Learning to read in Vietnam

• In Event: Languages and literacies: What lessons for theory and policy from practice?

Abstract

Language can be a key factor in children’s early grade reading and math development as well as future productive life. Yet mastering Vietnamese remains a major challenge for many ethnic minority children. It is therefore significant for us to know how reading skills vary by student background, school environment, home literacy environment, and other dimensions of equity in order for effective interventions. This study examines the primary school ethnic minority students’ literacy skills that are already present and their backgrounds. Further, the study will investigate any correlations with student background, school environment, or home literacy practices and environment variables using multilevel regression analysis. The study covered 562 Grade 2 learners throughout 42 schools in four districts in Lao Cai Province in northern highland of Vietnam, including a school profile questionnaire, with information gathered through observation, interview with head teachers, interviews with the Grade 2 classroom teachers, and a rapid classroom observation regarding textbooks. In addition, it included a comprehensive student background questionnaire. Student learning assessment components included test of letter knowledge, common Vietnamese vocabulary words from the Grade 2 textbook, decodable invented words, reading passage and comprehension questions in Vietnamese, a number knowledge test, and a mathematics test. Primary findings suggest that the primary school students’ literacy skills positively correlate with their ethnicity that has numerous cultural, habitual, and equity dimensions. The study presents a profile of children’s reading skills and an in-depth analysis of each skill as well as key factors of the home learning environment that are instrumental for future programming.

Author

• Tuan Doan, Save the Children International, Vietnam