Learning English In The

Vietnamese Context
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Published: 23rd March, 2015 Last Edited: 9th May, 2017

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English has become a vital and mandatory communication language in Vietnam since
the opening of its doors to the world in 1986. Many English-speaking foreigners from
across Asia, Australia, America and Europe started coming to invest in Vietnam. This has
motivated the people of Vietnam to learn English to facilitate efficient and effective
communication among their counterparts. The importance of English was immediately
acknowledged by the Vietnamese government and as a result the English language
programs were made compulsory beginning with the secondary schools and
subsequently the high schools and finally university.

The teaching of English in secondary and high schools strongly focus mainly on
grammar, sentence structures and vocabulary. In such a teaching format, conversational
English was not taken into consideration. In addition, English learning and teaching is
purely examination-based. Examinations were mainly grammar-focused. As a result, the
teachers and academicians teach only the bare necessity which is required to pass the
examination and is not linked to the learning needs of individual students. This has
caused students to become de-motivated because English is just another subject at
school, not part of their life. Many students eventually fail to see the importance and
pride in being able to speak fluent English.

At university level, students who are motivated to develop their competencies in English
can pursue a Bachelor’s degree in English Language Teaching or a Bachelor of
English degree. After graduation, they can work as teachers of English within the
Vietnamese education system or as an English translator/interpreter depending on their
capacity and proficiency. Students in these programs normally study for four years,
course subjects among others include lessons about language structures, linguistics and
teaching methodology. While this may sound theoretically sufficient, the learning and
teaching of English in Vietnam today is purely limited to teacher-focused classrooms or
in other words teaching methods that do not create opportunities for learners to satisfy
their communicative needs. The English syllabus in Vietnam is very Grammar-focused.
Therefore, it is very difficult for Vietnamese learners to communicate fluently and
effectively in English since it is rarely spoken in Vietnam with the exception of some
special places and events such as offices of multinational corporations and English
language clubs. In fact you will hardly see Vietnamese speak English unless absolutely
necessary. This is a far cry from neighboring countries like Singapore, Malaysia and the
Philippines where English is spoken even during casual conversations with friends and
family.

In recent years, the teaching methodologies of English has been through an enormous
amount of changes and improvements especially in the areas of how the communicative
approach is being widely applied and integrated into the English learning language
classrooms. In classrooms of today, we see more and more learner response taking
place. As a result, the English curriculum has also been revamped to generate youths
which are able to communicate holistically in English and not merely in grammar
theories.

Problem statement
The result of poor learning and ineffective teaching methodologies of English in
Vietnamese classrooms today (due to the lack of genuine communication experience
and examination â€" centric lessons) are generating many students that achieve
relatively good grades in their exams but on the other hand unable to communicate
effectively in the real world.

According to Cunningham Una (2009) Vietnamese-accented speech in English has been

informally observed to be notably unintelligible for native English-speaking listeners and
even for Vietnamese listeners. There are extremely limited opportunities for proper
hearing and speaking of English in Vietnam. It is undeniable that the pronunciation of
English presents severe challenges to Vietnamese learners but they were not trained on
how to pronounce English phonetics accurately and nobody corrected their
mispronunciations in the early years of learning English. In addition, students mainly
learn English pronunciation from Vietnamese English teachers who sometimes
encounter difficulties themselves. Students are likely to imitate their teachers’
pronunciation. This is somehow a kin to the Blind man leading another Blind man across
the street.
The concern here is that we are unsure if Vietnamese students can recognize common
pronunciation errors which they make on a regular basis.

The purpose of the study

This paper explores to what extent Vietnamese learners recognize common
pronunciation errors in their spoken English and the reasons why they do not or are
unable to correct their own mistakes. Suggestions will be made on how to improve the
methods of teaching and correcting English pronunciation flaws in the Vietnamese
context.

The significance of the study

This study will paint honest picture of the difficulties in learning and improving the
English pronunciation of Vietnamese students. The students will have opportunity to
self-assess their own English speech and recognize their mispronunciation with support
from a native English-speaker. In the event a native speaker is unavailable, an equally
competent and qualified speaker of English will be invited to observe and act as a point
of reference.

The scope of the study

The primary focus of this study is to present an overview on the major difference
between English and Vietnamese phonology and the capacity of a Vietnamese speaker
to recognize common English pronunciation errors in his/her own speech. The students
for this study will consist of English Language undergraduate students from the Foreign
Languages Faculty at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City. The correlation
between theory and practice in the learning of English pronunciation will also be
studied. The study will contribute some suggestions that will further enhance the
accuracy in pronouncing the English phonetics.

Methodology
The experiment will be conducted using qualitative methods. The speech of three
students during a speaking test at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City will be
recorded and analyzed. All three students will get to listen to their own speech again
respectively to see if they are able identify their pronunciation errors. A
native/competent English speaker will also get listen to the students’ speech to
identify their mistakes in pronunciation.