Another type of certificate for foreigners to teach English in Vietnam

The Ministry of Education and Training has issued for the first time a training program and certification program for foreigners to teach English at centers.

On January 23, Mr. Vu Minh Duc, Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers, Ministry of Education and Training, said that this is aimed at improving the quality of foreign language teaching and learning in Vietnam, including the quality of English teaching and learning at foreign language and information technology centers.

The group of teachers at the foreign language center must participate in this program, including: native speakers (English), foreigners with an English college degree or a college degree with a foreign language proficiency certificate from level 5 (C1) or higher according to the 6-level foreign language proficiency framework for Vietnam or equivalent.

The program consists of 11 topics, a total of 160 lessons, each lesson is 45 minutes. The core content is basic knowledge about the context and culture; the Vietnamese education system; some regulations on teaching and learning in Vietnam.

In addition, learners are provided with teaching methods for English language knowledge; listening, speaking, reading and writing skills; teaching methods for Vietnamese children and teenagers; testing and evaluation methods; application of information technology and exploitation and development of learning materials in English teaching.

However, after the program was issued, some English centers with foreign teachers wondered whether their teachers were required to study and obtain the certificate. Or what if the teacher already had an international English teaching certificate such as TESOL. These contents were not mentioned in the Ministry's document.

According to Mr. Duc, the Ministry's program is aimed at people who have English language proficiency but do not have appropriate pedagogical skills.

"Thus, foreigners who have foreign language proficiency according to regulations and have a recognized English teaching certificate are not required to study this program," said a representative of the Department of Education.

Some English teaching training certificates recognized in Vietnam today include TESOL, TEFL, CELTA, according to the Ministry's Department of International Cooperation.

Students study with foreign teachers at Res English Center. Photo: Res English — Students study with foreign teachers at Res English Center. Photo: *Res English*

Regarding teaching and certification, the Ministry allows teacher training schools to proactively compile and implement materials, which can be online or in person. Facilities, lecturers who compile and evaluate materials and participate in teaching must meet a number of conditions and report to the Ministry for monitoring, inspection and evaluation.

Some schools have announced enrollment for this training program. For example, the University of Foreign Languages, Hue University enrolls students with a cost of 17.9 to 19.9 million VND.

A 2019 statistic shows that the country has nearly 4,000 foreign language and IT centers, concentrated in large cities, with nearly 750 centers in Hanoi alone. Many centers advertise "100% foreign teachers".

According to regulations, foreigners are granted a work permit to teach English in Vietnam if they have a suitable teaching pedagogical degree or a language/other specialized degree along with a suitable English teaching certificate such as TESOL, TEFL, CELTA, DELTA...

However, many foreigners without this certificate are still hired by some foreign language and IT centers to teach by the hour due to the need to "study with native speakers", raising concerns about quality.

Duong Tam

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