English tertiary education in Vietnam : foreign language policy and nation building

As part of a long series of Vietnam’s policy objectives, English education has been identified as key to improving the quality of its rapidly expanding tertiary institutions and is crucial to the larger aim of modernising and internationalising its economy. Bringing together a wide range of Vietnamese and foreign English education scholars, and tertiary educational practitioners, this book documents the significant progress and challenges in the realisation of Vietnam’s English language policies as they are enacted in the higher education sector. Changes to Vietnam’s higher education system remain unstable, unsystematic, and insubstantial. This book provides insights into how recent Vietnamese government policy is providing for a substantial and comprehensive renewal of Vietnam’s tertiary education as part of their 2020 plan. Academics and students of English education, language policy, and nation building within the context of increased globalisation and marketisation in developing nations and Vietnam, in particular, should find this book valuable. Table of contents -- Acknowledgements -- Foreword -- Vietnamese foreign language policy in higher education: a barometer to social changes (lam thi lan huong and james albright) -- Globalisation and vietnamese foreign language education (thi thuy le and shen chen) -- Nation building and language-in education policy (phuong anh vu) -- Current challenges in the teaching of tertiary english in vietnam (trinh thi thu hien and mai thi loan) -- Vietnamese higher education language planning and university students' career development (thuy bui, thi thom thom nguyen and an duc nguyen) -- Textbooks as cultural mediators: exploring representations of culture in vietnamese tertiary efl textbooks (trinh thi thu hien) -- General english for non-majors in higher education (loan thi lam) -- Efl speaking assessment in vietnamese tertiary education (nam lam) -- Business students' perspectives on the use of english medium instruction in vietnamese universities (le thi thuy nhung) -- Rural students' motivation for learning english: implications for transition to tertiary education (cuong pham and cynthia white) -- Examining the motivation and achievement of vietnamese university students as they undertake english classes (truong cong bang and jennifer archer) -- Learner autonomy in tertiary english classes in vietnam (nhung bui) -- Vietnamese efl teacher training at universities: review of the design and cultural aspect of the curriculum (mai thi quynh lan and pham thi thanh thuy) -- Index Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 8 Notes on contributors 9 Foreword 13 1 Vietnamese foreign language policy in higher education: a barometer to social changes 20 2 Globalisation and Vietnamese foreign language education 35 3 Nation building and language in education policy 47 4 Current challenges in the teaching of tertiary English in Vietnam 59 5 Vietnamese higher education language planning and university students’ career development 73 6 Textbooks as cultural mediators: exploring representations of culture in Vietnamese tertiary EFL textbooks 87 7 General English for non-majors in higher education 105 8 EFL speaking assessment in Vietnamese tertiary education 121 9 Business students’ perspectives on the use of English medium instruction in Vietnamese universities 138 10 Rural students’ motivation for learning English: implications for transition to tertiary education 151 11 Examining the motivation and achievement of Vietnamese university students as they undertake English classes 164 12 Learner autonomy in tertiary English classes in Vietnam 177 13 Vietnamese EFL teacher training at universities: review of the design and cultural aspect of the curriculum 191 Index 204