Foreign language output standards are a tool for students to confidently participate in the labor market, especially in the context of international integration. According to regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, foreign language output standards are determined according to the Vietnamese National Qualifications Framework issued since 2016. B1 is the minimum level used by most universities to consider foreign language output. At many universities, how is the application of foreign language standards implemented? Readers are invited to read VietNamNet's articles on this issue.

30-50% of students at some schools are behind in their diplomas due to foreign languages.

Dr. Thai Doan Thanh, Vice Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, said that students have been considered for graduation, but to receive a diploma, they must meet the output standards for foreign languages ​​and IT. For IT, most students complete the output standards early. For foreign languages, only about 50% complete on time; the remaining 50% do not meet the standards at the time of graduation. This causes them to have their diplomas "locked" because students must complete the foreign language standards to receive a diploma.

Dr. Thai Doan Thanh said that this is not a case of late graduation, but of graduating but receiving the diploma late because the foreign language output standards have not been completed. Students who meet the output standards will be awarded their diplomas at that time.

“Depending on the student's efforts, some students can complete the foreign language output standard in a very short time, from 1-2 months, but there are also students who have passed the graduation exam but still need 1-2 years to complete this standard,” said Dr. Thai Doan Thanh.

He said that many students are currently quite negligent in completing the conditions to receive a diploma. Although the school has implemented it very early, regularly reminds and urges, many students do not care about the conditions to receive a diploma as well as graduation. They often leave it until the last semester - "waiting until the last minute" while this is a busy time for internships and graduation thesis writing.

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Illustration: Le Huyen

Mr. Thanh advised that students who have just entered the school need to have a clear plan and roadmap to meet the foreign language output standards. Ideally, students should strive to meet the foreign language output standards in the second year because this is the time when students have just completed their foreign language studies in the main curriculum. Taking the exam at this time, students already have knowledge. If they neglect it for a while, the foreign language exam will be more difficult. On the other hand, students must be determined and make every effort to meet the foreign language output standards.

According to a representative of the University of Commerce, in the most recent graduating class, about 30% of students were late in graduating, including students who did not meet English output standards (the rest did not complete enough credits for other reasons).

According to this person, the number of students who have difficulty with foreign languages ​​mainly falls on the group of students in rural areas and in difficult circumstances. This is also an obstacle in the school's teaching work. "Because they are already weak in foreign languages, the English program at university level is even more difficult. They are not only under pressure due to lack of time but also financial problems. Because if they want to study more, supplement their foreign languages, they need money. Meanwhile, paying tuition for the main program is already a burden. Some students also face the disadvantage of having to work part-time to cover tuition and living expenses. Therefore, meeting the foreign language output standards will be more difficult," this person said.

Therefore, normally, to ensure graduation, students often complete all the subjects, then focus completely on completing foreign language courses/credits. "So basically, students can still graduate but accept graduating late," he said.

However, according to this person, in the future, in order to improve the quality of training, the school's trend will still be to raise the English output standard for graduation to IELTS 5.5 or higher (instead of IELTS 5.0 as at present).

Technical schools "get rid of the label" of students having poor foreign language skills

According to Associate Professor Bui Hoai Thang - Head of Training Department, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, foreign language requirements for university graduation have been specified in the national qualification framework (level 3/6 of the Vietnamese foreign language qualification framework).

The school always focuses on foreign language training for students and helps students to be ready to participate in the high-level labor market and international integration. Currently, the standard training program (in Vietnamese) has a foreign language output standard equivalent to TOEIC 600, the English/advanced teaching program is IELTS 6.0 (also the entrance standard).

On the other hand, to promote English learning, the school sets English thresholds for each level/each academic year according to the school's English teaching roadmap. Students are required to meet foreign language output standards before receiving their graduation project, so that upon completing their graduation project, they can receive their diploma immediately. Therefore, at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, there are very few students who are late in receiving their diploma due to foreign language output standards.

Meanwhile, at Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry, Dr. Nguyen Trung Nhan - Head of Training Department, said that the school has not yet had specific statistics on the number of students who are late in receiving their diplomas due to foreign language output standards, but roughly about 5-10% of students per course. Most of these students fall into technical majors, while very few are in economic and service majors.

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Students of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology at the graduation ceremony. Photo: School website

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hung - Head of Training Department of Hanoi University of Science and Technology informed that, recognizing the role and importance of foreign languages ​​in modern society, the school also sets foreign language output standards so that students, although focusing on professional knowledge, do not neglect learning foreign languages. Accordingly, the school requires students to achieve English standards to be able to graduate.

“Hanoi University of Science and Technology believes that even for students studying engineering, their English foundation must still be good, so that after graduation they can respond and develop in the context of internationalization. Knowing English is very important and advantageous, because it can help them later read and understand documents, access new technologies…

Therefore, depending on each training system/program, Hanoi University of Science and Technology has different requirements for foreign language output. For training systems taught in English, the requirements will be higher than the regular system," said Mr. Hung.

According to Mr. Hung, among the students who graduate late each year at the school, for many reasons, there are also those who are stuck with foreign language output. In fact, the number of students who graduate late because of foreign language output problems are mainly students studying the standard program (studying purely in Vietnamese). For students studying advanced programs, there is almost no problem with this, because they have a foundation and study in English.

According to the Vietnamese National Qualifications Framework, university graduates must have a foreign language proficiency level 3/6 of the Vietnamese foreign language proficiency framework. Currently, many universities stipulate that the English output standard for graduation consideration is level 3 according to the Vietnamese Foreign Language Proficiency Framework (equivalent to B1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference - CEFR or IELTS 5.0); for language majors, it is level 5 according to the Vietnamese Foreign Language Proficiency Framework (equivalent to C1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference - CEFR or IELTS 6.5). The foreign languages ​​currently applied are English, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Russian. Some universities only stipulate an output standard in English, most schools require a prestigious international certificate.
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