The impact of Vietnam's globalization on national education policies and teacher training programs for teachers of English as an international language: A case study of the University of Pedagogy in Ho Chi Minh City.

摘要

THE PROBLEM: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of Vietnam's globalization on national language education policies and teacher training programs for teachers of English to speakers of other languages. Specifically, this research explored the extent to which the new policies for English language training programs adopted by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam under its economic reform program, doi moi, had been realized at the University of Pedagogy in Ho Chi Minh City and sought to determine the perceptions of the stakeholders regarding this process.;METHOD: The method for this research was a qualitative case study in which three types of data were collected and analyzed for evidence of the impact of the new language policies on the English Teacher Training Program at the University of Pedagogy. Government policies and documents, educational laws, as well as university policies, curriculum and syllabi were reviewed and analyzed. Additionally, two types of interviews were conducted. The first was individual semi-structured interviews with the key administrators including the university rector and deans of the relevant departments. The second was an in-depth focus group interview with five faculty members of the English Language Teacher Training Program of the University of Pedagogy. A survey was also conducted with 30 faculty members and 150 student teachers to assess their perceptions of the success of the implementation process.;RESULTS: The study revealed a substantive impact of Vietnam's globalization and its new English language teaching policy on teacher training programs in several areas including program structure, student enrollment, faculty credentials, and curriculum content. The program structure of teacher education programs became more flexible allowing for the addition of a non-mainstream program design with different models to meet the rapidly increasing demand for English instruction. The enrollment of student teachers by language groups changed dramatically due to the new quotas set by the government. The percentage of student teachers in English language instruction increased to 45% of the total student teachers as compared to 22% in Chinese, 16% in French, and only 7% in Russian study.;The faculty was greatly impacted by the increase in credentials required for English teaching under the new policies. In the initial stage of the educational and economic reform, teacher trainers were required to have a minimum of a baccalaureate degree in English; in the transition period a diploma in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) was required; and in the current stage, the minimum requirement is a Master's degree in TESOL. The perception of the faculty and student teachers was that the program curriculum prior to the new government policies lacked the pedagogical framework required to teach communications skills. In contrast, the content of the current program trains teachers with new methods for improving English learners' communication skills. A review of curriculum over the period of reform also supported this perception in that the curriculum had specifically added courses in interactive communicative teaching, semantics, and sociolinguistics and teaching methods. Also of note was the addition of intercultural communication courses.;However, the data also revealed that there was a serious gap between the objectives of the new English language teaching policies and the implementation of them in teacher training programs. The current supply of English teacher trainers remains inadequate for the number required to meet the needs of the national educational system and its long term goals, thereby sometimes necessitating the hiring of under qualified teacher trainers. In addition, funding for advanced study of English teacher trainers has lagged behind that of other faculty. Under the new national project for scholarships for tertiary education, English language faculty are eligible for equal access for funding. In summary, these findings suggest that there have been major improvements in English teacher training programs but that there remains many challenges for the national policy to become a reality.