Search

This study investigates the cultural and language barriers faced by Lao students at Vietnamese universities of education and proposes solutions for enhancing their academic and social integration. We analyzed the experiences of 624 Lao students across eight major universities in Vietnam through online surveys and in-depth interviews employing a mixed-methods approach. This study revealed that Lao students face significant language and cultural challenges that manifest in difficulties with Vietnamese language proficiency and adaptation to the academic culture in Vietnam. Despite these challenges, support from the Vietnamese student and teacher communities plays a crucial role in their adaptation process. The research underscores the need for enhanced teaching methodologies and the development of robust support systems for international students highlighting the pivotal role of language and cultural support in improving the educational experiences of Lao students. Addressing the language and cultural barriers faced by Lao students is essential for fostering their successful integration and participation in the Vietnamese educational system. Enhanced language support and culturally sensitive pedagogical strategies are recommended to enhance the academic success and social integration of these students, thereby contributing to a more inclusive educational environment.

One key objective of English medium instruction (EMI) programs in non-Anglophone countries is to improve students' English skills in both academic and professional environments. Despite the high cost and the popularity of the program policy, there remains a lack of empirical studies on the link between attending an EMI program and students' English proficiency. This paper employs data from 111 students majoring in international business from a top Vietnamese university to compare English competency, measured by the Duolingo Test, between students enrolled in an EMI program and their counterparts who are taught the same curriculum but in the native language, through Vietnamese medium instruction (VMI). Controlling for different social backgrounds, the study shows that participation in EMI is associated with better English test performance. Analysis using multiple interaction terms shows that male EMI participants, or students coming from lower income households, having lower English scores in high school, and attending more English private tutoring would benefit more from EMI. The analysis sheds light on potential socioeconomic obstacles to accessing EMI and English skill development. Follow-up interviews similarly show the relevance of demographic backgrounds to the students' perceptions of EMI and their English proficiency. The study provides clear evidence of substantial associations between EMI and English skills. Further studies are needed to establish the causality of the results.

Experiential learning is an important component of both teaching and learning during the curriculum reform that is implemented in the new general teaching curriculum. Combining theoretical study with experiential learning allows students to maximize their knowledge and skills, which is beneficial to education in general and the teaching of the Vietnamese language in particular. The purpose of this study was to investigate the viewpoints held by educators and administrators regarding the efficiency of experiential learning in the context of the Vietnamese language classroom. One hundred fifty classroom instructors and nine principals from elementary schools around the country volunteered their time to participate in the survey. In the study, quantitative approaches were used with descriptive analysis to examine the collected data. According to the findings, the majority of educators and administrators were in complete agreement that providing students with opportunities for experiential learning helped them feel more comfortable and engaged in studying Vietnamese language. Even while there were some educators and school administrators who did not believe that experiential learning helped students become more responsible for themselves, others, and the community as a whole, the consensus was that it did. Experiential learning has been shown to be an effective method for teaching pupils the Vietnamese language, as demonstrated by the evidence presented in the current study. When designing a curriculum for a classroom, encouraging students to participate in experiential activities and programs should be a priority.

The use of mother tongue to teach a second language has been a controversial issue in the field of second language acquisition. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of using mother tongue (Vietnamese) to teach a foreign language (English) under the pressure of the implementation of an English-only policy at the tertiary level in Vietnam where English is taught as a foreign language. The mixed-methods approach was conducted to contrast the perspectives of 11 teachers participating in semi-structured interviews, and 255 students answering 5-point Likert scale questionnaires. These research instruments were carefully designed by the researchers adopting the factual and behavioural criteria proposed by Dörnyei and Taguchi (2009). The results show that the minimal use of Vietnamese is utilized as a necessary pedagogical tool to teach English. The empirical results propose that the English-only policy can be effective if the actions such as more English learning time, English entry tests, English materials and teaching aids with techno-facilities are seriously taken into consideration. To adopt the English-only policy in EFL classes, school administrators have to renovate the foreign language regulations while teachers must adapt their teaching methodology to meet the requirements of the learner-centered approaches.

Students can learn in a meaningful way through the use of educational games. When students apply their skills and information in order to progress through a game, a huge degree of engagement is generated among them in the classroom as a result both their capabilities and their learning increase. 153 children from primary schools in Vietnam participated in this research. The children were split into two groups: an experimental and a control group. Both groups participated in two sessions of word and sentence practice as well as spelling instruction. According to the findings of the study, the educational outcomes of the students are greatly improved when games are used in their classrooms. In addition, research has shown that some teachers are against the use of games in the classroom since it makes it more difficult to prepare educational materials. Some educators believe that playing educational games is a more effective method of instruction as it allows for greater flexibility during the learning process. This makes a contribution to the theoretical framework that is necessary to guide educators and instructors in the process of improving learning game programs for children in primary schools and other learners.

International pharmacy students enhance the healthcare landscape through unique vantage points and diverse communication abilities. Their impact actualizes beyond pharmacy settings into community service arenas. This paper describes a collaboration between international pharmacy students and a statewide human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) needs assessment project in the United States (South Carolina). By translating a survey designed for people living with HIV from English to French, Spanish, and Vietnamese, the international pharmacy students reported greater familiarity with HIV nomenclature and treatment parameters. They also shared their paths to the United States and the importance of frequent use of non-English languages to their survey translations. The international pharmacy students viewed the survey's lengthiness as a possible barrier to participation. Articulating these experiences may heighten awareness of the value international students embody along with motivate other international students to embrace moments that center their linguistic latitudes.

Employing ethnography and the theoretical paradigm of "language ideology" (Silverstein, M. 1979. "Language structure and linguistic ideology." In "The Elements: A Parasession on Linguistic Units and Levels," edited by P. Clyne, W. Hanks, and H. Carol, 193-247. Chicago Linguistic Society), this article examines how ideologies of language inform language practices among migrant workers in a Vietnamese restaurant in South Texas. Data is drawn from participant observations, audio-recorded interactions, semi-structured interviews with participants, and collection of artifacts. Findings suggest that the participants hold certain ideologies, namely: (1) standardised English as an impediment or a resource; (2) polite language as access to community membership and career opportunities; and (3) multilingualism as a marketable commodity. Those beliefs, in turn, shape their trajectory of language practices and socialisation patterns. The participants' language ideologies, therefore, do not exist separately as a theoretical divide, nor a static social construct, but constantly evolve, mutually inform, and contest each other, dynamically transformed during their socialisation process. The paper concludes with the emphasis on exploring linguistic dynamics, such as language ideologies and multilingual turn in language socialisation, across similar transnational communities.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to theorize that computer-assisted language learning (CALL) can be integrated in English language learning with a focus on cultural learning of both home and target language. Design/methodology/approach: The present study used a systematic methodology to conceive the language and home-culture integrated online learning (LHIOL) curriculum design based on relevant conceptual frameworks and gather qualitative data from focused group interviews of 30 teachers and 3,000 students' open-ended questionnaires, along with learning artifacts to identify major themes. Findings: CALL, used as cultural and linguistic material, helps students embrace their cultural identities, especially ethnic minorities, capitalize on their distinctive values, and appreciate and empathize with other languages and cultures. The instructors advocate for localizing intercultural communicative competence (ICC) educational content into Vietnamese culture, using real multimedia resources. However, the LHIOL curriculum faced systemic constraints regarding competitions between linguistic and cultural instruction, teachers' refusal to recognize ICC's importance and recognition of an explicit link between virtual cultural learning and their lives. Originality/value: LHIOL is a preliminary practical effort to suggest how a cultural education from one's native tongue can be integrated into a culture-focused English/Western language environment. By incorporating fundamental concepts that underpin the integration of language and culture as well as CALL, improving ICC offers a framework that can be applied to elucidate cultural learning.

The aim of this study is to identify factors associated with Vietnamese-Australian parents' language use and attitudes towards home language maintenance. Vietnamese-Australian parents (n = 151) with children aged under 18 completed a survey regarding demographic factors and factors conceptualised by Spolsky's language policy theory: language practices, language ideologies, and language management. Bivariate analyses and multiple regression models were conducted to explore associations between parents' language use and their attitudes towards home language maintenance and associated factors. "Parents' language use with their child" was significantly associated with their language practices (parents' language use in social situations). "Parents' language use in social situations" was significantly associated with language practices (parents' Vietnamese and English proficiency, parents' language use with their child), language management (frequency of attendance at community events), and one demographic factor (age). "Parents' attitudes towards home language maintenance" was significantly associated with language ideology factors (perceptions of cultural identity, belief in the importance of English language maintenance, belief that home language strengthens relative bonds and widens career options), and one demographic factor (income). The results can be used to assist families with Vietnamese heritage to maintain their home language by informing targeted approaches to supporting language maintenance at the community and family level.

Higher education consists of a wide array of education programs, some of which closely involve both domestic politics and issues that transcend national boundaries. This paper explores a controversial and highly contested higher education program that is shaped by a post-conflict affected context and transnational politics. Based on the case study of a new Vietnamese language studies program in Cambodia, the paper demonstrates that when post-conflict education and transnational politics intersect with one another in many ways, post-war higher education reconstruction becomes a platform where stakeholders such as youths and national and international governments contest and negotiate influence and change. By critically examining the relations between educational phenomena and historical, national, and geopolitical dynamics in a post-conflict environment, the paper discusses key factors of higher education reconstruction in the aftermath of social upheavals and mass atrocities. It also offers a fresh perspective on the multifaceted dynamics of a higher education program which involves public protests, state intervention, transnational disputes, and inter-state relations.

In recent years, researchers have increasingly focused on dimensions of the school environment because of their effects on teachers' outcomes such as teaching efficacy, job satisfaction, and commitment. However, current literature illustrates that not many studies on different aspects regarding schools' environmental issues have been conducted in Vietnam. The purpose of this research, thus, was to validate the psychometric properties in the 56-item School-Level Environment Questionnaire (SLEQ), which was translated into Vietnamese and administered to 387 Vietnamese junior high school teachers. Factorial analysis indicated that the eight-factor structure of the original SLEQ, which included innovation, resource adequacy, professional interest, affiliation, student support, mission consensus, empowerment, and work pressure, was appropriate for junior high school teachers' psychometric properties. The internal consistency and reliability of general scale and eight subscales were satisfactory. The results confirmed the suitability of the SLEQ for measuring teachers' perceptions of their school environment within the Vietnamese educational context. The study suggests to investigate the validity of the SLEQ, apart from other issues, with a different sample among elementary and secondary school teachers.

This study investigates the difficulties in translation and factors influencing the translating process from foreign language students' perspectives at a private university. This work also aims to find out the reasons why foreign language students encounter the difficulties in the process and learn about the different ways in which students majoring in English translate a text into their first language of Vietnamese. Using the mixed method (quantitative and qualitative), the study analysis is based on descriptive statistics using SPSS programme and individual interview results. The results showed that salient findings emerged from the data concerning the relationships between four factors namely "lexis," "grammar," "culture," and "existing knowledge" under student's viewpoints. Those elements affected students hierarchically in their process of translation, in which lexis was the most difficult factor while grammar seemed to be less remarkable. Therefore, based on the findings, it is suggested to adjust, modify, and select appropriate translation materials in the curricula in higher education to well equip students with those elements to compete in the translation industry.

Recently, researchers have paid more attention to the aspects of classroom learning environments because of their effects on students' cognitive and effective outcomes. However, current literature reveals the lack of research that explores the factors of classroom environments in Vietnamese context. The present study, therefore, aims to validate the psychometric properties of the 25-items version of the My Class Inventory (MCI), translated into Vietnamese for 487 secondary school students. Factorial analysis showed an acceptable fit for the four-factors structure of the MCI -- cohesiveness, competitiveness, satisfaction, and friction -- to be appropriate for secondary school students. Internal consistency reliabilities of the general scales and four subscales were satisfactory. Results support the suitability of the MCI to assess students' classroom environment within Vietnam's educational context. The study recommended, among other things, that future studies should be conducted to explore the validity of the MCI on other samples of Vietnamese secondary students.

This paper reinforces the importance of third language acquisition research in a multilingual context focusing on language experience, vocabulary learning strategies, emotional self-regulation strategies, and language anxiety. This study explored three languages: Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese, to know if there are significant relationships between the above variables in third language acquisition. Three specific sets of survey questionnaires were distributed to various students enrolled in foreign language courses offered in a language department in a university. To focus on the relationships of language learning variables of a foreign language, correlational design was used to analyze the survey questionnaires' responses for each language course. Among students who were enrolled in Chinese, significant relationships were established between language anxiety and language experience, language anxiety, and emotional self-regulation strategies. Significant associations were found between emotional self-regulation strategies and language experience, emotional self-regulation strategies, and vocabulary strategies, and language performance and language experience for those students enrolled in the Korean language. In learning Vietnamese, significant relationships were found between language anxiety and vocabulary strategies, language performance, and language anxiety. Teachers may need to re-evaluate prepared teaching and learning materials, for example, material difficulty, to help students alleviate anxiety in learning.

Despite a range of internationalisation efforts at the government and institutional levels, Vietnam remains on the periphery of the existing scholarship on international education, especially inbound mobility. Drawing on interviews with 38 participants, this article provides insights into how Australian students arrive at a comparative, international perspective in their field of study and develop Vietnamese cultural literacy during their short-term mobility to Vietnam. The study also brings to the fore the hindrances, in particular language barrier, facing Australian students in mobility programs. The article points out how the New Colombo Plan can play an important role in raising the awareness of the value of learning an Asian language like Vietnamese and enriching Vietnamese cultural literacy among young Australians. It concludes with practical recommendations for incorporating the development of regional languages and cultural literacy in learning abroad programs.

The quest for global ranking has motivated higher education institutions (HEIs) in Vietnam to increase the number of international students in their enrolments. However, little is known about experiences of current international students in Vietnamese HEIs. This article offers a mosaic of international student experiences (ISE) in a Vietnamese-taught course offered by a Vietnamese university. The data show that teaching staffs play a crucial role in the satisfaction of international students, however, services and physical facilities are areas that need significant improvement. It also discusses other interactive aspects of ISE before presenting the case of an international student with disability to show how international mobility, aspiration, and personal determination can navigate him through a journey that was nothing short of extraordinary. This article is also to answer the recent scholarly call for a more geographically diverse and transformation-centred ISE literature, which is believed to remain relevant in the future.

Most current autism research focuses on Western countries, where service availability and cultural experiences differ from those of individuals living in Asian countries, where collectivistic cultural values prevail and understanding of autism is emerging. By gathering data from Vietnamese parents of autistic children (N = 339), the current measurement study examined measure variance and invariance between the English version of the "Illness Perception Questionnaire--Revised for Autism Spectrum Disorder" (IPQ-R-ASD) and a Vietnamese translation of it, at the item, scalar, and factor levels. Results indicated measurement variance for only three of 37 items and highlighted different perceptions of autism between Vietnamese and North American parents, based on responses to the IPQ-R-ASD. Responses indicated that Vietnamese parents may have a different interpretation of the questions. Seven factors emerged on both the Vietnamese and English instruments, but items loaded differently, and a distinct factor emerged on the Vietnamese version. In sum, the current findings suggest that the IPQ-R-ASD can be useful for better understanding Vietnamese parents' perceptions of their children's autism, but the interpretation is somewhat different than on the English version, highlighting the importance of cross-cultural considerations in the study of autism in Western versus Eastern cultures.

Purpose: There is a shortage of bilingual speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in the United States. For Vietnamese, less than 1% of SLPs speak the language compared with a Vietnamese American population of > 2.1 million. This study examines the feasibility and social validity of remote child language assessment with the help of a caregiver to address the need for first language assessments among Vietnamese-speaking children. Method: Twenty-one dyads of caregivers and typically developing children (aged 3-6 years) completed two assessment sessions in their first language, Vietnamese, using Zoom videoconferencing. Sessions were counterbalanced between two conditions in which either the clinician or the caregiver was the task administrator. Children's language samples were elicited using narrative tasks. Social validity was also assessed through caregiver and child questionnaires at the end of each session. Results: There were no significant differences between conditions on language sample measures nor the measures of social validity. Both caregivers and their children felt positively about the sessions. The caregivers' feelings were related to their perception of children's feelings about the sessions. Children's feelings were related to their Vietnamese language proficiency, caregiver-reported language ability, and whether they were born outside of the United States. Conclusions: Findings build the evidence base for telepractice as an effective and socially valid service delivery model for bilingual children in the United States. This study supports the potential for caregivers as task administrators in a telepractice setting, making assessment in a child's first language more feasible and accessible. Future investigation is needed to extend results to bilingual populations with disorders.

To assist second language learners in becoming effective, aware, and reflective participants in higher education, support can be provided by integrating structured awareness raising approaches in the language curriculum. Drawing on self-regulation principles, such a structured awareness raising curriculum is most notably sustained by reflective one-to-one dialogue, also known as advising in language learning (ALL). While previous studies have shown that students who received this kind of support in face-to-face settings were able to successfully develop effective learning strategies, little research has demonstrated to what extent students can develop these strategies, supported by ALL, when learning online. This study shows how four groups of second language majors (n = 252) demonstrate knowledge and control of learning and learning strategies when discussing their planning and progress with peers online. This study draws on Google Classroom data (posts and comments: n = 957) collected over two semesters. Using digital conversation analysis and social network analysis, students were found to demonstrate (1) awareness of approaches to learning, (2) awareness of facilities, roles, and resources, and (3) awareness of self when collaborating with peers. This study shows how ALL can support students in effectively applying different learning strategies when engaged in computer-supported collaborative work.

In teaching newcomer students, educators must envision how to provide opportunities for language use and development through age-appropriate content instruction. This article describes a design research study, in which we developed and piloted 5th grade science units and studied the participation of two newcomer students in sense-making interactions with peers. By analyzing their participation over a school year, we provide a vision of newcomers' language development that is integrated with, rather than a prerequisite for, disciplinary work. Newcomers' language development involved expanding the interactional moves they used to participate in scientific sense-making, including moves that might be considered purely 'social', but were essential to collaboratively enacting disciplinary practices. In addition, their positioning in small group interactions impacted affordances for participation and language use. Over time, students shifted their positioning, which coincided with improved participation and collaborative sense-making for newcomers and their peers. We offer implications for how teachers can create integrated classrooms that support newcomers' language development and disciplinary learning.

Background: Health education materials translated for limited English proficiency audiences should be clear and easy to understand. They should be reviewed by fluent and culturally competent reviewers using a standardised and validated assessment tool. Design/Setting: A total of 139 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19-translated health education materials were reviewed for cultural and linguistic appropriateness. Method: Reviewers were trained to collect data using a standardised assessment tool, and recorded issues found in translated materials by issue, material and media type. Reviewers were selected for their fluency in the language being reviewed as well as their cultural knowledge of the intended audience. Results: Reviewers identified 150 issues related to words, phrases and images that were confusing, difficult to interpret or held multiple possible interpretations. Reviewers took an average completion time of 16 minutes per material across all media types. Conclusion: This assessment demonstrated the feasibility and efficiency of conducting reviews with culturally and linguistically competent in-house reviewers using a quality assessment protocol that includes a review for cultural and linguistic accuracy. Despite mainly using certified translators, critical issues with the text and images contained in the COVID-19-translated health education materials were identified. Similar forms of assessment could provide high-quality translated materials without undergoing major document revision.

Across the globe signage which conveys directives regarding appropriate behavior in public, such as 'Do Not Enter' signs, is made multilingual in ways that other signage is not. This paper examines two examples of multilingualism in directive signs within Seoul, South Korea in order to theorize what gives rise to multilingualism in directive signage while other signage remains monolingual. Examination of Vietnamese and Arabic on signs prohibiting the illegal disposal of household garbage on side streets in Seoul, and English, Chinese, and Japanese on mask-required due to COVID-19 signs within the Seoul subway system allows for a robust analysis of what shapes the inclusion of additional languages on directive signage. We posit the construction of a differently speaking other who is seen as likely to disobey stated regulations alongside the desire by authorities to minimize the effort required to respond to rule breaking results in a multilingual commanding urgency that shapes multilingualism in directive signage. The concept of multilingual commanding urgency emphasizes the role enforcement practices have in shaping multilingualism, an important development in understanding this form of signage. Multilingual commanding urgency is especially relevant as it shapes signage deployed in emergency contexts such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Given the role of languages in disseminating knowledge, this study explored the positioning of Vietnamese researchers in relation to the foreign language they used for research. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with six participants who were researchers in social sciences. Findings revealed that senior researchers positioned Russian and French as an ebbing tradition while the mid-career researcher considered Chinese providing less access to research. In contrast, early-career academics saw English as bringing great opportunities to their career despite expressing their anxiety about their proficiency in using English for publication. We argue that although disseminating knowledge in English amongst younger generation researchers is important, senior researchers in educational systems influenced by multiple languages should still be encouraged to capitalise on their existing multilingual capacity, using their preferable foreign languages to disseminate knowledge globally. Instead of solely conforming to the hegemony of English, policies and practices of research should consider multilingual sources in policymaking process.

Bilingual education has steadily risen in the United States since the Supreme Court case of "Lau vs. Nichols in 1974." Despite this proliferation of bilingual programs, notable challenges and discrepancies exist for bilingual programs devoted to Asian languages and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. The rising interest in Asian languages is as exciting as it is concerning. Much like the adage of "walking a fine line," there are dualities to this movement that must be attended to with great discernment, or risk great damage to Asian American communities as a whole. When it comes to language education, the instructional content is never truly agnostic to the teachers who deliver it, as language is inextricably linked to communication, culture, and ultimately, the humanity of those whose heritage it conveys. Therefore, educators must make themselves aware of the fine lines that exist between these hopeful shifts and cautionary challenges, which are described from three perspectives in this article.

This study explores the language habitus and practices in one Vietnamese immigrant family in Melbourne. It contributes to research on family language policy in multicultural contexts. Using a Bourdieusian framework to explore the interrelationships between language beliefs, practices and management in a nuanced way, the article discusses how the children's and adults' language beliefs are situated in their lived experiences as a result of their participation in the different social fields of family, school, and the workplace. The article then further examines the "structuring" feature of the habitus through an exploration of the children's agency in family language policy in two aspects: their manifestation of their agency as well as how their habitus and their accumulated capital shape their language practices. Findings point to the shared multilingual habitus between the grandmother, mother and the two children and children's agency in family language practices and management. The data analysis and theoretical discussions suggest that Bourdieu's concepts are useful and nuanced lenses to investigate family language policy and are complementary to Spolsky's seminal theoretical framework of family language policy.

With the increasing significance of technology use in both daily life and education, the digital native assessment scale (DNAS) [developed by Teo, T. (2013). An initial development and validation of a Digital Natives Assessment Scale (DNAS). Computers & Education, 67, 51-57.] has been widely used as a tool to investigate the digital nativeness of different subjects/participants and in different languages worldwide. The current study aimed to continue exploring the cross-cultural invariance of DNAS in the Vietnamese version (V-DNAS) and examine the digital nativeness of Vietnamese pre-service teachers. Using two sources of validity evidence from cognitive response processes and the internal structure of validity of DNAS, the study findings showed that the DNAS, in general, had an adequate model fit in the Vietnamese version, which contributed to confirm the invariance of the scale in different languages. The study also showed that Vietnamese pre-service teachers endorsed all elements of digital nativeness in general, with a significant difference by students' geographic locations. The study provided contributions for scale validation research and teacher education, alongside suggestions for future research to avoid its limitations.

Purpose: The aim of this pilot feasibility study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the group VietSpeech SuperSpeech program targeting speech skills and home language maintenance via telepractice. Method: In Stage 1, using a case-control design, 30 Vietnamese-English-speaking children were assessed in English and Vietnamese, and parents completed questionnaires about speech and language competency and practices. During Stage 2, children were allocated to intervention (n = 14) or control (n = 16) conditions. COVID-19 restrictions resulted in changes including nonrandom allocation. Online group intervention targeting speech, home language maintenance, and multilingualism as a superpower was delivered 1 hr/week for 8 weeks. For Stage 3, assessments were undertaken approximately 10 weeks after the pre-intervention assessment. Results: Parents in the intervention group significantly increased encouragement of their children to speak Vietnamese. The intervention group significantly increased intelligibility in English. Growth of Vietnamese vocabulary was faster for the control group. There was a moderate effect of intervention for children's perception of being happy talking in Vietnamese and English. There was no significant mean change from pre- to post-intervention compared with the control group for measures of speech sound accuracy in Vietnamese or English, Vietnamese intelligibility, English vocabulary, or hours of Vietnamese spoken each week. Conclusions: This study presents preliminary evidence that this 8-hr online group program targeting speech skills and home language maintenance had some impact on Vietnamese-Australian children's speech and home language maintenance. Further research involving a randomized trial is warranted.

With a number of word lists available for teachers to choose from, teachers and students need to know which list provides the best return for learning? Four well-established lists were compared and it was found that BNC/COCA2000 (British National Corpus / Corpus of Contemporary American English 2000) and the New General Service List (New-GSL) provided the greatest lexical coverage in spoken and written corpora. The present study further compared these two lists using teacher perceptions of word usefulness and learner vocabulary knowledge as the criteria. First, 78 experienced teachers of English as a second language / English as a foreign language (ESL/EFL) rated the usefulness of 973 non-overlapping items between the two lists for their learners. Second, 135 Vietnamese EFL learners completed 15 yes/no tests which measured their knowledge of the same 973 words. Teachers perceived that the BNC/COCA2000 had more useful words. Items in this list were also better known by the learners. This suggests that the BNC/COCA2000 is the more useful high-frequency wordlist for second language (L2) learners.

This article examines linguistic discrimination against minority students in Vietnamese mainstream schools, as represented in administrators', teachers' and minority students' experiences and perspectives. The concept of "educational linguicism" and three manifestations of educational linguicism, namely "stigmatisation," "glorification" and "rationalisation," are used as a theoretical lens to gain insights into linguistic discrimination occurring in this context. Semi-structured interviews and informal conversations with the participants are the main data source. Findings suggest that the administrators and teachers (1) stigmatised the value of minority languages as well as the minority students' practices of their ethnic language (L1) and Vietnamese, (2) glorified the value and position of Vietnamese and English as compared with minority languages, and (3) rationalised the relationship between minority languages and Vietnamese in explaining how learning Vietnamese was necessary for the students' social integration, development, and mobility. The participants' linguicist beliefs and practices, which contributed to enacting and mobilising the structural ideologies and discourses nurturing linguicism against minority people, were perhaps unconscious, as they might try to emphasise the capital associated with the glorified languages which minority students could gain. Findings also reveal a tendency to construct internal linguicism among some minority students regarding the value and position of their L1 in Vietnamese society. Implications for reducing educational linguicism are then suggested.

There is a need for Vietnamese language education for the Vietnamese American community in the United States, and the Vietnamese Language Program at Westminster High School (WHS) in Orange County, California, has been able to preserve the Vietnamese language. Students in the program also learn about their heritage and culture to stay connected to their families and community. Author Pauline Phi Nguyên Ð?ng, a Vietnamese language teacher at the high school, suggests that the WHS Vietnamese Language Program is a model for how heritage language programs can be sustained in schools and communities.

The present case study explores the reception of American War literature among Vietnamese high-school students. In April and May 2020, seventy-seven seventeen-year-old students from "Lê H?ng Phong High School for the Gifted" (H? Chí Minh City) participated in this study by answering Google form surveys about literary texts that form part of the Vietnamese national curriculum. The main findings show that 86% of the students deem it necessary to study literary works about the American War because of the historical and documentary value they provide. A vast majority of participants (95%) would be interested in reading literary texts written by American authors to learn about the war from a transnational perspective. This would require an alternative approach to the teaching of the American War in general, and its literary works in particular, with a revision of the national curriculum to include a wider variety of texts and authors.

The cognitive, educational and economic benefits of learning a second language have been well documented in the literature. This paper reports findings on perspectives of 13 stakeholders on the benefits of a case study about teaching Vietnamese to preschoolers in a regional early childhood context in Tasmania, Australia in 2017. Using a thematic approach in analysing 13 semi-structured interviews, five main themes on the benefits of the programme for the children identified were language development, cultural and global awareness, numeracy enhancement, reading engagement, and personal development. The results showed that participating educators and parents all had positive attitudes towards the early Vietnamese language programme, believed that there were many benefits and expressed a desire for its continuity. These findings suggest that there is a need and desire for second language education in early childhood in the Tasmanian context. Therefore, policy makers, educators and researchers should provide preschools access to learning and teaching resources of a language of their choice to benefit children's overall development and learning in early childhood, adolescence and beyond.

Content and Language integrated learning (CLIL) revolves around the dual goal of language acquisition and content knowledge; therefore, the cross-curricular collaboration between language and content teachers is one of the key factors for the success of CLIL education. This study investigates multiple aspects of cross-curricular collaboration in a Vietnamese CLIL program, including teachers' beliefs about pedagogic roles, professional support provided, and actual cross-curricular collaboration implemented. Data collected from eight teachers through semi-structured interviews were coded for emerging themes using thematic analysis, and relevant documents were analysed as complementary data. The findings indicate that the teachers viewed their pedagogical responsibilities and foci rigidly within their discipline, rather than as a dual-focused role of both language and content teaching. Additionally, a mismatch between professional support provided by the school and by the program designers was identified, indicating insufficient training and supervision in the implementation of the program. Although there was evidence of teacher collaboration, the practice still lacked consistency and systematicity due to issues such as workload, schedule and motivation. The findings from this study have important implications for professional development and curriculum design in CLIL bilingual programs to facilitate successful cross-curricular collaboration.

This cross-sectional study investigated first (L1) and second (L2) language receptive and expressive vocabulary in a sample of 542 typically developing bilingual children of immigrants (age range 6-13), coming from six different L1 backgrounds in Norway. Results demonstrated that children's L1 and L2 vocabulary skills increased with age. From a deficit perspective, the study confirms that in each age group, there is a vocabulary gap between the ranges of Norwegian vocabulary known by Norwegian monolinguals and by Norwegian L2 children. At the same time, when an additive, conceptual scoring approach (taking into account bilingual children's known L1 and/or L2 vocabulary) was used, the persistent gap in vocabulary knowledge diminished or disappeared altogether. This finding is most evident in older age groups. Conceptual scoring provides a more sensitive and positive picture of bilingual children's overall range of vocabulary. The findings demonstrate a need for more nuanced assessment procedures of semantic knowledge across children's' L1 and L2.

This study examined Americans' attitudes toward standard American English (SAE) and nine, non-Anglo foreign accents: Arabic, Farsi, French, German, Hindi, Hispanic, Mandarin, Russian, and Vietnamese. Compared to SAE speakers, all foreign-accented speakers were rated as harder to understand, more likely to be categorised as foreign (rather than American), and attributed less status and solidarity. However, not all foreign accents were equally denigrated on status and solidarity traits. Instead, an evaluative hierarchy emerged, with speakers of some varieties (e.g. French, German) consistently rated more favourably than speakers of others (e.g. Arabic, Farsi, Vietnamese). This variation in language attitudes was associated with variation in social categorisation -- i.e. the higher the percentage of nonstigmatized foreign categorizations (i.e. Anglosphere, Western Europe) for a given foreign variety, the more favourably speakers of that variety were rated -- and listeners' processing fluency -- i.e. the easier speakers of a given foreign variety were to understand, the more favourably they were rated.

To date, a growing number of studies have shown that domain-general auditory processing, which prior work has linked to L1 acquisition, could explain various dimensions of naturalistic L2 speech proficiency. The current study examined the generalizability of this topic to L2 speech learning in classroom settings. The spontaneous speech samples of 39 Vietnamese English-as-a-foreign-language learners were analyzed for fluent and accurate use of pronunciation and lexicogrammar and linked to a range of variables in their auditory processing profiles. The results identified moderate-to-strong correlations between the participants' accurate use of lexicogrammar and audio-motor sequence integration scores (i.e., the ability to reproduce melodic/rhythmic information). However, the relationship between phonological proficiency and auditory acuity (i.e., the ability to encode acoustic details of sounds) was nonsignificant. Although the findings support the audition-acquisition link to classroom L2 speech learning to some degree, they only suggest that this link is robust for the acquisition of lexicogrammar information.

BACKGROUND: Physical inactivity is associated with adverse health outcomes among Asian Americans, who exhibit the least adherence to physical activity guidelines compared with other racial and ethnic groups. Mobile app-based interventions are a promising approach to promote healthy behaviors. However, there is a lack of app-based interventions focused on improving physical activity among Asian Americans whose primary language is not English. OBJECTIVE: This pilot study aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a 5-week intervention using a culturally and linguistically adapted, evidence-based mobile phone app with an accelerometer program, to promote physical activity among Chinese-, Tagalog-, or Vietnamese-speaking Americans. METHODS: Participants were recruited through collaborations with community-based organizations. The intervention was adapted from a 12-month physical activity randomized controlled trial involving the app and accelerometer for English-speaking adults. Sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and physical measurements were collected at the baseline visit. A 7-day run-in period was conducted to screen for the participants who could wear a Fitbit One (Fitbit LLC) accelerometer and complete the apps daily step diary. During the 4-week intervention period, participants wore the accelerometer and reported their daily steps in the app. Participants also received daily messages to reinforce key contents taught during an in-person educational session, remind them to input steps, and provide tailored feedback. Feasibility measures were the percentage of eligible participants completing the run-in period and the percentage of participants who used the app diary for at least 5 out of 7 days during the intervention period. We conducted poststudy participant interviews to explore overall intervention acceptability. RESULTS: A total of 19 participants were enrolled at the beginning of the study with a mean age of 47 (SD 13.3; range 29-70) years, and 58% (n=11) of them were female. Of the participants, 26% (n=5) were Chinese, 32% (n=6) were Vietnamese, and 42% (n=8) were Filipino. All participants met the run-in criteria to proceed with the intervention. Adherence to the app diary ranged from 74% (n=14) in week 2 to 95% (n=18) in week 4. The daily average steps per week from accelerometers increased each week from 8451 (SD 3378) steps during the run-in period to 10,930 (SD 4213) steps in week 4. Participants reported positive experiences including an increased motivation to walk and the enjoyment of being able to monitor their physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first pilot study of a multicomponent intervention and evidence-based mobile phone app to promote physical activity among Asian Americans who use apps in traditional Chinese, Tagalog, or Vietnamese, which demonstrated high feasibility and acceptability. Future work focused on multilingual mobile apps to address disparities in physical inactivity among Asian Americans should be considered.

Using data from Vietnamese-origin older immigrants/refugees in the Houston, Texas area, we assessed their overall health, chronic conditions, disability, depressive symptoms, and cognitive impairment, and examined the association between their chronic conditions and disability by comorbidity clusters. The mean age of the sample was 76 years old. The majority were married in fair/poor health with several chronic conditions and disabilities and lived with families in low-income households. Hypertension and arthritis were the most common health conditions, but cognitive impairment had the most significant impact on their disability. They experienced similar health conditions to other older Americans but had higher rates of depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment possibly due to cultural factors that may have delayed mental health treatment. Culturally and linguistically tailored services created by policymakers, healthcare professionals, and local social service agencies are recommended for the well-being of immigrants/refugees who migrated to the U.S. for a better life.

This study aims to examine the relationship between nature relatedness (NR) on subjective positive well-being (life satisfaction) and mental disorders (depression, stress, and anxiety) in Vietnamese university students. 340 Hue University students voluntarily took part in the survey. The Nature Relatedness Scale, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale and Satisfaction with Life Scale were used. Bivariate correlation, single regression, and moderation analysis were conducted to investigate the relationship between NR and the mental health of university students and the moderating role of NR. Higher levels of NR significantly predicted higher levels of life satisfaction but did not significantly predict fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. NR significantly moderated the link between life satisfaction and depression, anxiety, and stress. The findings of this study imply that efforts to enhance students' mental health should include efforts to promote their NR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vietnamese Americans experience significant health disparities compared with other groups, but their health care utilization is suboptimal. Boat People SOS (BPSOS), a nationwide Vietnamese-serving community-based organization, implemented a community health worker and community-clinical linkage electronic referral system to improve health care utilization. Three sites (in Alabama, California, and Virginia) received the intervention; Mississippi was the comparison site. The intervention included bridging between communities and health systems, culturally appropriate health education, informal counseling and social support, advocating for individual and community needs, direct services, and building individual and community capacity through partnerships with service providers. Compared with the comparison site, clients at the intervention sites reported better overall perceived health after the intervention. Past-year medical checkups declined in both groups during the COVID-19 pandemic but declined less in the treatment group. The intervention did not reduce emergency room visits. Findings suggest that this intervention can improve health care utilization and health status among Vietnamese Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about how insecure attachment affects aggressive behavior and well‐being among Vietnamese youth. Using structural equation modeling, we investigate the mediating role of subjective social status (SSS) on the paths from insecure attachment to overt aggressive behavior (OAB) and psychological well‐being (PW) in a sample of 1753 Vietnamese adolescents (Mage = 16.136, SD = 0.784) and test whether the results will be replicated in another sample of 601 Vietnamese young adults (Mage = 19.93, SD = 1.35). Participants complete a survey comprising demographic information, attachment styles, SSS, OAB, and PW questionnaires. Our main findings include: (a) anxious attachment positively related to OAB in both samples, (b) anxious attachment was only negatively associated with adolescents' PW, (c) avoidant attachment was positively correlated to OAB in adolescents but negatively correlated in young adults, and (d) avoidant attachment was negatively related to PW in both samples. In addition, (e) in adolescents, the mediation role of SSS was significant in all paths, but (f) SSS only mediated the link from avoidant attachment to PW of young adults. The present study suggests that aggressive behavior might not be associated with social status or attachment in the same way in adolescents compared to young adult Vietnamese samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intonation is an instrument for structuring discourse and emphasizing different types of information. In German, for example, pitch is used to highlight focus, while in Vietnamese, different pitch contours distinguish lexical tones. As of yet, the interplay between intonation and lexical tone in relation to information structure has not been sufficiently investigated across languages. Vietnamese has six lexical tones and is particularly interesting for investigating the influence of different intonation strategies on the realization of tones. Here, we present a production study with 70 Northern Vietnamese speakers. The participants read six sentences under two conditions. In each sentence, a word occurring in the final position of the sentence and carrying one of the six tones was pronounced in two different discourse contexts. Acoustic analyses of the intonation contours showed that Vietnamese speakers realized the words with significant differences in pitch at the onset. Yet, the strategies for raising or lowering the pitch varied depending on the tone. Our results show the use of prosodic cues in a complex tone system across a large number of speakers. In addition, the study can serve as a starting point for educational programs that include training on intonation patterns in specific contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

STUDY QUESTION In non-male factor infertile couples, are there any differences in the developmental outcomes between children born through ICSI and conventional IVF (cIVF)? SUMMARY ANSWER In this preliminary study, ICSI and cIVF seem to have a comparable effect on developmental outcomes after 12 months in children born to non-male factor infertile couples. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY ICSI, an invasive technique, has raised concerns about potential developmental abnormalities in children. Limited data are available regarding the developmental outcomes of ICSI-conceived infants born to non-male factor infertile couples. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION This prospective cohort study involved a follow-up of all children aged 12 months or older who were born from pregnancies resulting from either ICSI or cIVF as part of a previous randomized controlled trial (RCT) (NCT03428919). PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS In the original RCT, 1064 women were randomly assigned to the ICSI or cIVF groups (532 women for each group). Follow-up was conducted with 155 couples (195 children) in the ICSI group and 141 couples (185 children) in the cIVF group. The Vietnamese version of the Ages & Stages Third Edition Questionnaires (ASQ-3) and the Development Red Flags questionnaires were completed by the participants. A total of 141 (90.1%) women (177 children) in the ICSI group and 113 (80.1%) women (145 children) in the cIVF group returned fully completed questionnaires. The primary outcomes were the developmental outcomes based on responses to the ASQ-3 and the Red Flags questionnaire. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE The mean age of children at follow-up was 19.5 ± 5.0 months in the ICSI group and 19.3 ± 5.5 months in the cIVF group. The mean height and weight of children in both groups were similar. The overall proportion of children with any abnormal ASQ-3 score did not differ significantly between the ICSI and cIVF groups (16.9% vs 13.1%, P  = 0.34). The proportion of children with Red Flag signs was also comparable between the two groups (6.2% vs 9.2%, P  = 0.36, ICSI vs cIVF, respectively). LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION Despite a reasonably high follow-up response rate, there is a potential risk of sampling bias, and overall, the number of children with developmental abnormalities was very small. The study relied solely on questionnaires as screening tools, rather than incorporating additional behavioral observations or physical developmental tests; this may have affected the statistical power and the significance of between-group comparisons. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS The current findings contribute to the existing evidence and support the comparative safety of ICSI and cIVF regarding early childhood development. However, more extensive and prolonged follow-up data for these children are needed to draw definitive conclusions. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) No external funding was received for this study, and no authors reported conflicting interests. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT04866524 (clinicaltrials.gov). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Objective: The aim of this study was to determine factors including biochemical markers, dietary habits, and social-anthropometric associated with uncontrolled hypertension among elderly hypertension in rural regions of Vietnam. Methods: This study included 272 hypertension patients aged over 60 years. Demographic data, anthropometric measurements, and risk factors associated with hypertension were from the cross-sectional study of 272 customers at the Medical Examination Department, Samson General Hospital, Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam. Biochemical markers including total cholesterol, triglycerides, and fasting blood glucose were measured. Dietary habits were by using a frequency questionnaire. Uncontrolled hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure of ≥140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure of ≥90 mmHg in a patient taking anti-hypertensive medication.Generalized multiple linear regression was used to assess the impact of related factors on blood pressure, which were used as the dependent variables. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of related factors for hypertension status. Results: The study found that men had more uncontrolled hypertension than women among the elderly population. The prevalences of hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypercholesterolemia were high in both controlled and uncontrolled groups. There was an inverse association between fruits (p=0.021) and vegetable consumption (p=0.038) and a positive correlation between salty habits (p=0.040) and processed food (p