Language Education and Foreign Relations in Vietnam*

Abstract

In this chapter, the author chapter looks at how social issues affect and are affected by language issues as she considers the chequered history of Vietnam and how historical events effected changes in the education system of the country. The chapter examines how foreign language study in Vietnam historically has been a barometer of Vietnam's relations with other countries and how the foreign language curriculum has been directly affected by those relations. Given the strong sense of national identity and diplomatic isolation in the post-1975 period, it is understandable that formal foreign language provision in Vietnam has been a low priority. However, as the lingua franca of the ASEAN and APEC countries with which Vietnam does business and the language of globalization, English is widely perceived as having the greatest economic value. The Ministry of Education and Training also recognizes that English pedagogy needs to be reviewed.

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