Linguistic minority learners in mainstream education in

Vietnam: an ethnographic case study of Muong pupils in

their early years

Chung Pham

Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of

PhD (Doctor of Philosophy)

The University of Leeds

School of Education
September 2016
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I confirm that the work submitted is my own and that appropriate

credit has been given where reference has been made to the
work of others.

This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is

copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be
published without proper acknowledgement.

The right of Chung Pham to be identified as Author of this work

has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
© <2016> The University of Leeds and <Chung Pham>
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Acknowledgements
First of all, I would like to thank my first supervisor, Dr Jean Conteh, and my
second supervisor, Dr Mary Chambers, for their extensive and invaluable
guidance and endless encouragement in helping me progress through this
study as smoothly as possible. The tireless academic support they have
provided me throughout my time in Leeds has been amazing and their
patience and empathy when tolerating my lagging behind the timeline due to
personal issues has been no less remarkable. Their knowledge of when to
give me a bit of a push and when to offer some space on this challenging
journey has been tremendously appreciated and has been a great source of
motivation for the completion of the study.

Secondly I would like to thank the participants: the head teacher, the Deputy
Head, all the teachers, the children and their families, for allowing me to
carry out my research in the way that I did. For identity safeguarding, their
names are not mentioned here but such names are forever imprinted on my
memory.

Last but not least, I want to express my gratitude to Paul Gilliland, who has
been amazing with his proofreading skills and has been really patient when
doing this for me. Special thanks also goes to my parents, especially for
having stopped me from dropping out of school when I was 12 years old and
had to walk 12 kilometres on the school journey each day. The hardship of
this journey was tremendous due to us living in such a remote region. This
thesis is therefore dedicated to all poor children in remote areas in Vietnam,
whose journeys to school have always been extraordinary and challenging. I
hope you stay strong and pursue your dreams, no matter how ambitious
they may seem. As for me, I am here in Leeds and completing this study,
which is something I never dared to dream of before, but I am here at last.
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Abstract
This thesis presents a case study of some young linguistic minority learners
in mainstream education in Vietnam. Using ethnographic approaches, the
study focuses on some selected Muong-speaking children who experienced
difficulties with learning in their first year of primary education. The study
therefore aims to observe the process and situations in which these
struggling children become categorised as ‘slow’ learners, and what the
consequences are for these children.

By employing an ethnographic approach, the study involved an extended

data collection period, during which semi-structured interviews and
participant observations were extensively carried out. Such an approach
allows for an in-depth study of the perspectives of participants, as well as
emphasizing the significance of the researcher identity. In this process, a
careful collection and analysis of relevant documentation and participants’
work samples was also undertaken. The different layers surrounding these
learners, both at school and at home, were observed and recorded. An
analysis of observed lessons and samples of work from particular situations,
identified in field notes, suggests that there are significant factors that may
not be recognised in schools that negatively influence the learning of these
children.

The study flags up complicated issues regarding pupils at the lowest end of
the learning spectrum, where changes in the education system may not be
enough to adequately or effectively address their learning problems. Such
issues challenge any potential developments in education policy by
suggesting that socioeconomic issues may negate any attempt to improve
the learning experience of economically disadvantaged linguistic minority
children in some situations.

The conclusion suggests that further study into the issue over a longer
period of time would provide a fuller picture of the learning journey for
children like those studied here. This also identifies the multifaceted
difficulties that the education authorities in Vietnam face when addressing
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educational equity for all groups of learners. Overall, the study offers an
alternative perception when examining the underachievement of linguistic
minority learners in mainstream classes, as well as exploring the extent to
which a learning programme and/or an education system could be made
more equitable and accessible for all learners.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements.................................................................................... iii
Abstract ....................................................................................................... iv
Table of Contents ....................................................................................... vi
List of Tables .............................................................................................. xi
List of Figures ........................................................................................... xii
List of Images ........................................................................................... xiii
Chapter 1: Personal autobiography - Life experiences that shaped
my research ideas ............................................................................... 1
1.1 How my interest in the topic started ................................................ 1
1.2 Early years and professional experiences ....................................... 4
1.3 Back to my ‘research problem’ ........................................................ 7
Chapter 2: Vietnam background .............................................................. 10
2.1 Country introduction ...................................................................... 10
2.2 Administrative system of education ............................................... 11
2.2.1 DOET’s and BOET’s responsibilities .................................. 12
2.2.2 Teachers in the competitive system ................................... 13
2.3 Education in Vietnam at a glance .................................................. 16
2.3.1 A monolingual system in a multilingual society .................. 17
2.3.2 The linguistic minority situation and the Muong minority
group – the wider educational and national context in
Vietnam ............................................................................... 20
2.4 Conclusion .................................................................................... 25
Chapter 3: Literature review ..................................................................... 26
3.1 Introduction ................................................................................... 26
3.2 Individual identity – similarities and differences ............................. 27
3.2.1 Identity................................................................................ 28
3.2.2 Identity and education ........................................................ 29
3.3 Theory of learning in culturally diverse classrooms ....................... 31
3.3.1 Inclusion of diversity - connecting culture with
education ............................................................................ 31
3.3.2 Inclusion in practice ............................................................ 34
3.3.3 Assessing young learners in culturally diverse
classrooms .......................................................................... 36
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3.3.3.1 Children’s learning, language and development

- what and how adults make sense of that .................. 37
3.3.3.2 When – What – How and Who? .............................. 39
3.4 Language in culturally diverse classrooms .................................... 44
3.4.1 The role of language in education ...................................... 44
3.4.2 Minority languages and mainstream education: a
connection needed? ............................................................ 45
3.4.3 Bilingualism and bilingual education................................... 46
3.4.3.1 Bilingualism – the matter of rights and equality ....... 46
3.4.3.2 Bilingual education: concerns and arguments ......... 49
3.4.3.3 Bilingualism and special education ......................... 54
3.5 Education for All – language diversity and equal opportunities ..... 56
3.5.1 International trends ............................................................ 56
3.5.2 Regional trends .................................................................. 59
3.5.3 Vietnam context ................................................................. 63
3.5.3.1 Policy level .............................................................. 64
3.5.3.2 Bilingualism through monolingualism? .................... 65
3.5.3.3 Transitional model? ................................................. 67
3.6 Research Questions ...................................................................... 67
3.7 Conclusion .................................................................................... 68
Chapter 4: Research design and methodology ...................................... 69
4.1 Introduction ................................................................................... 69
4.2 Ethnography .................................................................................. 70
4.3 Data collection methods ................................................................ 73
4.3.1 Participant Observation ...................................................... 73
4.3.2 Interviews ........................................................................... 75
4.4 Research design ........................................................................... 76
4.4.1 Case study ......................................................................... 76
4.4.2 The aim .............................................................................. 78
4.4.3 Piloting and initial field visits ............................................... 78
4.4.3.1 Primary School A .................................................... 78
4.4.3.2 Primary School B .................................................... 79
4.4.3.3 Primary School C .................................................... 79
4.4.3.4 Common facts ......................................................... 80
4.4.3.5 Statement of preference .......................................... 81
4.4.4 Participants ........................................................................ 82
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4.4.5 Justification of participants ................................................. 84

4.4.6 Interviews ........................................................................... 85
4.4.6.1 Interviews with teachers .......................................... 85
4.4.6.2 Interviews with the head teacher and the deputy
head ............................................................................ 86
4.4.6.3 Interviews with parents ............................................ 87
4.4.6.4 Interviews with children ........................................... 88
4.4.6.5 Processing and analysing the interview data .......... 88
4.4.7 Participant observations ..................................................... 95
4.4.8 Some reflections on my researcher identity ....................... 98
4.4.9 Data mapping and classifications ..................................... 100
4.4.10 Data analysis procedure – an illustration........................ 103
4.5 Ethical considerations ................................................................. 107
4.5.1 The participants ................................................................ 107
4.5.2 Safeguarding data ............................................................ 108
4.5.3 Researcher’s ethics .......................................................... 109
4.6 Summary of the chapter and preface for the next three
chapters .................................................................................... 111
Chapter 5: Regional context and the participants ................................ 113
5.1 An introduction to the researched school, community and
region ........................................................................................ 113
5.1.1 Families and community................................................... 114
5.1.1.1 Muong community nationwide ............................... 114
5.1.1.2 Muong community in the research location ........... 116
5.1.2 The school........................................................................ 118
5.2 The participants ........................................................................... 119
5.2.1 Teacher participants ......................................................... 120
5.2.1.1 Ms Phuong – the class teacher of Hoanh,
Quyen and Khuong ................................................... 121
5.2.1.2 Ms Quang – Nghieng’s class teacher .................... 124
5.2.1.3 The mathematics teacher ...................................... 124
5.2.1.4 The PE, art, and craft teacher ............................... 125
5.2.1.5 The singing teacher ............................................... 126
5.2.2 The pupil participants and their homes............................. 127
5.2.2.1 Hoanh and Quyen ................................................. 127
5.2.2.1.1 Home circumstances .........................................................................................128
5.2.2.1.2 Hoanh ................................................................................................................133
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5.2.2.1.3 Quyen ................................................................................................................134

5.2.2.2 Khuong .................................................................. 135

5.2.2.3 Nghieng ................................................................. 137
5.3 Conclusion .................................................................................. 138
Chapter 6: The children and their learning ........................................... 139
6.1 In this school year ....................................................................... 139
6.1.1 Hoanh’s learning progress ............................................... 140
6.1.2 Quyen’s learning progress ............................................... 148
6.1.3 Khuong’s learning progress .............................................. 158
6.1.4 Nghieng’s learning progress ............................................. 165
6.2 What their learning tells us .......................................................... 169
6.2.1 An analysis of their learning situation ............................... 169
6.2.2 The home-school link ....................................................... 174
6.3 What and how do they learn? Programme and assessment ....... 176
6.3.1 Curriculum ........................................................................ 177
6.3.1.1 Teaching Vietnamese............................................ 180
6.3.1.2 Teaching mathematics .......................................... 186
6.3.2 Assessment ...................................................................... 190
6.3.2.1 End-of-kindergarten assessment .......................... 191
6.3.2.2 Primary school assessment overview ................... 191
6.3.2.3 The participants and the Year 1 tests .................... 194
6.4 Conclusion .................................................................................. 200
Chapter 7: Key themes synthesis and discussion ............................... 201
7.1 Key themes synthesis – Assessment as a case study ................ 202
7.1.1 The WHEN issues ............................................................ 202
7.1.2 The WHAT issues ............................................................ 203
7.1.3 The HOW issues .............................................................. 209
7.1.4 Summary of the themes ................................................... 215
7.2 Discussions ................................................................................. 217
7.2.1 Language issues .............................................................. 217
7.2.2 Why are struggling learners affected more so than
other learners? .................................................................. 220
7.2.3 The two likely outcomes: SEN or repeating the year ........ 222
7.2.4 Back to identity matters .................................................... 228
7.3 Conclusion .................................................................................. 232
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Chapter 8: Conclusion and implications of the study.......................... 234

8.1 Implications of the study .............................................................. 234
8.1.1 Suggestions for future research ....................................... 235
8.1.2 Suggestions for the development of policy ....................... 236
8.1.3 Possible implications for practice ..................................... 238
8.1.4 Contribution to theory ....................................................... 239
8.2 Limitations of the study................................................................ 240
8.3 Summary and Conclusions ......................................................... 243
List of References ................................................................................... 247
Appendix A: Detailed data mapping ...................................................... 257
A.1 Phase 1: 18 Oct 11 – 8 Mar 12 ................................................... 257
A.1.1 Interviews and observation recordings............................. 257
A.1.2 Observation and field notes ............................................. 260
A.1.3 Documents....................................................................... 268
A.2 Phase 2: 9-29 May 2012 ............................................................. 269
A.2.1 Interviews and recordings ................................................ 269
A.2.2 Observations and field notes ........................................... 269
A.2.3 Documents....................................................................... 270
A.3 Phase 3 Dec 2012 – Jan 2013 and May, Dec 2013 .................... 271
A.3.1 Interviews and recordings ................................................ 271
A.3.2 Observation and field notes ............................................. 271
A.3.3 Documents....................................................................... 271
Appendix B: Some samples demonstrating data analysis in NVIVO .. 272
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List of Tables
Table 1: Pupil participants (and their families) ....................................... 83
Table 2: Teacher participants ................................................................... 84
Table 3: A sample of grouping data in timeline for analysing ............. 104
Table 4: Vietnamese Administrative system ......................................... 116
Table 5: List of workbooks ..................................................................... 123
Table 6: Summary of children’s test scores in Year 1 – Marked out
of 10.................................................................................................. 199
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List of Figures

Figure 1: Educational management system ........................................... 12

Figure 2: Piloting schools ........................................................................ 82
Figure 3: Data types ................................................................................ 100
Figure 4: Three phases of data collection............................................. 101
Figure 5: Data classified by methods .................................................... 102
Figure 6: Data breakdown ...................................................................... 103
Figure 7: First major theme identification ............................................. 105
Figure 8: Issues relating to the tests ..................................................... 106
Figure 9: Weekly sessions scheduled for each subject ...................... 179
Figure 10: Breakdown of the Vietnamese subject ................................ 180
Figure 11: Test scores and rankings ..................................................... 193
Figure 12: Summary of sessions per class ........................................... 267
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List of Images

Image 1: Hoanh’s work sample 1………………………………………..143-144

Image 2: Hoanh’s work sample 2………………………………………..145-146

Image 3: Quyen’s work sample 1………………………………………..152-153

Image 4: Quyen’s work sample 2………………………………………..154-155

Image 5: Khuong’s work sample 1……………………………………………160

Image 6: Khuong’s work sample 2………………………………………161-162

Image 7: Weekly timetable…………………………………………….………177

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Chapter 1: Personal autobiography - Life experiences that

shaped my research ideas

This chapter is concerned with my personal and professional autobiography,

in which I share my life experiences, from early years to my teaching and the
time when the researched topic became of interest to me.

There are three sections: the first being ‘How my interest in the topic started’,
which looks at the circumstances that initially provoked an interest in this
area of study. ‘Early years and professional experiences’ is the second
section, which recalls my first exposure to formal education and interactions
with linguistic minority classmates. In this section, I also recall my
professional experiences, starting as a novice teacher in a Vietnamese
school before switching to international school teaching. The last section,
titled ‘Back to my research problem’, returns to the research topic and adds
some detail as to how my interest in the area of study led to the development
of research questions.

1.1 How my interest in the topic started

By late autumn 2006 I had completed three linguistics courses focusing on

learning in a second language and multilingual education, and had almost
completed my master’s degree studies at an Australian university. I
accompanied a group of friends on a motorbike trip to a Thai linguistic
minority village called Mai Chau for a weekend break. The village is roughly
100 kilometres from Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, where I was living at
the time. Just before riding downhill into the village, we stopped on the edge
of a mountain to view the beautiful valley below, where I could see all the stilt
houses peacefully standing next to each other. Surrounding the village were
mountains and rice fields, which had just been harvested, leaving yellow
haystacks leaning against each other. The scenery was stunning and it made
me think that it was well worth the long five hours of riding.
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My excitement was not only about a tranquil break in a beautiful village; I

was also looking forward to exploring the local language spoken by this
linguistic minority group. This is because I had previously lived in Lao PDR
(People’s Democratic Republic) for one-and-a-half years, where I taught at
an international school in the capital city, Vientiane. I found the people there
to be nice, the food fantastic, and the language (especially the written form)
beautiful. I managed to learn the language quite successfully by attending a
private class for four months and by continually practising with the local
people on a daily basis. Later, back in Hanoi in mid-2005, I had joined a Thai
language course organised by the Embassy of Thailand. The intention and
expectation was to maintain my Lao language, since Lao and Thai
languages share at least 70% of the vocabulary and the written forms are
very similar (Higbie, 2011). I enjoyed learning Thai as much as I had Lao,
and unlike many other Vietnamese people, I was very proud of being able to
speak these two languages. For many of our people, if you spend time
learning a language it should be English or French, as these are believed to
be high-status languages which give you access to a more powerful world –
economically and politically. Some looked puzzled at me learning Lao and
Thai.

It had been more than a year since I started learning Thai and I had obtained
a decent level of the language – and more importantly, my Lao was still very
good. The people in Mai Chau village in Vietnam are from the Thai minority
and they speak a version of Thai that is a mixture of both Lao and Thai (from
Thailand).

Very soon after our arrival in the village, I tried speaking Thai to the landlady
where we were staying. She listened to me attentively and remarked that I
spoke some ancient Thai, like very old people speak in this village. She also
told me that a few weeks earlier, a group or tourists from Thailand had come
to stay and they could communicate with each other, as the vocabulary is so
similar. This lady then went on to tell me that most Thai people there now
speak Vietnamese and that even when they switch to their Thai language,
they use a mixture of Thai and Vietnamese, as there are many words they do
not think exist in their original language. The prevalence of Vietnamese may
 -3-

be because people in this village went to mainstream schools, where only

Vietnamese language is used for instruction.

At this point, I would just like to add some further context to this. The
education system in Vietnam uses one curriculum designed for the whole
country. The curriculum is produced by educators and policy makers who are
mostly from the Kinh majority group that speaks Vietnamese and the
curriculum uses only the national language: Vietnamese. There have been
written statements and policies recognising the need to include the
languages of linguistic minority groups in education, but reality does not
reflect such policies. Khanh The Bui (2005) recognises that about 10
different minority languages (out of over 100 languages) have been
introduced into schools. The scale, however, is rather limited with a focus on
teaching the languages at very early stages in primary schools but not using
the languages as a language of instruction, or continuing to use the
languages in higher grades. Here it can be seen that most minority
languages in Vietnam remain completely outside the education system.

Back in Mai Chau, my conversations with other villagers revealed that there
were at that time two living elders in this village who could read and write the
Thai language; everybody else could read and write only Vietnamese. I left
the village with confused and mixed feelings, wondering what would happen
when these elders in the village pass away.

Leaving Mai Chau and returning to Hanoi, I continued gathering information

and data for an assignment on a course about inclusive education and
special needs. Through some international organisations working in
education in Vietnam, I found some interesting research about inclusion and
the efforts of the Vietnamese government in bringing children with disabilities
back to school. This situation is a real challenge for Vietnam. The Education
Development Strategic Plan for 2001-2010 of the Ministry of Education and
Training (MOET, 2001) aimed to bring 50 percent of children with disabilities
into schools by 2005: a target which could not be met, as by 2006 roughly 76
percent of children with disabilities still received no schooling (Le, 2006).
 -4-

Children with disabilities in Vietnam have previously had very limited access
to education, due to a general lack of awareness about including disabled
children in education; transportation problems in more remote areas;
unsuitability of the physical learning environment and teaching curriculum;
limited teacher capacity for including children with disabilities, and a lack of
confidence from the families and children themselves. Parents of these
children have traditionally taken care of them in the home due to a feeling of
inferiority from having such children, and many even considered them as
burdens on society and a shame for the family (CRS, 2000).

An interesting response from one of my interviews with an education policy

worker equated the difficulty of bringing children from linguistic minority
groups into schools with the difficulty of getting children with disabilities into
schools. This took my thoughts back to the village that we had visited about
a month earlier. I started paying more attention and gave more interest to
related news and research findings referring to linguistic minority groups and
education.

1.2 Early years and professional experiences

At this point I also recalled my childhood growing up in a remote,

mountainous area in the north of Vietnam, where there were a few nearby
villages in which people from linguistic minorities lived.

By the time we completed middle school at the end of Year 9, the three
linguistic minority children that had previously been in my class had all left
school. Two had dropped out before the completion of primary school (at the
end of Year 5) and the last linguistic minority classmate of mine dropped out
in Year 6. My friends and I never wondered where all the other children from
these villages were, or whether or not there were more of them who were not
at school because they did not want to attend. We were aware that these
children spoke some ‘strange language’, but we never actually heard them
speaking that language in the classroom. We only heard their parents and
other adults using that different language in the local market or in the woods.
I remember hiding while feeling very scared whenever I saw these people in
 -5-

the woods, as we were told by adults that the linguistic minority people would
take us away if we were naughty. That perhaps resulted in our not feeling
very close to those few linguistic minority children in our schools back then.
In addition, after those linguistic minority children had dropped out of our
classes, one by one, none of us Vietnamese majority children seemed to
wonder why they no longer came to school. I remember also that none of us
were surprised when the last one dropped out either. This never concerned
us and we never talked about those children being absent from school, as
though they were never part of our group.

I need to add that dropping out of school was not an uncommon practice in
our area – a remote mountainous region where children needed to work with
their parents on the hillsides to help support their families. Many of my
Vietnamese majority friends also dropped out before completing middle
school in Year 9, but they all at least completed primary school.

Looking back on this, I now feel fortunate that my parents had prevented me
from dropping-out of school when I was in Year 7, when all the girls in my
class left, leaving me as the only girl, along with three boys, constituting the
whole class (though I must admit that my feelings were rather different back
then, as I felt rather upset about not being allowed to stop schooling). I
carried on studying and passed the entrance examination to university,
where I trained to become a literature teacher.

After graduating, I found a teaching role in a secondary school which was a

selective state school (the equivalent of a grammar school and highly
prestigious), where obtaining high grades in all subjects is the essential focus
for all learners. The first school year passed rapidly, and I was soon entering
the final grades of my subject in the students’ records, when it was
suggested by a school manager that I should change the average score for
my subject for a particular student. It appeared that his family had asked the
manager to intervene after they had come to talk to me and I had refused to
change the grade. A newly employed teacher, being asked by the school
manager, what else could I do? I changed the score, so the student could
pass my subject and was consequently promoted to the next class level.
 -6-

The second Vietnamese school that I moved to was a private school and the
practice of changing students’ test scores was even more prevalent, most of
the time at the head’s request. I seemed to be unaffected by the system and
did not protest against the practice of changing scores until the school
terminated the enrolment of several students due to a fear that these
students were unlikely to pass the end-of-secondary-school graduation
examination. This is because private schools are often under pressure
concerning their pass rates for graduation, not just to maintain their
reputations in order to recruit more students but also, if their ranking is
consistently low, they may face closure by the authorities. I handed in my
resignation and left the school just three months before the school year
ended, which was three months before my students took the national
examination to graduate from their secondary school.

With my English language skills being quite good, I was fortunate enough to
find a teaching role, initially as a substitute teacher, and then as the class
teacher in an international primary school. This is where I felt my teaching
career really started and I enjoyed the teaching as much as I enjoyed the
freedom of being in charge of my own class, where nobody ever asked me to
change any test scores. Teaching in such international schools means we
use only English as the language of instruction and the pupils are from
different countries. There are also selected classes that teach different
languages, if the families wish to enrol. Annually, the school would hold
cultural weeks to celebrate the different cultures represented by the children
enrolled at the time, so we would fold origami and eat sushi on Japanese
day, wear conical hats and eat spring-rolls on Vietnamese days and so on.
This was when I realised that it would have been fun if we had done the
same thing when I was at my primary school, so the children from the Da,
Tay, Nung and Thai minorities in my area could have had their parents come
to school to show us different things to do or different foods to try. That
perhaps might have helped us majority Kinh children feel closer to them,
rather than just scared of them due to our elders’ tales about these minority
people, which were commonly used as threats if we misbehaved.
 -7-

1.3 Back to my ‘research problem’

In the literature review of the assignment I was working on, I included

findings from a number of education practitioners concerning education for
linguistic minority groups in Vietnam. The general picture was very similar to
that observed in the studies of children with disabilities and special needs.
This included difficulty getting these children into schools, high dropout rates
and low academic performance.

In one of my final meetings with an education officer from the Ministry of

Education and Training (MOET) and an educational practitioner working for a
non-governmental organisation (NGO) specialising in children with special
needs, I raised a question about why there had been much work associated
with children with disabilities and less about those with circumstances which
may prevent them from being successful in school. This could then provide
more opportunities for children from ethnic minorities, whose home language
is different from the language of instruction in schools. I was told then that
linguistic minority groups are governed by a separate part of the ministry and
that generally there was little information concerning this. My curiosity grew,
and I became determined to find out more about the education situation for
minority children.

Using contacts, I located the correct sources of information on this subject,

including some international NGOs and the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF). Research results from different organisations and groups of
researchers, relating to different regions of the country, consistently
mentioned a lack of Vietnamese language as being one of the major
obstacles for linguistic minority children when engaging in mainstream
education. While conducting research on the transition from primary to lower-
secondary education (middle school) for linguistic minority children, a
research group from Save the Children UK (SCUK) found a number of
problems with education for minorities in Vietnam, including a lower rate of
enrolment compared with the national rate (83% for minorities, compared
with 98% nationally) and a high drop-out rate during primary education which
becomes even more pronounced at lower-secondary level (SCUK, 2007).
 -8-

The SCUK research identifies a number of causes for these adverse

indicators, with the main reason resulting from the language of instruction in
mainstream schools being Vietnamese – a second language for most of
these children. The parents of children who dropped out and the children
themselves expressed that they could not continue going to school due to
low performance. They attributed this to Vietnamese being too difficult to
learn and that while their Vietnamese language remains poor studying
academic content in this language appears impossible (SCUK, 2007). This
supports the earlier findings of Bui Khanh The (Bui, 2001), who found that
low academic performance amongst linguistic minority children was primarily
due to the language barrier.

Reflecting on my four years of teaching children aged four to six at two

English language international schools (one in Vientiane and one in Hanoi), I
had seen some of our pupils really struggling with studying in English. These
children, however, generally had difficulty during the early stages of learning.
Some of them initially experienced a silent period (this terminology is
associated with the studies of Krashen (1981), which have sometimes been
misinterpreted as meaning that the children do nothing during this period,
whereas in fact they are working hard but are as yet unable to speak the new
language), but I could not see this continuing to be an obstacle for my pupils
after a few years.

The most common period of difficulty that I observed in their initial education
in English was during the first three to six months. I imagine that international
children learning in English-medium schools may differ from the linguistic
minority children in Vietnam in terms of their cultural/social/economic
backgrounds, but they are clearly in the same learning situation – learning in
a language that is different from their home language. I am now convinced
that more studies about the learning contexts of these children need to be
carried out, because without a fuller picture of the situation, we will be unable
to minimise their learning difficulties.

My interest grew more towards the group of learners that struggle when
studying in the system, as this group is the one that is most likely to
discontinue schooling. More questions subsequently developed, including:
 -9-

- Where does their struggle begin?

- How are they perceived by peers and teachers?

- What actually happens in their learning journey at the early stage?

- Other than discontinuing schooling, what could be the outcomes for

those who struggle when learning in the system?

Finally, I began wondering if the quality of education in Vietnam could be

improved to successfully reflect the needs of learners from diverse
backgrounds? To pursue answers to these and other questions, I was finally
able to organise the move to Leeds.
 - 10 -

Chapter 2: Vietnam background

This chapter reviews my research context and is divided into three main
sections. The first forms a brief introduction to the country, its people and
languages. The second section is concerned with the education
administration and management systems in Vietnam. The third is a general
examination of the education programme in the country, particularly the
language of instruction used in the system and how that matters for diverse
groups of learners whose home language is different from that used by the
education system. This section also reviews different issues relating to
linguistic minority people in the country; their socio-economic situation, and
how that may influence their learning in mainstream education. In order to
contextualise the situation of the Muong people, who are the central
participants in the study, a subsection about the Muong linguistic minority
group is also briefly included before the conclusion closes the chapter and
introduces the next.

2.1 Country introduction

Situated in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has a long coastline that runs from the
north to the south. The country shares borders with China in the north, Lao
PDR (People’s Democratic Republic) in the northwest, and Cambodia to the
southwest. There are 54 different ethnic groups represented in the country,
but according to some national and international linguists there are more
than 100 languages spoken, 28 of which have written scripts (Vu, 2008;
Kosonen, 2004; Lewis et al., 2009). Many scholars think that the significant
difference between the number of ethnic groups and the number of
languages spoken is due to the influence of the Soviet Union and Marxist-
Leninist language planning and management policies and practices, which
have imprecisely grouped ethnicities (Kosonen, 2009; Pholsena, 2006;
Tsung, 2009).

The largest group, also the majority in the country, is the Kinh ethnicity which
accounts for 86% of the population of 93.5 million people (World Population
 - 11 -

Statistics, 2013). This group is also the group in power which dominates
whole societal domains such as politics, the military, economics, education,
and so on. The language of this majority group is Vietnamese and this is also
the national and only official language used in the country. Of the 53
linguistic minority groups, the Hoa (Chinese) are often grouped with the Kinh,
with living standards that are the highest in Vietnam, whereas the other 52
ethnic groups represent the poorest and least educated populations in the
country (Vietnam Poverty Working Group, 1999). The Muong are the third
largest minority group with over 1.3 million people and are also ranked
amongst the country’s poorest (GSO, 2006). The linguistic minority people
mostly live in remote and disadvantaged areas in Vietnam, with the majority
of them being poor farmers, whose education level is low, and where poverty
and malnutrition are to be expected (Ginsburg, 2002; UNESCO, 2008; World
Bank, 2009).

2.2 Administrative system of education

Officially there are five different levels of education in the national system:
pre-school, for children aged 5-6 (this can be much younger in urban areas);
primary education, for ages 6 to 11 (Year 1 to Year 5); middle school, for
those aged 11 to 15 (Year 6 to Year 9); secondary school, for ages 15 to 18
(Year 10 to Year 12); and higher education, aged 18 and above.

Vietnam has 64 provinces, each with a Department of Education and

Training (DOET) that comes under the management of the Ministry of
Education and Training (MOET). Each province is then comprised of different
districts and each district has its own Bureau of Education and Training
managed by the DOET – I will refer to this as a BOET. The lower levels of
education are managed by the BOET and these are individual pre-schools,
primary schools, and middle schools. The secondary schools are directly
managed by the DOET. Therefore, when addressing the regional education
context in my research area, I will mostly refer to the BOET as this governing
body is the direct manager of my researched school. The table below further
depicts the hierarchical education management system in Vietnam.
 - 12 -

MOET

DOETs

Secondary Schools BOETs Colleges & Vocational training

Middle Schools Primary Schools Pre-schools

Figure 1: Educational management system

2.2.1 DOET’s and BOET’s responsibilities

From 1991, as part of a strategy to address the problem of illiteracy by

bringing all primary-aged children into school, the government made primary
education free of charge and compulsory (Government Congress, 1991).
This places more pressure on the BOET and schools in terms of keeping
control of student numbers and preventing children from dropping out. Middle
and secondary school pupils still need to pay tuition fees for their attendance.
In reality, however, there are still some fees applied to primary pupils, such
as those for learning materials, school maintenance costs, and fees for extra
hours. Moreover, pre-schools are not free and attending pre-school is
significantly more expensive than attending primary school because, in
addition to the school fees, pre-school children are required to pay for school
meals and most schools do not allow food to be brought from home. This is a
very important factor when considering the attendance count for children
from different areas.
 - 13 -

The management hierarchy above shows the BOET as being in charge of

middle, primary and pre-schools. More specifically, what does a BOET
actually do? Their tasks can be summarised as follows.

A BOET must work closely with the District People’s Committee by:

- Directly managing all pre-, primary and middle schools in their

region by supervising, observing and reporting

- Introducing standards for teachers and education managers

- Regulating and controlling standards for learning equipment, toys

and facilities in schools

- Regulating policies (which they mostly adapt directly from the

provincial DOET or MOET) for examinations and certificates,
including producing test papers and test administration guidelines

- Ensuring and controlling the quality of education in the region

(MOET & MOI, 2011)

Staffing and other human resources issues are perhaps surprisingly not
under the management of either the DOET or BOET. These are instead
directly managed and controlled by a separate section belonging to the
People’s Committee, called the Department of the Interior (DOI) at provincial
level, or the Bureau of the Interior (BOI) at district level. This means that
neither schools nor the BOET/DOET are responsible for recruiting and do not
get involved in selecting new teachers.

2.2.2 Teachers in the competitive system

The teachers are governed by different regulations and guidelines. One that
attracts significant attention concerns awards for teacher achievement, which
are made at the end of the school year. These could be translated as
‘Advanced Worker’, ‘Initiative Contender’ and ‘Excellent Teacher’. The first
two are for the overall achievement of a teacher in the previous year, and
applications must be registered with the BOET at the beginning of the school
year, making it a goal for the school and teachers to try and obtain. The last
one is purely about teaching with professionalism and good practices or
 - 14 -

employing great teaching methods. Teachers compete with each other for
the title of Excellent Teacher, from school to district to provincial levels. It is
rather rare for this to be awarded, so I will focus on the two titles that many
teachers compete for at the end of each school year.

Advanced Worker: this title is awarded to teachers who are recognised by

the BOET for their good work. There are important criteria for any teacher to
secure the title, including that they must:

- ‘Fulfil all their assigned work to a high standard

- Have a great attitude in following the state’s policies and regulations;

high self-commitment and work well with others and join in all school
activities

- Continue learning more about politics, cultures and own

professionalism

- Have an ethical and healthy way of living’

(BOET 168, 2011)

While these are listed in an official document sent to the school by the local
BOET at the beginning of the school year, applications by the school are not
always approved, even though the school and teachers may believe that
they meet all the listed criteria.

The procedures for being awarded this title require that the school
recognises the application and the teacher is then asked to make a summary
report of her achievements over the past year. She will need to list the
number of pupils she has been in charge of and to classify their
achievements into percentages of Distinction – Credit – Pass – (Provisional)
Fail.

Additionally, the teacher will need to write full statements about her
commitment and efforts over the past year, concluding in her application for
the title. The document is then signed by the head teacher and sealed with
the school stamp. Finally, the document is sent to the local DOET for
approval and here is where things can change completely because the
 - 15 -

criteria listed in the document they produced at the beginning of the school
year can be modified or enlarged without prior notification of the schools.

Initiative Contender: this title is more prestigious than ‘Advanced Worker’

and only a small number of individuals would ever qualify for this award.
There are three levels of ‘Initiative Contender’ – at district level, at provincial
level and, most prestigious of all, at state level.

Criteria for qualifying for the district level of ‘Initiative Contender’ are:

- Having two consecutive years of being awarded ‘Advanced Worker’

status

- Having initiated new ideas or scientific solutions/proposals for better

education practices which obtain class A from the district’s Science
Council

Criteria for qualifying for the provincial level ‘Initiative Contender’ are:

- Having had three consecutive years of being awarded ‘Initiative

Contender’ status at district level

- Having initiated new ideas or scientific solutions/proposals for better

education practices which obtain class A from the district’s Science
Council and obtain a minimum class B from the province’s Science
Council

Criteria for qualifying for the state level ‘Initiative Contender’ are:

- Having for three consecutive years being awarded ‘Initiative

Contender’ at provincial level

- Having special achievements or new ideas or scientific

solutions/proposals for better education practices which have greatly
impacted across the country

(BOET 168, 2011)

The schools, in a similar way to the teachers, also apply for different titles
such as ‘Collective Advanced Workers’, ‘Collective Excellent Workers’ (Tập
thể lao động tiên tiến, Tập thể lao động xuất sắc) and ‘Competition Flag’,
 - 16 -

which are granted either by the Provincial People’s Committee, or MOET, or

the Central Government Office (Cờ thi đua của UBND Tỉnh/ Bộ GD & ĐT/
Chính phủ). In order to obtain such school awards, it is essential that
individual teachers have been awarded their equivalent titles. For instance,
to qualify for the ‘Collective Advanced Workers’ title, the school must have at
least 50 percent of its teachers qualifying as Advanced Workers.

Although Vietnam does not issue yearly league tables for schools across the
country, there seems to be some public knowledge of the titles each school
is awarded annually. Individual teachers and schools therefore always strive
for as many titles as they can and this creates additional pressure on
everyone.

I have presented these awards in detail here because such policies are a
powerful layer in the system which can then influence the behaviour of
individuals (particularly teachers and school managers) within it. In the
Vietnam context, this may well be one of the factors that influence a
teacher’s or school’s decision as to whether children are allowed to pass the
school year and progress to the next, or whether they may even have to
repeat the school year. It may be difficult for a teacher or school to get an
award if, for example, a high number of students fail or are required to repeat
the school year. These awards are therefore directly associated with
assessment and this forms a key part of this study.

2.3 Education in Vietnam at a glance

In this section there are two subsections, with the first introducing the
monolingual education system that uses Vietnamese as the language of
instruction. In doing so, this section reviews reports as well as significant
issues observed by various national and international researchers regarding
education for linguistic minority groups. The section therefore briefly
discusses how minorities are perceived in Vietnam and the prevailing
perceptions of minority learners in mainstream education. The second
subsection is an introduction to the Muong minority group contextualised
within the system as a whole, in order to introduce the group from a national
basis, before portraying the Muong group residing in my research area in
 - 17 -

Chapter 5, which forms part of the data collected from my research. As such,
in Chapter 5, further details about the Muong minority group populating my
researched area will be discussed before my research participants are
individually introduced.

2.3.1 A monolingual system in a multilingual society

Since the Vietnamese language is the only official language of the country,
this is also the language that dominates the education system. Although
since 1946 the State Constitution has stated the right of linguistic minority
children to receive free primary education in their indigenous languages,
which was repeated again in the Constitutions of 1981 and 1992 and the
Education Law of 2005; in reality, there is still a long way to go (Kosonen,
2009). Most class teachers are from the majority group, who often have little
or no knowledge of the languages and cultures of the minority groups,
including those of their students (ADB, 2007).

There has been a growing number of minority languages introduced in

schooling, but most remain as a subject and not the language of instruction
and the time spent learning the language can be as little as one period (45
minutes) per week (Vu, 2008; World Bank, 2009). As a result, an official
report from the Vietnamese government still shows that the rate of minority
children completing primary school in Vietnam is significantly lower than that
recorded for the majority Kinh children – 60.6 percent as compared with 86.4
percent (GSO, 2006; GSO, 2011). Furthermore, the percentage of minority
children in Vietnam that have never attended school is significantly higher
than that recorded for majority Kinh children – 4.3 percent as compared with
1.4 percent in Hoa Binh, and 7.2 percent compared with 2.9 percent for
Thanh Hoa (the provinces where most Muong reside). In a more extreme
example, these figures are 38.7 percent compared with 1.5 percent in Lai
Chau province (GSO, 2011).

At primary level, one in five children never completes school. Seventy

percent of those dropping out are girls, and language, financial and cultural
barriers are thought to be the main reasons for not finishing primary school
(ADB, 2007). This is supported by AITPN (2003), who attribute difficulties for
 - 18 -

the linguistic minority groups in learning Vietnamese in mainstream classes

as the cause of poor performance, with having to repeat the class or
dropping out being seen as the final result.

When studying the country’s education situation for linguistic minority

children in boarding schools, the World Bank (2005) reports unfavourably on
the learning and assessment processes for the children in their studied
schools. Kosonen (2009) study suggests that the language barrier remains
the most challenging factor for children from linguistic minority groups when
learning in mainstream education. This author claims that while the use of
minority languages in education may help these children conquer such
challenges, such an idea is still alien to the educational ideology of Vietnam.
Moreover, officials in his study identified bilingual education in Vietnam as
too much of a sensitive issue to be considered, since lots of investment could
be made only to result in failure. This is mainly because of a lack of support
or cooperation from central or local authorities in Vietnam, which is essential
for such research to be carried out successfully (Kosonen, 2009).

As a citizen of the country and a member of the majority group, I perceive

that the education system in Vietnam reflects the fact that this is a place
where the ideological beliefs and cultural values of the majority Kinh group
are applied on a daily basis. There is one national curriculum, created for all
schools in Vietnam. The curriculum is written in the Vietnamese language
and the textbooks and teaching syllabus are written by educators who are
also from the majority group, and so examples and illustrations in books to
contextualise learning are likely to be relevant to this group only (Nguyen
Quoc Binh, 2011). Dao (Nguyen, 1999) and MOET, UNICEF and CEMA
(2004), however, report that the government has made changes to provide
an ‘official window’, which allows for 15 percent of curricular content to be
set aside for local teachers to incorporate local language, culture, history and
traditions into learning programmes. This policy would be improved if there
were also detailed guidelines for teachers on how to create and carry out the
tasks, but according to Dao (Nguyen, 1999), most local teachers show little
understanding and much confusion as to what they can do when using this
window. In this situation, I believe, realistically, that mainstream education
 - 19 -

creates little opportunity for culturally and linguistically diverse children and
their communities to see themselves as an asset to society, where they can
participate and contribute towards wider society.

Writing in a United States context, but equally applicable to Vietnam,

Crawford (1992) argues that providing the same teachers, textbooks,
curriculum and learning facilities to children who are not from the majority
speaking background, means that these children do not get equal treatment.
Vietnam has practised a model of submersion, where all children from
linguistic minority groups are taught in only the Vietnamese language, with
the final outcome expected by the government that they will become fluent in
Vietnamese (Save the Children UK, 2002; Kosonen, 2004).

Baker (2011) and Berthold (2006) list the two main reasons why authorities
would implement this type of education, which are poverty and a strong
desire to assimilate the minority language within the majority language.
Otheguy and Otto (1980), however, stress that a lack of finances is not
always the main reason for the absence of bilingual programmes for
multicultural and multilingual children; rather, it is the presence of an
educational philosophy and political issues embedded in the system. Ricento
(2003) further reveals a situation of the tightly controlled bilingual education
in the United States as proof of restricting equal opportunities to wider
society, in order to keep access to opportunities firmly in the hands of
monolinguals.

In the Vietnam context, I would argue that the use of local resources is not
costly and is very feasible for the government. For instance, training local
linguistic minority teachers is viable, and they are willing to stay and work in
their villages, whereas many teachers from the majority group refuse to go
and teach in remote areas because they believe their abilities are not best
used in such places (World Bank, 2009). One paradox observed by World
Bank researchers is that, while there is a lack of teachers willing to teach in
remote areas, local teachers from linguistic minority groups are not
welcomed so much by their own communities and pupils. Linguistic minority
children prefer to be in classes where the teachers are from the Kinh majority
 - 20 -

group, because the Vietnamese proficiency of minority teachers is not at the

same level as that of Kinh teachers (World Bank, 2009).

In addition, this submersion education model, which mainly happens by

default, as there may be a lack of better alternatives, can be seen in
societies where only the language of the majority is recognised in economic,
political and social terms. There are several reasons why submersion is used
in Vietnam. Firstly, there are 54 different linguistic minority groups in the
country and some of them are represented by very few qualified teachers.
Also, some of the languages are not well developed in terms of written
scripts, so teaching materials are consequently rare or non-existent. In
addition, some regions where the minority groups live are remote with poor
communications, often with several minorities sharing the area and some
groups are very small. It would be difficult, therefore, even given the
resources available to a very developed country, to teach multiple languages
in one class. For these reasons, children are taught using only Vietnamese
(Vu, 2008; Vuong et al., 2002)

In the end, however, a standardised education system which insists on

teaching in one national and standard language has much to do with
Foucault’s concept of governmentality (Foucault et al., 1991), which sees the
‘hegemonic practices’ of languaging as a means to systematically restrict
opportunities for people who are not members of the dominant or majority
group (Erickson, 1987; Ricento, 2003).

2.3.2 The linguistic minority situation and the Muong minority

group – the wider educational and national context in
Vietnam

Studying linguistic minority groups in Vietnam remains a complex issue

because the authorities always see this as a sensitive matter, politically and
socially. Roche and Michaud (2000) suggest that one of the reasons may be
that geographical minorities mainly live in remote and highland regions,
which are mostly strategic areas, such as the borders between Vietnam and
the neighbouring countries. Minority Rights Group International (2005) further
suggest that political matters are also relevant, with the government being
 - 21 -

led by the majority Kinh group. These authors therefore acknowledge that
foreign researchers in particular encounter difficulties, such as gaining
access or approval from the authorities when wanting to conduct research
relating to linguistic minority groups in Vietnam.

As presented earlier in the introduction to this chapter, of the 54 ethnic

groups in the country, the Kinh is the majority and is also the group in power.
There have been certain efforts by the government to take linguistic minority
groups into consideration in policy development and decision-making
processes, in order to create a more equal society (Yukio, 2001; Dang,
2012). Nevertheless, researchers from different international groups have felt
that policies are often ‘Kinh-loaded’, showing an absolute and non-negotiable
hierarchal order in society between the different ethnic groups, with the Kinh
being placed on top, followed by those whose similarity to the Kinh is visible
(Minority Rights Group International, 2005; Kosonen, 2004). Thus, despite
efforts by the government to include linguistic minority groups in the national
development process, most linguistic minority groups remain marginal to the
process of economic growth (UNDP Vietnam Researchers, 2002). UNDP
researchers also observed an underrepresentation of linguistic minority
groups in government and political structures. These researchers, together
with (Dang, 2012), expressed concerns regarding the widening economic
and social gaps between the majority and ethnic minorities.

When reviewing the education system presented earlier in this chapter, one
could relate the ‘Kinh-loaded’ issue to Vietnamese being the only language
of instruction in the system with the content of learning programmes being
designed by the majority Kinh authorities, most suitably for Kinh learners
(Nguyen Quoc Binh, 2011; Phyak and Bui, 2014). As such, low educational
achievement among the linguistic minority groups has always been a
concern for the authorities which has been observed by researchers (Save
the Children UK, 2002; Vu, 2008; World Bank, 2009). National and
international researchers, however, recognise that it is not a language issue
alone (learning in Vietnamese) but that many other factors contribute to low
outcomes, such as the distance from home to school, the learning
 - 22 -

programme, economic difficulties and child labour within these minority

groups (Bui, 2005; World Bank, 2005; World Bank, 2009; Kosonen, 2009).

Nevertheless, few Kinh people in the country have access to these scientific
research reports and it appears to be a common belief that learners from
linguistic minority groups are simply not as good as Kinh students, since the
Kinh group is at the top of the societal and educational hierarchy (Minority
Rights Group International, 2005; Baulch et al., 2002). This is not helped by
the perception that the policy that allows linguistic minority learners to pass
national exams (to graduate from secondary school and to enter colleges
and universities) with lower grades than those applied to Kinh children, as an
indication that linguistic minority learners simply cannot compete with the
majority learners. I need to add, however, that Kinh majority children who live
in remote and mountainous areas also receive priority in these exams but to
a lesser extent than that given to linguistic minority children. The guidelines
from MOET (Bo Giao Duc Va Dao Tao, 2014), for instance, state that
children from linguistic minority groups living in rural areas will have 3.5
points added to their overall exam results. This means that if the pass score
is 15 (out of 30 for three subjects), these children could pass the test with a
score of 11.5 out of 30.

The belief by the Kinh majority that they are superior to minority peoples is
exacerbated by the practice of publishing and reporting somewhat negative
facts concerning minority learners in the mainstream media, including low
enrolment rates, high drop-out rates and test scores that consistently reveal
underachievement by linguistic minority learners without much explanation
being provided as to why this may be the case. This is far from ideal but the
more worrying outcome is that such a misconception could potentially be
transferred to the minority people, which may lower their confidence and
belief in themselves. This has been observed by Dang (2012), who finds that
stereotyping and misconceptions, not just amongst the Kinh, but also
amongst the ethnic minorities, has hindered their levels of participation and
development. The author does, however, acknowledge that such
observations may not be nationally consistent since the study only concerns
minorities living in just three provinces in Vietnam. Such misconceptions
 - 23 -

could originate simply from discrimination against linguistic minority people

(Baulch et al., 2002): for instance, recognising that one of the reasons that
linguistic minority groups in Vietnam are much poorer than the majority Kinh
people, is due to discrimination being directed at them which results in their
facing more difficulties in getting a good job than an equivalently qualified
candidate from the Kinh group.

Of the 53 linguistic minority groups, the Muong is the third largest with
approximately 1.3 million people, but they also rank amongst the poorest
(GSO, 2006). A large number of Muong live in the lowlands and amongst the
Kinh majority people. Linguistically, the Muong language is closely related to
Vietnamese, which is why researchers find that overall, when compared to
other minorities, the Muong can speak Vietnamese rather competently
(Kosonen, 2004; Kosonen, 2009; World Bank, 2009). In searching for
literature and research about the Muong ethnicity, I came to a realisation that
in comparison with other linguistic minority groups such as the Hmong, Thai
or Khmer, the literature available for the Muong group is rather limited.
Personally, I think this may be because many Muong people reside in the
lowlands, amongst Kinh people, with a verbal language that is closely related
to Vietnamese. Muong learners may therefore be perceived by educators
and researchers as doing quite well when compared with many other
linguistic minority groups, especially when official reports consistently show
that the Muong have high enrolment rates in primary education (Baulch et
al., 2002). Therefore, researchers and international projects tend to focus
more on the groups that struggle the most, such as the Hmong or Khmer.

There are also Muong minorities that live in mountainous and highland
regions, who would inevitably face more challenges than those living in the
lowlands. This is because most hillsides and highlands are in disadvantaged
areas where crops are very much seasonal with lower yields, which is
combined with poor infrastructure. The Muong minority group that I am
researching is a lowland group, and one would think that such a
geographical advantage (when compared with highland Muong and other
ethnic minorities) would allow them to better keep up with the majority Kinh
people, educationally, economically and politically. It was only when I arrived
 - 24 -

in the region that I realised that, despite a relatively close proximity to the
capital city (when compared with most other ethnic minorities), the overall
level of development and infrastructure in the area is somewhat similar to
that in my parents’ village situated in a poor, remote, mountainous area in
northern Vietnam, where they are located alongside different minority
villages. A further analysis of the Muong minority group, this time specifically
relating to my research area, will be presented in Chapter 5, in which I
introduce my research context and research participants.
 - 25 -

2.4 Conclusion
In this chapter I have provided a background of education in Vietnam, my
research country. Some significant aspects of the education sector have
been briefly described, including the system within which it operates, the
language of education, and the learning situations of language minority
pupils. Muong-speaking learners are the particular focus here as this group
is the basis for my study and as discussed above they have received much
less attention from previous studies, which have mostly focussed on
linguistic minority groups who are perceived to be struggling the most in
mainstream education in Vietnam. In particular, I will be observing some
Muong learners who are really struggling, to try to understand the reason for
their difficulties and what the consequences could be for them. As such, I
have briefly contextualised the Muong people in a national and educational
setting as an introduction to further descriptions and discussions about the
group that are continued in Chapter 5. The next chapter will widen these
mentioned issues by examining them from a worldwide basis, through
different viewpoints and research findings, and by theories and hypotheses
from different scholars and researchers: the literature review chapter follows.
 - 26 -

Chapter 3: Literature review

3.1 Introduction

Responding to the needs of all learners in multicultural classrooms appears

to be an ongoing concern for all the educational stakeholders, including
policy makers, head teachers, teaching staff, families and the community as
a whole. Cummins (2001) believes that culturally diverse students can be
academically successful only when there is genuine willingness shown by all
those responsible for educating children. This literature review focuses on
diversity and education, as well as learning theories, particularly relating to
language in culturally diverse classrooms.

In the first part, I will briefly discuss the notion of identity and relate this to the
Vietnam education context. My experience of coming from Vietnam and my
latest research reveals that identity appears to be essential and can even
open or shut the doors to success. I believe that in the Vietnam context,
identity is especially important and is the most decisive factor in theories of
learning as well as education policy. This is also why I chose to place identity
as the first part and as a separate section of this literature review, before any
theory of learning can be discussed.

The second part consists of different discussions of theories, with a particular

focus on those relating to culturally diverse classrooms. Of these, I will
discuss the sociocultural theory of learning which focuses on incorporating
culturally and linguistically diverse students into education, followed by a
discussion which links such theories to practice. This section also includes a
discussion that looks at assessing young learners, particularly those from
diverse backgrounds. Of this, some literature pertaining to child development
and learning will be examined before assessment issues are explored in
more detail.

The third part looks at language in education - an aspect that links closely to
the learners’ identities and cultures. I will firstly examine the learning
 - 27 -

situations created for culturally diverse students in mainstream education,

focussing on the relation between their home and school languages. At the
end of this section, discussions of learning models which appear to be
relevant to culturally diverse students will be connected to a discussion of
bilingualism and bilingual education.

In the bilingualism and bilingual education section, I will initially discuss the
issue of rights and equality. This is done to give the reader an overall
understanding of the various reasons and situations which shape different
types of bilingualism and diverse models of bilingual education. The second
section reviews situations of and diverse opinions on bilingual education. In
discussing this, some models of bilingual education are briefly examined as
these are embedded in the context which supports or opposes each learning
model. The third part in this section discusses the issues of bilingualism and
special education. The focus is on aspects surrounding the linkage between
minority and/or bilingual language learners with learning difficulties or special
educational needs (SEND).

The fourth section of this chapter examines features of the Education for All
policy. Firstly, I will briefly examine policies and practices from different
countries around the world to review and to contextualise the issue
worldwide before focusing on the local level. As such, the second part of this
section focuses on the Vietnam context, where policy and practice in the
country are both explored.

Finally, the research questions are presented just before the chapter is
concluded.

3.2 Individual identity – similarities and differences

You can standardize commercial goods, but you cannot standardize people’s
identity.

(Euromosaic III, 2004)

 - 28 -

3.2.1 Identity

Within the literature, the concept of identify is explained in ways that share
similarities but which reveal its multifaceted nature. Blommaert (2005)
asserts that identity can be as simple as who and what you are, but the
author further claims that the spoken output of identity reflects an extensive
and complex range of dynamic identity features. Hogg and Abrams (2006)
display a similar understanding of the concept and add that identity is also
about how someone relates himself or herself to others. Norton (2000),
Katzenstein (1996), and Hall (1991) likewise see identity as self-perception
and the understanding of one’s relationship to the outside world, and vice-
versa, and how such a relationship is constructed and evolves across time
and space. Deng (1995) specifically refers to identity as the way individuals
identify themselves and are identified by others based on the distinction of
ethnicity, race, religion, language and culture.

To Wallace (2004), identity can be regarded as a relational aspect of human

development, where an individual’s membership is navigated through
participating in group activity within and across community frameworks.
Wallace also warns that although the concepts of ‘ethnicity’ and ‘race’, or
‘heritage’ and ‘identity’, are often merged together, heritage and identity need
to be differentiated as a person’s parentage does not always directly
correspond to his or her identity. This has especially applied, in recent times,
to mixed heritage children; thus, the orientation of identity should be dynamic
and not fixed. Additionally, if an individual perceives that changing group
membership could enhance his or her evaluative outcomes, she or he may
choose to do that, which is when identity can be altered, as the boundaries
between ethnic groups become permeable (MacIntyre et al., 1998).

From my personal experience and as my knowledge has been shaped by my

origins, I understand and view identity as the interconnected nature of social
classifications, including ethnicity, language background, gender, and social
status, and which also encompasses geographical rural and urban
differences. While some features in such an identity could remain stable or
given, I do believe that most features of identity in my context could be
 - 29 -

negotiated, changed or altered as individuals progress in their dynamic

worlds.

In the introduction, I mentioned that identity can either facilitate or create

obstacles to success in Vietnam (and in other locations). To further clarify
this, Napier et al. (2004), in discussing the field of research, observe that in
Vietnam a willingness to accept and to include does not always extend to
strangers, especially when the researcher is a foreigner. This was not the
case for me when I went to visit some schools in my intended research area.
The first head teacher changed her attitude immediately after she found out
that I came from the capital city, am head of a school, and am also
conducting research with an overseas institute. The head teachers of other
schools also showed much respect to me and they all commented positively
about my success and position for ‘such a young person’. My ‘identity’ clearly
helped to smoothly open access to my research field, while many
international researchers with whom I talked in my latest fieldtrip, all
mentioned that gaining access to fieldwork in Vietnam is very problematic. In
Vietnam, identity imposes much influence in gaining success in many other
aspects of daily life. This recognition appears to be so important in order to
understand all aspects of society, including education.

When discussing the identity issue in this context, I wish to relate it primarily
to ethnicity, culture and language, as these three are the leading strands for
observing the complicated interplays when trying to understand a learner. In
my literature review and in my research, however, I will be studying identity
in an educational context with specific regard to ethnicity, culture and
language as self-imprinted and perceived by society. These can be personal
and social, with the personal side referring to one’s self and dignity, and the
social side referring to how self and dignity are related to and how they may
be perceived by the outside world, which in this context is school, an
essential part of wider society.

3.2.2 Identity and education

In educational settings, individual learners (and educators) can make up

diverse groups of identity, from gender and ethnic groups to social roles and
 - 30 -

personal representations. Wallace (2004) observes that although

representations of identity are varied, identity in education refers to issues of
human diversity and schooling processes. The author further remarks that
the relationship between schooling and the psychological and cultural
aspects of ethnic identity is always complex. According to Cummins (2001),
identity in this context is pronounced when there is a trusting and respectful
relationship between educators and learners, so personal experiences and
beliefs are critically reflected and regarded. Cummins thus believes that
interactions between educators and learners reflect a process of identity
negotiation which is likely to encounter difficulties when the culture, language
and social class of educators are mismatched with those of their learners
and vice-versa. Too often, the author continues, the identities or cultural
connections that learners bring to school become barriers that hinder their
academic achievement, and so removing such barriers seems to be
essential for success at school.

Recognising personal identities in education and how this should be done

have been on-going debates. Sheets and Hollins (Sheets, 1999) observe
significance in recent educational psychology literature in that this largely
emphasises the role of education in fostering sociocognitive growth as well
as the positive development of ethnic identity for all students. Earlier, this
had clearly not been the case, as observed by Platero (1975). In this work,
Platero describes how Navajo children in the United States were taken away
from their families to boarding schools, so that they could be assimilated into
White society. In so doing, these children’s culture, language, and identity
were severely disregarded in schools. In line with Platero’s findings,
Cummins (2001) concludes that education is undermined in many situations
in the United States, where schools are under pressure to restrict learning
opportunities and identity alternatives. The idea of multicultural and bilingual
education has been severely attacked by the media, such as the influential
U.S. English campaign that supported the English-only programme in the
1990s (Cummins, 2001).

While reaching a goal of including and respecting all identities present in

educational settings may be desirable for many educators, simple guidelines
 - 31 -

of practices may not be sufficient. Such matters should be considered from

the root of the challenge – the teaching and learning philosophy introduced
to educators. Conteh and Brock (2010) affirm that learning theories must not
disregard context and identity, which are the core notions of educational
philosophy. Identity was discussed earlier, and context in this sense relates
to the social and cultural environment and individual circumstances that
surrounds a learner and through which learning takes place. Such context
not only refers to the situation where the learners currently are but must also
refer back to why they have become to be who they are. Such understanding
will not be found if these learners’ cultures are not connected together by the
schools and educators.

3.3 Theory of learning in culturally diverse classrooms

Connecting to a learner’s culture, to understand the environment which

embraces and influences the learner, is grounded in Vygotsky’s sociocultural
approach. This theory contends that cultural artefacts, activities and
concepts have control over one’s mental functioning (Ratner, 2002), so
factors such as family, peers, school, and teachers all play a role in a child’s
development and learning (Conteh, 2003). As such, the section below
discusses culture and education, as this is seen as relevant to the theory of
learning, especially in culturally diverse classrooms.

3.3.1 Inclusion of diversity - connecting culture with education

One’s culture is embedded within one’s identity. From my perspective,

recognising someone’s identity also means recognising the culture to which
she or he is associated. In understanding sociocultural theory, I think that if
educators want to fully understand and respond to the diverse needs of their
multi-ethnic learners and why they learn, behave, interact and think the way
they do, referring and making a connection to the learners’ culture is
essential. This will be discussed in more detail below, building on theory from
Ladson-Billings (1995) and McCarty (1993). In addition to this, Conteh and
Brock (2010) argue that while learning is a process of participating, joining,
sharing ideas and understanding, in order to construct new meanings, such a
 - 32 -

process is unlikely to be effectively co-constructed if disagreement exists

between school and home.

Also in support of the sociocultural approach, Cole (1998) posits that human
behaviour should be understood relationally and contextually because
thought is partly influenced by culture. When relating this to education, Cole
develops Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) diagram and represents this with layers
shown surrounding a learner. These layers include the influences of
community, family, school, classroom, and lessons planned by teachers.
This indicates that any interpretation about one learner’s situation should not
be viewed in isolation from all these surrounding influences.

I concur in that the interrelationship between culture and learning undeniably

contributes to the effectiveness of the learning process, so that a significant
lack of similarity between school and home may result in difficulties being
experienced by learners, where some may be successful but others may be
adversely affected. In the foreword to Cummins’s (2001) book, Kazoullis
shares her own experiences of initially struggling at school, due to being from
a non-dominant background. The author finally progressed and no longer
lagged behind her peers. In doing so, however, due to great demands from
teachers, peers and society, she had to throw away ‘a lot of things’
associated with her identity which had become a burden for her. From such
an experience, Kazoullis then claims that the inclusion of children from
diverse cultures in education is not just about multicultural or intercultural
education, it is also about similarities and differences, as well as acceptance
and individuality. Observing the issue more closely, we can see that
Kazoullis was under pressure to respond to expectations both from wider
society (which in this case is her teachers and peers) and from her own
community (her home). Kazoullis sacrificed many things that were
associated with her identity, culture and community, in response to the
demands placed on her by the different layers identified by Bronfenbrenner
(1979).

Not all individuals may want, even if they are able, to act like Kazoullis, and
such cases may be misjudged or misinterpreted by educators. Such
misinterpretation may have further adverse impacts on learners, as in the
 - 33 -

case of Latino students in Texas who were regarded as ‘learning disabled’

(Ortiz and Yates, 1983). In this case, educators were advised to lower their
academic expectations of these children after they were labelled as having
special educational needs. A similar issue is raised by Conteh (Brock and
Conteh, 2011), when the author identifies conflicts between the concepts of
diversity and inclusion, which resulted in English as an additional language
(EAL) students in England being categorised as having disabilities or special
needs and seen as having ‘barriers to learning’.

In addition to the constraints placed on these learners by wider society,

represented by schools, teachers and peers, multi-ethnic children may also
struggle in their own communities. In his studies of 14 biracial or ethnic
heritage students at high school and college, Wallace (2004) observes that a
number of these children and young adults, due to their dissimilar
appearance or limited language skills, were partially marginalised from their
own heritage communities, despite their constant, conscious efforts to dress
and act like their peers in the hope that their identity would be recognised
and accepted.

To return to the earlier discussion about the sociocultural theory of learning, I

agree that understanding learners’ failures or successes must not take place
separately from the other factors or layers that surround them. This is why,
when explaining the reasons behind the failure of many students, Cummins
(2001) states that this is mainly due to these students’ identities, cultures and
languages being diminished and misrepresented by wider society. This
author further maintains that the way in which students from diverse cultures
are disadvantaged educationally is also the way that their communities are
historically disadvantaged in their relations with society. In sharing the same
opinion, Ogbu (1994; 1992) observes that students in different societies, who
experience severe educational difficulties, are likely to be those whose
communities have inferior social status and are discriminated against by the
dominant majority group. Ladson-Billings (1995) reports the situation of
African-American children, where their culture is devalued in schooling and
societal contexts and is hence associated with low academic performance.
Similarly, Darder (1991) and Walsh (1991) observe that students from some
 - 34 -

minority or cross-cultural families in the United States dropped out of school

due to experiencing their cultures and languages being devalued in school
contexts. This, Cummins (2001) believes, is because the students perceive
their identity as being endangered by such devaluation, and withdrawal from
schooling is the only way for them to protect ‘their sense of self’.

Ogbu (1994) notes that the historical, political and economic differences
between different ethnic groups may lead to dissimilar cultural frames of
reference and these frames of reference are how the students view
themselves and their peers whilst in the school setting. To effectively
incorporate children from diverse cultures into education, their cultural
references must not be disregarded by educators. Wallace (2004) continues
that achieving academic success in education will need active roles for non-
dominant background students in negotiating their own identity in
mainstream education. Ladson-Billings (1995) also posits that a ‘culturally
relevant pedagogy’ may help culturally diverse students succeed
academically whilst effectively maintaining their identities. McCarty (1993)
supports this by asserting that a child’s potential is realised when learning
from a curriculum and pedagogy which is built on and relevant to their
linguistic and cultural assets.

3.3.2 Inclusion in practice

When given the opportunity, learners are usually willing and more than
happy to contribute towards including their cultures and identities in
education. However, transferring policy from macro to micro level cannot be
instantaneous and may not always be easy or even feasible. Personally, I
propose that despite the challenges of making immediate changes to a
system and the pressure for schools to adhere to national policies, individual
educators at classroom level can still redress imbalance using their daily
interactions with multi-ethnic learners.

Nieto (1999) stresses the importance of the teacher’s role in providing

culturally diverse students with adequate and equal opportunities and
including their strengths and talents in classrooms for a positive educational
outcome for these children. This opinion matches that of Conteh and Brock
 - 35 -

(2010) and Cole (1998), when stating that inclusion of diversity cannot be
achieved effectively if there is no connection to the diversity of culture that
each child brings to school. Conteh (Brock and Conteh, 2011) further affirms
the essential role of the school-home connection and relationships between
educators and learners from different contexts. This requires that learners be
viewed together with all the strands to which they are connected when trying
to understand the factors contributing to their academic outcomes. The
author suggests that flexibility be employed when developing educational
policy, to allow ‘local threads’ (schools and communities) to be included as
contributing to all educational activities. Finally, when it comes down to
equality and children’s rights, to which education should not be an exception,
considering the cultural differences of all children must mean ensuring the
rights of all children and not just some (Bligh, 2011).

Educators responding to the diverse needs of their learners can be as simple

as positive interactions with learners and their families. Conteh and Brock
(2010) emphasise the importance of participation between educators and
families and communities in helping to reinforce self-identity and to support
the development of the mother tongue language of young children. The
authors advocate ‘safe spaces’ – time where educators allow children to
‘take it easy’ when they initially enter the school or class – as much needed
for building the learners’ confidence, hence successful learning, especially
for those from diverse backgrounds. In later work, Conteh (2011) presents a
case study which illustrates how teachers could influence and make micro-
level changes in response to their individual learners, whilst still following the
national agenda.

Bligh (2011) further suggests that educators refer to learners’ rights,

including the right to remain silent. The author observes that the fallacy of
silence is that many people perceive being silent as an indicator of error or
inadequacy, and so educators use silence as a punishment in early years:
for example, when asking a child who is believed to have misbehaved to sit
on a chair quietly for a certain amount of time. Bligh’s work could be used to
explain why many learners, whose diverse backgrounds, languages and
cultures differ from the mainstream, may be categorised as having special
 - 36 -

educational needs. This is because once the concept of silence is mistakenly

interpreted, the silence of these learners is considered as undesirable and
the silent period (which will further be discussed below), although maybe not
needed by all learners, is hence unlikely to be granted following such an
interpretation. Added to this, the safe spaces discussed by Conteh and Brock
(2010) above, however valuable, are also unlikely to be granted to learners
by these educators.

I would suggest that one of the main processes in education which directly
affects the silent period and safe spaces could be early assessment. This is
because the silent period and safe spaces require a non-threatening time
period, provided for learners who do not speak the school language at home,
in order for them to get to know the system. Early assessment, however,
could be invasive as it could push learners to produce something that they
are not yet ready for, or to express ideas and knowledge in an unfamiliar
system and/or language where they have insufficient confidence. The
following section will further explore the impacts of assessment, with a
particular focus on assessing young learners who are from non-dominant
groups.

3.3.3 Assessing young learners in culturally diverse classrooms

To Foucault (1977), testing is never neutral and it is the combination of

power with experiment, and of the placement of force with the founding of
truth. In terms of the exercising of power, this is why testing is often directly
under the control of those in power, such as local, regional and national
authorities. In the context of testing in culturally diverse classrooms, García
and Baetens-Beardsmore (2009) observe that official assessments too
frequently ignore children’s bilingualism by assessing them as though they
are monolingual in the education language, which is the language of the
dominant group, who are also in power.

When examining factors that are prominent when assessing young learners
in culturally diverse classrooms, questions of when, what, how and who are
discussed in turn below. Before exploring these questions however, I will
briefly discuss some theories as to how children think and learn, with an
 - 37 -

emphasis on child development and how adults can influence this process.
This is because I believe that assessment cannot be separated from an
understanding of child learning and development; thus, this needs to be
discussed before assessment issues can be examined.

3.3.3.1 Children’s learning, language and development - what and how

adults make sense of that

How are children’s learning and their language acquisition perceived by

adults? According to Bernstein (Bernstein, 1960; Bernstein, 1972; Bernstein
and Younie, 1961), the link between the performance of children in school
and their socioeconomic background is evident and undeniable. With a
particular focus on the language development of young children and their
language performance at school, the author’s findings suggest that any
linguistic differences between groups of learners are more pronounced when
the socioeconomic gaps between them are larger. In line with this, Wood
(1998) also confirms that one of the most reliable predictors of children’s
school performance is their social background, but also finds that the way in
which the two variables are related remains open to debate. The author
summarises attempts to explain the relationship between these two
variables, including the self-fulfilling prophecy and teacher quality, including
their skills in communicating with children from diverse cultures. These are
now discussed in turn.

The study of the self-fulfilling prophecy (Merton, 1948) by Rosenthal and

Jacobson (1968) suggests that a teacher’s expectations of children’s
learning corresponds with what the children bring with them initially: for
instance, those whose language and backgrounds are close to that of the
standard dominant group perhaps receive more favourable teacher
expectations than those from non-dominant backgrounds. Such lowered
expectations of child learning, these authors conclude, consequently result in
lower performance due to the children being taught less and hence learning
less. Pilling and Pringle (1978), however, argue that this outcome is
debatable since their studies into the self-fulfilling prophecy did not reveal the
same results. Wood (1998), although only finding insubstantial evidence for
the self-fulfilling prophecy, still acknowledges the possible existence of
 - 38 -

teachers’ expectations of children being based on social stereotypes, which

would lead to the self-fulfilling prophecy being a reality. Nevertheless, Jussim
et al. (1996) claim that even when a teacher’s negative expectations do not
equate to student failure, such negative expectations could still be
associated with those students failing. The authors, together with Madon et
al. (1997), further posit that students from marginalised groups are more
vulnerable to the self-fulfilling prophecy than those whose identities belong to
a more prestigious and desirable group.

Teacher quality and an ability for them to communicate effectively with

children from diverse cultures, are identified as factors when attempting to
explain the relationship between children’s backgrounds and performances
in school (Wood, 1998). The author warns, however, that such issues appear
to be more complex than has been suggested and that comprehension
issues, arising from some features of classroom language that have to be
mastered by these children, can cause complications. As a result, while they
are still dealing with issues caused by their desire to make sense to others,
their inability to produce coherent ‘decontextualized’ narratives of their
knowledge and understanding may lead to them being seen as intellectually
incompetent (Wood, 1998). This closely links to the identity matters and
issues relating to the inclusion of children from diverse cultures in education
which were discussed earlier in this chapter.

Furthermore, a child’s development and learning need to be considered

before any assessment. While acknowledging that social experiences and
interpersonal interactions are important in child development, Piaget and
Inhelder (1969) assert that children’s natural ability to actively construct their
knowledge of the world plays a more vital role. Wood (1998) argues that
adults and social interaction have much more important roles in this process
of child development and learning, and that children’s knowledge is jointly
formed by their own understanding and through interactions with more
knowledgeable and skilled members of the community. This is in line with
Vygotsky’s assertion (Vygotsky, 1974), that though a child may appear to be
unable to solve a problem or perform a task independently, with some
assistance from an adult the child could be successful. By being helped, this
 - 39 -

process has contributed to the development, knowledge and ability of the

child. Vygotsky considers that an ability to learn from others is an essential
characteristic of human intelligence and that a child’s learning potential is
frequently realised by such interactions.

In this process, instruction from ‘knowledgeable others’, whether formal or

informal, constitutes a transfer of culturally specific knowledge. In a formal
context of instruction, such as in schools, Wood (1998) finds it natural that
children may encounter learning tasks that are new or vague to them. The
author warns, however, that child development may not be the same in
different subjects or areas; thus, their ability in one area may not reflect that
for other learning areas. This I find very important for educators to bear in
mind when it comes to assessing young learners: early years assessment
must be professionally carried out covering a range of different areas of
development, whereas assessment results cannot be considered reliable if
only one or two areas are assessed.

For instance, in early years education in the United Kingdom, prime and
specific areas of developments are recognised, including:

Prime areas Specific areas

 Personal, Social and Emotional Development  Literacy
 Communication and Language  Mathematics
 Physical Development  Understanding of the World
 Expressive Arts and Design

In this instance, if educators choose to assess a child’s overall development

using just one or two of the areas listed here, it is neither fair on that child,
nor can it be said that the assessment result reliably reflects the child’s
overall development. Further issues regarding assessing young learners,
with a special focus on those from diverse cultures, will now be further
examined below.

3.3.3.2 When – What – How and Who?

Assessing learners from culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms must

cover the When – What – How questions, especially when assessing young
learners or learners at the early stages of learning (Atkins and Brown, 1985;
 - 40 -

Clemson and Clemson, 1996a; Curtis, 1998; Hurst, 1991; Tyler and Fontana,
1984) .

In discussing the When factor, in relation to assessing young learners who

learn in a language that is not their mother tongue, scholars and researchers
around the world consistently find that these children may experience some
receptive or ‘silent period’ at the early stages of learning (Krashen, 1981).
This, Blight (2011) sees as a right of the child/learner – the right to remain
silent.

While it may take up to two years for these children to develop interpersonal
communication skills, it may take much longer for the development of the full
range of academic language skills (Cummins, 1985; Skutnabb-Kangas,
1981). In discussing this, Cummins (2000) identifies two aspects of language
proficiency which are ‘conversational’ (also termed contextualized language
(Cummins, 1981b) or surface fluency (Skutnabb-Kangas and Toukomaa,
1976) and ‘academic’. The former was originally named basic interpersonal
communicative skills (BICS) and the latter cognitive academic language
proficiency (CALP). Of this, conversational language proficiency – BICS –
refers to social fluency in that language which should develop in between two
to three years’ time. Academic language proficiency – CALP – relates to a
much higher level of language development, involving the mastering of
language skills such as synthesis, evaluation and analysis. These skills are
believed to be obtained much later in the learning process, from five to seven
years of learning the non-mother tongue language (Cummins, 2000).

When relating Cummins’s BICS and CALP to learning and assessment,

García (2009) finds that children need to have a ‘different set of language
skills’, especially for accomplishing learning and assessment tasks. The
author further clarifies that this is the stage at which the learners are
considered to be independent school-language users, where no
extralinguistic support is required. This appears to be very important in
deciding when the time is suitable for evaluation or assessment. If the
assessment is carried out when the children are still experiencing the silent
period and are not ready to produce in the target language, or when the
children are at the BICS (conversational) level but not at the CALP
 - 41 -

(academic) level of language development, the assessment result may

misrepresent the child’s actual learning ability.

One example of delaying the testing of children learning in a

second/additional language comes from Canada. In most schools in
Metropolitan Toronto, a policy was introduced to delay testing language
minority children for at least two years after their integration into the school
system (Cummins, 1985). Although there have been debates and challenges
regarding the amount of time (the two years), the system acknowledges the
possible disadvantage created for this group of learners if they are tested too
soon. This policy approach could be related to the concept of educators
establishing a ‘safe space’ for language minority children (Conteh and Brock,
2010), to create a non-threatening learning environment and to make
learners feel encouraged and motivated to learn.

The issue of What to test also appears to be very significant because tests
have different purposes. Baker (2007) claims that bilingual children are far
too often tested, with the main aim of diagnosing their ‘disabilities’ or
insufficient proficiency in their second language. For instance, this can occur
with norm-referenced tests to compare how different these children are in
relation to the average level attained by ‘normal’ children. These average test
scores are, however, usually based on results achieved by language majority
children, which the author argues brings into question the equity of such
standards in relation to language minority learners.

This helps us to see that if the test content is not carefully designed to cover
all groups of learners, it could be biased or unfair to some. This is why public
law in the United States asserts that all tests must not be culturally and
linguistically discriminatory against learners (Baker, 2007). In reality though,
non-discriminatory tests may not always be used. Hall et al. (2001) find that
standardised tests, even those that include items to reflect the learning
environments of minority children, are still culture-loaded because inevitably
the test construction procedures only reflect the majority group’s culture.
When the authorities produce a one-size-fits-all test that does not consider
the cognitive needs of children from different language backgrounds, the
bilingual or minority language children could be placed at a disadvantage.
 - 42 -

The How factor of assessment examines all the administrative matters and
the critical issues of fairness and consistency. This is tightly linked to the test
content, which is designed in a way that does not allow a lot of room for
negotiation or flexibility, where testers can determine the outcome of the test
on their own. This is because the decisions of different testers may vary even
for the same child, so to avoid inconsistencies, clear guidelines on test
administration and marking must be provided. In the case of assessing a
child who is considered as problematic by one teacher and as doing well by
another, there must be clear guidance and criteria applied. Without this, a
situation can evolve in which inconsistent and subjective conclusions can be
reached by teachers, which may reflect a teacher’s favourable or less
favourable judgement of learners. Such a problem is reflected on by
Escamilla (Escamilla, 2000), when a teacher in a bilingual class reported one
child as ‘doing fine’ and another as ‘a poor reader in two languages’ when
both children’s reading scores were identical.

Referring back to what was discussed in the identity section above, the
identity of the teachers and assessors appears to be very significant for
young linguistic minority children. This means that in addition to the What –
When – How questions, the Who question could equally affect the reliability
and validity of the test. This specifically refers to the administration of the
assessment process, with a particular focus on the invigilators and the
markers. Woodhouse (1992) warns that young children’s behaviour can vary
in different situations and so their potential performance in school may not be
widely displayed. As such, contributions from home and other contexts are
needed, if we would like to obtain a fuller picture of the development of such
children. The author further urges that when assessing young children, the
effects of external factors such as tester effects must be minimised, so that
assessment is only about the child and the task performed, thereby allowing
young children the best opportunity to display their abilities. Curtis (2002)
further asserts that both the emotional stage and the personality of the child
could affect assessment outcomes, so it is essential that young children are
tested by familiar adults during formal assessments. This is the best possible
way of reducing the tester effect, even with the cost of some subjectivity, the
 - 43 -

author adds. When agreeing with these studies, Tyler (1984) and Clemson
and Clemson (1996a) also acknowledge that the presence of a teacher or
tester can, in various ways, affect the child’s actions or the outcome of these
actions, which ultimately influences the child’s performance in such
assessments.

This Who factor is also linked to the teacher’s expectations of the various
children, from which teachers may create a self-fulfilling prophecy (Merton,
1948) which may affect a learner’s academic outcome, as discussed earlier.
When questioning the extent to which the result of an assessment carries a
prediction for the future, Clemson and Clemson (1996b) show concern about
how predictions can become self-fulfilling. The authors insist that educators
must not allow early judgements, or those of others, to interfere with
subsequent teaching responses.

When observing assessment, the When, What, How and Who factors reflect
the quality of an education system. Good systems must take these factors
into account when designing and implementing the testing of minority
language children, because inappropriately biased assessments affect their
academic achievement (Baca and Cervantes, 1984). Sadly, though, Baker
(2007) observes that when underachievement occurs with bilingual children,
the children and their minority group are often blamed for it and not the
school or the education system.

From the discussions here and in the identity section, I suggest that
assessing linguistic minority children, when they are not yet ready and are
still familiarising themselves with a new language and culture, does not only
result in unreliable assessment outcomes but can also give learners an
inaccurate picture of themselves and can adversely affect their self-esteem
and motivation to learn. This, together with issues from assessing minority
children and how this affects these learners, will be further discussed in
Chapters 6 and 7, in which I will examine significant observations from my
researched school.
 - 44 -

3.4 Language in culturally diverse classrooms

In this section, I will explore factors relating to minority languages in

mainstream education, which will then lead to a discussion of bilingualism
and bilingual education. Before that, however, I will examine the role of
language in education and bilingual education, in order to understand what
language means to learners, particularly linguistic minority learners.

3.4.1 The role of language in education

In educational settings, language is not just about literacy, it is also the

medium of instruction, where through language all other subjects are taught
and learnt (Lwin and Silver, 2013). Language is therefore vital for learners in
education, and in order for them to succeed students need to be competent
users of the school language. This is because subject learning depends
heavily on learners’ access to and competence in the school language or the
language of instruction (Byram, 2008). Byram further illustrates the point by
identifying the importance of knowing concepts and terminology, of being
able to understand and use subject specific expressions academically but
still pre-scientifically, and then being capable of understanding and using this
to produce texts that specifically relate to the subject and which adhere to the
current mode of expression. In line with this, Vollmer (2008) argues that
language in subject specific contexts goes far beyond the learning of
terminology and new concepts, as it involves a new or different way of
understanding, thinking and communicating, in forms which incorporate
specific traditions and rules, whilst also being appropriate for the
expectations of the other party or parties to whom the discourse is directed.

This means that learners need to master the language not just at the
conversational level or BICS but to a higher academic degree, namely CALP,
as identified by Cummins (2000) and discussed in the section above.
Becoming competent in the language of education happens through a
learning process for all learners, but children whose home language is
different from the school’s language first need to familiarise themselves with
a new language, and that inevitably takes time. Vollmer (2008) nevertheless
clarifies that not all discourse in subject areas is based on CALP as a good
 - 45 -

part of everyday classroom discourse uses language at a BICS level: for

example, basic interactions between students and teachers and many
instructions given by teachers to learners.

Furthermore, language in education is not just about learning how to read

and write; therefore, school language strategy has concerns that extend
beyond the correction of sentence structure, grammar and spelling, but is
also concerned with assisting students in learning how to use a language as
well as using the language to learn (Fillion, 1979). Language education
therefore incorporates all the non-linguistic subjects, so that learning a
subject always means learning a ‘new’ language at the same time; thus,
language competence is a prerequisite for subject competence and is vital
for success in education (Vollmer, 2008).

Finally, as Kranjc (2008) states, when we think in a language, culture enters

our mind, because language is a cultural system where the meanings are
culturally embedded and the forms and structures of language all have a
cultural history behind them. This points to the challenges faced by learners
whose language differs from the language used across the curriculum, as
they not only need to master the school language to be able to learn, but
they also need to learn the culture behind the language and perhaps the
school and classroom’s culture in order to succeed.

3.4.2 Minority languages and mainstream education: a connection

needed?

For children, the development of language is a development of social

existence into individuated persons and into culture.

(John-Steiner and Tatter, 1983)

In the sections above, much discussion has focussed on language across

the curriculum and the development and significance of academic language.
Cummins (2001) asserts that the mother tongue language is a key to a
person’s identity, so when such languages, together with the culture and
experiences of a student, are not recognised and validated in classroom
interactions, that student’s starting point is clearly a hindrance. Some years
earlier, Fishman (1984) argued that each language has a capacity to index,
 - 46 -

symbolise and enact its associated culture more precisely, powerfully and
fully than others do. By this, he means that all languages have such capacity
and not just the one that is being given the responsibility and status. As such,
language and culture are interrelated, so if learners are not able to use their
own language in school and are made to use another language, it becomes
much more difficult to fit into the school culture.

In line with this, Conteh and Brock (2010) stress the importance of a positive
home-school link through which all the learning experiences (in home,
community and school) of bilingual learners are valued and recognised. The
authors explain that the learners’ sense of belonging to their learning
environment is essential in this process but suggest that this only happens in
‘safe spaces’, with teachers expressing a thorough understanding of the
interrelationships that exist between language and a child’s learning and
identity. The importance of a positive relationship between educators and
multilingual and multicultural learners was previously emphasised by
Cummins (2001), who maintains that such relationships must be developed
towards empowering and providing equal opportunities for these learners.

Different starting points mean that the learning of these children is inevitably
not the same as those whose first language is used in school. Conteh (Brock
and Conteh, 2011) therefore urges ‘a need to find ways to dialogically
construct policies which allow schools and communities to build on their own
funds of knowledge in teaching, learning and assessment’ (p.14). This, the
author continues, is important when advocating additive bilingualism, a
model of learning which is sociocultural and is for the benefit of all and not
just some learners. The following section looks at bilingualism, and will
examine Conteh’s point about additive bilingualism in more detail.

3.4.3 Bilingualism and bilingual education

3.4.3.1 Bilingualism – the matter of rights and equality

Baker (2011) maintains that bilingualism is clearly about two languages, but
deciding who can be called bilingual is not that simple. Berthold (2006) states
that definitions of bilingualism are not consistent and that being considered
bilingual can range from very basic to demanding a high level of second
 - 47 -

language development. From another viewpoint, an individual who has

second language ability in at least one of the four macro language skills
(speaking, listening, reading or writing) can be called bilingual (Mcnamara,
1967), but in other cases bilingual is defined as having a native-like level,
indistinguishable from native speakers in two languages (Oestreicher, 1974);
(Bloomfield, 1933). In my work, bilingual will refer to individuals who are able
to use two languages, but where the level of each language will depend on
the demands created by their daily lives and the environment in which they
live (García, 2009).

Bilingualism can be further classified into different categorizations, with the

two main divisions being societal bilingualism and individual bilingualism
(Baker, 2011; Berthold, 2006). The former can be further analysed into
horizontal bilingualism, environments where two languages are awarded
equal status in society and are used by certain groups of the population; and
vertical bilingualism, societies where people can speak both dialects and
official languages. Individual bilingualism refers to the personal extent of
bilingualism and this will be the focus of my work. Of this, I will concentrate
on circumstances and situations surrounding groups of individuals that
contribute to them becoming bilinguals. This means that much of the
discussion will be about the types of bilingualism which sculpt individuals and
their communities into who they are and how and why they have become
who they are.

Hall et al. (2001) divide bilingual learners in the United Kingdom into four
different categories. The first is named elite bilinguals, who are from
middle/upper class families that chose to travel to the United Kingdom for
business, diplomatic or academic purposes. Bilingualism for these children is
enriching; their home language is unlikely to be threatened and they are also
less likely to experience educational disadvantage, even when their second
language competence is not of a high level. The second group is linguistic
majorities, who learn a second language due to their school offering a more
prestigious minority or international language. Bilingual families refers to the
third group, in which each parent speaks a different language, and although
there may be some cultural or religious pressure on the children to become
 - 48 -

bilinguals, they are free from external pressure. The last category is linguistic
minorities, comprised of those with low social status, such as refugees,
immigrants or ethnic minorities. Being bilingual and learning the language of
the majority group is not optional for these children as both external and
internal pressures are placed upon them.

Valdes and Figueroa’s (1994) sixth aspect of bilingualism is named

circumstantial and elective bilingualism. The authors claim that while the
former has much to do with individual choice and there is no threat to the
mother tongue (often the prestigious language), the latter refers to a situation
where there is little or no choice and these individuals’ mother tongue (often
the disadvantaged language) is likely to be under threat of being replaced or
weakened by the advantaged language. Elective bilingualism can be well
demonstrated by an English-speaking person choosing to learn a foreign
language, whereas cases in which linguistic minority groups or migrants in a
country learn the language of the dominant group in order to survive would
be circumstantial bilingualism. To equate this to Lambert’s (1980) analysis,
we can relate elective bilingualism to what Lambert titles additive bilingualism
and circumstantial bilingualism shares many features with subtractive
bilingualism. A question that then arises is that if given equal rights and full
access to the educational, political, social and economic worlds, without first
having to master the language of the majority, would many linguistic minority
people in Vietnam, or Tibetans in China, choose to become bilinguals? Many
of these people are representative of circumstantial or even subtractive
bilingualism. This does not imply that bilingualism is a negative model, rather
this refers to the matter of rights and situations in which humans are
circumstantially forced to learn a language, with a cost that may involve the
sacrifice of some or all aspects of their heritage, language and culture. This
process may be regarded as language shift, resulting from a personal desire
to improve social standing, vocational prospects, living standards and identity
value (Edwards, 2002; Edwards, 1985). This process may simply reflect the
harsh realities faced by the disadvantaged individuals of minority
communities (Baker, 2011), which makes them believe that in order to attain
 - 49 -

such desires they must leave some affiliation of their identity behind –
language may be one such factor.

García (2009a), on the other hand, recognises a positive practice observed

in children growing up speaking a language at home and another language
at school. To her, these bilingual children are actively engaged in bilingual
languaging or translanguaging and this is a positive aspect of bilingualism.
The author uses this name to describe the act through which bilinguals
access different linguistic features from the different languages that they
know in order to maximise their communicative capacity and potential. While
this shows some great practical benefits, such as an enhancement of
communicative effectiveness or preciseness, García nevertheless remarks
that the translanguaging facility is often disregarded by the education system
worldwide, simply because of a negative perception relating to the different
way in which bilingual children communicate when compared to their
monolingual peers (García, 2009a).

Nevertheless, while the study of bilingualism is inundated with report findings

stating positive effects on cognitive and linguistic development, such as
metalinguistic awareness, creativity, visual-spatial abilities (Cummins, 1976;
Cummins and Swain, 1986; Bialystok, 1991), this is not the case for
subtractive bilingualism. Lambert (Lambert, 1984; Lambert, 1980) claims that
positive outcomes are only from additive bilingualism, where the first
language is prestigious and is in no way replaced by the second language,
whereas in subtractive bilingualism, the first language is likely to be
threatened by the acquisition of the second language. The loss of language,
the author continues, will further result in the loss of cultural, ethnic and/or
ethnolinguistic identity and this is particularly worrying for the heritage of
many minority groups around the world.

3.4.3.2 Bilingual education: concerns and arguments

Baker (2011) calls for a distinction to be made between education where two
languages are used and advocated, and the situation where language
minority children study using a different language. The author observes that
the term ‘bilingual education’ is sometimes mistakenly used in both situations
 - 50 -

and concludes that only the former could be described as bilingual

education, as the latter may well be a case where bilingual children are
present but only one dominant language is used in the curricular content and
for instruction. Defining the term more simplistically, Berthold (2006)
describes bilingual education as educating a person through two languages,
including his or her mother tongue and another language. This is also the
meaning used when discussing bilingual education in this section.

Together with the cognitive benefits discussed above, bilingual language

learning can also be seen as educational enrichment and the maintenance
and development of culture (Baker, 2011; Cummins, 1976; Cummins,
1981a). According to a number of scholars and researchers in the field,
despite bilingual education being beneficial for promoting children’s
cognition; the appreciation of other identities, their communities and cultures;
and the maintenance and development of languages which are under threat
of extinction (Cummins and Swain, 1986; Baker, 2011; Conteh, 2006), the
development of bilingual education has so far been limited.

There have been diverse opinions about the introduction of bilingual

programmes. Alexander and Baker (1992) fear that learning using bilingual
education may result in negative labels being placed on the children, thereby
affecting their self-esteem. Adler (1977) states that bilingualism may result in
splitting personality and even in experiencing some emotional instability, or
being detached from reality or withdrawn into the self. In other extreme
points of view, bilingualism and multilingualism are even seen as a threat to
civil peace, causing cultural fragmentation (Hirsch, 1988) or that it ‘shuts
doors to the larger world’ (Schlesinger, 1998). Such arguments support
monolingual education and bilingual education can even be seen as posing a
threat by some governments. This is why the submersion model has been
used and is still common in many countries, and Vietnam is no exception.
This model of education depicts situations where minority language children
are placed in classes where only the majority language is used for
instruction, aiming to assimilate the minority language speakers, thereby
producing only monolingualism (Baker, 2011; Berthold, 2006).
 - 51 -

Baker and Jones (1998) point out that political realities can be one of the
main causes hindering the development of bilingualism. These authors list
Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom as leading
examples of having dominant monolingual politicians and administrators who
insist on an English-only approach. Brock and Conteh (2011) support these
findings with an analysis of the bilingual education situation in England.
Although showing some positive progress lately, the authors find that
contradictory policies still exist and there is ignorance regarding the rights of
bilingual children.

Not only do bilingual programmes face challenges in terms of their

introduction, those that have been launched continue to be questioned by
some scholars, who caution that programmes are not always positive and yet
remain the best solution for problems of language diversity, especially for
languages of non-dominant or minority groups. To Fishman (1984), even in
societies where there is some political equality and cultural interdependence
between underprivileged ethnolinguistic groups and dominant groups, the
former group is still vulnerable in relation to the latter. This is because, the
author maintains, the pattern of initially using the disadvantaged language
intensively as the language of instruction at school, will finally and inevitably
give way to the advantaged language as the student progresses through to
higher grades. Language minority children are too often initially instructed
using their home language as the classroom language, after which they
switch to a second language (the majority language), usually within a year or
two when these children are thought to be proficient enough in the second
language to cope with curricular content. This is intended to rapidly
assimilate the language minority speakers within the majority, with the aim of
producing relative monolingualism (Freeman, 1998; Otheguy and Otto, 1980;
De Mejía, 2002).

Viewed from a strategic, political perspective, educational authorities that aim

to gradually and safely assimilate minority language speakers within the
language of the majority, will likely implement this transitional model –
starting with the mother tongue and then moving to the target language for
school instruction (Baker, 2011). This intends to reduce the likelihood of
 - 52 -

community and family opposition to the assimilation process, since the

children’s home language is still included although only initially and briefly.
As Freeman (1998), de Mejia (2002), and Otheguy and Otto (1980) observe,
this also aims to get the children to learn the target language, often the
language of the majority and the authorities, as quickly as possible. As a
result of the negatives associated with the transitional model, it has been
strongly argued against by many scholars and researchers in recent
educational debates (Cummins, 2000). This explains why Conteh (Brock and
Conteh, 2011), as discussed in the above section, also stresses the need to
implement an additive, not a transitional model of bilingualism, in her studies
of England.

The use of home or minority languages during early years, to ensure that
children have developed enough of the first language before starting the
second, is based on language learning theories and supported by research
findings which indicate that: learning the second language is more effective
and faster when the child’s first language has been fully developed; the
child’s first language development is more important than the amount of
exposure to the target language; knowledge of the first language can be
transferred to the second language; and children with concrete development
of their mother tongue have better academic performance in the second
language (Dutcher and Tucker, 1996; Cummins, 1976; Cummins and Swain,
1986; Baker, 2011; Skutnabb-Kangas, 2013; Thomas and Collier, 1997).
Further work from Swain, Lapkin, Rowen and Hart (Swain et al., 1990) also
identifies the importance of being proficient in the mother tongue before
starting to learn a second language. According to these researchers, children
who lack a firm foundation in their first language cannot learn a second
language as effectively as those who already display a strong knowledge of
their first language.

The threshold theory, first hypothesised by Cummins (1976) and Toukomaa

and Skutnabb-Kangas (1977), also supports the view that it is
disadvantageous to start learning a second language when insufficiently
capable in the first language. This is concerned not only with acquiring a
second language but also in acquiring that language academically. Thus,
 - 53 -

academic proficiency transfers across languages, so students who are more

successful in acquiring a second language are likely to be those who have
already developed literacy in their first language. This indicates that attaining
a first language tends to enhance the student’s ability in learning a second
language, as well as improving cognitive skills (Dutcher and Tucker, 1996).
May, Hill and Tiakiwai (2004), a group of researchers in New Zealand, also
found that students from Maori-speaking groups, who enrolled in schools
where English was the language of instruction, were very likely to struggle
with academic English and learning in general when their literacy basis in
Maori was insufficient. Berthold (2006) builds on these positions and, whilst
acknowledging the advantages of early bilingualism, subsequently concludes
that literacy in the mother tongue language definitely adds something more
than just literacy to second language acquisition. In his later work, Cummins
(2000), however, warns that the relevance of the threshold hypothesis to
policy and practice is still vague, and its main relevance lies in terms of the
positive educational and linguistic outcomes associated with the
development of both languages.

Returning to concerns about bilingual programmes and their influence in

promoting minority languages and including pupils from diverse
backgrounds, the issue can also be viewed from the proportion of each
language used for instruction. Real power in society, such as in the state
services and the professions, employs the advantaged language, and the
major sciences and technology subjects in schools also use the dominant
language, thereby placing additional strain on disadvantaged languages
(Fishman, 1984). The author therefore affirms that the need to control the
advantaged language and its functions appears to be as important as the
necessity of fostering the disadvantaged language. Macnamara (1971)
further states that even with mother-tongue medium programmes, schools
alone cannot efficiently foster and maintain the development of the
disadvantaged languages associated with minority groups. Efforts from wider
society and all stakeholders as a whole are essential for any bilingual or
multilingual programmes in schools to be effective and for the maintenance
and development of ethnolinguistic groups.
 - 54 -

3.4.3.3 Bilingualism and special education

A child is not to be taken as having a learning difficulty solely because

the language (or form of the language) in which he is, or will be,
taught is different from a language (or form of a language) which has
at any time been spoken in his home.

(Department of Education and Science, 1981)

Children who learn in a language other than their mother tongue face greater
difficulties than those who do not. Not only do they need to learn a new
language but also learn academic content taught in a language with which
they are not yet familiar. Explaining the low academic achievement of these
children is not easy because educators often find it challenging to
differentiate between learning difficulties and the second language barriers
encountered by learners, as Hall et al. (2001) acknowledge. Examining this
issue in the United Kingdom, these authors report that there are still cases
where teachers equate low English skills with intelligence deficit or learning
problems. They call for low English proficiency not to be regarded as an
indication of learning difficulties or special educational needs, and that the
two issues – special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and English
as an additional language (EAL) – must be separated (Hall et al., 2001).

In support of this, Baker (2007) reports that in the United States there have
been cases revealed in court where language minority children were
misdiagnosed as needing special education. Teachers in these cases were
uncertain about children whose English was ‘weak’; therefore, special
education was recommended for them. Cummins (1985) stresses that when
underachievement occurs, educators must first evaluate their own
pedagogical methods as well as the learning programmes, followed by trying
out other alternative approaches, before considering deficits in cognitive
processing as another explanation.

Wrongly labelling children in these cases not only creates an unhealthy

psychological impact on the learners but produces a risk that changes may
be made to their learning environment which are not always necessary or
appropriate. In the context of EAL and SEND, Wright (1991) expresses a
 - 55 -

concern that confusing these two concepts can cause children to be wrongly
labelled and may also result in creating a less challenging learning
environment for them. From the BICS and CALP perspective previously
discussed in the theory of learning section, we can see that obtaining
‘academic language’ is vitally important for second language learners to be
successful. Providing a less challenging learning environment, where
children’s potential is not stretched, will just further delay these children from
progressing their language level from BICS to CALP. Rodriguez (2005) also
observes that children with special needs from diverse cultural and linguistic
backgrounds are often placed in classrooms where academic instruction for
them is less challenging.

We can therefore see that in cases where educators believe that children’s
academic levels are much lower than their peers, leading to a less
challenging learning environment being provided may further widen the
language gap between these EAL learners and their peers, because their
potential is not stretched as much. Clearly, this is not beneficial for these
learners since many researchers confirm that students, including those with
special needs who are from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, learn
more effectively when the content covered is sufficiently challenging and
well-structured (Smith and Sanders, 1981; Schunk, 1983; Brophy, 1986).

Misdiagnosing learners and confusion between special educational needs

and learning in a second language is a complex issue and requires high
levels of educator competence. Avis (1994) recognises the importance of a
teacher’s expertise in assessing their learners and states that such
professionalism must start with the teacher training process. The author
acknowledges that diversity issues need to be addressed during training so
teachers can conquer any challenges that arise in their diverse classrooms,
to enhance the learning experience and achievement of all their students.

In short, while the two groups, SEND and EAL, both have some distinctive
learning needs, the required provision to meet the needs of each group is not
the same. Problems encountered by EAL learners can be resolved when
their language competence is being developed, but problems encountered
by SEND learners (such as those with physical disabilities or
 - 56 -

emotional/behavioural difficulties) require targeted support from a different

group of specialists (Hall et al., 2001). Sadly, though, such support may not
always be available in many parts of the world, so teachers and educators
are left to handle the issues on their own. More significantly, these teachers
are not equipped, through their training, with the skills and knowledge
required to identify and respond to the differences between learners with
special educational needs and those with difficulties derived purely from
learning in a second or additional language. I will further discuss this issue
within the Vietnamese context in Chapter 6.

3.5 Education for All – language diversity and equal

opportunities

In this section I will briefly examine the policies and practices relating to
Education for All in different geographical areas, starting with countries that
have language diversity issues that have been well studied and documented,
which mostly equates to developed countries. This is followed by a section
that concentrates more specifically on countries that are close to Vietnam,
either geographically or in relation to their being developing countries. The
latter description is necessarily more brief, compared to the review of
developed countries, due to less literature having been produced, but it is
essential that it is presented here in order to identify commonalities and
differences with which to better analyse the Vietnam context that was
discussed in the previous chapter.

3.5.1 International trends

No country has had more deliberate educational policies in

transitioning their immigrant, refugee, and Native American
populations to monolingualism as the United States.

(García, 2009)

The inclusion of minority languages in education in the United States has

fluctuated over different periods, initially with restrictions applied to minority
and indigenous languages but tolerating some European languages such as
German, Spanish and French (García, 2009; Crawford, 2008). Such
 - 57 -

tolerance slowly disappeared at later dates and an English-only policy was

prevalent in the early twentieth century, which was later relaxed, and
bilingual education gained a certain place in the arena. The debate, however,
has never ceased, with new restrictions introduced again in 1981 with the
passing of English-only laws that came into effect in the majority of states
and which identified English as the sole language for government use
(García, 2009; Crawford, 2008). García further notes that the term bilingual
education has also become gradually less visible, which has created an
environment of restricting the use of languages other than English, thereby
negatively affecting several ethnolinguistic groups. The author notes,
however, that in addition to monolingual education in the US today, some
bilingual programmes can be observed, including: the transitional model (the
first 1-3 years with 90-50% of home language instruction, which then
increases to 90% of English instruction), which aims for linguistic
assimilation; the developmental model (introduced for the first 5-6 years of
schooling, starting with 90-50% in the home language, which then decreases
to 50% and the other 50% is instructed in English), which aims for
bilingualism, biliteracy and English academic achievement; and two-way
bilingual education which is for both bilingual children and native English
speakers (this starts with instruction of 90% in the home language and 10%
in the other language, which then moves to the equal use of both languages)
and targets bilingualism, biliteracy and English academic achievement.
Despite this, the conclusion is that bilingual capacity in the country is poor
due to attacks on bilingualism and bilingual education (García, 2009).

The European situation is no brighter than that in the United States, since
some countries (such as Ireland and Estonia) did not approve the Charter of
Regional or Minority Languages, which is part of the plurilingualism scheme
that the Council of Europe has tried to promote (Baetens Beardsmore, 2009).
The author adds that articles in the charter clearly specified that the aim of
such a plurilingualism or multilingualism policy is not about equal rights for
minority or regional languages in relation to the state’s majority language but
to provide support for non-discrimination against minority and regional
languages. The countries are given several options in the policy, from having
 - 58 -

minority languages as a subject taught in the school system, to using the

language when teaching non-language subjects. Such flexibility means that
when countries approve this charter, the education situation for minority
language learners will still vary from country to country, and that adopting the
policy does not always ensure great outcomes when it comes down to
differences in implementation. The European countries that are reported to
be leading in implementing bilingual programmes or promoting minority
languages, such as England, Italy and Austria, still encounter numerous
issues, one of which is where a member of a language minority may still be
diagnosed as having special educational needs (the confusion between EAL
and SENDs in England is discussed above).

Elsewhere internationally, the transitional model of education is used widely

for indigenous people in Canada, Aboriginal people in Australia, the Khmer in
Cambodia, and in various Latin American countries (Guatemala, Peru,
Bolivia, Ecuador, etc.). Paraguay, on the other hand, has taken the lead by
moving beyond the transitional model to bilingual education (García, 2009).
García also reports that African countries, despite struggling with the legacy
of colonialism in education, have been rather successful with their
transitional models of bilingualism, with the leading country being Nigeria,
followed by Kenya, Ghana and Malawi. Botswana’s model of bilingualism
was thought to be very strong, where Setswana and English are used in turn,
as either a language as a subject or as the language of instruction (Grades
1-4: Setswana is the medium of instruction and English is a subject; from
Grade 5 onwards, this is switched, so that English becomes the medium of
instruction while Setswana is taught as a subject) (García, 2009).

In South Africa, mother tongue education was advocated in 1997 for

inclusion in bilingual and multilingual education systems (Heugh, 2000) and
the country appears to have a more desirable model of bilingualism, using
the additive rather than the transitional bilingual model (Banda, 2000). Banda
also points out that bilingual education in the country does not extend to
higher education, which affects people’s attitudes, such as where minority
language families request that their school-aged children be educated in their
second language, which is usually English. The policy in this case appears to
 - 59 -

be positive, but the monolingual orientation in higher education and in the

public domain creates a different practice, where schools carry on teaching
minority language learners in their second language, which could be English
or Afrikaans (Banda, 2000).

India, with a background as a multilingual country, is described by Sridhar

(1996) as continuously promoting the study of three languages in the
education system, which are often Hindi, English and a regional language.
Mohanty (2006) nevertheless reveals that roughly 80% of minority languages
in India are endangered due to the hierarchical order by which only some
languages have access to power and resources in the social domain,
including education. The author finds that minority language children suffer
from a subtractive effect on their mother tongue, due to learning in a
submersion system where only the language of the dominant group is
recognised. Mohanty et al. (2009) later indicate that as language shift has
occurred in some parts of India, a number of minority languages have been
weakened and pushed to the margins of society, and that has restricted the
development of these ethnic communities as a whole. For Kond and Saora
children in Orissa, the mismatch between home and school languages is
responsible for children discontinuing school and for education failures, as
observed by Mohanty, Panda and Pal (Mohanty et al., 2010)

3.5.2 Regional trends

In moving nearer to my research location, this section reviews some bilingual

education trends in countries geographically closer to Vietnam, including
Nepal, Laos and Cambodia.

In Nepal, researchers reveal that teaching in mainstream education using

only Nepali language has created a great constraint on the learning of
language minority children. Kadel (2013) observes that while the children in
her study enjoy learning in Nepali when it is their mother tongue, the
linguistic minority children in the same class struggled to tell the teachers
what their names were in their first lessons. These children felt that they
were discriminated against after they had enrolled into the school and when
the enrolment campaign was over.
 - 60 -

The author also found that the education authorities placed the blame for this
on the parents and the school. Furthermore, the parents of language minority
children expressed a preference for public schools using English language
as the language of instruction, so that their children would be on a level
playing field when competing for jobs with Nepali speakers in the future. The
author, however, points out that the authorities have admitted that they have
not been able to develop any research-based evidence regarding the benefit
and impact of mother tongue education, which further restricts people’s
understanding of the matter before making their choice for their children’s
education.

Kadel also finds that the majority of second-generation parents of linguistic

minority children said that it was not just linguistic constraints they
experienced but that they were also harassed and ridiculed for using their
mother tongue both in and outside the education context. This perhaps
emanates from some mutual understanding of their languages being
undesirable; hence, for their children’s future, it is best they go with the
majority’s language.

According to Ghimire (2013), minority language children in Nepal experience

difficulties due to learning in a language that is unfamiliar to them. The author
asserts that while employing the early transitional model, in which these
children learn in their mother tongue for the first three years of primary
school, may create a smooth transition for them, the practice of teaching
Nepali and English as subjects during that period is not a good practice for
the multilingual education model.

Concerning the undermining of indigenous language, culture and identity in

Nepal, Phyak and Bui (2014) report that over 50,000 indigenous people
protested in Kathmandu in 2012 to oppose the central government’s
monolingual and monocultural policy. Awasthi (2013) and Yadava (2007)
also strongly criticise the government’s aggression when imposing the Nepali
language on linguistic minority learners at school, as well as the banning of
minority languages in public spaces.
 - 61 -

In Laos, researchers have expressed concern with the absence of research

focusing on education for linguistic minority groups. As a result, there may be
a deficit of deep understanding of the matter by stakeholders and donors,
and these are the groups who wish to improve the education quality for
minorities in the country (Cincotta-Segi, 2011; Souvanvixay et al., 2002).
Having lived and taught in Laos, I can see that the way the Laos government
functions is somewhat similar to Vietnam, where the central government
holds almost all the power and the lower levels of government at provincial
and district levels act as messengers and supervisors for the central’s
government’s policies to be implemented. Benson and Kosonen (2010)
report that, although there have been calls for bilingual education
programmes for linguistic minority learners, the implementation of such
programmes has not been instituted. This means that all linguistic minority
learners in Laos learn in the mainstream programme, in which the medium of
instruction is Lao language. In addition, since there has been so little
research conducted in the field, there is insufficient information as to how
these minority learners have been coping and what challenges or
opportunities are presented to them in mainstream education. In her study,
however, Cincotta-Segi (2011) observes that some practices of bilingualism
through monolingualism existed in all the classes she studied, where
linguistic minority teachers used their mother tongue in their instructions and
communications with students. The author also acknowledged that such
practices were not common and that the majority of teacher talk was still in
the Lao language. Nevertheless, their students continued using both
languages, Lao and the mother tongue, simultaneously, both to their peers
and to their teachers, and even when the teacher was speaking to them in
Lao, quite often they would reply to the teacher in their mother tongue and
the teacher did not seem to prohibit them from doing so (Cincotta-Segi,
2011).

Cambodia has an educational starting point lower than that of Vietnam, Laos,
Thailand and its neighbouring countries, due to the Khmer Rouge regime
that was in power in the late 70s and early 80s, during which they specifically
aimed at ending all forms of education in the country, to turn the nation into
 - 62 -

an egalitarian peasant society (Sokhom, 2004). There has since been a

great effort from the government and international aid groups to bring
education to all groups of people in the country, including those belonging to
linguistic minority groups. However, Sokhom (2004) remarks that linguistic
minority children living in highland areas start at a disadvantage since many
do not speak Khmer, the official and only language used in education. The
author suggests that having to learn in the Khmer language is the main
reason for many non-Khmer-speaking children, especially in the early years
of primary school, having to retake school years. This perhaps explains why
many non-Khmer-speaking children, instead of repeating the year, chose to
discontinue schooling before fully completing primary education (MoEYS,
2004; Sokhom, 2004; Middleborg, 2005). The Ministry of Education, Youth
and Sports in Cambodia reports of one highland area, where the majority of
students come from linguistic minorities and who do not speak Khmer prior to
their schooling. This area not only has a low enrolment rate to start with, but
also in their first year of schooling only 48% were promoted to Year 2,
meaning that over 50% of the children have to repeat Year 1. Furthermore,
of those who did not progress automatically, only 25.2% chose to re-sit the
year, while 26.7% chose to discontinue schooling at that time (MoEYS,
2004).

In an attempt to bring more linguistic minority children into school, or to bring

education to linguistic minority learners, the government has opened up to
international aid groups. These organisations have been studying bilingual
programmes, in order to use the mother tongue at early stages of schooling
for these children. There have since been a small number of projects piloted
by these organisations, but mainstream education remains monolingual with
only the Khmer language being used, and while the government is aware
and open to suggestions, there is still no explicit policy for bilingual education
in the country (UNESCO, 2007).

At the beginning of a UNESCO pilot project on bilingual education in

Cambodia, Middleborg (2005) observed several difficulties, including
reservations from the various levels of government about the very idea of
mother tongue or bilingual education. In addition, the educational materials
 - 63 -

were lacking cultural relevance and not many were readily adaptable to new
terms and language. Added to the challenges faced were reservations from
some of the villagers about formal education and how it failed to meet their
needs, and about some of the educational content being inappropriate or
going against the cultural norms in their areas.

At the end of the project, however, the author noted significant acceptance
from villagers and elders regarding the necessity of education for their
youngsters. Furthermore, certain other successes were observed, including
many children having an opportunity to learn how to read and write in their
own languages, after which the school board felt more confident in leading
the community towards a more cohesive yet open-minded policy. The
increased confidence amongst the community was perhaps partly to do with
the programme being designed with cultural sensitivity, when adapting the
national curriculum to include local knowledge, making the learning more
relevant to the locals. The transitional model of bilingual education used in
the first three years of primary education (Year 1: 80% local language to 20%
Khmer, with the ratio changing to 60-40 in Year 2 and 30-70 in Year 3;
leading to Year 4 with only Khmer being used at school) slowly helped these
children to get used to learning in Khmer (Middleborg, 2005).

The implementation of projects that use minority languages to help linguistic

minority children acquire Khmer, although still at the piloting stage, has
already nurtured learners and has heightened communities’ interest in
education and literacy, both in their mother tongue and the national language
(UNESCO, 2007).
This overview of the learning situation for linguistic minority groups in
Vietnam’s neighbouring countries has shown that most of them are
struggling to develop their learning systems to incorporate language
minorities, if indeed that is a policy objective.

3.5.3 Vietnam context

In Chapter 2, I briefly discussed the education system in Vietnam, pictured

as being monolingual, in which only Vietnamese is the official language of
instruction, which is believed to be problematic for different minority language
 - 64 -

learners in the country. In reviewing the international context in this chapter, I

would like to add the sections below to reflect on responses to the education
situation in Vietnam, both in policy and in reality.

3.5.3.1 Policy level

Given the problems that linguistic minority students encounter in mainstream

education, the Vietnamese government has attempted to introduce education
policies to address these difficulties. Together with allowing 15 percent of the
curricular content to be created by local teachers, the Ministry of Education
and Training (MOET) also sets different educational goals, which allow
minority students to pass national exams (those for graduation from
secondary school and entrance to colleges and universities) with lower
grades relative to the majority students. For instance, the guidelines from
MOET to all higher education institutes in 2014 listed a number of students
who were to receive priority in entrance exams to their institutes, so linguistic
minority students from rural areas get 3.5 points added to their actual exam
results. For example, if university A sets a pass score of 18 (out of 30) for the
three subjects used in their entrance exam, linguistic minority students can
pass with a minimum score of 14.5 (Bo Giao Duc Va Dao Tao, 2014)

Lower academic expectations from educators for linguistic minority students

has over the decades created a sense of superiority of the majority over the
minority groups. According to Cummins (2001), educators may intellectually
constrain students for whom they have lower expectations, because they are
less likely to provide opportunities for academic development for such
students. If this is the case, improvements will require further support
mechanisms to help these children to learn better, rather than merely
reducing the level of their expected academic achievement. This will be
challenging and difficult and will take time, because this is not only about
changing practices in schools, but also the beliefs, awareness and
perception of wider society regarding the minority groups in the country.

The pilot studies which I carried out before selecting my research school
show that the teaching style in mainstream education in Vietnam still
contains a large proportion of teacher-talk and student listening, so that
 - 65 -

students only speak when asked. This is similar to the studies of Goodlad
(2004) in schools in the United States, where the author observed that
teaching still depends upon the use of authority, where learners are socially
apathetic and where learning is passive and hands-off.

With regard to students learning in a language that is not the same as their
home language, this model of education with non-active roles created for
students provides additional challenges for them. This is because such a
teaching style is likely to be in line with the ‘context-reduced continuum’ as
termed and explained by Cummins (2001), because learning depends
primarily on listening to the teacher and other aids are not used. This does
not encourage learners to actively and contextually negotiate meaning while
learning, so that much of the communication in classrooms relies heavily on
linguistic prompts. To fully understand such communication, students must
have a strong background in the grammar and vocabulary of the language
being used. This is not often the case for children from multi-ethnic
backgrounds, whose home language is often different from the language of
instruction in schools (Cummins, 2001). Vietnam is no exception to this.

Nevertheless, there has recently been greater government awareness

concerning minority language issues, which has resulted in a number of
minority languages being introduced as subjects taught in schools. In this
process of raising awareness, international development agencies are at the
forefront of trying to support linguistic minority learners in mainstream
education in Vietnam. The government has also lately allowed some pilot
projects from international organisations working on aspects of education for
minorities. The following section briefly looks at two cases that currently
stand out amongst education projects for minorities in Vietnam. Whilst
presenting the two cases, I will also provide comments from a theoretical
perspective.

3.5.3.2 Bilingualism through monolingualism?

During a trip to Vietnam, I visited World Vision Vietnam (WVV), an

international NGO that works on multiple aspects of the lives of children from
disadvantaged groups and areas. This organisation has been trialling a pilot
 - 66 -

project that uses competent bilingual parents as interpreters in monolingual

classrooms in a remote area where many Thai ethnicity children are enrolled
(Than Thi Ha, interviewed on 4 May 2011). This reflects the principle of
bilingualism through monolingualism (Cummins and Swain, 1986), referring
to the method where teaching staff still use the dominant language for
instruction and where the curriculum is not written for bilinguals. The WVV
project does not use bilingual teachers who can switch between and use two
languages simultaneously, but bilingual mothers are invited into the
classroom to work as teaching assistants cum interpreters for the teachers.
Although this is being tested on a small scale in two different schools
enrolling two groups of linguistic minority children, the project director has
expressed delight when observing the positive progress shown by these
children in mainstream classes where usually only Vietnamese is used for all
curricular content (Than Thi Ha, 2011).

Cummins and Swain (1986), however, warn that the use of two languages at
the same time, which McLaughlin (1978) terms a mixing approach, may
result in children disregarding the language they do not understand and only
focussing on the other, thereby lessening their motivation for learning the
second language. These authors advocate the use of the two languages
separated by lessons, subject content or by teacher – namely, a separation
approach. Their arguments for the separation approach include: increased
effort shown by students when trying to make sense of the new language;
teachers being less likely to be exhausted by using the two languages
simultaneously for a long period of time; and the distribution of each
language being more likely to be under control.

There needs to be recognition, however, that WVV’s final goal is not

bilingualism, rather a smooth transition from home life to school life for
linguistic minority children, who initially have had little or no command of the
Vietnamese language – the language of instruction. For the Vietnam context,
with restrictions on funding within the education sector, such an effort is
laudable and can be counted as part of a collective struggle towards
Education for All in the country.
 - 67 -

3.5.3.3 Transitional model?

A much larger project, involving systematic implementation of a model of

bilingual education, has been carried out by UNICEF, in cooperation with the
MOET. This is titled ‘Action research on mother tongue-based bilingual
education: achieving quality, equitable education’. The project represents a
model of transitional education, with the first three years (Pre-school to Year
2) of schooling using the mother tongue as the language of instruction and
Vietnamese as a subject. From Year 3 to Year 5, the Vietnamese language
is then used as the language of instruction, together with the minority
language. These children are expected to be able to overcome the language
barrier from Year 5 onwards, so that when they enter lower-secondary
school (Year 6) they are expected to be comfortable when studying in
monolingual Vietnamese schools. The project started in 2008 and is piloting
in eight to ten classes in three provinces. Reporting the results after two
years of implementation, UNICEF (2010) describes a steep rise in the
academic achievement of minority children from the piloted classes,
compared with others in mainstream. The failure rate for those in the pilot
project was zero percent, whereas outside the project the failure rate was ten
percent and the figures for those achieving excellent grades was 68 percent
for the pilot and 28 percent for those outside. The report also describes the
confidence and enjoyment of the children when going to school, as well as
great satisfaction and pride of families and communities from observing their
language being used in schools, not to mention their children outperforming
their peers who are not part of the project sample (UNICEF, 2010).

While positive results have come from the project, it is still important for us to
remember that this is not about equal opportunities for bilingual children; it is
purely about making a transition to the monolingual system.

3.6 Research Questions

In Vietnam, there is an academic gap between linguistic minority and

majority children, with commonly held negative perceptions of linguistic
minority people in general and linguistic minority learners in particular. There
 - 68 -

is also a lack of studies about Muong-speaking learners in mainstream

education, so in combining these factors, I would like to observe Muong
children at the lower end of the scale: namely, those who are struggling in
mainstream education. Of these, I will study children in their first year of
primary education, and I am interested in finding out where and how their
difficulties started. My first research question is therefore:

In which way do some linguistic minority pupils become categorised as

‘slow’?

Specifically, this question aims to examine the procedures and

circumstances whereby some young linguistic minority learners in my study
were becoming categorised as slow learners.

The second question stems from the first question and focuses on the
consequences for these children.

What may happen to those categorised as 'slow'?

This question aims to research the outcomes for the slow learners.

With these questions in mind, I plan to look for answers in the context of my
country, Vietnam, with a population of approximately 93.5 million people and
54 different ethnic groups (World Population Statistics, 2013).

3.7 Conclusion

This chapter has reviewed literature relating to identity and learner identity
matters, as well as theories regarding multi-cultural and multilingual
classrooms. In discussing this, language matters are thoroughly researched,
including minority language learners in mainstream education and issues
surrounding bilingual education, such as socioeconomic factors and
assessment for linguistic minority learners. At policy level, a global
examination of the current trends from both developed and developing
countries has been discussed. Policies and practices in Vietnam are also
conferred before I introduced my research questions. The next chapter
reveals the methodology and methods used to look for answers to those
proposed questions.
 - 69 -

Chapter 4: Research design and methodology

4.1 Introduction

In this chapter, I will discuss the methodology for this research and how the
research has been carried out. This study aims to seek some understanding
of the learning contexts of children from linguistic minority groups in Vietnam
and their teachers’ contributions towards this learning process, as well their
language patterns used in the classroom. I would therefore like to capture
the real-life quality of settings. As such, an ethnographic approach has been
used and case studies were selected.

In the first part, I will introduce ethnography and its place in the qualitative
paradigm. In doing so I will also further clarify my ontological and
epistemological stance, which originated in Chapter 3. I will then examine
what the approach offers to my research, and in so doing explain why I have
chosen such orientation for this study. The second part briefly focuses on the
different methods used for data collection, after which I reveal how these
methods can be made ethnographic. These discussions will therefore be
both theoretical and practical. This is then followed by a short report on the
piloting for the study which helped to decide the research field.

The third part will form a discussion of case studies in the research design.
Details of data collection and analysis and the timeline will be discussed. A
detailed example of data analysis is also illustrated to show how the main
themes and then sub-themes were identified. The final section addresses
ethical considerations, in which the research participants, data protection and
the researcher’s ethnics are discussed in turn. The conclusion to this chapter
summarises what has been discussed here but also introduces what will be
discussed in the three chapters that follow.
 - 70 -

4.2 Ethnography

As already mentioned, an ethnographic approach is to be used in my

research. However, I wish to clarify that I am not presenting an ethnography
but using ethnographic principles through which to design and carry out my
research. One may then ask, what is ethnography and what can it produce
as part of an educational research? There have been a number of definitions
from different scholars aiming to capture the notion of ethnography. In
general, all definitions feature ethnography as the study of people in natural
settings (Brewer, 2000): in order to make the study depict a culture and to
get an understanding of things from the ‘native point of view’ of the
participants (Malinowski, 1922); and to understand what actions or events
mean to the people we seek to understand (Spradley, 2016). Gregory
(Conteh et al., 2005) takes this a little further when describing ethnography in
education as giving a voice to ordinary people, whilst challenging the
researcher to question what is often considered to be the natural order of
things. Ethnography, as suggested by Wolcott (1975), has so much to offer
towards trying to answer the questions of what, who, why, and how.

All these authors are aware that it is almost impossible for a researcher to
conduct a study in a completely natural setting, as once the researcher is
present then automatically there is some external input added to that
environment that makes it less natural than it could be. Another explanation
about the nature of ethnographic work which I find useful is that ethnography
learns from a culture to seek meaning (Lutz, 1981) and tries to understand
this meaning internally without letting the external world, brought in by the
researcher, impose itself on such understanding. There will be challenges for
the researcher as an ethnographer, as they must learn to include themselves
in a culture in order to perceive the ‘native point of view’ (Malinowski, 1922)
with minimal interference on the culture that is being researched. This
challenge will inevitably need incorporating into the methods adopted and
adapted by the researcher to collect their data, which I will discuss in a later
section.

In my research, I am seeking the answers to the questions:

 - 71 -

In which way do some linguistic minority pupils become categorised as

‘slow’? and

What may happen to those categorised as 'slow'?

These questions in themselves could already suggest certain approaches,

including using multiple methods to establish different views, while examining
small samples in order to investigate the issue in depth. This means that an
observational, qualitative research method, employing an ethnographic
approach, would be ideal when seeking a deep knowledge and
understanding of the questions being asked. My ontological stance is
therefore linked to the research questions for which no right or wrong
answers could be offered, rather seeking an understanding of what is
happening to the people and their situations. In particular, such a stance is
linked to my understanding of language and learning, which I presented in
Chapter 3, as being a social practice that is influenced by and associated
with culture. In this sense I am not a neutral individual but a researcher who
is driven by a desire for social justice for my participants in the learning
system in Vietnam.

These research questions and the answers I need to look for could also be
considered as a guiding factor for me in following a more interpretivist
position. In order to answer the questions, an in-depth study of the case is
needed, with interpretations that are culturally and historically situated
(Raddon, 2010). As such, interpretivism has much to offer.

I believe answers for the above research questions would require an

emphasis on the presentation of the ‘voice’, power, and inclusion of the
participants. This needs to be combined with a ‘thick description’ of the
situation, requiring a willingness to immerse in the field, in order to seek
empathetic understanding and to appreciate the significance of cultural and
historical contextualisation, with the ultimate goal of representing the ‘native’s
point of view’, which are distinctive features of ethnography (Jones and Watt,
2010). This approach can therefore be seen as a perfect match for my
requirements and it explains why an ethnographic approach is used for my
research.
 - 72 -

This study seeks to investigate two related questions regarding linguistic

minority children in mainstream education in Vietnam, with the main focuses
being the teacher and their in-class practices and the language, culture and
all the interconnected features of identities that contribute towards the
learning process of these children. Such research aims require the
researcher, myself in this case, to be there in the field, in the school and
classrooms to see, hear and to take notes of what is observed. I believe that
no previously documented information, such as school reports or official
reports from any source, could be sufficient or reliable enough to answer my
questions. This is because I will be researching something that has not been
previously studied in any detail. I can only address this with real-life
observations and meetings with participants, if I am to look for such
‘contextualised descriptions’. Also, I am studying particular cases of teachers
from the Muong and Kinh groups teaching Muong minority children – there
may be records about these students’ academic achievements in tests, but
what I am looking for has never been focused on or discussed in any papers
in Vietnam. Once again, it is the understanding of language and learning that
are the foundations for the identification and consideration of what I need to
find out in my research.

Practically, the research environment in Vietnam does not allow for modern
technologies and electronic devices to be used in research. For instance,
there is no internet coverage available in most areas, making it impossible
for an electronic survey to be carried out. Furthermore, the postal service for
questionnaires and surveys can be unreliable and is also culturally unfamiliar
(Napier et al., 2004). Politically, Napier et al. (2004) further note that most
official documentary information made available is unreliable. Research in
Vietnam therefore requires the researcher to be there in the field, physically
and directly meeting with participants to collect data, especially if the
researcher needs a ‘thick and contextualised description’ of the data, which
is what my research requires. Again, this is yet another indication of an
ethnographic approach matching my research design, in which Jones (2010)
posits that one of the ethnographers’ worthwhile and important acts is
 - 73 -

‘getting out there’ to reveal some hidden social worlds and to bring a
difference to people’s lives.

4.3 Data collection methods

The above section discusses the ethnographic approach and the advantages
this methodology offers to my research. This includes capturing participants’
activities and their points of view in real-life settings and understanding them
in relation to all the socio-cultural layers with which they are associated, such
as school, home and community. I will now discuss two major methods used
in my research: participant observations, and interviews. In doing so, I will
also discuss how they can be compatible with an ethnographic approach and
how I intend to make use of them ethnographically.

4.3.1 Participant Observation

Taylor and Bogdan (1998) claim that participant observation is part of a

researcher’s fieldwork which involves different activities being performed by
the researcher, including: reassuring the participants to gain their
acceptance; incorporating field tactics to obtain the data; and recording data
using field notes. When discussing gaining the acceptance of participants,
Warren and Rasmussen (1977) maintain that much of the participant
reaction to the observer-researcher is based on how they perceive the
identity of the researcher from features including race, gender, age, and his
or her appearance and outfits.

My identity as a member of the Kinh majority group and a head teacher from
an international school in the capital city generally gives me smooth access
to the field. However, being accepted in the field is not only at the level of
being permitted to be there, but also the extent to which the researcher is
perceived as being an insider by participants. I am aware that class teachers
may feel intimidated when being observed by me, especially those who are
from the minority group. I believe, however, that given adequate time spent
in the field, combined with cultural sensitivity, any feeling of intimidation will
soon fade away. The school that I intended to choose as my research
location has only female teachers, which I see as an advantage for myself in
 - 74 -

terms of inclusion. Taylor and Bogdan (1998) also observe that in female-
dominated environments, advantages in fieldwork are open more to women
researchers than male researchers. I, however, acknowledge that this
female-only environment restricts my data from representing gender equity in
the teacher participants.

For ethnographers, Gregory (Conteh et al., 2005) affirms that the

observations they make should be emic rather than etic – researchers must
try to balance their identity to make sure they are both insiders and outsiders
within the observed group. In my study, I must be aware that I am an
observer and am not there as a teacher. Therefore, I am there to record and
describe what is being observed and not to interpret and judge the situation
based on my existing experience. I acknowledge that this could be
challenging, since I am a teacher and also a Vietnamese person, which
makes me very much an insider. However, I also recognise that this could be
a strength, since I can quickly understand what to expect and see what is
happening in the classroom, whereas an observer who is not a teacher may
take a while to understand the classroom culture and textures and to
understand certain in-class situations. Also, an observer who is a teacher but
not Vietnamese may have little idea about the classroom context in our
culture and so the way s/he sees, understands and interprets certain
classroom situations may not be accurate or appropriate.

Other aspects of my identity could also carry certain advantages and maybe
disadvantages, such as my gender, language and ethnicity. With the
environment being female-dominated, advantages in fieldwork are open
more for me, a woman researcher, than for a male researcher, as per Taylor
and Bogdan’s observation (1998), and I also feel I would be able to see and
share the teachers’ perspectives with some mutual understanding from being
female myself. I would say it may be quicker or easier for me than for a male
researcher, to empathise and see things from the perspective of these
teachers, but I also acknowledge that this may lead to me being predictive,
rather than objective, when trying to understand or interpret different
situations. Within the research environment all documents and leaning
materials are in Vietnamese and all learning activities and interactions
 - 75 -

between teachers and pupils are done in Vietnamese only. This creates
some advantages for me, as I am able to understand what is going on
immediately when observing or when listening to research participants
responding to my questions. I, however, also acknowledge that there is a
slight disadvantage from my not being able to understand Muong language,
since I would not be able to understand some conversations between the
children in informal contexts, such as when they are in the playground.

4.3.2 Interviews

Interviews are recognised as one of the predominant means for collecting

data, with approximately 90 percent of studies in social sciences using
interviews for their investigations (Brenner, 1981; Briggs, 1986). My research
uses ethnography as an approach, and so making sure the method is
ethnographic is important. Blommaert and Jie (2010) observe that often
people collocate ‘ethnographic’ with ‘interview’, but these authors urge for
more careful consideration when using this terminology. They believe
fundamentally that there is nothing intrinsically ethnographic about an
interview, nor that the research automatically becomes ethnographic just
because an interview-based method is employed.

Spradley (2016) identifies ethnographic interviews as being a specific type of

talking, which is very similar to the friendly conversation which takes place in
social discourses, and this he refers to as a ‘speech event’. Burgess (2006)
also describes such interviews as conversations but with a purpose. For this
reason, Blommaert and Jie (2010) advise researchers to avoid acting as an
interviewer in this conversation, if they do not want their respondents to
behave like interviewees. This adopting of roles may make participants
become more selective when giving responses, hence reducing and
restricting the richness of the data collected. Together with Spradley (2016),
Conteh (Conteh et al., 2005) and Briggs (1986) also affirm that the rapport
between the interviewer and the participant in such interviews occupies an
essential role.

When listing the important information that can be gained from ethnographic
interviews, Blommaert and Jie (2010) emphasise that anecdotes are ‘raw
 - 76 -

diamonds’, which they consider to be the best and most valuable facts that
can be collected. This stresses that ethnographers should collect and record
everything, and that all stories, including those provided during informal chit-
chat, may be important facts which could have some connection to what is
being researched. These authors also stress the significance of collecting
what they title ‘rubbish’, for a richer picture of the environment being studied
and a thicker ethnographical description (Blommaert and Jie, 2010). In a
culture of being open and friendly like in Vietnam, there is fertile soil as so
many stories are revealed and shared in conversations. Factoring this into
ethnographic interviews, I believe this forms an additional advantage which
could contribute to the success of this particular type of research method.

In my research, I make sure the interviews are conducted after I have spent
some time with my participants and a somewhat trusting relationship has
been established between us. I have not scheduled interview lengths and
have left them as open opportunities for me to get the most out of the
situation, as naturally as possible. I was also aware that the time used would
depend on the specific participants and circumstances, but flexibility is
needed as I would like to get data that is a thick, contextualised description.

4.4 Research design

Having discussed research methods in the above sections, I will now

consider the design for my research, including case study design, the aims of
the research, piloting the research, and the participants and how they were
chosen. Details of my activities in the field, such as interviewing or observing
participants will also be discussed, followed by a brief timeline to identify the
time needed for the whole research to be completed.

4.4.1 Case study

Yin (2009) describes a case study as an empirical inquiry that studies in-
depth an existing phenomenon in a real-life context, particularly when the
borderlines between that phenomenon and the context are indistinct. The
author further asserts that case studies are very much compatible with
explanatory questions such as ‘how’ and ‘why’. Thomas (2010) summarises
 - 77 -

that case studies represent what has been chosen for study and focus on
one thing specifically, in-depth and from many angles.

In relation to my research, if I want to know the academic outcomes of

children from linguistic minority groups in mainstream education, I can refer
to records from the government and NGOs working in the education sector in
Vietnam. However, because I want to identify explanations for such
outcomes and to see why this has been the case, I need to gather a wider
collection of data than just documentary information. Developing some case
studies, working under an ethnographic approach, will not only ensure a
wider variety of data, including documents, artefacts, interviews, and
participant observations but will also allow me to study in-depth the topic
being researched, in a real-life environment, with participants in the context
where they live and learn.

Although my research questions, presented in the previous chapter, are

‘what’ questions, rather than ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions, the answers to those
questions ultimately contribute some descriptions of the learning context of
linguistic minority children in Vietnam and provide some explanation as to
why this has been the case. In my research I believe the ‘what’, ‘why’ and
‘how’ questions are very much interrelated.

As my study focuses on a group of people, I would like to have multiple

cases and not just a single case, in order for the data to be triangulated, and
thereby becoming more reliable. Although I will observe a number of cases,
given the time restrictions for a PhD study, I will investigate cases to different
depths. Gomm, Hammersley and Foster (2000) claim that when multiple
cases are studied, one or two of them can be studied in detail and others can
be investigated more cursorily to support the findings that may be drawn
from the main cases. My case, in detail, is about four different six-year-old
Muong students, in two classrooms, with five teachers from both Muong and
Kinh groups. This will represent a mainstream primary school that mostly
enrols Muong minority students.
 - 78 -

4.4.2 The aim

The main aim of my research is to find out how the minority language
children at the lower end of learning achievement cope in the system and
how, in which ways, their identity is constructed in a particular context –
education. This aim will require me to observe teachers’ in-class practices
and their interactions with children in a specific context: classrooms and
school. This will contribute to the answer of my first question that aims to find
out ways in which these children become categorised as slow learners.

The aim will also require me to find out how the children cope in different
contexts: home and school, and what happens to them once their identities
are constructed in certain ways in their learning environment. This will help to
answer my second research question which means finding out the
consequences of these identities and the outcomes for the ‘categorised’
children.

4.4.3 Piloting and initial field visits

In order to know more about the linguistic minority groups which I am

researching and to decide later on which group is to be chosen, I went back
to Vietnam and made my way to three different schools in three different
locations. Below are some facts.

4.4.3.1 Primary School A

The school is located approximately 105 kilometres north-west of Hanoi, the

capital city of Vietnam. This area is home to some Thai ethnicity people, the
second largest linguistic minority group in Vietnam (Kosonen, 2009), who live
in lowland areas and are generally more advantaged than those from upland
minorities (World Bank, 2009). A former pupil, of Thai ethnicity, who recently
graduated from secondary school and who is also the first graduate from the
village, took me to the school to introduce me to the head teacher. After a
first few awkward minutes, when the head teacher did not seem very friendly
towards the girl, she quickly changed her attitude after I took over the role of
talking and introduced myself to her. The meeting went well, and at the end
of the meeting I was invited to come back the next day to observe some
classes. In both classes I observed the teachers were Thai ethnicity, but
 - 79 -

during my time in the classroom, their communication and instructions for

their Year 1 pupils, most of whom were Thai, were in Vietnamese only.

In a conversation with the head teacher later, I further found out that this
school ranks amongst those that have a high number (up to 50 percent) of
teachers who are from an ethnic minority, also the same ethnicity as most of
their pupils. The children in this school in particular, and in the Thai ethnicity
in general, do well in mainstream education and their enrolment rate for
primary education is significantly higher than those for other ethnicities.

4.4.3.2 Primary School B

This school is located approximately 50 kilometres north-west of Hanoi. The

geographical distance from the capital city seems small, but I was surprised
to see how remote and untouched the area is. This area is home to mostly
Muong ethnicity, the third biggest linguistic minority group in Vietnam, who
usually live in lowland regions (GSO, 2006).

A friend introduced me by phone to a teacher at the school. This teacher

even gave me a lift from my hotel to the school and she then introduced me
to the head teacher and other colleagues. I was encouraged to visit as many
classrooms as I could, by the head teacher. All the teachers were excited to
invite me into their classrooms and some even got a bit disappointed when I
ran out of time and was unable to visit their classes.

Over 90 percent of the pupils are Muong, who, when speaking to each other,
use only the Muong language. The teachers in the school are comprised of
80 percent from the Kinh majority and 20 percent Muong. From what I
observed, I could see that the children in this school are not as well-dressed
as those from the previous school and conversations with the head teacher,
and then the classroom teachers revealed that the children from this ethnicity
are mostly from poor families. Their academic performance is also not at the
same level as the Thai children, and repeating classes is still a reality for
some pupils.

4.4.3.3 Primary School C

This school is located in a province which is 215 kilometres north of Hanoi.

This is the most remote of the three schools visited, and the ethnicity in this
 - 80 -

area, the Dao, also rank among the poorest of all linguistic minority groups in
Vietnam. This area is close to my parents’ village, where I spent 13 years of
my childhood.

A motorbike ride is needed from the little train station to go to the school,
which is across a dam, where a stream runs into the Red River. There was
no issue with access through gatekeeping, as a teacher whom I have known
since childhood, took me to the school. The head teacher and all the other
teachers were very warm towards me and seemed to see me as a returning
member of the community.

Almost all the children in the school are Dao, whose people are highland or
hillside residents. The teachers, in contrast, are all from the majority Kinh
group, who mostly live in nearby villages and none of whom could speak the
Dao language. The academic performance of the children, according to the
teachers, is expected to be low, and many children never complete primary
school.

4.4.3.4 Common facts

- There is a complete absence of any minority language and culture in

the school learning programme. As presented in section 2.2 of
Chapter 2, the government decided to make changes to the then
national curriculum, in which a window of 15% is spared for the local
DOET or BOET to adapt for their local context, so local languages,
cultures, traditions and history can be added to the learning
programme (Nguyen, 1999; MOET et al., 2004). During observations,
I did not see any of the 15% curriculum window being used for such
purposes in the three schools visited, and none of these schools has
included any local language in their teaching and learning
programmes, whether formally or informally. All of them used exactly
the same standard textbooks and teaching programmes designed by
the MOET, and there was nothing intrinsically ‘local’ about their
teaching and learning activities at all. This was a little surprising to me,
because in 1999, the author Dao (Nguyen, 1999) already reported
that no guidance had been given to the local teachers, so there was
 - 81 -

much confusion as to how they should use the 15% curriculum

window. It appears that this is yet to be addressed.

- All the children speak to each other in their minority languages, both in
classrooms and in the playground. Although the first point listed above
commented on the complete absence of the local or linguistic minority
language being included in the learning programme, in informal
settings when conversations between teachers and students are not
required, the children would speak to each other in their local
language only.

- Speaking a minority language loudly in the classroom may lead to an

immediate reprimand from the teacher, so in-class conversations in
the mother tongue are mostly whispered.

- All teachers, including those from ethnic minorities, use only

Vietnamese with their pupils. This, I suspect, is because Vietnamese
is the official language and the only one used in the education system,
so using a language other than Vietnamese in classrooms is not
desirable and is discouraged.

4.4.3.5 Statement of preference

Having looked practically at the research possibilities in the three schools

that I visited, I placed Primary School B as the first choice location for
conducting the research. Justification for this preference is based on
practicality and feasibility factors presented in the justification of participants
section below.

The following figure captures the overall process of piloting before my data
collection started.
 - 82 -

Dao ethnic primary Thai ethnic primary Muong ethnic primary

school school school

FACTS FACTS FACTS

- Located in a northern - Located in a north-west - Located in a north-west
province of Vietnam province of Vietnam province of Vietnam
- Enrols children who mainly - Enrols children who are
are from the Dao linguistic - Enrols children who mainly
mainly from the Thai are from the Muong
minority linguistic minority
- Only one Dao teacher who’s linguistic minority
on leave; the rest are majority - 50% of the teachers are - 20% of the teachers are
Kinh teachers Thai, 50% are Kinh Muong, 80% are Kinh

CONSIDERATIONS CONSIDERATIONS CONSIDERATIONS

- Location isn’t ideal for me: - Location is quite accessible - Location is the best of the
too remote; transportation three
problems and cost issues - The head teacher wasn’t very
friendly - I was introduced to the head
- School doesn’t have teachers by a teacher so I was made very
from both linguistic minority - The school had some piloting welcome by the whole school
and the majority groups from different NGOs and
individual researchers - This school hasn’t had any
researchers visiting before.

A research field? A research field? A research field?

Very unlikely Maybe Unlikely Ideal

Figure 2: Piloting schools

4.4.4 Participants

- Four linguistic minority Muong children from Year 1 were chosen. Of

the four, one was in a class where the class teacher is from the
majority Kinh group and the other three were with a class teacher who
is from the Muong minority

- The families and communities of these four children were also studied
to get deeper descriptions of the learning context

- Five teachers: three from the majority Kinh and two from the minority
Muong group

- The head teacher and the deputy head are both from the majority
Kinh group
 - 83 -

As described above, my research uses an ethnographic case study

approach within a survey of the situation in Vietnam, and I believe the
number of participants proposed is sufficient and will provide adequate
data for my research.

The table below portrays the pupil and teacher participants. All the names
have already been coded.

Table 1: Pupil participants (and their families)

Name Gender Age Class Ethnicity Note

1. Quyen Female 6 1B Muong

2. Hoanh Female 6 1B Muong

3. Khuong Male 6 1B Muong

4. Nghieng Male 7 1A Muong Repeating

year
 - 84 -

Table 2: Teacher participants

Years of
Names Teacher Ethnicity
experience

1. Ms Phuong 1B class teacher 26 years Muong

2. Ms Quang 1A class teacher 27 years Kinh

3. Ms Luyen Mathematics teacher 27 years Kinh

4. Ms Kieu PE + Art & Craft 12 years Kinh

5. Ms Tram Anh Music teacher 7 years Muong

6. Ms Quynh Head teacher 24 years Kinh

7. Ms Hai Yen Deputy head 27 years Kinh

4.4.5 Justification of participants

The chosen participants were from Primary School B, a school which enrols
a large number of children from the Muong ethnic minority. I decided to
choose this school and this ethnicity based on the criteria below.

From my observations and a brief talk with the school head and the teachers,
it seems that nobody has done a research study here before. There have
been a number of schools that enrol children from linguistic minority groups
around the country, where international organisations have tried out some
pilot projects. I would like to avoid these, because I would like to study a
sample of what is really happening in a normal mainstream school. Those
that are familiar with international researchers, or international organisations
working in education, may decide to predict or dictate what a researcher
would like to see and to hear, so they may try to act in response to such
perceived expectations. In that case, I may be limited by the head teacher as
to which classes I could observe. In other words, my freedom for selecting
classes, teachers and pupils may be restricted; hence, the results of the data
may be biased.
 - 85 -

There have been very few studies of the Muong ethnic minority, compared to
the others, such as the H’mong or Thai, despite the Muong being the third
largest minority group in Vietnam (GSO, 2006). A careful study should add to
the current knowledge and understanding of the learning situation for Muong
children in mainstream education.

The selected school had teachers from both the majority and minority
groups, and this would provide me an opportunity to study and to get the
perspectives from both groups of teachers (monolingual Vietnamese and
bilingual Vietnamese-Muong) regarding teaching and learning in the
Vietnamese monolingual system. This is not the case for Primary School C,
which enrols Dao minority children. This is because not all linguistic minority
groups in Vietnam have teachers from that ethnic group, which is due to the
low educational achievements of many minority groups. As a result, most
pupils never make it to the end of high school, let alone go on to further or
vocational training colleges (ADB, 2007).

As compared to the other two schools considered, the chosen research

location was not too remote, only two hours on the bus from Hanoi, which
saved time on travelling, thereby giving me more time to be spent in the field
collecting richer data, not to mention the cost savings. I need to add that
travelling by train in Vietnam for a distance of 200 kilometres can take
roughly seven to eight hours; plus trains in Vietnam are not well designed
with tables or power sockets to allow people to work and are often too
crowded to even move around in. For the security of data collected and for
contacting my supervisors during this period, I needed a reliable internet
connection in the city, so this worked well for me given that I would need to
travel back and forth to the capital city often.

4.4.6 Interviews

4.4.6.1 Interviews with teachers

The teachers took part in some unstructured and semi-structured interviews,

concentrating on: the circumstances that had brought them to the school;
their personal perspectives on teaching in a multi-cultural classroom; how
they see themselves and their role in this setting; the concerns and
 - 86 -

difficulties (if any) experienced by themselves or by their pupils; and their

preparation for working with children from diverse cultures, many of whom do
not have a shared language with their teacher, if that teacher is from the
majority group.

Administration: the interviews were both short and long, depending on the
time availability of the teacher and what they had to say. As an ethnographic
approach was used, later interviews were sometimes used to follow up and
add to previous ones. The interviews were all face-to-face and mostly on the
school campus. The overall aims of the interviews were explained
beforehand, together with seeking approval for using a voice recorder. I often
asked for a quiet meeting room, in which to conduct the interviews, as
schools in Vietnam are very noisy, but sometimes it was recess time and the
children were outside in the school yard. I also chatted with the teachers
inside the classrooms. The interviews were mostly recorded using the voice
recorder, but I sometimes also took notes during interviews to make sure of
getting the richest data – gestures and non-verbal communication that
cannot be recorded were noted.

4.4.6.2 Interviews with the head teacher and the deputy head

The head teacher and the deputy head took part in some semi-structured
interviews, concentrating on: working with children and families from diverse
cultures, who do not often have a shared language with the head teacher
(almost all head teachers in mainstream education in Vietnam are from the
majority group); cooperation between school, families and local communities;
and working in an environment where teachers are from different ethnic
groups.

Administration: the interviews were conducted face-to-face and the overall

aims of the interviews were also explained beforehand, together with
requesting an agreement for the voice recorder to be used. The times and
lengths of each interview were always flexible, mostly depending on the time
available as well as the topic we talked about. Interviews sometimes were
carried out in the head teacher’s room at the school, which is generally a
good way of avoiding noise and any distractions, but some of the interviews
 - 87 -

were also done at her home. Data were recorded with a voice recorder,
together with note-taking.

4.4.6.3 Interviews with parents

Some parents took part in unstructured or semi-structured interviews,

concentrating on their child’s learning and how it takes place at home.
Sometimes our conversations looked at: their home situation in general, so
we could focus on home support and whether this is affected in any way by
the language at home not being the same at that used in school; parents’
perspectives on sending their children into mainstream education; and their
expectations, etc.

Administration: the interviews were conducted face-to-face at their homes.

My initial plan was that I may need an interpreter for the interviews with
parents and families. However, after visiting the region and talking to local
linguistic minority people, I realised that their verbal Vietnamese is very fluent
and this was the case with my research children’s families. This is perhaps
because mainstream education in Vietnam has been conducted solely
through the Vietnamese language for some time, and also possibly because
the Muong ethnicity is a lowland minority group, who live amongst Kinh
people, so they would use Vietnamese more often than other linguistic
minority groups in remote areas. My original plan was that I would choose to
interview in Vietnamese language but if, after assessing the situation, I
realised the parent’s Vietnamese language was not competent for
comprehensible conversations, then I would employ an interpreter from the
Muong ethnicity. After spending just one week in the region, I realised an
interpreter was definitely not needed for this area and for this ethnic group.
This was a great advantage for me since I could communicate directly with
the families rather than through an interpreter.

The times and lengths of each interview were rather flexible. Interviews were
carried out in their homes and were recorded with a voice recorder, together
with note-taking.
 - 88 -

4.4.6.4 Interviews with children

Child participants were informally interviewed, mostly in the form of chatting

and talking with each other – this was structured as friendly conversations to
follow up observations, in order to seek clarification and explanations from
the children. To make the children feel at ease, I sometimes gathered them
in small focus groups for informal chats and discussions, and sometimes
chatted one-to-one at their homes when I visited them.

Administration and analysis: the interviews were all done face-to-face. The
times and lengths of each interview were also very flexible. Interviews were
carried out in the classroom or at home, depending on feasibility of time and
venue. The collective information from these ‘interviews’ contributed to a
descriptive summary which addresses the aims of my research and
contributes to the answers of both my research questions.

4.4.6.5 Processing and analysing the interview data

After the interview or after audio files were recorded, listening was done over
and over again to identify the key sections that needed detailed transcription.
The recorded data was reheard and transcribed within a few days of the
interview. This was because it may have been difficult to find a quiet place
for conducting interviews, without background noise and disruption, so the
earlier the interview was transcribed, the more precise the information
transcribed would be. This means I could combine the notes with memory, in
case any disruptive sounds on the recorder were too much. The combination
of recordings and notes also allows me to match the content of recorded
conversations with non-verbal cues, such as eye contact, body gestures and
the way the participant expresses ideas or answers a question. These are
important aspects that need taking into account when analysing an interview
because much of communication is conveyed by ‘things other than language’
(Liddicoat, 2011). The information from these interviews contributes towards
a descriptive summary directed at the aims of my research and provides
further assistance towards answering the research questions.

Transcriptions and analysis

 - 89 -

NVIVO software was used when compiling the interview data, which shows
the timespan automatically and also allows for the precise playback of
transcribed data in each timespan for cross-checking. The data were
transcribed selectively and illustratively but not entirely. However, selectively
does not mean randomly, because I consciously listened through all the
recordings and conversations and filtered them for themes or topics that
closely related to my study. Particularly, I transcribed all the recorded audio
files associated with my research participants (because I interviewed a wide
range of teachers before focusing on just those I had chosen to be my
participants) to get the basic idea of the content being discussed. After that, I
filtered the data on the basis that they must be related to the learning
ecology of my research participants and should contribute towards
answering the research questions – such information was later transcribed.
Once this was identified, I then went back to the transcriptions and added
extra non-verbal cues, the Vietnamese tones and additional descriptions of
the context at the time of interviewing or recording. These extra descriptions
are put in brackets and are written in English using an italic font, while the
transcriptions for oral conversations are transcribed in Vietnamese – the
language used throughout the conversations. Also added in brackets are
words that were omitted during conversations, so for grammatical accuracy
and greater clarity I put these omitted words in brackets in the places where
they should be.

NVivo software presents transcriptions in four columns, with the first being
the section count, the second the timespan, the third the content, and the last
column is for any notes. Below are also some examples of transcriptions
where I only show the two main columns – timespan and content. Here, I
have also added tones to the language, as Vietnamese is tonal with six tones
placed above or below the letters: huyền (\) – sắc (/) – hỏi (?) – ngã (~) –
nặng (.) – không (tone zero). The reason I did not put tones in the transcripts
in NVivo is because: 1) adding tones takes much longer to type; and 2)
native Vietnamese speakers can read and write the language without tones,
and this is a common practice, especially for personal usage. One would
think that without the tones there would be some words that could be
 - 90 -

misunderstood, but given that I was the interviewer and the transcriber
myself, I had no problem reading and understanding these transcripts
precisely without tones. Therefore, adding tones to NVivo transcripts is
unnecessary for my purposes, but for my readers’ convenience, any
transcriptions that are included in this thesis will have the exact tones added
to them.

File: Voice009_5: Visit to Hoanh and Quyen’s home

The sample here shows the exact version exported from NVivo, in which
there are three columns with the Vietnamese language written without tones

Timespan Content Note

2:21.7 - *Little brother's voice (inaudible)

C: huh?
2:54.3
C: the con co biet sang nam ai la co giao chu nhiem cua con ko?
H: ko a
C: ko a?
C: the sao hom nay con lai khong di den tap trung?
H: Hom nay em con phai trong.. ah..hom nay em con phai trong
em cua con a
C: hom nay trong em a?
H: Da
C: the sao...
H: bo day sang som di Kim Boi mat, con me day som de di lam
a.

The sample below is the same file and as stated earlier this has added tones
and was trimmed down to only two columns as I want to show the content
and the way the content is presented. The writing in italics and in English
denotes my description of the context or what happened during the
conversation. The underlined words denote specific vocabulary or a word
that must be kept as originally spoken, as it could be names of items, which if
changed would alter the meaning. The multiple dots signal pauses during
speech and when these are at the end of a sentence that means it is
unfinished speech.
 - 91 -

Timespan Content

2:21.7 - *Little brother's voice (inaudible )

2:54.3 C: huh?
C: Thế con có biết sang năm ai là cô giáo chủ nhiệm của con không?
H: Không ạ
C: Không à?
C: Thế sao hôm nay con lại không đi đến tập trung?
H: Hôm nay em còn phải trông…ahh…Hôm nay em còn phải trông em của con ạ.
C: Hôm nay trông em á?
H: Dạ Da
C: thế sao...
H: Bố dậy sáng sớm đi Kim Bôi mất, còn mẹ dậy sớm để đi làm ạ

2:54.2 - C: Bố đi Kim Bôi, mẹ đi làm à?

3:19.5 H: dạ
C: Thế...thế sao không gửi em ở nhà ông bà để đi tập trung?
H: ông bà không có ở nhà ạ.. Ông bà phải đi gặt lúa ạ
C: Ồng bà đi gặt lúa à?
H: dạ
C Thế hôm nay , hôm nay sao bố mẹ không đưa em đi lên trường mầm non?:
H: bố mẹ không có giấy ăn ạ.
C: Không có gì?
Q: Phiếu ăn.
H Phiếu ăn ạ.
C: Không có phiếu ăn á?

3:19.5 - C: Phiếu ăn là ở đâu?

3:48.9 Q/H: ở dưới trường ạ. 10 nghìn 1 cái ạ
C: 10 nghìn 1 cái à?
H: Dạ
C: à thế là đi học buổi sáng đưa em đến là phải mua phiếu ăn à?
H/Q: (together) dạ
C: Thế không có phiếu ăn thì không được đi học à?
Q: Dạ! còn phải đóng tiền học nữa cơ ạ.
C: Thế.. thế em đã nghỉ học ở nhà được bao lâu rồi?
Q: Được mấy ngày rồi ạ.
C: Thế à? (the little boy said something inaudible)
H: :Đi học, nếu không có phiếu ăn lại nghỉ ạ.

This is a conversation between me and the two girl participants, and this
section in particular is about me trying to find out why the girls did not come
to school that day for their final assembly. The information given to me by the
girls adds much more detail as compared to what their mother had said. The
mother simply told me that the girls stayed at home to babysit their little
brother, while the girls added that their brother could not attend kindergarten
 - 92 -

for the last few days due to the parents being unable to pay the tuition fees
or to purchase lunch vouchers for him, so he had to stay at home.

In addition to the transcribing codes described above, in this content the

writing in brackets shows either that I added words or subjects omitted by the
speakers for the sentence to make sense grammatically, or that I clarified
any ambiguity in the words used in the conversation. The italic writing for this
section does not only denote my description of the context or what happened
during the conversation, but also acts as my personal notes and comments
on the content’s validity.

Timespan Content

0:05.9 - 0:31.1 C: Chị bảo này, thế cô Phượng đã thông báo là năm nay chúng nó
(Hoành and Quyên) lên lớp hay ở lại đấy?
M: À (em) cũng chưa nghe thấy thông báo gì đâu chị ạ
C: Chưa có thông báo à? Thế nó (the children) về nó có nói gì ko?
M: Ko cũng chưa nghe thấy thông báo gì cả, mà cũng chẳng nghe thấy
chúng nó nói đến gì cả. Con bé (my children ) nó bảo là hôm nay chỉ đi
tập trung mà chơi thôi mẹ ạ, đi tập văn nghệ thôi, hôm nay mỗi tập trung,
thế mà
C: thế nó bảo hôm nay đi tập trung thì (em) lại bảo với nó là ở nhà cũng
được à?
M: KHÔNG, (em) bảo là, à... thế con đi lên tập trung

0:31.1 - 0:56.7 đi, thế (nó?) bảo là thế ko có ai trông em, thế (em) bảo để mẹ gửi em vào
trong nội, nhưng mà vào bà nội lại ko có ai trông em cho thế là 2 đứa lại
phải ở nhà trông em
(This information wasn’t adequate as the children told more of a different
story)
C: à thế à (M: vâng) thế bố nó đi đâu mà lại ko có nhà?
M: Nhà em đi xe khach ở trong Kim Bôi chị ạ
C: Cả hai vợ chồng à?
M: không em thì đi làm ở ngoài khu công nghiệp chị ạ
C: Bây giờ em đi làm gì?
M: Em đi may ngoài khu công nghiệp chị ạ

0:56.6 - 1:12.3 C: à thế à (M: vâng) thế buổi trưa có ai về ko?

M: Trưa có bố cháu về đấy ạ (this information wasn't accurate, as their
dad was nowhere to be seen at lunchtime)
C: à thế à (M: vâng) ừ thế thôi thế tý nữa chị sẽ qua nhà chị nói chuyện
với nó, nhá
M: dạ vâng...cám... (on chi?)
C; Ừ thế nhé
M: vâng em chào chị, vâng.

(File: Voice009_4: Conversation with Hoanh and Quyen’s mum)

 - 93 -

For instance, in minute 0:56.6 - 1:12.3, the note in italics is: ‘this information
wasn't accurate, as their dad was nowhere to be seen at lunchtime’. This
was noted after the transcription of a home visit to show that the children’s
father was not at home during lunchtime but in the conversation here the
mother firmly stated that her husband would be home at that time.

The above transcribed data is a conversation with the two girl participants’
mother, who explained why they had been absent from school today. She
clearly stressed that the girls told her that that day was all about meeting and
singing, as though she wanted to communicate with me about this being
unimportant - ‘meeting and singing only’ - to justify her daughters being
absent. However, she also admitted that the girls had to stay at home to look
after their brother since their grandmothers were busy.

The samples above show transcriptions in ,Vietnamese language. In fact all

the audio files were transcribed in Vietnamese – the language used in the
interviews. However, when analysing these data, I actually used English
while reading these Vietnamese transcriptions. In other words, rather than
translating the transcripts into English before analysing, I left them in the
original language recorded and analysed directly from there. This is because
I would like to keep the data as original as possible and to avoid translating
the data unnecessarily. Only those data used as samples, to illustrate points
I am trying to make, have been translated into English. I perceive my being
bilingual in Vietnamese and English as an advantage when doing this
because not only do I understand exactly what is going on in my interviews, I
also keep the transcription language as the original while, still analysing in
another language.

For example, using the above conversation transcripts plus other data
collected, the following English analysis was produced.

Most families in the studied region are not financially well-off since
most of their incomes are from low-tech farming, which mostly is just
enough to provide food for the family. Families who are not farm
owners struggle more since they rely heavily on wages from the
casual work in which they may be employed, such as Nghieng’s father
 - 94 -

or Hoanh and Quyen’s parents. Such employment can be seasonal or

occasional, putting them in further difficulty during times when they
are not employed. Such financial problems result in these children
missing schooling for various reasons, such as failing to pay tuition
fees; failing to purchase a lunch voucher; or house/child minding when
their parents go to work. (Chapter 6, section 6.1.3)

It is not easy for the parents to share their difficult situations with
outsiders, including myself and the class teacher. The mother would
relate the issue differently, or avoid providing too many details, as
though she were embarrassed about such a situation and was
perhaps worried that she may be blamed for her children’s poor
attendance, which to me is understandable. This, however, may not
help her children since they lose the chance to gain the teachers’
understanding of the whole situation (Chapter 5, section 5.2.2.1.1)

While focusing on the detailed transcriptions, I was aware I should

concentrate on two linguistic aspects – the use of language and non-verbal
cues, and phenomenological content. In particular, from the transcriptions, I
focused more on the meanings which my participants made in their
utterances and the way they expressed themselves. Nevertheless, there is
some linguistic analysis, such as that relating to the accuracy of the
language used by some participants in order to prove some point I was trying
to make. For example, minute 2:54.2 - 3:19.5 on audio file Voice009_5
shown in the above samples, which says:

C: Thế hôm nay , hôm nay sao bố mẹ không đưa em đi lên trường mầm non? (Why
didn’t your parents send your little brother to kindergarten today?)
H: bố mẹ không có giấy ăn ạ. (Parents don’t have napkin)
C: Không có gì? (Don’t have what?)
Q: Phiếu ăn. (Meal voucher)
H: Phiếu ăn ạ. (Meal voucher)
C: Không có phiếu ăn á? (No meal voucher?)

In this sample I underlined the words giấy ăn and phiếu ăn, as one means
napkin and the other means meal voucher and this shows that the wrong
word used by the older sister was immediately spotted and corrected by her
 - 95 -

younger sister. My transcription and analysis acknowledge this linguistic

importance here, as it helps to show Vietnamese language competence in
spotting the wrong choice of words and then correcting each other. This
evidence differs from the opinion that most others have made of these
children – that they are slow and not very smart pupils.

4.4.7 Participant observations

In the focal school, I observed two classrooms whilst the classes were in
progress. This was to get data about the patterns of lessons carried out by
the teachers and pupils, and to examine exactly what was happening in
classes and how the children who are perceived as slow learners were
coping in different lessons. As specified in the case study section, I looked at
four classrooms initially: two from Year 2 and two from Year 1. After further
assessment and observation of the four groups, I decided to concentrate on
only two Year 1 classes, as my interest grew more towards the group of slow
learners who were at the early stage of learning in the primary school.

I originally planned to study in the field for four to six consecutive months, but
after spending a few weeks there, I decided to extend my fieldwork period to
the whole academic year and then to follow up with the children as the new
school year started. This is because my initial interest, before going to the
field, was to study class settings arranged by the two different groups of
teachers – majority Vietnamese and minority Muong teachers, as well as
considering whether different teachers’ identities (ethnicities) would result in
different languages (Vietnamese or Muong) being used in the classroom.
However, after observing the school and the classes for a few weeks, I
realised that a homogeneous system is employed using one national
curriculum, so the teachers’ identities in my context do not mean much, as all
teachers must carry out synchronised, identical teaching tasks with the same
textbooks and learning materials and using the Vietnamese language only.
There is no room for any flexibility as to which language and materials they
could use in their teaching. Similar to the teachers, those pupils who are from
the Muong minority speak to each other in their home language, whenever
they can, as long as the conversation is not formal (talking to the teacher, for
 - 96 -

example). The linguistic situation in both classes is pretty much identical,

regardless of one class teacher being Muong and the other Vietnamese. In
addition to realising that this aspect of my original research focus was not so
significant here, I was immediately interested by the fact that some children
had been categorised as slow learners by their teachers and peers, even at
this very early stage of the school year. I then decided to find out more about
this and so my research interest shifted, as I was determined to find out.

- In which way do linguistic minority pupils (in my research) become

categorised as slow learners? and

- What may happen to those being categorised as ‘slow’?

If I had stuck with the original plan which scheduled a shorter period for data
collection, I would not have been able to follow up and observe the children
for the full school year, whereas the first research question must be
answered in a very informative way requiring the collection of rich data. To
find out how these children become categorised as slow learners, I realised I
would need to study throughout the entire school year, to witness the whole
process of such categorisation, rather than observing one period in this
process only. Furthermore, to answer the second question requires
understanding of the consequences for these children after they become
categorised as slow learners, which definitely required that I be there longer
to find answers. This is because ‘consequences’ in this context also means
the final outcomes for these learners and how their fates are decided by the
learning system – such outcomes are only presented at the end of the school
year. It was therefore not optional as to whether or not I should extend the
data collection period – it was essential in order to search for reliable and
valid answers to my research questions. In fact, the data collection period
finally lasted longer than one academic year, as after the first year the
situation for my research participants changed and some of them had to
repeat the school year. I then decided to carry out some additional visits
during the following school year to briefly observe whether their situation in
the repeat year was similar to what had previously been observed with one
of the participants who had to repeat the class the year before.
 - 97 -

Administration and analysis: the observations were organised during the

discussions between me and the class teachers, and these meetings were
arranged after the head teacher introduced me to the teachers. Before the
observations, I provided full information about my research to all the teachers
and had them sign the informed consent. I clarified with the teachers what I
would be doing in the classroom and what was the purpose. This was also to
elicit the teachers’ ideas and advice on how I could present myself to the
class as naturally as possible. The length of each day’s observation was
planned for half-a-day, so I could spend the other half catching up with note-
taking and/or recording. Sometimes, however, I stayed for the full day in the
classroom, observing both the morning and afternoon sessions.

During my observations, I partially participated in classroom activities to

make the situation more natural, so I asked the teachers to consider me as
their teaching assistant. However, I also made sure I was not drawn into
facilitating classroom activities, because I was there to observe and needed
time to record my observations. Most of the time I would sit next to a child at
the back of the classroom and sometimes I also walked around the room like
teachers do. During my observations, I took notes extensively – all in
English, although sometimes, when wanting to record the exact words or
phrases used by the teachers and children, I would write in Vietnamese. In
fact, I found that an advantage of writing in English was that it avoided
having too many people reading my field notes. In Vietnamese culture,
people show a curiosity and interest in knowing what others are doing, in this
case, writing, so would have no hesitation in looking at your notebook while
you are writing. The curious children and teachers would try to read my field
notes but after a week they mostly gave up since they saw the writing was in
English. Sometimes, when the teachers asked, I showed them the notes and
translated for them what I had observed and they would laugh at the fact that
I had described things in such detail. The notes taken were then typed up,
often right after the observation or in the evening, to ensure the data were
recorded as fully as possible. The table below portrays the total number of
observations done for my research.
 - 98 -

Period Sessions
Phase 1 119
Phase 2 10
Phase 3 – following up 4
Total 133

The breakdown of the observations in terms of classes and teachers, subject

or activity, can be seen in the table and diagrams in Appendix 1.

The collective information from these observations and field notes

contributes to a descriptive summary, to address the aim of my research and
to answer both research questions.

4.4.8 Some reflections on my researcher identity

The researcher role appears to be significant in my research, as when I

presented the importance of identity in Vietnam in section 3.2.1.1 of the
literature review chapter as well as earlier in the ethnography section of this
chapter. The social order in my country has been shaped under a Confucian
philosophy with beliefs where younger people must obey their elders, so
researching with linguistic minority children in my case requires an extra
consideration of the role of the researcher and how I would present myself to
get the most reliable data possible.

Bearing in mind that my identity as a head teacher from the capital city, who
also belongs to the Kinh majority group, could be intimidating to the teachers
and children in the researched school, I have been extra sensitive about how
I present myself. Whenever I went to the focal school for fieldwork, I always
dressed very differently from how I would at my school in Hanoi. In fact, I
have some sets of clothes that I only wore for my fieldwork, so as not to
really stand out in the school. Rather than wearing skirts and dresses, I
would wear trousers and a shirt like all the teachers in this school wear. This,
I hope, makes the teachers and children in the school feel I am less alien to
them, and this worked really well as from my second day at the school, most
teachers and children treated me as though I were just another teacher
working for this school.
 - 99 -

With my background as a Vietnamese national, and as a teacher specialising

in the early years, my understanding and empathy for the children was a
great advantage. Being partially educated overseas, I had an opportunity to
reflect on the education system in the country from a wider perspective. This
helped me to recognise the importance of the voice of the children in all
aspects of life, including education and this is very different to the traditional
philosophy of the country. While only acting as a teaching assistant for the
class teachers, I showed the children patience and a willingness to listen to
them and within a short period of time I gained so much trust from all of
them. My research participants, for instance, would tell and share stories with
me, which they never would with their teachers. This, I think sometimes, is
because the teachers do not often ask them questions to try to understand
the children, and this again is part of Confucianism’s hierarchical order,
where the voice of the smaller and/or smallest is often not heard.

With my being very approachable, friendly and fair, it was clear that the
children felt they could confide in me, sometimes with little things like that
they had had nothing to eat at lunch, or that their parents made them stay at
home for child-minding, which was why they were absent from school. These
may seem little details but it is very important in my research, as it is part of
the learning ecology that surrounds my research participants. This is further
discussed in Chapter 3, section 3.3.1, where the notion of identity and
context are analysed. Such context comprises both the individual
circumstances and the social and cultural surroundings where learning
happens, and that would help me to understand the situations of my
participants, not just about where and who they currently are but also about
why they have become who they are (Conteh and Brock, 2010).

With much sensitivity being shown by me, within about three weeks I
developed a trusting relationship with all the children in both classes that I
observed, as well as with the teachers and managers of the school. I believe
I got a very different perspective when compared with that of a foreign
researcher studying in a linguistic minority school, and yet I perceive I have
got a very ‘thick description’ of my research environment and its people. In
particular, as shown in Appendix 1, which is summarised in the figure below,
 - 100 -

my data reflect an in-depth investigation of the participants’ learning ecology

which is comprised of all the different layers – community and home, system
and learning programme, school, class, teachers and peers.

51 recording
files: 35
interviews +
13 recorded
observations +
3 others
Samples of
participants’ 9 home visits
work & test = 9 audio files
papers
132 observed
session = 33,364
words of field
notes + 13 audio
files
Academic Copies of
scoring lists decrees and
and report documents
cards of each from MOET,
child DOET, BOET
Materials &
information
from the
Kindergarten

Figure 3: Data types

To further illustrate the richness of the data collected, the section below
shows the data being mapped in different categories – timeline, methods,
and people/places.

4.4.9 Data mapping and classifications

In this section the process of data collection, as well as the data collected,
are mapped in different ways, with the first figure mapping three different
phases of data collection over a period of 1.5 years. The first figure clearly
specifies the fieldwork periods and the data collected during each phase. By
classifying the data based on the method of collection, the nature of the data
can be further analysed, thereby differentiating the information collected
 - 101 -

using the different research methods, as the second mapping figure below
shows.

Figure 4: Three phases of data collection

 - 102 -

Figure 5: Data classified by methods

 - 103 -

The figure below shows the breakdown of data collected from different
places and people.

Figure 6: Data breakdown

4.4.10 Data analysis procedure – an illustration

This section is a brief description of data analysis. In particular, I will show

how a significant theme is identified and analysed. As my research questions
ask:

In which way do some linguistic minority pupils become categorised as

‘slow’? and

What may happen to those categorised as 'slow'?

When going through the data collected, consisting of hundreds of pages of

field notes, copies of students’ test papers, their workbooks, the teachers’
comments, etc., I particularly focus on the leading strands that point to the
process in which the learners become categorised as ‘slow’. In doing so, I
employed three periods in timelines, namely past, present and future, where
 - 104 -

I would group the data. In each section I would ask a few questions which
emerged from the data, and the ways that I noticed the children’s progress in
the school system was assessed. In particular, this was an observation of
what is written down in the policies and what I actually observed happening.
This has been portrayed in the table below.

Table 3: A sample of grouping data in timeline for analysing

Past Present Future
Q: When did the child Q: How do we know they Q: What implications are
first become ‘known’ as are still ‘slow’? there for their later
slow year/s?
A: The mid-term 1 test
A: Transition test at the and end-of-term 1 test A: They need to always
Kindergarten scores are under 50% pass the test with a
minimum 50% score or
Q: How? A: The end-of-year test is
else they will repeat the
under 50%
A: The test score is lower year.
than 50% Q: Is there any way for
them to escape that
Q: Who was involved?
‘title’?
A: Primary teachers
A: Passing the test by
Q: What was the scoring 50% minimum
parent/teacher’s
reaction/opinion at the
time
A: Kindergarten teacher
disagreed as she believed
the children were ‘normal’
(not slow) in her class,
and that the test scared
them
Parents aren’t sure about
the assessment

In the ‘Past’ column, I tracked back through all the findings from when the
children were ‘recognised’ as slow and what or who would formalise such
terminology. It did not take too long before identifying that it is the testing
system in schools in Vietnam that is used to formalise the title of slow.

In the ‘Present’ column, I am interested in tracking down data that

contributes when explaining the current situation the children are in – ‘still
 - 105 -

slow’ – and in which case, who validated such categorisation for the children
and how. In my research, assessment is indicated as the tool and the
process for categorising this and through assessment the children may
‘change’ their fate.

The ‘Future’ column again classifies the data collected and indicates that
assessments will continue being the deciding factor when concluding
whether the children are successful at school or not.

This research process identified that an in-depth analysis of the assessment

process would be essential when answering my research question. I have
decided to closely examine the assessment procedure as a whole, to seek a
deep understanding, and as such turned the whole data set to focus on this
particular theme. With some help from technology, in my research I used
NVivo throughout the data handling, from the collection time to the analysis
period; I managed to locate all the relevant data about this theme very
quickly.

The graphic below forms a summary of the process through which the first
major theme emerged.

Slow – when
and how?

Kindergarten Year 1 – the

– the starting formalising
point? process?

Identified by
End-of-year
the pre- Mid-year test
test
primary test

Figure 7: First major theme identification

 - 106 -

Now that the test or assessment had been identified as the procedure or the
tool for the categorisation, I then went to investigate the testing system in-
depth to understand if this process would pose any issues or lend any
support in forming such stigmatisation of the children. This is because I
would like to identify assessment in both ways, including the ‘official’ testing
and what happens in reality, and what the teachers do and say during this
process.

It is during this careful examination that I identified different issues relating to

these tests which subsequently affect the children and the way they are
labelled. The graphic below shows this process.

The content of the test, particularly

in relation to the content taught and
learnt - THE WHAT ISSUE

The time and period that the children

The tests and issues found
are tested - THE WHEN ISSUE

The way in which the tests are

administered - THE HOW ISSUE

Figure 8: Issues relating to the tests

This appeared to be the major theme that emerged, telling us more about the
children’s school experiences and offering answers to my research
questions. In investigating the main theme in-depth, the subsequent themes
were revealed as part of this process, including details of the children’s home
experiences and how this could possibly impact on their success in
education due to this helping to define the relationship between home and
school. Other sub-themes emerged, such as the children being
disadvantaged by the system; the possibility of their being negatively
 - 107 -

affected by socio-economic issues; or that the children being convenient for

or corrective to the system will later be summarised in Chapter 7.

This information is then transferred to the descriptions and explanations in

Chapter 6. A further sample of data analysis using NVivo in this process can
be seen in Appendix B at the end of this thesis.

The following section describes some ethical considerations for my case

studies before and after the research was conducted.

4.5 Ethical considerations

In this section I will briefly examine the various ethical considerations taken
into account while this study was carried out. The sections below look in turn
at ethical considerations in relation to my research participants, for the
protection of the data collected, as well as for the researcher conducting this
study.

4.5.1 The participants

To ensure transparency and a clear understanding about the research for my

participants, an information sheet was given to the school staff – the head,
deputy head, and class teachers. This included: details of the research aims;
activities to be carried out in their school; estimated numbers of interviews
with the deputy head, head teacher, and class teachers; and the estimated
number of pupils, teachers and classes that are needed for the research to
be carried out. After they read the information sheet, they were asked to sign
the informed consent form.

Child participants were selected after three weeks of observation sessions

and informal chats with them at the school. With permission from the head
teacher and class teachers, the selected children were invited to a small
focus group, where I told them about the research and explained what
activities I would carry out in their classrooms. They were then asked for their
consent and they were rather delighted to grant it. Attaining permission from
the school to conduct research within that school and with its pupils
constitutes adequate practice in Vietnam, as the head teacher also
suggested. In my research, however, I still approached their parents in their
 - 108 -

homes and further asked for their consent, as it represented better

safeguarding for the children.

The research and the participant involvement was required were clearly
explained to all my participants from the beginning. They were also made
aware of their absolute right to withdraw at any point of the research, without
having to provide any reason. Audio recordings were done only with their
permission. Participants were invited to review recorded interviews, to see if
the responses provided were what they really meant and whether they would
like to add further clarification, make changes, or remove some information.
They were also told that they could signal me to pause the recorder at any
time they felt that what they were saying, or would be saying, should not be
recorded.

All information regarding participants’ names, their locations and factors that
may reveal their identities were encrypted and coded. A brief version of the
research report was presented to them in the form of a poster presentation,
and a brief research report will also be translated into Vietnamese to show to
my participants after the thesis is submitted.

4.5.2 Safeguarding data

Interviews were reheard within the same day, to check on the quality of the
sound and any information that may need to be followed up in coming
interviews. To safeguard my data, all the audio files were transferred to the
University M-Drive through Citrix within a few days of the interviews. Field
notes were also copied into typed documents, which were then transported
to the University M-Drive within the same week the notes were written.

Documents collected were scanned into PDF documents and were also
transferred to the M-Drive on a frequent basis and the master copies were
also brought back to the University with me. This was just a cautious
measure to ensure that I would have a copy of the documents in case my
luggage got lost when travelling.
 - 109 -

4.5.3 Researcher’s ethics

I believe the central ethical issue for me as a researcher is about the

protection of participants and confidentiality; anonymity and professionalism
are essential for ensuring that my participants are well protected. Issues
regarding the reliability and validity of data and research findings and those
referring to my responsibilities towards the whole community are also vital in
this discussion.

Nevertheless, I acknowledge that there are issues rooted in research

practices which may not always be avoidable. Research situations are very
varied, so no rigid set of ethics or list of solutions can always be applicable
for a particular research context. Any code of conduct should be applied to
the specific situation, together with consideration of the region, its people,
and their customs and beliefs. I therefore believe that an ethical researcher is
a person who brings the right code of conduct with him or her and flexibly
considers the context of the research, and then reflects on the codes that will
work, those that need application, and those that require negotiation.

In my particular research, with prior approval from the university, some

participants were not required to sign the informed consent form. This is
because getting respondents to sign consent forms in Vietnam can be
challenging, as people are generally wary of any form of written agreement.
Verbal agreements are usually fine but getting someone to sign something is
very different. This is especially the case in remote areas, where most
linguistic minority groups live, as people are rarely exposed to written
documents requiring signatures and so would tend to associate being asked
to sign a consent form with signing a legal document. Although most of them
can read and write, for many, no amount of reassurance I could give would
be enough to get them to sign.

Below are two samples of data collected showing an ethical issue where
sensitive information is discovered and where the pupils’ fates are purely left
in the hands of the teachers and markers.
 - 110 -

- Khuong got 100% right but the mathematics teacher consulted the class teacher
again and they decided he looked at his peers’ work, so some correct calculations
should be rubbed out in order to make it wrong. She made it 7 and then decided it
was too much so she corrected it to 6 (out of 10). Then she said that if she had just
based it on the result he would get 10. The teacher said that Hoanh seems to have
got everything wrong – I should lift it up a bit or it’s too low. She then realised that
she had got quite a few calculations right – she is given a 4, the same as her sister
Quyen. (Field notes on 27 December 2011)
- The mathematics teacher showed me Nghieng’s mathematics paper and I could see
he got exercises 1 and 2 correct while leaving exercises 3 and 4. The class teacher
turned to tell the mathematics teacher that she already gave Nghieng a 5/10 for
Vietnamese so he should get 5 for mathematics too, thereby promoting him to the
next class. (….) The class teacher of 1A insisted that the mathematics teacher
change the marking of two papers – making Chan get below 5 and Hau to be moved
up to a 5 as she is currently below 5. Nghieng gets 5 instead of 4. But the
mathematics teacher actually gave Hau 6. (Field notes, 15 May 2012)

The above data, together with further observation notes, are used in my
analysis: for instance, in section 7.1.3. However, I tried my best to present
the data in the most objective way and avoided placing any personal
judgements or comments on individuals, instead directing the focus onto the
system and positing that the consequences resulted from errors in the
system. I originally thought of leaving this section of data out of my research
report, but after careful consideration I realised this section is essential for
answering both research questions in the most informative way. In doing so,
I employed an objective story-telling style as well as ensuring the complete
anonymity of the school and participants involved. Below is a sample from
the analysis.

Secondly, the test issues identified above affected more children than just the
research participants, but the system seems to be designed in a way that allows
flexibility for the teachers to correct errors that the system creates. This is shown in
the marking procedure, where a number of children are marked upwards, to reflect
their ‘actual learning ability’ as observed by the teachers throughout the school year.
In this process again, the identity issue becomes pronounced, where the slow
children’s papers are not only kept as originally completed but may be marked down
due to the teachers feeling that their performance was too good for their ‘actual
learning ability’. (Section 7.2.2, Chapter 7)
 - 111 -

Considering the researcher’s ethics further, I also believe that discussions

with peers and especially supervisors have further helped me to reflect on
my research methods, in order to identify potential problems during my
research, and this is why I presented my research at various stages of my
study. Also, I have done more background reading of work previously
conducted by researchers in the same field internationally and of those who
carried out research specifically in Vietnam, as this is necessary for a better
understanding of the issue.

Finally, I understand that as a result of the methodology used, I have to really

consider my position when reporting findings. As an ethnographic approach
is used, I must accurately report research findings which can describe the
phenomenon and not judge it or draw conclusions from the research
conducted. An awareness of truth-telling and being accurate about research
observations are essential, as this is when I display commitment and
responsibility towards all parties involved, especially fellow researchers, the
participants, the public, and the academic community. In all cases, I have
ensured compliance with ethical rules, used discussions with peers, and
have had work reviewed by peers and supervisors. I have also presented my
research at several conferences, both at national and international levels, to
receive further feedback from scholars from inside and outside the university.

4.6 Summary of the chapter and preface for the next three
chapters

In this chapter, I have explained the different methodological decisions made

to carry out this research. As this is an interpretivist case study research
following ethnographic principles, the ethnography methodology and case
study approach are discussed in detail. The data collection methods,
including participant observations and interviews, are also examined. This
includes both theoretical and practical discussions on the methods and a
summary of how these methods were employed in my research. Piloting the
research and the selection of cases and research participants are also
revealed, together with the handling of data collected and how major themes
 - 112 -

are identified through analysis. Some reflections on the researcher identity,

as well as ethical considerations, are also reviewed in this chapter.

My research questions ask:

In which way do some linguistic minority pupils become categorised as

‘slow’? and

What may happen to those categorised as 'slow'?

The next three chapters will lead towards answering these questions, as the
collected data will be analysed and any significances observed will be
discussed. In particular, Chapter 5 introduces the research school,
community and the research participants selected, positioning the research
participants – the pupils – at the centre of the study. The ecology
surrounding these learners, such as their teachers and peers, homes and
community, and the education system they are studying in, are carefully
conferred. This leads to Chapter 6, which discusses the pupils’ learning
situations and factors outside of school that may influence their learning. A
thorough examination of the learning programme and assessment is then
described, to suggest some issues in the testing process which may link to
the identity that is constructed for these learners throughout their learning
journey. Chapter 7 forms a discussion of issues relating to the education
system which appear to be problematic for minority language learners in
general, but more so for the learners at the lower end of this group in terms
of academic achievement.
 - 113 -

Chapter 5: Regional context and the participants

As the main research question focuses on the procedure by which the

children become categorised as slow learners, this chapter presents all the
layers surrounding these learners. This aims to examine the theory of
learning in culturally diverse classrooms, as presented in the literature review
chapter, which contends that all factors and layers around a child have a role
to play in his/her development and learning (Conteh, 2003). As such, this
chapter is solely home focussed, while the following chapter (Chapter 6) is
mostly school focussed. This gives a clearer distinction between the home
and school contexts, aiming to show some contrast in these children’s
capabilities at home compared with at school. Therefore, in this chapter, the
participants’ education and social contexts at a regional level will be
examined, including their school, classes, teachers and peers, as well as
their families and community. This is to further contextualise the Muong
group at the local level, to further relate the local context to the national and
educational context discussed in Chapter 2.

After this, each participant is presented one-by-one using a similar format,

where their home situations and how they interact in their home environment
is observed in detail.

5.1 An introduction to the researched school, community and

region

The researched school’s district has students from both the majority Kinh
ethnicity and minority language children. Each primary school in the area has
around 200 pupils of whom roughly 30 percent are Kinh and the remainder
are from different ethnicities, mostly Muong and Dao. Generally, the nearer
to a town the school is, the higher its percentage of Kinh learners, and the
more remote the school, the higher the percentage of linguistic minority
pupils. My researched school is considered to be in a rather remote area with
 - 114 -

roughly 80 percent of linguistic minority pupils and 20 percent of Kinh

learners.

Although school policies could be adapted from the DOET and MOET to
make them more relevant to the context of the district and its learners, the
main curriculum and textbooks used remain unchanged. This, I referred to in
section 2.2 of Chapter 2, where I mentioned the central government allowing
15% of curricular content to be left open to the regional education authorities
and teachers to add local culture, language, history and traditions to the
learning programmes. This policy, introduced without further guidance,
instruction, and follow-up evaluation, resulted in it being largely ignored by
the regional authorities. In addition, even if there were changes to aid local
learners, this would still be a one-size-fits-all policy for the 24 primary
schools and a similar number of pre-schools in the district, which would
appear problematic since the number and ratio of ethnicities of children
attending schools in this region varies from school to school.

5.1.1 Families and community

This section forms a brief description of the children’s community, referring to

their locality and the people who live there, particularly those who are part of
the Muong community in this area. Before this is discussed, a brief section
which extends from Chapter 2, section 2.3.2, summarises the overall
situation for Muong communities across the country, which is presented in
order to put the local Muong section in perspective.

5.1.1.1 Muong community nationwide

The Muong are the third largest linguistic minority group in Vietnam, with
their own language, which has no written script. Most of these people are
literate in Vietnamese, the national language and the only language used in
education and all other aspects of society. In the past, the government made
it compulsory for all people in the country to be literate, so even though there
are people who did not have the opportunity to attend formal education, there
are evening classes in Vietnamese language in the community and these
people are requested to attend. Since 1991, the government made primary
education free and mandatory in the whole country, aiming for the total
 - 115 -

elimination of illiteracy in the Vietnamese language (Government Congress,

1991).

While the majority Vietnamese language dominates the whole system of

society, this community is still very much attached to their mother tongue. All
of the communications I observed in informal contexts, from home to school,
are in their mother tongue only. It is only in the classroom and when with
their teachers that Vietnamese is used.

Vietnamese is mono-syllabic and tonal. There are five different tones in

Vietnamese, but there are only four tones in the local language. This creates
confusion and difficulty for the children and their people when attempting to
use the tone that does not exist in their mother tongue. This is why
sometimes in the interviews with me, parents mentioned that their child’s
Vietnamese speaking is still lisping (ngọng lắm), which refers to them being
unable to pronounce this particular sound in the right tone – the tone ngã
(~).The kindergarten teachers that I spoke to mentioned that most of the
children in the region, when first arriving at the kindergarten, could not speak
or understand any Vietnamese, but over a period of time they started to
understand the teachers’ Vietnamese instructions (Interviewed on 22 May
2012, file 120522_004).

While this linguistic minority group is mostly spread over two major
provinces, where they could be living in mountainous and hillside regions,
the focal community is located in a lowland area with rice fields granted to
them by the government. Agriculture and breeding livestock form the main
foundation of their economy, together with gathering, fishing and hunting in
the wild. Although their productivity is low and is often just enough to feed
their families, they still trade their products, such as wood and leaves
gathered in the wild, in the nearest trading town, in return for consumer
goods, which are mainly supplied by the majority Kinh people.

Compared to other members of their linguistic minority group, this community

mostly does better economically than those located in highland and hillside
areas, but they remain amongst the poorest in the country, with a large
 - 116 -

number of people classified in the 135 Scheme – the scheme for the poorest
in Vietnam.

5.1.1.2 Muong community in the research location

This community is located in a lowland region and is not too distant from
nearby towns and cities, so there are many majority Kinh people living in the
area. Nevertheless, the area is quiet and surrounded by mountains and rice
fields, which combined with poor infrastructure, makes visitors to the area
feel as though they are somewhere very remote.

Before further discussion I would like to list some administrative levels in

Vietnam. This is to add some clarification for terms used in this section and
hereafter.

Table 4: Vietnamese Administrative system

Administrative Urban system Rural system
levels
Level 1 Municipality (thành phố trực Province (tỉnh)
thuộc trung ương)
Level 2 Urban district (quận) - Provincial city (thị xã)
- District (huyện)
Level 3 Ward (phường) - Commune-level town
(thị trấn)
- Commune (xã)
Unofficial level 4 Population group (tổ dân phố) Village (thôn)

In this system, the families and community in my research form part of the
third level of the rural system. This particular level comprises two areas,
where the first one (commune-level town) refers to a more urban and
developed place, and the second one (commune) refers to a completely rural
and somewhat remote place. This is where my research location is, so the
words commune and village will be used hereafter to describe the locality of
the children and their families.

As mentioned earlier, the school is located in an area that is very leafy and
quiet, which feels remote although it is only five kilometres from the main
 - 117 -

road where the commune-level town is located. The ratio of Kinh to linguistic
minority learners in the school precisely reflects the ratio of majority-minority
people living in the area – roughly 80 percent of pupils are from minority
groups and the remaining 20 percent are Kinh.

Most families in the commune are low-tech manual farmers who have very
limited land for farming, so output from their farm is often just enough to feed
the family. Almost no commercial products are produced in this region, so
off-farm opportunities for employment are rare. Many families in the
commune belong to Scheme 135 – the government poverty aid scheme for
the poorest in the country. Of the roughly 200 children enrolled this year, 75
of them are listed as being subsidised by the government, meaning that extra
fees incurred in primary schools, such as those for school maintenance and
learning materials, are paid for by the government. As mentioned earlier,
although no tuition fee is charged for attending primary school, additional
fees are still applied.

From further studying the list, it can be seen that 58 children receive support
from Scheme 135, whereas the other 17 are classified as being in poverty. I
need to stress that Scheme 135 is provided for each commune, or each
village, so there are cases of families who are not in such a difficult situation
but can still receive support because of where they live geographically. On
the other hand, children from poor families who do not live in the Scheme
135 regions are assessed individually based on their family’s real situation.
This could be biased and subjective as it depends on the views of the local
authority. Even when exceptional cases of poverty are considered worthy of
support, the funds are limited and can only be allocated to a certain number
of applicants, meaning that not all the poor receive support. This is why after
observing the children in the school and visiting some families, I firmly
believe that there are more than 17 children whose families should be
receiving financial poverty aid from the government, such as in the case of
two of my research participants who will be introduced later in this chapter in
section 5.2.2.1 – Hoanh and Quyen.

The minority children at the school are from lowland minorities, so they live
very close, or together with, the majority Kinh group. As such, they come into
 - 118 -

contact with the Vietnamese language more often than the highland
minorities. Most of their parents can speak Vietnamese fluently, due to
previously going to school and having frequent contact with the Kinh group.
Also, mass-media such as TV and radio programmes, or newspapers and
books, are all in the Vietnamese language. Most of the children can therefore
speak Vietnamese by the time they finish kindergarten, IF they attend their
kindergarten frequently enough. My observations nevertheless show that at
school, without teacher supervision, the children speak to each other in their
mother tongue only. This means that at playtime in the playground, mostly
the minority language is heard.

During lessons, the children lower their voices or whisper to each other in
their mother tongue. This is because of the Vietnamese-only policy, so the
children will be reminded or reprimanded if they speak a language other than
Vietnamese in class.

Unlike children in the nearby commune-level town, or in any cities in Vietnam

where primary school children are dropped-off and picked-up by their
parents, almost all children in this school walk to school every day. Some
children live two to three kilometres away from the school and this means
they would walk roughly 10 kilometres per day for their schooling. This is
because they attend both morning and afternoon sessions, and they go
home for lunch, making it two return trips to school each day. It is surprising
that none of the children here bring a lunchbox and stay at school during
lunchtime like the primary children in urban areas. On rainy days, the classes
look much quieter because many children are absent for various reasons,
such as having no raincoat or umbrella, or being told to stay at home since
they cannot cross the streams or flooded dams to go to school. The streams
and dams can be dangerous each rainy season, where the lives of locals are
claimed every year during this time.

5.1.2 The school

There are five class levels (Year 1 to Year 5) and each level has two classes,
making a total number of just over 200 pupils. Like most other schools, this
school requires full-day attendance for morning and afternoon classes. There
 - 119 -

are two sets of teachers taking turns during the day, as teachers in Vietnam
work a half-day in the classroom and are given a half-day for meetings,
administrative work, lesson planning and reporting. Unless there is a
meeting, teachers are not required to be at the school for lesson planning, so
most of the time they only come to school when they have classes. Often the
morning sessions are for the major subjects, so the class teachers are
present in the morning and other teachers take over in the afternoon.

There is one head teacher and a deputy head in this school, and they do not
have any teaching role. Both of them have over 20 years of experience and
know very well what their roles are. They are both from the majority
Vietnamese and live in a nearby town, like most of the other Kinh teachers.
There are approximately 20 teachers; half of them are Muong, the linguistic
minority group that forms the majority of residents in the area, and the other
half are Kinh teachers. The linguistic minority teachers mostly live in villages
around the school, while the Kinh teachers mostly live in a nearby commune-
level town and they commute to work each day by motorbike.

Almost all the school’s policies are designated by the BOET. These policies
are subject to change and revision with or without notice, so sometimes
those given to the school at the beginning of the school year are neither
adequate nor final.

5.2 The participants

There are two different groups of research participants, namely teacher

participants and pupil participants. The former will be presented first,
followed by the latter.

The two Year 1 classroom teachers are presented in the teacher participant
section below. This is to signify the importance of their roles, as they spend
more time with the pupils than other subject teachers and are also the most
influential when deciding the learning outcomes of the pupils. The second
most important teacher for the pupils is the mathematics teacher, who is
presented after the two class teachers, followed by the other subject
 - 120 -

teachers, whose subjects do not count in the final academic outcomes of the
children, (This will be further explored in Chapter 6).

In the pupil participants section that follows, I will present the participants
within their home circumstances and how they are at home. The two girls are
presented first and as they are twin sisters from the same family, they share
the same home circumstances section. After this, the two male participants
are also presented in turn in the same order as that for the girls.

5.2.1 Teacher participants

This school has teachers from both the majority Kinh group and the local
linguistic minority Muong group. I observed that, regardless of whether the
teacher is Kinh or is ethnic minority, the conversations between teachers and
their pupils are in Vietnamese only.

There are two different shifts of teachers, one that comes to school in the
morning and the other that comes in the afternoon. As already mentioned,
teachers in Vietnam are given half the day for lesson planning, marking
papers and reporting. They do this at home instead of being at school all
day. The morning sessions are deemed to be more important than the
afternoon ones, so important subjects are taught in the morning by the class
teachers.

In Year 1 classes this year, Vietnamese lessons are taught in the morning by
the class teachers. In the afternoon, there are two sessions for mathematics
and the other two sessions are for subjects considered less important, such
as art/drawing, craft, PE, songs and singing, and the study of nature and
society. There are four teachers in total teaching the Year 1 class: the class
teacher covers Vietnamese and ethics, and there is a separate mathematics
teacher; a PE teacher who also teaches art and craft; and the music and
singing teacher, who also teaches the study of nature and society. Only the
class teacher is in charge of one class, the other three teachers are shared
between the two Year 1 classes, and they teach the same subjects to both
groups.

I need to stress that because the class teachers are in charge of teaching
Vietnamese, they have the most influential teaching roles. The class teacher
 - 121 -

is also in charge of writing student reports, liaising with families and most
importantly, deciding children’s final academic outcomes. The other subject
teachers, who teach in the afternoon, have little impact on the children’s
learning outcomes because, other than Vietnamese, only mathematics is
tested and contributes towards the children’s academic outcomes – the other
subjects are almost invisible. This point will be further expanded upon and
discussed in the next chapter, Identity and Learning.

The class teachers are firstly presented in turn below, followed by the other
subject teachers.

5.2.1.1 Ms Phuong – the class teacher of Hoanh, Quyen and Khuong

Ms Phuong has been teaching the Year 1 class in this school for over 20
years. She is from the Muong linguistic minority group, as are most of her
pupils. She is fluent in both Vietnamese and her mother tongue, but I rarely
heard her speaking a language other than Vietnamese. This is perhaps
because I mostly saw her at school, where using a language other than
Vietnamese is not encouraged, so the teachers need to set a good example
for their pupils.

Her home is not too far from the school, where she has a large garden in
which she grows different agricultural products to feed her family and to sell
at the local market. Besides the different fruits and vegetables that they sell,
her family also farms some beehives to harvest honey for sale. As such,
financially, she does reasonably well when compared with other locals in the
region.

She has two grown-up children – both have their own children. She,
however, told me that she and her husband are still supporting their children
financially most of the time. This is also what was told to me by her
colleagues, who seemed to sympathise with her for having grown-up children
who are not successful and who are still depending on their parents for so
much.

On a few occasions she came to work a bit late and was reminded about
punctuality by the heads. One morning she was late and was reprimanded
by the head as that was one of the test days. She then told me that she had
 - 122 -

gone to the local market at 5am to sell some products harvested from her
garden and then had gone home to get changed before coming to school.

Personally, this teacher is very friendly and open-minded. She shared her
thoughts with me very freely, from her feelings about how she is perceived
by colleagues and in school, to her personal situation at home. I feel that she
really trusted me and always treated me as an ally, more so than her
colleagues. For instance, she frankly expressed her disagreement to me
regarding the test paper given to her children and the way the invigilators
appeared to be terrifying to her pupils but she never said anything like that to
her colleagues or her managers (the head and deputy head).

Mid-year Vietnamese Test: The class teacher complained that the children are used
to copying from the blackboard. Copying from the paper with a different font is tricky
for them…. She also disagrees with the teachers being swapped for the test. (field
notes on 26 December 2011)

Writing Practice: The 1B teacher complains that the 1A teacher came back to her
room earlier to tell her children the answers to the mathematics test. She said the
“achievement disease” is always a problem. She also complains about the
Vietnamese test yesterday for the fact that: 1) the invigilator confused the children
by writing the instructions on the board, which meant that they didn’t know whether
they should be looking at the blackboard or the test paper; 2) the invigilator didn’t
give adequate verbal instructions, which are much needed by the Year 1 children
because they can’t read the instructions; 3) swapping between the Year 1 teachers
for invigilating exams is fine but sending a teacher from a different level to Year 1
makes a mismatch – the teacher doesn’t simplify her language enough to make
th
herself understood by the children. (Field notes on Tuesday 27 December 2011)

Professionally she is no doubt an experienced and capable teacher. She has

been teaching the Year 1 class for over 20 years and could now ‘teach with
her eyes closed’ – as the Vietnamese say. Given her substantial experience
teaching this particular age group, she is very familiar with all the textbooks,
workbooks and learning kits used in Year 1. During this year, there was one
time when Year 1 teachers and school heads from over 20 primary schools
in the district came to observe her class. Their focal observation for that day
was to learn how an experienced teacher like her makes use of the new
literacy kit, and how she gets the children familiar with using this material.
This basically means that she was selected out of over 20 primary schools in
 - 123 -

the district to give a teaching display, which could be considered a rather

honoured task. The lesson went very well, her observers were happy and
impressed, and her head teachers and colleagues were proud of her.

Being in charge of 27 children this year, she expressed that the class size is
rather big, therefore challenging for her to effectively teach all of them.
‘Fifteen to 18 would be an ideal size for this class of 6-year-olds, especially
as this is the first year the children have been in primary school ,which is
more official schooling than in kindergarten’, she said. This teacher also
stated her concerns about the large number of Vietnamese textbooks and
workbooks covered in Year 1 these days. This has resulted in the children
having to work much harder than in the past, and sometimes she and the
pupils have to race against time to complete the programme (Interviewed on
9 November 2011). To aid understanding of this point, the table below lists
all the Vietnamese workbooks that the children have to cover in this school
year.

Table 5: List of workbooks

No Workbook titles Description
1 Vietnamese workbook 1 Official and is the revision form for lessons
(Vở bài tập – Tiếng Việt 1, tập taught in the official Vietnamese text book
1)
2 Vietnamese workbook 2 Official and is the revision form for lessons
(Vở bài tập – Tiếng Việt 1, tập taught in the official Vietnamese text book
2)
3 Writing practice book 1 Official and is the extended version of
(Tập viết 1 – Tập 1) Vietnamese workbooks
4 Writing practice book 2 Official and is the extended version of
(Tập viết 1 – Tập 2) Vietnamese workbooks
5 Handwriting practice book 1 Unofficial and is the extended version of
(Vở luyện viết chữ - Quyển 1) Writing practice
6 Handwriting practice book 2 Unofficial and is the extended version of
(Vở luyện viết chữ - Quyển 2) Writing practice
7 Handwriting practice book 3 Unofficial and is the extended version of
(Vở luyện viết chữ - Quyển 3) Writing practice
8 Grammar writing book Unofficial, children copy literature or
(Chính tả) poems from the learning textbook or write
as the teacher verbally dictates
 - 124 -

5.2.1.2 Ms Quang – Nghieng’s class teacher

Ms Quang is another very experienced teacher, who has been teaching in

the school for 27 years since she qualified as a teacher. She has taught
different age groups in the school and has been teaching Year 1 for the last
three years. She is from the majority Kinh group and does not speak the
minority Muong language of most of the pupils. In some initial interviews or
chat sessions with me, she often watched her language very carefully, as
though her head teacher would be listening to the recordings. Much later in
the year, she relaxed more and started commenting on her pupils without
worrying as she previously had.

Ms Quang’s family situation is similar to those of almost all the other

teachers working for this school, as she has to work part-time outside school
for extra income. Ms Quang has a small stall selling home-made sweet
desserts (the Vietnamese name is che) in the afternoon and evening.

While I was in her class, I observed that most of the time, there was very little
contact between her and her student Nghieng. Often Nghieng does
something completely different or irrelevant to the rest of the class. Ms
Quang explained that Nghieng is in the disabled category of ‘mentally slow’
or ‘mentally underdeveloped’, so he is given different and simplified tasks
compared with his peers. The field notes cited in Nghieng’s section show that
these simplified tasks could be as simple at connecting dots or tracing dots,
rather than writing letters and words which children in Year 1 must do.

Ms Quang also appears to be stricter than most other teachers in the school.
I observed several times that she had her children work through the morning
break, which Ms Phuong believes is not a great idea since the children need
to rest between their lessons. The number of workbooks that the children
have to complete has perhaps put some pressure on the teachers, as they
seem to worry a lot about having to finish the learning programme on time.

5.2.1.3 The mathematics teacher

She is another very experienced teacher who has been teaching in the
school for over 20 years, all in Year 1 classes. She only comes to the school
in the afternoon to teach both Year 1 classes, each class with two
 - 125 -

mathematics sessions. In the morning, she can be seen in the local market
working as a butcher as a second job.

While she is in charge of her subject, it appears that she often consults the
class teachers, especially during the exam period in regards to the children’s
marks and rankings. There seems to be a mutual understanding that other
subject teachers’ assessments should be in agreement with those of the
class teachers. This will be discussed in further detail in the Identity and
Learning analysis, in the section focusing on assessment issues in the
school.

5.2.1.4 The PE, art, and craft teacher

This teacher has over 10 years of teaching experience and joined the school
about five years ago. She appears to be in a better financial situation
compared with her colleagues and everyone said that her husband was
‘doing well’. She lives in a nearby province and commutes to work by
motorbike. All teachers come to work by motorbike, but many of them live
nearby the school. Walking is not a part of Vietnamese culture, so people
would ride their bikes for a very short distance. I need to add that all roads in
Vietnam are not built for pedestrians, so walking could mean putting yourself
at risk as you share the road with all the vehicles. The children still walk to
school on both sides of the road, some using shortcuts or footpaths, but
many have no choice other than using the main road. Fortunately, the routes
around the school are often much quieter than those in towns and cities.

This teacher often looked disinterested and disengaged in her lessons. Her
subjects are considered to have very low status and they mean little, neither
in the curriculum nor to the academic achievement of the children. There is
no additional preparation from her to make the lessons fun or interesting for
the students. Although the children would love colouring in art sessions,
there is very little for them to colour, since the textbook has very limited
activities and no additional worksheets are prepared for them. The art and
craft sessions are therefore often chaotic and the children are disruptive from
having nothing to do. Sometimes, especially before exam periods, these
 - 126 -

sessions are turned into extra practice for Vietnamese writing and reading,
because the class teachers asked her to do so.

Coming from such a poor region, many children do not have coloured pencils
or crayons with them and this creates an extra challenge in maintaining a
functioning class. Only the books are provided by the school, other learning
materials such as pencils, erasers, rulers, scissors and crayons are the
parents’ responsibility to purchase and send to school in the children’s bags.
This created problems because the children lose their things frequently and
their families do not buy replacements for them, sometimes because of
negligence but most of the time because of their financial situations.

The teacher does not seem to be bothered about whether or not the children
have enough learning materials or tools to carry out tasks in her sessions.
There is neither strict supervision, nor great encouragement, from her to
promote student engagement in her sessions (Field notes, pages 9-10, 13,
31, 35, 55, 58, 67).

5.2.1.5 The singing teacher

This teacher is amongst the most junior in the school, as she only joined the
school two years ago. She is a very gentle person, who is also from the
linguistic minority group. She herself has a young child attending one of the
classes I observed. There is only one music and singing session (40
minutes) per week; however, the timetable schedules for each teacher to
teach two consecutive sessions together, so the music teacher also teaches
one Vietnamese session – writing practice.

Music, once again, is not a major subject but seems to have a little higher
status as compared with art, craft and PE. This is because many of the
songs the children learn will be performed in school assemblies and big
events like Teachers’ Day and the End-of-Year Ceremony. So there is a
clear outcome, where the children may have the opportunity to perform in
front of their teachers, peers and parents if they sing well, and this gives the
singing session more credit than the other less important subjects.

The teacher told me that there is a small organ in the school, which she
sometimes brings to class for the children to sing along to. Most of the time
 - 127 -

though, she does not have access to it, as it is locked away and the person
with the keys is not always around during her music sessions.

Nevertheless, the children generally enjoyed her lessons, including those

who are perceived as slow learners, such as my participants. This is shown
in field note sessions 24-29, 45, 60 and 74 from the first phase of data
collection (pages 16-19, 30, 40 and 45 of the field notes file).

5.2.2 The pupil participants and their homes

None of my four participants lives in the region which falls under Scheme
135, which can be as little as one kilometre away from where they live now.
Two participants, however, receive subsidised education under the poverty
classification. The other two receive no assistance, as their family is
perceived as being better off by the authorities and teachers. In reality
though, I observed that this family really struggles with their children’s
education costs, so they have ended up with debts owed to the primary
school and the nursery.

The description of the participants will focus individually on their home

situations, their relationships at home and at school, and their learning
progress. This comes from samples of their work and 87 pages of recorded
field notes, together with 35 interviews with parents, teachers, and the
children themselves. The section analysing their relationships at home and at
school is presented in a table showing two columns for home and school.
This aims to show the participant’s identity in the two different contexts and
by presenting this side-by-side, I wish to identify the differences and
sometimes contrasting sides of the character/identity when being observed in
different contexts. In short, this section will gradually present the participants’
overall identity, which will be further analysed in the next chapter – Identity
and Learning.

5.2.2.1 Hoanh and Quyen

These two girls are twin sisters, so the home circumstances section
represents both of them. After that there will be separate sections for each of
them describing their relationships at home and at school as well as their
learning progress.
 - 128 -

5.2.2.1.1 Home circumstances

The girls are the elder sisters in a family of three children. Their sibling is a 3-
year-old brother attending the nursery class in a nearby kindergarten. Their
parents own a little bike repair shop which forms part of their home, where
the front part facing the road is the shop and the family shares the only other
room which is at the back. The father is the one working in the shop – I will
refer to him as a bike fixer because I personally feel that the word mechanic
does not accurately describe what he does. This is because when visiting
their home and when passing their house each time I visited the school, I
could see his main job was putting more air into people’s bicycle and
motorbike tyres and occasionally changing some parts of a bike when
requested. There are no advanced machines in the shop, apart from one
electronic air pump and there are not many spare bike parts either. When
requested by customers, he would quickly ride his motorbike to the nearby
town, about four kilometres away, to buy the part that is needed for
replacing. This commune is located in one of the more remote areas, so
people are generally poorer than those in the nearby town and significantly
poorer than those living in urban and city areas. This was why his bike repair
shop was often quiet, unlike mechanic shops in the cities where people often
have to queue for their turn. That is why I often saw him nodding off in his
chair when I passed their shop.

The girls’ mother moves from job to job. The class teacher said she had
previously worked for a garment company, but in my first home visit, she told
me she was working in the kitchen at a restaurant in the nearby town and
that this job was occasional and the restaurant owner would call her from
time to time. This means she sometimes stayed at home and sometimes
worked until late at the restaurant. In the later stage of my fieldwork, the girls
told me their mother was now working as a sugarcane seller for a shop in
another town 12 kilometres away. I found out from my latest field visit that
she has now returned to work for a local garment company.

Since the father’s shop was often quiet, he tried to find some extra work to
do and that resulted in both parents being absent from home. When that
 - 129 -

happened, the children understood that they needed to go to their

grandparents’ home for lunch so they could return to school in the afternoon.

First home visit: It was spotting with rain. When the class teacher and I arrived at
the house, we saw Hoanh and Quyen sitting outside the house which was locked.
We asked why and they replied that their dad must have gone somewhere. We
asked where they were going to have their lunch. They said that they would go to
their grandparents’ house, so the teacher left and I walked back to the school with
Hoanh and Quyen because their grandparents’ house was in the direction of the
school. While we were walking, we saw a middle-aged man walking towards us.
th
Both Hoanh and Quyen told me that he was their grandfather. (7 December 2011,
field notes, page. 38)

Conversation with the girls

Me: so today are you going to your grandparents for lunch?
Both: yes
Me: what do you do if your grandparents are not at home?
Quyen: then we eat with auntie Vinh
Me: auntie Vinh?
Both: yes
Me: where is auntie Vinh’s?
Both: in my grandma’s
Me: what will you do if auntie Vinh is not home either?
Hoanh: we’ll eat with auntie
Me: which auntie?
Both: auntie Hang and uncle Phan
Me: where (are they)?
Hoanh: at grandma’s - they live together in the same house.
(Interviewed on 29 May 2013, file Voice0004).

A conversation with the girls’ mother later revealed that their grandfather is
an alcoholic. They hardly ever have money, and he often takes their rice to
exchange for rice wine. She suspected that one day when he told us there
was no rice in his home was maybe because the grandma had hidden the
rice somewhere before leaving for the mountain. Their grandma often goes
to the woods to collect dong leaves (for wrapping some local cake) or
firewood to sell at the local market (Voice001 – interviewed on 22 December
2011). In my field visit in May 2012, however, the two sisters told me their
grandfather had passed away (Voice009.5 – interviewed on 29 May 2012).
 - 130 -

From what I was told by the teachers in the school and by the parents during
home visits, this family, like most others in the region, does not have a
regular source of income as none of the parents has a permanent job. They
completely depend on occasional work; hence having three children who are
at school seems to have put them in great difficulties. Another home visit
revealed that this family still owed tuition fees to the kindergarten where their
young son was attending. The class teacher of the girls also told me that this
family owed her money for school and class funds, as well as learning
material costs. In schools in Vietnam, the class teacher is often in charge of
collecting the entire fee from families and the teacher will hand the money
over to the school admin department after that. As stated in the above
section, although primary education in Vietnam has been made completely
free by the government, each mainstream school requests the family to
contribute towards learning material costs, and for funds for the school and
the class. This amount varies from school to school and can be a significant
amount in urban schools. The research location is largely populated by
linguistic minority people, and so this school’s annual contribution from each
child is believed to be the lowest amount, as compared with those specified
by schools in other regions of the country. The amount required for each
child this year was roughly 700,000 Vietnam dong, equivalent to 23 pounds
sterling at that time. To make a comparison, this amount of money is equal to
70 percent of one month’s salary of a novice teacher working in this school
that year. Having two children attending the school in this case will cost them
roughly 1.5 month’s salary of a novice teacher in that school year.

The fee for nursery attendance is even greater, as parents need to pay for
the cost of the food the children eat at school. From my observations, almost
all the kindergartens disallow families from sending their own lunchbox and
eating school food is compulsory, which makes it extra challenging for
families like Quyen and Hoanh’s. This year’s cost for the boy’s nursery
attendance is roughly 2.4 million dong (roughly 79 pounds sterling) and
although the family is allowed to pay in 12 instalments of 200,000 dong each
month, their irregular income does not ensure that they can fulfil their
payments in a timely manner. This has affected the sisters’ schooling,
 - 131 -

because child-minding has been an additional task for them since their
parents have to work and could not afford to send the little brother to school.
Below are some excerpts cited from my field notes and interviews, which
further tell of this difficult situation.

Art and Craft session: Hoanh is reported for playing truant by peers – Quyen then
told the teacher that Hoanh has to stay at home to look after the motorbike and
bicycle repair shop and her little brother, as her Dad needs to get some spare parts
th
from the town. (6 December 2011, field notes, p.33)

Mathematics session: Hoanh and Quyen were absent when the class started at
1:30. They then turned up at 3:30 – just 50 minutes before the afternoon classes
finish. The class teacher quickly rushed into the classroom to question Hoanh and
Quyen as to why they had missed her earlier session. Quyen said her mother made
them look after the house/shop/baby and they could not leave until she returned
home. The teacher was not happy with the answer and shouted “next time tell your
mother you’re not doing that. Ms Phuong said I have to go to school”. The girl said
th
“yes mam” (12 January 2012, field notes, pages 58-59).

It seems to be difficult for the parents to share their problematic situation with
outsiders, including myself and the class teacher. The mother would relate
the issue differently or avoid providing too many details, as though she were
embarrassed about such a situation and was perhaps worried that she may
be blamed for her children’s poor attendance, which to me is
understandable. This, however, may not help her children since they lose the
chance to gain the teachers’ understanding of the whole situation. Teachers
in Vietnam do not talk to the pupils in friendly conversations, in order to verify
any stories; this is just not in our culture and there is always a certain
distance between teachers and pupils. Although this may have been
changing lately in urban and private schools, this is not what was observed in
my researched school. Below are some examples that show the different
points of view a teacher would get, if they could gather information from both
the family and the children themselves.

Conversation between teacher and mother:

Teacher: But Hoanh and Quyen often come to class late. I reminded them
so many times – morning class particularly
 - 132 -

Mother: In the morning (they) get up then brush their teeth and wash their
faces, and then I (always) tell them to hurry or they’ll be late for class
(Interviewed 22 December 2011, file Voice001).

Conversation between the mother and me:

Mother: .. my girl said that today is only meeting and playing, singing and
performing, today is meeting… that’s all..

Me: so they said today is for meeting only and you told them (the girls) that
it is okay for them to stay at home?

Mother: no, (I) said.. um.. so you go to assembly.. so (they) said but nobody
is looking after the brother, so (I) said let me send him to your
grandparent’s. But there was nobody home there either so both sisters had
to stay at home to look after their little brother. (Interviewed May 2013, file
Voice009(4))

Conversation between the sisters and me (with neither parents nor teacher
present):

Conversation 1:
Me: why didn’t you go to the school assembly today?
Hoanh: today I needed to look after my brother
Me: looking after the brother?...
Hoanh: yes…my dad got up early and went to Kim Boi and mother went to
work early
Me: father goes to Kim Boi, mother goes to work?... so why not take your
brother to your grandparents’ so you can attend the assembly?
Hoanh: none of them are home, they went harvesting rice today
Me: they went harvesting rice? So why can’t your brother go to
kindergarten?
Hoanh: my parents didn’t have ‘giay an’ (napkin)
Me: didn’t have what?
Quyen: phieu an (lunch voucher)
Me: no lunch voucher. Which lunch voucher?
Both: lunch voucher at the kindergarten, 10,000 dong each
Me: 10,000 dong each? Ah so each morning when dropping off your brother
your parents need to buy him a lunch voucher?
Both: yes
Me: so no lunch voucher means no schooling for him?
Hoanh: yes, and there is also the tuition fee
Me: so how long has your brother been out of school?
 - 133 -

Quyen: a few days already.. (Interviewed May 2013, file Voice004).

Conversation 2:
Me: (talking to Quyen) the teacher said that you come to class late
sometimes so you need to try your best to not be late anymore, okay?
Q: yes.. uhm.. because sometimes I need to look after my brother Hoang for
my father to take grandmother to the market to sell bamboo
Me: ah.. so father takes grandmother (by bike) to sell bamboo so you have
to stay at home to look after your brother Hoang?
Q: yes
Me: but isn’t he going to nursery?
Q: no, some days he doesn’t go (to nursery). If grandmother goes selling
bamboo, Hoang will stay at home with me… (Interviewed 16 December
2013, file Voice005).

Moving on from the home situation, the section below discusses

relationships at home and at school for each sister.

5.2.2.1.2 Hoanh
At home, Hoanh presents herself as a caring big sister who has a very close
relationship with her younger sister and younger brother and can be rather
protective of them.

Some children reported to me that Hoanh and Quyen had swapped seats without
the teacher’s consent – while Hoanh and Quyen didn’t respond to that, the class
monitor said loudly so we could all hear: ‘that is because Hoanh is worried about
Quyen being hit by Khanh again’… this information moved me a bit because
although they are twin sisters, Hoanh is considered the older sister and she appears
to be rather protective towards her little sister. If they swapped seats like that, the
person who would sit next to Khanh is her and not her little sister Quyen. (9 May
2012, field notes, page 70)

As the oldest child in the family, she presents herself as a responsible child
who takes charge when the parents are not present, including cooking for
her younger siblings and ensuring their safety around the house.

Conversation with both sisters:

Me (walking into the kitchen): What are you doing?
Hoanh: I’m making fried rice
Me: frying rice?
Hoanh: yes, in the morning I make fried rice and roasted peanuts
 - 134 -

Me: but I don’t see any rice left so how can you make fried rice?
Hoanh: still a tiny little bit left
Me: so what are you preparing these corn seeds for?
Hoanh: for roasting
Me: so is that your lunch?
Hoanh: smiles…
…..(further conversation then the rice is done)
Hoanh: Hoang oi, here is your rice (brought out one small bowl of rice and that is all
she’s got). (May 2013 – file Voice004)

That moment at home shows a thoughtful, caring sister, who decided to give
the best food (the rice) to the smallest family member (her little brother
Hoang). The other sister would be eating corn instead. She has been
observed in the kitchen quite often during my home visits.

Me (standing by Hoanh in the kitchen – she was preparing lunch for the three of
them): what are you making fried rice with?
Hoanh: just by itself
Me: by itself? No vegetables?
Hoanh: yes (16 December 2013, file Voice005)

5.2.2.1.3 Quyen
At home, Quyen has a very close relationship with her big sister Hoanh and
little brother Hoang. She plays well with her siblings but does not seem to
spend much time with her parents, who are often away for work during the
day, so she spends the daytime with her siblings only. She is very playful
and somewhat less mature than her sister Hoanh, so she sometimes gets
into trouble for doing things that she is not supposed to do.

Conversation from December 2013:

Hoanh: yesterday this one (pointing at Quyen) was hit with a rod
Me: really?
Hoanh: (laughing) yes
Me: why? What did she do?
Hoanh: she played with water with brother Hoang
Me: where did they play with water?
Hoanh: over there! (pointing at the rice field opposite their house)
Me: did the other one (their brother) get hit with a rod too?
Hoanh: he also got two rods
 - 135 -

Me: how many did Quyen get?

Hoanh: she got one rod (got hit once).

Nevertheless, Quyen seems to know her responsibilities and always tries to

assist her sister Hoanh, sharing the housework with her, such as helping to
prepare lunch or looking after the little brother while Hoanh is cooking.

While Hoanh was making fried rice for the little brother, Quyen ran out into the
garden and returned with something in her hand and below is our conversation:
Me: what is that?
Quyen: bulbs
Me: which bulb?
Little boy: sweet potato
Me: let me see… Where did you get this?
Quyen: I dug them up in my grandma’s (garden)
Me: so what are you doing with them?
Quyen: I put (she meant eat?) it together with corn. These sweet potatoes take a
long time to cook so I roast the corn first
Me: put in corn? Sweet potato into corn?
Quyen: no the bulbs (sweet potatoes) will be baked. (Interviewed on May 2013, file
Voice004).

5.2.2.2 Khuong

Khuong is the youngest child in his family. His elder sister is also a student at
the school, where she is in Year 5. This is a typical extended family, where
grandparents, single aunts and uncles (if any), parents and children all live in
the same house. Khuong’s father told me that although his two sisters
(Khuong’s aunts) are still living with them, they are both away pursuing
higher education in nursing and in education. They only come back at
weekends and during holidays. This probably explains why little Khuong
produced a drawing in one lesson showing his family with only six people. He
counted grandparents, parents, his sister and himself and excluded these
two aunts from his calculation.

The family has a rice field which provides a significant amount of rice for the
whole family each year. Rice is the major food and is served at every single
meal. Both parents were often away in the capital city working on a
construction site, so their two children were mainly under the care of the
 - 136 -

grandparents. The father said that in the last year there was not as much
work in Hanoi, so he and his wife returned home but were still busy working
in the rice field or travelling to different villages to be hired for different work
available. It is therefore only the grandma who has been the contact person
for the school.

Neither of the parents have met Khuong’s class teacher this year but the
grandma did when she went to the parent-teacher meeting at the beginning
of the school year, and another time when she went to pay the school fees
for her grandchildren. Unlike the girls’ family situation, the school records
show that Khuong’s family often met the payment deadlines. The official list
made by the school to apply for funding for children from poor families,
however, listed both Khuong’s and his sister’s names. This means their fees
will be subsidised by the government. When I questioned the head teacher
about the criteria for the children to qualify for such support, she said that
both the family situation and the region are relevant for this. She also stated
that Quyen and Hoanh’s family does not qualify, because they do not live in
the two specified poor areas in the region.

When asked who would help Khuong with his homework, the father said
Khuong’s sister or mum are the people to help him. He also acknowledged
that Khuong’s Vietnamese had really expanded since attending kindergarten
a year before primary school, ‘but his pronunciation is not yet accurate’ the
dad said.

The father revealed that during their five intensive years working in the big
city, the couple had saved some money and had been investing in education
as they are paying for the two sisters studying in higher education at the
moment. He said his family is not within the ‘poor-zone scheme 135’, where
people get some financial support from the government. Although both
parents never finished school, the father expressed his wish to have the
children, Khuong and his sister, study to the end of high school (interviewed
on 8 Feb 12, file 120208_003).

At home, Khuong is very close to his older sister who is attending the same
primary school this year. His sister often helps him with homework and
 - 137 -

practising reading at home. However, he does not come to school or go

home with his sister but with his male peers who live nearby and the sister
walks home with her female peers.

He does not have to complete as much housework as some other peers

(Hoanh and Quyen, for instance) but would be in charge of cleaning and
sweeping the floor and yard, while the big sister helps the grandmother in the
kitchen. He is extremely close to his grandmother with whom he spends a lot
of time, since his parents often travel to other provinces for work and have
only really stayed at home since last year. His grandmother is also the only
one that has been corresponding with the school and his class teacher
(interviewed on 8 Feb 12, file 120208_003).

5.2.2.3 Nghieng

Nghieng is the oldest child in his family. He has a younger sister who was
diagnosed with nerve disorders and damage, so she is physically disabled. A
few weeks before my first visit to their house, his mother gave birth to a third
child by herself at home and the child died at birth. The father is often away
from home as he is a live-in worker for a family, and so he visits his wife and
children once or twice every month.

Nghieng’s disabled sister was given a wheelchair by a charity, but I could

see the chair was not being used and had been put in a corner of the room
and was covered in dust. This is probably because the infrastructure in the
area is bumpy, with hilly dirt roads and no pavements for pedestrians,
making it impossible to ride in this wheelchair outside the house. One might
think she could use the chair to move around the house, but their house is
too small to make any pathways for a wheelchair and that may be why the
chair was not used.

Their house has just one room which is used as a bedroom and the common
room. There is one bed in the corner of the room, which is shared by mother
and the two children when dad is not there and would be shared by all four
family members when he is home. In the other corner of the room there is a
small television and this is the only valuable item I could see in the house.
 - 138 -

Being classified as a poor family under Scheme 135 (the government

scheme to help the poorest), the family receives some support from the local
community and local government, such as a monthly cash allowance for
paying the electricity bill and annual New Year’s presents. I need to add that
this allowance is still nowhere near the minimum living wage and that the
mother stated that it was barely enough to settle the electricity bill. Their
house was built by the local government using public funds (interviewed on
14 February 2012, minute 17:00, file 120214_001).

At the back of the house are a few square metres of red-soiled land, which is
not fertile enough to grow anything. Right next to the back door is a little
shed attached to the house, which is used as the kitchen where the mother
cooks food for the family every day. I noticed that she still cooks using a
basic woodstove, which most Vietnamese families used before gas and
electric cookers appeared.

At home, Nghieng has a very close relationship with his mother with whom
he spends most of his time. This is because his dad is away for work and
only comes home occasionally. As the oldest child in the family, he appears
to be responsible and considerate and would join his dad carrying out
physical work in the house while his mother was pregnant with the second
child, his younger sister (interviewed on 14 February 2012). After her birth,
Nghieng also became a caring brother, who would look after his disabled
sister while his mother was cooking or doing housework.

5.3 Conclusion

In this chapter, I have introduced my research participants and the learning

ecology which contains the different layers surrounding them. These layers
have more or less certain impacts on the children’s learning, which will be
illustrated in the following chapter by the data I present. This positions my
participants in their particular learning context before their learner identities
are further observed and analysed in the following chapter – the children and
their learning.
 - 139 -

Chapter 6: The children and their learning

As introduced at the end of Chapter 4, this chapter discusses the research
participants in their learning contexts. In doing so, I wish to reveal how their
learner identities are shaped during their learning journeys, as this would
contribute to answering my research questions.

The first part of the chapter is an observation of the children in their

classrooms. By observing the participants within their lessons, we can see
the process of their being categorised as slow, in terms of their interactions
with teachers and peers. The next section forms an analysis of the
observations of the learners in their classes, and how their home situations
may have contributed to their learning journeys. The final section will explore
the learning programme in detail and highlights the importance of the
Vietnamese subject in that learning programme. Typical lessons are also
analysed, because by observing actual teaching and the children in typical
lessons, we can see how the style of teaching identifies them as being slow
and also contributes to them having low learning outcomes. Significant
attention is paid to the role of assessment, which was identified in section
4.4.10, as it is testing and the process of testing is highly significant in
establishing that the participants are slow learners. It is also assessment
outcomes that decide whether the learner will repeat the school year or not.
Throughout the sections that focus on the classroom and assessments, it
must constantly be borne in mind that the focal children are linguistic minority
learners, where Vietnamese is not their mother tongue, as this is vitally
important when seeking to answer the first research question about how they
are categorised as slow.

6.1 In this school year

In this section, each participant’s situation in the classroom is observed in

detail, starting from an overall observation of the learners’ relationship with
others. This is followed by a detailed inspection of their learning progress,
using samples from their workbooks over the whole school year and their
 - 140 -

learning trail inside their classes, as well as their test scores and overall
academic results.

6.1.1 Hoanh’s learning progress

At school, Hoanh played and interacted well with her classmates but
remained mostly close to her twin sister, who is also in the same class. She
also formed good relationships with those sitting around her in particular and
could join them in being playful and somewhat disruptive during lessons.

Maths: The teacher asked the children to repeat what they had learnt in the
previous lesson. While the children were answering the teacher, Hoanh was busy
cutting her cloth for her blackboard with scissors…. Quoc and Hoanh are joining
together trying to tear Hoanh’s cloth and were reported by Hung sitting in front –
they were then reprimanded by the teacher. (24 November 2011, field notes, page
24)

She sometimes got into trouble at school due to home-related issues, such
as the sample shown above where she came to school really late due to
house minding and was scolded by the teacher. At other times, she may be
picked on by other children at school, and this happens to her more
significantly than with other girls in the class. Here, I need to stress that the
teachers seemed to just focus on the consequences, rather than the reasons
behind such consequences. The teachers rarely intervened when children
were picked on or when bullying happened.

Hoanh was asked to take her book out to complete the additions – a peer sitting in
front of her told me “she’s very stupid – so like her sister, she won’t know how to do
it. (8 November 2011, field notes, page 14)

The teacher scolded Hoanh and Quyen for having torn books. Some children
shouted that it was because big kids from grades 2 to 5 tore their books – the
information isn’t noticed or registered by the teacher as she continues scolding the
two sisters. (21 December 2011, field notes, page 44)

Hoanh didn’t do anything at first because she doesn’t have chalk or a chalkboard.
When asked why, she said Dang in the 1A class had broken her chalkboard
yesterday (…) Hoanh doesn’t have a workbook. The teacher asked her about it and
she said that someone had already torn her book (12 January 2012, field notes,
page 62).

Conversation in May 2013:

 - 141 -

Me: this bag? Is this the old or the new one?

Hoanh: old one, my new bag had the straps cut by some peers
Me: who cut them?
Hoanh: Van
Me: Van?
Hoanh: yes
Me: is she in the same class?
Hoanh: yes
Me: did you report it to the teacher?
Hoanh: I didn’t
(Voice recording 009_5).

At the beginning of the school year, Hoanh’s workbook showed that she
worked very carefully and neatly. Looking at her workbooks later revealed
that such effort and enthusiasm for learning had somewhat decreased over
time and towards the end of the school year, such effort was hardly
observed. These workbooks are for Vietnamese writing practice and letter
calligraphy. The work from these books is heavily regarded as a learning
outcome for all children. Those who can write beautifully, neatly and strictly
following the line rules obtain high marks and are highly regarded by the
teachers. All the writing workbooks therefore have clear lines and the
children are trained to follow the line rules very strictly.

The images shown below are two samples taken from two different
workbooks. Each sample shows a piece of her work ranging from stages 1 to
4, with 1 being the beginning of the school year and 4 being the end of the
school year.

Sample 1 shows that at the beginning of the school year (stage 1) the letters
are so carefully and accurately formed. This is still observed in stage 2’s
sample. The image of her work from stage 3, however, shows sloppiness in
the writing, such as not following the line rules (normal letters are two boxes
tall, whereas letters with going up or going down strokes are five boxes tall,
etc.). The letters are not all correctly formed – some are missing some
strokes. However, one positive point in stage 3 is that she still got the tones
correctly written in her writing and this is very commendable. Stage 4 shows
 - 142 -

a very low quality piece of writing, where the letters are formed neither
correctly nor clearly enough.

Sample 2 is taken from Hoanh’s calligraphy practice and again the stage 1
sample shows she followed the lining rules carefully and formed the letters
accurately. The sample at stage 2 shows that although the lining rules are
violated, most of the letters are correctly formed and all the tones are correct
also. Stage 3’s samples show the lining rule being more seriously violated,
where some letters are wrong and some tones are missing, to which the
teacher gave her 4/10. Stage 4’s sample contains all the mistakes observed
in stage 3 but worse than before, the letters are not as clearly written and
she did not complete her page of work either.
 - 143 -

Stage 1 (beginning) Stage 2

 - 144 -

Stage 3 Stage 4 (end of year)

Image 1: Hoanh’s work sample 1

 - 145 -

Stage 1 (beginning) Stage 2

 - 146 -

Stage 3 Stage 4 (end of year)

Image 2: Hoanh’s work sample 2

 - 147 -

In my various observations, there are moments and sessions when Hoanh

showed impressive progress, such as getting many calculations right when
given tasks in mathematics.

Mathematics : General Practice: Hoanh got 7+1, 2+2, 10+0, 9+1, 8-5, 4-4 right, and
got 9-2, 7-6, 5-1 wrong, meaning she got six right and three wrong calculations.
Khuong got four right by himself and copied two correct calculations from peers, with
three wrong. Sister Quyen got only two calculations wrong this time (7 December
2011, field notes, pages 37-38).

Mathematics – Revision of Additions to 10: The whole class reads all the additions
to 10. Volunteers are then asked to read. Hoanh is picked and gets it right. Now the
mathematics kit is taken out (magnetic boards and numbers). Teacher reads the
calculations and the children pick the numbers and signs (+/-, =) and form the
calculations on the magnetic board then calculate to give the right answer. The
teacher waits then signals by hitting the ruler on her desk and all the children raise
their boards to show her the results. Hoanh got ALL of the 10 calculations right,
compared to her sister Quyen who got 4/10 right and Khuong got 6/10 right. (30
December 2011, field notes, pages 27-28)

When temporarily placed in a different class for one morning (together with
eight other classmates), Hoanh showed she could read and recognise words
when asked by the new teacher.

Class 1A – Reading a poem from the board: The children are called to the board to
hold a ruler, point to, and read aloud each word of a poem. Hoanh and Quyen are
called and they read very well. When asked to identify some words in the poem
(selected by the teacher), the sisters found them after a brief struggle. (15
December 2011, field notes, page 42)

After closely observing her, I realise that there are moments signifying high
points in her overall learning and development, such as getting correct
results for many calculations in mathematics, accurately writing words
dictated by the teacher (although this is not recognised by the teacher, as
her writing is ‘ugly’ – the word that the teacher uses), or employing good
problem-solving skills. These go unnoticed by any teacher.

Mathematics : Adding three apples and three apples using pictures demonstrated on
the board – Hoanh volunteered but wasn’t called so she moved to the subtractions
page in the workbook instead – when asked to move back to the additions page she
was kind of subtracting rather than adding. (8 November 2011, field notes, pages
13-14)
 - 148 -

When Nhu had some broken lead stuck in her sharpener, she asked me to help.
When I was just about to say something, Hoanh said “use a counting stick as that
works really well” – Nhu followed her instructions and got rid of the lead in her
sharpener. I was thinking that Hoanh seems to know things that her peers don’t
know. (16 December 2011, field notes, pages 17-18)

Towards the end of the school year, any high points in her learning were
rarely observed. Her learning enthusiasm decreased rapidly after the mid-
year-test, the results for which were released in early January. Her peers
continued speaking to her (and her sister) rudely about her being a weak
student and she often did not reply to their comments.

Mathematics : Hoanh was asked to take her book out to complete the additions – a
peer sitting in front of her told me “she’s very stupid – so like her sister, she won’t
know how to do it”. The Mathematics teacher did not reply to that. (8 November
2011, field notes, page 14)

Vietnamese: Hoanh and Quyen are asked, by me, whether they want to try writing
with a pen instead of a pencil as all their peers have started writing with a pen from
this semester. They both shook their heads – no thanks. Their peers were saying
loudly: “they write very ugly and the teacher said that those who write ugly have to
use pencil”. (27 December 2011, field notes, page 54)

Mathematics : I notice there is one table in the class that has three children, which is
very unusual because the tables are designed for only two seats. If there are three
children, they won’t even have enough room for opening their reading/writing books,
not to mention that they have to work on their personal chalk board very often.
These three children are Hoanh, Quyen and Khuong and the table they are sitting at
is on the back row of the class. I asked them why they are sharing one desk while
there is one where nobody is sitting. The three children were not able to answer my
question but many others tried to speak at the same time, telling me loudly that it
was because those three would be repeating the year and that the class teacher
had seated them there and in that way. None of the three children said anything. (9
May 2012, field notes, page 66)

The school year ended very quickly, and she was amongst the three pupils
repeating the class, while her other peers were promoted to Year 2.

6.1.2 Quyen’s learning progress

At school, while appearing to be sociable and able to play with most of her
peers, Quyen remains closest to her sister Hoanh. I observed that at
playtime the two of them often play together. She has also developed a close
 - 149 -

relationship with Khuong, the boy with whom she shares a desk (the pupil’s
desks and chairs in this school are designed for them to sit in pairs). The two
of them are close friends who can play well with each other, getting playful or
disruptive together in class or sharing the results of mathematics calculations
with each other.

Music and singing: Khuong and Quyen played fighting… Quyen and Khuong ate a
star fruit and each time the teacher wasn’t looking they took it out from the drawer
and had a bite. (16 November 2011, field notes, page 18)

Mathematics : Khuong has a bag containing a snack (corn pipes), so in the corner
where he sits the children are eating that during the lesson. The teacher hasn’t
noticed yet… The class is reading aloud now. Quyen and Khuong continue eating.
(25 November 2011, field notes, page 26)

Music and singing: both Quyen and Khuong playfully sang into their rolled-up books,
although the teacher had requested that all children sing without their books. (30
November 2011, field notes, page 30)

Mathematics - Additions to 6: the teacher asked the children to do the calculations

in their workbooks. Khuong realised that all calculations led to 6 as the result. He
turned to Quyen and said ‘all results are 6 okay’, to which Quyen followed by
completing her page. (8 November 2011, field notes, page 14)

Like most children’s relationships, sometimes conflicts also occur between

Quyen and Khuong. Often it is just some disagreement where the two would
argue loudly in Muong but on rare occasions more violent incidents
happened between them. Most of the time they became friends again very
quickly afterwards.

Mathematics : Quyen and Khuong had some dispute where Khuong accused Quyen
of stealing his tiny piece of rubber, claiming that the piece that Quyen was holding
was his. Quyen, on the other hand, argued it was hers. (31 October 2011, field
notes, page 10)

Music and Singing: Quyen was crying and Khuong was reported for hitting her and
throwing her bag on the floor. The teacher made Khuong apologise and he did.
Quyen stopped crying and is now talking to Khuong again. (16 November 2011, field
notes, page 18)

Mathematics : Khuong was reported for throwing Quyen’s lollipop on the floor and
slapping her on the face. The teacher made him go in front of the class to apologise
and to promise not to act like that again. (6 December 2011, field notes, page 34)
 - 150 -

Just like her sister Hoanh, Quyen is also rather vulnerable to being picked on
or bullied by peers and older children.

Weekly Review: Quyen comes back to the classroom to find that her books have
been thrown everywhere on the floor (someone must have done it). When she was
picking the books up some peers pointed at her laughing. The teacher didn’t say
th
anything. (25 November 2011, field notes, page 27)

Quyen also told the teacher that someone had taken her sharpener. (6 December
2011, field notes, page 34)

Mathematics Workbook: the children work in their workbooks. Quyen, Hoanh and
Khuong aren’t doing anything. Quyen told the teacher her book was torn by a child
from the 2A class (Hai Anh) and a child from the 5A class. (21 December 2011, field
notes, page 44)

Quyen’s relationships with her teachers are not so close. Like her sister, she
is late for school sometimes and at other times she comes to school without
adequate learning materials such as pencils, crayons, chalk and/or
chalkboard and at such times she is criticised by her teachers. She is clearly
not the teachers’ favourite.

Test: Quyen was scolded by the invigilator for making some mistake on her test
paper. (26 December 2011, field notes, page 52)

Vietnamese: after the “van” are introduced, the class writes in their writing books.
The class teacher criticised Hoanh and Quyen for coming to school looking grubby
and untidy lately (they haven’t washed their hair, hands and faces before coming to
school and their clothes look dirty, etc.). (12 January 2012, field notes, page 58)

Quyen was one of the pupils identified as a slow learner at a very early stage
of Year 1. Studying her workbooks, I could see that like most of her peers
she showed careful effort in the first few lessons. The difference is that such
effort does not persist in the later stages of her workbooks, as she mostly
worked unsupervised with no support provided by the teachers. The samples
of her work taken from two different and major workbooks are shown below
on pages 152-155. Each sample contains four different images of her work,
progressing from the beginning to the end of the school year.

In sample 1, stage 1 shows that her writing was rather neat, following the
straight line and lining rules. Also, she got all the tones right, and this is very
important in Vietnamese. Stage 2 in sample 1 shows she is still on track with
 - 151 -

the writing rules, although there was not enough time for her to complete all
the lines on the page.

Stage 3 clearly shows an unsupervised piece of work as she got the letters
wrong, the tones wrong, and she also failed to follow the lining rules.
However, she did try to complete the two words ‘mùa dưa’ as well as ‘ngựa
tía’.

Stage 4 shows a piece of work where she had been abandoned and did not
even try to complete the writing of both words (tuổi thơ), but tried to write the
first word only (tuổi). In the second example, ‘mây bay’, she did try to write
both words mây and bay, but most of the words written have the wrong tones
and the lining rules are seriously omitted from this piece of writing.
 - 152 -
Stage 1 (beginning) Stage 2
 - 153 -
Stage 3 Stage 4 (end of year)

Image 3: Quyen’s work sample 1

 - 154 -

Stage 1 (beginning) Stage 2

 - 155 -
Stage 3 Stage 4 (end of year)

Image 4: Quyen’s work sample 2

 - 156 -

In the second sample of her writing progress, taken from the calligraphy
workbook, we can see that Quyen did well at the early stage – stage 1. She
completed the whole page of letters and most of the work is accurately
copied from the standard samples provided (the red letters). Stage 2 shows
that although struggling with copying one verse of a poem neatly and
accurately in terms of tones and letters, she still tried her best to write the
whole verse and we can see all the words in this poem are written. Stage 3,
however, shows a serious level of decrease, because even though the
sample provided contains less words than that in stage 2, she did not do a
great job of copying the writing here. The words are not correctly formed as
she missed out letters within a word and the lining rules are not followed
either. This is also seen in stage 4, and it can also be observed that stage 4
is even a slightly worse version of stage 3.

Experiencing a similar situation to her sister Hoanh, Quyen’s learning is

clearly affected by her lack of learning materials. The classroom and
teachers have no spare materials for the children, so often those who do not
have learning materials with them sit without doing any work. Sometimes
their peers show some generosity by letting them borrow their spare
materials but such offers do not always happen, especially without the
teachers’ intervention.

Mathematics : Quyen wanted to borrow crayons from Khuong but wasn’t successful
and the teacher had to intervene so she could finally borrow some. The teacher did
the same thing with her sister Hoanh and she also got some crayons from a
peer…..now she does not have crayons and Quyen told the teacher that their
mother doesn’t have any money to buy them crayons yet. Khuong who sits next to
Quyen then had a go at her in Muong, probably about parents buying crayons and
Quyen argued that they don’t have money, perhaps because I could only hear the
word money (…) Now the teacher asked the pupils to open their books at an
exercise page and Quyen got the right page. Her practise book looks worn out. The
front covers are all gone and some of the first and last pages are also missing – the
other pages look torn. She took a pencil which is about 2cm long and a piece of
rubber which is as small as the top of her little finger. The teacher said she can’t
write with that pencil as it’s not good for her fingers and requested a friend to let her
borrow a pencil. The teacher then told Quyen to ask her parents to buy her a pencil
– Quyen said yes. (31 October 2010, field notes, page 10)
 - 157 -

Mathematics : calculating using counting sticks: Khuong couldn’t do the picture

addition correctly – neither could Quyen, who doesn’t have counting sticks – Khuong
let her borrow them. (8 November 2010, field notes, page 10)

From time to time, Quyen also had her good moments, when she displayed
her learning effort by getting many mathematics calculations right, or
focusing and working hard during Vietnamese sessions.

Hoc Van: The teacher dictates and the children write the words on their boards.
Hoanh and Quyen write well – the letters are not evenly formed and are not in a
straight line but the teacher praised them for doing better than previously. The
teacher also asked who had noticed some friends who are weak in literacy but who
had tried hard today. A girl shouted out Quyen and Hoanh. The teacher agreed and
said these two could form words using the right letters today, although the written
appearance was not as beautiful. (17 November 2011, field notes, page 21)

Luyen viet: Quyen spent some of her break time for writing. She was
complemented by the 1A teacher who came to visit. (1 December 2011, field notes,
page 32)

Mathematics : Quyen has 8/10 calculations correct here, but perhaps only me as
the observer registered such an effort, as this did not seem to be acknowledged by
her teacher or peers. (7 December 2011, field notes, page 39)

Writing: Cái vợt – Quyen got the writing correct and was praised by the teacher who
is always confused between Hoanh and Quyen. (7 December 2011, field notes,
page 37)

Towards the end of the school year, such good moments seemed to
disappear gradually. She got into trouble more than in the first half of the
year, such as for being late for school, coming to class without adequate
learning materials or for not doing much during the class. She was criticised
and scolded by teachers and peers more often, but she never replied to any
of those criticisms as though she had got used to it. Her low motivation
clearly showed during the end-of-year test when she submitted her
unfinished paper. When the paper was returned by the invigilator so she
could continue working on it, as there was still time for her to do so, she did
not make any additional changes to the paper and just waited for the time to
end so she could submit the paper again without it being returned to her (10
May 2012, field notes, pages 68-70).

The school year ended with her on the list for repeating Year 1.
 - 158 -

6.1.3 Khuong’s learning progress

At school Khuong had built good relationships with his peers and was
particularly close to Quyen, who sat next to him throughout almost all the
year. Although there are conflicts between him and Quyen (as demonstrated
with some excerpts from the field notes in Quyen’s section on pages 146-147
above), they always became friends again very quickly. Khuong could be a
very generous friend, who offered support to Quyen from time-to-time,
including letting her borrow his learning materials and sharing learning
information and results with her. He also is an active boy who could be
playful while at times ignoring the class rules.

Khuong is very busy with his cards under the table. Group 3 was called. Quyen
sings alright. Khuong is busy chewing some gum. Khuong was called – still chewing
and singing at the same time. Was asked to go and spit out the gum before coming
back. (9 Nov 11, field notes, page 17)
Hoanh was called – Khuong and Quyen played fighting. (9 Nov 11, field notes, page
16)
Quyen and Khuong ate a star fruit and each time the teacher wasn’t looking they
took it out from the drawer and had a bite. (16 Nov 11, field notes, page 18)

As he is perceived by the teachers as a slow learner, he does not have a

close relationship with any of them. He hardly ever received any praise or
compliments from the teachers for good effort but would be reprimanded and
disciplined when he was unable to complete the task at hand or for being
playful and disruptive in the class. Different excerpts from the field notes
cited later in this section on pages 160-161 will further support this point.

Although I was told in advance that Khuong is among the slow learners in the
class, my observations reflect that Khuong’s learning was rather normal at
the beginning of the school year with his work rated quite highly in the
samples provided on pages 157-158 below. When looking through his
workbooks I could see that his work was consistently good. Although the last
stage, at the end of the year, shows that he did not work as carefully and
neatly, which means the appearance of the work had slightly declined, the
accuracy was still ensured. Below are two samples of his work taken from
two workbooks.
 - 159 -

The first sample contains three images of his work as the year progressed
and we can see clearly that the quality of his work was very good. The
second sample contains four images of his work from the timeline starting at
the beginning and moving through to the end of the year. The mark that the
teacher gave him shows how good he was at the start, where he got 8/10 for
his work. Stage 2 shows the mark had declined to 6/10 and 5/10 for Stage 3.
There was no mark given for the last image of his work but based on the way
the work is marked, I think he would get no more than 5/10. This shows how
important the appearance of Vietnamese written work is in our system. The
sample shows complete accuracy of the writing, but he would get only 50
percent because the appearance of the work is regarded as highly as the
accuracy.
 - 160 -
Stage 1 (beginning) Stage 2 (midyear) Stage 3 (end of year)

Image 5: Khuong’s work sample 1

 - 161 -
Stage 1 (beginning) Stage 2
 - 162 -
Stage 3 Stage 4 (end of year)

Image 6: Khuong’s work sample 2

 - 163 -

The written work provides little evidence of Khuong being a slow learner, the
teacher regarded him as slow because he was unable to read the Vietnamese text
in the textbook fluently enough. My observations show that Khuong could learn
well at times. He could be quick to learn and would cope well when supervised
and motivated.

Mathematics – additions to 6: the teacher asked the children to do many calculations.

Khuong found out that all the additions led to 6 so he told Quyen about that “6 het nhe” (all
are 6). (8 November 2011, field notes page 14)

Mathematics: Khuong and Quoc got most of the subtractions right and weren’t checked by
the teacher. (24 November 2011, field notes page 24)

Mathematics: the table below records how the children completed dictated calculations on
their chalkboards. The ticks show that they got the answer correct when asked to show
their results to the teacher; the question marks denote that the children were not ready
when signalled to show the result; a question mark and a tick next to each other shows the
children got accurate results but slightly later and could not raise their boards to show the
teacher at the same time as the other children.

2+8 7+3 3+7 4+6 6+4 5+5 10+0

Hoanh √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Quyen √ ?√ √ ?√ ?√ 10+5=10

Khuong √ √ √ ?√ √ √ ?

Quoc √ √ √ √ √ √ √

(30 November 2011, field notes page 28).

Writing dictated words on their personal blackboards: although appearing to be looking at

his peers’ work, Khuong could actually identify their mistakes sometimes (for example: đứt
dây – Hoang wrote đứt dâi and Khuong pointed out the mistake and said to Hoang: it’s
ending with ‘y’ not ‘i’). (14 December 2011, field notes page 44)

Moving away from literacy and numeracy learning, Khuong could be a curious and
enthusiastic learner, as well as being good at observing and problem-solving as
my observations show.

Study of Nature and Society – Unit 11 – Family: Khuong and Quyen show real interest in
the pictures in their books. They discussed them with each other loudly in Muong with an
enthusiasm and happiness which I rarely observed. (17 November 2011, field notes page
19)
 - 164 -

Mathematics : the mathematics teacher tried to turn the light on as the classroom was
rather dark due to the rainy, cloudy day. The power did not come on after she had pressed
the switch, so she said to herself ‘no electricity today’. Khuong, sitting at the table near the
door, said loudly to the teacher: ‘turn the trip-switch on first teacher’. The teacher followed
his instruction and the light came on. (30 November 2011, field notes page 28)

Art and Craft – making a paper fan: the teacher asked the children to get a piece of paper
to fold into a fan. She showed them briefly how to fold it but there were 27 children and the
teacher only sat by her desk to fold it and every now and then raised the sample up for the
whole class to see, so many children could not see how to make it from step 1. When it
was their turn to make their own fans, the class got a bit chaotic as many didn’t have spare
paper for this task and they were not asked to bring paper prior to the lesson either. The
teacher also did not have any spare paper for the children, so many of them ended up
tearing their workbooks and some just sat there not doing anything as they didn’t have
paper and perhaps didn’t want to tear their books either. Khuong had tiny pieces of paper
from someone but he managed to fold his paper to make a small fan just like the sample
the teacher had made which was rather impressive. (6 December 2011, field notes page
33)

These positive observations of Khuong are mostly from the first semester and
before the mid-year test. The second half of the school year does not show
Khuong being enthusiastic and focusing well in learning like he did in the first half
of the year. Khuong’s mid-year test result in Vietnamese was 4/10 (fail) and
mathematics was 6/10 (pass at average) and these were made public to his family
and the class which perhaps did not help. I observed that he was a little quieter
and did not try as hard as he had. I always wondered if he expected his
mathematics result to be ‘excellent’, as his original mathematics paper showed
that he got 100 percent of the calculations correct, but the result was changed to
better match his mark on the Vietnamese paper.

Marking process in the teachers’ common room: Khuong got 100% right but the
mathematics teacher consulted the class teacher again and they decided that he must
have looked at his peers’ work, so some answers should be rubbed out in order to make it
wrong. She made it 7 and then decided it was too much so she corrected it to 6. Then she
said that if she had just based it on the result (blind/anonymous marking) he would get
10/10. (27 December 2011, field notes, page 56-57)

The second semester passed very quickly and Khuong was one of three students
ranked as Provisional Fail. This means that they would take a retest and that
 - 165 -

would be their final chance. He was finally classified as fail and had to repeat the
year.

6.1.4 Nghieng’s learning progress

Nghieng has a very peaceful relationship with all his peers at school. My
observations throughout the year reveal only one time when he got into a conflict
with a classmate sitting near him.

Nghieng is reported for hitting Manh (who sits behind him) and I came and asked why – he
said Manh insulted him in Muong, so I asked both of them to apologise to each other and
then shake hands. They did and when they shook hands, both them and their peers
giggled together. (1 February 2012, field notes page 63)

Nghieng seems to have a neutral relationship with all the teachers, as they hardly
ever reprimand or discipline him like they do the other children. That also means
he is never praised for good work or criticised for producing poor work. There
seems to be sympathy from the teachers for him as a learning disabled child.

Nghieng is also quite shy and would not be open to any new teacher, especially
those who come to substitute for his teachers.

The music and singing teacher was absent. The substitute teacher complained that
Nghieng didn’t do anything and that he completely ignored her and never replied to her at
all. (1 February 2012, field notes page 63)

This is his second year in Year 1, as he is repeating the year due to failing the
tests the previous year. This means he is one year older than most of the children
in his class, but physically he looks smaller than the majority of them.

Nghieng is the only participant from whom I did not collect any work samples apart
from his test papers. This is because Nghieng often sits in his classes doing
absolutely nothing. Unlike his peers, he is not supervised, prompted or requested
to do any tasks. He has literacy and numeracy learning kits like most of the
children as he is under Scheme 135. This means these learning materials are paid
for by the government, so he has better materials compared with some of the
other children. However, his learning kits and writing booklets and workbooks were
later passed on to another student who joined the class a little late, after the
school year had already started. This meant that Nghieng did not have any
workbooks or learning kits but the teacher explained that he would not be doing
 - 166 -

anything and would not know how to do any of the work, since he is a special
needs child who falls under the learning disabled category. The excerpts below,
taken directly from my observational field notes, show Nghieng’s passive image in
the classroom.

Writing Practice: the students are writing in their booklets and Nghieng was given a
different booklet to trace along the dots rather than to write. He didn’t concentrate on
writing but played with the notebook. The teacher was very busy with the class so Nghieng
got away with not doing anything. The teacher said loudly that he is disabled and will need
a personal/simplified test paper. (1 November 2011, field notes pages 11-12)

Music and singing – the little chicks: Nghieng didn’t do anything. (9 November 2011, field
notes page 17)

Vietnamese: Nghieng is given a book to trace the letters and words; others write and copy
the sample written for them by the teacher. While others focus on writing, Nghieng is very
dreamy – he keeps doing something else and then found it impossible to concentrate – he
didn’t do much at all. (7 December 2011, field notes page 38)

Mathematics : Nghieng isn’t doing anything as he doesn’t have his notebook to work in like
the other children. But he has the new, second mathematics book – the teacher doesn’t
seem to be bothered about whether he does anything. He is now playing with his crayons.
He has adequate learning materials and books – more than many others, but he is rarely
asked to do any work or if he does anything, his work is never checked by the teacher.
Khanh is using Nghieng’s book as he isn’t doing anything, so the class teacher decided to
give all his workbooks and his literacy/mathematics kit to Khanh instead, meaning that
Nghieng no longer has these, as ‘he would not use them anyway’ the teacher said. (21
December 2011, field notes, page 46)

Personal chalk boards: Nghieng doesn’t seem to have a chalk board as he just sat there
not doing the tasks that the other children were doing. Moving to Handwriting books with
pencils: the teacher writes on the blackboard while the children copy that into their books.
Nghieng does not need to do this and is given a book to trace but he isn’t doing it either.
(22 December 2011, field notes, pages 48-49)

Giai toan co loi van (solving mathematics using literature/words): The children have to read
aloud as the teacher points the ruler at each word on the blackboard. Those who aren’t
reading are criticised severely. Nghieng never gets reminded, no matter whether he reads
or not…. All the children have nothing on the table as they have to focus on the blackboard
and no personal books or materials are allowed. Nghieng, however, takes out his box all
the time to play with some rubber or pencil – the teacher didn’t notice or remind him to
focus at all. (2 February 2012, field notes, page 64)
 - 167 -

Test days are serious times for the children, when they all have to try their best to
complete the test papers, as their fates depend on their results. With Nghieng, test
days do not seem to be different from any other day, as though he knew he would
not have to do the test and in case he did, the test papers would be really easy for
him anyway.

Practice test: Nghieng didn’t do much but when I asked him some questions, I realised he
understands and knows the letters and can read a little. At first he didn’t touch the test
paper because the teacher said he wouldn’t know how to do it – he has now made some
effort and has a few things correct – the mathematics teacher then said that he may not be
disabled like the other teachers believe he is (23 December 2011, field notes, page 51).

Semester 1 Test day: in the morning is the Vietnamese test. Nghieng isn’t doing the test.
He does not even have a test paper in front of him as he is tracing in his writing book
again. In the afternoon, the mathematics teacher prepares the children for the mathematics
test tomorrow. Nghieng just sits there and isn’t doing anything. (26 December 2011, field
notes, pages 52-53)

End-of-year Vietnamese Test: I noticed that some children in the 1A class are really
struggling. Nghieng is given a handwriting sheet which the class teacher later told me she
wrote for him. This basically requested him to copy the given words provided on the paper.
This is far below the level of the test that his peers are doing. (10 May 2012, field notes,
page 74)

Mathematics test: Nghieng is given a separate sheet to do the test. (11 May 2012, field
notes, page 76)

While the teachers all agree with each other that Nghieng is a learning disabled
child, my observations show that Nghieng has his good moments in learning and
is capable of giving accurate answers, if he is focused and asked to do so. Those
good moments, nevertheless, are not recognised by the teachers, as though
whether he does some good work or does nothing, it means little in his case.

Mathematics : subtractions that lead to 10:

16-6: Nghieng got the answer very quickly without looking at his peers’ work. He’s very
proud of his result but the teacher didn’t even notice.

17-7: Nghieng got the answer quickly – by himself too. A peer behind (Manh) looked at
Nghieng’s answer and said something; Nghieng erased his work. The teacher didn’t
know. Tinh got the answer in the same time as Nghieng and before B. Hoa.

18-8: Nghieng, B. Hoa and Tinh all got the correct result.

19-9: Nghieng √; B. Hoa √; Tinh ?

 - 168 -

Nghieng knows that he needs to present the calculation vertically and followed the rules of
this calculation very accurately.

He got all the calculations right but the teacher never glanced at his work or gave any
comment but she didn’t make any comments for any other children anyway. She only
sometimes points out the mistakes the children make or when they don’t write their vertical
calculations in a straight line.

When an odd question is used to test whether the children know that the result is not 10
(for example, 13-2=11), Nghieng knows this and he even shouted out loudly together with
his mates when asked by the teacher.

Working with the workbooks: Nghieng got most of the calculations in the workbook wrong,
which wasn’t the case when he worked with his chalkboard. But he got the counting
exercises correct. Now the teacher came to check and gave some prompts. He started
getting things right and started fixing his mistakes. Nghieng is also waiting there in the
queue (with his workbook waiting to be marked by the teacher). Tinh finished her work very
late and is now queuing for marking also. Huong has a peer standing next to her to tell her
the answers and she is making the most of it. Tinh and Nghieng returned to their seats –
too busy to queue? (12 January 2012, field notes, page 60)

Vietnamese lesson: the class was reading aloud, following the teacher’s ruler pointing at
the words on the blackboard. Nghieng also reads aloud enthusiastically. Overall, his speed
is slightly slower than some children but he reads along all the way to the end, shows good
concentration and shows that he knows all the letters and words and can also sound them
before reading too. When asked to read alone he becomes quiet – is this because the
teacher doesn’t have enough time to wait and prompt him for a response, or is he too shy
to be standing out alone reading aloud?

When moving to the personal chalkboard task, Nghieng sits there with his board and no
chalk, while the other children are writing as the teacher dictates. After a while, I asked
Nghieng where his chalk was. He got one piece out of his bag but still did not start writing.
The teacher didn’t say anything and didn’t seem to acknowledge his good effort in reading
earlier or his passive behaviour now in the writing task – he seems to be invisible most of
the time.

Now is handwriting in their books: all the children use a pen. Nghieng used a pencil but
today he has a black pen brought from home. All the other children use purple pens given
to them by the teacher. He sits there again doing nothing – when asked by me, he started
copying some words in his book – the teacher never noticed anything. (2 February 2012,
field notes, page 63)

When I visited his home one evening, I saw that Nghieng was holding a torch in
his hand while doing his homework. I offered to hold the torch for him as he was
 - 169 -

reading a textbook. While doing so, I took the opportunity to check on his
knowledge of phonics and sounds, diphthongs and word sounding. Unlike what
the teachers believe, he did well and could answer most of my questions, some
without prompts (minute 9:00, file 120214_001).

Despite doing very little in the class during the school year, Nghieng is among
those being promoted to Year 2, and he is my only participant being moved up to
the next class level. His promotion is approved under the Special Needs category
– he is classified as ‘learning disabled’.

6.2 What their learning tells us

Having extensively and closely observed each child participant in the classroom
context, this section forms an analysis of their learning situation, followed by an
analysis of the economic issues that affect their learner identities and which may
impact upon their academic achievement. This aims to examine how their
identities are constructed in school, which is where they become categorised as
slow learners. The analysis is carried out in this way in order to ultimately uncover
the different layers of experience that impact on the child participants’ learning.

6.2.1 An analysis of their learning situation

There are two Year 1 classes in this school year, the same as for other years.
Each class has roughly 25 to 27 children, mostly of the same age – six years old
at the start of the school year. Each class, however, has some seven-year-old
children and these are children from the previous year who are repeating the
school year due to low academic achievement.

At five years of age, these children are expected to attend a kindergarten class for
one year before commencing primary school, which means that when entering
primary school they must be six years old. The cut-off for the date of birth is very
strict in the system, and all schools must follow this. Lately though, most families
are asked to send their children to nursery when they are three years old and so
depending on the financial situation of each family, most of them try to follow this
advice to prepare their children for primary education.
 - 170 -

In kindergarten, the children are introduced to the Vietnamese language in the

spoken form. They are also introduced to the Vietnamese alphabet letters and
counting numbers in Vietnamese language. For many Muong children, this
kindergarten year is the first time they have been formally introduced to the
Vietnamese language.

As this school largely enrols linguistic minority children, they are the majority in
school and in classrooms. I observed that their informal conversations with each
other are only in their mother tongue language. However, I must stress again that
this particular linguistic minority group are largely lowland people, so they normally
live amongst the majority Vietnamese, or are not too distant from Vietnamese
communities; therefore, their Vietnamese language is much more fluent than those
of highland minorities who often live on hillsides or further up in the mountains.

At the end of kindergarten, there is a formal assessment where kindergarten

teachers join the primary Year 1 teachers to test the children on some basic
knowledge and understanding, as well as overall development. The test score is
not used to decide whether or not the children are allowed to enter the primary, but
it is used by the primary teachers to identify the ‘quick’ or ‘slow’ learners. Some
primary teachers use this as the basis for appointing influential positions in the
classroom, such as class monitor (leader) and singing leader. These leaders are
often considered as ‘elite learners’ and they are generally the teachers’ favourites.
Most teachers pay more attention and give more encouragement to them, as well
as being gentler towards them when they make mistakes, than they would to the
other children in the class.

At the time this research started, the focal children had been in their class for
roughly six weeks of the academic year. Although it had not been very long, the
children were already well-known by all the teachers and their peers for being
‘slow learners’. This is why the final test in kindergarten matters so much, because
Year 1 teachers are among the testers who assess the children together with the
kindergarten teachers.

Similar to the ‘elite learners’ these children attract rather a large amount of
attention from the teachers but rarely for encouragement or compliments. Rather,
they often receive harsh reprimands from all teachers for the low quality of work
 - 171 -

that they produce. For example, they can be criticised for not being able to read a
certain word aloud or for writing a word with uneven letters. Additionally, they
could also be reprimanded for ‘lacking personal responsibility’ (the words the
teachers use), such as failing to keep their workbooks clean, coming to school
late, or coming to class with untidy clothing or hair, etc.

Examples

 Class teacher (shouting loudly): “Quyen why is the O connecting to T a capital T – look
at the board and see! Write it again!” (minute 21:30 file 111207_001)… “Khuong,
Quyen, Hoanh, Quuynh and Hung, I only swapped seats like that for now but be
careful or I’ll send you outside the class!” (minute 7:15 file 111207_001)
 The teacher is now looking at Quyen’s writing and criticising her for not writing
beautifully. She said “next year, when you stay with the little ones, they’ll write better
than you” (field notes, 12 January 2012).
 The class teacher criticised Hoanh and Quyen for recently coming to school looking
grubby and untidy (they haven’t washed their hair or hands and faces before coming to
school and their clothes look dirty, etc.). (12 January 2012, field notes, page 58).
As they get a lot of attention from teachers, they are also ‘popular’ amongst their
peers. This is a negative side of this aspect, as their actions are closely supervised
by peers, who will then report them to the teachers. This would be fine if they
could do something outstanding so the teachers could then offer them
compliments. However, most of what is reported is inappropriate or outside of the
acceptable norms mutually set by the school and class culture. Therefore, the
children often receive reprimands, scolding and criticism from the teachers after
being reported. If they get the teachers on a good day, they will get a reminder or
nothing at all. One may think that children of this age often like reporting each
other to teachers but from my observations those who are less favoured by
teachers – the ‘slow’ children – are in the spotlight more often than the rest of the
class.

 Art and Craft: Hoanh is reported for playing truant – Quyen told the teacher that Hoanh
has to stay at home to look after the bike repair shop as her dad needs to go and get
some spare parts from town… Khuong is reported for tearing the paper from Hoanh
and for throwing Quyen’s lollipop on the floor and slapping her on the face. He is made
to go to the blackboard to face the whole class to apologise and promise not to do it
again. (6 December 2011, field notes, page 33)
 - 172 -

 Mathematics: Quyen did her work prior to the lesson but she was spotted and reported
by a peer saying that she had copied it from Hang – but the additions were mostly
wrong. (8 November 2011, field notes, page 14)
 Singing: While Hoanh is sleeping and being reported by others, Quyen and Khuong
had a little disagreement about something. (16 November 2011, field notes, page 18)
 Vietnamese: Khuong tried to rub something out and was reported by peers. (22
December 2011, field notes, page 50).
 Vietnamese: Hoanh is now falling asleep. She got away with it for about 10 minutes
until her peers reported it to the teacher and the teacher shouted for her to go out to
wash her face… Khuong is reported for eating some star fruit and was scolded and told
to throw it away. (26 December 2011, field notes, page 54)
 Singing: Some children reported to me that Hoanh and Quyen had swapped seats
without the teacher’s consent. (9 May 2012, field notes, page 70)
When I was in the classroom, I observed that Hoanh and Quyen were frequently
reprimanded by different teachers for various reasons, including: coming to school
late; coming to school looking unkempt; failing to bring adequate learning
equipment and materials; letting their books get dirty and torn or having pages
missing; and falling asleep in class. Replying to the teachers’ criticisms, the girls
sometimes told the teachers that they came late because their parents did not
come back in time, so they had to tend to the bike repair shop, or that their books
got torn by some older children in other classes who came to bully them. Most of
the time though, they just silently listened to the criticism. I observed that none of
their replies or explanations seemed to satisfy their teachers, and that any
information given as explanation was never used to further understanding of the
children’s situation; neither did it lead to further actions, such as tackling the
bullying matter.

Also known as a ‘slow’ learner in the class, Khuong was in the spotlight as often
as the two girls. However, he seemed to receive less criticism from his teachers
than the girls. I believe that things have not changed in the system since I was at
school, where undesirable acts are more expected from boys than from girls, and
where teachers and adults would react more negatively to girls than to boys in
such cases. This reflects an old ‘tradition’ of the country, where males are
generally viewed more favourably than females. Adults and teachers, when
reprimanding a girl who is being disruptive for example, would start the sentence
with: ‘Why are you so disruptive/naughty for a girl?’, or ‘You are not even a boy, so
 - 173 -

why are you…?’. This sort of sexist attitude towards females, concerning how a
proper female should act, comes from Confucian ideology and perhaps explains
the way that adults accept disruption from boys more than from girls. Marr (1976)
outlines some significances of such Confucian traditions in Vietnam dating back to
the 1920s in order to observe the changes or development in Vietnamese society
concerning this matter. The author is able to mention a number of textbooks which
define the rubrics for ‘proper females’. While the country has moved beyond the
old traditions, which no longer fit easily with modern society, such ideology does
not simply disappear; therefore, the ‘proper female’ notion is still widespread and
may sometimes be used without conscious recognition.

In the other class, Nghieng has a much easier life than all the other ‘slow’ children.
I never observed a situation in which he was criticised or shouted at by the
teachers. Some may think this is great, but this in fact is a case of a student
appearing to be almost invisible in the classroom. None of his teachers request
him to do any work at all, so while other pupils have to follow the teachers’
instructions to complete tasks, he would be working on a simplified task which is
often much easier than what his peers were doing, or he would be doing nothing at
all. Some collective field notes below provide evidence of this:

Vietnamese: The children were given writing booklets where the teacher had already
written a word on each page and the children would copy the word very neatly. The
teacher is very strict about how children sit when they do their writing. Nghieng was given
his own booklet to trace on dotted letters rather than writing words like his peers. He didn’t
concentrate on writing but played with a notebook. The teacher is very busy with the class,
so Nghieng has got away without doing anything so far. (1 November 2011, field notes,
page 12)

Mathematics : Nghieng isn’t doing anything as he doesn’t have his notebook to work in like
the other children. But he has the new, second mathematics book – the teacher doesn’t
seem to be bothered about whether he does anything. He is now playing with his crayons.
He seems to have adequate learning materials and books – more than many others….
Huong, for example, does not have adequate learning materials and she’s using Nghieng’s
books. As he isn’t doing anything, the class teacher decided to give his notebook and
literacy/mathematics kit to Huong instead, meaning that Nghieng no longer has these – he
wouldn’t use them anyway, according to the teacher. (21 December 2011, field notes, page
44)
 - 174 -

Practice Test: Nghieng didn’t do much – when I asked him some questions, I realised he
understands and knows the letters and can read a little. He firstly didn’t touch the test
paper (perhaps because the teacher said publicly and loudly he wouldn’t know how to do
it?). He has now made some effort and has a few calculations correct – the mathematics
teacher then turned to me and said that Nghieng may not be disabled like the other
rd
teachers believe he is. (23 December 2011, field notes, page 51)

The common situation observed for Nghieng is that he is ignored and excluded
from the learning environment most of the time because he is considered disabled.
Many teachers believe that with this (unverified) ‘disability’ he would not know
anything anyway. Quite often he sat in the class without doing anything, while this
would not be the case for his peers, as they would be reprimanded immediately for
that. In Vietnamese lessons, each child has a learning kit with all the letters and
tone signs and a magnetic board for them to build up words using the letters.
When I saw that Nghieng was not doing anything during the first session I
observed his class, I asked where his learning kit was and the teacher told me she
asked Nghieng to let a friend in the class use it. The reason given was because
that student joined the class after the school year had started. There was no spare
learning kit for her as the school had only purchased the exact number of learning
kits based on the number of students registered at the beginning of the school
year. The class teacher explained that since Nghieng would not need it and would
not be using it anyway (because he does not know anything), so it makes sense to
give his learning kit to the other student instead.

6.2.2 The home-school link

Economic issues: Most families in the studied region are not financially well-off
since most of their incomes are from low-tech farming, which mostly is just enough
to provide food for the family. Those families who are not farm owners struggle
more since they rely heavily on their wages from the casual work in which they
may be employed, such as Nghieng’s father or Hoanh and Quyen’s parents. Such
employment can be seasonal or occasional, putting them in further difficulty during
times when they are not employed. Such difficulty results in these children missing
schooling for various reasons, such as failing to pay tuition fees; failing to
purchase a lunch voucher; or house/child minding when their parents go to work.
 - 175 -

These issues are further linked to others, such as a lack of home support for their
learning. The home situations of each participant presented in the previous
chapter show that these children’s parents are not in a position to offer educational
support to their children. This is partially because the parents are not very well-
educated themselves, but the main reason relates to the fact that these parents
are just too busy working to support their families. Khuong’s parents, for example,
have travelled to other provinces for work and only see him from time-to-time,
leaving him under the care of his grandmother. This is similar to Nghieng’s father,
whom he only sees once or twice per month. Even when parents stay in the region
for work, they hardly ever see their children during the daylight hours and may see
them at night before or after the children go to sleep, such as in Hoanh and
Quyen’s case.
Economic issues further result in these children frequently coming to school
without adequate learning materials. In the Vietnamese education system, children
bring their learning materials to school and take them home with them. None of the
children would leave their materials in the classroom as it is not the practice and
the rooms are often unlocked, so they may lose their materials if they choose to
leave them there. While most families would purchase adequate materials for their
children at the beginning of the school year, these are lost throughout the year and
my observations show that none of the families replaced the missing or lost
materials for their children.

Coming to class without adequate learning materials somewhat poses an inferior

image in comparison with classmates, as they would then be scolded by teachers
and laughed at by peers. Poor attendance and lateness exacerbates the negative
image, such as in the cases of Hoanh, Quyen and Khuong, when they were
publicly taunted by peers who called them ‘stupid’ or told them that they would
have to repeat the year.

Other than facing such severe criticism from peers and teachers, the children
could be made invisible, such as in Nghieng’s case. Repeating the class under the
disabled classification, he was free from any learning pressure, was never asked
to do any work, and therefore was never criticised for failing to complete any work.
Even when he motivated himself to learn and could complete several learning
tasks (see field notes cited in Chapter 5), such effort went completely unnoticed. It
 - 176 -

seemed that whether he did any work or not, it was of no interest or concern to his
teachers and peers. He also seemed to know very well that whether he learned
anything or not, he would be promoted to Year 2 this year, under his ‘disabled’
status. Hoanh, Quyen and Khuong also seemed to know very well, that regardless
of the effort they put into the tests, they would be repeating the class, as they were
reminded every day by peers and by the seating map observed at the end of the
school year.

So what do their identities mean in the learning system? Let us examine what they
learn and how their identities are constructed through such a process.

6.3 What and how do they learn? Programme and assessment

The children attend five mornings and four afternoons per week, as they have
Friday afternoon off. The class teacher teaches only in the morning and morning
sessions are all about Vietnamese. Mathematics and the other subjects are taught
in the afternoon, with mathematics being taught for two sessions every day. The
other five subjects are taught in turn, with an allocation of one session per subject
per week. While the children learn Vietnamese all morning (four learning
sessions), Vietnamese is also covered in three afternoons.

The image below shows the weekly timetable for the two Year 1 classes this
school year.
 - 177 -

Image 7: Weekly timetable

According to this, there are no classes on Friday afternoons so the children have
one afternoon off per week. The teachers are still required to come to school in
order to complete administrative tasks or some physical work at the school, such
as gardening.

6.3.1 Curriculum
From the first grade in primary school, Year 1 children will learn and be assessed
in eight different subjects which are Vietnamese, mathematics, study of nature and
society, singing and music, art, craft, ethics and physical education (PE). All of the
learning and assessments are in the Vietnamese language only.

The learning of the Vietnamese subject for Year 1 children is text-based and
focused heavily on writing and reading. This entails the learning of reading and
writing Vietnamese characters – consonants and vowels, the sounds and
 - 178 -

diphthongs, words, sentences and grammar by employing repetitive learning

tasks.

The curriculum and learning programme is developed centrally by the government,

so there is no difference in learning programmes for those children from different
linguistic minority groups whose mother tongue is not Vietnamese. There is also
no support or additional programme designed to assist Vietnamese as an
Additional Language (VAL) learners. There is a government policy, however, that
allows minority learners to pass with a lower test score in important exams, such
as the high school graduation exams or entrance exams for higher education at
university and college levels.

When providing instruction, guidance and regulations to all higher education

institutes in the country regarding the 2014 higher education entrance
examinations, the MOET listed two groups of pupils who are to receive priority,
meaning that their results will have some extra points added. The first priority
group comprises three subgroups – linguistic minority pupils living in poor
mountainous/remote areas are the first subgroup listed. According to this, linguistic
minority pupils who are resident in poor communes and in mountainous areas will
get 3.5 points added to their exam results, meaning a passing result will be 3.5
points lower than the standard passing score announced by an institute (Bo Giao
Duc Va Dao Tao, 2014). Higher education institutes in Vietnam select their
students based on entrance exam results (often comprised of three subjects), and
they pick from the top down. For instance, if they want to recruit 2,000 students in
2014, they will pick the top 2,000 who have scored the most, so often there is no
predetermined test score before the exam showing the score needed to secure a
seat at a university.

Although there are a number of subjects taught, the Vietnamese language and
mathematics are the two major subjects, which occupy a large proportion of the
learning time of the children. Below is a chart showing the proportion of time spent
each week for each subject taught in the Year 1 class of the researched school.
This timetable is standard and can also be found in any primary school in Vietnam.
 - 179 -

Figure 9: Weekly sessions scheduled for each subject

As shown in the diagram, the subject of the Vietnamese language occupies the
majority of time spent learning in children’s early years. The subject requires a
number of workbooks for the children to use along with their textbooks, and these
workbooks can be official or non-official books. This was presented in Table 8 in
Chapter 5, which portrays the workbook titles and their usage.

So what content is there in the Vietnamese subject? Figure 9 above shows that
the children have Vietnamese every day, with a minimum of four and a maximum
of six sessions out of their eight sessions of schooling per day. This allows for very
little time spent on subjects other than Vietnamese.

Within the Vietnamese subject, three major areas are targeted: the learning of
letters, sounds and diphthongs; the learning of reading words phonetically and
tonally; and writing practice. Reading and writing are very important and these
tasks will be officially tested at least twice per year. The breakdown of the weekly
Vietnamese language lessons is provided in the figure below.
 - 180 -

Figure 10: Breakdown of the Vietnamese subject

Since Vietnamese and mathematics occupy a large proportion of the children’s

learning, I will briefly discuss how the two subjects are taught below.

6.3.1.1 Teaching Vietnamese

The above diagram clearly shows an emphasis on teaching Vietnamese literacy.

For quite some time, one primary government goal has been the elimination of
illiteracy for all Vietnamese citizens, including ethnic-minorities. This policy is
reflected in the national curriculum for the early years.

Lessons in Vietnamese primary schools still reflects the traditional way of

teaching, where a teacher will be lecturing to a class, often a rather busy class, of
25 to 30 children. There are no teaching assistants in any class, so the teacher will
not receive any assistance in managing the class or facilitating activities. Often,
the teacher will sit by her desk, facing the class when the lecturing is taking place.
When tasks are given for the children to practise, the teacher may walk around the
classroom to monitor some individual’s work, but she will not have enough time for
checking each child’s work due to the large number of students and time
restrictions for the length of lessons. The children are often passively and quietly
following the teacher’s instructions or loudly repeating after her when they do
reading aloud or pronunciation exercises. The children rarely ask the teacher any
questions because that is not the Vietnamese learning culture for young children,
who are supposed to listen and carry out the tasks required rather than
questioning the teacher. This also means that if a child does not understand what
the teacher is saying, or does not understand the task required by the teacher,
 - 181 -

then that child often sits quietly or looks over their shoulder at their peers’ work
and copies as much as they can. Also, due to time constraints, the teacher often
moves from task-to-task very quickly and the children need to really focus to follow
the teacher and to keep up with the classroom’s general speed. Occasionally, I
observed some children asking some questions, and they were either reprimanded
or ignored by the teacher and that further discourages them from asking any
questions.

The teaching method in general is very teacher-centred and curriculum focused.

The learners are requested to carry out endless synchronised tasks during
lessons. The procedure for teaching a new diphthong, for instance, is summarised
below:

Typical Lesson Executing Procedure

(From 47 Vietnamese sessions observed between Oct 11 to Jun 12)

Task 1: Following the textbook

Teacher:
- Introduces the new ‘van’ to the class verbally
- Writes the new ‘van’ on the blackboard with chalk
Children:
- Open their textbooks and listen quietly
Teacher: Explains what letters make up that ‘van’ and how the ‘van’ is sounded phonetically and
tonally
Children: Listen carefully
Teacher: Tells the children to repeat after her and she starts reading the ‘van’ aloud phonetically
and tonally (example: Ô-TỜ-ỐT = ỐT)
Children: All together: Ô-TỜ-ỐT = ỐT
Teacher: Repeats the reading a few times as the children repeat after her
Teacher: Asks the children to point at the ‘van’/word in their textbooks, to read after her.
Task 2: Practice
Teacher: Asks the children to close their textbooks and get their learning kits out
Children: Put their magnetic boards on the table and listen to the dictation
Teacher: Dictates a ‘van’ or a word that has that ‘van’
Children: Quickly pick the letters and tones from their kits to form the ‘van’ or word on their
magnetic boards
Teacher: Hits the ruler on her table to signal time is finished for the task
Children: All hold their magnetic boards up for the teacher to look at
 - 182 -

Teacher: Does one, two or all three of the following:

- spots some mistake and tells the child/ren about that
- picks some good examples and asks the children to bring their magnetic boards to stand in
front of the class, facing their peers to show them the good work
- picks some bad examples for the other children to all see the mistakes.
Task 2 Alternative
Teacher: Asks the children to prepare for a personal chalkboard task
Children: Each lays out their personal chalkboard + chalk + rubbing cloth
Teacher: Dictates a ‘van’ or a word that has that ‘van’
Children: Write the ‘van’ neatly on their boards, following the gridlines, to form the words of the right
size, with the right space between words and in a straight line
Teacher: Hits her ruler on the table to signal time has finished for the task
Children: All hold their chalkboards boards up for the teacher to look at
Teacher: Goes through one, two or all three of the following:
- spots some mistake and tells the child/ren about that
- picks some good examples and asks the children to bring their chalkboards to stand in
front of the class, facing their peers to show them the good work
- picks some bad examples for the other children to all see the mistakes.
Task 3: Writing practice in official writing books
Teacher:
- Asks the children to pack the learning kit or chalkboard way
- Delivers a writing book to each child (the books are kept in her desk and the children are
not allowed to take them home)
Children:
- Get their pencils out and open the page of the official writing book that has the ‘van’ for
learning today
- Follow the sample written for them on that page and copy by writing the same ‘van’ or
words numerous times, often to the end of the page.
Task 4: writing practice in unofficial writing books
Exactly the same ‘van’/word written in the official writing practice is now written again in this task.
This writing book is not a compulsory material required by the MOET but most schools are using it.
The book provides extra space for writing, so the ‘van’ or word will be written again and again a
number of times.

This procedure of teaching results in synchronised tasks for the children. They
must do the same thing, at the same time, within the same amount of time given.
Not all the children are able to keep up with the common speed provided for each
task and these children are considered to be ‘slow’ children, with my participants
among these. Slow in this sense has two meanings: one referring to them taking
 - 183 -

too long to complete the task at hand, and the other referring to the children being
slow in understanding the teacher’s instructions.

These slow children often move from one task to another without fully completing
any task at all. For instance, when forming a word, these children may have
completed half of the word by the time the teacher requests them to stop working
and to show her what they have produced – these children then show their part-
completed work. For this they may be criticised or ignored by the teacher before
moving on to the next task. The same result happens in the next task and the task
after that, so that by the end of the session they have hardly ever had any task
completely finished. They are not waited for by the teacher or their peers, as the
time factor is critical, and they have to make sure they have done or learnt the
lesson within the defined timeframe.
 - 184 -

Vietnamese lesson sample 1

(24 November 2011, field notes, page 22)

Example 1:
Field notes 24 November 2011: the teacher dictates and the children have to write on their
personal chalk boards:
1. Teacher: inh – êng:
Hoanh: inh – eng (missing ^ above e)
Quyen: in (unfinished when requested to show work)
Khuong: inh (unfinished when requested to show work)
2. Teacher moves to the next words: thông minh
Hoanh: thong (missing ^ in the first word and missing second word)
Quyen: thong (missing second word)
Khuong: thô minh (missing ng from the first word)
3. Teacher moves to the next words: dòng kênh
Hoanh: dong (T spotted: 1-letters are not in a straight line, 2-missing the tone
huyen above letter o, 3-missing the second word > was scolded by the teacher)
Quyen: still trying to write the previous word thông minh but not knowing how
Khuong: dòng kênh
4. Teacher moves to the next words: đình làng
Hoanh: dinh hag (unfinished: mistakenly wrote d and no huyen tone above i, and
got the second word completely wrong)
Quyen: đinh l (unfinished: missed the huyen tone above i, and only got the first
letter in the second word)
Khuong: just sat without writing (uninterested and had given up? He took a risk
here and if the teacher spots that, he will definitely be scolded and punished)
 - 185 -

Vietnamese lesson example 2

(22 December 2011, field notes, page 47)

Example 2:
Field notes 22 December 2011: the teacher dictates and the children have to write on their
personal chalk boards:
1. Teacher: ang – anh:
Hoanh: ??? (still looking for chalk)
Quyen: ong - anh (first letter of first word wrong)
Khuong: ??? (could not keep up – showed blank board)
2. Teacher moves to the next words: đình làng
Hoanh: ??? (still looking for chalk)
Quyen: ??? (could not keep up – showed blank board)
Khuong: đinh lang (missing tone huyen on both sounds)
3. Teacher moves to the next words: túi lưới
Hoanh: ??? (still looking for chalk)
Quyen: túi (completes the first sound only)
Khuong: túi l (got the first sound and first letter of the second sound)
4. Teacher moves to the next words: mùa hạ
Hoanh: mùa ha (missed tone ‘nang’ in second sound)
Quyen: mu (unfinished)
Khuong: múa (got the first sound but tone is wrong)
5. Teacher moves to the next words: nương rẫy
Hoanh: nương (completes the first sound only)
Quyen: nương (completes the first sound only)
Khuong: nương (completes the first sound only)
6. Teacher moves to the next words: tựa bông
Hoanh: tựa bông (teacher is standing next to her and spells it for her to write, so
she got it all)
Quyen: tưa h (missed tone nang in first sound and did not start the second sound
correctly either)
Khuong: tựa bông (he got it right – note that this time the teacher paused to give
Hoanh instructions instead of moving on to new words)

This is among several examples recorded in the field notes that show the teacher
and children have to follow a certain speed when completing the lessons, as
dictated by the amount of books allocated for each term. From my observations,
 - 186 -

the standard speed appears to be alright for 50 to 60 percent of children in the

class, so not just those labelled as ‘slow’ struggle to keep up, but many of their
peers too. I also observed that there are a small number of children, about two or
three out of 27, who often had to wait for their peers, since they could complete
the task at hand a bit quicker. In other words, these children are slowed down
slightly by the synchronised pace of the class.

In this process, the teacher sometimes spots mistakes or criticises the children for
not completing the task, but most of the time she is too busy moving on to the next
task, so checking the individual work of 27 children in a few seconds seems
unrealistic. A similar situation is observed in mathematics classes, which is the
second most important subject. This, however, is not the case for the remaining
subjects because subjects other than mathematics and Vietnamese do not have a
large amount of textbooks and workbooks, and also these subjects are not
formally assessed and are disregarded when presenting the children’s learning
performance.

6.3.1.2 Teaching mathematics

Mathematics teaching and learning also needs to follow the timeframe scheduled
for the level. A similar situation to that observed in Vietnamese lessons is evident
in mathematics sessions, where not all learners are able to keep up with the
lesson speed. This results in them being unable to complete their tasks most of
the time, so they could not get to the right result. Again, the teacher-pupil ratio
adds extra difficulty to the situation and so the teacher does not always have time
for ‘slow’ learners.

Example 1: Mathematics kit tasks – teacher dictates the calculations and the children pick
the numbers and signs (subtraction, addition and equals) to form the formula and then
calculate the right result.
Teacher: 9+1
Hoanh: 9+1=10
Quyen: still sorting numbers and signs
Khuong: still sorting numbers and signs
Teacher: 1+9
Hoanh: 1+9=10
Quyen: still sorting numbers and signs
 - 187 -

Khuong: 1+9
Teacher: 8+2
Hoanh: 8+2=10
Quyen: 8+2=
Khuong: 8+2
Teacher: 2+8
Hoanh: 2+8=10
Quyen: 2+8= 10
Khuong: 2+8=10
Teacher: 7+3
Hoanh: 7+3=10
Quyen: 7+3= still looking for numbers
Khuong: 7+3=10
Teacher: 7+3
Hoanh: 2+8=10
Quyen: 2+8= 10
Khuong: 2+8=10
Teacher: 4+6
Hoanh: 4+6=10
Quyen: 4+6=
Khuong: 4+6=
Teacher: 10+0
Hoanh: 10+5=10 (understood that all calculations led to 10, but got the
wrong number due to mishearing the teacher, or being in a hurry, or
being careless?)
Quyen: 10+0= 10
Khuong: 10+0= (not enough time to complete)
(Field notes, 30 November 2011).
Example 2: Mathematics on chalkboard tasks – teacher dictates the calculations and the
children write the formula and then calculate the result using their personal chalkboards.
Teacher:5+4
Hoanh: 5+4=10
Quyen: 5+4=
Khuong: 5+4=
Teacher:5+5
Hoanh: 5+5=10
Quyen: 5+4=
 - 188 -

Khuong: 5+4=10
Teacher: 8+2
Hoanh: 8+2=10
Quyen: 8+2=
Khuong: 8+2=
Teacher: 3+7
Hoanh: 3+7=10
Quyen: 3+7=
Khuong: 3+7=
Teacher: 6+2
Hoanh: 6+2=
Quyen: 6+2=
Khuong: 6+2=
(Field notes 6 December 2011).

In the two examples shown above, on all occasions where the result was left
blank, it was because the teacher had signalled with her ruler and the children
needed to raise their boards for her to see, regardless of whether or not they had
completed their calculations. After showing the teacher, the children who had not
completed the calculation often still tried to complete it while the teacher was
already reading the next task. This resulted in them rushing to rub out the
unfinished calculations and to write the new one, thereby creating continuous
problems where they were constantly struggling to catch up. Also, while the
examples listed feature only the focal children, they were not the only ones who
failed to keep up with the teacher’s speed, several others were in a similar
situation when asked to show their work.

Another aspect of teaching mathematics in Vietnamese is that the curriculum

focuses heavily on numbers and text. In recent years, more pictures have been
used in textbooks but my observations reveal that understanding the written
instructions for each exercise is where the children struggle the most. In their day-
to-day learning, their mathematics teacher often reads aloud the instructions and
further explains what they need to do, but in assessments there is no such verbal
instruction provided for them.
 - 189 -

Initially, there are pictures and numbers used in mathematics exercises which aid
understanding for the children. From early December, only three months after the
beginning of the school year, the mathematics level already moves to a higher
level titled ‘Giải toán có lời văn’ (solving mathematics using words/literature). This
makes it even more challenging for the children, as at this point many of them are
still struggling with reading Vietnamese text.

Example: Có mười quả bóng, cho hai quả bóng, còn … quả bóng (There are ten balls, take
away two balls, there are …. balls left) (file 111206_002).

In the lesson, the teacher reads aloud and then has the children repeat the
instructions after her, so that when asked many children knew it was subtraction
that they needed to do.

In the test, however, if a child’s Vietnamese literacy has not advanced to the
expected level (set by the DOET), it is challenging for them to understand what
they need to do. Below is an example taken from the end-of-year test.

Example of mathematics test

(Source: Direct translation of the end-of-year mathematics test 2011-2012 – paper prepared by the
local BOET).

End-of-year test: there are five exercises and below are three of them:

Exercise 1:

a) Fill in the appropriate numbers under each mark of the arrow

37 41 45

b) Write the numbers 46; 65; 100; 62 in increasing order, from smallest to
biggest.
…………………………………………………………………

Exercise 4: draw a line to make a square and a triangle

Exercise 5: The 1A class has 29 pupils, of these there are 14 female pupils. How many
male pupils are there in the 1A class?
 - 190 -

In these three exercises, while 1a) looks clear since it has the arrow pointing right
and some numbers, so the children could predict the requirements without reading
it, the rest of the tasks look challenging for those who cannot read the Vietnamese
instructions. In Chapter 3, I discussed BICS and CALP issues (Cummins, 1981a)
and how García (2009) related the discussions of BICS and CALP to the
assessment of minority language learners. The test exercises presented here do
not follow García’s advice at all, where the author stressed the importance of
minority language learners being at a level where they do not need any
extralinguistic support in order to fulfil their learning and assessment. This type of
assessment, both in timing and in content, seems to be used in a way that puts
these minority language learners at a disadvantage.

Comments

When discussing the content and appearance of the learning programme, I would
like to further refer back to Table 4 in section 5.2.1.1 which lists all the textbooks
and workbooks for this year. In the current system, these extra textbooks, when
used at the researched school, take up a disproportionate amount of time due to
the low level of the children’s Vietnamese language. The timeframe needed for the
amount of books that have to be covered should be revised in the case of the focal
children. Currently the teachers and children have to complete the main curriculum
more quickly just so they can finish the extra books suggested by the authorities.
These additional materials should only be recommended for those schools where
the children are mostly elite majority learners who can complete the main
programme quickly, so have time available. This should not apply to schools that
enrol linguistic minority children who are still familiarising themselves with the
Vietnamese language. The teacher from one class clearly stated her concerns
about too many textbooks being used in a school year, and she believes the
programme content is just too heavy for these children.

6.3.2 Assessment
Assessment in my research is particularly important because in the Vietnamese
system tests act as the first and final factor in deciding learning outcomes. This is
also the main theme previously identified and discussed in chapter 4, section
4.4.10. The learning outcome is then used for deciding pass or fail factors, so
 - 191 -

whether a student is promoted to the next class level or has to repeat the same
year relies on test results. Before showing what this means for my participants, I
will briefly summarise assessment practices in Vietnamese primary schools. Prior
to that, however, I want to add a small section to briefly discuss the end-of-
kindergarten assessment before the children move to the primary school, as this is
the process that my research participants went through.

6.3.2.1 End-of-kindergarten assessment

At the end of their time in kindergarten, the children are assessed by the primary
school teachers, usually those from Year 1. The excerpt below is taken from an
interview with the kindergarten teacher interviewed at the last stage of the first
data collection phase, which further portrays this procedure.

Interview Voice 008 (Minutes 21 to 23)

Researcher: oh, so each child is assessed in turn?
Teacher: yes, each is tested in turn but is tested by the primary teachers who come here
on the day.
Researcher: so how can that be done? Do the teachers sit in the class to observe the
children or do they call each child to them?
Teacher: the primary school informs us of the date then we will test the children in this
class or in another classroom. They will sit and wait until they are called to see the testers
who sit at different tables in front of them. For example if there are 24 questions/areas to
be tested then there will be a teacher sitting at this table testing some skills and one sitting
over there who will test the children’s knowledge etc., so they divide it into sections.
Researcher: oh really, so that is when the teachers identify quick or slow learners?
Teacher: ah, slow or quick starts from here; therefore, there are children who are very
good in our class but when asked by the (primary) teachers, they become paralysed…
(with a funny face) so they are assessed as slow or weak learners or something like that…
but when learning in the class with us, these children are actually not bad at all... It must be
teachers that they are familiar with then they’ll feel at ease…This happens even though we
prepare them psychologically and practically a lot prior to the test...

It is in this test that the Year 1 teachers, who are also the examiners, come to
conclusions regarding the cases of slow or quick learners.

6.3.2.2 Primary school assessment overview

There are two semesters per academic year, and there are two formal tests and
two informal tests each year. Only Vietnamese and mathematics are tested
formally; other subjects are personally assessed by the teachers based on their
observations during teaching. This consequently means that only the mathematics
and Vietnamese test scores are relevant for the calculation of overall academic
 - 192 -

achievement of the children. Assessment results of other subjects are not included
in this process.

The informal Vietnamese and mathematics tests are conducted mid-term and the
formal ones are held at the end of each semester. The informal tests vary from
school-to-school or region-to-region. Some locations/schools may prepare the
tests themselves, but tests in other areas may be prepared by local (district level)
Education and Training departments. Most schools use the informal test scores as
part of the academic record of the children, but this is not a decisive factor which
affects the overall academic outcome. The results from the formal end-of-semester
tests, on the other hand, will appear in the official calculation of the overall
academic achievement of the students. These tests are therefore conducted much
more formally, with the test content designed by the DOET or BOET. If produced
by the former, this means the whole province will have the same test, and if by the
latter, this means that over 20 primary schools in this region will have this same
assessment.

In my research period, the first informal test was administered three days before
the formal end-of-semester-1 test. The school used the semester 1 test from the
previous year for this informal test. There was no informal test carried out before
the end-of-year test by the school this year.

Both formal end-of-semester tests were designed by the BOET. A couple of days
before the test day, the deputy head went to the district education department to
get the test papers, which are sealed in envelopes. They are instructed about
confidentiality, so the envelopes are not allowed to be opened until the morning of
the test day.

From my observations, in the early morning on the day of the tests, the deputy
head and the head read out the names of the teachers, instructing them each to
go to a particular class for invigilation. They swapped the teachers around so the
class teacher would not be watching their own class. The deputy head then
handed an envelope to each invigilator with a class list. The invigilators opened
the envelope and counted the number of papers immediately, to make sure that
they had adequate papers for the number of students they were invigilating.
Before leaving the common room for each test room, the invigilators were also
 - 193 -

reminded as to when the time would be counted. The process looks very
organised and professional, but when observing the actual tests, I realised the
practice in each classroom varied from invigilator to invigilator. This will be further
described in the section of the next chapter that discusses school systems and
their implications for children’s learning.

There is a specified marking day after the tests, so the children have a holiday
while the teachers are marking their papers. The scores of these two tests are
used to decide the grades of the students. There are five different grades, but in
reality there are only four that are used: Gioi (Distinction, minimum test score =
90%); Kha (Credit, minimum test score = 70%); Trung Binh (Pass, minimum test
score = 50%); and Yeu (Provisional Fail, minimum test score = 30%). Ranking
Kem (Fail, test score is lower than 30%) is no longer used by schools because the
teachers and head teachers said there had been an instruction not to use this
ranking anymore. The table below further depicts the grades and scores.

Figure 11: Test scores and rankings

When falling into the Provisional Fail category, the students are often allowed to
retake the test twice before the new school year starts. If they score 50 percent or
more on the first retest, they will be promoted to the next class level. If obtaining
less than 50 percent on the first retest, they may be retested a second time,
although this may not always be the case. If the class teacher feels the second
 - 194 -

retest is not needed due to her perceiving the ability of the pupil as being too weak
to be able to complete the test, the school may not administer the test for the child.
If the second retest is organised, the pupil needs to obtain at least 50 percent, as
scoring less than 50 percent will result in him/her having to repeat the same class
level. This means the pupil will be learning with children who are a year younger,
while peers are promoted to the class above.

How is the test result communicated to parents? There are three parent-teacher
meetings per school year. The first one is at the beginning of the year, during
which parents are introduced to the class teacher and are informed about
payments which they can pay on the spot if they have enough money with them.
The second meeting is the mid-year meeting, and this is for the teacher to
announce the semester 1 test results and to follow up with payments. The last
meeting is for parents to be informed about their child’s final result, and whether
s/he will be promoted to the next class or will be retaking the test with the
possibility of repeating the year.

6.3.2.3 The participants and the Year 1 tests

My participants’ identity and learning have been discussed above, so this section
examines the link between their identities and the assessment process in
identifying how these key aspects are interrelated.

First of all, in the cases of Hoanh, Quyen and Khuong, their images from the
classroom as poor learners seemed to transfer to the test environment. This
means that they are not expected (by teachers and peers) to successfully
complete the tests; therefore, no additional support should be provided for them.
The invigilators and the class teachers did not check their papers to see how they
were doing in the test, but they would do so with other children, such as returning
unfinished papers for them to continue working on, or giving them some prompts
and assistance so they could improve on their accuracy.

The children seemed to understand their situation very well and so they would not
show much effort during the test and appeared to be giving up while there was still
time for them to work on their unfinished papers. Hoanh did not look at her paper,
and it is uncertain whether this was because she did not know how to answer it, or
 - 195 -

because she knew she would be repeating the year anyway so there was no point
even trying. Nghieng did not do anything at all as he knew he would pass anyway.

The excerpts taken from my observations and recordings during test days illustrate
this.

Mid-year Vietnamese Test: The invigilator continues shouting at Hoanh and Quyen who
keep making mistakes. She said loudly that the class teacher needs to classify these
children as special needs or disabled.
The class teacher came back to the classroom to check. The invigilator said to the teacher
that these two children need to be put in the disabled category – the teacher agreed.
Whilst the children are working hard on their test papers, Hoanh and Quyen are not – they
are doing something else and have stopped working on their papers. Hoanh is looking at a
textbook and Quyen is searching for something in her bag.
The 1B teacher came back to her class again to check on her children but she seems not
to be bothered with Hoanh, Quyen and Khuong…Those who are not ‘slow’ are asked to
complete their paper when they submit incomplete papers, but this does not apply to those
labelled ‘slow’.
Nghieng is not doing the test, he is tracing in his writing book again. (27 December 2011,
field notes page 55)
Mid-year mathematics Test
After less than 10 minutes: Khuong was among those submitting their papers early.
rd
In the 23 minute, the last three children (Hoanh, Quyen and Mung) submitted their papers
(although they have not finished all the exercises and there is still time for them to
complete them). (26 December 2011, field notes page 53)
End-of-year Vietnamese Test
When walking round to hand out the papers, the invigilator noticed there were three
children sitting at a table at the end of the class. She said, ‘These are…?’ (Cac ban nay
la…?). The other children shouted ‘dup a!’ (repeating the year!).
The head teacher came and stood at the door, where she spotted three children at one
table, so she asked why there were three sharing one desk. The invigilator replied: ‘well,
those three don’t know anything’. The head said: ‘we have a spare table and sitting like
that doesn’t allow enough space for them to do their work, so please move one to this
empty table’. Hoanh was moved to the other table to sit by herself.
10 minutes into the test and many children are still sitting without doing anything. The
invigilator said:
‘It is not true that there are three slow (she used ‘ngo ngo’ which means dumb) children,
there are many more: those who are sitting there not knowing what to do yet’.
 - 196 -

While one child is reading to her, others started running around looking at their peers’ work
– perhaps they want to check the result and/or copy… but Quyen and Khuong seem to just
sit there not caring too much about what to do.
60 minutes into the exam, the invigilator asked the children to submit their completed
papers – many brought them to her but she identified a few of them that were incomplete
so she said ‘only if you have finished’. Some children took their papers back with them. A
peer took Quyen’s paper to give to the teacher and said something to her. I assume he
said she needs to complete it before handing it in. I observed her for a while and noticed
that she didn’t seem to be bothered about working on the paper any more. Khuong is also
turning around playing again while his test paper is on the floor – blown by the ceiling fan
presumably.
8.40: 70 minutes into the test and most of the children have submitted their papers and
some have completed the reading to the invigilator task, whereas others are awaiting their
turn. Some children are still working on their papers but Hoanh and Quyen already
submitted their papers some minutes ago.
The invigilator went through each submitted paper to call the children’s names, so that they
could come and read to her as she fills out the reading section on that test paper. When
she reached Hoanh and Quyen’s papers, she put them aside and told me: ‘I don’t need to
test these two’.
8.57: the class teacher walked into the classroom and told the invigilator that she doesn’t
need to test Hoanh, Quyen and Khuong. She then walked to Quoc and looked at his paper
and then gave him lots of prompts and suggestions to push him to finish the test. She also
said: ‘write like this… come on, you need to move to Year 2’. She then told him what to do
to fill in any spaces in the last exercise. She read word-by-word, sound-by-sound for him to
finish the copy writing section.
In the other room: Nghieng is given a handwriting sheet which the class teacher later told
me she had written for him. This basically requested him to copy the given words. (10 May
2012, field notes page 71)
End-of-year mathematics test
7.20: the invigilator is delivering the test papers. When she finished, she found out she
needed one more paper so Quyen is still waiting for a paper. The invigilator of 1A came
and said: ‘I thought it’s a 7.30 start?’ The 1B invigilator replied: ‘By the time they finish
writing their names on the paper it’ll be 7.30’.
7.30: Quyen‘s got her test paper now.
Hoanh sat alone at a table in the back row of the class – this seat can be seen as rather
disadvantaged because all the others sit with a classmate and they tend to look at each
other’s work from time to time. Physically and psychologically I think Hoanh is rather
isolated in this case.
7.55: Hoanh finished her test paper.
 - 197 -

8.10: time’s up: there are still 14 out of 27 children working on the test paper, including
Quyen and Khuong
In the other class: Nghieng is given a separate sheet to do the test and the invigilator stood
by his side giving him lots of prompts for him to make the calculations. (10 May 2012, field
notes page 76)

The field notes cited above are not to argue for additional support during the test
for these children but to highlight situations where they are treated unfavourably
and differently from their peers. The positive treatment seems to consistently go to
other students but not to the participants, as though their fates have already been
decided. For instance, when there were not enough test papers, the one having to
wait for the paper, which arrived 10 minutes later, was one of the participants and
she did not receive any extra time at the end of the test to compensate for the time
lost when she had to wait for her paper.

The treatment after the test for these children is consistent with that during the
assessment. No changes were made to their papers, while a number of their
classmates’ papers were corrected or changed by the markers. Their effort, or lack
of effort in the test, seemed to be irrelevant, as though a decision about them had
already been made and the assessment becomes a mechanism for supporting this
decision: Khuong’s score on his mathematics paper, for instance, was reduced
markedly, while despite Nghieng not doing much during the test, it was enough for
him to pass.

Marking in the teachers’ common room

The mathematics teacher sits next to the 1B teacher – when Quyen’s paper is marked, the
mathematics teacher said she would get 5/10 for her work – “don’t know how she managed
that”, so the class teacher said – “you can reduce it or rub some out”. She can get 4. The
mathematics teacher gave her 4.
Khuong got 100% right, but the mathematics teacher consulted with the class teacher
again and they decided he had copied from someone else, so some should be rubbed out
in order to make it wrong. She made it 7 and then decided it was too much so she
corrected it to 6. Then she said that if she had just based it on the result he would get 10.
The teacher said that Hoanh seemed to have got everything wrong – it should be
increased a bit or it’s too low. She then realised that she had got quite a few calculations
right – she is given a 4, the same as her sister Quyen.
I could see the mathematics teacher looking at a list while marking and this was a list of the
excellent and ‘slow’ children in classes 1B and 1A – the mathematics teacher had this in
 - 198 -

front of her when she marked their papers. I asked her and then I copied it. When asked,
the mathematics teacher said that the list was given to her by the class teachers and that
they need to match the mathematics and literacy results. (10 May 2012, field notes page
57)

With their unfavourable identities following them around, these participants did not
seem to have a chance. The results of their tests do not surprise me, and these
are shown in the table below which lists the two test results: mid-year and end-of-
year tests. Only Year 1’s test scores are recorded in this table, which shows the
test scores of Hoanh, Quyen and Khuong over the two years they studied in Year
1. Nghieng’s results are only for one year and when he moved to Year 2 I decided
not to follow up with his test scores, as once he is in the official disabled category
test scores have little meaning.
 - 199 -

Table 6: Summary of children’s test scores in Year 1 – Marked out of 10

School year 2011-2012 School year 2012-2013

Name/ Vietnamese Mathematics Final Vietnamese Mathematics Final

Status

Status
Subject outcome outcome

Term 1 Term 2 Final Term 1 Term 2 Final Term 1 Term 2 Final Term 1 Term 2 Final

Hoanh 4 3 Fail 4 3 Fail Repeating year 5 6 Pass 4 6 Pass Promoted to Y2

Repeating year
Repeating year Promoted to Y2
First Year

Quyen 4 1 Fail 3 3 Fail 4 5 Pass 6 6 Pass

SEN

Khuong 4 3 Fail 6 4 Fail Repeating year 7 8 Credit 9 8 Credit Promoted to Y2

Nghieng 3 5 Pass 3 5 Pass Promoted to Y2 Y2 Promoted to

Repeating Year

SEN Y3
 - 200 -

6.4 Conclusion
This chapter has examined the participants’ learning situations in relation to
their classroom contexts and the learning programme, to further investigate
the issues where their identities as ‘slow learners’ have somewhat
disadvantaged their learning in the system. In doing so, I have also shown
from my data what actually happened during the tests that were carried out
in their classrooms.

The next chapter forms an in-depth discussion of the issues pertaining to the
system, which diminish the nurturing of learning for these children – my
research participants. In doing so, I will analyse the assessment process and
procedures in detail, to reveal how my research participants’ identities were
constructed and what really happened to them during and after that. Some
policy analysis will be presented, to show the full circle of learning ecology
around these children and to further answer my research questions.

1. In which ways do some linguistic minority pupils become categorised

as slow learners? and

2. What may happen to those being categorised as ‘slow’?

 - 201 -

Chapter 7: Key themes synthesis and discussion

The previous two chapters of data analysis identify some issues in
mainstream education in Vietnam, including the way in which pupils
gradually become categorised as slow learners. In this chapter I will first
synthesise the key themes before forming the discussion which is the
second part of the chapter.

The key themes that emerged in the two prior chapters are synthesised
using assessment as a case study, to show that it is this process that visibly
exposes and reinforces the identity construction of my learners. In other
words, the assessment process in my study is a case study of how the
children’s identities are constructed in their relationships with their teachers.
Thus, it is the assessment process that finally decides the outcomes of the
learners and this process affects most of the issues discussed in Chapters 5
and 6. The key themes that emerged from the study will then be summarised
before moving on to examine a number of discussions.

The discussion section further examines these themes both theoretically and
practically, considering the global context as well as Vietnamese national
trends, in order to put my case study into perspective. In particular, the
discussions will focus on language issues and the role which the
Vietnamese language plays in the processes, the issues of special
educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and Vietnamese as an additional
language (VAL), and the way in which second language learners could be
titled ‘learning disabled’. All this will finally lead back to the discussion of
identity matters, as this is a central part of my argument, which is supported
by my data. This is arguably the central factor that could lead to success or
failure in education in Vietnam, as shown by my research context.

The discussion also captures the main points covered in the chapter, while
also stressing the vital role that identity plays in my research context and for
my research participants in particular. The chapter then ends with an
introduction to the following chapter.
 - 202 -

7.1 Key themes synthesis – Assessment as a case study

In the assessment section of the literature review chapter, I discussed and
reviewed the when, what and how questions that are relevant when
assessing young minority language learners. This aims to emphasise the
importance of incorporating and balancing these three factors, to create valid
and reliable assessments and to make such a process useful to both
learners and teachers. Below is a discussion of these factors when
examining the data analysed in Chapters 5 and 6.

7.1.1 The WHEN issues

As previously stated, there are two tests per school year called the semester
1 test and the semester 2/end-of-year test, with the first held four months
after the children start schooling and the second following after another four
months. The question of when to assess, especially for second language
learners in Vietnam, is what is being questioned here.

In the literature review section 3.3.3.2, one of the main points discussed was
the BICS and CALP domains of language posited by Cummins (2000).
García (2009) then applies BICS and CALP to learning and assessment,
where it is imperative that the student has built up enough ability in the
language to be able to understand the requirements of questions and have
the capacity to provide complete and accurate responses to questioning
before assessments can be undertaken. Therefore, the timing of
assessments is especially important. If, for example, an assessment were
carried out when the children were not yet fully capable of producing in that
language, the results of that testing may not accurately represent the true
ability of the individuals assessed. This is why education administrators in
Toronto, when introducing a policy for testing minority language children,
stated that these children should not be tested for at least two years after
they start schooling (Cummins, 2000).

Vietnam does not differentiate education practices for minority language

learners, as compared with Vietnamese majority learners; therefore, there
exists an identical testing system throughout the country, for all groups of
children. Formal testing is carried out four months after the children enter
 - 203 -

primary school, followed by the end-of-year test, which is eight months after
starting, creating a rather threatening learning environment for these
children. This is completely opposite to the educational philosophy of Conteh
and Brock (2010), who suggest that a non-threatening learning environment
would encourage and motivate minority language learners. In addition to
that, the efficacy of formal testing in this case appears to be questionable, in
terms of its aims, content and the way in which the tests are administered.
These are summed up in the what and the how issues discussed below.

7.1.2 The WHAT issues

The second issue of assessing second language learners discussed in the
literature review is the I issue. With regard to this, I will quickly review areas
of child development and learning and will then describe the areas selected
for testing in the Vietnamese system to identify what could be problematic.
This will be followed by a discussion of issues relating to the test content that
is used for assessing the learners.

When reflecting on the areas of child development and learning, and what is
assessed, I feel that the system is purely Vietnamese-language-centric,
which is not the strength of many minority language learners, since this is
not their mother tongue. My diagram in Figure 7 of Chapter 6 identifies the
nine subjects taught in Year 1, and assessing only two subjects
(mathematics and Vietnamese) does not fully reflect the overall development
of children in their early years. At this point, I would like to draw some
comparison using the UK Early Years curriculum as an example: this
focuses on seven areas of development for children which are:

- Personal, social and emotional development

- Communication and language
- Physical development
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding of the world
- Expressive arts and design
 - 204 -

The nine subjects scheduled for Year 1 classes in Vietnam could be grouped
into these seven areas of development, so that:

- Personal, social and emotional development = Ethics + study of

society and nature
- Communication and language = Muong language and verbal
Vietnamese language
- Literacy = Vietnamese sessions
- Problem solving, reasoning and numeracy = mathematics sessions
- Knowledge and understanding of the world = Study of society and
nature + extra-curricular activities
- Physical development = PE
- Creative development = Art + craft + Music/singing

Although in reality the Muong language is not yet included in the learning
programme, there is the potential for doing, so using the 15% curriculum
window specified by the central government (discussed in Chapter 2).

In the previous year, 2010, in the kindergarten class in Vietnam, assessment

for the children was divided into four areas of development:

- Physical development
- Social and emotional development
- Communication and language development (in Vietnamese)
- Knowledge and awareness development

Such areas are still present in the curriculum for primary education, but
formal assessment for Year 1 only focuses on two areas of development
which are mathematics and Vietnamese language and literacy. One could
argue that these are the two main and most important subjects, but I still
stress that these two subjects are in no way sufficient to represent the
overall development of six-year-old learners. For the early years, there are
important learning and development areas other than knowing numbers,
calculations, and language and literacy, as discussed in section 3.3.3.1.

The second issue derived from what to test is the content of the tests. Of the
four official tests in one school year, the end-of-year tests are the most
important as they weigh roughly 70 percent of the annual GPA of each
 - 205 -

learner. I will therefore analyse two end-of-year test papers in Vietnamese

and mathematics to show what could be problematic in the content of these
papers.

Vietnamese tests

The Term 1 test, although there are still some concerns, particularly in
relation to the marking process, seemed better organised when compared
with the Term 2 test. For example, in the second assessment there were
sufficient test papers for all the children in the class, and the texts for the
reading task were provided in the test paper rather than asking the invigilator
to choose texts from a textbook. Term 2’s test content was problematic in
relation to several issues, which are discussed below.

The following is a direct translation of the end-of-year Vietnamese test for

Year 1 for the school year 2011-2012.

A – Reading Test (10 points)

1. Quietly read ‘Qua cua bo’ (Vietnamese textbook, 2nd book, page 85)
and based on the content place an X in the box to denote the right
answer
a. Where is the girl’s soldier-father based?
□ Nha Trang □ A remote island □ Tuy Hoa

b. Which presents did the father send his little child?

□ Sweets, teddy bear, telling her of his homesickness and
affection

□ A kiss, best wishes, clothes, affection

□ His best wishes, a kiss, telling her of his homesickness and

affection

2. Reading aloud
a. Pupil (each) reads aloud 30-40 words from a text or a poem
taken from Vietnamese textbook 1 or textbook 2 (teacher/
invigilator selects).
b. Answering a few simple questions or identifying a few sounds
 - 206 -

(âm) and diphthongs (vần) from that reading selected by the

teacher/invigilator.
B – Writing Test (10 points)

1. Spelling and handwriting (8 points) – 15 minutes

Writing the text: ‘Cay bang’ (Vietnamese textbook 2, page 127). Write
from ‘Xuan sang…’ to end of text’

2. Fill in the blank with ân or uân:

Kh…………..vác h…………..hoan

T…………….lễ h…………..luyện

The first issue relates to both the first exercise of the reading section and the
first exercise in the writing section. This is a failure to provide the children
with adequate reading materials needed for the test. The materials were not
provided and the children were requested to look for these texts/readings in
their own textbooks – in this particular case, the test writer assumed that all
the children must have their Vietnamese textbooks with them when sitting
the test. In reality, however, I observed that many children did not even bring
a bag with them because this is a test day, so the textbooks were in their
bags at home. Also, some children have already lost their textbooks during
the school year. In my observations, I noted that it was rather chaotic in the
test rooms after the invigilators had given the instructions. When realising
that some children did not have their textbooks with them, the invigilator
asked their peers to share the textbooks. This, however, did not eliminate
the chaos when the textbook was needed.

Such an issue could be eliminated if a) the text was provided within the test
paper, or b) the class teacher knew the textbook was needed during the test,
so she could better prepare her children. I believe the former is a better
solution, compared with the latter, because even if the teacher could prepare
the children in advance, she still would not have had spare copies of the
textbook for those children who had lost theirs. I noticed that those who had
lost their books during the school year or before the exam were mostly from
poor families with busy working parents, and so perhaps replacing a lost
 - 207 -

textbook for their children presents a bigger problem than for better-off
parents. Personally, I doubt that these parents would have acted differently,
even if the teacher had informed them before the test about the need to
replace their children’s textbooks.

The second issue of this test lies with Reading task 2 that did not provide
reading content to be tested but requested instead that the invigilators select
a text from the Vietnamese textbook with which to test the children. Will all
invigilators in the different rooms choose the same level of reading for their
children? My observations showed that the 1B class’s invigilator selected a
paragraph of text for the children to read while the 1A invigilator selected a
verse from a poem. This tester input creates inconsistency in the testing
process and could affect the assessment outcomes, even where the levels
of reading in the two classes are the same. During the school year, almost
all poems in the textbook were learnt by heart, where the children repetitively
chant the poems and can repeat them with their eyes closed. This means
that the children may not know the text but after reading the first line of a
poem, they are likely to remember the whole poem/verse and can read
fluently without showing much difficulty when reading to the invigilator. This
perhaps explains why the reading task in 1A was completed rapidly by each
child and within a short period of time, with almost all the children tested
reading smoothly and speedily. On the other hand, this reading task could
not be finished in time in the 1B class, and so not all the children were called
to read to the invigilator (field notes, 10 May 2011).
 - 208 -

Mathematics tests

Below is the Test paper directly translated from end-of-year mathematics

test for Year 1 – May 2011

Exercise 1:
a) Fill in the appropriate numbers under each mark of the arrow

37 41 45

b) Write the numbers 46; 65; 100; 62 in order, from smallest to largest
…………………………………………………………………
Exercise 2:
a) Present the numbers in vertical calculations and then calculate:
43 + 26 36 + 12 87 – 36 71 – 21

………. ………. ……….. ……….

………. ………. ……….. ……….

………. ………. ……….. ……….

b) Calculate:
18cm + 30cm = ………… 59cm – 42cm – 10cm = ……….

Exercise 3:

> 37 + 42 81
< 86 – 24 60 + 2
= 40 + 10 25 + 24

Exercise 4: draw a line to make a square and a triangle

Exercise 5: 1A class has 29 pupils, of these there are 14 females. How many male pupils
are there in the 1A class?

In the above figure, the instructions in Exercise 1b could have been better
worded, so the children could understand the task more easily. This could be
done, for example, by arranging four circles in a line, in order from smallest
to largest and the children could then write a number in each circle with the
smallest number in the smallest circle and so on.
 - 209 -

Similarly, Exercise 2a could include an example of how the numbers should

be presented and calculated to assist with the written instructions.
Exercises 4 and 5 could be designed in a different way, perhaps
accompanied by images/pictures to help the children understand the
requirements of the tasks. With children who are six-years-old, where most
of them only experienced the Vietnamese language for the first time in the
kindergarten class, asking purely text-based mathematics questions creates
a high chance of the children not knowing what they are supposed to do.
The mathematics test would be more helpful for young learners, who learn in
a second language, if there were pictures to demonstrate the questions. My
field notes from the test day showed that when the allocated time was over,
more than half of the children in the class were still working on their papers,
as they had not finished, including the class monitor who is expected to be
one of the best learners. The focal children left Exercise 5 blank because
they did not understand what they had to do, even though the invigilator
loudly read out the instructions at the beginning of the test. This exercise
was the last one on the test paper, so by then the children could probably
not remember what they had been told by the invigilator earlier.

This assessment is evidence of double testing the minority language

children. I call it double testing because the test does not only assess
mathematical skills, numbers and calculations, but also tests Vietnamese
language proficiency. This test was sat by all Year 1 children in this district
and those who are Vietnamese clearly had an advantage by being tested in
their mother tongue. It is therefore not too difficult to explain such a steep
difference in the test results from schools in towns, as compared with those
in remote areas where pupils may be mostly minority language learners.
Further examination of the language issues will be presented, extended and
challenged in the discussions section of this chapter, both in the language
and identity sections.

7.1.3 The HOW issues

The last question regarding testing issues is how to test. This refers to the
administration of the assessment, including test procedures, invigilation and
 - 210 -

marking. I will analyse this by examining three separate time periods to

carefully examine how the tests were administered.

Before the test

These assessments are carried out very formally, so one day before the
official test date, the deputy head of the school goes to the BOET to collect
all the test papers for her school. All papers are sealed in envelopes, and
these envelopes are opened only 15 minutes before the test, when the head
teacher gives the papers to the invigilator of each class. This means that the
content of the tests remains confidential until the last minutes before the
exam. While this practice ensures professionalism and consistency between
schools regarding content, this posed some problems in the year I observed.

First of all, when considering the Vietnamese test, for instance, there was no
communication between the local BOET and any schools or teachers
regarding how they should prepare their children. As such, the teachers and
children did not know in advance that they would need their Vietnamese
textbooks during the test. In the previous section, I mentioned the chaos
created in the test rooms after the children found out that they needed their
textbooks to complete the test.

Additionally, while sealing the test papers until the final minutes should
ensure confidentiality of the test content, any mistake made by the local
BOET will cause difficulty with amendments, since there is almost no
available time for any necessary updates. Below are my field notes from two
different test days.
th
Monday 26 December 2011: …now the teachers are queuing to get the envelope
for their class. They are allowed to open and check the papers in front of the head
to ensure they have an adequate number of papers. The mathematics and
Vietnamese tests are prepared by the local BOET. One Year 5 teacher has spotted
a mistake regarding an instruction which says ‘read the … from Year 3’ which
confused them, but the teachers then figured out it is supposed to say ‘…from Year
5’.
th
Friday 11 May 2012: … 7.20: the invigilator is delivering the test papers. When
she had finished, she found out she needed one more paper so Quyen is still
waiting for her paper…...7.30: Quyen‘s got her test paper now.
 - 211 -

In the above examples, the first mistake made by the local BOET was
fortunately spotted by a teacher at the time she received the papers. It was
fortunate that the teacher actually read through the paper after counting
them and spotted the mistake. This would have been confusing for the
children, if the mistake had not been promptly identified by the teacher. Of
course, it was only a few minutes before the test, so no amendment could be
made on the papers, but the invigilators for both rooms were aware of the
mistake and could tell the children verbally before the test, which somewhat
solved the problem.

The second example shows a more serious issue which created an unfair
situation for a child who is one of my participants and who subsequently
received her test paper 10 minutes later than her peers and was granted no
extra time at the end of the test. Perhaps the invigilator did not have enough
time to count the test papers before going to her room and that was why she
only found out there were insufficient papers after distributing them.

During the test

Test invigilation further created inconsistencies in both the Vietnamese and

mathematics tests. Two Year 2 teachers are appointed to be the invigilators
for the two Year 1 groups because it is understood that the children they
invigilate will be moving to their classes in the following school year.
th
Friday 11 May 2012: … She (the invigilator) also told the class that they are slow
and that they will need more discipline from her next year. I then asked her if she is
teaching these children next year. She said that if she is invigilating this class now,
it is likely that she will be given the class later when they move to Year 2.

The two invigilators have completely different styles of invigilating, with one
appearing to be more lenient and somewhat encouraging and
accommodating, whereas the other was very strict and intimidating towards
the children. The more lenient one patiently read the instructions of each test
exercise slowly and loudly to the children. She also paused and explained
repeatedly what each requirement meant and then demonstrated with
prompts and examples. In providing prompts for Part B – Writing – exercise
2, she said:
 - 212 -

th
Friday 11 May 2012: … 1A invigilator: ‘Will you say khuan vac or khan vac?’ (the
children replied, ‘khuan vac’). She then said: ‘In that case, should we put uan or an
behind the kh?’ (the children replied, ‘uan’)…

When choosing a text for the children to read aloud to her, she chose a
verse from a poem which most children appeared to read rather easily. I
believe that the examiner’s manner (her appearing to be accommodating
and encouraging) and the level of reading (a poem instead of a paragraph of
text) helped the children in this case.

Such support and encouragement was not observed in the other classroom,
where the invigilator could be considered rather intimidating towards the
children, such as by calling them dumb; telling them that they were slow
learners who needed more discipline from her; and that they would get a
1/10 mark immediately, if they were to look at their peers’ paper (field notes
on 10, 11 May 2012). When testing the reading section, this invigilator also
chose a piece of literature full of text to ask the students to read. This poses
a serious problem regarding consistency in the level of difficulty used to
assess the children, because during the year most poems taught were learnt
by heart, while this was not the case with literature. So in this instance, the
children in one class got such an easy task in reading a poem which they
had most likely learnt by heart, so they could rote-read it without much
difficulty. However, the children in the other class had to read a piece of
literature which was certainly more difficult. This difference is further
amplified by the tester effect, as the children got nervous when being
assessed by a teacher who had never taught them before and who also
appeared to be so threatening to them.

Furthermore, while the reading task clearly stated a requirement for the
speed at which the children needed to read, there was no equipment such
as a recording device or timer for the examiner to carry out the task. As
such, the reliability of the task can be questioned because it relies too much
on the testers’ professionalism and an ability to estimate the timing.

At this point, I would like to revisit the interview with the kindergarten teacher
regarding the end-of-kindergarten assessment to add some comments on
the how issues. Looking back at the assessment carried out at the end of
 - 213 -

the kindergarten class, briefly presented in section 6.6.6.1 of Chapter 6, one

could question the tester effect here. Baker (2007) warned that the
assessors’ effect is not neutral and everything embedded in their identity
influences the children’s responses to the test, which directly influences the
assessment outcome.

Interview Voice 008 (Minutes 20 to 21): the children mentioned joined in all
activities here in my Kindergarten class. On a normal basis they learn really well but
when being tested it was the teachers from the primary school who came here and
psychologically, even when we swap teachers within the kindergarten, the children
become very scared… being tested like that doesn’t appropriately reflect the actual
ability of the children…

This expresses the teacher’s concern about the testers’ effect and the fact
that the children are tested by the teachers from the primary school
produces assessment outcomes that fail to accurately reflect the children’s
true abilities.

In addition to the tester effect, the way the assessment is organised appears
to be rather intimidating, as the children queue up waiting for their turn to go
and see different examiners, most of whom they had never met before the
test. It is not just the testers from the Primary school that are intimidating
figures; the teacher mentioned that any strangers coming to the class will
make the children and the teachers themselves nervous.

Interview Voice 008 (Minutes 24 to 25): … or sometimes we have teachers

coming to observe us, or exchanging experience between schools - the children
also stay paralysed, 5-years-old but wet themselves. To be honest with you, we as
teachers teaching the class, when seeing many other teachers observing us, we are
also very nervous and shaky, so it’s not just the children (with strangers)…

When observing an assessment process like that, I clearly see that the test
is set up against, rather than to support, the young minority learners in my
study. Not only are there problems with the test content but also with the
administration of the test, as well as with the outcomes which follow the
children later as they enter the primary school. Some of them may be able to
change the labels created by the test but some may be tagged for all time,
which is not positive and encouraging for these learners.

After the test

 - 214 -

Following the test, the papers were returned to the class teachers for
marking. Although the requirement was that the markers should exchange
papers, so the 1B teacher marks 1A’s papers and the 1A teacher marks 1B’s
papers, the markers actually swapped back, so they could mark their own
pupils’ papers. The teachers explained that they needed to swap back
because they know their children better, so they could mark more
accurately. There could be some justification for this, but I also believe that
students may behave differently in tests, as compared with when learning in
the classroom, so that those who appear to learn slowly in class may
perform better in exams, for instance. If the marker is also the teacher and
the papers are not anonymised, as in this case, then the teacher may mark
the children based on her perception of the student’s performance and not
based on what the student has done in their test paper – this was exactly
what was observed during the marking day.

One would question why the teachers were so wary about ‘weak’ children
getting high scores on the test. My findings suggest that it is an inconsistent
and somewhat confusing system that creates such fear. In the school year
2010-2011, a child, who was promoted to Year 2 and had studied in that
class for only a few weeks, was then returned to the Year 1 class. The
rationale for this was that the Year 2 teacher felt that the child’s learning was
too slow and that he had been wrongly promoted, so must be returned to his
‘correct’ learning level, which was Year 1. In this process, the Year 2 teacher
won the debate and was supported by the school management, which
resulted in negative feelings for both the Year 1 teacher, who felt her ability
and reputation were diminished, and the child who felt upset and angry
towards this decision (Interview with both Year 1 teachers on 9 February
2012, Voice recording, File 120209_001).

To add some information, this child completed the semester 1 mathematics

test paper within 5 minutes and scored 10/10. My observations, on normal
schooldays, recorded that he was too advanced for studying in this class for
a second year and that this resulted in his working slower, as most of the
time he had to wait for others to complete the task at hand. Therefore, while
it would be rewarding for the teachers to have all their children promoted to
 - 215 -

the next year level, they are also conscious about getting into disagreements
with their Year 2 colleagues and especially the school management.

The class teacher said she observed Hoang being initially depressed in her class
when the year to be retaken started and that now he is still quiet and appeared to
not cooperate as he may still have anger inside him. My observations of this boy
also noted that he sometimes displayed a withdrawn attitude by not doing the tasks
requested by the teacher, although I feel he knew exactly what to do. He is always
quiet and doesn’t seem to have any friends in this class. At recess time, I often saw
him coming to play with the Year 2 boys who had been his classmates the previous
year, as I was told by the children and teachers. (27 December 2011, field notes
page 57)

7.1.4 Summary of the themes

From Chapters 5 and 6 and the detailed case regarding assessment
analysed above, the main themes found in this investigation are concerned
with the children’s school and home experiences, and the home-school
connection in child learning. Assessment is very important in this context, as
it is the means of formalising the learning outcomes of the children, including
the labelling of them as being ‘slow’.

The sub-themes could be summarised and listed as follows:

- The first theme shows how the child participants are disadvantaged
by the system and/or socio-economic factors.
- The second theme points to a theory of ‘blaming the victim’ – how the
children are corrective to the system, so the system does not need to
change because there is always someone to blame – in this case the
lowest end of the learner spectrum.
- The third theme relates to the self-fulfilling prophecy, which means
the children stopped trying once they felt their fates had been
decided. The situation ensures that everyone sticks to their
established and concreted roles, where the children are unable to
extricate themselves from their disadvantaged positions. The
teachers teach and assess the children in the way they do and the
children respond to what others expect of them.
- The fourth theme is concerned with an imbalance of power that exists
between families and the system, by which I mean the educators and
 - 216 -

the school. This refers to elements of Confucian culture discussed

briefly in section 6.1.2 and below in 7.2.4. In this cultural context,
parents, particularly those who are from disadvantaged backgrounds
(linguistic minority communities, the poor, those with a low level of
education, etc.) feel that they do not have the right to complain about
or to challenge any decision made by the school or by the child’s
teacher. It appears to be a significant cultural force within the country.
- The fifth theme pertains to other pressures created by the system,
where the socioeconomic status of this linguistic minority group is
particularly low and the research participants are financially
disadvantaged, even within this group. This means that teachers are
unable to contribute more, for example, by providing private lessons
for which they are paid, which is a common practice in schools where
the parents are financially better off. This results in the researched
children being unable to use the school and the teachers in a way that
other children use these resources in other parts of the country. As a
result, this aspect of the system is closed off from these children due
to the low socioeconomic conditions into which they were born.

While the main themes and subthemes may not directly relate to language,
they do point to an understanding that there are other factors underpinning
the way assessment is labelling the children. The actual recognition that has
come through my data is that language is not the only factor in
understanding how assessment turns children into being labelled as ‘slow’
learners. It is quite clear that these themes and sub-themes relate not just to
language but also to the context and the issues surrounding the children’s
experiences. In understanding how to assess the learners fairly, these
themes need to be taken into account to understand the teachers’ position in
this context and to then acknowledge that there is very little space in the
education system in Vietnam for the teachers to recognise or to alter their
children’s learning experiences and their struggles, as the teachers
themselves are also caught in such a system. The themes therefore
illustrate that how the children are perceived is not a result of particular
teachers being insensitive but instead an outcome of a wider system which
 - 217 -

teachers have little or no power to change. In other words, teachers are

simply a feature of the wider system within which they work.
In conclusion, it is not just the education system that must change, but there
needs to be greater awareness of the consequences of socioeconomic
factors. I do, however, wish to acknowledge that the education system in
Vietnam may work well in other locations which I have not researched.

7.2 Discussions
Having looked at the assessment procedures in detail, I will now select some
central aspects for further discussion. As I have shown that assessment in
this research is a key part of how my participants’ identities are constructed,
this discussion will focus around the interrelated nature of assessment and
identity, and the consequences of this for my participants. The way that
being a second language learner impacts on assessment outcomes and how
their identities affect the participants are also explored, as well as the impact
of the participants upon the focal school. The theoretical principles of this are
discussed in the literature review, section 3.3.3, but will also be referred to
extensively in this discussion. I will start the discussion with a question from
Hall et al. (2001,p.44): ‘How can any assessment be fair and accurate if
conducted in a language that is not familiar to the child?’

7.2.1 Language issues

Bilingualism has been emphatically shown to be an advantage, but can
become a disadvantage in an unfavourable system, as discussed in section
3.4. When reviewing the categorisation from Hall et al. (2001), these
bilingual learners start at a disadvantage because they fit into the fourth
category, linguistic minorities, which means language is the first obstacle
they will encounter when learning in mainstream education.

While these minority children are required to succeed academically, there is

a question of how much proficiency in the Vietnamese language is needed
for such success. For the educational system, this has never appeared to be
an issue, since the curriculum designed for this group of learners is exactly
the same as that provided for the majority Kinh students, as are the times
that these children sit the tests each year. Elsewhere, in the United States or
 - 218 -

in Canada, there is an understanding from research, although this is yet to

be incorporated into policy, that there may be a prospect for delaying the
time for testing children learning in a language other than their mother
tongue by between two to five years (Cummins, 2000; Cummins, 1985), as
discussed in section 3.3.3.2. In Vietnam, the process remains unchanged,
with the first test being administered four months after the children enter
Year 1 and the second test carried out five months after the first. This means
that after eight months of attending primary school, the children are
expected to prove their ability in the Vietnamese language through these
tests, with the threat of retaking the tests or repeating the year if they are
unsuccessful.

One may then question whether or not BICS and CALP and the linguistic
issues discussed are relevant in a context where the majority of students
are from the same linguistic minority group, in this case Muong. My
argument would be that these linguistic concepts are indeed relevant and
can be related to my participants and their learning journey; such as learning
in Vietnamese, which is not their mother tongue, and being assessed very
early in their learning journey. While several of their peers are also Muong
who learn in Vietnamese like them, their personal circumstances were
different, and they perhaps have a greater attendance record in reception
class than these children who were not able to go to school due to their
parents being unable to purchase a lunch voucher for instance. However, I
wish to stress that linguistic factors and BICS and CALP alone could not
adequately explain these learners’ struggles and how they became who they
are. The data in my study have also pointed to other factors that are
significant in influencing my participants’ learning journey, and such factors
are listed as themes above in section 7.1.5. These factors point to an
understanding of learning in a much broader way than just thinking about
BICS and CALP, where we need to also understand the cultural aspects and
the ‘ecology of learning’ (Cole, 1998), in order to fully explain the
categorisation of these learners.

Furthermore, while in theory the school is supposed to be a Vietnamese-only

environment, this was not the case in reality, as shown in section 5.2.2. All
informal conversations between the children of the researched school are in
 - 219 -

their mother tongue, and they only speak Vietnamese during their lessons
and to their teachers. Has the continuous use of their mother tongue, whilst
learning in Vietnamese, ever been considered as multicompetence (Wei,
2011) or translanguaging (García, 2009) because of their ability to
understand multilingual practices and to switch between two languages, or
do such notions not exist in the system? The latter seems to be the case for
these children in Vietnam.

In section 3.5.1, I reviewed the global situation regarding language policy in

education by analysing policies for bilingual or multilingual education in
different countries. The review shows that resistance towards the inclusion
of minority languages into mainstream education has been a common trend
and practice in several countries. Mohanty et al. (2009), for instance, claim
that as language shift has occurred in some parts of India, a number of
minority languages have been weakened and pushed to the margins of
societal domains, which has restricted the development of these ethnic
minority communities as a whole. This appears to be even more the case in
the Vietnam context, with all significant domains in the country governed by
the language of the majority, from the monolingual education system to the
political and economic worlds.

I use the example of India in particular because the submersion education

system described by Mohanty et al. (2009) is very similar to what has been
happening in Vietnam, where the exclusion of minority languages has
created different layers of cumulative disadvantage. Of this, perhaps the
most apparent is poor classroom performance, leading to high dropout rates
as learning progresses to higher levels, followed by subsequent exclusion
from the main societal domains.

In section 3.5.3, I discussed some different models of bilingual education

that are being tried out in Vietnam by NGOs aiming to create a smooth
transition for minority children to learning in Vietnamese language. Such
piloting shows an awareness of learning issues for language minority
children in mainstream schools and this has attracted certain attention from
the government who granted permission for these schemes. However, it can
be assumed that the final aim of these piloted bilingual programmes in the
 - 220 -

country is to produce monolinguals in Vietnamese as they are just different

forms of the transitional model of bilingualism (see section 3.5.3). I would
argue that until such programmes are introduced officially into the system on
a mass scale, that minority language learners, especially those at the very
low end, will continue to struggle. Although not all minority language learners
fail in mainstream education, the high level of failure experienced by these
children is often linked to a mismatch between their home language and that
used in the education system (Skutnabb-Kangas, 1988; Cummins, 2000).

7.2.2 Why are struggling learners affected more so than other

learners?

It could be suggested that if the assessment issues identified here were

commonplace in primary education in Vietnam, there could potentially be
undesirable consequences for all learners, so WHY are my findings
suggesting such a disadvantage for ‘slow’ learners – in this case, the
research participants?

Firstly, children who are at the lower end of the class are more affected
because their learner identities have gradually been constructed through the
learning process. In particular, when many children have only been exposed
to the new language since their time in kindergarten, using the same
curriculum with the same timeframes and workload as that given to the
majority Vietnamese children, especially those who live in urban areas and
big cities, clearly creates problems. My observations witnessed that children
who were unable to keep up with the pace of teaching were left behind and
slowly became paralysed in the class, not knowing what to do when their
peers, who could follow the teachers’ instructions, were already much further
ahead. This resulted in these children missing the opportunity to practise the
new words, letters and aspects of mathematics being taught, thereby losing
the opportunity to have their work checked and to be given feedback by the
teachers.

That ‘perceived identity’, when brought into the test room, becomes a burden
for them, as they are not encouraged to perform as well as they could, and
they are fully aware that their fates have been decided before the final tests.
They are further discouraged by not being given equal space when sitting
 - 221 -

the test like their peers (such as three of them being expected to share one
small desk until the head teacher came to inspect and intervene) and they
were sat isolated from their peers, so had little opportunity to share the
materials which the test required. Also, during the test, the invigilators never
went anywhere near these children, while they constantly walked around the
classroom to supervise the other children working on their papers and
sometimes pointed out mistakes they had made, so they could rub them out
and correct themselves. All three children in my research were not called to
read to the invigilator because there was not enough time for each child to
read to her. This means this reading section will be marked by the teacher
based on her experience of these children in the classroom and not from
what they may be able to do during the test. When there were not enough
test papers, it was one of the participants who had to wait while her peers
started answering the questions. Her paper came 10 minutes later but she
was not given any extra time at the end of the test to compensate for the
time lost at the beginning.

This shows that my research participants are disproportionately affected by

their ‘perceived identity’ and it is through the process of learning and
assessment in schools where the perceptions of their identity that
disadvantages them has been constructed. Although their peers could also
be affected to some extent, they have not been positioned at the very low
end, where failure is awaiting them. Such identity factors followed the
participants throughout the school year into the test room, where their fates
were finally and officially decided and where repeating the year would
inevitably be the outcome (refer back to sections 6.2.1 and 6.3.2.3 for further
evidence).

Secondly, the test issues identified above affected more children than just
the research participants, but the system seems to be designed in a way that
allows flexibility for the teachers to correct errors that the system creates.
This is shown in the marking procedure, where a number of children are
marked upwards, to reflect their ‘actual learning ability’, as observed by the
teachers throughout the school year. In this process again, the identity issue
becomes pronounced, where the slow children’s papers are not only kept as
originally completed but may even be marked down due to the teachers
 - 222 -

feeling that their performance was too good for their ‘actual learning ability’
(field notes on 15 May 2012).

Not scoring 50 percent on these tests means that the children are highly
likely to have to repeat the year. What then happens if these children fail to
pass the tests in the following year, or even the year after next? That
question will be addressed in the section below which discusses another
issue derived from the system – the matter of special educational needs
(SEN) as compared with second language learners in Vietnamese (VAL).

7.2.3 The two likely outcomes: SEN or repeating the year

In the literature review chapter section 3.4, the term EAL is used on several
occasions to describe children from diverse cultures in the UK, whose
mother tongue is not English. Such a term has yet to be employed in the
Vietnam context, so equivalent terms such as Vietnamese as an Additional
Language (VAL) are yet to be developed or used in the government system.

With the procedure for repeating tests and repeating the year, children who
are identified as having special educational needs, or those with disabilities,
receive special arrangements. According to this, either the local education
department, or the school and teachers of these children, will need to
provide a different learning programme as the current programme for
mainstream children may be too challenging for them (Nguyen Van Trung,
2005). Together with that, the school or teachers will need to design special
test papers or tasks to better suit the ‘ability’ of children with special needs.
This has given freedom in designing exam tasks for these children, resulting
in greatly simplified versions of assessments, as observed in my research.
Furthermore, the test outcome and whether or not the children are able to
complete such simplified tasks are not so important. The national standard
requiring a minimum of a 50 percent score does not apply to the SEN
category, so the children may still be passed without obtaining any score
(Interviews file Voice004).

From my observations, clear guidance has not been given for the whole
procedure of SEN and/or disabled classifications, and what has been
introduced was done rather casually, mostly without input from SEN
 - 223 -

professionals. This has resulted in cases where the children are classified in
the SEN category without an assessment ever having been completed and
also without agreement from an SEN practitioner.

While not all the children who repeat the year are classified as ‘learning
disabled’, those who still show little learning progress in the repeat year are
unquestionably labelled thus. The lack of resources in the field of SEN in
Vietnam is part of the problem, but the lack of awareness of VAL and how to
deal with difficulties faced by VAL learners (presented in section 6.2.1)
suddenly creates a ‘positive slant’ on the situation. This is because normally,
children who obtain less than 50 percent in their overall test scores, will need
to repeat the year and if they continue scoring less than 50 percent in their
repeat year/s, then theoretically they could remain at the same year level
until they score more than 50 percent. However, the government has
unofficially requested, by giving verbal instructions in regional meetings, that
schools should not have children repeating the year too many times. The
vague awareness of SEN further creates an agreement between educators
that if a child cannot pass the test, even after repeating the year, then there
is something fundamentally wrong with him/her. As a result, the flexible
application of SEN rules means that any child who is unlikely, for whatever
reason, to pass the test in the next year can be moved into the SEN
category, allowing them to be promoted to the next class without them
having to score 50% in the tests.

However, moving away from the positive side (of avoiding making children
sit the same class for several years), the negative effects as discussed in the
literature review chapter are evident from my research. Such a lack of
guidance in the field results in the categorised children losing the opportunity
to learn like their ‘normal’ peers because they are perceived as ‘learning
disabled’ and are thought to be incapable of coping with the regular learning
programme. That is the common belief held by all the teachers and
managers. My observations reveal that no specialised materials are
designed for these children either, so the teachers simply take the workbook
from the kindergarten class for them to use. For instance, Nghieng was
given a workbook to trace or joint dotted alphabet letters, rather than writing
the letters, words, sentences or the whole poem or paragraph like his peers
 - 224 -

were doing. His test papers were also rigorously simplified and during the
test the invigilator stood by him to provide prompts just so he could have
some calculations right. Such learning practices do not enhance or stretch
his learning skills but hold any learning potential back, further widening the
gap between him and his peers, giving him no chance to catch up. The child
knows very well that it is irrelevant whether or not he does any work, so
there is no real effort from him in completing any learning task or the test
paper. During the tests, he just sat playing with his paper and only did the
work when reminded and prompted by the invigilator, an effort which did not
last long before he stopped to play again (field notes 10, 11 May 2012).
Given the ‘entitlement’ of being labelled learning disabled, even if he did not
work on his test paper, he could still be marked to the minimum score of 50
percent, just so he could be passed – from my observations, he clearly
acknowledged this.

Numerous researchers confirm that students, including those with special

needs who are from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, learn more
effectively when the content studied is sufficiently challenging and well-
structured (Smith and Sanders, 1981; Schunk, 1983; Brophy, 1986;
Cummins, 2001). In Nghieng’s case, labelled as special needs without his
being checked and assessed by any specialist, we can see he was given the
freedom of not having to learn at all and his presence in the classroom did
not seem to be acknowledged by most teachers. Not only were the learning
materials that were given to him not at all challenging but nobody seemed to
show any interest in his education. This explains why he appeared to give up
trying to do anything, since there was nothing to compel him to try. In short,
he did not get full access to the curriculum like his peers and was bored with
the simplified tasks given to him – he was not motivated to learn, as those
tasks were not at all challenging at his level.

Similar to Nghieng’s situation, Quyen was also classified as ‘learning

disabled’ when she was repeating the Year 1 class and because of that she
was then promoted to Year 2 for the following school year.

My very first observation was that none of the girls in my research were present.
When I asked the class teacher if she knew where the girls were, she first thought
they were sitting amongst the other students but after checking carefully, she
 - 225 -

agreed with me that the girls were absent today. She laughed and stated ‘maybe
because they knew they’d be promoted to Year 2 this year, they don’t feel the need
for being here today’… She then told me that both sisters are also promoted to the
next class level with the younger sister (Quyen) being categorised at ‘disabled’ as
she can’t learn. ‘She needs to be promoted because we can’t let her repeat the
same year for too long’, the teacher said. (29 May 2013, field notes, page 78)

The lack of guidance in this field, as well as an absence of differentiation

between VAL and SEN in Vietnam, has created a ‘grey area’, in which
minority language learners can be mistaken for ‘learning disabled’. The
practice of keeping the children in the same year level is already
challengeable, but classifying the children as ‘learning disabled’ because too
little improvement in learning has been observed in their repeat year
appears problematic, as it is against the educational philosophy for young
second language learners discussed in the literature review chapter.

VAL and SEND?

In the Vietnamese education system, linguistic minority children can be

classified into the special needs category if their academic scores are still
low in the repeating year. Cummins (1985) stresses that when
underachievement occurs, educators must first assess their own
pedagogical methods as well as the learning programmes, followed by trying
out other alternative approaches before considering cognitive processing
deficits as another explanation. In line with this, Hall et al. (2001) remind us
that EAL should not be confused with SEN and, therefore, learning
difficulties that mainly result from learning in another language must not be
considered as special educational needs. While the concepts of ‘special
needs’ or ‘learning disabled’ appear to be familiar to teachers in Vietnam, the
problems associated with learning in a second language seem less well
acknowledged. Without an existing concept or acceptance of ‘Vietnamese as
an additional language’, it seems that teachers have little choice other than
to classify some linguistic minority children as SEN in order to promote them
to the next school level.

Hall et al. (2001) advise teachers to follow different steps to assess why
such children learn more slowly than, and differently from, their peers. The
first step is to consider their language development, both in mother tongue
 - 226 -

and in the language of instruction. The second step is to consider the

children’s background such as their home and family environments outside
of school. The third step refers to any specific language disorder the child
may be experiencing, and the fourth step involves considering the possibility
of special educational needs. In the Vietnam context, the first three steps are
not apparent in school procedures, but the fourth step is, which could lead to
SEN classifications, as witnessed in my case study, where linguistic minority
children were classified as having low intelligence or being learning disabled.

In UK schools, by contrast, even for children registered as SEN due to a

specific language disorder (step 3 above), there is further assessment to
decide whether the same problem or delay is observed in the first language
too. In Vietnam there is little training, guidance or equipment relating to
these issues and the children, schools and families, receive no support from
the authorities or any specialist agency.

The consequences of all this are both negative and positive. While the
children may be wrongly categorised into the SEN group, which can result in
them being ignored in class, it is the only way that the teachers can actually
promote the children to the next class level. So, in some sense, this
inaccurate categorization leads to linguistic minority pupils being able to
‘swim against the current’ of teachers and children, in terms of moving up
the levels of the education system. This is because the standard set by the
system requires that children attain a minimum test score of 50 percent in
the Vietnamese language subject, in order to be promoted to the next level,
regardless of their mother tongue. However, an exception applies to children
with special needs, so instead of making children repeat too many years, it
seems a compromise agreement is reached between the school and the
family. This may explain why, in the research school’s history of children
being classified as ‘disabled’ or ‘special needs’, there has only ever been
one family which expressed an objection to such a decision – all other
families accepted the school’s decision without question (Interview with two
teachers, 9 February 2012, Voice recording, File 120209_001, p.119
transcription).

The system – programme and teaching

 - 227 -

All the significances discussed above ultimately point towards the system,
including: what learning programme is designed; how managers and
educators are trained and at what; and what guidance and assistance are
provided to them during their teaching. Rodriguez (2005) claims that minority
language students work more effectively when they are in small groups and
when they work on individual tasks. The typically crowded classrooms in
Vietnam, with a teacher-to-pupil ratio observed of 1:27, for children as young
as six years old, exacerbates the disadvantaged learning situation facing
these children (and their teachers). I rarely observed individual tasks being
set; rather, the children were often requested to synchronize their tasks all
together and at once. Reflecting on Rodriguez’s findings, there was no
opportunity for these children to work effectively and to prove themselves to
be good learners, because individual tasks and small group learning
activities were not provided.

When underachievement occurs in a context like this, both teachers and

their pupils are in the spotlight and blame seems to be directed at them –
either the teachers who are unable to teach or the pupils who are too slow to
learn. The common beliefs held against linguistic minority learners are
discussed throughout the previous chapters and earlier in this chapter, so I
would like to add a few points in response to the blame directed at the
teachers. Avis (1994) recognises the importance of teacher professionalism,
and this must start during the initial teacher training process. The author
acknowledges that issues such as diversity need to be addressed during
training, so teachers are able to conquer any challenges derived from their
diverse classrooms, to enhance the learning experience and achievement of
all their students.

As a teacher who completed formal teacher training at a university in

Vietnam, I never experienced such training on my courses. The teachers
from the focal school were trained roughly 20 years before my time, and I
would doubt whether the training back then was of a better quality than what
I experienced. All teachers were trained to teach a regular class – issues
regarding minorities, and/or the fact that these children do not speak the
language of instruction, never seemed to be taken into consideration. A
single curriculum is used for the whole country and the large amount of
 - 228 -

textbooks required to be covered by the teachers and children each school

year makes the problem worse.

The assessments pose a problem because they are designed in a way that
allows inconsistencies in the process, but also because the two tests that
decided the fate of the children were not adequate to assess their real
abilities. This is not to mention other disadvantages such as the timing of the
test and the way it was administered, which were discussed earlier in section
7.1 of this chapter. Baker (2007) recommends that testing bilingual children
be done over a longer period of time and must rely on a wide range of
measurement and observation mechanisms and tools which are used in
different contexts (at school and home). This allows the children to display
their different roles and abilities in both natural and formal settings. All these
variables cannot be ignored when discussing the test results of these
children.

Reviewing the situation worldwide, there are definitely important issues

regarding linguistic minority learners in mainstream education. Not all
countries around the world recognise such issues and some would do so
only if the problem appeared to be too significant for it to be hidden. Even in
the UK, which scholars identify as being one of the leading countries in
applying bilingual programmes or supporting minority languages (García,
2009), unless the problem is perceived as significant, these minorities will be
neglected, as Wei (2011) observed when studying minority Chinese learners
in mainstream schools in the UK. Nevertheless, an even less promising
situation could be described for the minority children in my studied school,
because although there is a clear issue being observed here, these children
are still being neglected.

7.2.4 Back to identity matters

In the literature review chapter, I placed identity as the first section to be
discussed, as I posited that identity is a powerful matter in Vietnam that can
open or close the doors to success. Similarly, identity is highly significant in
the context of education where, in comparison with the majority Vietnamese
learners, minority language learners have significantly lower academic
achievement as well as a lower rate of completing primary education (GSO,
 - 229 -

2006). The journey of my research in observing and studying my minority

language participants throughout their first school year of primary education
offers much understanding and explanation. Identity issues appear to be
significant for these participants, whose identities may not be so desirable
for themselves and their families. Why?

Firstly, what identity means to these children.

When reviewing identity as described by Norton (2000), Katzenstein (1996),

and Hall (1991) as the self-perception and understanding of these children
and their relationship to the school’s domain and vice-versa, how has such a
relationship evolved and been constructed over one school year? How did
these children identify themselves and how were they identified by their
teachers and peers?

When discussing identity in education, Cummins (2001) calls for a removal

of barriers that could hinder learning and achievement – such barriers
created by identities or cultural connections brought to school by minority
language learners. The learners in my research, for instance, with their
language minority background and by coming from poor families,
immediately created some form of learning identity, which is not regarded
very highly by their teachers and peers, something which is also understood
by them. This indicates that their learning identity is formed at the initial
stage of joining the group; therefore, their actual learning ability is not
pronounced but their background, as who they are, contributed largely to this
process of identity forming at the beginning of the school year.

Such an identity is undesirable also, because the education system does not
assist their home language development. These children’s language is
‘excess baggage’, which is neither needed nor favourably regarded by the
school. Their teachers are all trained to teach in regular classrooms, where
Vietnamese is supposed to be spoken and understood by everybody, so
they were never trained to teach children learning in a second language.
While these children’s mother tongue is not given any place in mainstream
education, their poor educational performance is often attributed to low
intelligence. Many people, including teachers in the country, believe
linguistic minority children have a lower level of intelligence when compared
 - 230 -

to children from the majority Vietnamese group, and this is a commonly held
belief in society.

By being perceived by their teachers and their peers as slow learners, or

learning disabled, how did these children perceive themselves in this case?

In Hoanh, Quyen and Khuong’s cases, these children seemed to accept the
way that they were perceived without protest. The samples of observation
notes, presented in sections 5.2.2 and 6.1.2, show that the children take
everything in silence: when labelled as ‘stupid’ or ‘slow’ or as ‘not knowing
anything’ or ‘failures’ by their peers or teachers, these children just put their
heads down, or looked away to avoid eye contact with their challengers. As
part of Confucianism’s order, as stated in sections 4.4.8 and 6.1.2, where
the voice of the smaller or smallest is always unimportant, the issue of
identity is significant here because these children somewhat ‘agree’ with
what others think of them. By reflecting on the influence of Confucianism, I
can understand why the children listen to and always obey their teachers,
but in this case these children also listen to what their peers have to say.
Identity is responsible for the divisions that exist between the children in this
case and my participants’ identity is the smallest amongst the class.

The children from better-off families have parents who were able to invest
more in their education, such as always getting them adequate learning
materials, paying all the fees on time and coming to parent-teacher meetings
as required. These children possess a different identity; a more desirable
one, which was supported by the teachers who rarely directed criticism at
them, allowing them to somewhat position themselves above the poorer and
‘slow’ children at the lowest end of the classes – my participants. This is why
the better-off pupils publicly looked down on their poor peers and yet they
received no reprimands from the teachers for doing so. Those poorer peers
seemed to understand this hierarchical order very well by keeping quiet
rather than saying anything back to their more ‘powerful’ peers.

To my participants, their identity either means failure in education or being

someone else – learning disabled in this case. Identity in this case is a
burden which weighs the children down over their learning journey, exactly
like in the case discussed by Cummins (2001) in sections 3.2 and 3.4.1.
 - 231 -

Secondly, what these children’s identity means to the system.

To the system, these children’s identity is undesirable because: a) they are

too slow to learn; and b) by making late payments, being absent from
meetings, not preparing their children well before classes, not getting
adequate learning materials for their children and not sending the children to
school as regularly as expected, etc., their parents are perceived as not
prioritising education.

In a system where the teachers compete with each other to be titled

‘Initiative Contender’ (Chiến sĩ thi đua) or ‘Advanced worker’ (Lao động tiên
tiến), at the end of the school year, as presented in section 2.1, having too
many slow learners in their class will result in them being excluded from
receiving these titles. This is why, for the teachers, these children could be
seen as ‘burdens’ for them. Since school year 2011-2012, the local BOET
has shown some leniency towards the teachers, by allowing them five
percent of Provisional Fail pupils while still being considered for the title
Advanced Worker (Interview files 120208_001 & 120208_005). In previous
years these teachers would have been excluded from being awarded such
titles (BOET, 2010). This has changed the situation slightly for some
teachers but not for all, and that is why a teacher participant was not
considered for this title in my research year, as she had three out of 27
children falling into this category at the end of the school year.

In a similar way to teachers, schools can also apply for different titles,
including ‘Collective Advanced Workers’, ‘Collective Excellent Workers’ (Tập
thể lao động tiên tiến, Tập thể lao động xuất sắc) and ‘Competition Flag’
granted by the Provincial People’s Committee, or MOET, or the Central
Government Office (Cờ thi đua của UBND Tỉnh/ Bộ GD & ĐT/ Chính phủ). In
order to obtain such awards, it is imperative that individual teachers are
awarded titles, for instance, to qualify for the ‘Collective Advanced Workers’
title, the school must have at least 50% of its teachers awarded the
‘Advanced Worker’ title and so on.

Moving on from all these competitions and titles and back to my research
participants, we can now see that they may be considered undesirable, not
only by their teachers but by the whole school community too. Why?
 - 232 -

Because it is their fault that their teachers are excluded from achieving these
titles and when less than half of the teachers are eligible for the titles, the
school is also excluded from getting the title awarded to them by the
governing bodies. This is why these pupils’ names are well-known by all
teachers and they do not often receive positive comments or treatment from
most of them. The evidence presented and analysed in Chapters 5 and 6
and from earlier in this chapter clearly shows this.

In addition to a mismatch with the language, the learning programme, the

methods of teaching and learning, and the assessment procedure, there is
also a mismatch of identities between the learners and their educators who
represent the education system.

The analysis of my data presents a particular picture of my child participants

and their families which would challenge the categorisation of the so-called
‘slow’ learner. As the second theme in section 7.1.1 described, these
learners are corrective to the system, thus a challenge to the convenient
Vietnamese construct, as they are not genuinely ‘slow’. This view is further
confirmed by their first teacher, the kindergarten teacher, who stated that the
children were ‘normal’ (not slow) in her class (section 6.2.2.1). This poses a
fundamental issue in Vietnamese society, as described in Chapter 2, section
2.3.2, namely the belief that linguistic minority learners are less capable at
studying than the Kinh majority learners. This negative belief is formed
regardless of the learners and their learning context and is a view that still
prevails in today’s educational practices across the country.

The following two questions can now be posed:

Would these children be slow learners if they learnt in their mother tongue
language which is Muong, OR, if they were given verbal instructions in
Muong language when they are in the first few years of primary school?

If these children were not classified as slow learners at an early stage of

their time in mainstream schools, would they be able to learn any better?

7.3 Conclusion
In this chapter, I have presented and analysed in detail how my research
participants’ identities have been constructed on their learning journey and I
 - 233 -

used the assessment process as a case study of such identity construction.

It matters that we study the identity of these learners and the way that such
an identity is constructed in the learning process. This is because their
identities clearly have a negative impact on the teaching and learning they
experience. In particular, it impacts on the teachers’ expectations of these
children when learning, which then influences the teachers’ interactions and
behaviour towards them. I need to stress, however, that the teachers in my
case study are also caught up in the system as they are just a feature of the
wider system within which they work.

Therefore, the children unfortunately continued to struggle and then fall into
one of the two outcomes ‘pre-prescribed’ for them – repeating the year or
being classified as learning disabled. The teachers’, and more precisely, the
system’s expectations seem to transfer to the children themselves and their
peers, making them believe that they are not good enough to learn and that
they are either ‘slow’ or ‘learning disabled’. As discussed in section 3.3.3,
such expectations become a self-fulfilling prophecy that may not equate to,
but could well be associated with, learner failure (Jussim et al., 1996).

Other factors that come through the data include those listed in the summary
of the themes in section 7.1.4. Such factors or themes found in this study
confirm Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) and Cole’s (1998) sociocultural approach,
as well as the funds of knowledge ideas from González et al. (2006), which
point to the importance of recognising the ecology of learning that Conteh
and Brock (2010) deem difficult if disagreement between home and school
exists. The relationship between the system and the pupils in my study also
affirms the dissimilar cultural frames of reference that Ogbu (1994) analysed,
and this can be crucial in understanding the struggles experienced by these
pupils. How could their potential be recognised, if they are expected to learn
from a pedagogy that is neither built on nor relevant to their linguistic and
cultural assets (McCarty, 1993)?

In the next chapter, I will conclude by discussing the implications of the

study, and some recommendations for future research, as well as an
acknowledgement of the limitations of my work.
 - 234 -

Chapter 8: Conclusion and implications of the study

In this chapter I will discuss some possible implications of my research,

followed by an acknowledgement of the research’s limitations. The chapter
will end with a conclusion for the whole thesis.

In the implications of the study section I will focus on three areas, which are
research, policy and practice. In particular, the discussions are concerned
with areas for further research as more understanding is needed, but also
the possible implications for policy and what changes may be needed to
make the system more equitable for the people who are in it. The second
section will discuss the limitations of the study. With this, I hope to help my
readers better appreciate the realities of the research context, so that they
are able to understand and appropriately interpret the study findings. The
final section forms the conclusion for the whole study, where I further
express my observations and opinions of the pressures and constraints that
the education system faces and how making changes appears to be
challenging given the realities of the situation.

8.1 Implications of the study

In addition to the BICS and CALP issue, in Chapter 7 I identified more
factors that have influenced my participants’ learning, including: the self-
fulfilling prophecy; children being corrective to the system; the imbalance of
power between families and the system; and particularly the socioeconomic
situation of these focal pupils’ families. We need to understand more about
these factors in order to fully see the implications of the study. It is important
that we consider the issue of learning Vietnamese as an additional language
(VAL), in a wider perspective and across different linguistic minority groups,
to help us understand the socioeconomic, cultural and historical factors that
impact upon the children’s learning. As part of this process, the importance
of Conteh’s ‘funds of knowledge’ in teaching, learning and assessment,
constructed? by schools and communities (Brock and Conteh, 2011), needs
to be acknowledged in order to create a sociocultural model of learning that
would benefit all learners and not just some.
 - 235 -

Having come to better understand how some linguistic minority children

become categorised as slow learners and what happens to them after that,
there are implications for future research, educational policy and practice in
Vietnam as well as a contribution to current theory. These will be discussed
in turn below.

8.1.1 Suggestions for future research

- Future research in Vietnam could focus more on SEND and VAL
matters. Issues relating to learning in Vietnamese as an Additional
Language should be studied from a wider perspective and across
different linguistic minority groups to understand more about the
difficulties, if any, that they face. Issues related to SEND and how this
could be differentiated from VAL should also be a focus for further
study. The findings of such studies would definitely contribute
collectively as a force for raising awareness and for better education
quality for children from diverse cultures.
- Further research into classroom practices and how these affect those
children at the lowest end of the learner spectrum is also
recommended, to identify what works well and what does not. This
would hopefully provide further insight into teaching and learning, as
well as teacher training and programme development.
- Future research could also focus on the socioeconomic issues that
put pressure on the system and which even close it to some of the
poorest children in some cases. Researching on how changes work in
which system and how macro and micro changes work or may not
work in different situations could contribute to some collective struggle
towards changes in policy and practice to better include all types of
learners within the education system.
- To contribute to a fuller picture of how learners at the lowest end of
the spectrum cope throughout their schooling, it would be useful if
further research could be conducted that forms a longer analysis that
follows these learners as they progress to higher grades. This would
further explore what and how the negative experiences from their
 - 236 -

early years of schooling could impact upon their future learning

journeys.
- Finally, future research could benefit from using ethnographic
approaches when researching similar issues. This is because the
methodology and approaches offer a special gateway to search for a
‘thick description’ of the issues, hence providing comprehensive
findings and understanding of the issues being researched.

8.1.2 Suggestions for the development of policy

What implications for education policy might the study create? The
implications for policy makers include:

- Whilst creating some room for regional adaptation of the curriculum, to

make learning more relevant to the pupil’s culturally specific context is a
positive step, this must be accompanied by clear guidance, close
supervision and correction where necessary. Changes should not be
created merely to improve the appearance of written policy, as this may
just widen the disparity between better-off schools that have much better
resources and which can take advantage of the change to develop
further. Poor schools, on the other hand, might continue to struggle as
they lack the resources to benefit from this opportunity.
- With a particular focus on mathematics teaching and learning in the early
years, I would recommend the use of a more visual and numeral
approach, including using pictures and numbers to demonstrate
calculations. This is to avoid the double testing issue, where children’s
mathematical development and learning relies heavily on a proficiency in
Vietnamese language. The ‘Giai Toan co loi Van’ (solving mathematics
using literature) policy could be delayed until later years for instance.
- The testing system appears to be problematic, particularly with children
from linguistic minority groups and especially those who are at the lowest
end – it is set up against, rather than to support, the young minority
learners in my study. This has been acknowledged by the government,
hence the proposal to abandon testing primary children across the
country. The proposal looks at piloting this in some schools for the 2014-
2015 school year and then for the whole country in the year after (MOET,
 - 237 -

2014). This is plausible but again needs clear guidance on how this can
be done and how children at the lowest end of the system, such as the
poor children from minorities and remote areas, could be helped. This is
because there is a potential for these children to be abandoned and left
alone to continue struggling, so that they become even more invisible
until they reach Year 6 where the testing system starts, and where their
problems, by this time significant and concrete, would be finally identified.
So this may just be a case of their period of struggle being extended and
where they may miss a learning opportunity in their early years.
- Consideration should also be given to the competition that the teachers
experience because some aspects of this appear to be rather artificial
and this places unnecessary pressure on them. To base teacher
achievement on the grades or ranking that children achieve in the class
forms a self-fulfilling prophecy. Making the teachers register their goals at
the beginning of the school year and identifying how many excellent
students they should have at the end of the school year is not learner-
focussed, rather more adult-oriented. How could a teacher, who knows
nothing about their pupils, predict the final learning outcomes that they
will attain?
- The learning programme for the early years in primary education needs
to be adapted to incorporate other areas of development, rather than the
current imbalance between the one side which just includes mathematics
and Vietnamese, and the other in which all the remaining subjects are
placed (arts and crafts, PE, study of nature and society, music and
singing, and extra-curricular activities). In doing this, the amount of extra
textbooks for the Vietnamese language subject would be reduced and
the main learning programme could focus on the official workbooks and
textbooks only. Further reasons for this can be seen in the comments at
the end of section 6.2.1.
- Clear guidance and training on SEND is required plus additional training
on VAL for all teachers. In the event of training being restricted due to
funding issues, those who teach linguistic minority learners should be
given priority by receiving training first. Further training is needed on the
 - 238 -

distinction between VAL and SEND, which addresses the situation where
children who qualify as VAL are thought to have SEND.
- The way that the education system functions needs to be adapted to
include more parental involvement in children’s learning. In particular, the
system should recognise the rights of families and children on their
learning journey and the acknowledgement that serious decisions need
to be jointly made by both parties – therefore, collaboration between
families and schools is vital. There should also be a mechanism for
receiving feedback and processing complaints. A confidential and
anonymous approach would work better, since Confucian culture makes
parents feel less encouraged to come forward in cases of perceived
injustice. Nevertheless, this must be done with caution and with careful
assessment of each case to avoid the system being abused, where
schools and teaching staff could be inappropriately reported.
- Finally, I would recommend that human resource policies be revised to
give schools and head teachers direct involvement in the selection and
recruitment of their teachers. As reported in section 2.1, the current
recruitment policy means teachers are selected for schools by different
governing bodies (the BOIs and DOIs) that are outside of the education
sector. This does not give the schools an opportunity to find suitable
teachers who could be from the local area or have a special interest and
expertise in teaching children from diverse cultures; or teachers who
could make a special contribution to the learning programme that is
currently lacking, such as being able to effectively run extra-curricular
activities.

8.1.3 Possible implications for practice

There is a need for change, in order to make the system more equitable for
the people who are part of it. At the moment, the disparity between the
better-off urban schools and those in remote, rural areas is extensive. Well-
resourced schools in the big cities employ expatriate teachers for their
foreign language lessons to try and give their pupils native English/French
accents, which can happen due to the 15% window open to schools.
Schools like the focal school, however, struggle to cover the main
 - 239 -

programme and very little, if anything, is done with the 15% curriculum
window that was set aside for them to add extracurricular activities relevant
to their context.

In particular, possible implications for practice could be to start exploring

how to close or narrow down the discrepancy between poor rural and well-
off urban schools. As part of this, the government could selectively target
funding at schools where that funding is most needed, thereby making
resources more readily available to remote struggling schools and
communities. Well-off schools in urban areas can afford to employ foreign
teachers for their extracurricular sessions (foreign languages in this case),
due to well-off parents who are willing to contribute to such high costs,
whereas parents from remote schools like the focal school are not in the
fortunate position to be able to do so. This, for instance, leaves
extracurricular sessions to be run using home-grown resources – their own
teachers who are not at all trained or guided as to what they should do
during these sessions. If this would be looked into by the authorities,
struggling schools would have a better chance to strive for improved
teaching and learning quality, rather than focusing and struggling on
covering the curriculum and keeping a competitive attendance record of their
pupils. The possible implications for practice are significant, as it would
impact on all the different layers of education, in this case including the
learners and their families, their teachers and their schools, and ultimately
overall teaching and learning practice.

8.1.4 Contribution to theory

Language underpins this study but understanding language is part of the

sociocultural approach, and so language and sociocultural factors should be
seen as parts of a whole. As discussed earlier in Chapter 7 (sections 7.1.4
and 7.2), I would conclude that if we think about language as being
separated or isolated from other factors that have emerged from my study
(summarised in 7.1.4), we may then decide to assess the children in the way
observed in the focal school. However, such purely language-based
assessment (assessing how good their Vietnamese language is) may
 - 240 -

undermine learners’ potential rather than allowing us to understand and

assist these children.

My study does not establish any new theory, but it does contribute to the
existing theory of learning by understanding that we cannot simply look at
learning from a narrow theoretical perspective but have to consider other
factors that impact on and contribute to learning. In particular, the concept of
‘funds of knowledge’ (Brock and Conteh, 2011; González et al., 2006;
Conteh and Brock, 2010), discussed in the literature review chapter and
again in the introduction paragraph of section 8.1, has now been shown to
be valid in a different educational setting. Such a contribution affirms the
importance of fully considering the whole ecology of learning, associated
with a sociocultural approach in education . When developing policy and
practice in the country, or in the event of further, related study, then perhaps
researchers may see how I have taken into account the factors surrounding
learners rather than employing a narrow model of assessing young children
through language alone.

8.2 Limitations of the study

This section consists of my personal acknowledgement of the study’s major
limitations. In doing so, I will also enclose some explanation of the nature of
such limitations and what I have done to try to minimise them over the
duration of my research. The first aspect is about how the answer to my
research questions could be extended if there were more time available. The
second part focuses on the methodology and research design, particularly
how such a design may be challenging when it comes down to the findings.
The third identifies some possible concerns regarding data collection
methods, and the fourth recognition relates to technology and how that was
used or was not used in my research.

The study is time constrained, so does not allow for a longer period over
which to follow the children, particularly by observing the impact that their
early experience of education may have on their subsequent learning
journeys. This is especially significant given that these children are at the
lowest end of the spectrum and are learning in a context where the system
may be ‘closed’ to them, as stated in the discussion in the previous chapter.
Observing further impacts on their learning journeys in later years may
 - 241 -

provide further understanding and clearer affirmation of the influence caused

by their having been placed in a system in which they were disadvantaged at
such an early stage. This would extend the answer for the second research
question which focuses on the consequences for these learner participants.
Nevertheless, I made an amendment to the research plan, as described in
section 4.4.7 of the methodology chapter, by extending the data collection
period to a full academic year and by making more follow-up visits when the
participants were in their second year of schooling. Through this, I believe
that significant effort has been made to ensure that the ethnographic side of
this case study has been fulfilled and that the significant amount of time
spent in the research environment and with the participants enabled the
desired ‘thick description’ for the data collected.

As the case study uses an ethnographic approach, I acknowledge that there

may be concerns regarding potential researcher bias, with the first concern
being that the data could be subjectively reported and interpreted. Firstly, I
need to stress that there are significant benefits from having an insider’s
perspective when employing such a research methodology and seeking to
establish the ‘native point of view’ (Malinowski, 1922) to satisfactorily answer
my questions in the way that I did. With regard to potential bias, this was
constantly acknowledged throughout the time I was conducting the research.
I can also say that through the professional training provided by the research
ethics team at the University of Leeds, constant consultations with my
supervisors and research colleagues, and by feedback from several
presentations to various audiences in conferences and seminars, I have
followed a number of paths when perceiving the issues found in my research
from different angles.

I have endeavoured to collect various types of data, including many pages of

carefully taken field notes from observations, numerous audio files from
interviews and all the participants’ samples of work and their portfolio-related
papers, as well as government documents relating to my topic. The variety
of the data collected helps to validate the findings, not to mention providing a
fuller picture of the researched participants and their environment and by
producing a thick contextualised description of the topic (Conteh, 2005).
Another concern directed at case study research relates to a lack of
 - 242 -

generalisability. I would argue that my research is not designed to claim any

generalisation but to look for some understanding in a particular learning
context and to understand why children at the lowest end of that context
struggle and continue struggling. While this is not about generalisation, I still
believe the findings of the study do contribute to raising awareness and
creating a better understanding of learners in similar contexts and similar
situations.

Furthermore, I acknowledge concerns regarding the methods used to collect

data, particularly by using observations, where data collected from this could
be personally interpretive and where the participants could act differently
when being observed, so situations recorded may not be natural. While
there is some ground for such concerns, in my particular research the
extensive amount of time spent in the classrooms with the teachers and the
children made me very much of an insider. Towards the end of the first
phase of data collection, the school and their teachers and children seemed
to forget that I was not a member of staff there. As a result, strictly
confidential information was divulged to me by various participants, but for
the protection of my participants such stories are not shared or included in
the study findings.

In the observation sessions, I acknowledge that video recording or filming

the class in action may have given a more precise and descriptive sample of
lessons provided, rather than taking notes or making audio recordings.
However, coming from Vietnam and understanding the culture, especially
that of remote and rural areas, I believe the employment of high-tech
devices such as video cameras in the classroom could only create concern,
worry or even panic to my participants. Some interview sessions were noted
by pen and paper for precisely this reason and by request from the
interviewees, who admitted to being too nervous after seeing the recorder.
To compensate for any data being lost by not using modern technology, I
always made sure the field notes and interview notes were taken during the
sessions and were reviewed during the evening of the same day, to further
complete them before transferring the data back to the university system.
 - 243 -

In discussing the data collection processes and research methodology, I am

confident that the benefits offered by this methodology outweigh any
potential issues derived from using it. In particular, this methodological
approach has shown to be appropriate for my study in the sense that
significant amounts of invaluable data were collected, and this is much
needed when answering my research questions. It is the lengthy fieldwork
period spent in the school and the researched area that has allowed me to
immerse myself into the research environment, allowing me to carefully
observe and then identify the significances of my case. Such significances
are also my findings, which were later grouped as themes that emerged
during data analysis. In conclusion, my research has largely benefited from
this approach in revealing the thick, contextualised kinds of data perceived
from both an insider’s and researcher’s point of view. This methodology was
essential in allowing me to collect such data and to answer the research
questions in the way that I did.

There are perhaps more limitations, including that derived from my being a
junior or novice researcher but I have tried to list and focus on the main
issues which may have had some influence on my data, as well as the
interpretation of the findings. The following section will summarise and
conclude the whole thesis with an expression of future hope for learners who
are struggling in any learning system.

8.3 Summary and Conclusions

This study is designed to try to understand ways in which some children

become categorised as slow learners and what may happen to them after
being thus categorised. There have been several themes that have emerged
in answer to these questions, including: the children’s school and home
experiences and the relationship between home and school in this context;
how learners at the lowest end of the spectrum are being disadvantaged by
the system; aspects of the self-fulfilling prophecy (the influence of the
system on the teachers, the teachers on the learners, etc.); the power
struggle and imbalance between the system and the learners and their
families; and how socioeconomic background or identity matters become
prominent and problematic which closes the system in this particular context.
 - 244 -

These themes form answers to the research questions proposed in Chapter

3.

These themes point to the fact that current practices in teaching and testing
in Vietnamese mainstream primary schools do not properly represent
children from linguistic minority communities and that this particularly affects
those at the lowest end of the scale. This means that any effort to encourage
these children to go to school, to remain in education and to heighten their
academic achievement, will always encounter difficulty. There needs to be
effective and prompt change in the system, to enhance system performance
as a whole, including the programme, schools, and the teachers and their
practices, and not just a focus on the children’s performance. Learners’
academic performance cannot be separated from the whole layers
surrounding them and the system’s effectiveness.

Despite this need for change, I fear that there are difficulties that would arise
when attempting to improve the system, that any changes made may not
work, and that learners such as the participants will continue to struggle.
Changes in the Vietnamese context need to be top-down in nature, but there
is little desire at the top to drive such change. Pressure for change coming
from lower down is unlikely to be effective or relevant due to the vital role
that socio-economic background plays in such situations. Once again, I
would like to give credit to the methodology used in this research, for
allowing me to see such situations from an insider’s perspective. This leads
me to conclude that changes in the education system or education
programme in this particular scenario, do not mean much to these learners,
because an excellent learning programme means little when the pupils
cannot have access to it. When people are still struggling to find enough to
eat and to get by each day, education is not the main priority – so when
choosing between making sure the children have something to eat or having
an excellent school attendance record, would any responsible parent pick
the latter over the former?

The study has further added to the existing understanding about linguistic
minority learners who struggle in a mainstream education system, where it
would be more beneficial if the learning programme were adapted to include
 - 245 -

them in the system. In the context of Muong learners in Vietnam, however,

any change of the education programme would not be very effective or
helpful to these learners, because as stated earlier, an excellent learning
programme does not mean much if the children in need do not have access
to it.

As mentioned earlier in this chapter, the government has proposed changes

involving the abolition of assessment and testing in primary education, which
sound positive, but would this change provide a more equitable opportunity
for children at the lowest level, such as those in my study? Or would this
merely result in a case where these children would become even more
invisible in the learning system and where failure would just be postponed
until they entered Year 6 when the testing system would commence? In this
case, it must also be noted that these children may lose the opportunity to
learn and/or be motivated to learn in their early years of education.

At the time of this thesis being written, this question has remained
unanswered. The proposed change has not been implemented, so further
observation and research into this is much needed, to find out how these
children, who struggle the most in the current system, would cope in the new
learning structure, in which they would not be tested until much later. While
this seems similar to the delayed testing theory reported in Canada,
discussed in Chapter 3, section 3.3.3, this carries a completely different
significance in Vietnam, where the policy is proposed for all learners, while
the Canadian example only concerns delayed testing for minority language
learners. The focus is completely different, as the Canadian situation clearly
intends to create a better initial stage of the learning journey for those
learners, whereas the Vietnamese version still does not differentiate
between different groups of learners, including those from linguistic minority
groups. The Vietnamese policy, on the other hand, focuses on child
development, where the inclusion of children from diverse cultures appears
to be but a minor consideration in the proposed change. While native
Vietnamese speakers make up the majority of the population and have
control and power over all social domains including education, this does not
justify the fact that minority language learners from the different minority
groups stay invisible in any decisions about change. After all, a successful
 - 246 -

and powerful education system is one that includes learners from all different
backgrounds, where the diversity of their identities is celebrated and
appreciated.
 - 247 -

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Appendix A: Detailed data mapping

A.1 Phase 1: 18 Oct 11 – 8 Mar 12

A.1.1 Interviews and observation recordings

No. Date Types: interviews or lesson recording File

Interviewee Lesson/class/home

1 25 Oct 1B Teacher – Ms 111025_001

11 Phuong

2 26 Oct Head teacher – Ms 111026_001

11 Quynh

3 1A Teacher – Ms 111026_002
Quang

4 1A Teacher – Ms 111026_003
Quang

5 2 B Teacher – Ms 111026_004
Vuong

6 2 A Teacher – Ms 111026_005
Hoat

7 1 Nov 11 PE - 1B 111101_001

8 9 Nov 11 Singing - 1A 111109_001

9 Singing - 1A 111109_002

10 16 Nov Self-talk re H.Q’s 111116_001

11 Mathematics

11 Self-talk re T’s Day 111116_001

12 6 Dec 11 PE – 1B 111206_001

13 Mathematics using 111206_002

words – 1B

14 7 Dec 11 Preparing for 111207_001

observation
 - 258 -

No. Date Types: interviews or lesson recording File

1B

15 1B Teacher – Ms 111207_002
Phuong

16 Vietnamese – 1B 111207_003

17 16 Dec Seminar with other 111216_001

11 schools

18 22 Dec HnQ’s mother Voice001

11

19 23 Dec 1B name n shame Voice002

11

20 26 Dec VNM test invigilation 111226_001

11
21 1B T re after 111226_002
observation

22 2 Feb 12 Math Teacher – Ms Voice003

Luyen re ranking

23 3 Feb 12 1A Teacher re slow C Voice004

24 1A Teacher T re Voice005
Nghieng

25 1B Teacher re slow C Voice007

26 8 Feb 12 Deputy Head – Ms Hai 120208_001

Yen (re ranking)

27 Khuong’s dad 120208_003

28 HnQ’s mother 120208_004

29 Head teacher – Ms 120208_005

Quynh (re ranking)

30 9 Feb 12 Both Teachers 1B+1A 120209_001

31 Nghieng’s mother 120209_002

32 Quyen’s mother 120209_003

33 Doan doi ranking 120209_004

34 14 Feb Nghieng’s mother 120214_001

 - 259 -

No. Date Types: interviews or lesson recording File

35 12 HnQ’s parents 120214_002

36 15 Feb BY’s mother 120215_001

12
37 Kindergarten teachers Voice008

Summary:
- Interviews = 25
- Observation recordings = 10
- Others = 2
 - 260 -

A.1.2 Observation and field notes

Session Date Class/Teacher Lesson observed Field note
page no.

1 24 Oct 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics 6

11
Head and Meeting notes 6
deputy head

2 25 Oct 1B Ms Phuong Vietnamese: sound AU 7

11
3 1A Ms Quang Vietnamese: handwriting 7

4 1A Ms Luyen Mathematics : Practising 7

Addition/Subtraction to 4

5 2B Ms Vuong Vietnamese: treble vowel 8

IEU

6 2A Ms Hoat Mathematics : Practising 8

Addition and Subtraction
to 11

7 26 Oct 2A Ms Hoat Mathematics : 31-5 8

11

8 31 Oct 1B Ms Kieu Art: colouring patterns 9

11
9 1B Ms Kieu Vietnamese: reading 10
lesson 43

10 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : number 0 in 10

subtractions

11 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : exercise 10

and practice

12 1 Nov 1A Ms Quang Vietnamese: word 11

11 dictations – personal
magnetic boards

13 1A Ms Quang Vietnamese: writing in 12

booklet

14 1A Ms Quang Vietnamese: reading 12

practice

15 1A Ms Luyen Mathematics : calculation 13

 - 261 -

Session Date Class/Teacher Lesson observed Field note

page no.

on personal chalkboard

16 1B Ms Kieu PE: Cat chasing mouse 13

17 8 Nov 1A Ms Kieu Art: cutting the chicken 13

11 shape

18 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : Additions to 14

6

19 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : Additions to 14

6

20 1A Ms Luyen Mathematics : Additions to 14

6

21 1A Ms Luyen Mathematics : Additions to 14

6

Head teacher Meeting notes 15

22 9 Nov 1B Ms Phuong Vietnamese: G, Gh 16

11
23 1A Ms Quang Vietnamese: chalkboard 16
dictation

24 1A Ms Tram Singing: The little chicks 17

Anh

25 1A Ms Tram Practising singing: The 17

Anh little chicks

26 1B Ms Tram Singing: The little chicks 17

Anh

27 1B Ms Tram Practising singing: The 17

Anh little chicks

28 16 Nov 1B Ms Tram Singing: Tet is coming 18

11 Anh

29 1B Ms Tram Vietnamese: chalkboard 19

Anh dictation

30 17 Nov 1B Ms Phuong Nature & Society study: 19

11 Family
 - 262 -

Session Date Class/Teacher Lesson observed Field note

page no.

31 1B Ms Phuong VNM: writing practice 20

UNG/ƯNG

32 1A Ms Quang VNM: writing on 20

worksheet

33 1B Ms Phuong VNM: chalkboard dictation 21

34 24 Nov 1B Ms Phuong VNM: chalkboard dictation 21

11
35 1B Ms Phuong VNM: writing booklet 22

36 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : 22
Subtractions to 9

37 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : 25
Subtractions to 9

38 25 Nov 1B Ms Phuong VNM: vowels and 26

11 diphthongs

39 1B Ms Phuong VNM: spotting names 26

using diphthongs learnt

40 1B Ms Phuong VNM: chalkboard dictation 26

41 1B Ms Phuong Weekly Review: name and 27

shame

42 30 Nov 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : 28

11 Addition/Subtraction to 10
revision

43 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : exercise 29

booklet

44 1A Ms Tram VNM: chalkboard dictation 30

Anh

45 1B Ms Tram Singing: Little chicks + 30

Anh Tet’s coming

46 1B Ms Tram VNM: chalkboard dictation 31

Anh

47 1 Dec 1B Ms Phuong VNM: magnetic literacy 31

 - 263 -

Session Date Class/Teacher Lesson observed Field note

page no.

11 kits + chalkboard

48 1B Ms Phuong VNM: handwriting booklet 32

49 6 Dec 1B Ms Kieu Craft: folding a paper fan 33

11
50 1B Ms Kieu PE: audio recorded 111206_001

51 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : 34
Addition/Subtraction to 10
revision

52 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : 111206_002

Addition/Subtraction to 10
using words

53 1A Ms Kieu PE 35

54 7 Dec 1B Ms Phuong VNM: lesson 68 ỐT, ỚT 36

11
55 1B Ms Phuong VNM: Textbook reading 37

56 1B+1A Youth Outdoor activity or 38

Union teacher extracurricular activities
(15% curriculum window
given to local schools)

57 1A Ms Quang VNM: Handwriting booklet 38

1B children H&Q home visit 38

58 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : General 39

practice

59 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : exercise 39

booklet

60 1B Ms Tram Singing: My country home 40

Anh

61 14 Dec 1A Ms Phuong VNM: the Heads are 40

11 observing

62 1B Ms Phuong Preparation for 41

observation

63 1B Ms Phuong VNM: practising for the 41

 - 264 -

Session Date Class/Teacher Lesson observed Field note

page no.

children for tomorrow’s

observation

64 1B Ms Phuong VNM: copying from 42

chalkboard

65 1A Ms Luyen Mathematics : length of

lines

66 1A Ms Luyen Mathematics : length of 42

lines

67 1A Ms Luyen Supposed to be Nature& 43

Society but Mathematics
teacher came back

68 1B Ms Phuong VNM: Learning in textbook 43

69 1B Ms Phuong VNM: more practising 43

70 15 Dec 1A Ms Quang VNM: Sounds ÚT ỨT 44

11
71 1A Ms Quang VNM: blackboard dictation 42
& writing booklet

72 21 Dec 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : 11s and 44

11 12s workbook

73 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : 11s and 44

12s workbook

74 1B Ms Tram Singing: unit 18 practising 45

Anh performing while singing

75 1B Ms Tram VNM: chalkboard dictation 46

Anh

76 1A Ms Luyen Mathematics : Lesson 4 46

writing the calculations
vertically

77 1A Ms Luyen Mathematics : adding 3 46

numbers

78 22 Dec 1B Ms Phuong VNM: Sounds revision 47

 - 265 -

Session Date Class/Teacher Lesson observed Field note

page no.

79 11 1A Ms Quang VNM: Reading on 48

blackboard

80 1A Ms Quang VNM: chalkboard dictation 49

81 1B Ms Phuong VNM: Handwriting booklet 49

2

82 1A Ms Luyen Mathematics : 13, 14, 15 50

83 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : 13, 14, 15 50

84 23 Dec 1A+ 1B Practice test 51

11
85 1B Ms Phuong Weekly review Voice002

86 26 Dec School Test day 51

11
87 1A VNM test 52-53

88 1B VNM test 52-53

89 1B Ms Phuong VNM: writing practice 54

90 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : Practice for 54

the test

91 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : Practice for 54

the test

92 1A Ms Kieu Mathematics : Practice for 55

the test

93 1A Ms Kieu Mathematics : Practice for 55

the test

94 27 Dec School Second test day 55

11
95 1B Mathematics test 55

96 1A Mathematics test 56

97 1B Ms Phuong VNM: Writing practice 56

98 All teachers Marking in common room 56-57

99 12 Jan 1B Ms Phuong VNM: Sounds ĂP, ÂP 58

12
100 1B Ms Kieu VNM: Writing practice 58
 - 266 -

Session Date Class/Teacher Lesson observed Field note

page no.

101 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : 58

subtractions all results 10

102 1A Ms Luyen Mathematics : 60

subtractions all results 10

103 1A Ms Luyen Mathematics : form 60

suitable calculations

104 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : workbook 61

105 1 Feb 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : Solve 62

12 mathematics with words

106 1A Ms Luyen Mathematics : Solve 63

mathematics with words

107 2 Feb 1B Ms Phuong VNM: Sounds OA, OE 63

12
108 1A Ms Quang VNM: Sounds OA, OE 63

109 1A Ms Luyen Mathematics : Solve 64

mathematics with words

110 1A Ms Tram Nature & Society being 65

Anh replaced by VNM writing
practice as T is absent

111 3 Feb 1B Ms Phuong Weekly review 65

12
112 1A Ms Quang Weekly review 65

113 8 Feb 1A + 1B Ms Singing: Tap tam vong 66

12 Tram Anh

114 14 Feb 1B Ms Phuong Mathematics : general 67

12 (substituted) practising

115 1A Ms Kieu VNM: general practising 67

116 1B Ms Phuong Mathematics : continue 67

practising

117 1A+1B Ms Kieu PE: 8 stretching exercises 67

118 15 Feb 1B Ms Phuong VNM: Sounds UY, UÊ 68

12
119 1B, 2B teacher Mathematics : General 68
 - 267 -

Session Date Class/Teacher Lesson observed Field note

page no.

substituted practice

Summary:

Sessions per class

Others 5

1A Class
39+4
shared 1B Class
71+4
shared

Figure 12: Summary of sessions per class

 - 268 -

Figure 2: Sessions per subject

Figure 3: Sessions per teacher 1

A.1.3 Documents
- All Semester 1 test papers of the focal children and some other
children from both Year 1 classes
 - 269 -

A.2 Phase 2: 9-29 May 2012

A.2.1 Interviews and recordings

No. Date Types: interviews or lesson recording File

Interviewee Lesson/class/home

1 10 May Vietnamese test 1B 120510_001

12
2 1B Teacher – Ms 120510_002
Phuong

3 11 May Mathematics test 1A 120511_001

12

4 15 May Marking end of year Voice000

12

5 22 May 1B Teacher – Ms 120522_001

12 Phuong (end of year)

6 1A Teacher Ms Quang 120522_002

(end of year)

7 Art-craft-PE Teacher - 120522_003

Ms Kieu

8 Revisit kindergarten 120522_004

Ts

9 HnQ’s mother 120522_005

10 31 Oct Phone con Head T Voice010 (2)

12

Summary:
- Interviews = 6
- Observation recordings = 3
- Others = 1

A.2.2 Observations and field notes

Session Date Class/Teacher Lesson observed Field
note
page no.
 - 270 -

Session Date Class/Teacher Lesson observed Field

note
page no.

1 9 May 12 1B Ms Luyen Mathematics : Revision and 69

test preparation

2 1B Ms Tram Anh Singing: was replaced by 70

mathematics to prepare for
the test

3 10 May School VNM Test 70

12

4 1B VNM Test 71-74

5 1A VNM Test 74

6 11 May 1B Mathematics test 75

12

7 1A Mathematics Test 76

8 15 May Test Markers Marking process 77

12

9 22 May School Filing test scores and 78

12 preparing report cards for
the pupils

10 29 May School End of Year ceremony 79-81

12

Summary:
- Sessions per class: 1B = 4, 1A = 2
- Sessions per subject/activity: Mathematics – 1, Singing = 1,
Assessment = 7
- Sessions per teacher: Ms Luyen Mathematics = 1, Ms Tram Anh
Music = 1

A.2.3 Documents
- All end-of-year test papers of child participants
- The participants’ workbooks and samples of work
- Copies of participants’ report cards
- Class lists and final whole class test scores
- Relevant policies and guidelines from BOET
- Both Year 1 Class Teachers’ official notebooks
 - 271 -

- Pictures

A.3 Phase 3 Dec 2012 – Jan 2013 and May, Dec 2013

A.3.1 Interviews and recordings

No. Date Types: interviews or lesson recording File

Interviewee Lesson/class/home

1 9 Jan 13 HQ mum on the phone Voice009 (3)

2 29 May HQ mum phone call Voice009 (4)

13

3 2 sisters at home Voice004

4 16 Dec 2 sisters at home Voice005

13

Summary: Interviews = 4
A.3.2 Observation and field notes

Session Date Class/Teacher Lesson observed Field

note
page no.

1 Jan 13 1B Ms Phuong VNM 81

2 1B Ms Phuong VNM : chalkboard dictation 81

3 1B Ms Phuong VNM : writing booklet 82

4 1B Ms Phuong VNM : writing booklet 82

A.3.3 Documents
- Pictures
- Test score table of the participants who were repeating the year
 - 272 -

Appendix B: Some samples demonstrating data analysis in

NVIVO

Below are some pictures of data analysis in NVIVO software.

- The first picture shows all the nodes which are themes being coded
for analysis

- The second picture zooms in on one theme/node

- The third picture shows how audio recording is transcribed in NVIVO

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- 274 -
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