Premolares Inferiores

During its 4000 years of civilization, Vietnam has expanded from a small province in the mountainous North, gradually expanding southward to become a strong, growing economy with a population of 85 million. During this period, Vietnam has had direct involvement with such powers as China, France, the Soviet Union and the United States of America. These involvements have all contributed to the many changes in language development and language choices that have shaped Vietnam.

2.3.1.1. From pre-modern time to 1945

Language is one of the elements that indicate a nation‟s strength or identity as well as its changes. Goh and Nguyen Bang (2004) note that China ruled Vietnam for a long period of over 1000 years (111 BC to 938 AD). Therefore, Chinese was used as the language of state, and the written form for law and government used the Chinese script. However, among the populace Vietnamese language was still used in spoken form. In government, Vietnamese first used Chinese with Vietnamese pronunciation and then borrowed Chinese characters which were altered to form their own version known as Chữ Nôm around the 10th

century. However, it was difficult for Vietnamese people to read and write this script. In the 17th century, French missionaries began arriving in Vietnam, and Alexandre de Rhodes developed a new script known as

Quốc Ngữ (Vietnamese) based on the simpler phonetically based Latin alphabet to translate and write catholic religious materials into Vietnamese. This laid a strong foundation for future access into the written forms of both French and English.

French dominated Vietnam from 1887 even though the Vietnamese language used in schools still used Chinese characters. However in 1919 the French introduced their educational system and eliminated the Chinese script, meaning that the languages used in schools and official documents were now both French and Vietnamese. Wright (2002, pp.230-231) reveals that under the French, Petrus Ky produced

bilingual material using French and Vietnamese. In addition, the French government sponsored newspapers were also published in Quốc Ngữ with some Vietnamese now speaking French due to their work requirements. At this stage French was used as the medium of instruction in schools nationwide, and English was taught as a foreign language at very few private schools in big cities.

2.3.1.2. From 1945 to 1975

After the liberation from French occupation (Dien Bien Phu battle and the Geneva Conference) in 1954, Vietnam was temporarily divided into two parts in accordance with its own political issues. The North followed communism with support from Russia and China, and the South followed capitalism supported by France and the U.S.A. In the North the Communist leader, Ho Chi Minh, declared independence and the wish that every Vietnamese citizen be able to read and write Vietnamese. Hence, in the north Vietnamese was promoted and taught in schools. Russian and Chinese also became important because of their political involvements. Meanwhile the South of Vietnam was promoting French and English due to their political involvements (Do Huy Thinh, 2006; Goh and Nguyen Bang, 2004).

In the American War of 1955-1975, American involvement in the South of Vietnam meant that the number of troops using English in Vietnam increased to more than half a million US troops in 1965. In order to fight the communists the Americans needed the co- operation of a large number of Southern Vietnamese who spoke competent

English. As they needed people who could use English to provide services, English became an important tool for communication. Southerners realized that their children could succeed in life if they became involved in the American military, politics or business through having the advantage of English. Therefore, “there was a

mushrooming of private English language schools hoping to profit from the need of so many to acquire some English” (Wright, 2002, p.235). However, in April 1975 the communists completely conquered the South causing English to disappear from educational training. Do Huy Thinh (2006) adds that with the fall of Saigon and the Communists conquering the whole nation, they expanded their approach to the teaching of foreign languages within the educational system. This meant that Russian and Chinese were now the main foreign languages for Vietnamese to study.

2.3.1.3. From 1975 to 1986

Wright (2002), Napier and Nguyen Thi Thuy Mai (2003, p.237) note that in the period 1975-1986, Vietnam had a strong relationship with both Russia (The former Soviet Union) and Eastern Europe, and among the Eastern communist bloc “Russia became the main supporter of an impoverished Vietnam”. The reason for this

affiliation was because Vietnam was isolated from the world not only due to the U.S led trade embargo and China following the border war in 1979, but from surrounding countries that were afraid of Vietnam expansionism. At this time Vietnam received Russia‟s technical assistance, trade and education; meaning that the Russian language became the most popular foreign language taught in the Vietnam educational system nationwide. However, Vietnamese students did not wholeheartedly accept this, especially many of those in the South (e.g. the researcher and his siblings) who chose not to study the Russian language in secondary school level when it was compulsory for students to study a foreign language, and Russian was strongly encouraged. In fact, at that time my school was unable to organize any Russian classes because no students wished to learn that language. Do Huy Thinh (2006) points out following this period Vietnam received limited aid from the communist world because they were undergoing serious difficulties themselves. Therefore, at the Sixth National Congress of the Vietnamese Communist Party in 1986, Vietnam officially announced

its decision to open relations with other countries regardless of their political

differences in order to solve its economic problems and develop a strong future. For this reason English became popular again.

2.3.1.4. From 1986 up to present

Goh and Nguyen Bang (2004) and Napier and Nguyen Thi Thuy Mai (2003) note that since Vietnam‟s „Open Door‟ policy in 1986, the country has taken different

directions in trade and diplomacy. The use of English provided opportunities for Vietnam to build up relations with other countries using English, especially since English had become the language of international communication in the late 1980s. Numerous foreign companies began investing in Vietnam‟s potential market such as those from Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia and others from the European Union, using English as the means of communication. As Do Huy Thinh (2006, p.1) notes “English has thus regained its role as the main foreign language taught and used in Vietnam”. At the same time, Wright (2002) points out that the 1991 crisis related to political and trading issues in the Soviet Union meant that Vietnam no longer received their support, and Russian language quickly lost its standing position in Vietnam‟s educational system. As a result, “English replaced Russian as the favorite foreign language to study” Denham (1997, p.195). Goh and Nguyen Bang (2004) point out that these new circumstances meant that “the learning of English in the schools gained in popularity” and “English quickly became the first foreign language”. This meant it could be introduced earlier in the Junior high school curriculum particularly in the metropolitan centres of Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City. Do Huy Thinh (2006) agrees that as Vietnamese people had opportunities to work for new foreign companies they rushed to English classes to support their current

positions or to assist their future job prospects. English language centres were mushrooming nationwide in order to meet the demands of the society and “the English language movement underwent explosive growth during the early 1990s leading to an official acknowledgement of the role and status of English” (Do Huy Thinh, 2006, p.8). From the early 1990s, students were required to achieve foreign language competence and mostly English was chosen in order to graduate in all

majors. The Prime Minister issued an Order on 15/8/1994 (Government of Vietnam), saying that government officials under 45 years old must study a certain foreign language and be able to use it as a tool to communicate. By 1997 this was mainly and favorably English.

Consequently the number of people choosing English as their preferred foreign language has increased so rapidly that there was a shortage of English teachers. As Do Huy Thinh states, “In the early 1990s, since the demand for English outstripped supply, those who had no official training also became teachers” and “85 percent of foreign language learners in Vietnam choose English” (2006, p.6). Indeed, the researcher‟s case was a typical example. In 1993 while he was the third year student (attending morning classes) majoring in English to become an English teacher, he was taking charge of some English classes (running in the afternoon) at a secondary school as an invited teacher with a teaching load of 20 hours per week. A remarkable point is that the teaching contract was signed each year between the researcher and the district‟s Education and Training Office which controls all secondary schools in the area. In order to address teacher shortages, the government allowed Vietnamese Russian language teachers (mostly in the North) to attend special courses to enrich their knowledge of English so that they could continue their jobs as Vietnamese English language teachers. As Denham (1997, p.195) stated there was “…a surfeit of teachers of Russian, many of whom sought to be re-trained as teachers of English”.

Currently, as well as English being taught at government schools and language centres, there is a growing presence of many private English language centres opening in order to meet the learners‟ needs and social trends due to “… strong feeling among the Vietnamese that English is now an important asset”. Consequently, “in the cash-strapped public education system, the main foreign language is English” (Wright, 2002, p.241). Do Huy Thinh (2006, p.8) concludes that in the decade of 1996-2006 “English has developed with an unprecedented speed in Vietnam”.

2.3.2. Overview of English teaching and learning in Vietnam