Speaker
Description
As English is increasingly positioned as a second language in Vietnam's general education system, curriculum reform requires more than translating teaching materials or expanding English-medium instruction (EMI). While these initiatives improve access to English, they do not constitute a bilingual curriculum. A bilingual curriculum should intentionally integrate disciplinary knowledge, language development, cognition, classroom interaction, and assessment to foster bilingualism and biliteracy.
This conceptual paper argues that Vietnam currently lacks a coherent curriculum framework to guide this transition. Drawing on theories of bilingual education, curriculum studies, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), English-medium instruction (EMI), academic language, disciplinary literacy, and translanguaging, the paper synthesizes key theoretical perspectives and identifies critical gaps in existing curriculum reform. It then proposes the Vietnam Bilingual Curriculum Design Framework (VBCDF), comprising eight interrelated components: educational philosophy, curriculum goals, curriculum structure, integrated content-language design, disciplinary academic language, teacher competence, language-sensitive assessment, and system-level policy support.
The proposed framework reconceptualizes bilingual curriculum as a systematic redesign of learning rather than a linguistic translation of curriculum materials. It offers a theoretical foundation for future curriculum reform, teacher education, and language policy in Vietnam, while providing a framework for subsequent empirical validation and implementation.
Biography
Nguyen Viet Hung (Teddy Nguyen), PhD, is Dean of the Faculty of Applied Linguistics at VNU International School, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU). He is also the Founding Leader of the VietTESOL English-Medium Instruction (EMI) Special Interest Group (SIG), where he promotes scholarly collaboration and professional development in EMI research and practice across Vietnam. Since completing his doctoral studies in 2017, Dr. Hung has established an active academic profile in Applied Linguistics and English Language Education. He has authored and co-authored five books, more than 30 journal articles, and numerous research projects. His scholarly work focuses on English-medium instruction (EMI), teacher education and professional development, classroom discourse, academic literacy, language policy and planning, higher education internationalization, and the pedagogical applications of artificial intelligence in language education. His recent research has centred on conceptualizing EMI teacher competence, developing theoretical frameworks for EMI pedagogy, examining classroom interaction in multilingual higher education settings, and exploring the educational implications of emerging technologies. Beyond these areas, his academic expertise extends to language testing and assessment, sociolinguistic and educational issues, English phonetics and phonology, quality assurance and curriculum management, intercultural studies, international relations, and social science research.
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