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In popular thinking, debt evokes notions of vulnerability and bondage, while irregular migration for sex work conjures up the hazards of human trafficking and modern slavery 1 . These perceptions inform ‘safe migration’ policies aimed at ordering and regulating migration and combating informality to increase migrants’ safety and well-being; the assumption being that illegality puts migrants at risk of abuse. This article challenges these assumptions with an ethnographic study of brokerage practices in the quasi-family networks that facilitate the irregular and circular migration of Vietnamese sex workers to Singapore. In these networks, brokers sell a migration package on credit to their clients, the migrant sex workers, who repay it through sexual labour. This package includes all the services necessary for the women to migrate temporarily and work safely in Singapore. Most crucially, it serves as an entree into the broker’s business and social network, as a way of forming an enduring relationship. Without denying the power of debt to create inequality, obligation and exploitation, this article shows that debt can also be a profitable, non-coercive and reciprocal device for brokers and sex workers alike, a vector of ‘safety’ which limits some of the risks they encounter in a repressive and uncertain host environment. This finding stems from a novel framework in economic anthropology, the ‘socio-economy of debt’ (Guerin, 2018), which complicates moral views of debt through an empirical examination of the materiality, power dynamics and social and moral meanings of debt arrangements and relationships.

This study examines requests in Vietnamese, a much under-researched language, with a view to expanding the range of languages under inquiry. Open role-plays in six scenarios with differing social power and perceived imposition levels were used to elicit requests from nine Vietnamese native speakers. Data were analyzed with reference to the categorization of Blum-Kulka, House and Kasper (1989) for level of directness, choice of request strategy and use of modification. The findings suggested that unlike requests in some European languages reported in the literature, requests in Vietnamese as a native language were realized predominantly by means of imperatives in equal power situations and query preparatories in low-to-high power situations, regardless of imposition levels. Requests were modified preferably by means of supportive moves such as steers and grounders, and lexical means such as address terms, honorifics, modal particles, and appealers. These findings are discussed with implications for cross-cultural communication and the teaching and learning of Vietnamese as a second language.

This article reports an eight-month investigation into the long-term impact of explicit instruction on the learnability of different aspects of email requests by a group of Vietnamese university students. Two intact classes were randomly assigned to the treatment (N = 13) and control conditions (N = 19). Over a four-week period, the treatment group received six hours of instruction which comprised consciousness-raising, meta-pragmatic explanation, repeated output practice and teacher feedback. The control group, on the other hand, only followed the usual syllabus. Results of the study indicate that the treatment group obtained significantly greater pre-to-posttest gains than the control group, and that their improvement was retained by the time of the eight-month delayed post-test. Despite the learners’ overall progress, however, it was also found that different aspects of their performance appeared to respond differently to instruction. The article supports the need for instruction of email politeness and discusses implications for future pedagogy and research.

Recently, developing students’ thinking, especially critical thinking (CT), has become a hot issue. Critical thinking has been claimed to have an important impact on learners’ reading comprehension because it can help them analyze, evaluate, construct their thinking, solving problems and reasoning (Ennis, 1989). However, the extent that teachers’ classroom activities contribute to developing students’ critical thinking has rarely been researched. The current case study was conducted with six EFL high school teachers and 10 reading lessons in Vietnam to explore the teachers’ use of questions and to analyze if these questions could facilitate the students’ critical thinking. Classroom observations and the cognitive domain of Bloom’s taxonomy were adapted as the research instruments. The study results reveal common types of questions are often used by high school teachers in their reading lessons. Suggestions are made on types of questions that teachers should function more in their class in order to enhance students’ critical thinking.

This study extends the literature on the role of institutional quality in international migration to an under-researched aspect: the intention of international migrants to return to the home country. We examined whether the perception of differences in institutional quality between OECD destination countries and Vietnam and the stated importance attached to such differences influence the intention of Vietnamese migrants to return home. We used data from a web-based survey (N = 159) conducted in 2016. The countries where the respondents resided comprised approximately 90% of the Vietnamese diaspora in the world. We considered six different dimensions of institutional quality. We found, both descriptively and by means of weighted logistic regression analysis, that Vietnamese migrants who perceive a greater difference in institutional quality between the destination country and Vietnam are less likely to report intentions to return. This effect is stronger for those who attach greater importance to institutional quality. However, gender shows notable heterogeneity, with the effects of institutional quality being more robust and closer to the theoretical expectations for men than for women.

Using panel data, this study is the first to offer an empirical analysis of the effect that absolute income and three specifications of comparison income have on individual happiness in a transitional country. We use unique data from the Viet Nam Access to Resources Household Survey (VARHS) in three cycles (2012, 2014, and 2016), including a representative sample of 6,575 respondents from 12 provinces in rural areas in Vietnam. Taking advantage of panel data, we use a fixed-effects regression approach to control for individual unobservable heterogeneity. The approach taken in this paper divides subgroups according to relative income instead of absolute income. This analysis allows the elimination of opposing relations to see the same direction effect of social comparison income on individuals’ happiness The results reveal that individuals compare themselves to more than one reference group, and compare themselves both with those better off and those worse off. Nevertheless statistically significant results only attain when one outweighs the other or when they both look downward or upward in their comparison. Interestingly, the outcome turns from asymmetry to near symmetry when the reference group’s interaction effects change from opposed to the same.

One of the strategic objectives of the Vietnamese government in achieving universal health coverage (UHC) is to develop a sustainable, equitable, and effective health financing system. This study aimed to examine the incidence and intensity of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) and impoverishment in Vietnam at different thresholds of expenditure. The data were obtained from six national representative Household Living Standards Surveys from 2008 to 2018. We found that the incidence and intensity of CHE declined significantly over study years. Additionally, we found a substantial reduction in the incidence and intensity of medical impoverishment in Vietnam. The increase in the poverty gap in 2012 and 2014 was because non-poor households became poor after out-of-pocket (OOP) health payments. However, the rise in poverty gaps in 2008, 2010, 2016 and 2018 was attributable to the worsening state of existing poor households after healthcare payments. In addition, we found that the CHE rate and impoverishment were more concentrated in the poor quintile groups. Furthermore, we found that the Red River Delta had the highest CHE rate, whereas the Northern Midland region experienced the strongest poverty impact of OOP payments. Generally, in Vietnam, the health financing system has had no considerable success in reducing inequality across quintiles and regions. Finally, our findings revealed that health insurance showed positive impacts on households’ financial protection against CHE and impoverishment, after enacting both the first Health Insurance Law in 2009 and the Revised Health Insurance Law in 2015. The results suggest that the health insurance scheme should be reviewed to continue reducing CHE and impoverishment, promoting equity and enhancing the performance of the health financing system in Vietnam.

The present study aims to investigate perceptions of pre-service teachers of English on the quality of a training course on English Language Teacher Education. Thirty-nine pre-service teachers who had just completed their training program at a university participated in the study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The results show that the pre-service teachers on the whole showed a high level of satisfaction with the quality of the training course. However, the results indicate certain variances in the way the pre-service teachers responded to the issue of quality. The study also indicates suggestions proposed by pre-service teachers regarding how to help the university improve the quality of education and training as well as the services it offers. Accordingly, this study brings significant insights for related stakeholders in achieving a better quality for education.

The officially distinctive mark of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (ECVN) is the Fourfold Gospel emblem. It is inherited from A.B. Simpson, the founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), through the teaching of C&MA missionaries in Vietnam. However, ECVN adapted some of the teachings and reinterpreted the symbols in the Vietnamese context. The reason is that the assimilation of the Fourfold Gospel to the ECVN’s theology has been selected through a fundamentalistic perspective and a serious uneasiness about Pentecostalism, and hence, it has become disconnected from its original theological foundation.

This study investigated the impact of synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) mode and familiarity with partners on learner engagement in second-language task-based interaction, and whether learner engagement is linked to subsequent joint-written-text quality. Ninety-eight Vietnamese learners of English were assigned into (±) familiar groups and performed a picture-sequencing tasks in two SCMC modes (i.e., video and text chat). Scores of 3 types of learner engagement (cognitive, social, and emotional) were compared across the conditions. Results showed that scores of all engagement types in the video chat were significantly higher than in the text chat. Familiar dyads also showed higher engagement than unfamiliar peers during the interaction. Learners reported different reasons for their preferences of video chat over text chat. Language-related episodes, semantically engaged talk, and mutual help as measures of learner engagement were predictive of the subsequent text quality. The results contribute to the general understanding of the characteristics of video and text chat and their impact on learner engagement and text quality.

We investigated the long-term effects of birthplace favoritism by top-ranking politicians on the quality of education in Vietnam. We used over 1 million test scores from the 2009 and 2014 Vietnamese national university entrance examinations. We examined both the different timing of political terms and the total years of birthplace favoritism. Using the school fixed effects, we found that birthplace favoritism did not have any significant impacts, regardless of the timing and duration of such favoritism. We did not find evidence for such impacts in the distribution of test scores either. The results also suggest that national entrance examinations were unaffected by birthplace favoritism up to 2014.

Over the past decades, the Vietnamese government has strategically encouraged the import of the ‘Western’ curriculum through the so-called Advanced Programmes. It is envisioned that by learning from the more advanced systems such as Australia, Canada, the US, and the UK, Vietnamese universities will be able to overhaul their outdated curriculum and embark on a shortcut to the league of global rankings. Drawing on 21 interviews with Vietnamese and foreign staff and students in two Advanced Programmes imported from the US, this article reviews these programmes’ twelve-year implementation to explore the challenges arising and the roles of local academics in implementing and mediating the curriculum. The research revealed considerable challenges in imparting ‘Western’ knowledge to the local context due to ideological and practicality differences. However, it is the process through which academics mediated between the international content and local students’ needs that enables practical internationalisation of the imported curriculum.

Addressing the fact that studies on self-care of Vietnamese middle-aged women remain scarse, our presenting study aims to investigate the relationship between supportive resources utilized by Vietnamese middle-aged women and their types of self-care. Data were collected from survey interview with 512 middle-aged women (aged from 40 to 60 years old) in Hanoi city and Quang Ninh province. A series of linear regression was performed on the six types of self-care, including: physical care, supportive relationships, mindful awareness, self-compassion & purpose, mindful relaxation, and supportive structure. Three types of supportive resources and other covariates (age, education, and residence area) were entered into these models as key predictors. The study results show that the use of different level of resources was associated with different types of self-care practice. The use of micro-resource system significantly predicted all six types of self-care among Vietnamese middle-aged women. The mesenchymal and peripheral resource systems significantly predicted physical care only among Vietnamese middled-age women. The macro resource system was significantly associated with the practice of mind-relaxing and supportive structure. In addition, people who were older, had better education and lived in urban areas tended to participate more in physical care. Women with a higher education level and living in urban areas were predicted to utilize more supportive relationships and mindful relaxation. Women living in urban areas, having a higher level of education practiced mindful relaxation significantly more than their counterparts. Using more supportive structure was significantly more among women living in urban areas, in older age groups and having higher education levels. The key findings suggest the promotion of active support from the micro-level system, as well as advocate for social policy development to help less privileged groups of women access and use mezzo and macro resources more effectively.

The article mentions the impact of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on online learning in Vietnamese higher education in 2020. This is a qualitative case study, by using in-depth interviews to explore the changes in the perception, methods, and orientation of online learning of students and lecturers at a key pedagogical university when experiencing the three COVID-19 outbreaks in Vietnam. The findings show that the COVID-19 pandemic has a positive impact on the developmental orientation of online learning at the Vietnamese higher education level. Even though at the time of an outbreak, opposition and dissatisfaction with online learning occurred;but through the three outbreaks, together with the efforts of lecturers and students, online learning in Vietnam has recorded remarkable achievements. This is a prerequisite for the development of online education and the innovation of digital technology in education. © 2021 The Author(s). Open Access - This article is under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

В статье впервые дано общее представление о влиянии «Преступления и наказания» Ф. М. Достоевского на творчество вьетнамских писателей на протяжении целого столетия. Автор обращает внимание, что роман «Преступление и наказание» занимает особое место в культурном пространстве Вьетнама, оказывая влияние на поэтику художественных произведений вьетнамских прозаиков, их мировоззренческие и эстетические ориентиры. В работе наглядно иллюстрируется процесс вхождения «Преступления и наказания» в культуру Вьетнама, который шел через творческую адаптацию романа. Автор отмечает, что сложные философские проблемы, которые поднимались в романе Ф. М. Достоевского, вызывали большой интерес у вьетнамских читателей, а у ряда вьетнамских писателей и стремление к подражанию. Исследование показало, что «Преступление и наказание» оказало заметное влияние не только на сюжет, идею художественных произведений, но и на языковой стиль многих известных вьетнамских романистов в ходе модернизации вьетнамской литературы. Интерес к роману великого русского писателя сохраняется сегодня на высоком уровне, что способствует развитию культурных связей между двумя народами. В статье делается вывод о незаменимой позиции романа «Преступление и наказание» в сердцах вьетнамских читателей. Научная новизна настоящего исследования определяется изучением творческой адаптации романа Ф. М. Достоевского в литературной практике вьетнамских художников слова на протяжении XX-XXI веков, а также обозначением различных линий в рецепции известного русского романа во Вьетнаме. Результаты исследования могут быть использованы на занятиях по истории русской и зарубежной литератур, будут интересны учителям-словесникам, а также всем увлеченным художественной литературой и культурой. The article for the first time gives a general idea of the influence of “Crime and Punishment” by F. M. Dostoevsky on the works of Vietnamese writers for a whole century. The author observes that the novel “Crime and Punishment” occupies a special place in the cultural space of Vietnam, influencing the poetics of the artistic works of Vietnamese prose writers, their ideological and aesthetic guidelines. The work clearly illustrates the process by which “Crime and Punishment” enters into the culture of Vietnam, which went through the creative adaptation of the novel. The author notes that the complex philosophical problems that were raised in the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky aroused great interest among Vietnamese readers, and a number of Vietnamese writers also had a desire to imitate. The study showed that “Crime and Punishment” had a noticeable impact not only on the plot, the idea of literary works, but also on the language style of many famous Vietnamese novelists during the modernization of Vietnamese literature. Interest in the novel of the great Russian writer remains today at a high level, which contributes to the development of cultural ties between the two peoples. The article concludes about the irreplaceable position of the novel “Crime and Punishment” in the hearts of Vietnamese readers. The scientific novelty of this study is determined by the study of the creative adaptation of the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky in the literary practice of Vietnamese authors during the 20th-21st centuries, as well as the designation of various lines in the reception of the famous Russian novel in Vietnam. The results of the research can be used in classes on the history of Russian and foreign literature, and will be of interest to teachers of literature as well as to all those who are interested in fiction and culture.

How do immigrant-origin residents claim membership in the United States? Chinese, Vietnamese and Mexican-origin parents and their citizen teenagers were asked what it means to be a good citizen and...

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impacts of travel motivations, time perspective and city image that affect travelers’ intention to visit city tourism. Design/methodology/approach The data in this study was collected through a structured questionnaire survey conducted in three big cities in the North of Vietnam (Hanoi, Hai Phong and Ha Long). The data set consists of 625 valid responses by Vietnamese tourists. Correlation analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test the causal relationships among time perspective, city image, travel motivations and tourist intention. Confirmatory factor analysis is conducted to verify the reliability and validity of each latent construct and to evaluate the discriminant validity, convergent validity, composition reliability and average variance extracted for the latent constructs. Findings This study finds that tourists’ travel motivations, time perspective and city image are significantly and positively associated with their intention to visit city tourism. This study also reports that tourists’ time perspective and city image are significantly and positively related to their travel motivation which is in turn significantly and positively correlated to their intention to engage in city tourism. Practical implications City tourism providers need to seek for understanding travel motivations of potential customers. City tourism products should be promoted to people who want to travel for knowledge enhancement, seeking, self-fulfillment, socializing and escape. Tourism businesses and marketers focus more on developing the overall image of city. They should have city slogan and have strategy to establish the city branding to evoke or remind the customers to come in. Since the Corona (COVID-19) pandemic impact on every nation around the world, the artificial intelligence has to be taken on city tourism to minimize the negative influence of this pandemic. Originality/value This study reveals three key determinants of tourists’ intention including travel motivations, city image and time perspective, which have unclear study in the city tourism literature. This study also explains the role of travel motivations in mediating the impacts of their time perspective and city image on their intention to visit city tourism. Improving the city image is important to attract tourists who want to engage in city tourism for knowledge enhancement, seeking, self-fulfillment, socializing or escape. Tourism providers need to have a strategy for establishing the city branding to evoke or remind the customers to come in. The time perspective should be paid more attention to tourists who want to travel to city tourism for knowledge enhancement, seeking, self-fulfillment, socializing or escape.

PurposeUpgrading in global value chains (GVCs) has become a crucial strategy for enhancing competitive advantage and attaining higher profitability, especially among firms in developing countries. Drawn from the sociological approach, this study treats GVC upgrading as an entrepreneurial act and examines factors affecting firms' intention to move up in their chains based on the theory of planned behavior. The authors also further test the moderating effects of firms' knowledge about rule of origin and governmental supports on the intention-behavior gap.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth interviews with eight Vietnamese business managers were implemented to support the development of hypotheses and measurement scales. Afterwards, the authors conducted a survey on decision-makers of 402 Vietnamese firms which currently have export-import activities to collect quantitative data for testing the hypothesized relationships.FindingsThe empirical results indicate that both attitudes, behavioral control and social norms have significant positive impacts on the intention to upgrade in GVCs. In turn, such intention could further activate actual behaviors to move up in their chains. However, those who have better knowledge about rule of origin and receive governmental supports either in terms of finance, credit or technology have a higher probability of demonstrating actual behavior to upgrade in GVCs once their intentions are formed than those who do not.Practical implicationsThis research provides valuable implications for policymakers in accelerating firms' actions to upgrade within their chains, hence, actively enhancing not only organizational performance but also significantly contributes to the national economic development.Originality/valueWhile most of the previous studies examine the preconditions for firms to participate and upgrade in their GVCs, there is limited attention on determinants of firms' own intention and actual behavior to upgrade in their chains once they have participated in the GVC. Specifically, this research not only contributes to the existing knowledge regarding factors affecting firms' intention to upgrade in their chains but also closes the gap between the intention and the actual GVC upgrading behavior.

This study explores the changes in university autonomy policies and their effect on the development of higher education in Vietnam. The research reveals that the Vietnamese government is encounteri...

This study is a critical autoethnography in which I recorded how I, as a Vietnamese student pursuing a doctoral degree in New Zealand with accompanying children, navigated between cultures and lear...

The current study aimed to explore what types of teacher humor EFL students prefer in their classes. The study was designed as a mixed-method approach, using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to collect data in two different Vietnamese universities. One hundred fifty-eight university students responded to the survey, and eight out of them were recruited as the participants for the interviews. The study results revealed that the types of jokes (M=4.41), riddles (M=4.08), and language play (M=4.15) were most favored. Besides, the participants' demographic information, including their gender and majors, affected their preferable types of teacher humor. Specifically, males showed more positive attitudes towards teacher humor than their counterparts. In terms of students’ majors, there were differences between non-English majors and English-majored students’ perceptions of irony, teasing, language play, visual and physical humor. Regarding the students’ positive attitudes towards teacher humor, EFL teachers should learn more about valuable strategies for using teacher humor in their classes due to the fact that they do not need to have a sense of humor to use it effectively.

In this paper, we use the framework of family social reproduction to investigate care relationships within cross-border marriages in Malaysia. Examining the narratives of Chinese Malaysian men and their Vietnamese spouses, we find that (i) the Malaysian men’s labour migration during their twenties and thirties leads to the deferment as well as enablement of marriage, reconfiguring social reproduction temporally and spatially within their life courses, while (ii) the Vietnamese women’s aspirations for migration, work, and marriage interlink with their desire to seek a better life, and their motivations to secure better options to contribute to the social reproduction of their natal families. Tensions in cross-border marriage arise from unmet expectations of care and sustenance, leading to frictions over contested roles and responsibilities in daily household maintenance and care activities, and compromises as marriage partners formulate social reproductive strategies. Exchanges of care, reproductive labour, and money within these marriages are embedded in relational meanings, pointing to the significance of recognising that the care work that shapes and sustains marital relationships is bidirectional, reciprocal, and undertaken by husbands as much as wives.

Task conflicts among group members have a significant impact on team creativity, so it is critical to identify which conflict resolution styles should be used. This paper aims to examine how various conflict management styles influence team creativity via task conflict. The empirical research was conducted using the Structural Equation Model (SEM) for a sample of 257 employees working for Vietnamese organizations. The results show that dominating style increases task conflict while combining and obliging styles reduce it. To take advantage of the creativity-related benefits associated with task conflict, team leaders should develop an open atmosphere that encourages participants' integrating styles, rather than dominating styles. The negative influence of obliging style reflects Vietnamese culture's high collectivism. The study provides various approaches for task conflict management and also highlights the role of controlling task conflicts in enhancing team innovation. It implies that employees will be able to work better as a team in practice if conflict management strategies are used in a flexible manner. It helps them to build a good connection and successfully implement new ideas. Further research should extend the conclusion of this analysis in various contexts to generalize the findings. Doi: 10.28991/esj-2021-01303 Full Text: PDF

Over several decades, the Vietnamese government has increasingly cut its investment in the public higher education system and has also introduced a cost-sharing mechanism. Under this scheme, Vietnamese public universities have been seeking other sources of revenue. Despite the bold emphasis on the need for revenue diversification in higher education in Vietnam, there is little empirical evidence of the status quo of Vietnamese public higher education finance. The purpose of this paper was to fill this research gap by using the Hirschman–Herfindahl Index to estimate the degree of financial diversity in 51 public universities in Vietnam between 2015 and 2017. Our findings revealed that all institutions in this study were unsustainable due to their weak financial diversity. Suggestions for policy makers and university leaders that may enhance financial sustainability include the adoption of performance-based financial allocations and the implementation of capacity-building programs for universities with regard to fund-raising and entrepreneurship skills.

An increasing number of people, especially university students, are presenting Peter Pan Syndrome in society. Peter Pan Syndrome is a concept used to characterize the person who refuses to comply with the characteristics of the adult when reaching adulthood. The people with Peter Pan Syndrome are immature in emotion, behavior, and cognition. The main objective is to investigate the perception of Peter Pan Syndrome and the level of Peter Pan Syndrome among university students. Convenience sampling was used to collect data from 400 undergraduate students (186 males and 214 females) from three universities in Vietnam. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that the manifestations of Peter Pan Syndrome in students in three dimensions of emotion, behavior, and cognition. This study contributes to the general discussion underway about the definition of Peter Pan Syndrome and the symptoms of Peter Pan Syndrome. Future research should carefully consider the potential effects of Peter Pan Syndrome among undergraduate students to assist families and educators in developing appropriate education and coping strategies.

This study investigates the efficiency of humorous teaching videos integrated with the echo method in comparison with traditional teaching methods using humorous teaching handouts. There are 59 participants in this study divided into 2 groups of a quasi-experimental design. The findings indicate that the new teaching method design with humorous videos and echo method help learners gain higher learning outcomes, effectiveness of memorizing vocabulary and self-efficacy for learning & performance motivation. Educators are suggested to integrate humorous videos and the echo method in teaching Chinese. Future research should provide a selection standard of humorous videos in teaching Chinese. The impact of humorous videos on 6 dimensions of learning motivation in MSLQ should be further investigated.

This paper aims to examine whether cash holding can enhance the financial stability of firms under the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. We utilize quarterly data of 285 Vietnamese listed firms from...

One of the challenges to Vietnamese education has been the schooling inequality between students of the ethnic majority and those of ethnic minorities. This paper, therefore, reports on research th...

This paper explores the legal challenges of combating cybercrime in Vietnam. We used a legal doctrine method to review the updated Vietnamese legal frameworks, consisting of substantive, procedural, and preventive cybercrime law. We then combined the analysis of four cybercrime cases and in-depth interviews of seven senior police officials to analyse the application of cybercrime law. The main findings reveal that by updating its legal system, Vietnam has shown a determination to prevent and disrupt cybercrime. Despite positive results, Vietnam’s fight against cybercrime still faces legal challenges, including traditional and novel ones. Moreover, active and flexible approaches within Vietnam’s cyberspace management can increase the effectiveness of combating cybercriminal activities; however, they can cause concerns in balancing cybercrime control and human rights protection. These approaches could then constitute a useful case study for other similar situations.

In recent decades, there has been increasing pressure for teacher accountability. Additionally, interest in teacher evaluation throughout the field of education has grown. While research has been conducted on multiple factors contributing to student achievement, there is a lack of research in the Vietnamese culture on faculty perceptions of the meaning and interpretation of the faculty performance evaluation. This study addressed faculty perceptions of the evaluation process and overall impact on their teaching performance. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore full-time faculty members' perceptions of the performance appraisal (PA) process currently implemented at a local university (i.e., private university in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). Data obtained from individual, semi-structured interviews with 12 full-time faculty was analyzed. After analysis of the data, salient findings were identified regarding the enhancement of teaching quality. Second, substantial factors contributing to the faculty's positive perceptions of the PA process and instructional methods were determined. Leading on from this, this study identified key factors that instructors believe are critical in an effective performance appraisal process. Furthermore, the leadership tools required to make the overall process meet instructors' expectations were met.

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is diagnosed when [Formula: see text]2 of the following symptoms are present: ovulation disorder (OD), hyperandrogenism (HA), and polycystic ovary morphology (PCO). Clinical features of PCOS are heterogeneous and there are four clinical phenotypes: A (OD + HA + PCO); B (HA + OD); C (HA + PCO); and D (OD + PCO). Women with a PCOS phenotype that includes severe HA are at increased risk for pregnancy complications. There are currently no data on impact of PCOS phenotypes on in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes in Vietnamese women. This study investigated the association between PCOS phenotypes and IVF outcomes. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial conducted in patients with PCOS undergoing IVF at IVFMD, My Duc Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam between January 2018 and April 2019. The primary outcome was live birth rate. Results: A total of 192 patients were included, of whom 33 patients had phenotype A (17.2%) and 159 had phenotype D (82.8%); no patients had phenotype B or C. Body mass index was significantly higher in patients with phenotype A than D (25.36 ± 4.78 versus 22.08 ± 3.21, [Formula: see text] = 0.001). There were no differences in laboratory and pregnancy outcomes between patients with phenotypes A and D. The live birth rate was lower in patients with phenotype A versus D, but the between-group difference did not reach statistical significance (33.3% vs. 42.8%, [Formula: see text] = 0.419). Conclusions: The common PCOS phenotypes in Vietnamese women with infertility were A and D. No impact of PCOS phenotypes on IVF treatment outcomes was detected in this secondary analysis; larger studies are needed

The first cohort of Czech second-generation Vietnamese has only recently reached adulthood. Raised by Czech nannies, they received early socialization into Czech society, while Vietnamese culture remained unfamiliar. With this childhood experience, the generation grew into young adulthood questioning their identity/identities. Caught between social and normative pressures from both the Vietnamese community and Czech society, the formation of associations by second-generation Vietnamese can be a means to respond to their disadvantaged position. Based on in-depth interviews with leaders of these associations and participant observation of their activities, the article examines the goals and activities of second-generation associations (SGAs) and compares them with first-generation immigrant organizations. SGAs are shown to fill the gap of parents as key role models of socialization in Czech society and as platforms to enhance the self-confidence and sense of social responsibility of second-generation Vietnamese in Czechia.

Due process—the ‘soul’ of a modern constitution—was not seriously taken into account under purely socialist legal systems in general as well as in pre-2013 Vietnamese constitutions in particular. Since the 2013 Constitution, Vietnamese jurisprudence has incorporated the human rights-limitation principle (substantive due process) for the first time and strengthened the application of universal fair trial rights (procedural due process). This constitutional development is the result of the fact that, over the past two decades, the class-based perception of human rights has been increasingly less important and has been almost replaced by universalism. This article claims that, because of the influence of Soviet jurisprudence, the Vietnamese version of due process has been characterized by the fact that human rights could be arbitrarily trumped by public interests and that fair trial rights have been problematically limited to criminal proceedings and almost ignored in non-criminal procedures. This article analyses the importance of, and the challenges involved in, incorporating the human rights-limitation principle into the 2013 Constitution and argues for an extension of fair trial rights to all kinds of criminal, civil, administrative, and mixed procedures in keeping with global constitutionalism.

The aim of this study was to examine how perceived racial discrimination is associated with mental distress among diverse Asian Americans and to explore the potential moderators in the relationship. Based on the 2015 Asian American Quality of Life (AAQoL) survey (n = 2609), direct influences were tested of the contextual (demographic, health-related, and immigration-related) variables and perceived racial discrimination on mental distress, as well as their interactions. About 30% of the sample reported perceived racial discrimination, and 44% fell into the category of having mental distress. Perceived racial discrimination was associated with 1.90 times higher odds of mental distress and had significant interactions with age, education, and ethnicity. The association of mental distress with perceived racial discrimination was higher among those who were 60 or older, less educated, and Vietnamese than among their respective counterparts. Findings can guide strategic and targeted interventions for high-risk groups.

The conspicuous consumption of luxurious foods and goods is a way to display an elite standing in the material world. In Asian religions, the conspicuous non-consumption of certain foods can mark a...

Many Vietnamese writers have recognised the utility of literary devices to beautify the artistic features in written texts. Like other rhetorical devices, simile plays an essential role in bringing meaningful values close to the readers. The research aims at identifying the usage of simile in the translation equivalents between Vietnamese and English in De men phieu luu ky and its translated version Diary of a cricket. From analysing 108 sentences by the descriptive qualitative research, the findings showed that (1) The high frequency of using the complete form of simile to express the figure of speech. (2) The imbalance in the translation rate between two languages and the most popular simile word of like usage in English translated text. (3) The variables of comparative words and themes used in the target text show the same meaning in the source text. Those conclusions shed light on the quality improvement on the target text, especially in both translator's training and further translation education.

Purpose This study aims to investigate customer experience (CE) and its relationship with intermediate variables to analyze the impact of digital banking (DB) on banks’ financial performance (FP) before Covid-19 and during the lockdown in Vietnam. Design/methodology/approach These research data are from a survey of Vietnamese customers. The survey was deployed to a sample of 238 and 218 customers of 20 Vietnamese commercial banks via email in 2018Q4 and 2020Q2, respectively. FP is measured using banks’ quarterly financial statements before Covid-19 and during the lockdown. Findings CE with DB had a significant and positive impact on FP via customer satisfaction before Covid-19, while the other two intermediate variables (word-of-mouth [WoM] and trust) had no considerable impact. During the lockdown, only WoM had a positive impact on FP. These findings indicate that before Covid-19, when customers could easily interact with their bank through many touchpoints, customer satisfaction with DB services created higher FP for the bank. However, during the lockdown, DB became the customer’s main touchpoint and WoM mediated the CE–FP relationship. Originality/value During the national lockdown from the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in January 2020, customers in Vietnam may have had different experiences with DB when no alternate modes of payment were available. The study uses Covid-19 as a moderator variable to offer different viewpoints and findings related to CE with DB and its impact on FP.

In 2010, the Vietnamese government initiated the Payment for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) program to conserve forests and improve local livelihoods. While some researches have demonstrated ...

Generic expressions play a key role in the interactional articulation, social circulation, and temporal reproduction of ideology. Here I examine fragments from a conversation between four middle-class participants which took place at a café in Hanoi. After briefly describing the particular grammatico-textual patterns by which specific and generic references are accomplished in Vietnamese, I turn to consider two extended stretches of talk in which these people weave generic reference into the warp and weft of their interaction. I argue that generic reference is intimately tied to social ontology which consists, in part, of ideas about distinct and essentialized ‘kinds of persons’. Deployed in what appears, on the surface at least, as ordinary, mundane conversation, not only does such generic reference serve to position those referred to as ‘ontological other’ (Wynter 1987), it also constitutes an ‘act of alterity’ (Hastings & Manning 2004) by which the participants tacitly characterize themselves. (Reference, Vietnamese, social ontology, alterity, stereotype, essentialism)*

Informed by values of autonomy and self-determination, advance care planning assumes that individuals should independently take control of their future health. In this article, we draw on research conducted with Vietnamese health and community workers to problematize individualized approaches to planning ahead, reframe notions of “cultural and linguistic barriers,” and expose how homogeneous messages about care at the end of life are not readily translatable within and across diverse groups. Anthropological and feminist critiques of inclusion and exclusion are used to reorientate Anglophone framings of the individual and of cultural and linguistic differences. In this article, we suggest that it is the narrow singularity of care for the self—rather than diverse relationalities of care—that should be overcome if aging and end-of-life care policy and practice is to be broadened and made relevant to migrant and non-English-speaking groups. Refereed/Peer-reviewed