Part II.pdf - MTB-MLE Network

efforts by non-governmental organizations. Few, if any, of these projects are actual bilingual
education.
Viet Nam
The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam is a multiethnic and multilingual nation with a population of
about 80 million. Approximately 100 languages are spoken in the country, although the government
officially recognises 54 ethnic groups. Reasons for this apparent discrepancy are similar to those
elaborated on in the case of China. Kinh, or Vietnamese, is the largest ethnic group, accounting
for about 86 percent of the population; ethnolinguistic minorities comprise about 14 percent.
According to the Census of 1999, the combined population of the 53 ethnic minority groups was
slightly more than 11 million. Several minority groups have large populations. The Tay, Thai,
Muong, Hoa (i.e. Chinese) and Khmer have populations of more than one million. Five more groups,
the Nung, Hmong, Dao, Gia Rai and Ede, have populations in the hundreds of thousands. Most
minority groups, however, are smaller. Some 20-30 minority languages already have writing systems
and language development is ongoing in others. (Baulch, Truong, Haughton & Haughton 2002;
Bui 2003; Chazée 1999; Grimes 2000; Kosonen 2004; Leclerc 2004l; Lo Bianco 2002; MOET 2004;
Nguyen 1997; Nguyen 2001; Save the Children-UK 2002; Schliesinger 1997, 1998, 2003; Wright
2002.)
The national language is Vietnamese, and it is used as the LWC in most of the country. Vietnamese
is spoken as the first language (or one first language of bilingual people) by around 90 percent of
the population. The use of ethnic minority languages in education is strongly supported by the
constitution, education laws and many educational policy documents. These documents give equal
support to the learning of Vietnamese by ethnic minority people, thus emphasising bilingual education
(Kosonen 2004; Leclerc 2004l; Save the Children-UK 2002). A goal of the policies is the expanded
and improved quality of multilingualism (Bui 2003; Tran 2003).
Despite supportive policies, Vietnamese remains the main medium of instruction at all levels of
education, in predominantly non-Vietnamese areas, as well. Local languages are used in education
in some areas for programmes referred to as bilingual education (MOET 2004; Nguyen 2003; Tran
2003). In practice, however, most of these programmes teach local languages as subjects or are
transitional with few students actually becoming fully bilingual. In addition, most activities are
top-down in approach, and local communities contribute little, if anything, to the efforts. At least
Hoa, Tay-Nung, Thai, Hmong, Khmer, Cham, Gia Rai, Ede, and Bahnar languages have been used
in pilot projects of mother-tongue education, in pre-primary and primary schools, as well as
non-formal education (APPEAL 2001; Archibald 2003; Jernudd 1999; Kosonen 2004; Malone 2002;
MOET 2004; Save the Children-UK 2002; UNICEF Viet Nam 1998). Government sources
(e.g. MOET 2004) state that more than 10 other languages have been, or are being, used in schools
as “bilingual languages.” Although up to 20 percent of the curriculum could be used for teaching
minority languages, not all schools in minority areas fully use this opportunity. Likewise, according
to the education policy, ethnic minority languages could be the main languages of instruction in
minority area kindergartens, but few early childhood educational institutions implement this policy
(Kosonen 2004; Save the Children-UK 2002).
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