Improve the quality of English teachers

The teachers are those who have met the standards according to the 6-level foreign language proficiency framework used for Vietnam. Of course, these teachers have studied English at university or college.

That said, the above mentioned teachers are people with a fairly high level of English proficiency, because they studied at professional schools and achieved competence through a rather difficult certificate, the 6-level foreign language proficiency framework as mentioned.

However, why do they have to study the IELTS program? First of all, this international certificate is highly prestigious, meaning that the score depends on the ability (the highest is 9.0). Second, this certificate evaluates the learner's ability quite comprehensively, including 4 skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing.

In previous schools, students studying foreign languages ​​mainly learned reading and writing skills, focusing on grammar; listening and speaking skills were not focused on and were not included in semester or year-end exams. When such students graduated from school and went to teach, they only focused on teaching grammar; the lecture structure was learning new words, learning new lessons with short paragraphs, analyzing sentence structures, etc. Students also did not have listening and speaking sections in their exams. Over time, these teachers also forgot how to listen and speak.

Just like that, many generations learn foreign languages, mostly English, but can read and understand but cannot communicate. Therefore, English centers are born to continue the rest, helping students have all 4 skills as mentioned and they… make a lot of money.

Fortunately, most of the foreign language students today have studied at centers and when they graduate, they are quite equal in the four skills required for this subject. Therefore, if they are trained further according to the IELTS program, they will have enough capacity to help students learn foreign languages ​​properly.

If that were the case, parents would save a lot of money because they wouldn’t have to send their children to a foreign language center. One parent said: “My child spends nearly 10 million VND a year to study English online at a center in Ho Chi Minh City. Now if the teachers at school had standard pronunciation, I would be so happy.”

Vietnam is moving towards gradually making English its second language. This is a step in the right direction. The idea that AI can do the job of translating for humans so there is no need to learn a foreign language is misleading. Because learning a foreign language means learning a new language, a different culture and way of thinking; having the means to actively seek out and acquire knowledge from other countries and peoples.

Hanoi's focus on English teachers through opening international IELTS standard training courses is the right direction, and is commendable. After all, all educational reforms must start with the teaching staff. Only when this team is strong can everything change, especially in terms of quality, and the same goes for English.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/nang-chat-giao-vien-day-tieng-anh.html