The Journal of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children

inborn. In the case of Vietnam, another argot,
specialized students, which reads “ học sinh
chuyên” in Vietnamese, has been employed to
refer to those who have excellent academic
achievements in specialized high schools, which
“are founded at the general secondary
education level for those students who achieve
outstanding results in studies aimed at
developing their aptitude in a number of
subjects on the basis of assuring all-round
general education.” (Art 61, Vietnamese
educational law, 2005).
The gifted program at Le Quy Don Specialized High School
The World Council for Gifted and Talented Children
In conclusion, although different terms have
been employed to describe the same
phenomenon, and a commonly accepted
definition of giftedness has not yet been found,
there is a consensus that gifted students are
those who have achieved a higher level in
academic fields than most of their peers. To
make it uniform and comply with the commonly
used jargon in the world, in this research, the
terms gifted, talented, supernormal and
specialized are used interchangeably to refer to
the same thing without any distinction.
Le Quy Don Specialized High School in Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam was established in
1985 as a locally controlled school whose operations were under the supervision and instruction of
the provincial or municipal service of education and training. This model of school is different from
that of university-based schools or regional gifted schools which are founded and operated by
universities. In 2009, the school had 7 majors: mathematics, Vietnamese literature, physics, English
as a foreign language, chemistry, biology and information technology. The total enrolled students
were 519 in 3 grades 10, 11, and 12. As regulated in the Decision 82 (2008), the total number of
specialized students admitted each year accounted no more than 0.10% of the whole population of
the province. To be admitted into the specialized high schools, students must have been learning the
major since secondary school and must have passed the entrance exam consisting of 3 separate
tests: Mathematics, Vietnamese literature and the major. The minimum required passing score for
the major is 6 (on a score band 1-10).
Regarding the school operation, according to the Decision No 82 (2008), it received at least
200% of government’s financial investment as regular schools. Its teaching staff‘s salary was 35%
higher than that of the teaching staff of regular schools. They also benefited from more opportunities
for further study than their peers at regular schools. Finally, one major teaching period (45 minutes/
period) by a teacher at this school was equivalent to three periods by a teacher at a regular school.
This means that a teacher spent 4.5 hours per week working in this school in comparison to their
counterparts at a regular school who worked 12.75 per week.
Literature Review
Research on gifted students’ attitudes toward the program is rather rare and out of date.
According to Ford (1978), since it is generally assumed that talented students hold favorable
attitude to special programs, it may be why the question about students’ perceptions of the
effectiveness of the programs has received little or no attention in research. In a survey with
approximately 500 middle grade students in 13 school districts in the state of Connecticut, Ford
(1978) reported that more than 90% of the gifted students expressed satisfaction about being in a
special program. Similarly, Colangelo & Kelly (1983) found that gifted students showed significantly
more favorable attitudes to the gifted program than regular students and that they had more desire
to take part in gifted programs. In 2001, Gentry, Rizza and Gable conducted a survey with 2,221
elementary students from grades 3 – 6 and 1,523 middle school students. The findings were that
gifted students both in rural and urban areas had positive attitudes toward the gifted program
although the levels of interest, choice and enjoyment were different between samples.
In summary, related literature and research have provided evidence that gifted students hold
a generally positive view about their programs of study. However, most of these studies have mainly
involved participants from the United States under the general term giftedness without any specific
identification of what kind of giftedness the students possessed. Therefore, this present study aims
to contribute and expand on previous research by engaging gifted students from a specialized
English language major in Vietnam. It is hoped that the results will bring insights into the specific
characteristics, perceptions and attitudes of students who are gifted in learning languages.
82 Gifted and Talented International – 26(1), August, 2011; and 26(2), December, 2011.