The great potential contribution of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities to the cause of Vietnamese language training for overseas Vietnamese

Attending the opening ceremony were Mr. Luong Thanh Nghi - Vice Chairman of the State Committee on Overseas Vietnamese; Mr. Dinh Hoang Linh - Director of the Department of Information and Culture, State Committee on Overseas Vietnamese; Mr. Hoang Duc Minh - Director of the Department of Continuing Education, Ministry of Education and Training; Associate Professor, Dr. Duong Tuan Anh - Deputy Head of the Faculty of Literature, Hanoi National University of Education; Dr. Le Thi Thanh Tam - Head of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

The opening ceremony of the training course at the State Committee on Overseas Vietnamese was chaired by Vice Chairman of the State Committee on Overseas Vietnamese Luong Thanh Nghi and Head of the Department of Continuing Education Dr. Hoang Duc Minh (Source: Organizing Committee)

The 2021 online training course on teaching Vietnamese for overseas Vietnamese teachers is a great effort by the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese in supporting overseas Vietnamese to participate in teaching and learning Vietnamese online globally. The 18-session training course is considered a thorough and quality preparation for the implementation of Conclusion No. 12/KL-TW dated August 12, 2021 of the Politburo on overseas Vietnamese work in the new situation, especially in promoting the teaching and learning of Vietnamese as a native language.

At the opening ceremony, Dr. Le Thi Thanh Tam - Head of the Department of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, affirmed that teaching Vietnamese to generations of Vietnamese people abroad has specific requirements in terms of content and methods. In particular, the requirement of educating about the original culture of the Vietnamese people, reviving the unique cultural features of the origin through language is an important issue. Dr. Le Thi Thanh Tam affirmed that the training course has many valuable meanings in terms of both humanistic spirit and for the cause of training Vietnamese language worldwide, contributing significantly to the work of promoting resources for the country. Preserving Vietnamese language for generations of Vietnamese people in five continents is not only preserving the memory, history, and culture of the nation but also contributing to preserving blood relations, compatriotism for a unified and powerful Vietnam.

At the Japanese end, Ms. Nguyen Ha Chung shared the challenges in teaching the language and expected that this training course would provide a system of updated and necessary knowledge and methods. Mr. Nguyen Truong Thi from Thailand expressed his gratitude to the Party and State for their attention to organizing the course during the difficult pandemic period.

After the opening ceremony, a discussion onCurrent status of teaching and learning Vietnamese for the NVNONN community and measures to promote itwas organized under the chairmanship of Mr. Dinh Hoang Linh, representative of the UBNNNVNONN, Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Thi Tu Anh - Deputy Head of the Department of Continuing Education, Associate Professor, Dr. Duong Tuan Anh - in charge of the professional group of Hanoi National University of Education. The audience listened to the opinions of Vietnamese teachers teaching in Japan, China, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Cambodia... about concerns in language teaching methods, expectations for online learning materials to support teaching and self-study of Vietnamese for overseas Vietnamese, specific requirements for each learning target and cultural area. The model of storing language teaching resources and online Vietnamese teaching platforms is also a challenge for the majority of overseas Vietnamese.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Duong Tuan Anh, Deputy Head of the Faculty of Literature, Hanoi National University of Education, outlined the main spirit of the training program, emphasizing the cultural aspect of language. The system of 3 modules includes: 1-General Linguistics and Vietnamese; 2 –Vietnamese language in Vietnamese culture and life; 3 -Vietnamese teaching methods and assessmentare distributed harmoniously to support knowledge and methods for those attending the training course.

Delegates attending the opening of the Training Course at the headquarters of the State Committee on Overseas Vietnamese(Source: BTC)

Dr. Le Thi Thanh Tam, Head of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU, shares information about the Project.Strengthening online Vietnamese language teaching for overseas Vietnameseundertaken by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU since 2020. Up to now, the University's team of experts has completed a large corpus of nearly 11,000 manuscript pages including the entire language teaching curriculum system according to the 6-level Competency Framework, a set of supplementary documents on social sciences and humanities, a guidebook for teachers and parents; it is expected to continue to complete the corpus on tourism, commerce, cuisine, communication and other important components serving language teaching, which will soon be completed and put into use. The Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language has also completed 2 sets of bilingual textbooks to teach Vietnamese to Vietnamese children abroad and was selected by VTV4 Television Station to use the resources of these documents to build a separate program for Vietnamese children abroad. Currently, VNU is also taking steps to prepare for the implementation of building an online platform infrastructure to specify the Vietnamese language training channel for Vietnamese people abroad.

Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Thi Tu Anh - Deputy Director of the Department of Continuing Education, Ministry of Education and Training, clarified the elaborate preparation process for this special online training session. Accordingly, the Department has implemented a plan to build a set of Vietnamese cultural documents by a group of lecturers, experts, and scientists from Hanoi National University of Education, along with a number of other related contents, ensuring the process of bringing Vietnamese language closer and more practically to the overseas Vietnamese community. According to Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Thi Tu Anh, in the future, it is possible to better organize the assessment and evaluation process and improve the quality of the program to soon issue certificates to overseas Vietnamese participating in the training course, instead of the current certification.

The Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Language is the unit that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Training have trusted to be in charge of the professional work of this training course for many years. This activity of the Faculty, together with the outstanding achievements in compiling documents, textbooks, and Vietnamese language teaching programs for different subjects, especially overseas Vietnamese... has affirmed the great potential contribution of the Faculty and School's staff to the cause of Vietnamese language training for overseas Vietnamese.