Experts say that unqualified teachers are the main reason, but teachers of English argue that unreasonable curricula and examination methods are at fault.

Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan on June 11, answering queries from National Assembly deputies, said that many students could not communicate in English or other foreign languages that they had studied.

Luan said many teachers were unqualified or had poor qualifications. “In many cases, students have excellent pronunciation, but teachers say their pronunciation is bad,” he noted.

Dao Thi Ngan, who has been teaching English for 11 years in Bac Giang Province, said that communication skills had never been a focus of the English teaching curricula.

“As a result, teachers and students spend most of their time practicing reading and writing, which are the necessary skills they need to pass exams,” Ngan said.

“Practicing writing and reading to pass exams is the top priority for students. Meanwhile, they think they can practice speaking and listening skills later, when they are at work,” she said.

The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has decided that English will not be a compulsory subject for finals.

Ngan fears that students, as a result, will not spend time learning English anymore.

Cao Thanh Nga, an English teacher at Phan Huy Chu High School in Hanoi for 16 years, said that grammar questions were the focus in all lessons and exam questions, which explains why teachers and students pay more attention to learning grammar rules and spend less time on speaking and listening skills.

“This can be seen in the design of English lessons and the content of textbooks,” Nga said.

“The lessons on listening and speaking are not interesting to attract students,” she commented.

The Phan Huy Chu High School’s Board of Management has decided to teach English with both the MOET English curricula and Solution, a textbook from Oxford University Press, which allows all four skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking.

HCM City is thought to have the best English skills in Vietnam as the city is the beneficiary of a government project on teaching English intensively, which has been in use at general schools for a decade. 

An English teacher at Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted said that the English skills of the school’s students were very good.

“They can communicate in English fluently,” he said.

In addition, HCM City has succeeded in its English teaching program because of the use of high-tech devices.

Ngan of Bac Giang Province said the lack of teaching aids like audio recorders, internet access and overhead projectors had hindered the teaching of English.

“With poor facilities like we have at Yen Dung School in Bac Giang, we cannot improve teaching methods, even though we really want to,” she said.