Nguyn H Trc Anh

TESOL 9

Diagnosis Paper Version 2

Diagnosis Paper
What are the current problems in the EFL
curriculum in Vietnam?
In the past few years, there have been numerous controversies over the EFL curriculum in
Vietnam. Despite the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET)s effort to innovate, the
national EFL curriculum still encounters lots of shortcomings which include issues revolving
around the content and the purpose and means of assessment. It is necessary to emphasize that
these disadvantages are analyzed when comparing to learners demand.
The most important criterion that is brought up in any discussion over curriculum is its
content; nevertheless, that of Vietnamese EFL is reported to cover inadequate amount of
language, grammar-oriented, unnatural use of language and fail to facilitate students meaning
making. Taking the primary EFL curriculum for example, comparing the Cambridge Young
Learners English Tests (CYLET) content map and that from the MOET textbooks, a great
number of vocabulary items and functional structures are excluded in our current books. This
leads to the fact that if a student wants to register for the CYLET, he/she needs to enroll in extra
classes using other English books. Moreover, most of the materials fail to expose the learners to
context where the language naturally occurs. Textbooks seems to focus mainly on classroom
language and conversations that rarely used outside, which distances the learners from the target
communicative competency. Added to that, grammar is still perceived as a crucial part of an
English course. Undeniably, we cannot have a good command of English apart from its
grammar; however, conveying meaning may be accomplished in an acceptable manner with
clumsy use of grammar. Unfortunately, emphasize has been constantly given to structures in
national textbooks making the lesson full of formulas that students have to learn by rote.
Therefore, it is suggested that textbooks should be designed according to the zero-grammar
model to solve this problem. In terms of meaning making, knowledge of other school subjects
are not reflected or connected in English lessons; similarly, the link between taught knowledge
and new knowledge are not well built in one single lesson. As a result, knowledge is learned and
acquired as separate pieces that will hardly enter students long-term memory.
Besides the content, assessment in EFL curriculum also has some certain drawbacks in its
focus and methods. Although the purpose of learning English is to use it communicatively, most
examinations in Vietnam concentrate on testing learners grammar competence and a part of
reading and writing skills. Thus, both teachers and learners seem to neglect oral skills rather than
trying to master all the four skills. Such a bias have been exist in Vietnam for a long time that we
often receive comments from foreigners that Vietnamese students are perfectly good at grammar
and writing but they do not perform very well in listening and speaking. In addition, almost all
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Nguyn H Trc Anh

TESOL 9

Diagnosis Paper Version 2

the tests organized by the MOET and public schools tend adapt the multiple choice format. It is
widely agreed that this kind of test is easier for both the test takers and the examiners as students
do not need to learn my heart and the papers can be checked by machines. However, multiple
choice tests require only one correct answer for each question whereas in real life people can get
their meaning across in different ways even if their language choice is not grammatically and
lexically perfect. In this sense, multiple choice tests seem to be more challenging. Despite the
fact that most of the educators are making efforts to create a shift in teaching English towards
communicative approaches where great emphasis are given to learners fluency, communicative
competence, it is noticeable that the tools of assessment are not capable of satisfying the demand.
In conclusion, Vietnamese EFL curriculum still contains weaknesses regarding content and
assessment systems in terms of how learners can benefit from the curriculum. Nowadays, people
have extended their goal of learning English. Not only do they wish to pass examinations at
schools but they also need to master all the four skills in order to successfully communicate with
foreigners and find a good job. Hence, it is recommended that changes should be made to the
current curriculum based on students needs.