English language policies for Vietnamese primary schools and issues of implementation in rural settings
Date
2012
Authors
Trang, N.T.T.
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Journal article
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Journal of Asia TEFL, 2012; 9(4):115-134
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Abstract
In response to the prominence of English language education in Viet Nam, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has developed policies to introduce English into schools. The recent MOET decisions and guidelines in which English is taught as a compulsory subject from Grade 3 have raised many issues related to their effectiveness. However, there is limited research on whether the implementation of these policies has been successful in the diversity of Vietnamese school contexts and most notably in rural settings. This paper provides a brief overview of the English language education policies in Viet Nam and issues associated with their implementation, with Kaplan and Baldaufs (2005) planning goals providing the framework for discussion. The focus then shifts to issues of implementation currently being experienced in a Vietnamese province drawing on a study using a mixed methodology approach. Questionnaires from 111 primary school leaders and English teachers in 64 primary schools were analysed with data from nine individual face-to-face interviews. These sources indicate a number of issues related to primary English language teaching including staffing, teaching resources, technology use and professional development. The paper concludes with recommendations for addressing some of these issues through systematic planning at all levels.
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Copyright 2012 Asian Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language