Research and Training in Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language: Theoretical and Practical Issues

Jackie Chan/USSH

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh (Vice Principal) delivered the opening speech at the Workshop.

The conference received 45 presentations, divided into 4 major contents corresponding to 4 sub-committees: Vietnamese studies and training in Vietnamese studies; Vietnamese culture - history - society; Vietnamese literature and arts; Vietnamese linguistics and methods of teaching Vietnamese to international students.

At the conference, one of the issues that received the most attention and discussion from the delegates was the current state of research and training in Vietnamese studies in Vietnam and the direction for training in Vietnamese studies at the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language (University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU).

Jackie Chan/USSH

The conference was attended by many leading experts in Vietnam studies and Vietnamese language.

Vietnamese Studies was first introduced into university teaching in Vietnam in 1994. In recent years, Vietnamese Studies has been continuously included in the training list of schools. In the 2013-2014 school year, there were 85 colleges and universities nationwide enrolling students in Vietnamese Studies with more than 6,000 targets. In fact, the training goals of Vietnamese Studies of most schools are oriented towards training in the following majors: Tour guides, Culture - Tourism or Tourism Studies or Ethnic Culture. This situation shows that there is a wrong understanding of the concept of Vietnamese Studies as an interdisciplinary science that deciphers the problems of Vietnam. Most training institutions only follow a narrow specialized direction of Vietnamese Studies. In addition, many Vietnamese studies training institutions in reality do not have enough human resources and other conditions to train this field, do not have clear training objectives, do not set out research issues to serve teaching or have very limited international exchanges. That leads to the current picture of Vietnamese studies training being quite spontaneous, fragmented, and without quality control.

The Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Language is a unit with a tradition and prestige in training Vietnamese language and culture for the past 45 years. Since the 2010-2011 school year, the Faculty has started to implement training in Vietnamese studies with two majors, major A for Vietnamese students (has been and is training 4 courses with 250 students), major B for foreign students (has been and is training 3 courses with nearly 80 students). Although it is one of the units participating later in the research and implementation of training in Vietnamese studies as an interdisciplinary science, the Faculty has inherited many advantages and is highly determined in building its position in this field.

Jackie Chan/USSH

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thien Nam (Head of Faculty) answered questions from the audience about the content of the first report presented at the plenary session.

Regarding the training orientation of the Faculty, many opinions say that: The Faculty should promote its strengths in training Vietnamese and the tradition of training in the fields of Social Sciences and Humanities of the University in building and training Vietnamese studies. Training Vietnamese studies bachelors must aim to serve the diverse needs of life, society and the country. Therefore, the training program needs to not only provide basic knowledge of Vietnamese studies but also provide in-depth knowledge to create conditions for students to participate in activities in specific fields after graduation such as: tourism, journalism, office, consulting, language teaching. Training Vietnamese studies for foreigners and Vietnamese people needs to have a certain distinction. In particular, with open international relations, the Faculty needs to focus on promoting Vietnamese studies training for foreigners and expanding international links with Vietnamese study centers in other countries. In addition, the Faculty needs to continue to affirm and further develop its advantages in teaching Vietnamese language and culture to foreigners, focusing on training highly qualified people to teach the above subjects.

The delegates also affirmed that, with its current potential and position, the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language has the capacity to establish itself as the leading training unit on Vietnamese Studies in Vietnam and to move towards international level, contributing to promoting the development of Vietnamese Studies in the world as expected by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan during his visit to the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in 2008.

At the conference, the academic exchanges not only helped clarify the understanding of the concept of Vietnamese Studies, position Vietnamese Studies in the map of social sciences and humanities, and point out the limitations in current Vietnamese Studies training; but also contributed to establishing cooperative relationships and initially forming a network of Vietnamese Studies research and training facilities of Vietnamese universities. The conference is one of a series of activities of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language towards the 45th anniversary of the Faculty's establishment (1968-2013) and 57 years of teaching Vietnamese to foreigners (1956-2013).