Many Vietnamese high schools in Hanoi are wasting resources and students’ time by teaching subjects like math, physics, or chemistry in English, according to Dr Nguyen Ngoc Hung, head of the National English Program 2020, a project to improve Vietnamese students’ English skills by 2020.

Some cut back their Vietnamese mainstream curricula to gain time for other programs taught in English whilst others even teach their students in the afternoon in English what they have already learnt in the morning, he said.

Those schools should review their teaching philosophy since international researches have shown that learners best acquire knowledge of those subjects via their mother tongue, Hung remarked.

It is thus inadvisable to teach these subjects in English to Vietnamese high school students, most of whom have poor English skills and generally cannot follow the instructions, he remarked, suggesting they should be taught the language instead.

He cited research findings that show this approach to transferring knowledge will only lead to low level of proficiency in the learners’ mother tongue, foundation knowledge, and command of the foreign language even.

It is unnecessary for some schools to ‘import’ some training programs from overseas and then tailor them to their students just to improve their English, he observed.

More and more parents now choose to send their children to schools that use English as the medium of instruction as a preparation for their study overseas later, Dr Hung said.

He inferred that is why high schools are racing to teach school subjects in English.

But the students merely need a good TOEFL score for their study abroad, he said, advising those parents to just send their children to English classes instead.

He applauded Ho Chi Minh City’s target that its high school students will be able to score around 580 in the TOEFL exam at the time of their graduation. This will help align the city’s educational standards with international standards, he said.

Meanwhile, high school graduates who reach the national standard level in English – the so-called B1 level – set by the government can only work as receptionists at hotels. No universities, either domestic or international, will admit these students into their English programs, he emphasized.

Source: Tuot Tre, Tien Phong