How can English become the second language in Vietnam?

If the proposal by Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung to make English the second language becomes a reality, it would mean that millions of Vietnamese people could use English as proficiently as Vietnamese.

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Given that English remains largely a "foreign language" rather than a "language" in Vietnam, experts are asking what obstacles Vietnam needs to overcome, and more importantly, where to begin?

Widespread English proficiency remains a challenge.

At the 2018 Youth Entrepreneurship Forum, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung stated that for startups to achieve breakthroughs, they must consider global issues, not just domestic ones. To address this global challenge, the remaining bottleneck is the English language. The Minister proposed to the Prime Minister that English be officially declared the second language of Vietnam soon.

According to Professor Stephen Krashen, a linguist from the University of Southern California, USA, second languages and commonly used foreign languages are quite different and should not be equated.

He argued that a foreign language is a language used in a country outside of its officially recognized language. For a foreign language to become a second language, it must be widely used throughout the country, alongside the mother tongue, and its users must be proficient in all four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

In his research on second language acquisition, Professor Krashen defines a second language as one learned/acquired after the mother tongue. The second language and the mother tongue can be used simultaneously.

Professor Nguyen Minh Thuyet, Chief Editor of the General Education Program, answers VTC Making English a second language is an urgent requirement in Vietnam's current stage of deep integration. English is one of the most widely used languages today. Approximately 201,300 of the world's population is proficient in this language, according to a 2015 estimate by the British Council.

In reality, widespread English proficiency in Vietnam remains a challenge. Vietnam currently ranks among the countries with average English proficiency, at 41st out of 88, according to the English proficiency report published in November 2018 by Education First (EF).

According to Minh N Tran, Senior Research Director at EF, Vietnam's English proficiency is on the rise. However, compared to some Southeast Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, or the Philippines, Vietnam still has a long way to go.

English is only popular in major cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang, and mainly in the form of teaching and learning rather than language acquisition. Even in these major cities, English teaching is limited due to a shortage of teachers.

At the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training reported that almost every school was short of English teachers; recruitment was also considered very difficult. The shortage of foreign language teachers, coupled with the inadequate qualifications of existing teachers, has led to low effectiveness in teaching this subject.

The results of the recent high school graduation exam show that English had the second lowest average score among the 10 graduation exam subjects, with nearly 801 candidates scoring below average, at 3.91/10.

Where do we begin?

The story of English becoming a second language is not unfamiliar to many countries around the world. Singapore, India, the Philippines, and Malaysia were among the first countries in Asia to adopt English as a second language.

In the Philippines, approximately 601,000 people are proficient in English, according to the newspaper. Inquirer This cites statistics from 2017. Meanwhile, in India, English is also a second language, spoken by nearly 250 million people (or one-fifth of the country's population in 2015).

Besides European countries, most countries that use English as a second language were formerly British colonies: India, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Caribbean nations. Upon gaining independence, these countries still have relatively large English-speaking communities, and English continues to be used regularly in daily life alongside their native languages.

“"The prerequisite for a foreign language to become a second language is that people must acquire that language and then build a sufficiently large community of people who use it daily," said Professor Stephen Krashen.

Malaysia is a prime example. Formerly a British colony, the English-speaking community in the country is quite large. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad once stated: “We must be proficient in English to stay ahead and dominate the game. Our Malay language is beautiful, but to integrate, we need English.”.

In 2002, Mahathir Mohamad decided to make English the country's second language and use it to teach mathematics and natural sciences from primary school onwards. In 2012, the Malaysian government abandoned this policy, and the English proficiency of the population declined. Immediately, the government adjusted the training program to further improve the English skills of the people.

After gaining independence from British colonial rule, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew immediately prioritized teaching English to the entire population, with the vision that Singaporeans could travel the world for study, research, and business transactions, while also attracting tourism to Singapore.

In Vietnam, the consideration of making English a second language is not new. Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha, upon assuming office, set the goal of making English a second language in schools. However, this was only discussed and not officially included in the Project on Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in General Schools for the period 2008-2020. To date, no specific policy on this matter has been implemented.

“Language is acquired through two forms: indirect (learning) and direct (listening, speaking). Currently, most Vietnamese people are exposed to English indirectly. Although students are taught English at school, in their daily lives outside of school, even outside of English classes, they mainly use Vietnamese,” shared Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet, who holds a TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) degree from Australia and is currently the director of an overseas education consulting company.

To make English a second language, it is necessary to increase people's direct language acquisition. Citing Hong Kong, China as an example, Ms. Minh Nguyet asserted that in addition to the "advantage" of being a British colony, the government must also have a campaign to increase awareness of the English language in the community and create conditions for English to be widely used alongside the official language.

In 2000, the Workplace English Campaign (WEC) was launched in companies and businesses in Hong Kong. WEC focused on online channels, radio, and TV, producing several free television and radio programs to develop English speaking skills in adults.

Many experts conclude that recognizing English as a second language requires more than just training students. One of the prerequisites is building a widespread community of proficient English speakers across the country.

Source: news.zing.vn