English Language Education for Graduate Employability in Vietnam

Front matter

Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community

Tran Le Huu Nghia - Ly Thi Tran - Mai Tuyet Ngo Editors

English Language Education for

Contents

1 The Nexus of English Education and Graduate Employability: The Need to Re-Position and Modify the Approach to English Edicao sep ctescesas beset cass epee a AEEA Ly Thi Tran, Tran Le Huu Nghia, and Mai Tuyet Ngo

Part I English as a Power Tool in a Globalized World

2 The Emergence of English Language Education in Non-english Speaking Asian Countries: 0.0.66. 009- encase cance cess enanneecse ewe Tran Le Huu Nghia and Ngoc Tung Vu

3 Current English Education in Vietnam: Policy, Practices, amd Challenges ere ee eer Mai Tuyet Ngo and Ly Thi Tran

4 English Language Skills and Employability: A Theoretical Framework <o45.05 405225404016 2400 Rheed eR RODEASE SETS NEES Ses Tran Le Huu Nghia, Nguyen Phuong Anh, and Le Trung Kien

Part II The Development of Graduate Employability Through English Language Education 5 English Language Education and University Students’

Hoang Yen Phuong and Phuong Quyen Vo

6 English Language Education and Students’ Development of Social Capital sasicssricisecatophancridtiria ir Hae les bees Phuong Quyen Vo and Hoang Yen Phuong

7 The Development of Cultural Capital Through English Do Na Chi and Ngoc Tung Vu viii Contents

8 The Contribution of English Language Education to Students’ Le Trung Kien and Tran Le Huu Nghia

9 The Role of English Language Learning Experiences in the Development of TESOL Preservice Teachers’ Identity Capial occiiseiriocioscteniephris tinsi a dieewdeereondind Minh Hue Nguyen and Xuan Minh Ngo

Part III English Language Education in Vietnam: Current Practices and Challenges

10 Graduates’ Feedback on the Contribution of General English Tran Le Huu Nghia, Nguyen Phuong Anh, Anh Thi Nguyen, and Nguyen Thi My Duyen

11 Perspectives of English Teachers on the Effectiveness of the General English Program on Students’ Employability: A Case Study in Vietnam ...0..0..2.2 220.600 sane cadwneaseeecaenes Thi V. S. Nguyen, Phuong T. N. Phan, Anh Thi Nguyen, and Thu A. T. Huynh

12 English for Specific Purposes Courses and Vietnamese Do Na Chi and Ngoc Tung Vu

13 English-Medium-Instruction in Vietnamese Universities: Pitfalls, Accomplishments, and Impact on Graduate Hap hiyality 6. cncddeastedeateiusdsdeciddesidewadagetoveoyess Huong Le Thanh Phan, Diep Thi Bich Nguyen, and Duc Thi Phung

14 Vietnamese Teachers of English Perceptions and Practices Chinh Duc Nguyen and Thang Kiet Si Ho

15 Vietnamese EFL Learners’ Perspectives on Learning English Ngoc Tai Huynh, Vi Truong, and Tran Le Huu Nghia

PartIV English Language Education for Graduate Employability: What’s Next?

16 Repositioning and Modifying the Contemporary Approach to English Language Education for Vietnamese Graduate Tran Le Huu Nghia, Mai Tuyet Ngo, and Ly Thi Tran

Editors and Contributors

About the Editors

Dr. Tran Le Huu Nghia is currently a research fellow in work-integrated learning and graduate employability at the Australian National University’s College of Business and Economics. He received the Erasmus Mundus scholarship to complete the Master of Lifelong Learning: Policy and Management (2007-2009) provided by Aarhus University (Denmark), Bilbao University (Spain) and Institute of Education (the UK). Then as an Endeavour Postgraduate Awardee (2012-2016), he completed his Ph.D., with a focus on higher education studies, at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He has produced more than 40 research outputs, including articles in high-impact journal such as Higher Education, Teaching and Teacher Education, Teaching in Higher Education. His research interests include teaching and learning for employability, work-integrated learning, teacher education, international education and teaching English as a second language. For his research achievements, he was recognized as a Rising Star by Society of Transnational Academic Researchers (USA) in 2021.

Dr. Ly Thi Tran is a Professor in the School of Education, Deakin University, Australia. Her work focuses on the internationalisation of education, student mobilities, graduate employability, staff professional learning in international education and Vietnamese education. Ly has been awarded various fellowships, prizes and awards for her contribution to research in the fields of international education and student mobilities. She has been named as one of Vietnam’s 50 Most Influential Women 2019 by Forbes Vietnam (Research Category). She has more than 200 publications in different outlets and has won a range of national and international awards for her works.

Dr. Mai Tuyet Ngo is a Senior Lecturer in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Applied Linguistics at Flinders University, Australia. She was Dean of Foundation Studies Department from 2005 to 2009, and Director of the x Editors and Contributors

International Education Center in Hanoi University, Vietnam, in 2014 and 2015. She has been working actively as an English Language Teacher educator and a senior consultant in Vietnam’s nation-wide Foreign Language Education reform projects. Mai graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy in Education from the School of Education, the University of New South Wales, Australia, in 2014. She received the New South Wales Institute of Education Research’s Beth Southwell Award for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis in October 2014. She also received the CAMTESOL Innovation Award in 2009. Her research interests include English language education reforms, English language teacher education innovation, English language teaching/learning for university success, and university governance.

Contributors

Nguyen Phuong Anh Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

Do Na Chi An Giang University, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Nguyen Thi My Duyen An Giang University, Long Xuyen, Vietnam

Thang Kiet Si Ho University of Foreign Language Studies, Danang University, Da Nang, Vietnam

Ngoc Tai Huynh Tra Vinh University, Tra Vinh, Vietnam

Thu A. T. Huynh School of Foreign Languages, Can Tho University, Can Tho, Vietnam

Le Trung Kien Nam Can Tho University, Can Tho, Vietnam

Tran Le Huu Nghia College of Business and Economics, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia

Mai Tuyet Ngo Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia

Xuan Minh Ngo School of Languages and Cultures, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland, UK

Chinh Duc Nguyen University of Foreign Language Studies, Danang University, Da Nang, Vietnam

Diep Thi Bich Nguyen Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia Minh Hue Nguyen Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Anh Thi Nguyen School of Foreign Languages, Can Tho University, Can Tho, Vietnam

Thi V. S. Nguyen School of Foreign Languages, Can Tho University, Can Tho, Vietnam

Editors and Contributors xi

Huong Le Thanh Phan Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia

Phuong T. N. Phan School of Foreign Languages, Can Tho University, Can Tho, Vietnam

Duc Thi Phung The University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia

Hoang Yen Phuong School of Foreign Languages, Can Tho University, Can Tho, Vietnam

Ly Thi Tran School of Education & REDI, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia

Vi Truong Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Phuong Quyen Vo College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia

Ngoc Tung Vu VNU University of Languages and International Studies, Hanoi City, Vietnam

Abbreviations

AFTA ASEAN CEFR CLT EALTA ECAs EF EPI EFL ELT EMI ESL ESP ETCF FDI GDP HE HEIs ICT IELTS Ll

L2 MEXT

NFLP OECD SLA TAM TESOL TLF TOEFL TOEIC

ASEAN Free Trade Area

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations

The Common European Framework of References for Languages Communicative Language Teaching

European Association for Language Testing and Assessment Extra-Curricular Activities

EF English Proficiency Index

English as a Foreign Language

English Language Teaching

English Medium of Instructions

English as a Second Language

English for Specific Purposes

English Teacher Competency Framework (Vietnam)

Foreign Direct Investment

Gross Domestic Product

Higher Education

Higher Education Institutions

Information and Communication Technology

International English Language Testing System

The First Language/Mother Tongue

The Second language

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan)

The National Foreign Language Project 2020 (Vietnam)

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Second Language Acquisition

Technology Acceptance Model

Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Three Language Formula (India)

Test of English as a Foreign Language

Test of English for International Communication xiii xiv Abbreviations

TRA Theory of Reasoned Action UAE The United Arab Emirates UK The United Kingdom

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization US The United States

VSTEP Vietnamese Standardized Test of English Proficiency

WTO World Trade Organisation

List of Figures

Fig.

Fig.

Fig.

Fig.

Fig,

Fig.

Fig.

Fig.

Fig.

Fig.

4.1 4.2

4.3

4.4 4.5

15.1

132 16.1

16.2

16.3

USEM MOTEL s.5.55545¢236¢01460¢8505 SF RGR RTR RRRA RR ERR ERA 79 Career edge graduate employability model (Adapted

ftom Pool & Sewell 2007) cc ccc ee eee ke hema keke eR ee erase 79 Heuristic model of employability (Adapted from Fugate

St UM) E A E A E E 80 Psycho-social construct of employability (Adapted

bom Clarke WIS) videie vetebetereresneeedadamewedseus 83 Technology acceptance model (Adapted from Davis et al.

[IDBI] ororo ee re RE EA R RRR RRE RAR 331 Parameters of a macro-strategic framework (Adapted

from Kumaravadivel [2003]} ciccisaseeocddusncceacnceu es 365 Students’ macro-strategic employability-enhanced

framework via English learning ...2c.0iccsasdsrareesce ord atl A macro-strategic employability-enhanced framework

XV

List of Tables

Table 5.1 Table 5.2 Table 5.3 Table 5.4 Table 6.1 Table 6.2 Table 6.3 Table 6.4 Table 6.5 Table 6.6 Table 6.7 Table 7.1 Table 8.1 Table 8.2 Table 8.3 Table 8.4 Table 10.1

Table 10.2 Table 10.3

Participants’ perceptions of the impact of English on their Prewledse development 2c5055406 55 ce vasows suvedscaseu es Participants’ perceptions of the impact of English on their

SKIT development 15.weceweneeewerdcesiseateceenieeaeees Details ot thé WMieryiewees cc ccca cer edeoudeowreeeowssans Details of the survey participants ...ucccscrercavseures oes English language education and the development

of SOCial relationships 0:5 56s b sober cdoadeeesieaesaeade Forms of English education and the development

Of sotia relationships «ccc scapes et aWde ws atudasngewaaakas Perceived contributions of existing social relationships to.eradnate employa DIIY viccccestatiendehicesesasdecses Employment enhancement possibilities from establishing

from the UNESCO framework for transversal

eeiam a Te aT A 6.65 E T T T TETT The most popular soft skills and attributes developed

Summary of soft skills/attributes developed through Graduates’ perspectives about English language curricula .... Graduates’ feedback about the learning materials used

Table 10.4

Table 10.5 Table 10.6

Table 11.1 Table 12.1 Table 12.2 Table 12.3 Table 12.4 Table 12.5

Table 15.1

List of Tables

Graduates’ feedback about assessment in English e a E E E T 220

Graduates’ feed about teachers and teaching

Participants’ proles .24224.224ecccesseasscsseaveavccee 240

Participants’ responses to what they expected to gain

Participants’ responses to what knowledge they gied

alter ESP COUrSES j.0cccccassassearancececeeceaaeaanens 200

Participants’ responses to what skills they gained

Chapter 1 A) The Nexus of English Education gent and Graduate Employability: The Need

to Re-Position and Modify the Approach

to English Education

Ly Thi Tran O, Tran Le Huu Nghia O, and Mai Tuyet Ngo®

Abstract This chapter provides an introduction into the book. It briefly summarizes issues related to graduate employability and points out that English language competency is an essential employability capital itself, and English language education can help develop other types of employability capital. Based on evidence from the literature, it points out that there is a mismatch between the current delivery approach (content and structure of the curriculum, learning materials, teaching— learning methods, and assessment purpose) and students’ learning approach to English language education in Vietnam, and other Asian countries. This requires a change in the approaches to English language education to better accommodate the demands of the society and economy for students’ English competency and better position English language education to match its importance in this globalized world. The chapter then narrows down to the current context of teaching and learning English in Vietnam, arguing that Vietnam can provide an appropriate case to investigate how English language education can help develop graduate employability for students. The chapter ends with a brief summary of the content of each chapter presented in the book.

Keywords Graduate employability - English language competency - Employability capital - English education - English proficiency

L. T. Tran (œ) School of Education & REDI, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia e-mail: ly.tran@deakin.edu.au

T. L. H. Nghia Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia e-mail: nghia.tran @anu.edu.au

M. T. Ngo Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia e-mail: mai.ngo @flinders.edu.au

© The Author(s) 2024 1 T. L. H. Nghia et al. (eds.), English Language Education for Graduate Employability

in Vietnam, Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4338-8_1

1.1 What is This Book About?

This book is a unique volume that investigates English language education and graduate employability. They are two hot yet independent research areas. As far as we are concerned, there is virtually no book in the market that holistically puts them side by side and examines the relationship between them, especially in the context of non-English speaking developing countries. Therefore, this book can be considered the first to examine the intersection between English language education and graduate employability.

Specifically, this book reports the nature, characteristics, and the context underpinning the nexus of English language education and graduate employability in Vietnam. It tackles specific aspects of how English language education contributes to employability and career development for students and graduates. English proficiency has been reported in the literature as a crucial factor influencing graduates’ employment outcomes and career advancement in our increasingly interconnected and globalized world. However, in many non-English speaking countries, English language education at universities has predominantly concentrated on developing linguistic knowledge for students (e.g., Cha, 2015; Ploywattanawong & Trakulkasemsuk, 2014; Tran, 2007). This approach does not appear to motivate students to invest in their English language learning or capitalize from that learning for their future life and work. It can be because the link between English language learning and graduate employability is often not explicitly articulated to students. In addition, there seems to be a lack of support mechanisms at the classroom and institutional levels to help students develop and translate their English (or foreign) learning and language capability into employability. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the nexus between English language education and employability as well as enabling and disabling factors for students’ development of employability in English courses.

Despite the focus on Vietnam, the book embraces an international and comparative perspective in understanding English language education and employability. This was possible through the provision of a broad theoretical background and framework about English language education, employability models, and English language policies in Asian countries, and through critiques on the limitations of the approach that these countries adopted to deliver English programs. The book draws on empirical evidence from a range of qualitative and quantitative studies. It also compares the findings reported in these studies with relevant research in other non-English speaking countries. It reports different stakeholders’ perceptions of and experiences with the contribution of English language education to the development of students’ employability capital. The book also reports the effectiveness of current practices in English language education with a focus on its preparation of students for work, using a variety of stakeholders’ experiences. Despite recent achievements, stakeholders generally believe that English language programs in Vietnamese higher education have failed to prepare students for employability and employment purposes.

Based on the empirical evidence reported in the chapters and a critical review of policies across Asian countries, the book proposes that English language education

1 The Nexus of English Education and Graduate Employability: The Need ... 3 in higher education needs a new approach that links to graduate employability frameworks. It argues that English language programs should not limit itself within the notion of transmitting a foreign language under the umbrella of developing cultural or linguistic competence. Rather, English education should be framed from a socioeconomic perspective because in many non-English speaking countries, English has been a critical employability capital required by employers. Yet, a shift in the delivery approach and curriculum content will need time to deploy and evaluate the outcomes. Through providing both conceptual knowledge and practical implications, the authors of the book believe that such deep-rooted changes in approach would help English language education reforms in Vietnamese higher education and elsewhere more effectively develop English language skills for students and accordingly enhance their work-readiness in an increasingly globalized world.

1.2 Overview of Graduate Employability

Graduate employability has become a priority in the higher education agenda of many countries across the world over the past two decades. It is not only the concern of individual students and institutions for their students, but it is often tied to the broader social responsibility of higher education regarding the need to equip the future workforce with adequate skills, knowledge, and attributes to perform and engage in the changing world. Students and graduates are considered as (potential) key actors in the economy given their positioning in the labour market (Tomlinson, 2016) and in the long-term social and economic development of nation states. Graduate employability is situated at the intersection of universities’ education, individual graduates’ capabilities, and the broader economic, social, cultural, and political context which shapes the nature of the labour market. It is heavily affected by local and global financial, health and climate crises, which determine the demand, structure, and operation of the labour market. Currently, the financial and labour markets have been severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rising unemployment, heightened job competition, shifting characteristics of the labour market, and changing demands for employability have been reported as the major impacts of the spread of the present global pandemic on the labour market (CBC News, 2020; Jackson et al., 2020; Miller, 2020; The Guardian, 2020). Such a challenging context has not only made graduate employability become a pressing issue for universities, graduates, and the society but also required an agile approach to understanding the new demands of the labour market in order to support the development of graduate employability and career prospects or graduates’ upskilling or reskilling in response to the changing context. The constantly shifting, complex, and increasingly constrained labour market, exacerbated by the insecurities because of COVID-19, have created a stronger demand for graduates to build up an employability portfolio or an entire package of knowledge, skills, attributes, and experiences to complement their degrees (Brunner et al., 2018; McMurray et al., 2016; Tran & Bui, 2021; Tran et al., 2014, 2022a, 2022b). English language competency has been identified as a key component in graduates’ whole employability portfolio (Bui et al., 2017; Roshid & Chowdhury, 2013).

There have been various debates and perspectives about how to define graduate employability and what the key components of graduate employability are. Employability is generally constructed as a relational and multidimensional notion across a range of definitions (Nilsson, 2016). The most common conceptualization of graduate employability is often tied to discipline-specific knowledge and skills, generic skills, and attributes. In this regard, employability is defined as a combination of technical knowledge, skills, and attitudes (Hillage & Pollard, 1998). However, some scholars argue that employability should be conceptualized as an individual ability “to find, create, and sustain meaningful work across the career lifespan” (Bennett, 2018, p. 5). Others are critical of employability being viewed as fixed skills employability or as simply a “possession of the generic skills listed by graduate employers” (Bridgstock, 2009, p. 31) given the rapidly changing and dynamic labour market as well as the economic, social, cultural, and political context that influences the labour market.

In response to the identified limitations of aligning graduate employability largely to pre-prescribed skills and knowledge, some scholars point out the need to view employability from the angles of psychology and human behaviors, and conceive it as a mix of career identity, social capital, cultural capital, and human capital (Clarke, 2018; Fugate et al., 2004; Tomlinson, 2017). Authors, such as Tomlinson (2017) and Clarke (2018), argue that to enhance employability and career prospects, it is critical for graduates to possess and continuously develop a combination of capitals, including:

e human capital: technical knowledge and skills, soft skills, accrual work experiences,

è social capital: social network within and beyond a work sector,

e cultural capital: knowledge about how an industry works,

e psychological capital: attributes that make graduates more agile in their career development,

e identity capital: a sense of belonging to an industry, occupational sector, or work role.

English language proficiency, necessary for students and graduates to effectively communicate, engage, and perform in a globalized and multilingual world, has intersected with the kinds of capital listed above (e.g., see Dudzik & Nguyen, 2015; Fang & Baker, 2018). English language or foreign language proficiency is critical to individual students’ study—work-life, future workforce and thus nation states’ long-term development.

1 The Nexus of English Education and Graduate Employability: The Need ... 5

1.3 Graduate Employability and English Language Proficiency

English has become an international language for education, cultural exchange, business, and political affairs for many decades (Fenton-Smith et al., 2017; Pennycook, 2017; Simpson, 2017). This happens as a result of internationalization and globalization processes which require a common international language for information exchange in different aspects involved in the processes. Due to the increased importance of English in our modern society, graduates with English proficiency have an advantage for securing employment, career development, and international mobility, especially for those from non-English speaking countries and for international graduates (Arkoudis et al., 2009; Grasmane, 2011; Stroupe & Kimura, 2015; Yoke et al., 2018). Consequently, in many non-English speaking countries, English has become central in the national language policy, an instruction medium in some HE programs, and taught as a core component of the curricula, from primary to higher education (see for example, Chung & Choi, 2016; Kirkpatrick, 2016; Tsui & Tollefson, 2017; Tran & Nguyen,2018).

Apart from the role of English language proficiency in students’ and graduates’ employability and employment prospects, English language education can value-add how students relate themselves with the world around, and facilitate their studies of other subjects within the curriculum, as a range of updated disciplinary and general knowledge is published in materials written in English (see a case of using English as a medium of instruction in Tran et al., 2019). Students with a good command of English will have better access to learning resources and enrich their knowledge as English is the most common medium of writing for articles from 65 countries and territories around the world (Han & Ho, 2011). van Weijen (2012) also reinforced that approximately 80% of the papers indexed in Scopus were written in English. In addition, successfully acquiring English skills requires a high level of determination, creativity, and collaboration. These attributes would in turn help students and graduates develop useful psychological attributes that can be translated to their employability development and career advancement.

Over the past three decades, non-English speaking countries in Asia have committed significant resources to develop English language competency for its citizens, especially young people. English language education is often prioritized in the government agenda and English delivered as a subject within the curriculum. Nation states like Singapore, South Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam have regarded English education as an important vehicle to enhance its workforce competitiveness in the region and the world as well as its position in the international economic and political arena (Dekker & Yong, 2005; Nguyen, 2011; Nguyen & Nguyen, 2019). In China, English language education was seen to be integral to the country’s economic, political, and social developments in accordance with the Open door policy (1899) and English was considered to be beneficial for fostering social equality in the nation. The use of English was positioned as a tool to support cultural and political developments of the nation (Adamson, 2004). In Vietnam, the 2005 Education Law explicitly and officially recognized foreign language learning, including English, in schools, which was a recognition of the role of English in the nation’s economic competitiveness and regional and international integration (Vu, 2019). Existing literature also suggests that the growing popularity of English language education in Asia has resulted from the sociolinguistic and sociocultural landscapes which have shaped the accelerating demand for English proficiency (Hamid & Nguyen, 2016; Kirkpatrick, 2008; Matsuda, 2012). The increasingly interconnected world also poses a greater demand for people to master foreign language skills, cultural diversity, and intercultural understandings to facilitate their interactions with speakers of other language and cultural backgrounds.

1.4 Approaches to Teaching English to Higher Education Students

Although there has been a concerted effort by the governments across many Asian countries to invest in enhancing the English proficiency of its citizens, a range of problems exist. First, one of the common approaches to teaching and learning English in higher education in Asia has been based on the native-speaker model that aims to train learners to use English as English native speakers (Chomsky, 1965) whilst giving insufficient attention to building on learners’ own cultures, values, and identities as a foreign or second language learner. This model is considered as “not appropriate in all circumstances and unattainable by the vast majority of students” (Cook, 2016, p. 6). Second, in countries like South Korea, China, Thailand, and Vietnam, English language education for decades was grammar-based and predominantly centred around developing learners’ linguistic knowledge whilst placing less emphasis on their communicative skills (Cha, 2015; Ploywattanawong & Trakulkasemsuk, 2014; Tran, 2007). Third, the examination-driven culture where learners were expected to face excessive focus in tests (Tran et al., 2014) in English language classrooms was also amongst the inhibiting factors to their development of English language proficiency for life and for employability. In short, following the native-speaker model, grammar-based method and examination-oriented approach to teaching and learning English might preclude learners’ development of the capability to use language skills practically in real work and life situations (Feng, 2005; Yu et al., 2009).

As far as English language teaching and learning in higher education in Asian countries is concerned, existing literature has also identified a range of other issues impacting its effectiveness, including a lack of learner-centredness, insufficient professional development to support teachers in applying updated pedagogies, and best practices into classroom teaching and most seriously, a shortage of competent English language teachers and teacher trainers (Le, 2019; Ngo, 2019; Nguyen & Nguyen, 2019; Nhung, 2019). In Oman, for example, limited educational resources, including large class sizes and unavailability of competent teachers have been identified in The National Language Policy as amongst the factors depriving learners from

1 The Nexus of English Education and Graduate Employability: The Need ... 7 opportunities to practice and improve their interpersonal communication in situations beyond the classroom settings (see Chapter 2 of this book).

Despite the increasing importance of English in graduate employability and in their future life, like their Asian counterpart, it appears that the aim of English language education in Vietnam is focusing more on developing linguistic understandings, intercultural competence, and relations. English education has not paid enough attention to equipping students with practical language skills for their future education and work (Tsui & Tollefson, 2017; Vu, 2019). In higher education, on top of teacher qualities and other practicality issues, English is often treated secondary compared to discipline-specific subjects, and there is a disconnect between English and other subjects (Hien & Loan, 2018; Hoa, 2016). Consequently, many graduates are not confident to apply for jobs that require English skills (Bui et al., 2018) or cannot use English skills effectively for completing their professional duties (Tran, 201 8b). It is common to see that many students and employees enrol in extra English classes offered by private English language centres to improve their English competence so as to enhance their learning, work, and future prospects (Tran, 2015, 2018a).

The literature also indicates that there is a mismatch between the current delivery approach (content and structure of the curriculum, learning materials, teaching— learning methods, and assessment purpose) and students’ learning approach to English language education in Vietnam, and other Asian countries. This requires a change in approaches to English language education to better accommodate the demands of the society and economy for students’ English competency and better position English language education to match its importance in this globalized world. Despite the rhetoric about the importance of English to students’ employability and nation states’ workforce competitiveness, the teaching and learning of English in many Asian countries, including Vietnam, is often approached from the angle of linguistic knowledge, intercultural understandings, and cultural exchange rather than to explicitly prepare students for future work. Even though these sorts of knowledge help to enhance students’ employability, there is a lack of support and guidance to link these to employability earlier in their university program and to articulate these into employability capital.

The literature suggests that English classes can potentially provide great opportunities to develop employability for students (Dudzik & Nguyen, 2015; Fang & Baker, 2018), if strategic policies and appropriate approaches to the delivery of English curricula are designed and implemented. It is critical that new approaches to teaching and learning English take into account the role of English skills in enhancing graduates’ employability. The importance of English language education in assisting with the development of life and employability skills will need to be articulated more explicitly in policies, which are then followed by concrete guidelines, strategies, and resources in order to realize these policies in supporting the development of English proficiency for employability. These steps will help bridge the gaps between policy rhetoric and the reality of teaching and learning English in higher education. It is equally important to place English as a core subject rather than at the periphery of higher education. This will be linked to a greater recognition of the role of English in university discourses framing graduate attributes, employability, and soft skills development. The implementation of innovative pedagogies to English language teaching and learning, especially through real-life language experiences, task-based and project-based approaches, and digital or hybrid language teaching approaches, need to accord greater awareness and place the goal of developing English for employability at the centre.

1.5 English Language Education for Employability in Vietnamese Higher Education

Addressing the mentioned research gaps, this edited book will examine teaching and learning English for employability in Vietnamese higher education. Vietnam is chosen as a case to investigate the nexus between English language education and employability because it is a booming economy with a high demand for English skills and because there are vigorous English language education reforms in the last 20 years. The book is framed within one country to better examine the research issue in-depth within the influence of contextual factors.

In Vietnam, a middle-income country in Southeast Asia, there has been a pressing need for English language proficiency due to rapid socio-economic development and internationalization (Bodewig & Badiani-Magnusson, 2014), the nation’s commitment to regional and global integration, and the growing demand for overseas study and labour migration (Tran et al., 2014). Vietnam’s open door policy since 1986 has accelerated the demands for English and foreign languages which are regarded by the government as being crucial to support its regional and international integration agenda through boosting its economic and diplomatic relations with the Asian region and the world (Pham, 2014; Truong & Tran, 2014). Despite its long-lasting interaction with Vietnam through the American involvement in the country between 1954 and 1975, English was not positioned as a major foreign language in Vietnam, like Chinese, French, and Russian, until D6i Mói in 1986 (Pham, 2014). Vietnam’s becoming a member of in World Trade Organization in 2007 and its participation in regional and international organizations such as Association of Southeast Asian Nations (1995), the Asia—Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (1998), and Free Trade Area (AFTA), were crucial milestones in Vietnam’s internationalization of the national economy and geopolitical relations. Ddi Mói and these progresses have created a dynamic and fast-moving economy, coupled with the availability of a diligent and low-wage labour force, and the nation’s political stability, appear to be critical in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam. The country has witnessed a rapid growth of private, joint venture and FDI companies, exports, imports, and international trade since Dôi Mói. These developments have generated a pressing demand for English and other foreign languages. In addition, the growth of middle-class families which has resulted in accelerating demands for overseas study and the rise of labour migration which has seen Vietnamese workers migrating to