The significant impact of English on Vietnamese education in 21st century

The significant impacts of English on Vietnamese education in 21st centrury 16

The significant impacts of English on Vietnamese education in 21st centuryNgo Cao Ngoc MaiAcademic Writing--K52-BFAForeign Trade UniversityHo Chi Minh city

AbstractIn globalization world, English has great impact on human race. The vital concern of this reasearch paper is the impacts of English on Vietnamese education in 21st century. Several educational aspects influenced by English are explored in this article. Some of these factors include examination system, pedagogy and syllabus. There is small part for a negative effect of the English impact. Undergraduates, highschool students and one official staff from LEECAM English centre were included in this research, specifically examination system. Undergraduates, high school students were given a questionnaire to accomplish while the official staff was interviewed about Premier studying program of LEECAM . Moreover, we also search for other information to use them as supporting factors. I also predicted that English had influenced the way Vietnamese students and parents perceive the learnings purposes and the future jobs.

The significant impact of English on Vietnamese education in 21st centuryVietnamese education has made some changes these days: primary education style, university entrance examination system. To some extent, those changes indicate that Vietnam is trying to keep pace with the international standard. In general, we may know the main cause for this purpose is the globalization or international integration. However, the significant factor is the spread of English. In this paper, I have looked at some of educational aspects which is affected by English and explored some result of those affects.Basically, according to Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, English is defined as the language, originally of England, now spoken in many other countries and used as a language of international communication throughout the world.; moreover, tailieuhay_3989 said that English was not only the main language of 53 regions as well as of E.U but also the third language used by most people around the world after Chinese and Spanish (due to population imbalance). Furthermore, A working knowledge of English has become a requirement in a number of fields, occupations and professions, Wikipedia goes on to say, as a consequence, more than a billion people speak English to at least a basic level. Therefore, from those references, English has played an important role. In addition, we it is necessary to know the general view of Vietnamese education. Based on Wikipedia, The main educational goal in Vietnam is improving peoples general knowledge, training quality human resources and nurturing and fostering talent. However, in Bat mach nen giao duc Viet Nam, Vu Manh Tien claimed that Vietnamese education was going in a wrong way because teachers focused on subjects appearing in examination as well as because Math, Literature, Physics and Chemistry were the most popular subjects among Vietnamese students. In this field, I may agree with the latter opinion more as despite the fact that Vietnamese students perform well considerably at school, they probably lack social skills and could not meet employers demand, English for example, which causes them to face unemployment after graduating. Some researchers have worked on the impact of English recently. Firstly, according to British Council, English is not the language of Britain or America only but it now belongs to the world because the number of non- native speakers dramatically outstrips the number of native speaker. Secondly, there is a claim that The level of English adoption in a country is related to the degree of Internet usage ( Robert M. Wolk). Thirdly, Lyn Gow David Kember and Rosalia Chow has showed that the English Language ability has effect on the approaches students use for their learning. Finally, Proffessor Le Ngoc Tra, Ho Chi Minh City University of Pedagogy, indicated some drawbacks of Vietnamese education in international integration process, not being proficient in using English is one of the weaknesses that causes Vietnamese qualifications and research works are not accepted globally. After all, those research papers are not contradictory; they support for each other in the impacts of English topic; however, those researchers just looked into macro aspects. Therefore, this study will continue to add a specific issue, impacts on Vietnamese education, to this topic. Specifically, it were believed that English is the only foreign language having extremely influences on examination system, pedagogy and syllabus, main fields of Vietnamese education; those effects could be result in a bad side.MethodParticipantsParticipants included 50 volunteers in total- 20 undergraduates from Foreign Trade University, 10 students from High School for the Gifted, 10 students from Le Hong Phong High school and 10 students from Tran Dai Nghia High school ( 25 females, 25 males); those participants were suitable because most of excellent and mature students studying in there. They are welcomed by most of the employers as they can meet updating requirements; their ability and skills also good as well.MaterialsFirstly, I gave each volunteer a questionnaire with relevant questions; there were 15 questions. The important statistics were gathered from questionnaires with PASW Statistic 18 ( which I received from my Integrated Business lecturer ). Specifically, I used Frequencies and Table functions in PASW Statistic 18 to measure quantitative information. Secondly, I conducted an interview with Ms. Loan- an official staff in LEECAM English Centre. In addition to questionnaire and interview, I also used other information and statistics from other relevant documents from websites, online newspaper and book to support my researchs points of view.ProcedureAfter 7 days when I received the assignment, I went to Foreign Trade University to provide 20 questionnaires during the lunch time from 11:00 to 13:00; I had a table in the Hall A, giving questionnaires there. On the second day, I went to High School for the gifted in District 5 to provide 10 questionnaire during their break- from 8:30 to 9:00 and their lunch- from11:00 to 13:30. Moreover, I also visited Le Hong Phong high school on the second day, and attributed 10 more questionnaire during their break- from 15:00 to 15:30 and the time classes end- from 17:00 to 18:00. In the morning of the third day, I conducted questionnaire interview in Tran Dai Nghia high school in the same time as the time in High School for the gifted. Each volunteer received 1 candy after finish a questionnaire. In the evening of the fourth day, I went to LEECAM English centre located on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, district 3; I met Ms. Loan in the information desk and asked her about the Premiere programme including the content, status and advantages. Then, when I had all questionnaires filled in, I continued to seek for other supporting information and statistics in 2 days. Afterwards, I highlighted necessary information, paraphrased them and cited the sources; those activities took 2 more days. ResultFirstly, those tables below illustrate the statistics gathered from questionnaires:Table 1:Question 1Count

high school favourite subjectsEnglish32

Math43

Physics18

Chemistry22

Biology4

Geography7

History6

Literature17

Table 2:Question 2Count

foreign languages learnthaven't leant yet0

English50

French6

Japanese18

Chinese0

Korean0

Table 3:Question 3Count

Have you ever taken any international English examsNo12

Yes38

Table 4:Question 4Count

international English testsIELTS19

TOFLE18

SAT7

TOEIC18

Table 5:Question 5Count

the reasons why taking international English testsPlanning to study abroad23

Gaining scholarships23

Meeting requirement of some international universities13

Being an English teacher20

Meeting requirement of the employers14

Table 6:Question 6Count

Do you think international schools in Vietnam ( RMIT, A Chau high school,) are qualified No12

Yes38

Table7:Question 7Count

which studying program will you prefer Official11

High quality10

Joint29

Table 8:Question 8Count

Provided that you were a parent, would you prefer international kindergarten for your children studyingNo0

Yes50

Table 9:Question 9Count

Do you learn English in English centresNo8

Yes42

Table 10:Question 10Count

English centre criteriaReputable50

Affordable tuition fee41

Modern facilities13

Near home6

Being taught by 100% native speakers28

To summarize, according to table 1, Vietnamese students tend to have fond for science ologies (Math, Physics, Chemistry); however, as it can be seen, English takes the second place , which means that English could win more and more students affections. In addition, table 2 to table 8 indicate that English is one of the most subjects they have to learn. According to table 2, there is 100% volunteers learning English while the other languages could not be popular like that. Moreover, it seems that syllabuses and studying program related to English are chosen the most by my volunteers. Furthermore, I also did research into the criteria the volunteers use to choose the appropriate English centre to enroll in. Obviously, most volunteers learn English in English centres ( 42 out of 50 individuals, which equals to 84% of volunteers) according to table 9. Then, table 10 shows that reputation is the first and foremost criteria they consider ( 100% ) volunteers); affordable tuition fee is the second most essential factor ( with 82%), which is followed by being taught by 100% native speakers with 56%. Secondly, after searching for other supporting information, I found the number of students competing to win a place in English Language Techer Education (base on statistics of Ho Chi Minh City University of Pedagogy from diemthi24h).Table 11:FacultyYearNumber of participants

English Language Teacher Education2010832

2011940

20121171

2013831

20141264

As it can be seen, although the number of participants didnt increase continuously through 5 years; by and large, it showed a dramatic rise from 832 candidates to 1264 candidates.Besides, thanks to Kenhtuyensinh.vn, I could find a list of official joint programs approved by Department of Foreign Training- Ministry of Education and Training. Actually, in total, there are 72 universities having joint programs and there are 235 official joint programs, but here are some examples from the list:Table 12:Vietnamese universityPartner Foreign countryDegreeMajorWritten approval

University of Economics, Hochiminh CityVictoria UniversityAustraliaBachelor+Business4132/Q-BGDT(04/10/2012)

Western Sydney UniversityAustraliaMaster+Business and Trade339/Q-BGDT(25/01/2013)

Banking AcademyBerlin School of Economics & Law

GermanyMaster+Financial Accounting and Management 1176/Q-BGDT(25/3/2011)

Seattle UniversityAmericaBachelor+Business Management+Financial Management3640/Q-BGDT(12/9/2012)

Foreign Trade UniversityUniversity of BedfordshireBritainBachelor+Business5365/Q-BGDT (20/8/2008)3333/Q-BGDT(27/8/2013)

La Trobe UniversityAustraliaMaster+International Business205/Q-BGDT(09/01/2007)1326/Q-BGDT(06/4/2012)

University of ArchitectureSwinburne University of TechnologyAustraliaBachelor+Art Design2707/Q-BGDT(01/4/2009)

Swinburne University of TechnologyAustraliaEngineer+Construction2708/Q-BGT (01/4/2009)

Turning to examination system, I found that A1 was opened in 2012 so as to meet the demand of some ologies thanks to Huongnghiep24h website.Thirdly, the interview with Ms. Loan- an official information staff of LEECAM centre gave me some necessary information. As Ms. Loan says, Premier English Program is for students having accomplished Advanced level; this is a joint program between LEECAM or ISC and American universities; after finishing Premiere program, students will be recruited by english centres belonging to Leecam system as official employees. Therefore, a lot of students, especially university students are learning this studying program. DiscussionThe purpose of this study is to check the perceive of young generation through which I could see the impacts of English on Vietnamese education in 21st century more adequately because those students will be the new owners of our world in future and because they also update global trends as quickly as possible, so any examination systems, syllabuses, job opportunities may be changed to meet their demands. Besides, the other supporting information I sought will help to make my study more reliable as the information refers to other kinds of people, not students only. On the other hand, the interview will support me in the last issue a negative side of the impacts of English on Vietnamese education in 21st century. At the start of the research paper, I predicted that the English language has had great impacts on Vietnamese education in 21st century, specifically in examination system, pedagogy as well as syllabuses; moreover, I also predicted at least one bad result occurring due to the impact. Firstly, the finding from table 1 is consistent with the idea that I am standing for: Vietnamese education was going in a wrong way because teachers focused on subjects appearing in examination and because Math, Literature, Physics and Chemistry were the most popular subjects among Vietnamese students (Bat mach nen giao duc Viet Nam of Vu Manh Tien). Secondly, the findings, specifically from table 2, table 3 and table 4 have proved that Vietnamese examination system has changed steadily. There are two branches in this field: traditional exams and international exams. In traditional exams, English has become one of the main subject at school and it is taught to students from primary level to university. Moreover, students have to take English exams during learning and English is one the subjects used to make university entrance exams. To clarify, before 2012, D1 branch (Math, Literature, English) is the only choice for high school students to choose to if they wish to take English as one out of three subjects in a university entrance exam. However, in 2012, there has been A1 branch (Math, Physics, English); hence, students good at English has more opportunities. It not only gives students more chances and supplement labour forces for some jobs but also responds to the current demands of the world; English is the most convenient way to communicate in this world. Next, nowadays, Vietnamese students not only have to deal with original English tests in their school but also pursue high score in international examinations such as IELTS, TOFLE, TOEIC ( supported by table 3 and 4). Thirdly, in pedagogy field, from table 5 and table 11 and the interview with Ms. Loan of LEECAM centre, I see that more and more students want to be an English teacher. Even the students could not enroll in Ho Chi Minh City University of Pedagogy to be an official Vietnamese teacher, they have some alternatives to become a teacher, Premiere program of LEECAM English centre is one example. Fourthly, syllabus is another concern. Vietnamese people seem to be more fond of international schools, programs. Thanks to globalization, many international kindergartens are established in Vietnam; from the result gathered from table 8, many parents or many parents-to-be would like to send their children to these school so that their children can have more opportunities to interact with English environment, modern western programs sooner, developing their language skill. For instance, there are Maple Bear a Canadian kindergarten or Fosco. Hakuta, Kenji; Bialystok, Ellen wrote that the benefits of being bilingual is more than being capable of using two languages; a child who has to learn two languages whose structures and rules are totally different is required to think in more complicated way, which enables the child to boost his perception and acquirement. Therefore, the sooner a child interact with English, the easier he becomes bilingual. Next, international high schools and universities, according to Intage Vietnam, are considered as best-sellers with 85% of its interviewees wishing to let their children enroll in those schools; this trend is expected to rise strongly in the near future. One parent claimed that these foreign syllabuses will not solely provide students necessary knowledge but also the confidence and skill to use English ( an opinion of Nguyen Thanh Longs mother in an interview about A Chau international school). In addition, if students do not face financial problems, they will choose joint programs according to table 7; therefore, many joint programs are established to response to the trend affected by English. In general, joint programs are somewhat more beneficial.Finally, although English impact has brought us some benefits, it also results in some negative consequences. In my study, I focused on one bad result: the disqualified English centres. To clarify, table 10 statistics are consistent with the content of the title Ni lo cht lng o to ti cc trung tm ngoi ng of Trung Dung, who notes that it is widely believed that English is playing more and more important role in Vietnamese life and Vietnamese are in favour of low price; some people open English centres with many commitments such as 100% English teachers, modern syllabus, reasonable fee as well as many discount programs; however, they are all lies, the quality is not like what students have suppose it to be. Those disreputable centres have attracted students with low tuition fee, so it is essential that students be careful and critical when choosing any centres.In conclusion, we cannot deny that English has become one of the most Vietnamese educations priorities, but its impact also has some drawbacks. From the information of this research, we could basically catch up with the trend of the current world; besides, we may be able to stave off bad sides of the English impact. Hence, next research could write about its disadvantages in more details and in wider fields as well as about the methods to deal with those problems.

Reference1/ Articles:L Gow, D Kember, R Chow (1991).The Effects of English Language Ability on Approaches to Learning ( Report). Singapore: RELC Journal. Retrieved 14 March, 2015, from http://teaching.polyu.edu.hk/datafiles/R10.pdfThanh Nien Editorial office (2014, June). Trng Quc t Chu qua gc nhn ph huynh hc sinh. Thanhnien news. Retrieved February 17, 2015, from http://www.thanhnien.com.vn/giao-duc/truong-quoc-te-a-chau-qua-goc-nhin-phu-huynh-hoc-sinh-1322.html2/ Books:British Council ( 2013). The English Effect. London: British Council. Retrieved March 14, 2015, from http://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/britishcouncil.uk2/files/english-effect-report.pdfHakuta, Kenji; Bialystok, Ellen (1994).In other words: the science and psychology of second-language acquisition. New York: BasicBooksTurnbull, J. (1948). Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary ( 8th ed). Hochiminh city: Fahasa Bookstore.3/ Websites:Huong nghiep 24h (2012). Khoi A1 co nhung nganh hoc nao. Official site Huongnghiep24h. Retrieved February 22, 2015, from http://www.huongnghiep24h.net/2014/08/khoi-a1-co-nhung-nganh-hoc-nao.htmlIntage Vietnam (May 11, 2012). Quan im v xu hng la chn trng hc. Official site of the Intage Vietnam. Retrieved February 17, 2015, from http://www.ftaresearch.com/vn/article.php?id=65Kenh Tuyen Sinh ( October 16, 2013). Danh sch 235 chng trnh lin kt o to hp php. Official site of Kenh Tuyen Sinh. Retrieved February 17, 2015, from http://kenhtuyensinh.vn/danh-sach-235-chuong-trinh-lien-ket-dao-tao-hop-phapLe Ngoc Tra (2008). Mt s vn ca gio dc Vit Nam trong bi cnh ton cu ha. Retrieved 14 March, 2015, from http://www.ier.edu.vn/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=47&Itemid=98Robert M. W. (2003). The Effects of English The Effects of English Language Dominance of Language Dominance of the Internet and the the Internet and the Digital Divide Digital Divide. Retrieved March 14, 2015, from http://www.wpi.edu/News/Conf/ISTAS/Presentations/englishinternet.pdfTailieuhay-3989 (2014, March 19). Tm quan trng ca vic hc ting Anh. Official site of 123doc.org. Retrieved February 17, 2015, from http://123doc.org/document/1192566-tam-quan-trong-cua-viec-hoc-tieng-anh-ppt.htm?page=7Trung Dung (December 24, 2013). Ni lo cht lng o to ti cc trung tm ngoi ng. Official site of Vietnam Quality. Retrieved February 17, 2015, from http://vietq.vn/noi-lo-chat-luong-dao-tao-tai-cac-trung-tam-ngoai-ngu-d26760.htmlVu Manh Tien (2012). Bat mach nen giao duc Viet Nam. Official site Hanoi University of Culture. Retrieved February 22, 2015, from http://huc.edu.vn/chi-tiet/376/-Bat-mach--nen-giao-duc-Viet-Nam.html Wikipedia (17 February, 2015). Education in Vietnam. Official site Wikipedia. Retrieved February 17, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_languageWikipedia (17 February, 2015). English Language. Official site Wikipedia. Retrieved February 17, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_languageAPPENDIXQuestionnaire for Conduting The impacts of English on Vietnamese Education in 21st Century.QUESTIONNAIREDear our distinct volunteers, I am a sophomore from Foreign Trade University. I am carying out a research paper in Academic Writing subject. My reseach topic is the impacts of English on Vietnamese education in 21st century. In order to gather sufficient documents for my research paper, I really need your support in answering questionnaire below. I extremely appreciate your prticipation, and I ensure that your information will be kept confidentially.I would be grateful if you can take a few minutes to answer these simple questionsIt is optional for you to decide whether to fill in the overall information board below or not , but please answer the questions by ticking the suitable boxes ( you can choose more than one option). I/ Overall information: Name _________________________________________________ Gender Male Female ]Age ___________________________

II/ Questions:1/ Which subjects do/ did you like when you are/ were a highschool student ? ( please choose 3 options only). English Math Physics Chemistry Biology Geography History Literature2/ Which foreign languages that you are learning? English French Japanese Chinese Korean No, I havent learn foreign languages yet. ( skip question 9)3/ Have you ever taken any international English exams? Yes No ( skip question 4)4/ Which international English exams you have taken? IELTS TOFLE SAT TOEIC5/ Why did you take international English exams? planning to study abroad gaining scholarships meeting requirement of some international universities ( Ex: RMIT) improving my English meeting requirement of the employers6/ Do you think internaltional schools in Vietnam ( RMIT, A Chau highschool,) are qualified? Yes No7/ Nowadays, in university, there are 3 kinds of studying program:i/ Official program: learning and doing tests in Vietnamese, using Vietnamese syllabuses; learning in Vietnam, the university graduation certificate provided by Vietnamese university. ii/ High quality program: learning and doing tests in English, using Vietnamese syllabuses, learning in Vietnam, the university graduation certificate provided by Vietnamese university. iii/ Joint program: learning and doing tests in English, using the foreign partners syllabuses, learning 3 years in Vietnam and 1 year overseas, the university graduation certificate provided by foreign university; therefore, the university graduation certificate has international quality. Imagine that finance is not your problem, which one will you prefer? ( please choose 1 option only). Official programs High quality programs Joint programs8/ Provided that you were a parent, would you prefer international kindergarten for your children studying? Yes No 9/ Do you learn English in English centres? Yes No10/ What are the criteria you use to choose an English centre to study in. qualified affordable tution fee modern facilities near home being taught by 100% native speakersThis is the end of our survey. Thanks for you sincere help! In the condition that you wish to know the result or further information, please contact me through:+ e-mail: maingo1996@gmail.com+ phone number: 0935101327. BEST WISHES FOR YOU