English medium instruction (emi) as a means of higher education internationalization at home in vietnam the lecturers’ perspective

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY TA THI NGOC THUY ENGLISH MEDIUM INSTRUCTION (EMI) AS A MEANS OF HIGHER EDUCATION INTERNATIONALIZATION AT HOME IN VIETNAM: THE LECTURERS’ PERSPECTIVE MASTER'S THESIS VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY TA THI NGOC THUY ENGLISH MEDIUM INSTRUCTION (EMI) AS A MEANS OF HIGHER EDUCATION INTERNATIONALIZATION AT HOME IN VIETNAM: THE LECTURERS’ PERSPECTIVE MAJOR: Public Policy CODE: 8340402.01 RESEARCH SUPERVISOR: Dr PHAM HUNG HIEP Hanoi, 2022 COMMITMENT I hereby certify that my master thesis, "English Medium Instruction (EMI) as a means of Higher Education Internationalization at Home in Vietnam: The lecturers’ perspective” is my original work and does not constitute a rehash of any previously published research The data and findings in this study are entirely authentic If there is any issue with this thesis, I will be fully responsible for it ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am at the end of a meaningful two-year journey Soon I will be about to move on to new chapters of my life However, I will never forget the version of myself these two years This journey has nurtured and grown me First, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the professors of the MPP program, who have taught me many valuable things Especially, I greatly appreciate the tolerant and dedicated patience of the program coordinators, Dr Nguyen Thuy Anh, Dr Dang Quang Vinh and Dr Vu Hoang Linh I am also extremely grateful for the enthusiastic and effective help of VJU staff members Besides, I also appreciate the enthusiasm of the lecturers involved in my research If it weren’t for that enthusiasm, I wouldn’t have been able to obtain invaluable information for my research Above all, I feel a deep sense of gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Pham Hung Hiep His precise guidance kept me from going astray while completing this thesis Moreover, accompanying him in the process of doing thesis taught me invisible lessons about working style, proactive attitude as well as necessary patience Last but not least, my gratitude goes to my family and to those who always consider me as their family With greatest appreciation, Ta Thi Ngoc Thuy TABLE OF CONTENTS COMMITMENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS i LIST OF TABLES .iii LIST OF FIGURES iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research background 1.2 Problem statement 1.3 Research purpose 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Research scope and time 1.6 Research significance 1.7 Structure of research CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Literature review 2.1.1 The importance of HE 2.1.2 The Vietnamese HE system in the stages of development 11 2.1.3 The Vietnamese HE IaH 13 2.1.4 EMI-related practice development in the global context 17 2.1.5 EMI-related practice development in Vietnam 21 2.1.6 Lecturers’ perspective on EMI practice development 27 2.1.7 Research gap 31 2.2 Theoretical framework 32 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 35 CHAPTER QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 39 4.1 Findings 39 4.1.1 Roles of English 39 4.1.2 Academic Disciplines 40 4.1.3 Language Management 43 i 4.1.4 Agents 45 4.1.5 Practices and Processes 47 4.1.6 Internationalization and Globalization 49 4.2 Discussion 53 CHAPTER IMPLICATIONS, CONCLUSION AND LIMITATIONS 59 REFERENCES 63 APPENDICES 76 ii LIST OF TABLES Table Summary of national EMI-related policy documents 22 Table Recent literature focusing on the lecturers’ views about EMI practices 27 Table Summary of the main features of three main kind of EMI programs 35 Table Summary of collected participants’ information 36 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Vietnam’s Labor Force Distribution by Education Level 12 Figure Tertiary Education GER in some East Asia countries, 2000-2016 13 Figure The ROAD-MAPPING framework (Dafouz & Smit, 2016) 33 iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation Explanation HE Higher education HEIs Higher education institutions IA Internationalization Abroad IaH Internationalization at Home EMI English Medium Instruction VMI Vietnamese Medium Instruction GER Gross Enrolment Ratio CLIL Content and Language Integrated Learning WTO World Trade Organization MOET Ministry of Education and Training APs Advanced programs JPs Joint programs HQPs High-Quality programs v CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research background In the 21st century higher education (HE), it has been not easy to imagine that globalization would disappear (Altbach, 2004) The academic environment across the world has increasingly shared the same things like democracy, civilization, modernity, meritocracy, self-governance or academic freedom Under the extent of globalization, academic exchange between countries has become easier through the development of information technology and the use of English as a lingua franca in international communication Therefore, the world academic community establishes a close connection through cross-border international research projects From the side of students, there are continuous desires to move away from their parents’ sooner, take more risks and also receive encouragement more comfortably from their parents to find work and live in any country that is conducive to their development As a matter of fact, in many cases, overseas students feel more attached to the culture of countries where they attend the university than their home culture Gradually, the choice to go out of the home country to study for a degree in another country has not limited to finding a new culture or improving language, but also finding the best academic brands For example, in the age of globalization, many students are no longer heavily concerned about choosing which country to study Instead, they are more concerned about choosing which university to study It suggests that globalization affects the academic migration of students, regulating their destination to spread across countries that are attractive enough and suitable for their academic career However, this facet of globalization's impact on HE also has caused lingering concerns over the past few decades about the brain drain Specifically, promising citizens of developing countries leave for western countries searching for better educational opportunities and a better life This factual situation places developing countries in a dilemma in which they are unable to retain potential students on the one hand but still struggle with the national problems of limited access to universities on the other hand Yet, it can be argued convincingly that the pressures of academic globalization might force these countries to change their HE When countries accept competition and invest 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186