. 264). These issues were mitigated by the develop-
ment of new materials, especially language software, cultural software and media.
However, there were still a lot of challenges in teaching the Vietnamese heritage
language. One of the challenges was the attitudes of the learners. Nguyen (2016)
informed that some heritage learners felt uncomfortable learning Vietnamese because
they did not self-identify as Vietnamese. Another difficulty arised from the feelings of
heritage speakers about dialect accents. For example, Jane, who grew up in a family
142 T. M. Tran
from Central Vietnam, was accustomed to the Hue accent. She found the Northern
accent “foreign” and “strange” (ibid., p. 44). In addition, her classmates mostly spoke
with the Southern accent. She felt more comfortable with the Southern accent than
the Northern one. Therefore, she tried to learn this accent to avoid becoming “an
oddball” (ibid., p. 44). The problems of heritage learners can bring difficulties for
heritage language teaching.
Surprisingly, there have been a few studies regarding Vietnamese heritage
language education and policy. This topic deserves greater attention due to the neces-
sity of creating suitable language and cultural programs in different Vietnamese
communities around the world.
The voice embedded within this passage is one of recognition and concern for
the challenges faced by Vietnamese heritage language education and policy in the
United States. It echoes the sentiments of researchers like Maloof et al. (2006) and
Tran (2008), who shed light on the numerous obstacles impeding the success of
heritage language programs.
This voice articulates the issues surrounding these programs, encompassing
instructor skills, diverse student backgrounds, cultural sensitivity, political dynamics,
funding, and academic infrastructure. It speaks to the persistent struggle for adequate
resources and well-trained educators in Vietnamese heritage language education.
Furthermore, this voice resonates in the portrayal of difficulties faced by learners,
including discomfort stemming from self-identity issues or regional dialect vari-
ations. It underscores the intricate web of factors influencing the effectiveness of
heritage language teaching.
Overall, the voice conveys the urgent need for increased attention, resources,
and tailored language and cultural programs within Vietnamese communities world-
wide. It underscores the significance of addressing these challenges to ensure the
preservation and revitalization of the Vietnamese heritage language.
Vietnamese Heritage Language Proficiency Assessment
The language proficiency of heritage speakers has been investigated in early research
related to the Vietnamese heritage language. The study of Nguyễnetal. (
2001)
involving 588 participants with self-reports, surveyed individuals regarding their
competence in the Vietnamese language. The majority, 60% of the participants,
reported that Vietnamese was their first language, while 7% indicated English as their
primary language, and 26% claimed proficiency in both languages. Additionally, 8%
of respondents were unsure about their first language. Concerning speaking abilities,
67% of the participants stated that they spoke Vietnamese very well or well, while
25% felt their Vietnamese proficiency was okay, and 7% had limited or no speaking
skills in Vietnamese. When it came to reading and writing, 23% reported being
proficient, 19% felt they were okay, and a significant 58% had little or no ability in
reading and writing Vietnamese (Nguyễn et al., 2001, p. 162).
7 Vietnamese Heritage Language: From Silence to Voice 143
The results showed that the majority of participants thought Vietnamese was their
first language. Through self-evaluation, speaking competence was good, but their
literacy competence was still poor.
In the same topic, Maloof et al. (2006) measured Vietnamese heritage language
proficiency by self-reports in two domains: communication and cultural content. The
communicative domain was accessed by self-reported competence in four skills:
understanding, speaking, reading, and writing with nine-interval Likert scales (1
= not at all, 9 = very well). The cultural content was identified by inquiring into
some cultural language aspects such as proverbs and ethnic holidays. Additionally,
the cognitive competence was evaluated through reports about four student skills
(understanding, speaking, reading, and writing) that were conducted by language
center teachers. Of the 33 test students, 12 were identified as low in Vietnamese
heritage language proficiency.
Bui (2016) shed light on Vietnamese heritage language competence among adoles-
cents. To investigate language interest, she conducted surveys with Vietnamese immi-
grant teens in the United States (n=22, aged 14-35) and Germany (n=21, aged 13-29).
In the US, 50% of participants reported good speaking and listening skills, but only
14% could read and write Vietnamese well (p. 146). Notably, in Germany, 50% of
participants demonstrated proficiency in all four language skills, particularly reading
and writing. This higher proficiency is likely due to parental expectations and frequent
Vietnamese language use at home (ibid., p. 230).
In terms of language competence of Vietnamese-German adolescents, Hegele
(2014) found that most migrant children could speak German almost fluently, whereas
their parents often had problems with this language. The participants of this s tudy
could speak Vietnamese well, but they had difficulties in literacy because they had
not learned Vietnamese at school (p. 11). This is a story of a participant:
I can understand all, it is sometimes for me difficult with vocabulary, and then I must
sometimes ruminate. Actually, I can talk quite well, but writing and reading are hard for me…
I learnt this at home, we speak Vietnamese. That’s why I also have problems in reading and
writing, because I did not learn it in a school. However, I firstly learnt Vietnamese, t herefore
it is my mother tongue. (Hegele, 2014, p. 11)
Tran (2018, 2019) described Vietnamese heritage language performance through
writing skill of Vietnamese-German adolescents to explore to what extent these
heritage speakers could write Vietnamese. A quantitative evaluation form was devel-
oped to measure the written texts of 20 participants across two different time points.
This form was evaluated to determine whether it was reliable for application in
other studies. In addition, in order to describe in more detail the written language
performance of this target group, a qualitative analysis of collected written and trans-
lated texts of Vietnamese bilinguals and monolinguals was carried out. The results
showed that 3 out of the 12 evaluation categories were required further considera-
tion. The qualitative analysis provided a comprehensive description of Vietnamese
heritage language characteristics in the written performance of Vietnamese-German
adolescents that will be described in the next section.
The voice underlying the existing s tudies is one of commitment to understanding
and assessing the language proficiency of Vietnamese heritage speakers. It reflects
144 T. M. Tran
the dedication of researchers to uncover the intricacies of language competence
among heritage speakers, particularly those of Vietnamese descent living in different
countries.
The existing research has typically used self-reports and various evaluation
methods to measure Vietnamese heritage language proficiency. These studies seek
to gauge competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding Vietnamese.
However, there is still a lack of comprehensive data collection. The voice within the
passage emphasizes the importance of such research to provide a holistic view of
heritage language competence.
Additionally, it underscores the variation in language proficiency among Viet-
namese heritage speakers in different contexts. Some individuals demonstrate profi-
ciency in speaking but struggle with literacy, while others excel in all language skills
due to cultural expectations and practice at home.
Moreover, the passage’s voice also advocates for the development of objective
evaluation methods, combining quantitative and qualitative assessments to compre-
hensively measure Vietnamese heritage language proficiency. The aim is to provide
educators, linguists, and teachers with valuable insights to design effective language
programs.
Overall, the voice of these studies promotes a deeper understanding of Vietnamese
heritage language proficiency, advocating for comprehensive assessment methods
and further research in this area to benefit both learners and educators.
Characteristics of Vietnamese Heritage Language
Studies on characteristics of Vietnamese heritage language are briefly summarized
in Table 7.2.
Most of the above studies were based on oral data; only two studies by Tran (2018,
2019) analyzed written data. The informants of existing research are adolescents and
adults. There are still a lack of studies about the taxonomy of Vietnamese heritage
language among young children.
The most prominent feature that appeared frequently in language use through
generations and in all data is code-switching and transfer. Ho-Dac (2003) analyzed
code-switching in syntax, tonal facilitation, and personal pronouns of Vietnamese-
English bilinguals in Melbourne, Australia through face-to-face interviews and 11
natural conversations.
Firstly, the frequency of code-switching by word classes was discussed. The
proportion of English nouns that excluded proper nouns was more than 50 percent of
the total switches. The switched nouns were distributed among some of the following
semantic categories such as accommodation (flat, bedroom, motel), landscape (city,
park, tram), work-related (team, office, boss), food (milk, cereal, dinner); institution
(tax, court, police), household (furniture, kitchen, cook), shopping (shopping center,
sale, op-shop), education (Math, library, exam), and Australian way of living (cricket,
pub, safari).
7 Vietnamese Heritage Language: From Silence to Voice 145
Table 7.2 Summary of published studies on Vietnamese heritage language characteristics
Study Subjects n Methods Findings
Ho-Dac (2003) First
generation/
natural
speech
(Australia)
60 Analysis of interviews
and natural speech
recordings
– Frequent occurrence of
code-switching,
especially in the use of
nouns (50%)
– Frequent occurrence of
code-switching in some
communication topics
such as book and film
(21.51%), daily work
(16.22%), and Australian
picture (12.04%)
– The signal of attitude
change in code-switching
of personal pronouns
Tran (2006,
2013)
First
generation
1.5–Second
generation
Third
generation
12
21
7
Analysis of conversa-
tion recordings and
observations in family
communication
– The use of complex
address forms was still
maintained
– The use of address forms
establishing both of
horizontal and vertical
relationship was
influenced by French
language and culture
– The wrong use of
classifiers
Thai (2007)Aged 20–62 28 Analysis of 37 interviews,
daily life conversations
and 120 journalistic texts
– The renewal of lexical
forms by code-switching
– The maintenance of old
vocabulary
Đào (2012,
2016)
First
generation
aged 35–54,
Second
generation
aged 18–25
(Australia)
10
10
Analysis of language
background
questionnaires, phonetic
tests, and journalistic data
– The divergence of tone
and vowel production of
the second generation
– The maintenance of
obsolescent items,
particularly those
belonging to older people
(continued)
146 T. M. Tran
Table 7.2 (continued)
Study Subjects n Methods Findings
Hoang (2013) First
generation
aged 18–28
Second
generation
aged 45–60
30
31
Analysis of data collected
by Discourse Completion
Test Role-plays, language
tests on idioms and
proverbs, questionnaires,
and interviews
– Significant shift from the
indirectness of the first
generation speakers to the
directness of the second
generation speakers
– Characteristics of the
shift: an equality-based
relationship instead of
traditionally hierarchical
Vietnamese customs;
a rational basis instead of
an emotional intuitive
basis; and clear-cut style
of speech instead of
indirect
Phan (2017)The second
generation
aged 22,5
6Analysis of data collected
through participants’
narratives about a series
of pictures of a given
story and through the
participants’ interviews
– Consistent use of the
aspect markers of đã/rồi,
đang
– Wrong use of verbum
denoting the direction of
movement (ra (out),
xuống (down))
Phan (2018)The second
generation
aged 22,5
6Analysis of data collected
through participants’
narratives about a series
of pictures of a given
story and through the
participants’ interviews
– Frequent occurrence of
missing, misusing and
overusing of classifiers
– Consistent use of the
indefinite determiner một
(a), the indexical cái
(unlike classifier cái)and
the aspect markers of đã/
rồi, đang
(continued)
7 Vietnamese Heritage Language: From Silence to Voice 147
Table 7.2 (continued)
Study Subjects n Methods Findings
Tran (2018)Second
generation
aged 15–16
45 Analysis of written data
collected through writing
and translation tasks
– Frequent use of basic
verbs such as làm (make),
nhìn (see), nói (talk)
– Frequent use of infinitival
forms of verb in
borrowings
– Monosyllabilization of
borrowed verb
Tran (2019)Second
generation
aged 15–16
40
40
Analysis of written data
collected through writing
and translation tasks
– Code-switching
– Characteristics of all
linguistic levels
– Writing strategies
n = Total number of participants
Secondly, the relationship between code-switching patterns and topics was exam-
ined. The results showed that code-switching happened frequently in some conver-
sation topics about books and films (21.51%), daily work in Australia (16.22%), and
the Australian culture (12.04%) (ibid., p. 73).
Finally, code-switching in personal pronouns was considered a strategy to handle
identities. Specifically, the switch of a Vietnamese address form to an English
personal pronoun signaled the attitude change of the speakers. For example, Viet-
namese pronouns mày – tao as informal address forms appeared dominantly to show
the close and intimate relationship between friends. One speaker changed address
forms to the English pronoun me to create distance between herself and her friend.
To sum up, Ho-Dac (2003) considered code-switching as a critical feature of the
Vietnamese language variety of heritage speakers living in Australia. Code-switching
was seen as a strategy to make conversations in Vietnamese in an English environ-
ment. At the grammatical level, code-switching of content words such as nouns,
verbs, and adjectives occurred more frequently than with function words. However,
the usage of English words was influenced by the rules of using the Vietnamese
grammatical structure, such as the lack of word change in all positions within a
sentence. In addition, the code-switching of address forms could express the change
of speakers’ attitudes which are traditionally implied in the Vietnamese language
and culture.
Another study on code-switching and transfer as prominent characteristics of
bilingual conversation is Thai (2007). In this study, he examined the relationship
between code-choice, code-mixing and identities. Thai (2007) recorded 53 conver-
sations, in which there were 28 participants aged 22–62 living in Australia for at
least 5 years (Pritchard, Springvale, and Belconnen). Participant worked in many
different jobs ranging from doctors, IT engineers, writers, students to housewives.
12 of the participants were fluent Vietnamese-English bilinguals.
Interestingly, based on the collected data, he proposed the forms of lexical renewal,
such as the creation of new words that was based on English lexical vocabulary: đilàm
148 T. M. Tran
pham (go make farm—seasonal fruit picking), tách phom (separate form–separated
couples), làm neo (make nail—manicurist). In the existing examples, English words
farm, form and nail were not only Vietnamized at the phonetic and graphic aspects,
their meanings were also mostly broadened. Particularly, in the standard Vietnamese,
đilàmruộng (working on the farm) is manual planting, waterring and harvesting,
whereas đilàmfarm in the Vietnamese heritage language variety in Australia refers to
seasonal fruit-picking or sometimes as cash-paid seasonal labor. Semantic expansion
occurred frequently because of the impact of English homonyms or the preference
of archaism in the migrant language (Clyne, 1985).
Tran (2006, 2013) also described Vietnamese heritage language through daily
conversations in Vietnamese immigrant families in France, particularly in Nice,
Lyon, and Paris. Her studies argued that address forms in communication between
different generation were influenced by French language and culture in both hori-
zontal and vertical relationships. Frequency of using the pair address mày-tao (moi-tu
in French, you-I in English) and the limited knowledge of pronouns were considered
two features of Vietnamese heritage language in France.
Dao (2016) attempted to define characteristics of English loanwords in the Viet-
namese lexis of the Vietnamese-Australian immigrants. The study showed that nouns
obtained the highest proportion of English loanwords in the Vietnamese vocabulary
of Vietnamese-Australian immigrants, about 87.6% (p. 209). The semantic fields of
English loanwords were from a wide range of places. The semantic fields of health,
business and economy, cars/vehicles/aviation, housing, and dwelling obtained the
highest proportions, respectively about 8.8%, 8.1%, 7.7%, and 7,6% (ibid., p. 210).
Interestingly, in Dao’s study (2016), the orthography of English loanwords was
based on the Vietnamese orthographic system with tones, diacritics and/or hyphens
between syllables, for example, ơ-cao for account, chạc for charge. Many words
were borrowed in order to “designate new things, persons, places, and concepts”
(Weinreich, 1974, p. 56). However, Vietnamese-Australian immigrants used English
words for many things that already had their own names in the Vietnamese language
such as casino for sòng bạc, seat belt for dây an toàn. It was evidence of the high level
of “penetration of English loanwords in the Vietnamese language in Australia” (ibid.,
p. 213). In addition, about 39.1% of loanwords are loan translations. For example,
pension age is translated to tiềngià (lit. old money).
Dao (2012, 2017) and Dao and Nguyen (2015) also described transfer and code-
switching with regard to the phonetic aspect. Through phonetic tests and language
background questionnaires, the study showed the divergence of production of the
tones and vowels between the young Vietnamese residents in Australia and the older
Vietnamese residents in Australia (p. ii). Specifically, young Vietnamese Australians
were unable to produce the broken-curve tone of Southern Vietnamese dialect. Tones
in the same register of similar characteristics such as the level and rising tone and
tone diacritics such as the falling and the rising tone were confused. The vowel
productions of young Vietnamese-Australians were also distinct from those of older
Vietnamese-Australians and native speakers, due to the influence of the transference
of English. Despite the existence of the close mid /e/ in Australian English, young
bilinguals tended to produce the English vowel /e/ instead of the Vietnamese vowel
7 Vietnamese Heritage Language: From Silence to Voice 149
/ε/. It was explained by the difficulty of distinguishing between /ε/ and /e/ in the
Vietnamese language. These two vowels are described as front, mid, unrounded, but
/ε/ is pronounced more open than /e/ (Dao & Nguyen, 2015, p. 302). I n addition, the
similarity of e and ê, o and ô is also brought difficulty for the participants when they
had to read the test.
Phan (2017, 2018) focused on the linguistic characteristics of the Vietnamese
language in the United States. Twenty-four illustrated frames of a wordless chil-
dren’s story were used as a test instrument to collect participants’ oral data. Consis-
tent with findings from Ho-Dac (2003), Tran (2006, 2013), Thai (2007), Dao
(2016), code-switching appeared frequently in the Vietnamese speech of Vietnamese-
American participants. These loanwords were predominantly used within Viet-
namese syntactic frames, regardless of participants’ varied levels of Vietnamese
fluency. This finding supports Montrul’s (2012) argument about “the most resilient
areas” (p. 20), which are passively acquireded through consistent heritage language
exposure within family settings (Phan, 2018,p.8).
Code-switching has also been investigated in Tran (2018, 2019). This aspect was
measured by self-reports with a 4-point scale of the frequency level of code-switching
in the conversation between Vietnamese-German adolescents with different people.
The results showed that code-switching often appeared in communication between
children and their mother/father, whereas it happened only between certain people
in communication between heritage speakers with siblings, and best friends. It never
or rarely occurred in conversation with classmates, neighbors, and friends. Specifi-
cally, Tran’s studies focused on lexical code-switching and transfer. The results were
consistent with existing studies by Ho-Dac (2003) and Thai (2007) in written and
translated texts of Vietnamese-German adolescents: (1) High frequency of code-
switching from German to Vietnamese; (2) Existing code-switching from English;
(3) More frequency of code-switching in content words (verb and noun); (4) Use of
infinitival form of words in code-switching ( fliegen (fly) instead of fliegt, smooth
down instead of smooths down); (5) monosyllabization of borrowed words (bau
instead of bauen (build)); (6) Use of basic or general words for specific words in
loan translation and semantic extension (làm—make instead of paint, saw, sew).
Several studies highlighted the fossilization of vocabulary among first-
generation heritage speakers. Interestingly, Ho-Dac’s study revealed that certain
words such as thủ lãnh (leader), nhậttrình (daily newspaper), or proper names
of many countries as Hoa Lục (China), Hoa Thịnh Đốn (Washington), Úc Kim
(Australian Dollar) have no longer used in Vietnam since 1975, but persisted in
the spoken and written language of Vietnamese immigrants in Australia. New Viet-
namese vocabulary has replaced these terms within Vietnam, for example, lãnh đạo
for thủ lãnh, Trung Quốc for Hoa Lục, Washington for Hoa Thịnh Đốn, ĐôlaÚc
for Úc Kim. Another feature of lexical use in the Vietnamese heritage language
variety in Australia was the scarcity of new vocabulary adopted after 1975 such
as bao cấp (budget subsidies),hộ khẩu (number of inhabitants),quần chúng (the
masses). The issue of fossilization of language routine and the lack of new vocabu-
lary among immigrant communities can likely be attributed to limited contact with
their native language in their home countries. Thai (2007) additionally discussed the
150 T. M. Tran
frequent use of the passive voice, the adoption of address forms you and me, and the
common use of expressions like thank you and sorry.
Dao (2016) compareded monolingual Vietnamese newspapers published in
Australia such as ViệtLuận (Vietnamese Herald), Chiêu Dương (the Sunrise), and
Nhân Quyền (Human Rights) with those published in Vietnam such as TuổiTrẻ
(the Youth), Thanh Niên Newspaper (the Youth Newspaper), and Tin nhanh Việt
Nam (Express News of Vietnam). The analysis revealed a high frequency (79%) of
obsolete vocabulary use in the Australian Vietnamese newspapers. The proportion
of obsolete nouns were higher than obsolete verbs (13.8%) and adjectives (5.7%).
Notably, vocabulary related to political institutions such as government, politics
and legal matters were preserved in these publications. Furthermore, 18.3% of the
obsolete vocabulary stemmed from older South Vietnamese dialects, with spellings
reflecting southern pronunciations, for example, chánh phủ (goverment) instead of
chính phủ, cá nhơn (individual) instead of cá nhân. Finally, the study found 60.5%
of the obsolete vocabulary used in Vietnamese newspapers in Australia consisted of
Sino-Vietnamese terms, most of which have no longer used in contemporary Viet-
namese, such as chiếu khán (visa) for thị thực, Lã Phụng Tiên (La Fontaine) for La
Fontaine.
Other several features have been described in studies by Phan (2017, 2018) and
Tran (2018, 2019). Although there aren’t many other studies in the same area, the
findings of these studies are interesting and meaningful for research on Vietnamese
heritage language. Their studies examined the use of classifiers, the use of the indef-
inite determiner một, the use of the indexical cái within noun phrases, the use of đã/
rồi, đang, and the use of causative constructions. In Phan’s works (2017, 2018), clas-
sifier use included errors such as omissions, misuse, and overuse that varied among
participants another. Classifier con was mostly used correctly due to its distinct
meaning of [+animate]. In constrast, the general classifier cái (Tran, 2011) was often
misused in place of more specific classifiers. Additionally, (Tran, 2011) found the
overuse of the indefinite determiner một and the indexical cái (not CL cái, that is
extra cái). The wrong use of the indefinite determiner một might result from the
influence of the indefinite article a/an English. Heritage speakers used the index-
ical cái significantly more than native speakers, though the author did not provide a
detailed explanation for this finding in details.
Expanding on this topic, Tran (2019) demonstrated that classifier omission was
the most common classifier-related issue in Vietnamese heritage language, likely
influenced by the absence of classifiers in German. Consistent with the findings
of Phan (2017, 2018) and Tran (2011), the classifiers con, cái and chiếc were the
most frequently used, reflecting their prevalence in the Vietnamese monolingual
environment.
Shifting the focus to defining characteristics of the Vietnamese heritage language
in Germany, Tran (2018) examined the verb use of Vietnamese-German adolescents.
A nine-picture set of building a boomerang was used as the instrument to collect
written data of 25 participants. A separate translation test (from English) involved text
was used for a translation test involved 20 different participants. The results indicated
a tendency or a strategy towards simplification in verb use, where basic verbs like
7 Vietnamese Heritage Language: From Silence to Voice 151
làm (make), nhìn (see), or nói (talk) were used frequently over more specific verbs.
Tran’s 2019 dissertation expands on this research, offering a more comprehensive
analysis of the Vietnamese heritage language among adolescents in Germany.
In addition, Tran’s dissertation (2019) also identified the common characteris-
tics within the Vietnamese heritage language across various linguistic levels, as
demonstrated in both the boomerang written texts and the translated texts. At the
orthographic level, these features included deletion of diacritics, word initial capital-
ization, grapheme replacement due to transfer from German orthographic rules (e.g.,
<k> instead of <c>, <n>, <ng> instead of <nh>), grapheme confusion due to interlan-
guage resources (e.g., <s> and <x>, <i> and <y>), reduction of digraphs and trigraphs
(e.g., <ư> instead of <ươ>, <n> instead of <ngh>). At the lexical level, the study
revealed a smaller vocabulary size in Vietnamese-German adolescents compared
to their monolingual peers. This was evident through the analysis of total words,
compound words, and Sino-Vietnamese words, which were used by participants.
At the pragmatic level, Tran’s work specifically focused on the complex and context-
dependent Vietnamese address form system. Results indicated that Vietnamese-
German adolescents favored to use the intimate informal address forms such as
the pronoun mình (used to address and refer in intimate relationships), and kinship
terms em, con, cháu instead of formal address forms such as tôi, chúng tôi in the
formal contexts provided by the written and translated tasks. The findings suggested
that the adolescents’ written productions of the Vietnamese-German adolescents
reflect strategies like “write the way they speak” (Chevalier 2004); and “simply
writing down everything” (Danzak 2011: 501).
The voice embedded in these studies is one of thorough examination and documen-
tation of the linguistic characteristics and behaviors found within Vietnamese heritage
language communities around the world. These studies demonstrate a deep commit-
ment to unraveling the complexities of language use, evolution, and maintenance
among Vietnamese diaspora communities.
Firstly, the voice in these studies emphasizes the significance of code-switching
and transfer as prominent features within Vietnamese heritage language commu-
nities. It delves into the reasons behind code-switching, whether it’s a strategy for
communication in other host language-speaking environments, a reflection of iden-
tity shifts, or a way to navigate complex social relationships. The studies illustrate
how code-switching is not merely a linguistic phenomenon but is deeply intertwined
with cultural, social, and psychological aspects.
Secondly, the voice stresses the persistence of obsolete vocabulary and fossiliza-
tion of language routine within these communities. This highlights the importance of
examining not only how languages evolve but also the processes through which they
can become fossilized or undergo selective change based on the context of migration
and cultural contact.
Moreover, the voice is dedicated to studying the influence of English and other
language loanwords and the adaptability of Vietnamese in response to the linguistic
environment of the diaspora. It explores the creative lexical renewal processes and
demonstrates how loanwords can reshape and broaden the meaning of existing
vocabulary.
152 T. M. Tran
Furthermore, the voice shows concern for the younger generations of Vietnamese
heritage speakers, discussing language proficiency, phonetic variations, and gram-
matical features among adolescents and children growing up in diaspora communi-
ties. These studies provide insights into how these young speakers navigate linguistic
complexities, often influenced by their bilingual upbringing.
The voice across these studies is characterized by a strong commitment to under-
standing the dynamics of language use and change within Vietnamese heritage
language communities. It emphasizes the need for in-depth linguistic analysis to shed
light on the intricate relationship between language, identity, and cultural adaptation
among Vietnamese diaspora populations.
Conclusion
The voice of Vietnamese heritage language research has transitioned from silence
to empowerment, offering a newfound voice to Vietnamese heritage speakers who
have been overlooked. Heritage speakers “who are used to being silent in their
first language a new voice, one that can make them truly bilingual and bicultural”
(Boom & Polinsky, 2014, p. 17). This transformation fosters an embrace of bilin-
gualism and biculturalism. Nevertheless, the voice of Vietnamese heritage speakers
requires further exploration from diverse perspectives, as research on this matter s till
exhibits considerable gaps, encompassing both entirely novel topics and unexplored
facets of existing subjects.
The issue of Vietnamese heritage language loss, shift, and maintenance has
garnered substantial attention in the United States and Australia. However, there
remains a pressing need to examine these phenomena across a wider spectrum
of age groups, various communities, and an array of related variables. Despite
some progress in researching Vietnamese heritage language education and policy,
there’s still much more to explore in this field. To formulate effective language and
cultural programs that cater to Vietnamese heritage language speakers worldwide,
comprehensive research in this domain is imperative.
Evaluating the proficiency of Vietnamese heritage language has largely relied
on self-assessment, which often lacks precision. Therefore, the development of
comprehensive evaluation criteria for Vietnamese heritage language proficiency
becomes essential. While the study of Vietnamese heritage language characteris-
tics has expanded in recent years, there is still a demand for advanced perspectives
explored in diverse settings and using varied data sources. Notably, exploring Viet-
namese heritage language from a cognitive perspective remains an uncharted terri-
tory. Furthermore, pedagogical approaches to teaching Vietnamese heritage language
sometimes overlap with teaching Vietnamese as a second language. Lessons from
comprehensive studies on Spanish heritage language education can provide valu-
able insights and methodologies for researchers in the Vietnamese heritage language
domain.
7 Vietnamese Heritage Language: From Silence to Voice 153
In summary, the call for extensive research on Vietnamese heritage language,
spanning multiple dimensions, is not only to elevate its status “from the margins
to become a central focus” (Montrul, 2016, p. 6), akin to certain other heritage
languages, but also to amplify the voices of Vietnamese heritage speakers within
society.
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Thi Minh Tran earned one bachelor’s degree in Philology and another one in English. She then
pursued a Master’s degree in Linguistics from Hanoi National University of Education, Vietnam,
and a Ph.D. in Vietnamese Studies at University of Hamburg, Germany. Her main interests are
teaching the Vietnamese language and culture, Vietnamese diaspora worldwide, and the lifelong
development of the heritage language of immigrants. She has been lecturing and doing research in
Vietnamese language, intercultural exchange, and education has also participated in many projects
regarding Vietnamese language, teaching Vietnamese as an additional language, and education
studies.
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not
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the copyright holder.
Chapter 8
Languages and Ethnic Minority
Students’ Access to Education
in Vietnam: Problems Turned
into Opportunities from the Perspective
of Translanguaging
Chinh Duc Nguyen and Thanh Nguyen Thao Tran
Abstract Compared to students of the ethnic majority (the Kinh), minority students
have a lower level of educational attainment. Language barriers have been widely
accepted as a cause for this disparity. That is, ethnic minority students encounter
schooling difficulties due to their disadvantages in Vietnamese, the national language
and also the language of the ethnic majority in Vietnam. This chapter reports part
of the findings of a project that explored schooling opportunities for ethnic minority
students in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Specifically, the chapter highlights
the findings related to language difficulties experienced by students of two ethnic
minorities in two highland provinces (Gia Lai and Dak Lak). Data were collected
from informal talks/interviews with educational/school leaders, teachers, and parents
in local villages. The findings show that a low level of Vietnamese was perceived
as the major challenge to the ethnic minority students’ schooling opportunities. In
addition, students were discouraged to capitalize on their indigenous languages to
facilitate their learning and engagement in the classroom. The chapter begins with an
overview of educational inequalities between ethnic majority and minority students
in Vietnam. Next, we focus on language barriers experienced by ethnic minority
students by reviewing relevant studies. The findings and discussion will be the central
section of this chapter. Based on the literature and our research findings, we suggest
a solution to the perceived problems. That is, policy and practice of education for
ethnic minority students need to be innovated in accordance with translanguaging,
which posits ethnic minority students’ language resources should be seen as strengths
rather than challenges.
C. D. Nguyen (B
)
Dong Nai Technology University, Bien Hoa City, Vietnam
e-mail: nguyenducchinh@dntu.edu.vn
T. N. T. Tran
Dong A University, Danang, Vietnam
© The Author(s) 2024
Phan Le Ha et al. (eds.), Vietnamese Language, Education and Change In and Outside
Vietnam, Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9093-1_8
159
160 C. D. Nguyen and T. N. T. Tran
Introduction
The world today is characterized by inequalities, which are manifested in income,
accommodation, job opportunities, and access to public services (Nguyen &
Zeichner, 2019; Zeichner, 2011). Educational inequalities, which are simply under-
stood as differences in schooling attainment between rich and poor students, have
become a great source of concern in many societies. In other words, disparities
in familial and socioeconomic backgrounds among students are reflected in their
educational achievements. In many multiethnic societies, students of the majority
outperform their minority peers, and the differences in schooling attainment result
from a wide range of factors, such as family income and parents’ educational back-
ground (Nguyen & Zeichner, 2021). Languages are, to some extent, one of the reasons
behind schooling inequalities (Nguyen & Ha, 2021; Nguyen et al., 2017). That is,
the ethnic majority language has been used as the national language or medium of
instruction in mainstream education. As such, students whose languages and ethnic-
ities are minoritized tend to be disadvantaged as they have to abide by mainstream
practices in the schooling system. The monolingual perspective on educational prac-
tice has been criticized for partly leading to educational inequalities (Nguyen &
Huynh, 2021; Zeichner, 2010). As part of initiatives or solutions to the perceived
problems, translanguaging has been put forward for classrooms mixed by students
of multilingual and multiethnic backgrounds. Simply put, translanguaging is more
like a pedagogical approach that encourages or helps students capitalize on their
multilingual resources or capabilities for learning within and beyond the classroom
(García, 2009; Lewis et al., 2012; Williams, 1996).
Vietnam is known as a multiethnic nation encompassing 54 recognized cohab-
iting ethnic groups. However, the ethnic majority, the Kinh, accounts for over
85% of the population; whereas, the rest of 15% is for 53 other ethnic minori-
ties (General Statistical Office, 2019). Unsurprisingly, institutions in mainstream
society have been grounded in the ‘standard’ of the Kinh majority (Nguyen &
Huynh, 2021). For example, Vietnamese, the language of the Kinh, has been acknowl-
edged as the national language of Vietnam since the national independence in 1945.
The national language has also been employed as a medium of instruction in the
schooling system nationwide. The monolingual policy and practice in most schools
have caused schooling inequalities between students of the majority and those of
minorities (Bhowmik et al., 2018; Nguyen & Ha, 2021; Truong, 2011). Despite the
perceived problems, policy and practice of education have yet to accommodate the
bilingual or multilingual resources of ethnic minority students. On the basis of this
reality, we conducted a study on educational equity for ethnic minority students
in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Part of the findings of this study pertained
to the language barriers experienced by ethnic minority students, which helped to
explain their schooling difficulties. In this chapter, we selected the findings related to
language issues as part of the findings of our research project on educational equity
for ethnic minority students in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Translanguaging is
presented as our recommendation for transcending the language barriers experienced
8 Languages and Ethnic Minority Students’ Access to Education … 161
by ethnic minority students in the Central Highlands and throughout Vietnam. The
chapter begins with an overview of educational inequalities between ethnic majority
and minority students in Vietnam. Next, relevant studies are reviewed to delineate
language obstacles experienced by ethnic minority students. Based on the literature
and our research findings as the central section of this chapter, a workable solution is
proposed to alleviate the perceived issues and facilitate favorable experiences among
ethnic minority students.
Literature Review
Schooling Inequalities Between the Ethnic Majority
and Minority Students in Vietnam
Recognised as a nation with 54 existing ethnic groups among which the Kinh makes
up 85% of the total population, Vietnam has witnessed significant socio-economic
disparities between the dominant Kinh, Hoa (Chinese), and other minority groups
in terms of income, infrastructure, geographical areas, transport, educational access,
and standards (Bui et al., 2017; Giacchino-Baker, 2007; Imai et al., 2011;World
Bank, 2009). The Hoa (Chinese) group, despite how small it is, gathers with the Kinh
predominantly residing in urban areas, and plains due to similar social and economic
aspects while other ethnic minorities live in mountainous and remote regions of
Vietnam (Pham & Doane, 2021). Whereas the delta regions have experienced greater
economic expansion and infrastructural growth, poverty remains entrenched in the
hilly North West and Central Highlands associated with meager income, limited
healthcare systems, and scarce educational access. Imbalanced resource and oppor-
tunity allocation between these geographical areas has hampered educational equities
among ethnic minority groups, leaving local children impoverished (Vu et al., 2013).
The wealthy-impoverished divide is also delineated in the big picture of inequalities
in Vietnam. As seen in everyday life across the country, people from deprived back-
grounds described as socioeconomically underprivileged groups have a difficult time
satisfying their fundamental necessities. People from disadvantaged backgrounds are
frequently ostracized from mainstream culture, limiting their growth opportunities.
Particularly, children of rich families or communities have access to higher-quality
institutions, a more sophisticated curriculum, contemporary resources, modern facil-
ities, and experienced instructors. Children from low-income families, on the other
hand, are neglected and live in deplorable conditions (Rolleston & Krutikova, 2014).
Predicated on particular facts and statistics, researchers also emphasized the
educational discrepancy between minority groups and the dominant Kinh, which
was linked to revenue and living standards (Baulch et al., 2007, 2012). According
to Trieu and Jayakody (2019), poverty has been identified as the major cause for
minority students not transferring to upper-secondary institutions. This schooling
chasm results in low minority enrolment rates, posing severe challenges, not just
162 C. D. Nguyen and T. N. T. Tran
economically but also socially and politically. According to social capital theory,
students’ conducts are frequently shaped and governed by social norms and stan-
dards in a macro-level context (Coleman, 1988). For example, child marriage known
as married life prior to the age of eighteen has gained in popularity in underprivi-
leged regions of Vietnam. Not only does early marriage hamper minority students’
scholastic and financial chances but it tends to be linked to premature pregnancy and
dropouts (Baulch et al., 2007; Kutor et al., 2005). As a result, educational dispari-
ties may be conceived as a prism reflecting all discriminatory practices at all levels.
Through positioning schooling barriers in Vietnamese official policy discourses,
DeJaeghere and other researchers (2015) reveal that a lesser status is attached to
ethnic minority groups typically framed as the polar opposite of the Kinh majority.
Such policy paradigms have not only failed to address ethnic inequities in schooling
in Vietnam but have aggravated the problems related to ethnic class separation,
exclusion, and inferior learning achievement (Truong, 2011).
It is highlighted that ethnic minority students performed academically worse than
those of the majority (Giacchino-Baker, 2007). While their weak academic attain-
ment is blamed on their dearth of Vietnamese capabilities, a prescribed ‘one-size-
fits-all’ curriculum issued by the Ministry of Education and Training appears alien
to minoritized children, putting students in underprivileged areas at a disadvantage
in classrooms. Additionally, monolingual teachers who can only use Vietnamese
(Giacchino-Baker, 2007; Luong & Nieke, 2013; Nguyen & Huynh, 2021)are more
prone to have misunderstandings and lack of interaction between professors and
students in classrooms. Due to the hegemonic curriculum and instructional medium,
national records and multinational exam results may obscure the disparities between
underrepresented groups and dominant (Kinh) children (DeJaeghere et al., 2015).
Therefore, numerous teachers adhere to ethnocentric beliefs about ethnic minority
students and their academic performance (Nguyen & Ha, 2021; Nguyen & Huynh,
2021). The ethnocentric beliefs are not spontaneous but derive from Kinh’s learning
culture where exam scores are regarded as a pivotal component in determining
students’ ability. These issues are considered a reminder to all citizens and state
institutions to partake in the battle against educational inequities. Among substantial
breakthroughs in the target for closing educational majority-minority gaps (Oxfam
in Vietnam, 2017; World Bank, 2016), teacher education is highlighted through a
plethora of ongoing professional teacher programs to alleviate the shortage of trained
instructors in disadvantaged areas (Giacchino-Baker, 2007; Nguyen & Huynh, 2021).
Nevertheless, these programs are based on a nationwide shared curriculum that is
centered on a basic understanding of discipline and pedagogy instead of tailoring to
instructors in minority areas. As a consequence, educational inequalities in minority
regions of Vietnam are attributed to top-down approaches in policies together with
existing disparities in social practice. Dilemmas around being differently valued
among ethnic minority and majority children emerge in schools as a social field of
power embedded in ideological structures. The dynamics of inequalities contribute to
the contradiction between underperformance and positive educational achievement
among diverse learners.
8 Languages and Ethnic Minority Students’ Access to Education … 163
Language Barriers Experienced by Ethnic Minority Students
in Vietnam
Language barriers have also been regarded as a critical contributor to poor academic
performance among minorities (Lavoie, 2011; Nguyen & Hamid, 2018; Nguyen
et al., 2017). Some r esearchers have examined the disproportionately low learning
outcomes of ethnic minority students in Vietnam and linked these low performances
to their incompetence in Vietnamese (Kosonen, 2009), impoverishment, and poor
teaching (World Bank, 2009). Students of the Hmong community, one of the ethnic
minority groups in Vietnam, are the case in point. Luong and Nieke (2013) determine
that the underperformance of Hmong students stems from difficulties in compre-
hending instructions, particularly in the initial years of s chooling, when Vietnamese
is the instructional medium and teachers cannot speak indigenous languages. Simi-
larly, concerns about teacher-student interaction together with instructors’ compe-
tence in local languages are expressed in a report by Action Aid Vietnam (2003). This
entanglement in languages is also delineated in multiethnic classes with nationally
standardized curricula and exams, triggering varied educational performance among
learners (Aikman & Pridmore, 2001; Truong, 2011). Numerous minority children are
stereotyped as “slower” and “less proficient” learners in school, with little regard for
language barriers. In comparison with Kinh students, statistical evidence frequently
shows inferior enrolment rates, greater dropout rates, and worse accomplishment
levels among minorities (Truong, 2009). It can be seen that subtracting schooling
not only shapes inequalities in academic outcomes but also creates exclusion among
students of diverse groups. In Vietnam, academic performance has a significant
impact on social standing and how differently they are valued. In this sense, subtrac-
tive schools are more like a social field that exacerbates existing underlying inequities
and hierarchies of power across ethnic groups. It can be inferred that poor educa-
tional attainment among ethnic minority groups as a result of language barriers or
subtractive learning contexts has long been a source of concern for authorities (Save
the Children-UK, 2002;Vu,
2008).
The aforementioned entanglements around schooling among ethnic minority
students have urged to alleviate language barriers to lower ethnic divides, decrease
inequalities and improve minorities’ educational achievements (Nguyen et al., 2017).
While teachers play a pivotal role in reducing language barriers in education settings,
Nguyen and Ha (2021) explore that teachers are neither constructed with knowledge
nor engaged in any practice appropriate to ethnically diverse learners, especially
minorities. For those trained in institutions in urban areas, pedagogical approaches
to teaching the marginalized are largely ignored. Even when they are employed to
teach in ethnic minority areas, no systematic induction is organized to acquaint them
with indigenous learners and cultures. This reality places an intolerable burden on
teachers, requiring them to seek different expectations and ways to teach students
from ethnic minority communities. The dearth of teacher training together with
ethnocentric beliefs about the minorities drives a lowering of expectations for minori-
ties, triggering their poorer academic performance and school failure (Bhowmik
164 C. D. Nguyen and T. N. T. Tran
et al., 2018; Nguyen & Ha, 2021). As explored by Ogbu (1987), learners’ learning
and growth are hampered when their teachers are far from empathetic to their life
circumstances or they lower standards for students. According to Taylor (1994), a
modification of oppressed people’s perceptions of inferiority is required to promote
social reform and the enhancement of minority learners’ educational positions. With
that aim, the Ministry of Education and Training (2014) adopts the policies that
enable minority students to pass the Vietnamese national high school graduation
examinations with lower scores than those from the Kinh group. Even Kinh students
residing in rural and mountainous regions are also given precedence in these exami-
nations but to a slightly lesser degree than other minority groups. Expecting them to
gain simpler knowledge further marginalizes local learners. Ironically, these policies
are far from a solution to language barriers but impede the holistic development of
minority students.
Prior research also reveals that poor academic attainment among ethnic minority
students is ascribed to the ineffective implementation of minority-focused education
programs (Truong, 2011). Given the government’s apparent pledges in policies to
encourage minority languages, these policies have not yet been completely imple-
mented. The emphasis on Vietnamese as the dominant and national language in
instructional medium has left a very minor room for indigenous languages in educa-
tion (Kirkpatrick & Liddicoat, 2017). Very scarce schools in ethnic minority regions
effectively follow the educational law published by the Vietnamese Government
(2005) that supports local languages in schooling (Lavoie, 2011). It is clear that
existing language barriers have precluded ethnic minority students from their full
access to their own languages in schooling. Therefore, some bilingual education
programs are established in primary schools where regional languages are taught
as a subject (Lavoie & Benson, 2011). Particularly, the bilingual learning initia-
tives in Hmong villages, launched in 2008 in line with Freire (1974)’s educational
philosophy of awareness, permit the Hmong to study the national language in the
most efficient manner. As a result, the objective of these initiatives is not to preserve
minority languages but to leverage their native language literacy to swiftly teach
Vietnamese literacy and adapt them to the Vietnamese language (Kirkpatrick, 2012).
In lieu of supporting minority learners, the failure in policy adoption puts a burden on
entangled language practices among ethnic minority students, affecting their learning
outcomes and holistic development.
Translanguaging: Problems Turned into Opportunities
An extensive literature on translanguaging has been highlighted as the theme of theo-
retical and practical debate. This concept has been defined as an umbrella term that
pertains to multilingual speakers’ adaptable language practices (Nikula & Moore,
2019). The term ‘translanguaging’ emerged in the research context of bilingual
8 Languages and Ethnic Minority Students’ Access to Education … 165
Welsh-English-medium schooling in Wales (Williams, 1994). On this point, translan-
guaging is defined as a pedagogical approach in multilingual classrooms that inten-
tionally alters the language mode of input and output, such as giving information
in one language while enabling students to practice in another language (García,
2009; Lewis et al., 2012; Williams, 1996). While American scholars in the field
of bilingual education regard translanguaging as code switching, much research
indicates a distinct perspective on the positioning of translanguaging beyond code
switching. Beyond its original focus on languages, translanguaging refers to different
discursive practices that multilinguals partake in to understand their bilingual worlds
(García, 2009). In other words, this term is understood to use individuals’ idiolect
with a complete disregard for socially or politically imposed language designations
or borders (Otheguy et al., 2015). Despite different explanations, it is substantiated
that translanguaging is the process of making meaning, gaining experiences, attaining
understanding, and wisdom through the simultaneous use of two languages in class
activities according to a provisional and growing concept (Baker, 2011). As a result,
both languages are employed to organize and facilitate psychological processes in
interpreting, communicating, literacy, and particularly learning in a dynamic and
functionally-coordinated way.
The translanguaging characteristics can be influenced by numerous cognitive,
linguistic, and socio-cultural factors. Regarding cognitive and linguistic elements,
translanguaging takes full advantage of the knowledge and strengthens various
competencies in the “weaker language” by harmonizing the hierarchy of languages
inside the classroom. Similarly, translanguaging, according to Williams (2002),
necessitates utilizing one language to strengthen the other to enhance students’ under-
standing and amplify their capabilities in both languages. While Williams (1996)
deems translanguaging a pedagogic paradigm, he acknowledges that it is predicated
on a cognitive process of a bilingual interchange such as receptive skills, knowl-
edge absorption and accommodation, and selection from brain memory to interact
in an oral and written manner. As it progresses from discovering parallel terms to
processing and transmitting meaning and knowledge, translanguaging necessitates
a deeper understanding than just translation. In terms of socio-cultural values, this
approach facilitates home-school collaboration by encouraging parental involvement
in students’ school activities, together with classroom connection between dominant
and minoritized language learners (Baker, 2001). In contrast to traditional education,
which is primarily geared at one particular language, translanguaging strengthens
home-school ties, particularly when students are taught in a medium of instruction
that their parents hardly understand. This practice empowers students to deepen and
intensify what they have learned in one language in school-wide contexts through
discussions with their parents at home in the other tongue (Baker, 2011). It is clear that
the powerful mechanism of translanguaging furthers a reasonably balanced growth
of students’ two languages, fostering “professors’ understanding of students’ soci-
olinguistic, cultural and historical backgrounds” (Mazak et al., 2017, p. 72), and
facilitating sociocultural values among diverse communities (García, 2009). As a
result, more than a scaffold in multilingual teaching, translanguaging connects multi-
lingual students’ worlds inside and beyond the classroom by utilizing their complete
166 C. D. Nguyen and T. N. T. Tran
cognitive, linguistic and socio-cultural repertoire as well as engrossing learners in
heteroglossic practices to support their academic success. Given that interpretation,
bilingual students, through this pedagogic practice, develop and maintain multiple
language competencies together with their multicultural identity.
Translanguaging has quickly gained popularity and has been endorsed throughout
different contexts (Cenoz & Gorter, 2006). Similar to the original research in bilingual
Welsh–English schools in Wales, De Korne (2010) discovered additional good effects
in Luxembourg, where she recorded genuine translanguaging practices, including
Luxembourgish, German, French, and English, during a project to compose and
perform an English-language play. These practices demonstrate heteroglossic ideolo-
gies regarding multilingualism and language in education. In Flores and García
(2013)’s research, ethnographic data taken from two primary school classes in the
United States suggests a heteroglossic understanding of languages as assessment
techniques for bilingual students. Nowadays, translanguaging is commonly used
as an umbrella phrase to encompass conceptual and practical evidence of dynamic
language use that defies a tight separation paradigm both outside and within the class-
room, particularly in areas where minority languages are spoken. As per Otheguy
and other researchers (2015), translanguaging can assist underrepresented groups and
their tongues by supporting the disruption of the socially constructed linguistic hier-
archies that are responsible for the suppression of the languages of minoritized popu-
lations. Therefore, this practice has been applied to contexts of minority language
education in many studies. In Leonet et al. (2017)’s research on trilingual education
in the Basque Country, translanguaging interventions are highlighted to be consistent
with the development of language and metalinguistic awareness as well as minority
language preservation. Through Hong Kong’s multilingual setting, where English
is widely employed as a medium of teaching, He and Lin (2017) also further the
idea that translanguaging can be used to encourage South Asian learners to employ
multilingual repertoires in classroom interactions to enhance collaboration, stimulate
learning, and validate ethnic minority students’ identities. This teaching technique,
however, may be counterproductive at times without taking into account the unique
peculiarities of the social setting. If there is no room for minority languages in
specific regions, translanguaging may end up benefiting majority language speakers
rather than minorities, possibly triggering increasing language extinction (Cenoz &
Gorter, 2017). Consequently, translanguaging needs to pertain to minority languages
and be adapted to social environments of multi-communities in which schools are
positioned.
The Study
Data used for this chapter were selected from records of a research project on educa-
tional equity and culturally responsive teaching to ethnic minority students in the
Central Highlands of Vietnam. Gia Lai and Dak Lak, two major provinces in the
Central Highlands, served as the research sites. Gia Lai is the home to the Jarai and
8 Languages and Ethnic Minority Students’ Access to Education … 167
Dak Lak to the Rhade. Jarai and Rhade people have their own languages which are
members of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of Austronesian language family (Dang
et al., 2010; Hoang, 2004). Although each province has been recognized as the native
land of each tribe, the Kinh is the majority group in the two provinces as well as
in the Central Highlands (General Statistical Office, 2019). Similar to other hilly or
isolated areas in Vietnam where the discrepancy between the dominant Kinh and
minorities is accentuated, the Jarai and Rhade together with other ethnic minorities
in the Central Highlands are socioeconomically disadvantaged (Nguyen & Ha, 2021;
Nguyen & Huynh, 2021; Pham & Doane, 2021).
The lead researcher of the project undertook two field trips, one to Gia Lai and
the other to Dak Lak. During the field trip, the researcher visited two secondary
schools and two villages in each province. In each school, the researcher met princi-
pals/vice-principals, teachers, and students. While interviews were conducted with
teachers and school leaders, students were engaged in informal talks. In total, there
were 16 interviews (1 with an officer working in the Department of Education, 4
with school leaders, and 11 with teachers). The interviewed teachers taught a wide
range of subjects, including mathematics, sciences, arts, civic education, and English
language. In four indigenous villages, the researcher directly interacted with chil-
dren, parents, and other villagers while visiting and staying with local families. Field
notes, which involved the talks between the researcher and local families on the
language issues, were utilized as a method of data collection in the villages. While
semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection from the school staff,
informal conversations were employed with the Jarai and Rhade villagers. The ques-
tions of the interviews and informal talks were centered on the Jarai and Rhade
students’ schooling. Specifically, the researchers highlighted how students of these
two ethnic minorities were taught and what schooling practices they were engaged
in.
A thematic analysis approach was adopted for data analysis of the large research
project. The researchers adhered to the steps of thematic analysis in qualitative
research (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Creswell, 2013). Specifically, interview transcripts
and field notes were first coded by the research team. Based on these codes, the
team collaborated to reach an agreement on the themes, which were regarded as
the answer to the research questions of the project on educational equity for ethnic
minority students in the Central Highlands. Data analysis for this chapter was initi-
ated by a theme that highlighted the language barriers experienced by the J arai and
Rhade students. That is, the theme of language barriers was a springboard for the
research team to further explore how languages affected, or more precisely, inhibited
the Jarai and Rhade students from accessing schooling opportunities. Emerging as
the research results were three themes related to language issues in ethnic minority
students’ schooling in the Central Highlands, which were situated in the literature
and the Vietnamese context. The themes were then linked to the theories of translan-
guaging, on which the research team drew to suggest a model for transcending
language hurdles experienced by ethnic minority students in the Central Highlands
and throughout Vietnam.
168 C. D. Nguyen and T. N. T. Tran
Findings About Language Issues in Ethnic Minority
Students’ Schooling
Ethnic Minority Students Criticized for ‘Low Level
of Vietnamese Language’
All of the interviewees expressed their concern about the Vietnamese language levels
of ethnic minority students as explicitly manifested in the language they used for
stating the problem, such as “incompetent”, “low-level”, “too bad”, “below standard”,
“unsuitable for learning higher” and “not meeting the requirement”. Mai, a teacher of
biology, observed, “Some in Grade 6 or 7 at secondary school, but their Vietnamese is
lower than that of primary students [of the Kinh majority] in Grade 3 or 4 at primary
school.” Likewise, Hoa, a teacher of Vietnamese and literature, provided a detailed
description:
They [Rhade students] have no difficulty in communicating with teachers and friends who
are the Kinh majority. But their written language and the way they express their ideas about
knowledge had a lot of problems. I read many answers and essays but could not understand
what they meant.
Not only in fields of humanities like literature and history, but sciences and math-
ematics did teachers discover the apparent difficulty in their classrooms. As per
Nam as a representative for science teachers, there was no equivalent in their ethnic
minority languages for basic concepts in biology, physics, and chemistry. As a result,
many students failed to comprehend explanations or classroom instructions given by
their teachers.
From the perspective of a leader, all the interviewed principals and vice-principals
were also concerned about the level of Vietnamese language proficiency among
ethnic minority students in the school each one managed. Nguyen, a principal,
said, “This issue has always attracted the attention of school leaders like me and
leaders at higher levels in the Department of Education.” Huy, the officer in charge
of regulating the quality of teaching and learning in a district of Gia Lai province,
observed, “There has been great improvement in teaching and learning, but lots of
Jarai students are still left behind due to their incompetent Vietnamese language.”
He further noted that this problem was always a key point on the agenda of meet-
ings among educational leaders and political authorities. The participants, to varying
degrees, related ethnic minority students’ low educational attainment to their poor
command of the Vietnamese language. In particular, the interviewed teachers and
school leaders both agreed that ethnic minority students with high proficiency in
Vietnamese would achieve better academic results than those with a restricted level.
Lan, a vice-principal, even argued, “I know a lot of Rhade students whose Vietnamese
is superb can get good grades, even as good as the Kinh students.” In addition to
pointing out the perceived problem in secondary schools where the respondents were
working, they all contended that being inept at Vietnamese impeded this population
of students from gaining access to education at higher levels.
8 Languages and Ethnic Minority Students’ Access to Education … 169
To the community members, mainly Jarai and Rhade parents having school-aged
children, the low level of Vietnamese language has been perceived as the primary
schooling concern of their children and also in their indigenous community. Similar
to the interviewed teachers and school leaders, the parents whom the lead researcher
talked to during the field trip shared their perspective that the Vietnamese proficiency
of their children was significantly lower than that of Kinh students. One parent
explained, “We [the Rhade] can’t speak or write Vietnamese properly because we
use our language every day.” A father of four school-aged children admitted, “I am
regularly invited to school to meet the teachers to discuss what can be done to enhance
my children’s Vietnamese.” A mother in a Jarai hamlet stated, “Our children and even
us adults always feel inferior to the Kinh people just because we’re far behind them
in Vietnamese.” Through visits to many families, the primary researcher discovered
that the spoken Vietnamese or accent of both Jarai and Rhade people is clear and, to
some extent, simpler for many Kinh people in the rural or remote areas. The bulk of
both Rhade and Jarai people, however, did not acknowledge this strength. Instead,
they have been swayed by the belief that ethnic minority people are always inferior
to the Kinh community in all respects, notably the Vietnamese language.
“Vietnamese Only” as the Practice in the Classroom
The interviewed teachers and principals/vice-principals all emphasized the necessity
of the “Vietnamese only” regulation and practice within and beyond the classroom
boundary. When asked whether there was a document or policy that regulated the
mandatory use of the Vietnamese language in the classroom, the teachers and school
leaders all responded that no official document from the Department of Education
had been issued at all levels. However, as they pointed out, the national language has
been acknowledged as the medium of instruction for secondary education nationwide
regardless of ethnic or geographical differences. Nga, a school principal, said, “We,
like all schools throughout the country, have to align with the national curriculum,
textbooks, pedagogical practices, and assessments, so everything must be in the
national language.” From the leadership perspective, Huy also agreed with school
leaders in his district, “If Vietnamese only is not strictly mandated in the classroom,
ethnic minority students may use their own languages, and then their schooling
attainment will not improve.”
Through their stories about the language problems in mixed ethnic classes
including Kinh and ethnic minority students, the interviewed teachers maintained a
uniform perspective of the Vietnamese exclusively in the classroom. Lien, a teacher
of mathematics, observed in her classes:
Some Jarai students study very well but others do not. So, it’s uncommon that the ‘weak’
students try to ask for help from t he good or strong ones like telling the answers or explaining
what I said in Jarai. But I ask the strong ones not to help their friends like that. Instead, I
always ask the weak ones to use Vietnamese to ask me for help. Only in this way can they
improve their Vietnamese.
170 C. D. Nguyen and T. N. T. Tran
With a shared background of ethnicity, Jlut, a chemistry teacher, could compre-
hend what her Rhade students talked with each other or even asked her in Rhade
language. However, as strictly confined to the practice of Vietnamese only, Jlut asked
those students to use the national language, not the Rhade language for classroom
communication:
I am a member of the Rhade community. Rhade students often ask me this or that in the
classroom, a lot about the learning content. But I always pretend not to understand or try to
talk back to them in Vietnamese. I only use the Rhade language when dealing with something
very urgent. All I do is to create a learning environment with the Vietnamese only so that
the Rhade students can change and improve their schooling attainment.
Similar to Jlut, Eba, a teacher of civic education, insisted on strictly using Viet-
namese in the classroom despite her shared ethnicity with her Jarai students. “Bilin-
gual education, Vietnamese-Jarai, is only for primary education, not for secondary
education,” she emphasized. Other Jarai teachers, according to Eba, also expressed
their intolerance towards the use of indigenous languages in the classroom, espe-
cially in secondary education. In general, all the interviewees, including teachers,
school leaders and ethnic minority parents, adhered to their belief about the role of
Vietnamese as a common language for all students regardless of students’ ethnic
and linguistic backgrounds. Another factor that partly accounts for the practice of
Vietnamese only is the national curriculum for all schools throughout the country.
As teaching and learning of all school subjects are strictly prescribed by the national
curriculum, teachers have limited space for accommodating ethnic minority students’
languages. Instead, they tend to employ Vietnamese-only textbooks without any
modification or adaptation due to the lack of professional training and follow
the credit-driven practice of the Vietnamese education system. These contextual
factors provide insight into the perspectives on the language issues shared by both
stakeholders and community members.
Despite their view against the use of ethnic minority languages in the classroom,
when questioned about the effectiveness of teaching in Vietnamese solely to ethnic
minority students, they all pointed out several problems. More noticeable is a lack of
understanding from Jarai or Rhade students because their Vietnamese repertoire is far
from complicated to understand the lesson, especially the scientific concepts. “I have
set up the rules about the Vietnamese only and students have been cooperative, but
it seems that they don’t grasp much of my teaching,” said Nam, a teacher of physics.
In general, all the stakeholders recognized the problem related to the inefficiency of
using Vietnamese as the only medium of instruction for ethnic minority students.
They were, however, required to comply with the national curriculum and classroom
practice, which has no room for ethnic minority languages.
In order to free themselves from the mandated use of the national language, the
Jarai and Rhade students tend to utilize their own languages outside the classroom.
That is, during the breaks or after class hours, ethnic minority students frequently
congregate and converse in Jarai or Rhade languages. Minh, a history teacher,
remarked, “Their faces showed their happiness and comfort, not like what they had to
undergo in the classroom.” The underlying reason for this contrast is their freedom in
8 Languages and Ethnic Minority Students’ Access to Education … 171
language use outside the classroom. Although the teachers did not explicitly indicate
their desire to experience student engagement like this in their classes, they all wish
their ethnic minority students would overcome the language barriers and actively
engage in classroom activities.
Still on the Journey of Finding Workable Solutions
The section centers on using or neglecting indigenous languages and cultures in
school contexts as teachers’ responses to language barriers encountered by ethnic
minority learners in teaching practices. An analysis of those pedagogical practices
is also offered to help clarify whether they alleviate or exacerbate the educational
difficulties of the Jarai and Rhade students.
The interviewed teachers and school leaders have been on their shared journey
of finding feasible strategies or solutions to the perceived challenges regarding the
inadequate proficiency of Vietnamese among ethnic minority students in their areas.
First, both teachers and school leaders voiced a need for innovation in policies that
would specifically assist teachers and schools in dealing with language issues related
to ethnic minority students:
In meetings with principals and education leaders in the district or in the province, we
always make a lot of suggestions for improving the national language of Jarai students. We
also expect specific policies that help us deal with the problem. For example, there should
be extra tutorials to support and assist the Jarai students in improving their Vietnamese
language. (Nga, a principal)
Huy, in the role of an officer in the Department of Education, shared his experience
of learning Jarai as a prerequisite for government officers but only for those in
key positions. As Huy explained, this strategy was beneficial and appropriate for
understanding indigenous cultures through their languages. Although this policy
has been critiqued for its effectiveness during the stages of implementation, Huy
advocated the idea that Jarai language classes should be offered to teachers working
with ethnic minority students. He further stated, “Many officers just learned to get
the certificate to meet the requirement of promotion, but I learned a lot to work
with Jarai communities, especially the students.” Analogous to Huy, the principals
and vice-principals were aware of the benefits of knowing Jarai or Rhade languages
when they were employed to work in local villages. However, this competency is not
explicitly listed as a requirement for teachers.
Among the interviewed teachers, Tu (a teacher of English) and Dinh (a teacher of
geography) picked up some basic words and sentences for engaging with the Jarai
and Rhade populations. Their initiatives are commendable because teachers are not
required to do so:
During my early years of teaching, I often went to the local villages, visiting students’
families. I had a chance to talk to many Rhade villagers. Of course, they spoke Vietnamese.
I learned a lot about their customs and cultural life and acquired a bit of Rhade languages.
172 C. D. Nguyen and T. N. T. Tran
I have made the best use of my limited repertoire of Rhade to talk to my students at school.
When they knew that I could say something to them in their language, they were closer to
me and listened to me more. (Dinh)
Like Dinh, Tu learned Jarai at a very basic level, focusing mostly on vocabu-
lary and simple sentences. As he claimed, students would trust him and share their
troubles or difficulties in learning if he talked to them in Jarai. Vu did not explicitly
state the necessity of knowing Jarai language among students in his district, but he
demonstrated his bilingual awareness when working with ethnic minority students.
Other interviewees, despite their awareness of bilingual competence as an advan-
tage for teaching ethnic minority students, did not have time to learn their students’
languages.
Although the interviewed teachers explicitly stated their approval of the use of
Vietnamese solely in the classroom, they occasionally permitted ethnic minority
students to speak in their native tongues. Most striking was the use of ethnic minority
languages to provide support in some situations, as in the extract below:
I know that it’s not good to let the Rhade students use their own languages in my classes,
but sometimes I want to remind them of something important. I often ask the Jarai students
who are good at Vietnamese to explain to their friends. (An, a teacher of mathematics)
Similar to An as in the aforementioned excerpt, Minh, a teacher of biology,
frequently solicits assistance from Rhade students who are fluent in Vietnamese to
help her explain important knowledge to other Rhade students. As Minh explained,
“Doing that way does not help Rhade students improve their Vietnamese, but it’s
effective for tests or examinations.” With a shared background with ethnic minority
students, both Jarai and Rhade teachers in this study also stated their disapproval of
the use of minority languages in teaching. However, they sometimes draw on their
shared languages with students in order to have appropriate support or interventions.
Yban, a teacher of biology, told a story about how she related biological or scientific
knowledge to everyday phenomena to explain concepts to minority students:
In a lesson about tropical vegetation, if teachers strictly follow the textbook and explain the
knowledge in a formal way, many Jarai students will not understand. Instead, based on my
ten years of teaching experience, I remind students of natural phenomena in their daily life.
I also use a little bit of Jarai language to guide half of the indigenous students in my classes.
After that, I link all the things students are familiar with to the biological knowledge.
As in the example above, the teacher, despite her disapproval of the use of ethnic
minority languages, recognized the effectiveness of indigenous resources, including
the language in imparting scientific knowledge. However, she did not further explore
or implement this pedagogical practice as all the teachers comply with the mandated
use of the national language for all classroom activities. This practice is more like a
mirror to reflect the entanglements between how hegemonic curricula impede ethnic
minority students’ development and teachers’ effort to respond to their unfavorable
learning experiences. As regards professional development for in-service teachers
in the Central Highlands and throughout Vietnam, knowledge and practice related
to language use or culturally responsive teaching have not been provided in training
8 Languages and Ethnic Minority Students’ Access to Education … 173
programs. As such, ethnic minority languages have no place in teachers’ perceptions
and practices in the sense that students are encouraged or given opportunities to
maximize their language capabilities. As a result, there is a need to understand
language barriers faced by ethnic minority students and promote the use of indigenous
languages in teaching practices and policy as feasible approaches or measures to
transform beliefs and pedagogical practices at individual and institutional levels.
Discussion and Recommendations
The cornerstone of this study is the entanglement between policy and reality, between
teaching and learning practices in the monolingual context of Vietnam. The findings
are intended to offer fresh perspectives on language barriers to schooling practice in
ethnic minority areas in the Vietnamese context and some suggestions for alleviating
those challenges from the perspective of translanguaging.
Our Thoughts on Language Barriers to Ethnic Minority
Students’ Access to Education
The findings highlight how Jarai or Rhade students’ access to education is constrained
by ethnic stereotypes, national curricula and monolingual teaching practices of
Vietnam. Those language barriers are emphasized as a culprit of their academic under-
performance, similar to existing studies in the educational literature (Lavoie, 2011;
Nguyen & Ha, 2021; Nguyen & Hamid, 2018; Nguyen & Huynh, 2021; Nguyen
et al., 2017). Their inferiority arises from their perceived inability to grasp Viet-
namese in subtractive education systems where monolingual medium of instruction
is emphasized together with nationally standardized Kinh-centered curricula applied
in multiethnic classes (Aikman & Pridmore, 2001; Luong & Nieke, 2013; Truong,
2011). Teachers are aware of minorities’ language difficulties and the great impor-
tance of integrating their living contexts with what could be seen as the hegemonic
curriculum that emphasises the values, beliefs and understandings of a majority’s
view and which is largely outside the practices, beliefs and understandings of Jrai
and Rhade community. However, most teachers, regardless of their competence in
indigenous languages, tend to abide by this hegemonic curriculum to seek perfor-
mance accomplishments and fulfill local and national learning outcome criteria. This
tendency results in educational hurdles among ethnic minority pupils in the Central
Highlands analyzed in three themes regarding language barriers to their schooling
in the findings of this chapter.
Highlighted in this study is the stereotyped belief about ethnic minority students’
inferiority compared to the Kinh population in all aspects, stemming from the “Viet-
namese only” policy and practice within and beyond classrooms. Despite no existing
174 C. D. Nguyen and T. N. T. Tran
specific measure or panacea for these challenges, the most striking element in the
findings is the positive indication of bilingual worlds to ethnic minority students’
educational development. Particularly, educational effectiveness is also enhanced
when teachers apply minorities’ everyday events or take advantage of bilingual
competence of minority students fluent in Vietnamese to explain crucial concepts
to lower-ability groups through their regional languages. Therefore, there is a need
for growing recognition and integration of their indigenous languages and cultures
into mainstream schooling in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. In particular, the
integration of bilingual and multilingual resources need to be promoted in school
settings mixed by students of the Kinh and other ethnic minorities. As a result, there
is an urge to facilitate translanguaging to cross the boundary and enhance the existing
educational practice in multilingual schools in Vietnam. When planning this chapter,
we meant to use ‘translanguaging model’ as part for the heading of this section.
However, after carefully reviewing the literature and the findings presented in this
chapter, we found ‘suggestions’ more appropriate. The reason for our decision is that
translanguaging is, to some extent, not to say completely, new in Vietnam, i n both
research and practice of education.
Suggestions for reducing Language Barriers to Ethnic
Minority Students’ Access to Education from the Perspective
of Translanguaging
Predicated on the findings and the discussed literature, translanguaging will be
proposed in this section as a recommendation on different domains including teaching
philosophy, curriculum, instructional delivery, and environmental support to motivate
students of disadvantaged backgrounds.
At an individual level, learners and teachers need to gain widespread percep-
tions of translanguaging practices and the imperative of multilingualism in minori-
ties’ learning access, critical thinking, and intercultural competences. The fact that
linguistic resources utilized in classes might include or exclude students can be
tackled by translanguaging spaces in cooperation with classmates and structural
stakeholders (Kaufhold, 2018; Mendoza, 2020). Teachers’ favorable attitudes toward
translanguaging considered as a social and cognitive resource may facilitate a linguis-
tically inclusive learning environment that enables ethnic minority students to inte-
grate their home or community-wide language practices into the classroom (Axelrod,
2017; Carroll et al., 2021). In order to create such spaces, the divides between schools
and ethnic minority families should be narrowed at the meso levels. Schools need
to flexibly ratify specific instructions, collaborate with families and communities to
encourage lower-ability students and promote dynamic nature of language learning
in minority contexts. Simultaneously, pre-service and in-service teachers must be
offered a comprehensive and detailed philosophical and practical training on how to
draw on students’ language repertoires through multilingualism and translanguaging
8 Languages and Ethnic Minority Students’ Access to Education … 175
in specific educational contexts (Ganuza & Hedman, 2017; Mwinda & van der Walt,
2015; Yuvayapan, 2019).
As a key part of translanguaging practices, the mindset and leadership of school
leaders are underlined in establishing the multilingual milieu, language regulations,
and teaching methods (Ascenzi-Moreno et al., 2016). School practices form and
are structured by national language policies in education and macro-level ideolo-
gies together with human agency within locally situated milieux of interaction
(Nguyen, 2019; Nguyen & Huynh, 2021; Nguyen et al., 2022). Particularly, national
curricula at all levels directed by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET)
should be decolonised to cater to students from multicultural and multi-ethnic back-
grounds. Students’ heritage assets should be incorporated into the national holistic
curriculum to appreciate the values of minority communities and empower students
from different backgrounds in educational attainment (Nguyen & Huynh, 2021).
Systematic assistance regarding translanguaging initiatives, finance and time from
the MOET and the Vietnamese government also needs to be tailored to support school
leaders, educators, and practitioners in promoting inclusive learning environments.
These steps contribute to obliterating ethnocentric beliefs and negative stereotypes
among ethnic minorities in order to position those from underrepresented groups
as insiders in quality education systems. Governments need to adopt socio-cultural
and linguistic policies or strategies to arouse a sense of pride inside minoritized
communities, enhance students’ favorable multilingual identity (García-Mateus &
Palmer, 2017; Palmer et al., 2014) and facilitate their multilingual capacities. Indi-
vidual, social and structural levels are intrinsically intertwined and influence each
other, as well as learners’ academic performance and developmental trajectories.
These potential translanguaging techniques may be opportunities for more sustained
inclusive learning environments for ethnic minority students.
Conclusion
The study is conducted to deepen profound understandings of language issues
encountered by ethnic minority students in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.
The findings indicate ethnocentric beliefs about ethnic minority students’ academic
performance in the “Vietnamese only” learning environment. Specifically, ethnic
minority learners’ underperformance is perceived as a mirror to reflect their infe-
riority to the Kinh students and their inability to comprehend and speak the Viet-
namese language. Despite viewpoints against the use of indigenous languages in
“Vietnamese only” practice, all the stakeholders acknowledge its inefficiency, espe-
cially in the incapacity of Jarai or Rhade students to comprehend the lesson due to
their limited Vietnamese repertoire. Therefore, the use of ethnic minority languages
is also applied to offer support in some situations in order to involve minority learners
in classroom activities. In light of these language entanglements in ethnic minority
schooling, translanguaging is proposed as a solution to existing challenges of catering
for minority learners’ linguistic development. Implementing translanguaging is far
176 C. D. Nguyen and T. N. T. Tran
from considered a panacea or one-size-fits-all pedagogic model but rather a viable
source of treatment for language obstacles experienced by ethnic minority students
in the Vietnamese-only practice.
Besides, Vietnamese educational leadership has maintained a top-down policy
approach, highlighting the roles of the MOET or the Vietnamese Government in
formulating and developing policy, followed by local authorities (Phelps et al.,
2014). Most educational development initiatives have been associated with socio-
economic progress programs rather than transforming pedagogical practices to
alleviate the Kinh’s long-established cultural supremacy. Consequently, promoting
translanguaging in an attempt to transform sustained learning experiences for ethnic
minority students is seen as a potential cornerstone for national education reform in
Vietnam to improve cultural diversity and gain fulfillment of educational equity in
multiethnic schools.
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180 C. D. Nguyen and T. N. T. Tran
Chinh Duc Nguyen is a lecturer and researcher of language education and teacher education.
His scholarly interests include second language teacher education, identity in language teaching,
sociocultural issues in language education, and social justice in education. He has publications
in journals of education and language teaching, such as TESOL Quarterly, Language Teaching
Research, System, Teachers and Teaching, and Educational Review.
Thanh Nguyen Thao Tran is a lecturer at Dong A University, Vietnam. She attained a master’s
degree in Education from University College Dublin, where she is working as a research assistant
in a large-scale educational project. She has extensive experience in teaching English language and
culture as well as teaching methodologies, in EU-funded Erasmus + projects located in Dublin,
Ireland. Her research interests encompass the sociology of education, curriculum studies, teacher
education, higher education, and second language education. She is particularly passionate about
education policy and advocating for education as a public good.
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate
credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and
indicate if changes were made.
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Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not
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statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from
the copyright holder.
Part II
Contemporary Issues in Education
and Training: Language, Culture, Identity,
and Curriculum
Chapter 9
The Legacy of the American War Today:
The Nation, Heroes and Enemies
in Vietnamese War Literature
for the Youth
Tú Anh Hà and Andrea Roxana Bellot
Abstract This chapter seeks to explore the impact of American War (Vietnam War)
literature in framing students’ opinions and standpoints regarding major topics such
as nationhood, heroism and alterity in present-day Vietnam. High-school students
from Ho Chi Minh City were asked to critically engage in the reading of short stories
to be able to explore their perception and understanding of the war today. The main
results suggest a move forward in the recognition of this large-scale humanitarian
tragedy by valuing the sacrifices made by the national body and the acknowledgement
of the enemy as a human being.
Keywords American war ·Vietnam war ·Youth literature ·Vietnamese official
syllabus ·Nationhood ·Heroism ·Alterity
Introduction
The Vietnam War (also called the American War or the Resistance War against
America in Vietnamese contexts) is one of the fundamental historic events of Viet-
namese history in particular and world history in the twentieth century in general
(Dror, 2018; Herring, 1991; Lockard, 1994; Moyar, 2006). The war presupposed one
of the most grievous divisions in the country’s history, leaving behind not only a
terrible number of deaths and severe mental illness of the survivors but more signif-
icantly, the wounds and distinctions between two parts of the whole country: North
and South.
T. A. Hà (B
)
FPT University, Hanoi, Vietnam
e-mail: tuanh.ling@gmail.com; anhht47@fe.edu.vn; tuanh.ha@urv.cat
A. R. Bellot
University Rovira in Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
e-mail: andrearoxana.bellot@urv.cat
© The Author(s) 2024
Phan Le Ha et al. (eds.), Vietnamese Language, Education and Change In and Outside
Vietnam, Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9093-1_9
183
184 T. A. Hà and A. R. Bellot
In Nothing ever dies: Vietnam and the memory of war (2016), Nguyen illustrates
several ways in which the war is still alive in different contexts with its unresolved
memories. Regarding education, the war actually posed a significant challenge to the
teaching practice in the Vietnamese education system. The main challenge involves
how to approach the teaching of such a long and bloody conflict in order to heal
the collective wound, build solidarity and empathy, while fostering patriotism and
national identity. As such, education plays a key role in forming the opinion of the
younger generations, and literature, in particular, as a reflection of the moods and
feelings of those involved in the conflict, directly and indirectly. Thus, the main
purpose of this study is to explore the reception of the war literature that is being
taught in the official syllabus at high schools across Vietnam.
Moreover, since learners are key agents in their learning and play a determinant
role in the teaching–learning process, it is essential to collect constructive feed-
back, learners’ backgrounds and viewpoints need to be heard and viewed in order to
provide appropriate teaching strategies, materials and techniques to support learners.
To be specific, related to the Vietnam War, it is imperative to understand students’
perception of their nation and its people as well as the enemy participating in the
war – the American. Understanding how students perceive their nation, the people
and the enemy, especially in such a historic event – the Vietnam War – can help to
find out the solution not only to deal with the collective trauma but also to build
solidarity and national identity for students.
Among many ways that the school in Vietnam teaches students about the nation,
its people and the Vietnam War as a part of the nation’s history, literature is considered
one powerful tool as it is seen as a major compulsory subject that all students need to
pass in order to complete their formal education. Therefore, in our research, literature
has been chosen as the context to survey students’ viewpoints. It is also noteworthy
that literary works in the official curriculum directly written about the Vietnam War
described the actual war events, rather than the war consequences, unresolved and
traumatic memories of the survivors.
The subjects of the present study are high school students in grade 12, the last
grade of formal/basic education in Vietnam, ages 17–18, which was precisely one
of the reasons for choosing these students. These teenagers were going to complete
their formal education and soon reach 18 – the age that their citizenship would be
confirmed by the law; and after formal education, they needed to decide the (career)
path that they wanted to follow. Therefore, this age group was actually at the time of
important milestones in their life. Thus, understanding their perception of the nation
and the people can help to know the life value of the young Vietnamese generation,
and how they are prepared to become a citizen to participate in the country’s system.
With the aim of surveying high school students’ opinions and beliefs after reading
the literature about the American War included in the Vietnamese national official
curriculum, the research questions are the following:
RQ1: What is the Vietnamese students’ perception of the nation and the national
heroes?
RQ2: What is the Vietnamese students’ perspective of the figure of the national
enemy?
9 The Legacy of the American War Today: The Nation, Heroes … 185
While the first question can help to find out how the literary works build national
identity and patriotism for Vietnamese high school students, the second question can
help create the figure of the other/enemy, which, in turn, will help in developing their
own identities.
Literature Review
The Nation, National Identity and Patriotism
There are some concepts that need to be clarified before exploring how literary works
about the Vietnam War in the Vietnamese national curriculum build national identity
and patriotism for Vietnamese citizens, through high school students’ perspectives.
They are the nation, national identity and patriotism; as well as how these concepts
are nurtured through language and education. Several researchers have put forward
many ways that a nation is understood, from different dimensional views, including
history and culture, or politics. In a simple and basic sense, the term ‘nation’ often
refers to the territory with its inhabitants who are connected by birth, language and
the government that rules them (Joseph, 2004). Joseph (2004) also points out that
this way of understanding nations shows many limitations, especially in the context
of global mobility with migration.
Can those who leave their nation of birth be considered as ‘outsiders’? For others
who do not share the same territory of birth, however, they do share the same nation,
not only because of their residency, but also because of something more underlying
and latent rather than overt such as their sense of belonging. Barrett (2007) explains
that the term ‘nation’ as ‘a named human community occupying a homeland and
having a shared history, common myths of ancestry, a common mass public culture,
and shared values, symbols, traditions, customs and practices’ (Barrett, 2007,p.5).
It can be seen that while the understanding of the nation mentioned by Joseph is
seen from politics, the one of Barrett is viewed from history and culture. Barrett
(2007) also differentiates between nations and ethnic communities. They are similar
in sharing collective names, myths of ancestry, historical memories, customs and
traditions; but they are different as the former occupy in their historic homeland
while the latter do not. Instead, ethnic communities connect to their homeland in an
affective and symbolic way (Barrett, 2007).
Researchers mostly agree that nations are recent phenomena in world history,
which is the result of the French Revolution in the nineteenth century and the climax
of a number of social and intellectual trends linked with the Enlightenment happening
in Europe at that time (Barrett, 2007; Liu & Turner, 2018). According to Barrett
(2007), it is a necessary artificial outcome of the transition to modernity in which
the central idea is industrialization. Industrial societies asked for a mobile workforce
with a high degree of specialization; therefore, required a means to connect different
villagers who came from different local communities and moved to cities for work
186 T. A. Hà and A. R. Bellot
(Barrett, 2007). The concept of a nation as well as national citizenship emerged so
as to homogenize and unify cultures to prepare the workforce for the industry. This
is the notion of a nation, what about the concept of ‘national identity?’ According to
Byram and colleagues (2002), each individual is complicated with numerous social
identities and his/her own individuality, and national identity is one kind of social
identity that contributes to the answer of the question ‘Who I am?’ and other related
questions to describe and identify oneself such as ‘What makes me me?’
As discussed above, the nation is a recent phenomenon, therefore, national iden-
tity is argued to be a recent concept, appearing after the French Revolution in the
nineteenth century as well (Liu & Turner, 2018). Liu and Turner (2018) explain
‘national identity’ as the following:
National identity refers to the identity of the citizens of a country with their own country’s
historical and cultural traditions, moral values, ideals, beliefs, national sovereignty, and so
on. (Liu & Turner, 2018, p. 1080)
From the literature review above, national identity can be understood as the social
identity making up the identity of a person, it relates to their territory with its own
culture, history, sovereignty and systems. Bechhofer et al. (1999) also propose a
notable idea, regarding the concept of national identity, which is:
National i dentities are not essentially fixed or given but depend critically on the claims which
people make in different contexts and at different times. The processes of identity rest not
simply on the claims made but on how such claims are received, that is validated or rejected
by significant others. (Bechhofer et al., 1999, p. 515)
From Bechhofer’s argument, national identity is not only identified by the agency
that claims it, but also by social acceptance which confirms its validity. Byram et al.
(2002) contend that ‘national identity’ is a kind of social identity instead of individ-
uality, therefore, it requires the approval of the community. Logically, if a person is
rejected by a nation, they may not build or have a sense of belonging to that nation,
and the characteristics (such as culture, history and customs) of that nation may not
become a part of their identity.
Therefore, national identity is related to the acceptance of the society, an indi-
vidual’s sense of belonging to a nation, which is connected with the concept of patrio-
tism. Patriotism in a simple way of understanding is ‘love of country’ and ‘attachment
to the nation’ (Hanson & O’Dwyer, 2019). Love for the nation and attachment to the
country are the foundations to form national identity. In other words, patriotism is
the base to construct national identity, and national identity contributes to nurturing
patriotism. Hanson and O’Dwyer (2019) also differentiate between patriotism and
nationalism, which is called patriotism’s ‘evil twin’ and has been understood as an
orientation to national superiority and dominance which is far beyond love for the
nation. Therefore, both patriotism and nationalism refer to affection and attachment
to the nation, however, the former is a positive concept while the latter is negative
and even dangerous.
9 The Legacy of the American War Today: The Nation, Heroes … 187
National Identity and Its Relationship with Language
According to Joseph (2004), national identity is closely associated with the national
language for some reasons. Firstly, the author argues that national language is a
means to build nationalism and to form national identity:
A number of prominent historians, sociologists and political scientists have argued that the
existence of a national language is the primary foundation upon which nationalist ideology
is constructed. Others, however, have paid more serious attention to the evidence compiled
by linguistic historians showing that national languages are not actually a given, but are
themselves constructed as part of the ideological work of nationalism-building. (Joseph,
2004, p. 94)
Secondly, Joseph argues that identity is the third, distinct primary function of
language: ‘in communication, our interpretation of what is said and written to us is
shaped by and organized around our reading of the identity of those with whom we
are communicating’ (Joseph, 2004, p. 20). He adds:
What matters is to understand that, if people’s use of language is reduced analytically to
how meaning is formed and represented in sound, or communicated from one person to
another, or even the conjunction of the two, something vital has been abstracted away: the
people themselves. They are always present in what they say and, in the understanding, they
construct of what others say. Their identity inheres in their voice, spoken, written or signed
(Joseph, 2004, p. 21).
Barrett (2007) also points out the link between language and national identity in
which novels and other literary works contribute to the building of national identity.
Both Barrett (2007) and Joseph (2004) agree with the function of constructing a
national identity of language. Furthermore, from Joseph’s arguments, language not
only forms but also reveals the identity of a person. As Byram et al. (2002) argue,
one’s self is shaped by both individuality and social identities including national
identity, and language, therefore, also divulges an individual’s national identity.
The Role of School Education in Children’s Process
of Forming and Developing National Identity and Patriotism
The nation and national identity are phenomena of modernization in which the central
notion is industrialization (Barrett, 2007; Liu & Turner, 2018). In order to homog-
enize and connect villagers who came to big cities for work from different local
communities with distinct customs and traditions, mass public education was intro-
duced by the states. The purpose of mass public education is to ‘promulgate among
their populations a new sense of cultural unity based on the nation. Thus, education
was the principal means through which the shared culture of the nation was trans-
mitted to individuals, replacing the traditional pre-literate folk cultures in the process’
(Barrett, 2007, p. 10). School curriculum plays as one of the most essential impacts
on children’s national enculturation. In addition, there are three principal ways that
188 T. A. Hà and A. R. Bellot
schools influence children’s national enculturation, including: (i) direct and explicit
instruction about their own state and nation; (ii) the ethnocentric biases that often
feature both educational curricula and school textbooks, (iii) the adoption of specific
aspects of their nation’s civil culture within their own daily practices (Barrett, 2007,
p. 102).
Regarding the first path, schools provide children with explicit teaching about
the history, cultural heritage and symbolic imagery of their own state and nation
(Barrett, 2007). The teaching is given through particular subjects, such as literature,
history, geography and civic education. Barrett also notes that school education not
only affects children through a much higher percentage of the amount of information
about their own country than other nations but also through bringing them to specific
types of information with particular perspectives about their own nation. For instance,
in the English curriculum, children were exposed to a model of nation where hetero-
geneity and multi-cultures of the nation were emphasized, in which immigration was
presented as a well-established historical phenomenon. For the French, the nation
was depicted as a series of battles between two contrasting forces. They are progres-
sive, enlightened, rational forces, which are opposite to the unenlightened ones. For
the Dutch, Dutch history was described as being written by ordinary people who have
different backgrounds, lifestyles and opinions, however they are able to live together
peacefully by negotiation and democratic participation (Barrett, 2007). In addition,
Barrett also mentions several ways in which a person can respond to historical narra-
tives about his/her own nations. Individuals can fail to learn those narratives, or learn
them but oppose them, or even believe in other alternative narratives instead.
Literature About the American War and its Role of Forming
National Identity and Patriotism
In the Vietnamese contexts, the Vietnam War is often called the American War or
Resistance War against America). From this part forwards the Vietnam War will be
called the American War, which is the name of the Vietnam War in the national
official curricula for all grades of the Vietnamese education system. As the research
was conducted in the context of Vietnam, to make the research inclusive for all
participating students, the name that every student knows and understands has been
used.
About the American War
The American War is the war between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV)
or North Vietnam and the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) or South Vietnam (1955–
1975). According to Dror ( 2018), the significant distinction of the American War is
the following:
The war between the DRV and the RVN was an armed conflict between two polities identi-
fying themselves as representing the same national ethnicity: Vietnamese. These two polities
9 The Legacy of the American War Today: The Nation, Heroes … 189
put this unifying identification aside and fought for the ideologies that set them apart. It was a
struggle between different visions that Vietnamese had about the kind of society they wanted
to live in and to bequeath to the next generation. (Dror, 2018,p.3).
However, the American War is not only the war between two parts of Vietnam or
two polities ‘identifying themselves as representing the same national ethnicity: Viet-
namese’ as Dror argues (Dror, 2018, p. 3). The war was beyond a civil war happening
inside one nation – Vietnam but was put into a bigger background which was the
conflict between two opposite forces: the communist world led by the Soviet Union
and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the anti-communist world led by the
United States (Dror, 2018). With the accelerating involvement of the U.S. right after
the French withdrew from the Vietnam battles (1954), ending the French colonialism
in the country but marking the emergence of two Vietnams (DRV and RVN) (Dror,
2018), the Vietnamese could not unify their own country in another way, without the
significant influence of outside forces. The civil war was positioned in increasing
tension between the Communist and the anti-Communist. Herring (1991) argues
that the American government had anticipated the ‘Domino theory’ by which losing
Vietnam to communism could result in losing all of Southeast Asia to communism.
In fact, the dominoes did not fall outside the border of Indochina, and the regional
and international effects of the war were less than what had been predicted.
In Vietnam, nowadays, the American War is viewed as the tradition of protecting
the country against the invasion and colonization of f oreign countries, passing
down through generations and nurtured through the history full of battles and fights
against the Chinese, the Mongolian, the French and the American (Lockard, 1994;
Schwenkel, 2009). Thereby, protecting the country against foreign invasion and
dominance is a nationalistic identity of the Vietnamese.
Literature about the American War in the Vietnamese national official curriculum
In the Literature textbook (Philology – published by Vietnam Education Publishing
House, 2019) for high school students, all literary works about the American War
are written by soldiers who directly participated in the battle.
Broadly speaking, these narratives focus on the following topics:
.humane affection, such as love for family and the nation;
.power to protect the country from American occupation;
.consciousness of the national heroic tradition;
.willingness to be a part of t hat tradition to gain the unity of the whole nation;
.untamed spirit of people from different classes all over the country to fight against
the enemy – the American.
In the national literature curriculum for senior high school students [chương trình
Ngữ vănlớp 12] (academic year 2019–2020), there are two stories centered on the
fighting of Vietnamese people against the enemy in the American War in the period
of 1955–1975. They are ‘Children of a Family’, [‘Những đứa con trong gia đình’,
1966] by Thi Nguyen [Nguyễn Thi] and ‘The Xanu Wood’ [‘Rừng xà nu’, 1965] by
Trung Thanh Nguyen [Nguyễn Trung Thành]. These two are the ones chosen for this
190 T. A. Hà and A. R. Bellot
research as they directly told the story about the war in the battle context of Southern
Vietnam.
‘Children in a Family’ [‘Những đứa con trong gia đình’, 1966] by Thi Nguyen is
a short story set in Southern Vietnam that describes the tradition of fighting against
the enemy for a united Vietnam. The story emphasizes family traditions and the
transmission of values and norms from one generation to another in a Communist
family. While parents suffered and passed away in the war, their children kept fighting
to avenge the enemy despite their young ages. The story is famous for its poetic beauty
and convertible timeline structure.
‘The Xanu Wood’ [‘Rừng xà nu’, 1965] by Trung Thanh Nguyen is also a short
story set in the mountainous region in Southern Vietnam. The story narrates the
bloody war between Stra village (an ethnic minority who supported the Communist
Party) and soldiers of the RVN. The hero is Tnu, a young man brought up by the
villagers who eventually becomes a Communist soldier. His tragic and legendary
life reflects the Stra villagers’ fight progress against the invaders and foreign powers.
The story is characterized by its epic features.
Some of the other main texts about the war included in the syllabus of previous
grades are the following ones: ‘Distant stars’ [‘Những ngôi sao xa xôi’] written in
1971 by Lê Minh Khuê, ‘The ivory comb’ [‘Chiếclược ngà’] written in 1966 by
Nguyễn Quang Sáng, ‘The poem about the transport platoon’ [‘Bài thơ về tiểu đội
xe không kính’] written in 1969 by PhạmTiếnDuật, ‘The fire stove’ [‘Bếplửa’]
written in 1963 by Bằng Việt and ‘The sound of the chicken at noon’ [‘Tiếng gà
trưa’] written in 1965 by Xuân Quỳnh. All these texts were produced and written
under the guidance and control of the DRV.
Reception Theory
Stuart Hall (1993) put forward the theory of reception. The foundation of the theory
is the circulation of communication, being comprised of three components: sender–
message–receiver. Hall proposed the concept that there are two attributes of the
process of communication: relative autonomy and determinateness that occur in a
discursive form. Determinateness means that there are always particular social and
political backgrounds affecting the process of encoding/production and decoding/
reception.
In addition, the process of encoding and decoding does not necessarily happen
at the same time. Audiences’ various backgrounds and ideologies as well as distinct
moments of decoding can result in receivers’ misinterpretation or misunderstanding
of the message that the sender aimed to transfer. This leads to the second attribute
of the process of communication – being relatively autonomous. Relative autonomy
refers to the independence of both the production and the reception process that ‘no
one moment can fully guarantee the next moment with which it is articulated’ (Hall,
1993, p. 508).
9 The Legacy of the American War Today: The Nation, Heroes … 191
Viewing Vietnamese students’ perspectives of the literature about the American
War in the Vietnamese national curriculum from Hall’s theory of reception, it can be
seen that the literary works (or text) encompass the message that the author wanted
to send. The author is the sender in the communication process who created the
text enclosing the message. Students are the receiver decoding the message. The
moments of encoding and decoding are significantly different. The sender created
the message when still encountering grievous battles and fights between two parts
of the country. They could not imagine clearly the future when the separation ended
and two parts of the country would be unified and become one, how life would be
after that. On the contrary, the receiver received and interpreted the message when
there were no wars, battles, blood and tears. They live in peace in a unified country
run by one Party (the Communist). The big gap in these two moments can influence
what students as the receiver understood the message that the sender sent.
Method
Participants
There were seventy-seven students voluntarily participating in the study from Le
Hong Phong High School, a high school for gifted students in Ho Chi Minh City.
The students’ ages ranged from seventeen to eighteen years old, and they were in
the last year of their high school at the time the study was carried out in April 2020.
In the pre-survey, there were seventy students voluntarily answering the question-
naire (forty-seven males, thirty females). In the post-survey, there were 74 responses
from 74 students (44 males, 30 females). The following table summarizes the above
information (Table 9.1).
The students were informed about the aim of the study and required to fill in the
consent form that they agreed to take part in the research. The data collected has
remained confidential.
Instruments
Google Form questionnaires were used to collect students’ opinions: a pre-reading
and a post-reading survey. The aim of the pre-reading survey was to have an overview
Table 9.1 The number of students participating in the research
Stage Number of students Number of males Number of females
Pre-survey 77 47 30
Post-survey 74 44 30
192 T. A. Hà and A. R. Bellot
of students’ general ideas about the American War and background knowledge about
the literary texts that they had been taught about the American War. The post-reading
survey was designed with the objective of getting students’ perceptions of the war
and their opinions on the texts after the analysis in class. Below, we show some of
the main questions that the surveys contain:
Pre-reading questions:
.Can you name some literary works that you have learnt about the American War?
.What can you remember about those literary works? (For example, topics, main
ideas, characters, plots, details, etc.)
.If you remember those literary works, how do you feel after reading them?
Post-reading questions:
.After reading and learning the two literary works, do you want to recommend the
works to other readers? Why?
.Do you like reading other similar works like the two works that you have read
and learnt written about the American War? Why?
.Name at least three points that you like in each literary work.
.Name at least three points that you do not like in each literary work.
.Which character do you like most in each story? Why?
.Which character that you like least in each story? Why?
.If you could meet the character of the two stories, what would you want to ask/
saytothem?
.Both stories that you have read were written by Vietnamese authors who also
participated in the war as soldiers. Do you want to read the works about the
American War from American authors/ soldiers? Why? Do you think that the
works written about the American War by American authors are different from
the works written by Vietnamese authors? If yes, how are they different?
Procedure
The data was collected with Google Forms from 7th April to 3rd May 2020 via
emails. First, the data was manually independently coded by two researchers. After
working independently, the two researchers compared their results and discussed
the differences to finalize the framework built from the data. The coding frame
established needs to satisfy the requirements of qualitative content analysis (Schreier,
2014, p. 175), including: (i) unidimensionality – meaning that major categories cover
one aspect of the material only, (ii) mutual exclusiveness (subcategories in one major
category are mutually exclusive, this is understood that one unit cannot appear in
more than one subcategory), (iii) exhaustiveness (all relevant aspects of the material
must be covered by a category). The requirement of mutual exclusiveness does not
mean that each unit is coded only once. Instead, each unit can be coded only once
under one main category.
9 The Legacy of the American War Today: The Nation, Heroes … 193
Based on the framework established, the data was analyzed again individually
by the two researchers. Then the two researchers conducted cross-checking, and the
results showed high consistency, confirming the reliability of the analysis. To build the
framework, the researchers based on the two primary relationships between things:
similarity and contiguity (Maxwell & Chmiel, 2014, p. 23), as well as connecting
strategies. All the data was analyzed by using a combination of inductive and deduc-
tive coding with both concept-driven and data-driven categories in order to build a
coding frame.
Findings
Building National Identity and Patriotism through
the Text – High School Students’ View abouttheir Nation
and their Own People
Empathy with the People, Pain for the Nation
The data of both the pre-test and the post-test showed that students demonstrated
empathy for the people who sacrificed and experienced too much pain in the war,
they also felt pain for their nation.
Regarding the affection domain, in the pre-survey, 39 of the total 77 students
participating in the study could list the literary works that they had read or learnt about
the American War (50.6%). The students who still remembered the literary works
written about the American War in the pre-survey also expressed their feelings about
those works. The most common emotions shared by students encompass recognition
(n = 21), empathy (n = 17) and obsession (n = 12). It is also noteworthy that
the negative emotion of ‘revenge’ is not popular in students’ affection as only one
student mentioned this emotion. And only four students remembered the optimistic
atmosphere of the literary works.
In the group ‘empathy’, students shared that they felt strongly touched by using
the following words to express their emotions: thương – a Vietnamese word to name
the feeling consisting of empathy, compassion, and humanitarian love, xót xa –a
Vietnamese word to call the feeling which is a mixture of empathy, humanitarian
love, compassion and pain, and đau thương – the feeling made of different emotions
and abilities including empathy, mourning or grieving, pain, and love. Regarding
the group ‘obsession’, the words used include: being obsessed, nặng nề –aViet-
namese word to express a strong feeling of pressure or heaviness and sadness. For the
group ‘recognition’, it is sorted into three subcategories: being proud and admiring,
respect and appreciate the effort and heroes’ noble actions, and feeling thankful.
194 T. A. Hà and A. R. Bellot
In the cognition domain, in the post-survey, a majority of students (86%) want
to recommend the literary works written about the American War in the national
curriculum to other people. The reasons for their recommendation are the following:
(i) the literary works reflect the life of people in the American War (n = 9), as
well as
(ii) the history of the nation (n = 9);
(iii) show the horror of the war and the sacrifice, death, blood and tears of
Vietnamese people for a united country and peace (n = 15);
(iv) describe respected characteristics of Vietnamese people living and fighting in
the war (n = 12);
(v) build love and pride of the nation as well as responsibility to the country for
the young generation (n = 9);
(vi) help Vietnamese people respect peace gained by the ancestor, a united country
and what they are having at present (n = 9);
(vii) the literary works are worth reading, meaningful and interesting (n = 9);
(viii) they are the representative works for the literature of the American War period
(n = 4).
By recommending the literary works, students show their respect for the value of
the literary works in the national curriculum. In addition, in the post-test, the students
were asked to list three points that they liked in each story that they had learnt. The
most popular points that many students like include:
(i) patriotism of t he Vietnamese (n = 49);
(ii) voice and different techniques to build characters and figures in the works (n
= 46);
(iii) indomitable spirit and strength of the people (n = 40);
(iv) love for the family (n = 35);
(v) personality traits of the characters (exclude braveness or determined spirit to
protect the country, such as being innocent, agile, resourceful, etc.) (n = 35);
(vi) determined spirit to protect the country (n = 26).
On the contrary, only a few students mentioned that they liked how the terrible war
was reflected and the way the enemy was depicted to be extremely cruel with severe
crimes (n = 5). Some students also mentioned that they were touched by the story
and felt the pain that the characters experienced when they were tortured physically
and witnessed their family members being horribly punished (n = 11). From what
the students mentioned, it can be seen that they show their love and empathy for the
nation and the people suffering the war. This is not only natural humanity but also
becomes evidence of the sense of belonging to the nation of the students. Feeling
pain for the people and the country is because the students are a part of it, they are
not the outsiders to view the war, but they see it as a part or a member of the nation
experiencing the war – the Vietnamese.
9 The Legacy of the American War Today: The Nation, Heroes … 195
Hatred towards the War and Crimes, Violence and Cruelty
From the data collected, students also showed their hatred towards war, violence and
cruelty. In the post-test, when students were asked a specific question about the three
points that they did not like in each story, students listed the following things:
(i) very painful details (n = 39) – ranking the first in the list of points that students
do not like;
(ii) writing techniques (n = 14) including the lack of describing the inner world
of the characters (n = 8) and the lack of details describing everyday life (n =
4);
(iii) violent details (n = 12) and the barbarity of the enemy (n = 5);
(iv) the desire and enmity motivation to fight against the enemy at a very young
age (n = 8) and the idea of revenging the enemy (n = 6);
(v) familiar characters, the point of view on the war, and topics (n = 6);
(vi) showing gender prejudice (n = 3); and
(vii) the perspective to see the war is one-dimensional (n = 2).
Among the aforementioned list, regarding the idea of revenging the enemy, some
students also argued that the enemy should not have been revenged or hated, instead
it was the war to be hated.
Students also demonstrated their hatred towards war and violence by making
reference to the characters they do not like in the stories. Thirty-five students r eplied
that they did not like the enemy depicted in the stories for the reasons that they were
described as incredibly barbarous, one-dimensional and representative of the war.
For example, some students responded:
I don’t like Duc because this character is villainous but fuzzy, one-dimensional, converging
all the most hateful things of a person. [Em ít thích nhân vậtDục, vì nhân vật này phảndiện
nhưng mờ nhạt, mộtchiều, hộitụđủ những điều đáng hận, đáng ghét nhấtcủamộtcon
người]. (Participant #30)
In the Xanu wood, I don’t like the character “Duc” the most because he represents the war,
he captured Dit and then shot her, captured both Mai and her child to beat them. This is the
cruelty and harshness of war, losing humanity, not caring about others but just for their own
purposes. [Tru yệnRừng xà nu: em không thích nhất là nhân vật"thằng Dục" vì đólà đại
diệncho chiến tranh, nó bắtcon Dítrồibắn, bắtcả chị Mai và đứacon để đánh đập. Đólà
sự tàn khốc, khắc nghiệtcủachiến tranh đánh mất đitìnhngười, không quan tâm đếnngười
khác chỉ vì mục đích củamình]. (Participant # 31)
What I liked the least is the enemy, every time they appeared they brought loss and pain. It is
only because of the war that the stories and the main characters’ personalities are revealed,
I believe that if the work is divided into many parts, each part is a different character, each
character will be different and equally l oved, only the American aggressors still carried the
most sins. [Nếu ít thích nhất thì em xin dành cho bọngiặc, mỗi khi chúng xuấthiện đều mang
lạimấtmát và nỗi đau. Chỉ vì lí do chiến tranh mà những câu chuyện, những tính cách của
nhân vật chính mới đượcbộclộ,emtin rằng nếu được chia tác phẩm ra làm nhiềuphần,
mỗiphầnlàmỗi nhân vật khác nhau, nhân vật nào cũng sẽđược yêu thích bằng nhau, chỉ
riêng bọngiặcMỹ vẫn mang tộilỗi nhiềunhất]. (Participant # 38)
I don’t like Duc in the work "The Xanu Wood", because the character is so cruel, either
the big, fat soldier character appearing in the story as well. They are all henchmen, do not
196 T. A. Hà and A. R. Bellot
know how educated they are, and how resilient their hearts are, they are cowardly henchmen,
only good at hurting others, being brutal towards innocent people. [Em không thích nhân vật
thằng Dụctrong tácphẩm"Rừng Xà Nu", vì nhân vậtthật độcác, cả nhân vậtthằng lính
to béo nữa. Toàn là tay sai, không biếthọcthức đến đâu, lòng có kiên cường đếnmấy, cũng
là bọn tay sai hèn nhát, chỉ giỏilàm đau khổ người khác, tàn bạovớinhững ngườivôtội].
(Participant # 41)
From what the students said, it can be seen that a part of them viewed crimes and
the war as being created by the enemy. Having hatred towards the crimes, the cruelty
and violence is a part of humane characteristics, but this also shows students’ love
for their nation because they do not ignore but feel negative emotions as they are a
part of it to share the anger and hatred against crimes and violence causing pain to
their people and nation.
My Own Nation and the Enemy’s Nation – High School
Students’ Challenging Views of Nationalism
Not only showing their empathy with the people and pain for the nation, some
students also demonstrated their critical thinking about the war and nationalism,
which actually led them to follow patriotism with the main concept of love for and
sense of belonging to the nation instead of the idea of national superiority or the right
belongs to my nation. Their critical thinking was shown in the following ideas: (i)
people are not the enemy, even if they were on the other side in the battle, (ii) cannot let
revenge and the war destroy humanity, and (iii) requirements of a multi-dimensional
perspective to view the war.
People are not the enemy
Some students (n = 6) had very clear differentiation between the people and the
regime. For those students, they believed that the ones in charge of the war were not
the people, and the people were not the criminals, instead they were also victims
of the war. They did not deserve to receive feud and hatred. Therefore, six students
answered that they did not like the fact that the characters in the story ‘Children in a
family’ nurtured their feud with the enemy, instead they should have hated the war.
Some students even chose the main characters as the ones that they liked the least
because of their revenge for the enemy. For instance, one student said:
I like Chien the least in the story “Children in a family” because Chien was very fierce
in going to the war, but it seems that Chien was too engrossed in destroying, killing the
enemy and then became a bit brutal because after all, the enemy is also human, soldiers are
controlled by their regime. Western soldiers are not the cause of unhappiness for her family
but the greedy and selfish rulers. [Em ít thích chị Chiếnnhất trong truyện“những đứacon
trong gia đình” bởivìchị Chiếnrất quyếtliệt trong việcmìnhratrận, nhưng có vẻ như chị
Chiến đã quá sa vào việctiêudiệu, giếtgiặc, để mình trở nên hơi chút tàn bạobởisuy cho
cùng, giặccũng là con người, những người lính bịđiềukhiểnbởichếđộ củahọ.Những
người lính Tây không phải nguyên nhân gây ra sự bấth
ạnh cho gia đình chị mà chính những
kẻ cầm quyền tham lam, ích kỷ]. (Participant # 8)
9 The Legacy of the American War Today: The Nation, Heroes … 197
Cannot Let Revenge and the War Destroy Humanity
Some students (n=8) also argued that humanity needs to be preserved even in
extremely harsh conditions like the war with loss and pain. Therefore, these students
did not agree with the action of participating i n the war, especially at a young age
because the war could lead to the deterioration of humanity, as one student said:
In the story “Children in a family” the character that I like the least is Uncle Nam. Uncle
instilled in the children’s hearts with family feuds, making Chien and Viet extremely hate the
enemy even though they were young, despite everything to fight against the enemy. [Trong
truyện“Những đứa con trong gia đình”, em ít thích nhấtlàchú Năm. Chú đãgieorắclên
tâm hồnnhững đứatrẻ về những mốithù củagia đình, làm cho dù còn nhỏ nhưng chị em
ChiếnvàViệt vô cùng căm thù giặc, bấtchấp để đánh đuổigiặc]. (Participant # 57)
Requirements of a multi-dimensional perspective to view the war and nations
In the post-survey, a majority of students wanted to read literary works written about
the American War from the point of view of American soldiers (70 students, 94.6%).
The reasons they gave include:
(i) to see the war in other and multidimensional perspectives (n = 63);
(ii) to understand how American soldiers felt and thought when participating in
the war (n = 5);
(iii) to know why the Americans created a meaningless and cruel war (n = 2);
(iv) and one student believes that the literature written by the American can reflect
reality in a simple and honest way.
Several students also questioned how the history and the war were written and
taught in the official curriculum as they believed that they were reflected in a biased
way, only supporting their own nation. For example, two students shared their
thoughts:
I do not like topics of wars; authors and literary works tend to support one side. History is
always written by the winner, not only in Vietnam but also in other countries. [Bản thân em
không thích những chủđề chiến tranh, các tác giả, tác phẩm nghiêng về một phe quá nhiều.
Lịch sửđượcviếtbởikẻ chiếnthắng, không phảichỉ riêng Việt Nam, mà các lịch sử nước
khác cũng vậy]. (Participant # 66)
I always want to know what foreigners think of the resistance war created by them or by
us, to have an overview about both sides, so I can understand clearly about the war, how it
happened. [Em luôn muốnbiếtnhững người ở nước ngoài nghĩ gì về cuộc kháng chiếndo
họ gây ra, hay do chúng ta gây ra, muốn nhìn mộtcáchtổng quan hơnvề hai phía, thì em
mớihiểurõ đượcvề cuộcchiến đóthậtsự diễnranhư thế nào ạ]. (Participant # 41)
Discussion
According to Barrett (2007), national identity is nurtured through mass public educa-
tion to build a ‘sense of cultural unity based on the nation’ (Barrett, 2007, p. 10).
From the survey, it can be seen that a majority of students valued the literary works in
the official curriculum; a large number of students showed their sense of belonging
198 T. A. Hà and A. R. Bellot
to the nation by demonstrating their love and empathy for the country and the people
suffering the war depicted in the literary works. The students also expressed their
hatred for the enemy and the war, which caused extreme pain for the people. There-
fore, the literature about the American War in the official curriculum could help build
national identity and the sense of belonging for students.
In addition, there are two contrasting ideas of students to view the enemy. The
first notion, which was followed by a large number of students (35 students, 47%), is
that the enemy was the criminal, and the Americans were the enemies. The second
idea is that soldiers and people though came from the other side of the battle and did
not support our Party, were not the enemy, instead they were also the victims (n=6).
The real enemies were the war and the rulers. Although just a few students shared
the second idea, this signals their critical thinking about how the enemy and the
war were reflected in the literary works selected to teach the American War in the
official curriculum. Barrett (2007) argues that there are different ways in which a
person can respond to historical narratives about his/her own nations. They can learn
the narratives, or they can fail to learn them, or they can oppose them and believe
in other alternative narratives. The fact that students criticized the portraits of main
characters appearing as heroes in the story because of their revenge on the enemy
reflects another distinct, critical way of responding to historical narratives written
about their country.
Furthermore, most students wanted to read the literary works written about the
American War from American authors as they desired to have a multi-dimensional
view to see the war. This is evidence showing students’ critical thinking about their
own nation, which helps to differentiate between patriotism and nationalism. While
the former is love for the nation with a sense of belonging to the country, the latter
is exacerbated by the feeling of national superiority. From the survey, it can be seen
that, despite knowing the result of the American War in which the Americans could
not achieve what they initially aimed for, students did not show the feeling of being
over-proud; instead, they wanted to view the war from different perspectives.
The study has some limitations. Students from Le Hong Phong High School (Hồ
Chí Minh City) are gifted students; therefore, the sample cannot be represented for
all students in Hồ Chí Minh City. However, as they are carefully chosen, they can
become the representative for the intellectual youth from Hồ Chí Minh City, giving
their perspectives on the literary works taught and written about the American War
in the national curriculum.
The study has implications for both research and practice. In terms of research,
it is one of the first studies to investigate how the literary works written about the
American War in t he national high school curriculum contribute to the construction
of students’ national identity and patriotism. In terms of practice, understanding
how students perceive the literary works written about the war contributes to re-
evaluating the ways of teaching this historic event as well as the related literature
in the national curriculum. Despite the fact that the literary works written about the
American War were valued by the students, the questions and critical thinking that
students showed, also their desire to view the war from different points of view
suggest t hat the curriculum should include more diverse texts and authors to help
9 The Legacy of the American War Today: The Nation, Heroes … 199
students clear their doubts and questions about the war and their nation, which can
build students’ trust based on deep insight of the war, its sorrow for people and the
value of peace.
Conclusions
This research study found that a majority of students reckoned that the literary works
in the national curriculum are valuable and useful to learn about the history of the
nation, reflecting, in turn, the horrors of war and the sacrifice of Vietnamese people
for a united country and peace. Such texts still contribute to building national identity
and patriotism for Vietnamese learners by eliciting their empathy and compassion
for the grieving nation and those citizens who were direct victims of war. Although
the moments of encoding (students as agents) and decoding (writers as agents) are
significantly different in social conditions and distant in terms of historical times,
the receiver (students) still succeeds in interpreting and valuing the message that
the sender (writers) created. This could be a result of the consistent viewpoint that
education under the Communist Party aims to transfer and form in each citizen,
including the notion that the American war was to unify the country and happened
as the consequence of the Vietnamese’s patriotism, i.e. resilience for the Vietnamese
identity and freedom from foreign occupation.
This last point is in line with Barrett’s (2007) appreciation that mainstream educa-
tion aims to bring students to specific types of information with particular perspec-
tives about their own nation. However, this does not impede the adoption of alter-
native perspectives. Some students provided critical responses to the texts, and a
majority of students (90%) demanded a multi-dimensional viewpoint about the war.
Many students (11%) acknowledged that those coming from the other nations, with
different languages and appearances, were not the real enemy, instead they were
also victims of the war atrocities. The real enemies were violence and hatred, and
the incompetence and despotism of some rulers. This perspective s hows the relative
autonomy of readers (receivers) in the communication with the writer (senders) of
the s tory. Students live in a different context from the writers, in peaceful times and
with mobility and international interaction as a part of the globalized world. Mobility
and international exchange foster intercultural competence by exposing students to
a wider range of perspectives from other cultures, leading to their requirement for a
broader perception of national history.
By showing their critical thinking when reading the texts as well as their desire to
analyze the war from different points of view, students propel a modification in the
teaching of the Vietnam War in Vietnamese educational systems, which should be
more inclusive in terms of a variety of texts and authors. Embracing a wider perspec-
tive will bring, in turn, a more insightful understanding of the conflict, resulting in
respect for peace and human lives. After all, the teaching of war and dealing with
collective traumas in the classroom should not only aim at building patriotism and
200 T. A. Hà and A. R. Bellot
national identity but should, above all, emphasize the need to work for peace and
thus prevent humanitarian catastrophes.
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Tú A n h H à finished an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree in Play and Education, Toys and
Languages funded by the European Commission. She is currently a research fellow at Rovira i
Virgili University. She is also a lecturer at FPT University, Vietnam. Her research interests include
education for sustainability, critical literacy, multilingualism, methods of integrating equality and
equity in class, education for peace, intercultural education and early childhood education.
Andrea R. Bellot teaches English literature and culture at the University Rovira i Virgili,
Tarragona, Spain. Her main research interests fall into the areas of language and literature
teaching, and the literary and cultural representations of war.
9 The Legacy of the American War Today: The Nation, Heroes … 201
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Chapter 10
Writing Non-fiction Books on National
Culture for Vietnamese Children
in the Age of Globalisation: The Process
of Building Intercultural Competence
Thi Phuong Anh Dang ,TúAnh Hà , and Quang Anh Phan
Abstract This paper tracks down the process of writing non-fiction books on
national culture for Vietnamese children to help t hem understand their identity and
respect cultural differences in the age of globalisation. By self-reflecting on the
writing experience, this essay elucidates the process of building intercultural compe-
tence in its relationship with national identity through the case study of “Kể chuyện
văn hóa Việt”. The paper provides a discussion among the three authors in the format
of an interview with the co-author who also wrote the non-fiction book series that
we focus upon. The first part reflects on intercultural competence as a concept, and
the second half considers how the book series emerged and put this concept into
practice. The research results show that constructing national identity, individual
agency, and intercultural competence for children must be transferred naturally from
each book’s topic to the flow of the story. In this case, the most striking feature
is the main character’s interaction with his family. In addition, the context needs
to integrate both global and local elements. The series creates situations in which
there is a comparison between the past and the present, between Vietnam and other
countries. It helps readers engage in different worldviews and address diversity by
examining their community and nation, thus becoming more tolerant of others. This
paper suggests guidance for creating similar books and helps the audience understand
the author’s journey to create a trade book series featuring culture-related content.
T. P. A. Dang (B
)
University of Social Science and Humanities, National University, (VNU-USSH), Hanoi, Vietnam
e-mail: dangphuonganh2000@gmail.com; dangphuonganh@vnu.edu.vn
T. A. Hà
FPT University, Hanoi, Vietnam
e-mail: tuanh.ling@gmail.com; anhht47@fe.edu.vn; tuanh.ha@urv.cat
Q. A. Phan
School of Interdisciplinary Studies, National University, (VNU-SIS, Hanoi), Hanoi, Vietnam
e-mail: phanquanganh@vnu.edu.vn
© The Author(s) 2024
Phan Le Ha et al. (eds.), Vietnamese Language, Education and Change In and Outside
Vietnam, Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9093-1_10
203
204 T. P. A. Dang et al.
Introduction
Intercultural competence is imperative in our changing world of globalisation as
“the costs of intercultural incompetence are so high, including all the dangers of
conflict and war” (UNESCO, 2013, p. 38). Living in a globalising world means
engaging with a world of migration and increasing interaction among people with
distinct socio-cultural backgrounds. This requires each citizen to respect cultural
diversity, interculturally interact, and wisely communicate to avoid hurt and conflicts.
Intercultural competence is not innate but nurtured through education and demands
a long time to build and grow. Therefore, starting at a young age is necessary to
become a citizen with intercultural competence.
Besides, the possibility of being culturally homogenised is an outcome of glob-
alisation. Thus, forming a national culture for children becomes imperative as it
creates a foundation for each citizen to understand themselves, develop their sense
of belonging to a community as well as maintain cultural diversity as diversity is an
inevitable feature of our living world. It is also the motivation for development. On
the other hand, in the era of globalisation, it is becoming increasingly important for
each person to be aware of different traditions and beliefs and respect cultural differ-
ences (Alburo et al., 2005). Therefore, the idea of having more books written by local
authors to help children understand their culture, build their sense of belonging to the
community and understand their cultural identity to develop intercultural competence
is not only well ahead of the curve and the herd, but it is truly a need.
Among different ways and materials of building intercultural competence for
children, non-fiction books are considered an effectively educative way (Gill, 2009),
and they also convey accurate and straight information to learn about the world of
children (Neate, 1999; Seuling, 2005), which is appropriate to the aim of transferring
knowledge of national culture for children in the context of globalisation. In Vietnam,
after the Doi Moi (Renovation) policy was imposed in 1986 (Freeman, 1996) and
especially after the 2000s when the Vietnamese publication market was influenced
by globalisation, the concept of a Vietnamese citizen has changed in the publishing
field. Instead of building the image of a citizen actively labouring to produce more
products and construct Communism, the Vietnamese citizen has been required to have
a firm root in their society, a grasp of their culture and intercultural competencies to
meet the requirement of a “socialist-oriented market economy”. The publishing field
in Vietnam is now paying attention to publish non-fiction books series on national
culture so as to build intercultural competence for Vietnamese children in the age of
globalisation.
This paper aims to analyse a specific non-fiction book series called “Kể chuyện
văn hóa Việt”(Narrating Vietnamese culture), a collection written about Vietnamese
national culture for readers aged 8–13 in the contemporary context. The target group
is Vietnamese children living in Vietnam, however, Vietnamese children living over-
seas or other children having Vietnamese origin can also read the series, depending
on their particular purposes. This study attempts to explore how this series develops
intercultural competence for Vietnamese children in the era of globalisation. It
10 Writing Non-fiction Books on National Culture for Vietnamese … 205
provides a perspective on intercultural education and publishing for children in the
context of globalisation in a developing country.
The paper is implemented by a discussion amongst the three authors in the format
of an interview with the co-author who also wrote the non-fiction book series that
we focus upon. The first part presents intercultural competence, its relationship with
national identity, and the content attributes of non-fiction books on national culture
as the theoretical framework, and the second half considers how the book series
emerged and put this concept into practice.
Literature Review
Intercultural Education and National Identity in the World
of Globalisation
The Concept of a Global Citizen
The trend of globalisation leads to changes in different life aspects, including educa-
tion (Lourenço, 2018). Some organisations, such as Oxfam (2015) and the UNESCO
(2014), proposed the concept of "global citizenship education with the image of a
‘global citizen’". For instance, according to the UNESCO (2014, p. 15), global citi-
zenship education “aims to empower learners to engage and assume active roles, both
locally and globally, to face and resolve global challenges and ultimately to become
proactive contributors to a more just, peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, secure and sustain-
able world”. Similarly, Oxfam (2015) views a global citizen as a person who is aware
of the wider world and has a sense of their role as a world citizen; respects and values
diversity; has an understanding of how the world works; is passionately committed
to social justice; participates in the community at a range of levels, from the local
to the global; works with others to make the world a more equitable and sustainable
place; and takes responsibility for their actions (Oxfam, 2015,p.5).
The characteristics of “respecting and valuing diversity”, “working with others
to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place”, “being committed to
social justice”, “participating in the community both locally and globally”, and “con-
tributing to a peaceful, tolerant and sustainable world” that the UNESCO (2014) and
Oxfam (2015) promoted require individuals to have the ability to accept and respect
differences, be able to inter-culturally communicate and work with other people from
different socio-cultural groups. In other words, to become a “global citizen”, a person
needs to have intercultural competence (IC), and intercultural education needs to be
a part of the “global citizenship education” that Oxfam (2015) and the UNESCO
(2014) proposed.
206 T. P. A. Dang et al.
Intercultural Education and Intercultural Competence
Portera (2010) argues that intercultural education takes advantage of trans-cultural
and multicultural education. While the former is associated with education for
human rights, common human sharing, human ethics, and human needs, the latter
is connected with education to recognise and respect other humans and cultures.
Moreover, intercultural education provides an opportunity for interplay: “a direct
exchange of ideas, principles and behaviours, compared to preconceptions” (Portera,
2010, p. 20).
Intercultural education aims to help individuals build and grow their intercul-
tural competence (Deardorff, 2019). In addition, Byram et al. (2002) contend that
individuals’ IC can be understood as “their ability to ensure a shared understanding
by people of different social identities, and their ability to interact with people as
complex human beings with multiple identities and their own individuality” (Byram
et al., 2002, p. 10). The authors also argue: “Intercultural communication is commu-
nication on the basis of respect for individuals and equality of human rights as the
democratic basis for social interaction”. (Byram et al., 2002, p. 9). Byram and his
colleagues (2002) and Portera (2010) agreed that intercultural education is for human
rights and based on the equality of human rights. Intercultural education is vital in
the world of globalisation as the UNESCO (2013) contends:
The costs of intercultural incompetence are so high, including all the dangers of conflict
and war [. . .] just as our future depends upon actions taken today, so the future of cultural
diversity respectful for human rights in our social world depends upon our ability to gain
and demonstrate intercultural competencies today (UNESCO, 2013, p. 38).
Migration with different socio-cultural groups living together is an unavoidable
outcome of globalisation. Intercultural education needs to be implemented to ensure
peace and minimise the possibility of conflicts and wars. It is the education for human
rights based on respect for cultural diversity and people with distinct social identities.
Although there are several definitions and models of IC, their central concept is
to help improve human interaction across other social groups. Deardorff (2019,p.5)
briefly explained that intercultural competencies, in essence, are about enhancing
human interactions across differences, whether within a society (differences due to
age, gender, religion, socio-economic status, political affiliation, ethnicity, etc.) or
across borders.
Intercultural Competence and its Relationship with National Identity
According to Liu and Turner (2018), a thorough apprehension of identity is how to
answer the question “Who am I?”. Identity is not only personal but also collective
and social. Byram and his colleagues (2002) argue that humans are complex with
multiple social identities and individuality. Moreover, national identity is a kind of
social identity, which according to Byram and colleagues (2002), is related to culture.
10 Writing Non-fiction Books on National Culture for Vietnamese … 207
Similarly, Liu and Turner (2018) also find the link between national and cultural
identity. They explain that national identity is the product of the development of
modern nationalism (Liu & Turner, 2018, p. 1080) because modern nationalism
is a political and social movement based on the ideology of modern nationalism
after the French Revolution. The political outcome of modern nationalism is the
nation-state constructed by two pivotal constituents: the nation-state system and its
residents’ national identity, which is affected by cultural identity (Liu & Turner,
2018). Therefore, the authors define “national identity” as the identity of the citizens
of a country with their own country’s historical and cultural traditions, moral values,
ideals, beliefs, and national sovereignty, among others (Liu & Turner, 2018, p. 1080).
In order to build IC, it is a prerequisite to forming a national identity that is
associated with cultural identity. Byram and his colleagues (2002) argue that there
are three components of IC, including knowledge, attitudes, and skills, and all of them
require each individual the ability to understand their own culture. It can be seen that
without the ability to understand who I am, my values and beliefs, my social groups
and culture, an individual lacks the foundation to compare and relate other cultures
to their own, to acknowledge standard human features and cultural differences, to
decentre themselves to see how they may be viewed from an outsider’s perspectives.
Therefore, without the ability to understand their identity, a person cannot build the
ability to relate, understand other opinions and viewpoints, and empathise. They are
soft skills that help deal with diversity and acknowledge differences. Thus, national
identity and a sense related to cultural identity need to be developed to form IC.
Two Approaches to Intercultural Education
Deardorff (2019) discussed two approaches for intercultural education: formal and
non-formal learning. Formal intercultural learning can occur through the educational
curriculum at all school levels or short courses. In contrast, non-formal intercultural
learning can happen through public spaces like museums, galleries, libraries, or
cultural exchanges. Furthermore, IC still develops through everyday interaction with
other people of different social groups such as ethnicities, professions, religions, etc.
From the two approaches for intercultural education that Deardorff (2019)
mentioned, it can be seen that non-fiction books about culture can be integrated
into both formal and non-formal intercultural learning for children. When combined
with formal learning, they can be used as learning and teaching materials for students
and teachers. If they are used as materials for non-formal education, they can support
students’ extensive reading or their reading for pleasure, simultaneously improve
their intercultural knowledge, and stimulate their curiosity to discover other cultures.
From the literature review, non-fiction books on national culture for children
can be seen as a way building intercultural competence through forming a national
identity, which is shown in Fig. 10.1.
208 T. P. A. Dang et al.
naonal
identy
intercultural
competence
Non-fiction books on
national culture for children
Fig. 10.1 Non-fiction books on national culture for children in the relationship with the building
of intercultural competence and national identity
Books on National Culture—A Way of Forming Intercultural
Competence for Children
The concept of culture, as usual, attracts much attention from academia. According
to Olie (1995), over 164 definitions of culture before 1951 have been closely exam-
ined. With the vogue words reflecting the modern age of technology and artificial
intelligence, Hofstede (2011) states that “Culture is a collective programming of
the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from
others” (Hofstede, 2011, p. 3). In addition, according to Dervin (2011), it is neces-
sary to move from a solidified, polarised and objectivist vision of cultures to a liquid
approach viewing culture as the fluid, meaning that it is not fixed but changing and
always in interaction with others, especially in the world of globalisation. Moreover,
Baumann (1996) asserts that “culture is not real but an abstract and purely analytical
notion. It does not cause behaviour, but summarises an abstraction from it, and is
thus neither normative nor predictive” (p. 11). From our perspectives, we agree with
Baumann’s idea that culture summarises an abstraction from behaviour. Through
observing the mass behaviour of people from one group, we can recognise the values
and ways of life that they share to summarise an abstraction. However, as culture
is not solid but fluid, applying simple cultural stereotypes to view an individual can
simplify a complex entity whose identity is formed by different factors, such as
their profession and other social groups that they participate in. Therefore, we can
summarise an abstraction of culture from the behaviour of people of a national group
but also be aware that each individual’s identity is much more complex than the
abstraction that we have summarised. Culture does not come and go quickly. It takes
a long time to form in each society and integrate into or become a part of each indi-
vidual. The process occurs through learning values that the community appreciates
joining collective activities, role modelling, and understanding cultural symbols. The
cultural characteristics are ingrained in each person from the influence of the family,
school, religion, workplace, friends, and media (Ringov & Zollo, 2007). Therefore,
culture provides a sense of belonging to each citizen and a unique feature integral to
social management.
10 Writing Non-fiction Books on National Culture for Vietnamese … 209
The national culture is established from the ways of life shared by the people of one
nation (Flynn & Saladin, 2006). National culture is a concept attracting great concern
as it impacts all aspects of life, including the economy, social organisation, and envi-
ronment. National culture helps form the culture of organisations or enterprises,
trading, and popular taste of a specific nation. Different nations have attempted to
identify and re-identify their own national culture to avoid global cultural homogeni-
sation, a s ide effect brought up by globalisation. How to culturally exchange and
integrate into the world with the inevitable trend of globalisation while still identi-
fying and maintaining national culture is the question emerging in different aspects
of life, including both publishing and literature.
In addition, in this increasingly globalised society, citizens must become aware
of their traditions and beliefs to be more tolerant of others (Alburo et al., 2005).
Diversity, a concept related to globalisation, is an essential issue for education,
including ethnicities, culture, and language, since it can diffuse prejudices and stereo-
types (Smith-D’Arezzo, 2003). Meanwhile, books help people, especially children,
to engage in different worldviews. They become a powerful tool that can change
people’s thinking (Kan, 2009). Furthermore, addressing diversity starts by exam-
ining one’s community and nation. When children become aware of their culture
and customs, it can be easier to r espect other people and their traditions (Glazier &
Seo, 2005). Glacier and Seo (2005) discuss multicultural literature as a “mirror
and window”. This metaphor emphasises the effect of multicultural literature in
supporting children to see their own lives as a reflection or a portal for observing
diversity in someone else’s life (Glazier & Seo, 2005). Some publishers started
concerning indigenous authors and content related to national culture (Salvi, 2019).
For every country impacted significantly by globalisation, especially in multi-ethnic
or multinational countries, educating people to understand the differences, r espect
cultural diversity and get on well with each other through reading books is worth
concerning.
“Agency” and “identity” are two concepts emerging from the relationship with
“national culture”, helping each individual to identify and understand who they are,
especially when they are in connection and conversation with other people from
other ethnicities or nations (Kan, 2009). “Agency” contributes to creating a sense
of belonging in the country and becomes a method of negotiating and claiming
a range of cultural/multicultural identities (Duckworth, 2019). Duckworth (2019)
notes that “agency” and “identity” are developed in young people through many
means, including literacy events. In a multi-ethnic country like Australia, children’s
literature has been believed to bring up “a sense of agency in young learners (future
citizens of a global community)”. This sense leads to the growth in the publication
of indigenous literature as one of the most significant developments in Australia.
Such works are considered a natural pull that helps balance the invasion of foreign
published works in the previous period. However, it is also noteworthy that how the
publisher treats indigenous cultural themes and deals with indigenous writers and
illustrators is a long story (Sheahan-Bright, 2011).
Literary works on national culture in the context of globalisation are required
to establish the dialogues between global and local themes. Guitierrez (2017), in a
210 T. P. A. Dang et al.
study of fairy tales for young readers, develops the theoretical framework of “glocal
fusion” in which a globally known narrative pattern is adapted and transformed in
a particular (“local”) culture, community, nation, or geographical space. Children
today are increasingly exposed to glocal materials, so it has become more critical to
interpret cultural artefacts f rom a global–local reference scale (Guitierrez, 2017). On
the other hand, local narratives need to include global elements (Wiebe, 2020). With
globalisation, there is an inevitable interaction between local and global features.
The global context has influenced the life of any local element. This impact leads
to the fact that it is necessary to integrate global and local perspectives and aspects
in building characters, language, and illustrations in creating a book for children.
However, in another view, the content on national culture poses an issue in authen-
ticity, which refers to the accurate representation of a group of people and their
culture and validates local knowledge as a powerful source of information (Kan,
2009). Thus, the process of building contents, characters, illustrations, and selecting
language requires a focus on local or national issues and the concern of trans-nation,
multi-culture, and cross-culture.
Ha and Dang (2022, p. 212) reviewed and summarised three requirements of the
content that non-fiction books on national culture written for children should satisfy,
including:
i. Able to create and construct “agency” and “identity”. “Agency” contributes
to the creation of a sense of belonging in the nation and becomes a method of
negotiating and claiming a range of cultural/multicultural identities (Duckworth,
2019).
ii. Integrate both global and local elements. The content needs to differentiate
between domestic cultural elements and globalised elements or imported cultural
elements, and to compare the culture between the past and the present.
iii. Diversity: requires the content to transfer cultural diversity as an outcome of
globalisation to help children respect other people and diffuse prejudice and
stereotypes (Smith-D’Arezzo, 2003).
The three requirements above are the foundation for further discussion about
how the series“Kể chuyệnvăn hóa Việt” develops intercultural competence in the
relationship with national identity for Vietnamese children.
Methodology
The Case of Kể ChuyệnVănHóa Việt—A Non-fiction Book
for Children About Vietnamese Culture
“Kể chuyệnvăn hóa Việt” is a series of three books published by one of the long-
standing private publishers in Vietnam. This series conveys knowledge about the
cultural features of the Vietnamese (the Kinh), the ethnic majority in Vietnam today,
10 Writing Non-fiction Books on National Culture for Vietnamese … 211
compared with other ethnic minorities of the country, to provide children with an
understanding of different socio-cultural groups living together in Vietnam. In addi-
tion, even within the same ethnic majority—the Kinh, the series also presents the
differences in the ways of living in different geographical regions. By giving infor-
mation about the diversity of ethnic groups in Vietnam, and the differences in ways of
living among the Kinh that is commonly called the Vietnamese—the ethnic majority,
the series offers children intercultural knowledge about the people of their own
country as the first step to stimulate their curiosity about Vietnamese culture, to
build their respect for differences and to empathise with others, based on the ability
to relate to themselves. Therefore, intercultural competence is not the term born and
used only for the world of globalisation. Even in the same country, among people
speaking the same language, each person always needs to build intercultural compe-
tence to speak to others from a different socio-cultural background and might share
different values. Therefore, everyday communication is always intercultural commu-
nication. Each book focusses on one topic and engages a familiar and fundamental
issue in the Vietnamese daily lives such as eating (Volume 1), clothing (Volume 2),
and housing (Volume 3). Through three volumes, young readers perceive the system-
atic features of the national culture. This series was born in the context that national
cultural values are not much appreciated in the Vietnamese general education system
(Toàn, 2021). In addition, experts are concerned that many young people will lose
their cultural identity in the context of globalisation (Pham, 2019).
Reflective Writing as a Method
Reflection and reflective writing are no longer novel terms since these two concepts
have been thoroughly dissected in either theoretical or practical literary studies.
McCarthy ( 2011) notes that it is crucial to bear in mind that reflection is socially
constructed and could be interpreted in various ways. Generally, reflection may be
seen as a problem-solving process as we learn from reflecting on experience (Dewey,
1933). This process brings us the chance to contemplate, assess, and look back on the
journey we have experienced. According to McCarthy (2011), reflection is increas-
ingly employed in professional disciplines to neutralise the disparity in professional
practice between theories and methods practitioners claim to use, and those prac-
titioners really use. Besides, reflective practice can give a technique for evaluating
tacit knowledge—things that researchers or authors instinctively know but cannot
easily convey (McCarthy, 2011).
In this paper, we employed reflective writing as a method to extract and analyse
our thoughts on the book writing/reading process. McGill and Beaty ( 2001) declare
that reflective writing could be considered a form of metacognition, helping writers
gain value through translating the experience into language and enabling distance
and objectivity to reveal insights not recognised during the event. While the process
might partially or entirely be descriptive, it is still helpful since it lays the foundation
for further contemplation on the feelings associated with the event, thus entailing the
212 T. P. A. Dang et al.
re-evaluation of the experience (McGill & Beaty, 2001). Writing a trade book series
for children is an exciting but challenging process, even with a well-prepared author.
Finding the right words, creating appealing characters, and plotting proper scenes are
not only tasks that manifest inventiveness but also steps of a self-discovery process,
with which first-time writers easily encounter setbacks. Thus, reflecting on what the
author has gone through would help the audience understand how the goal of this
book project is achieved step by step.
One author of the research is also the author of the book series, while two
other authors of this current study played the role of interviewers to help the book
author brainstorm and reflect on her writing process. Their interview questions
were designed to build the conceptual framework and navigate the flow of thoughts
conceived by the series author, which includes the whole process of constructing
the book series, starting from the pre-writing stage (such as brainstorming ideas,
identifying the context and the image of the main character) to the writing stage
(how to convey national identity and intercultural competence through the narrative
of the main character). The questions to interview the author of the book series are
the following:
.How do you come up with the idea for your book series “Kể chuyệnvăn hóa Việt”
(Narrating Vietnamese culture)?
.How do you convey national culture in the book series?
.How do you embed the idea of intercultural competence in the book series?
The book author’s reflection answers the interview questions, which reveals the
way the series builds intercultural competence in the relationship with national iden-
tity for Vietnamese children. The following part presents the book author’s reflection,
based on her conversational interview with two other researchers of this study and
her reflective journals (Ortlipp, 2008).
Reflection
How do I Come Up with the Idea for the Book?
A representative of THB Publishing House approached me in mid-2018 with an offer
to make a series of books on national culture for young children. That representative
was informed that I was a teacher who composed some syllabuses and learning
materials on Vietnamese culture for private schools in Hanoi. The goal of the book
series was to convey cultural values to the children, which is the gap in today’s
publishing industry. For me, it was not an easy job to switch from a teacher to a
storyteller through language and images.
To make the decision, I spoke with some experts in the publishing industry to
learn about the historical mission of children’s characters over different periods.
They told me that publications must be for national propaganda in Vietnam. After
10 Writing Non-fiction Books on National Culture for Vietnamese … 213
Doi Moi (Renovation) in 1986 (Freeman, 1996), the aim was to establish a “socialist-
oriented market economy”, thus featuring new citizens in the context of international-
isation through Vietnamese literature. While domestic books for Vietnamese children
lack an indigenous image, the main characters of translated books often have global
personality traits to help children develop the sense of being global citizens. The
mission of spreading a global citizen’s image through a series to children seems to
be overwhelmed for me who is only used to interacting with children as a mother and
a teacher. However, there is a motivation encouraging me to write a book on national
culture for children, which seems to be inadequate in the contemporary publishing
market in Vietnam. Going to a bookstore in Hanoi, translated books and English-
written books for children occupy most of the bookshelves, while books written by
indigenous authors seem to be scarce. It is even scarcer to find books on Vietnamese
culture, which focusses on building intercultural competence in the relationship with
national identity.
The question “Why do we write children’s book?” has come to my mind many
times. I enjoyed an article of the same name by Lindgren (2017) who suggested
that the above question should be replaced with “Who do we write children’s book
for?” Is it for publishers or teachers? Or is it for critics or politicians? We need to be
grateful to the people named above because they help affirm the role of children’s
books in our society. But who drives us to write is incomprehensibly enthusiastic
readers who “willingly take a book’s poor words and from them shape a fantasy
paradise”. “This paradise lies out of reach of all adults, because none of them, not
even writers, have a key. They had it once when they were children themselves. But
they’ve lost it since”. (Lindgren, 2017, pp. 195).
It prompted me to make a series of “Kểchuyệnvăn hóa Việt”, which always makes
me curious about what paradise I will open up to the children. Building intercultural
competence in the relationship with national identity, if so, that is probably found in
the world of young readers, not a principle that I forced myself to follow from the
moment I started writing.
How do I Convey National Identity in the Book Series?
I could not completely answer this question in the first days of writing this series.
I imagined that a sense of belonging to the community or the nation should be
constructed before becoming aware of identity, which specifies features of the
community or the nation. Unlike other popular science books, the book series builds
the main character that readers can immerse in to see themselves in the context of
interactions. This protagonist is a Vietnamese child born and raised in the context of
rapid globalisation and urbanisation in Vietnam. Girls and boys of his age can find
themselves in his thoughts and dialogues with his parents. They belong to a generation
of young Vietnamese who grow up in an era when foreign cultures easily and rapidly
penetrate and dominate all media such as the internet, television, and books. The
214 T. P. A. Dang et al.
knowledge of traditional culture is gradually becoming unfamiliar, although activi-
ties reflecting s uch culture are still being practised in daily life that the children can
observe and recognise that these activities belong to the Vietnamese and are different
from other ethnicities and countries. For example, any child can ask, “Why do the
Vietnamese eat rice?” “Why do the Vietnamese tend to boil every food instead of
cooking it with oil or spices?” “Why is Áo dài the traditional Vietnamese costume?”
“Why do Vietnamese always have an altar to their ancestors?” “Why do villages
have a communal house?” Answering these questions will help answer important
questions such as “Who am I?” “Where is my homeland?” “How am I different
from the world around me?”—those that help consolidate each citizen’s agency and
national identity. I do not own a vision that my series would help answer those big
questions because this requires the integration of different media in a comprehensive
educational system. I aim to answer the small questions each child can pose daily
and answer them through the main character’s story in his interaction with his mother
and father. It is expected to bring each reader a sense of belonging to the Vietnamese
community.
To achieve this goal, I divided the series into three volumes concerning cultural
elements children are exposed to from birth until fully grown. Volume 1—The eating
of Vietnamese people tells cultural features of the Vietnamese through the stories of
“What do the Vietnamese eat?” “How do the Vietnamese cook and eat?” and “What
is the Vietnamese’s table manner?” Volume 2—The Vietnamese clothing shows the
effort to answer a list of questions, including “How was Áo dài—the traditional
Vietnamese costume formed?” “What did the Vietnamese wear in the past?” and
“How do Vietnamese people weave clothes?” Volume 3—The Vietnamese housing
tells the story of “Where and how did the Vietnamese build houses?” “What materials
did Vietnamese people build their houses with?” “What is special in the Vietnamese
house?” These questions systematically explain how the Vietnamese have adapted
to the environment, and through those activities, they have formed and built their
culture. The Vietnamese live in hot, humid, and rainy climates, so they eat plant-
based foods, build tall and airy houses, and wear loose, relaxed and comfortable
clothes. The people have been adapting to the working condition of wet rice farming,
which requires much labour, so they highly appreciate the community. It expresses
how the village is organised and how the people gather around a circular tray while
eating. The tradition of ancestor worship and respecting the elder is shown by the fact
that Vietnamese people invite the elder before eating and have their own ancestral
worship space in the family. The flexible adaptation, the community, and respect
for the ancestors and the roots are typical cultural features of Vietnamese people.
The publisher and I hope to help shape children’s national identity and agency by
understanding and spontaneously following the guidance of the previous generations
in the family.
10 Writing Non-fiction Books on National Culture for Vietnamese … 215
How do I Embed the Idea of Intercultural Competence
in the Book Series?
My readers are children born in the context of globalisation. What they communicate
in their daily lives is the exchange and integration of the global and the local. For
instance, they will find in their daily meals that besides rice as an indispensable dish,
there is sushi, kebabs, or curry, which come from Japan, Korea, or India, as their
parents tell them. Fried chicken and pizza have become every child’s favourite food.
It is a s tory happening in every country in the world, and people can gradually realise
that globalisation is no longer an alien term since it could be reflected in their family
meals. However, the pizza and fried chicken pieces in a Vietnamese family meal are
different from the Chinese’, and they are not the same as the Japanese or the Korean.
The localisation is reflected in the cooking style, with local spices added to create
a suitable flavour that helps form indigenous taste. Space also matters. Vietnamese
children have to learn to eat fried chicken originating from the United States with
chopsticks when they are five or six. This dish will be placed with other dishes on
a round tray for the whole family to enjoy. They will have to practice the ritual of
inviting elders before eating. The happy atmosphere in the meal brings deliciousness
to all family members. It is an example of what Gutierrez (2020) mentioned: “a
globally known narrative pattern is adapted and transformed in a certain (‘local’)
culture, community, nation, or geographical space. Children today are increasingly
exposed to glocal material, so it has become more important to interpret cultural
artefacts f rom a global–local reference scale”. My book series starts with the situation
of the global–local culture integration to guide the young readers into the story of
national culture.
Moreover, my book series provides knowledge of Vietnamese national culture
compared to other cultures. Nowadays, Vietnamese children can see the same
clothing and housing as children from other nations. However, they are also easy
to observe the meticulous differences. For example, Vietnamese people have a tradi-
tional costume called Áo dài, often worn at important events. In apartments or villas,
there is a particular space for ancestral worship. In addition, they will see that their
grandparents and parents often come back to their hometown on traditional holidays
to visit relatives and remember their roots. Telling those differences helps build a
national identity for children and exposes them to cultural diversity. For instance,
since Áo dài is the traditional costume of the Vietnamese, then what are the other
national costumes of other countries? Within a multi-ethnic country like Vietnam,
the way different ethnic groups eat, dress, and build houses are also diverse. The
illustration-based mind map is a way my book series provides visual aids to foster
children’s thinking about diversity and respect for the natural existence of cultural
differences.
For a developing country like Vietnam, globalisation entails modernisation and
urbanisation. The cultural differences between what is considered modern, imported
from foreign cultures, and being seen as “urban” and what is deemed obsolete,
traditional, and often labelled as “rural” have created prejudice and stereotypes in
216 T. P. A. Dang et al.
Vietnam. From the current context, my book series tries to make a journey to discover
the tradition. This discovery is led by a parent when the question is posed: for example,
today, we live in solid, fully furnished houses, then looking back to the past, how
did our ancestors build them? We have imported many materials from abroad to
build modern houses, then why do we have to learn from the past principles in
constructing shelters? Áo dài, considered the Vietnamese national costume, was it
born along with the existence of Vietnamese people or was it the product of the
acculturation process that explains the association between Vietnam and the Western
countries? The explanations help the children understand that today is the result of
yesterday and appreciate past achievements and traditions. In addition, to provide an
objective view of the Vietnamese in the past, the book series uses visual materials
in the book “Technique du Peuple Annamite” by Henri Oger, a Frenchman, and
his collaborators who travelled around Hanoi and sketched the daily lives in the
early years of the last century. It is expected to give the young readers a look at the
differences of the Vietnamese themselves at different stages, which is an inevitable
difference, a difference that should be respected.
When I started writing this book series, I put myself into the children’s shoes to
observe with their eyes and think alongside their thinking. I understand what needs
to be built for the children to adapt to the rapidly globalising context. My book series
does not teach intercultural skills but provides a perspective on diversity and a way
to accept differences as the nature of that diversity.
Discussion
Children’s books are an exceptional means of reflecting objective reality and a tool
for education. By reading books, children can approach and comprehend cultural
values, turn human capabilities into their own, and at the same time form and develop
good human qualities. In other words, the knowledge acquired in the book positively
affects the development of moral qualities (virtue) and abilities (talent)—two funda-
mental aspects of human personality for children. However, children’s books will
only promote their full educational effect if they have a proper reading culture: they
know how to choose books with good ideological content and high artistic value
and understand, evaluate, and absorb knowledge correctly and creatively. Educating
children in reading culture is an urgent requirement for all those interested in the
comprehensive and harmonious development of the young generation. From the first
moment that the author of the series “Kể chuyệnvăn hóa Việt” has engaged with the
writing process, those thoughts mentioned above are deemed the guiding torch. The
discussion below is based on the criteria to develop the content for non-fiction books
on national culture to build intercultural competence for children (Ha & Dang, 2022)
which involves three requirements: (i) being able to create and construct “agency”
and “identity”, (ii) integrating both global and local elements, (iii) and highlighting
cultural diversity.
10 Writing Non-fiction Books on National Culture for Vietnamese … 217
The sharing of the book author demonstrates ways that the book series builds a
national identity and agency for children by giving familiar, essential topics (such as
eating, clothing, housing) and concrete examples that children can observe directly
and frequently practice in their daily lives (e.g. to use chopsticks to eat instead of
forks and spoons) to help them understand their culture and build their sense of
belonging to the community and national identity as well. This is different from how
the national textbooks try to develop the national identity for Vietnamese children.
According to Grigoreva (2014), the official textbooks for Vietnamese children often
attempt to shape their national identity and intergroup solidarity by emphasising their
beautiful and glorious origin. Although there are different ethnic groups in Vietnam,
all Vietnamese people share the same root: “Children of the Dragon, Grandchildren
of the Fairy”, and they share the tradition of myths and legends about the ancient
past. On the contrary, the book series Kể chuyệnvăn hóa Việt aims to form children’s
national identity from familiar, simple and essential things related to children’s lives,
like eating, housing, and clothing.
Grigoreva (2014) also argues that although the strategy of socialisation for Viet-
namese children through focusing on their glorious origin offered by the textbooks
appears to be effective, there is a problem that Vietnamese children and later adults
can immerse themselves in the world of legends and myths without being able to
understand themselves and the world around them. Therefore, it is necessary to give
children other views about their identity, based on reality and daily life, to help them
critically and practically think about themselves to understand who they are and
where they live and grow. With this view, Kể chuyệnvăn hóa Việt not only provides
another path to build Vietnamese identity but can also be an answer to overcome the
limitations of the official textbooks.
The book series is based on the context of North Vietnam with typical cultural
features of Vietnamese people living in the Red River Delta to build a national identity
for Vietnamese children. This poses a controversial issue in identifying the concept of
national identity for book writers and the Vietnamese education system. According
to Barrett (2007), national identity is the concept used to connect and homogenise
people from different regions and ethnic groups of a nation to prepare the work-
force for industry, which is the centre of modernisation. However, prioritising the
mainstream culture related to the Hanoi area (McCann et al., 2004) and lacking the
concern or marginalising other cultures can even lead to conflicts and misunder-
standing inside a nation (Nguyen, 2016). Should education on national identity be
changed to be more inclusive to cover the diverse cultures of different regions and
ethnic groups in Vietnam? Should the Vietnamese education system shift the point
of view to help children understand that they live in a multicultural country where
the diversity of different cultures builds their national identity? They are questions
that need to receive more concern from educators and policymakers in Vietnam.
In terms of integrating both global and local elements in the book, the series Kể
chuyệnvăn hóa Việt offers children knowledge of other cultures such as Japanese,
Korean in comparison with Vietnamese culture. By integrating both global and local
elements in the book, the book series exposes children to an intercultural environment
which can help each child to reflect upon themselves and the world around them in
218 T. P. A. Dang et al.
the context of interacting with other cultures, which according to Byram et al. (2002)
is a way of building intercultural competence.
When it comes to highlighting cultural diversity, the book series tries to achieve
that goal by presenting the culture of different ethnic minorities in Vietnam in compar-
ison with the ethnic majority (Kinh/ Viet). Similarly, information about other cultures
from the neighbouring nations is also given to expose children to cultural diversity.
Implications and Limitations
In terms of theoretical implications, the study points out the relationship between
intercultural competence and national identity in writing non-fiction books on
national culture in the age of globalisation. In terms of practical implications, the
study shows a specific case of writing non-fiction books on national culture for chil-
dren to build their intercultural competence and national identity, in order to partic-
ularise the framework of writing non-fiction books on national culture for children.
The study also suggests some directions for other book series on national culture for
children in the era of globalisation.
The study is not without limitations. First, the research focusses on one case of
writing non-fiction books on national culture for children, therefore, the findings
cannot be representative, instead, they rather provide an example of how to write a
non-fiction book on national culture for Vietnamese children. Second, the research
employs the reflection of the book author who also co-authors the study as the
method, therefore, subjectivity cannot be avoided. However, this methodology also
reveals the author’s insight of building intercultural competence in the association
with national identity for children. Third, since building intercultural competence is
a thread receiving a multitude of concerns from different researchers and educators
around the world, and the concept of intercultural competence is still in its progress
of formation, findings of this current study still need to be updated so as to form a
better framework of writing non-fiction books on national culture for children, as
well as to offer further suggestions for future research of this topic.
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century. UNESCO
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Katrina Gutierrez. Bookbird: A Journal of International Children’s Literature, 58(1), 109–110.
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Thi Phuong Anh Dang is a Lecturer at the University of Social Science and Humanities, Vietnam
National University, Hanoi (VNU-USSH, Hanoi). She earned her PhD in Culturology at the
Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Art Studies in 2017. She has received several grants
from ITEC (India, 2014), NAFOSTED (Vietnam, 2019), and ICAS (The Netherlands, 2021).
Phuong Anh’s enduring research focus is culturology, cultural management, and tourism studies,
including government policies in society, cultural factors in contemporary society, the sustain-
ability of development, and especially the role of state and community in developing plans. More
broadly, she has developed her academic interest in applying inter-disciplinary perspectives in
social and cultural studies.
Tú Anh Hà is a Research fellow at Rovira i Virgili University, Spain. She is also a Lecturer at
FPT University, Vietnam. She finished an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master in Play, Education, Toys
and Languages fully funded by the European Commission (EC). She also finished a Master’s
Degree in Teaching and Learning English as a Second Language at Rovira i Virgili University,
Spain (2016-2017) with a scholarship from the EC. Her research interests include education for
sustainability, critical literacy, multilingualism, methods of integrating equality and equity in class,
10 Writing Non-fiction Books on National Culture for Vietnamese … 221
education for peace, intercultural education, and early childhood education. She can be contacted
at tuanh.ling@gmail.com. Her ORCID is: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6450-3390.
Quang Anh Phan is a Lecturer at the School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Vietnam National
University, Hanoi (VNU-SIS, Hanoi). Before joining VNU, he was a Postdoctoral Research
Fellow at the University of Zurich (UZH), Switzerland. He obtained his Ph.D. in Communi-
cations and New Media from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2019, and his
Master’s in Cultural and Critical Studies in 2013 from the University of Westminster (WMIN),
the United Kingdom. His research interests include Creative Industries, Game Studies, Southeast
Asian Studies, and Higher Education, with a particular focus on Vietnam. His publications can
be found in Creative Industries Journal, Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustain-
able Development, Fudan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, International Journal of
Heritage Studies, International Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies, and Asia Pacific Social Science
Review, among others.
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate
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the copyright holder.
Chapter 11
Technological Competence for Graduate
Employability: Pedagogical
and Professional Perspectives
from Cross-National Translation
Working Contexts
Thu Do
Abstract The need to develop graduate employability in response to globalised
industry has become one of the central missions of Higher Education Institutions.
This paper reports on how technological competence is approached in university
translation programmes and in professional practice. The research used surveys and
interviews of 246 students, trainers and professional translators from two growing
translation markets, Australia and Vietnam. The findings highlight that translation
programmes need to provide more adequate training in computer-assisted translation
tools and research skills, considering both international and local work requirements.
The findings may have pedagogical implications for training programmes in Asia
Pacific contexts and beyond.
Introduction
Developing graduate employability in response to today’s growing demands of glob-
alisation and technologicalisation has been considered one of the central missions
of Higher Education Institutions (Abelha et al., 2020; OECD, 2020; Small et al.,
2018). The same holds true for university translation (and interpreting) training, a
discipline in which recent work has also explored the implication of employability
for pedagogy (Álvarez-Álvarez & Arnáiz-Uzquiza, 2017;Kiraly, 2016; Rodríguez
de Céspedes, 2017; Schnell & Rodríguez, 2017).
The current increase in automation (Rodríguez de Céspedes, 2019), the emer-
gence of new demands and forms of communication (Abelha et al., 2020; OECD,
2020; Römgens et al., 2019) with new technologies becoming a cornerstone of the
T. Do (B
)
Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
e-mail: thu.do@monash.edu
© The Author(s) 2024
Phan Le Ha et al. (eds.), Vietnamese Language, Education and Change In and Outside
Vietnam, Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9093-1_11
223
224 T. Do
translation profession (Bowker, 2016; Rodríguez de Céspedes, 2019) are triggering
substantial changes in the role of a translator and in translator education (Rodríguez de
Céspedes, 2019). Different challenges have been posed by the integration of profes-
sional skills into the academic translator training environment. One of the main issues
is related to the (mis)match between university translation graduates’ competences
and market needs (Álvarez-Álvarez & Arnáiz-Uzquiza, 2017;Do, 2020; Rodríguez
de Céspedes, 2017, 2019; Schnell & Rodríguez, 2017).
This chapter follows an education ethos that, similar to any profession-oriented
university programmes, the ultimate goal of educating prospective translation profes-
sionals must be to prepare graduates for the conditions they will undertake in the
professional world (Cuminatto et al., 2017;Kiraly,
2016; Ulrych, 2005). It advocates
that those competences required in the profession are expected to be included in
training (Rodríguez de Céspedes, 2017, 2019; Schnell & Rodríguez, 2017). Within
this chapter’s focus on developing technological competence as part of translator
competence for translation graduates’ employability (Do, 2019a, 2020), the chapter
discusses pedagogical and professional perceptions of what translation tools and
resources are required by professional translators, and how—or whether—these are
acquired in university translation programmes. It draws on two case studies of trans-
lator training programmes from Australia and Vietnam in the context of Asia Pacific
higher education.
The research is based on the analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data
collected via online surveys and follow-up interviews. The chapter gives rise to
the opportunities to see possible changes in translator training curriculum that can
facilitate greater integration of competence development, particularly technological
competence in the scope of this chapter, for graduate employability. Although the
results do not claim representativity, the findings from this empirical cross-national
sample of two growing markets in the globalised translation industry provide insights
that have pedagogical implications that will enhance general graduate employability
for other translation programmes in the Asia Pacific context and beyond.
Technological Competence
Technological competence, within the scope of this study, is one of the sub-
competences of Kiraly’s (2016) translator competence model adopted for this
research. The model is explicitly designed for curricular purposes and entails six
competences (strategic workplace competence, technological competence, thematic
competence, interpersonal competence, intercultural competence, and communica-
tive competence) that a student should possess at the completion of their university
translation programme (Kiraly, 2016). It underlies a socio-constructive approach
that highlights the need for a professional-oriented training programme to develop
students’ competences so that they can meet the professional requirements of the
industry upon their graduation. As one of the key components in the model, tech-
nological competence is what translators are now expected to acquire in order to
11 Technological Competence for Graduate Employability: Pedagogical … 225
be capable of tasks beyond translating in the increasingly changing demands of
their professional translation work. These changes are due to technological advance-
ments, the need for speed in translation work and other requirements in this globalised
industry (Kiraly, 2016; Rodríguez de Céspedes, 2019). In the practice of professional
translation, technological competence involves the use of technological tools, docu-
mentary resources and terminology information research and management (Kelly,
2005;Kiraly, 2016).
Research Design and Methodology
This chapter is derived from larger research, which aims to assess the degree to which
translator students are equipped with professional skills in their training programmes
to meet professional translation requirements. The broader study aims to address two
main research questions:
How is translation performed in professional work contexts?
How are translator students trained in university translation programmes?
The chapter focusses on two sub-questions of the research, which specifically
examine the extent to the technological competence, within this study’s translator
competence framework, required in professional translators’ work is developed for
translator students in academic training. It investigates the linkage between transla-
tion practice and translation training in developing graduates’ employability, looking
at the translation tools that professional translators are required to use, and those
provided in translator training programmes.
The study adopted a mixed-method design, which included a first phase of online
surveys (quantitative and qualitative) and follow-up interviews (qualitative data) to
help elaborate the survey results. The participants recruited for this study consisted of
246 participants including professional translators (n = 86), translator students (n =
102) and translator trainers (n = 58) from both professional translation practice and
translation pedagogy to obtain multiple perspectives of the linkage between these
two settings (Table 11.1). The respondents were particularly recruited from Australia
and Vietnam as two case studies in the Asia Pacific region. The chosen participants
are believed to represent a global context rather than a local context, as within this
study’s attempt to describe translator training programmes and the translation profes-
sion from a macro perspective. In the Australian context, the training programmes
and translation profession involve language pairs in English in combination with East
Asian languages, and also some European languages. The language pairs undertaken
by the Vietnamese respondents are mainly Vietnamese-English and vice versa. With
their particular historical, social and economic features, both contexts have witnessed
an increase in growth in the translation market that in both countries is now increas-
ingly globalised (see Do, 2019a, 2019b, 2020; Hoang, 2020; Orlando, 2016; Ozolins,
1998; Pham & Tran, 2013). The involvement of these two researching contexts, with
their common as well as unique features may provide an interesting insight into the
226 T. Do
Table 11.1 Online survey and follow-up interview respondents
Respondents Australia-based
respondents
Vietnam-based
respondents
Total of both
context-based groups
Survey Interview Survey Interview Survey Interview
Professional translators 40 546 986 14
Translator students 26 576 10 102 15
Translator trainers 17 441 10 58 14
Tot a l 246
adaptation and development of the translator training in each specific context, and
by extension, the global context.
The professional translators are those currently working from either of the two
chosen contexts, Australia or Vietnam. The target population of the student and
trainer groups are from six universities in Australia and five public universities in
Vietnam that offer translation training programmes. In this study, the respondents’
training in translator programmes in the Australian context took place at postgraduate
level. In the Vietnamese context, so far only undergraduate translation programmes
are being offered in all public universities. Therefore, the mentioned programmes in
Vietnam refer to undergraduate training only.
This chapter’s data analysis focusses on technological competence, one sub-
competence component of the translator competence model adapted from Kiraly’s
(2016) dynamic model towards translator education. The survey results are reported
using frequencies and descriptive statistics. Cross tabulations were done to test
whether there are any differences or similarities between technological tools used
in the profession and trained in programmes in the two investigating contexts. The
follow-up semi-structured interviews based on predetermined questions emerging
from online preliminary data results, each lasting from forty-five minutes to one hour
and a half, were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The themes were coded
and categorised by NVivo 11 software. The interviewees are de-identified, who are
coded and numbered according to their groups for data analysis. Those professional
translators who had their university training degrees with a translation major also
had the opportunity to relate their professional working experiences to their previous
training. The follow-up responses therefore could provide insights into pedagogical
practice from both pedagogical and professional perspectives, and outline possible
linkages and/or dichotomy between academic and work environments.
Findings and Discussions
The findings in this chapter are discussed focussing firstly on translators’ work
requirements regarding technological competence. It involves the use of technology
or computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools and research resources in professional
11 Technological Competence for Graduate Employability: Pedagogical … 227
translation practice. Next, the chapter discusses the extent these tools and resources
are provided in training for translation graduates’ professional readiness. The data
analysis also focusses closely on the training of this competence in both contexts
in Australia and Vietnam to see the linkage between professional requirements and
academic training in these two settings. The findings are presented with primary
results from the online surveys and further supported with the participants’ follow-up
interview responses.
Use of Technology Tools and Researching Resources
in Professional Translation Practice
In examining translator’s technological competence, the professional translators were
asked to indicate the CAT tools and researching resources they have been required
to use in their current translation work. The findings show a congruence between
the CAT tools popularly used among translators and those commonly provided in
training programmes in both Australia and Vietnam (Table 11.2). However, the
extent to which these tools were focussed on in training, particularly in the Viet-
namese training context, was still significantly lower than the level that professional
translators reported as being required in the profession.
The overall usage of CAT tools from Table 11.2 reveals that the most popular tools
translators had been required to use were SDL Trados (41.0%), Wordfast (22.3%),
memoQ (18.3%) and gtranslator (13%). Tools required among the other 15.2%
included, as indicated in the additional comment box, Transit, memsource, STAR
transit NXT, SDLX, XTM cloud-based, Aegisub (subtitling) and other Google-based
tools. Data from Table 11.2 also show the notable result that 39.5% of the transla-
tors reported no use of any CAT tools in their translation work. Although selecting
‘none’ to indicate no specific use of any CAT tools, many respondents mentioned
in the comment box their use of many other technical resources, mostly relating to
online search engines for terminology research, communication and documentary
resources. These generally included the use of the Internet for terminology research,
the use of online forums for terminology, or communication with experts for specialist
consultation.
In addition to the presentation of the overall data regarding CAT tool usage,
the cross-tabulations of tools to investigate variations in which the tools were used
between the Australian and Vietnamese working contexts indicate no difference,
except for t he usage of SDL Trados (p = 0.020). Regarding this tool, professional
translators in the Australian context reported a higher percentage of usage (57.1%)
than in Vietnam (24.0%).
The popular use of CAT tools as reported in both contexts of this study strongly
aligns with those commonly used in other contexts (e.g. Al-Batineh & Bilali, 2017;
Schnell & Rodríguez, 2017). In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) context
228 T. Do
Table 11.2 Cross tabulations of CAT tools by professional translators in Australia and Vietnam
CAT tools Overall usage (%) Respondents Usage by groups
(%)
Exact Sig.(2-sided)
p value
SDL Trados 41.0 Au professional
translators
57.1 0.020*
Vn professional
translators
24.0
None 39.5 Au professional
translators
48.0 0.477
Vn professional
translators
31.4
Wor d fast 22.3 Au professional
translators
16.0 1.000
Vn professional
translators
28.6
memoQ 18.3 Au professional
translators
20.0 0.578
Vn professional
translators
16.6
Others 15.2 Au professional
translators
16.0 0.280
Vn professional
translators
14.4
gtranslator 13.0 Vn professional
translators
16.0 0.451
Vn professional
translators
10.0
MetaTexis 1.8 Au professional
translators
01.000
Vn professional
translators
3.6
Déja Vu 1.5 Au professional
translators
00.301
Vn professional
translators
2.9
Global sight 1.5 Au professional
translators
00.301
Vn professional
translators
2.9
Lokalize 1.5 Au professional
translators
00.301
Vn professional
translators
2.9
* The difference is significant at p ≤ 0.05
11 Technological Competence for Graduate Employability: Pedagogical … 229
(Al-Batineh & Bilali, 2017), for example, data on translators’ requirements in trans-
lation job descriptions published in this region reveal that experience in using CAT
tools appears to be a requirement of the utmost importance. Essential knowledge
of CAT tools for translators as required in the MENA region involves commercial
CAT tools mainly including SDL Trados studio, Wordfast and MemoQ, and this is
consistent with the current research findings.
Further to the survey’s report on the popular application of CAT tools, the trans-
lators’ responses illustrated the importance of experience in using these tools in
translation work. These include views about the essentiality of CAT tool experi-
ences, and o