BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//CERN//INDICO//EN BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:VietTESOL International Convention 2026 DTSTART:20260827T004500Z DTEND:20260829T064000Z DTSTAMP:20260722T105500Z UID:indico-event-11@convention.viettesol.org.vn CONTACT:convention@viettesol.org.vn\;(+84) 919 520 468 DESCRIPTION:\nEnglish language education in Vietnam has long followed an E FL model\, positioned primarily as a classroom subject rather than a langu age embedded in social life. As Vietnam accelerates its integration into t he global economy\, this model is increasingly misaligned with the linguis tic demands of international trade\, higher education\, digital innovation \, and knowledge production. In response\, the Vietnamese government has l aunched an ambitious national plan (2025–2035) to reposition English as a second language in schools\, signaling an intention to harness linguisti c capacity as a driver of economic growth and global competitiveness. Whil e similar policy trajectories can be observed in countries such as Singapo re\, Malaysia\, India\, Rwanda\, and the Philippines\, where English has b een strategically enhanced to support global market participation and know ledge access\, Vietnam’s pathway is shaped by distinct historical\, soci olinguistic\, and developmental conditions. Unlike contexts where English has long functioned as a postcolonial\, administrative\, or societal langu age\, Vietnam’s transition occurs later\, within a multilingual but larg ely Vietnamese-dominant environment\, and under different institutional\, demographic\, and ideological constraints. Consequently\, the temporal pac e\, implementation logic\, and societal implications of repositioning Engl ish in Vietnam are unlikely to mirror those of earlier adopters.\nWhen Eng lish is repositioned as a second language\, it raises a practical question about which model of English will guide policy\, curriculum\, assessment\ , and teacher education. This means the country needs to decide explicitly or implicitly whether the shift aligns most closely with a World English es orientation\, an English as a Lingua Franca perspective\, or a Global E nglishes framing. World Englishes has been especially influential in legit imizing locally developed\, socially embedded varieties of English\, with analytic attention to ownership\, identity\, local norm development\, and sociopolitical status\, often discussed through the lens of concentric cir cles. At the same time\, scholarship has noted that World Englishes resear ch has tended to focus more heavily on Inner/Outer Circle settings and\, c omparatively\, has paid less sustained attention to everyday interaction a mong multilingual speakers in Expanding Circle contexts\, where English is used primarily for cross-border and cross-community communication. This i s one reason English as a Lingua Franca has grown as a complementary lens. English as a Lingua Franca centers on English as situated multilingual pr actice\, where norms are negotiated locally and communicative success depe nds on accommodation\, pragmatic strategies\, and shared meaning-making ra ther than alignment to a single external standard. Building from these dev elopments\, some scholars use Global Englishes as an umbrella intended to integrate World Englishes\, English as an International Language\, and Eng lish as a Lingua Franca orientations while engaging more directly with ped agogical uptake and teacher education. Of course\, there remains ongoing d ebate about how best to preserve the distinctive insights of each framewor k.\nPositioning the ESL trajectory of Vietnam within these paradigms helps clarify why moving from EFL to ESL is not a uniform or linear pathway tha t can be replicated from other national cases. A World Englishes lens hig hlights whether\, over time\, English in Vietnam becomes more institutiona lly stabilized through sustained domains of use\, localized norms\, and id entity-linked functions. An English as a Lingua Franca lens points in a di fferent direction. It suggests that much of Vietnam’s near-term expansio n may take the form of domain-specific lingua franca use\, with English fu nctioning as a flexible communicative resource across universities\, workp laces\, digital platforms\, and transnational networks\, often without con verging on a single national variety. English as a Lingua Franca research also shows that lingua franca communities can be short-lived or relatively stable. Even durable groups can develop shared conventions through mutual accommodation. However\, the broader ecology remains shaped by mobility a nd multilingual mixing rather than classic speech-community consolidation. \nThis matters for Vietnam because the early-stage strategy of the governm ent expands English beyond a discrete subject. It introduces English as a language for instruction in selected subjects and settings and frames it a s a functional second language within educational institutions. In the sho rt term\, this may intensify contact-driven variation rather than produce immediate standardization. From an English as a Lingua Franca perspective \, learners and teachers may follow overlapping similect trajectories shap ed by first-language influence and multilingual repertoires. They may also engage in multilingual language-crossing practices that are typical of li ngua franca communication. For curriculum and assessment\, this points to the need to distinguish between two types of targets. The first type invol ves outcomes aimed at local institutional bilingualism\, including school- based ESL and EMI functions. The second type involves competencies aimed a t international intelligibility and interactional effectiveness in diverse English as a Lingua Franca environments. This distinction matters because measures narrowly benchmarked to Inner Circle standardization may not ali gn with the realities of second-language use.\nThe Vietnam Association of English Language Teaching and Research (VietTESOL)\, in collaboration with the National Foreign Languages Project (NFLP) and University of Foreign L anguage Studies - The University of Danang\, holds the annual VietTESOL In ternational Convention in Danang City from August 27 to 29\, 2026. In conv ersation with regional experiences across Asia and wider global debates\, the convention invites participants to examine how countries like Vietnam can design policy and pedagogy for an ESL trajectory. It foregrounds key c onceptual and practical tensions\, including how to balance World Englishe s concerns with English as a Lingua Franca priorities in increasingly tra nsnational communicative environments. The convention welcomes new and con temporary research and practice that explores the multifaceted work of rep ositioning English from a foreign language to a second language in Vietnam and comparable contexts. Participants will engage in discussions on curri culum redesign\, language-of-instruction models\, learner support and incl usion\, teaching methodology\, assessment and accountability\, teacher pro fessional development\, and technology integration\, including the opportu nities and risks associated with digital and AI-driven tools. The conventi on aims to shape the future of English language education in ways that are pedagogically sound\, socially sustainable\, and regionally and globally connected\, while supporting the developing roadmap of Vietnam toward an E SL future. Abstract submissions are categorized into five strands.\nStrand 1: EFL to ESL Transition and Language PolicyStrand 2: Technology and Seco nd Language LearningStrand 3: Language Pedagogy and CurriculumStrand 4: La nguage and LinguisticsStrand 5: Teacher Professional Development and Profe ssional Learning\nMore details is available at Call for Abstracts\, and su bmissions are welcomed at Submission menu.\nContact\nEmail: convention@vie ttesol.org.vnSupport: Convention TeamWebsite: https://convention.vietteso l.org.vn | https://viettesol.org.vnFb Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com /VietTESOL.org.vn\n\n\nhttps://convention.viettesol.org.vn/event/11/ LOCATION:University of Foreign Language Studies\, The University of Danang \, Vietnam URL:https://convention.viettesol.org.vn/event/11/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR