Students struggle with foreign language proficiency requirements.
(Baonghean.vn) - Implementing the National Foreign Language Project 2020, Vinh University has applied a foreign language proficiency standard of level 3 for graduation. This has made it difficult for many students to graduate.
Unable to graduate due to lack of foreign language certificate.
Duy* (born in 1995) - an employee at a store on Nguyen Minh Khai Street (Vinh City) - is sometimes jokingly called "the fake student" of Vinh University by his colleagues.
“I was very nervous about the English oral exam. My pronunciation wasn't accurate, which made me even more self-conscious and stressed, preventing me from doing well in the speaking section. But no matter what, I have to study hard to get my B1 certificate for the next exam so I can apply for my graduation. Right now, without a certificate, it's difficult to find a more stable job,” Duy confided.
Recounting his journey to obtaining his English certificate, Duy could only sum it up with one word: "hardship." "I took the B1 exam twice and still didn't get enough points (less than 50/100) to pass. The most recent exam was in mid-December 2017 and I only got a little over 40/100. The exam has four sections: reading, writing, listening, and speaking, and both times my listening and speaking scores didn't exceed 10 points," Duy said.
Explaining his poor English skills, Duy said that since middle and high school in his hometown, he only considered it a minor subject and didn't invest much time in it. In university, learning English became even more difficult due to significant gaps in his knowledge from lower grades. Furthermore, Duy had little time to practice listening and speaking English because his free time was mainly spent working part-time to support himself from his first year. Another reason was that taking the English speaking test was a significant challenge for Duy.
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| Students need to be more proactive in learning foreign languages, such as practicing and engaging in communication situations with foreigners. Photo: Chu Thanh |
Despite having no failed courses, good English skills, and even passing the C1 level exam, Linh*, a classmate of Duy, was still not considered for graduation because she failed the B1 level French exam. As a student in the regular English program, in addition to the requirement of achieving a C1 level in English, the school also requires students to have a B1 level in French to graduate.
Linh's problem also stemmed from this. According to the curriculum, French was introduced by the school starting in the third semester of the second year, and students only had to study French 1 and French 2 in the third and fourth semesters. Therefore, when it came time to take the B1 French exam in the fourth year, due to significant knowledge gaps, Linh did not achieve 50/100 points and had to retake the exam later.
Students need to be proactive.According to Associate Professor Ngo Dinh Phuong, Vice Rector of Vinh University, starting from cohort 54 onwards, all Vinh University students must meet the graduation requirements, at least a level 3/6 foreign language proficiency certificate (equivalent to B1 level according to the European Framework of Reference). Specifically, the university currently sets two levels of requirements for students: Students in non-English majors only need to achieve level 3/6; students in the regular English program must achieve at least level 5/6 (equivalent to C1 level according to the European Framework of Reference) and have a B1 French certificate. In fact, at Vinh University, there have been cases where students had to take the English exam five times before they could obtain the certificate and meet the graduation requirements.
To maximize opportunities for students to graduate while ensuring the quality of graduates, Vinh University divides the graduation review process into three different phases. However, the first graduation review phase only achieved a 65-70% success rate. According to Associate Professor Dr. Ngo Dinh Phuong, the remaining students who have not yet been considered for graduation include, in addition to those who are missing courses, have outstanding courses, and other reasons, a significant number of whom lack foreign language certificates.
The Vice Rector of Vinh University stated that students from rural and disadvantaged areas often face difficulties in learning and taking foreign language exams, in this case, English. The reason is that their English learning while attending high school was not systematic and not very effective.
To address this situation, the university has organized English learning spaces; English clubs have also received active support from the university's student union and student associations... Simultaneously, Vinh University has established a Steering Committee, with the Faculty of Foreign Languages as its core, to define a specific development strategy that views English as a tool to broaden the horizons of knowledge for students and faculty. It is also believed that the requirement for a foreign language proficiency level of 3/6 or higher has positively impacted students, helping them understand the importance of learning English and thus become more proactive in their studies.
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| English language instruction is being promoted at universities. Photo: Chu Thanh |
In recent years, along with the development of socio-economic life and the process of international integration, the requirement for foreign languages has become increasingly essential, opening many doors to the future for young people. Given this trend, establishing a standard for foreign language proficiency is a necessary and practical step.
However, improving the quality of foreign language training in universities is not easy, as the process of reforming training methods remains challenging. This is without even considering that teaching in universities and non-language departments still doesn't meet practical requirements; many young students remain indifferent and lack awareness of the importance of self-improvement in foreign languages… And while waiting for solutions, the story of students struggling to graduate due to a lack of foreign language certificates will likely continue to be discussed more frequently in the future.
* Character names have been changed upon request.
