An exploration of students’ voices on the English graduation benchmark policy across Northern, Central and Southern Vietnam

Abstract

Abstract Despite the wide implementation of English graduation benchmark policy in Vietnam, students’ voices on this one-size-fits-all policy have still been under-researched and under-represented. The purpose of this research, therefore, is twofold. The first is to examine whether any differences actually exist among Northern, Central and Southern Vietnamese students’ voices on the policy because these three regions represent heterogeneous characteristics ranging from cultures to English learning conditions to socio-economic backgrounds. The second is to investigate how these students at elementary, intermediate and upper intermediate levels perceive the policy. Drawing a sample of 902 students in these three regions, the study adopted a quantitative approach in the form of a questionnaire survey. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Hochberg’s GT2 post hoc tests yielded significant differences in students’ voices on the ‘Benefits’ and ‘Anxiety’ factors. Following the English proficiency levels in each region, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and the Bonferroni method also showed variations in students’ voices on the ‘Benefits’, ‘Anxiety’ and ‘Test-oriented learning’ factors. The findings hope to give dissenting voices to stakeholders including the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), policy makers, higher education institutions (HEIs) and teachers to adjust the policy and come up with innovative pedagogical strategies.

Keywords

• English graduation benchmark policy
• washback
• language policy
• English language proficiency tests
• teaching and learning English in Vietnam