VietTESOL International Convention 2026

This article looks at the changing position of English in Vietnam, from a foreign language toward something closer to a second language. The issue has become much more visible in recent years because the wording of national policy has shifted in a fairly direct way. Earlier documents focused mainly on improving the teaching and learning of foreign languages. Newer ones go further and speak of gradually turning English into a second language in schools. Even so, policy language by itself does not show how far this change has actually gone in practice. For that reason, the article draws on a mixed-evidence review that brings together policy documents and research on school education, higher education, employability, tourism, public language display, and social attitudes. The review follows a systematic scoping approach with evaluative synthesis. It does not use statistical meta-analysis, since the material differs too much in type, purpose, and method. Instead, the paper reads policy claims alongside empirical evidence and looks for patterns of agreement, tension, and uneven development across domains. Three points stand out. First, policy discourse has moved more quickly, and more clearly, than everyday practice. Second, general school education still shows many strong foreign-language features, especially in exams, unequal resources, and uneven teaching conditions. Third, some areas already show stronger second-language-like functions, especially higher education, workplace communication, tourism, and public-facing spaces. The article argues that English in Vietnam is no longer well described only as a foreign language, but it has not yet become a full second language across society. It is better understood as part of an uneven transition that depends on domain.