Pioneering innovation in teaching and learning Vietnamese 1

(Baonghean) - The 2014-2015 school year marks the second year that Nghe An has been one of 42 provinces and cities nationwide implementing the Vietnamese Language 1 - Educational Technology (ET) program to meet the requirements of educational reform. Among them, Thanh Chuong district is one of the pioneering localities in the province to implement the program on a large scale and has achieved initial results.

During the 2013-2014 school year, Thanh Chuong district participated in a pilot program for Vietnamese Language 1 - New Curriculum in 12 primary schools, with 1,128 students studying the new curriculum. Vo Liet 1 Primary School was one of those schools. This was the first time the new Vietnamese language teaching method was applied, with many differences compared to the traditional curriculum. As a result, teachers were initially unfamiliar with it. The District Education Department organized training for staff and teachers, established a core team, and conducted classroom observations to provide direct support. The leadership of Vo Liet 1 Primary School also regularly evaluated and assessed teachers to address any shortcomings and difficulties. Thanks to this, the new teaching method has yielded practical results.

Ms. Dang Thi Thoa, Principal of Vo Liet 1 Primary School, said: After the first year of piloting the Vietnamese Language 1 - CNGD program, the quality of Vietnamese language teaching at the school has changed positively. Teachers guide students to learn according to a process with four specific steps; focusing on the phonetic structure of the language, ensuring students have a firm grasp of vowels and consonants, and understand a syllable... Especially, the students have a very firm grasp of spelling rules. Thanks to this, in the first year of piloting the program in 3 first-grade classes, the percentage of students who can read and write fluently in all subjects increased compared to the previous school year (only 1 out of 88 students still write slowly compared to 2 out of 63 students whose handwriting is not neat and who read slowly). The 2014-2015 school year is the second year of implementing the program, so teachers and students have settled into the routine and are enthusiastic about the new learning method.

At the end of the 2013-2014 school year, all 12 primary schools in Thanh Chuong district that piloted the Vietnamese Language 1 - New Curriculum program recorded positive changes in the quality of teaching and learning in Vietnamese; with over 96% of students achieving an average or above-average academic performance, including 43% of students achieving excellent grades. To further expand this new learning method and contribute to improving the quality of education, the district's Education Department implemented this program on a large scale in the 2014-2015 school year.

The district's education department has meticulously prepared all the necessary conditions for introducing Vietnamese Language 1 - New Curriculum into mass teaching since the beginning of the school year. Mr. Dang Van Hoa, Head of the Education and Training Department of Thanh Chuong District, said: “Since May 2014, the department has coordinated with the Institute of Educational Science and Technology to organize a large-scale training course: inviting Professor Ho Ngoc Dai - the author of the program - and officials from the Department of Primary Education to train and educate teachers from 42 primary schools throughout the district. Through this, teachers received thorough training on the ideology, perspective, and professional methods of teaching Vietnamese 1 - CNGD, especially practical techniques for each type of lesson, model lesson, phonetics, and spelling rules, to be ready to implement the new teaching method. At the same time, schools were instructed to focus on disseminating information to parents to prepare their children for entering first grade with the new learning method. Increased monitoring and direct support were provided to teachers to promptly address any difficulties so that the program could be implemented effectively.”

In the 2014-2015 school year, 100% of primary schools in Thanh Chuong district implemented educational technology in teaching Vietnamese in 38 classes with 3,200 students. Ms. Tran Thi Thanh Tam, a teacher at Thanh Hung Primary School, said: "After one semester, both teachers and students are now familiar with the four-step learning process, making it feel easier and more convenient. Teachers don't have to prepare as many lessons, so they have more time to research and design their teaching materials. Students think independently through listening, understanding, and writing, so they learn faster. It's easy to see that students understand each lesson thoroughly. Therefore, by the end of the first semester, students can listen to and write (instead of copying from a book), their handwriting is neater and more beautiful. Previously, most students only learned to read texts in the second semester, but with the new learning method, they can read fluently and write quickly by the end of the first semester." At the end of the first semester, according to the assessment results of Thanh Hung Primary School, 74 first-grade students could read and write, with only 2 students still reading more slowly. Compared to this time last school year, there are still 9 students whose reading and writing skills are still underdeveloped.

Overall, the Vietnamese Language 1 - New Curriculum approach has been creating a fresh transformation, contributing to improving the quality of teaching and learning the Vietnamese language, and laying the foundation for students to excel in other subjects. In the coming period, the Thanh Chuong Education Department will strengthen its guidance to core teams to coordinate with schools to directly observe lessons, support teachers, and evaluate and classify students. From there, schools will plan to provide remedial instruction for weaker students to improve their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Simultaneously, the department will conduct cluster-level workshops (each cluster consisting of 8-10 schools) once a month to evaluate, learn from experience, and gradually address difficulties and obstacles with the determination to effectively implement the program, improve the quality of teaching and learning Vietnamese Language 1 - New Curriculum, and contribute to achieving the goal of fundamental and comprehensive educational reform.

Dinh Nguyet