World Englishes From a Holistic View and Considerations on English Education in Vietnam

Abstract

The development of English as the mutual language among ASEAN since 2008 and the formation of ASEAN Economic Community since 2015 have set milestones in the social and educational development of each country in this organisation. In English education in Vietnam, understanding the diversity of Englishes in the organisation has become an important task. This article aims to present a holistic view of World Englishes (WE) in research generally and in relation to English education in Vietnam particularly by illustrating the Vietnamese English teachers’ perceptions of WE in the Vietnamese teaching context. The data were collected via an online questionnaire using a snowball sampling method from seventy-six respondents who are English lecturers from twenty-six universities or colleges in Vietnam. The data were also collected from focus group interviews with fve participants who were doing Master Degree in Applied Linguistics at an Australian university. The article delineates the fndings of the Vietnamese English teachers’ perceptions towards WE and their experiences in introducing WE in their teaching context. Discussion of English education in Vietnam, including issues in English teaching, English teachers’ development and considerations of the policy context, is also be presented.

Blended teaching of English speaking in a Vietnamese context: Design and procedure

“…WEs in Vietnam can be traced back to its Doi Moi, or Open Door, policy, which has attracted businesspeople and investors who use English as a lingua franca to the country. Since the policy's initiation in 1986, English varieties have caught increasing attention (T. H. Tran & Ngo, 2017), and communicative competence in WEs is a must at work (T. N. Nguyen, 2017). It is understood that exposure to English varieties would better prepare students for real‐life communication (Ho & T. H. Nguyen, 2019).…”

“…More importantly, both strategies can expose students to English varieties, depending on their own choice. However, in my design of learning materials, English varieties from the so‐called inner circle (countries where English is the first language among the general population) were used, owing to their predominance in English classrooms and materials in Vietnam (T. H. Tran & Ngo, 2017; P. M. Tran & Tanemura, 2020). Nevertheless, my modification of students’ oral production did not follow a nativist approach.…”

“…It is understood that exposure to English varieties would better prepare students for real-life communication (Ho & T. H. Nguyen, 2019). This actuality has been acknowledged by the introduction of domestically produced English textbooks which aim to enhance communicative skills in multicultural contexts (P. M. Tran & Tanemura, 2020), and the Vietnamese Standardised Test of English Proficiency (VSTEP) which appreciates various English accents (T. H. Tran & Ngo, 2017). Despite all of this, however, teaching WEs in Vietnam is currently still an individual teacher choice (T. H. Tran & Ngo, 2017), but it is sure to gain popularity as the country continues to develop (P. M. Tran & Tanemura, 2020).…”

Perspectives of English Teachers on the Effectiveness of the General English Program on Students’ Employability: A Case Study in Vietnam

“…It was also impossible for teachers to create interactive and interesting activities due to the time constraint of the program (Trinh & Mai, 2019). In addition, the time commitment to the job of the majority of English teachers is often low (Hoang, 2013). Nguyen et al (2015) found that there were still many negative factors hindering the efficacy of General English teaching and learning, including insufficient time for English courses, lack of speaking component in tests and examinations and large class sizes.…”

The Barcelona Conference on Education 2023: Official Conference Proceedings

“…Upon the effects of ongoing globalization worldwide, the need for the cultivation of English as a global language has been rising, especially when it is believed that undergraduate students should enter the 21 st century's workforce with the 4Cs (Critical thinking, Collaboration, Creativity, and Communication) (Halvorsen, 2018). As commonly recognized as a lingua franca, English plays a significant role in the promotion of the process of globalization and internationalization (Altbach & Knight, 2007;Duong & Chua, 2016) occurring in most of the world's corners, including developing nations (Hoang, 2013; Q. A.…”