Nghe An: Creating new thinking about teaching and learning foreign languages ​​in schools

To better understand the implementation process, Nghe An Newspaper interviewed Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Department of Education and Training on this content.

Innovation in teaching and learning

PV:Dear Professor, Dr. Thai Van Thanh, for many years now, Nghe An has implemented the 10-year English program.Foreign Language Project2020. However, if we look at the general level, compared to many other localities, Nghe An's foreign language exam scores are still low. In your opinion, why is this and from this reality, what are the orientations of Nghe An's education sector in the coming years?

Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh:In my opinion, this problem has many causes, both objective and subjective, but first of all, we realize that: The direction of organizing foreign language teaching according to the 10-year program has not ensured the requirements of synchronization and connection between levels in the area. In reality, we are still mainly implementing the project of teaching foreign languages ​​in the area according to the 7-year program, the number of schools (especially high schools) teaching according to the 10-year program can be counted on the fingers.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and Director of the Department of Education and Training Thai Van Thanh visits an English class for ethnic minority students in Ky Son district. Photo: MH

In addition, school management sometimes lacks determination and creativity in promoting teachers to improve their foreign language skills and innovate teaching methods... Socialization and mobilization of resources to improve facilities and build a foreign language teaching environment in schools are not effective... Along with that, there is not really determination in assessing English teachers' capacity according to international standards. Especially, there has not really been a suitable environment for teaching, learning and using English in schools as well as in the community.

From these shortcomings, to change the quality of English teaching, the most important thing is still the policy mechanism and creating an environment for teaching and using English inside and outside of school. Therefore,Department of Education and TrainingThere must be a strategy and plan for teaching English systematically from preschool, general education to university education and from there, there must be specific instructions for educational institutions and schools to concretize and proactively implement in their units.

English class of students at Hung Dung Secondary School - Vinh City. Photo: MH

Specifically, educational institutions and schools need to proactively coordinate with foreign language centers with foreigners to develop enhanced English programs, with a commitment to output standards for each class and level of education and publicly announce them to students, parents and the community to monitor quality; direct the teaching of enhanced foreign languages ​​independently from testing, assessment and granting international certificates to learners. At the same time, the direction of teaching and assessment of students will be strengthened, in line with the orientation of developing qualities and capacities. TeachersEnglish, signed a quality commitment with the school principal.

In the context of the large gap in English teaching and learning between regions, the Department will focus on building a team of volunteer teachers with a spirit of serving the community to support educational institutions in particularly difficult areas, especially mountainous districts and ethnic minority areas; Continue to direct the promotion of digital transformation, deploy electronic lesson plans, build a warehouse of English teaching materials, to help students, especially students in mountainous districts and ethnic minority areas, access and study with teachers of international quality standards.

The Education Department will also continue to advise the Provincial People's Committee on a mechanism to reward teachers with high achievements and achievements.English certificateinternational and build a mechanism for direct admission, or reward, with priority policies for students with international English certificates. Build playgrounds and English experience environments for students, organize English teaching clubs for people at community learning centers, especially in localities with potential for tourism development, to be exposed to and study with foreign English teachers, contributing to creating interest in learning foreign languages.

At the same time, direct educational institutions to focus on training, arranging and properly using the school's English teachers to meet international standards, participating in teaching the school's enhanced English program, or other educational institutions in the area, to motivate teachers and contribute to improving material life, creating an emulation movement in teaching English in the whole province.

Currently, in the 10th grade entrance exam, we traditionally organize exams for 3 subjects: Literature, Math, and Foreign Language, in which Math and Literature have a coefficient of 2, and Foreign Language has a coefficient of 1.

However, the Department of Education and Training is predicting that in the near future we may have to research and change the calculation method to be similar, or English will be given a coefficient of 2, to encourage students to improve the quality of foreign language learning.

PV:In recent years, foreign language teaching and learning in Nghe An province has shown new signs and I think we are on the right track to improve the quality of foreign language teaching and learning comprehensively, helping students develop the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Can you share more about these changes?

Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh:Compared to big cities, Nghe An students' foreign language ability is limited, especially listening and speaking skills. Therefore, in recent years, Nghe An has implemented many synchronous solutions to improve the quality of foreign language teaching and learning, such as implementing English programs for primary and secondary school students. All of these programs are implemented in the form of socialization, with the participation of reputable English centers, assessed by the Department of Education and Training, with input capacity testing and output commitment with international English certificates. The good news is that the number of students participating in these classes is very large and they are organized quite systematically and with quality.

In particular, after many years of preparation, in the past two school years, Nghe An province has piloted 14 high-quality key schools (9 middle schools, 5 high schools). These key schools will be the driving force to promote the development of foreign language learning models both in schools and in the community. At the public high school level, starting from the 2021-2022 school year, the admission to grade 10 allows some schools to directly enroll up to one English class, within the school's approved enrollment quota.

Supplementary English class for students at Kim Lien Secondary School - Nam Dan. Photo: MH

It is expected that in the coming time, the Department of Education and Training will advise the Provincial People's Committee and ask for support from the Ministry of Education and Training to build Huynh Thuc Khang High School (a school with over 100 years of development) into a key school in the region. This will focus on developing school management models, digital transformation, foreign language and information technology teaching; advanced programs, integrated programs..., to comprehensively develop students' personalities. Thereby, promoting comprehensive and mass education in the whole province.

Improve the quality of teaching staff, shorten the regional gap

PV:Dear Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh, since mid-2020, the Provincial People's Committee has approved the Project "Improving the quality of foreign language teaching and learning in educational institutions in Nghe An province, period 2020-2025, orientation to 2030". What is the significance of this project at present?

Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh:After 10 years of implementing the previous foreign language project, we have seen many shortcomings and limitations that are not suitable to current reality, such as: implementation methods, mechanisms or deployment models...

Nghe An is merging separate schools so that primary school students across the province can learn English from grade 3 according to the new program. Photo: MH

In addition, Nghe An province is promoting investment, promoting tourism, calling for and preparing to implement key projects. Therefore, to promote international integration and the fourth industrial revolution, we need to have a good human resource, ensuring quantity and quality, meeting skills and capacity to be ready for integration and globalization. Therefore, developing and improving foreign language proficiency is one of the best provisions for Nghe An children to have a great opportunity to quickly access and integrate into the region and the world, when working, studying abroad, or working in a modern industrial environment...

Therefore, the project "Improving the quality of foreign language teaching and learning in educational institutions in Nghe An province, period 2020-2025, orientation to 2030", meets the people's need for foreign language learning, meeting the need for human resources in the current context.

PV:Regarding the implementation of the foreign language project, the Education sector is planning to survey the capacity of all English teachers and has a policy to attract good and capable teachers. What are the details, sir?

Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh:Recruitment is carried out according to the approved plan, in which priority is given to excellent graduates or those with international English certificates. Currently, the department is assessing the current status of English teachers according to international standards. Thereby, developing appropriate training programs for each teacher; developing a mechanism to encourage teachers to self-study and self-train to take the exam to obtain international English certificates, striving to meet global teacher standards. However, the assessment is not for classification, but the main purpose is to evaluate teachers, improve foreign language skills and have a roadmap to train teachers to meet international standards, creating motivation and awareness of self-study and self-training to meet teachers' standards.

An English Club meeting at Anh Son 1 High School. Photo: MH

PV:A long-standing problem for the Nghe An Education sector is that the quality of foreign language teaching and learning between regions is still uneven. So, what solutions has the Education sector had to overcome this limitation?

Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh:In our opinion, the most urgent issue is recruiting teachers, especially teachers for mountainous districts. Once we have recruited enough, we will have a plan to train and improve the teaching capacity of teachers to meet the requirements.

Second, advise the Provincial People's Committee to continue investing in English teaching facilities for mountainous districts. Prioritize investment in training qualified teachers in mountainous areas and create favorable conditions for teachers to self-study and self-train to obtain international English certificates. Build a team of volunteer teachers to support schools in mountainous districts and ethnic minority areas; direct the construction of a warehouse of English teaching materials to help students in mountainous districts and ethnic minority areas access and study with teachers of international standards.

Direct the Departments of Education and Training to have plans for training and fostering, and to make reasonable use of the English teaching staff; effectively implement the models "Schools helping schools, departments helping departments", "My school's wish"... Develop a socialization plan to develop ethnic boarding schools and schools with boarding students, in order to mobilize resources and ensure conditions to improve the quality of foreign language teaching and learning.

To teach English effectively, it is necessary to equip adequate facilities and modern teaching equipment. Photo: MH.

With the attention, direction and leadership of the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Committee and the investment of the province, along with the policy mechanisms to promote foreign language teaching, with the tradition of studiousness of the Nghe scholars, and the tradition of studiousness, love of learning, good study, aspiration to strive to become talented, build the homeland, prosperity and happiness of Nghe students, along with the drastic and methodical direction of the Education and Training sector, we believe that the project will achieve good results.

PV: Thank you!