Big challenge when teaching English compulsory from grade 1

TPO - Experts and teachers say that introducing English as a second language in schools faces many challenges, including a lack of teachers. Not to mention, teachers who do not have good English skills and have pronunciation errors cause students to mispronounce right from the start. Learning English early then becomes more harmful than beneficial.

The Government has just approved the Project "Making English the second language in schools for the period 2025-2035, with a vision to 2045".

The project's goal is to make English the second language in schools in Vietnam; English is used widely, regularly, and effectively in teaching and communication in schools.

It is noteworthy that all public schools nationwide will teach English compulsorily from grade 1 instead of grade 3 as at present.

The principal of a primary school in Hanoi said that in order to implement the 2018 General Education Program, which requires English to be taught from grade 4, the school had to struggle due to a lack of teachers. The school currently has 42 classes but only has 2 teachers teaching English for grades 3, 4, and 5, so the teachers are straining themselves to teach “beyond the quota”.

Schools will teach English as a compulsory subject from grade 1 instead of grade 3 as at present.

In addition, the school must implement the solution of signing teacher contracts and linking with foreign language centers. However, contract teachers have low salaries and are not committed. Some only sign contracts for 1-2 years and then quit, and the school must find other teachers.

According to this principal, teaching English from an early age is what the school desires, but to be effective, it must also have enough teachers and classroom conditions.

“Currently, the number of students per class is still more than 40, and the lack of teachers is a big challenge for teaching English at school,” she said.

Severe teacher shortage

Associate Professor Dr. Bui Manh Hung, Chief Coordinator, General Education Program Development Board 2018, said that the General Education Program 2018 stipulates that in grades 1 and 2, students can study English as an elective subject, the study time does not exceed 70 periods/year, or 2 periods/week. However, in recent years, students from many schools, especially private schools and public schools in large cities, have chosen to study English from grade 1. Making this subject compulsory can be seen in a positive way as creating equal opportunities for all students.

However, this policy poses many challenges. One is that the teaching staff will be seriously lacking. Information from the Ministry of Education and Training shows that, in general, for the strategy of making English a "second language in schools", by 2030, the whole country will need 22,000 more English teachers in preschool and primary schools. The quality of the English teaching staff to meet the requirements is also a big question.

Without appropriate teaching methods, it will create a great learning burden for students. From grade 1, students have to spend a lot of time getting familiar with Vietnamese writing, and have to practice a lot to form and develop skills, especially reading and writing.

At a young age (kindergarten and early elementary school), many students have the ability to adapt well to a new language, which is very convenient for learning a foreign language in parallel with learning Vietnamese. But many other students do not have that ability, and learning to read and write Vietnamese is already a challenge for them.

"For students from ethnic minority groups, in addition to Vietnamese, they can also learn an ethnic minority language. If they add English, they have to learn three languages ​​at the same time," said Associate Professor Dr. Bui Manh Hung.

According to Associate Professor Hung, another issue is that the current English textbooks are compiled according to the output standards of the 2018 General Education Program, the study time at the primary level is only 3 years. If teaching is compulsory from grade 1, will the output standards for grade 5, and then grade 9 and grade 12, be raised? If raised, will the program and all English textbooks have to be re-compiled? These are questions that need to be considered.

Teachers who do not pronounce correctly will do more harm than good.

He said that the 5-year preparation roadmap is not long because it is only enough to train 2 courses of English pedagogical university students.

In terms of method, if teachers do not have good English skills and do not know how to take advantage of the support of machines and technology, the teacher's pronunciation errors can be transmitted to students, causing them to mispronounce right from the start, which is very difficult to correct later. Early learning then becomes more harmful than beneficial.

According to experts, the Program and Textbooks can remain the same if English is taught in grades 1 and 2 in the same way as in the past few years, only changing from optional to compulsory. In the first 2 years of primary school, students mainly get acquainted and practice communicating in English through learning activities organized by teachers with the effective support of machines and technology.

Study time should also be limited to about 70 periods/year as before (when it was still taught as an elective subject).

Teaching English as a “second language in schools” needs to be interpreted in the context of Vietnam's Project implementation with specific and achievable goals.

This should be considered a long-term strategy, the result of thorough scientific research and steps appropriate to the practical conditions of the country, while implementing and surveying and evaluating so that educational innovation is in the right direction and investment resources are used effectively.

Our national resources are limited, investing too much in English teaching will certainly affect the teaching of other important subjects.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/thach-thuc-lon-khi-day-tieng-anh-bat-buoc-tu-lop-1-post1793900.tpo