Performance assessment of center for foreign language (CFL) A basic for the CFL development program

This is to certify that the research work / dissertation entitled Performance Assessment of Center for Foreign Languages CFL: A Basis for the CFL Development Program, orally defended/ pr

DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

_

A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines

in Collaboration with Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

The Dissertation of

NGUYEN THI THUY TRANG

entitled

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF CENTER FOR LANGUAGES (CFL):

A BASIS FOR THE CFL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree

DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

A program offered by Southern Luzon State University,

Republic of the Philippines in collaboration with

Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

has been approved by Oral Examination Committee

MELCHOR MELO O PLACINO, PhD EDUARDO T BAGTANG, DBM

EDWIN P BERNAL, DBA ALICE T VALERIO, PhD

CECILIA N GASCON, PhD

Chairman Endorsed by: Recommended by:

WALBERTO A MACARAAN, EdD APOLONIA A ESPINOSA, PhD

Accepted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree

Doctor of Business Administration

_ WALBERTO A MACARAAN, EdD

Date Vice President for Academic Affairs

This is to certify that the research work / dissertation entitled

Performance Assessment of Center for Foreign Languages (CFL): A Basis for the CFL Development Program, orally defended/ presented under

the DBA Program jointly offered by Southern Luzon State University of the Republic of the Philippines and Thai Nguyen University of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, embodies the result of original and scholarly work carried out by the undersigned

This dissertation does not contain words or ideas taken from published sources or written works by other persons which have been accepted as basis for the award of any degree from other higher education institutions, except where proper referencing and acknowledgment were made

NGUYEN THI THUY TRANG

Researcher/Candidate

Date Orally Defended: 09/12/2013

The researcher would like to express her most sincere thanks to the administrators and teachers of Southern Luzon State University and Thai Nguyen University who have helped her facilitate her study

Dr Cecilia N Gascon, Dr Melchor Melo O Placino, Dr Alice T Valerio, Dr E Bagtang and Dr Edwin P Bernal, for providing her with a rich and fertile environment to study and explore new ideas by providing useful and memorable lectures;

Dr Walberto A Macaraan, her enthusiastic adviser who provided her with valuable guidance, and encouragement to complete this dissertation;

Professor Tran Tuan Anh and Professor Nguyen Thanh Hai, lecturers who managed the International Cooperation Program between Viet Nam and Philippines, for spearheading the cooperation which gave her a chance to join and fulfill the requirements of the course; and

Board of Academy of Finance (AOF), colleagues in AOF, classmates in DBA1, especially Mr Ngo Anh Cuong, who facilitated helped and shared experiences to help her complete this dissertation

NTTT

This dissertation is lovingly dedicated to my parents who have been my constant

source of inspiration who motivated me to tackle any task with enthusiasm

and determination I also owe this to my supportive husband,

who always showered me with care, attention and understanding and to my loving sons, who inspired me to pursue my goal

Without their love and support,

this dissertation would not

have been made possible

NTTT

TITLE PAGE ……… i

APPROVAL SHEET ……… ii

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ……… iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ……… iv

DEDICATION ……… v

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……… vi

LIST OF TABLES ……… viii

LIST OF FIGURES ……… x

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ……… xi

LIST OF APPENDICES ……… xii

ABSTRACT ……… xiii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ……… 1

Background of the Study ……… 5

Objectives of the Study ……… 6

Hypothesis of the Study ……… 8

Significance of the Study ……… 8

Scope and Limitation of the Study ……… ……… 8

Definition of Terms ……… 9

II REVIEW OF LITERATURE ……… 13

Conceptual Framework ……….… 57

III METHODOLOGY Locale of the Study ……… 61

Research Design ……… 61

Populations, Sample Size & Sampling Technique …… 62

Research Instrument ……… 67

Data Gathering Procedure ……….…….… 69

Statistical Treatment ……… …….…… 69

IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ……… 71

Brief history of AOF and CFL ……… 71

Overall performance ……… 72

Internal resources ……… ……

Facilities ………

Students ………

Faculty Benefits ………

Training and Development ………

Support Staff ………

73 73 81 82 84 86 Performance of CFL ……… 90

Program Structure ……… …………

Faculty Performance ……… …

Students’ Results ……… ……

Administrative Support ……… ………

Finance ……….……

Marketing ……….………

Performance Gap ……….………

90 93 96 97 99 101 109 V SUMMARYOF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary of Findings ……… 111

Conclusions ……… 118

Recommendations ……… …… 119

REFERENCES ……… ……… 135

APPENDICES ……… 137

CURRICULUM VITAE ……… 162

TABLE PAGE

4 Average Overall Grades of Graduates in 2007-2011 40

5 Employer’s Preferred Educational Institutions 43

6 Training and Development Programs for Teachers of

7 Application of Initiatives Prior to School Year 2010-2011 47

8 Number of and Qualifications of Teachers of English 48

9 Annual Income of a 5-year Experienced Lecturer 48

10 Factors Affecting the Performance of CFL – AOF 63

12 Teachers’ Evaluation of Online Exercises 75

13 Teachers’ Evaluation of ClasstimeMaterials 75

14 Teachers’ Evaluation of Supplementary Materials 75

15 Learners’ Evaluation of Online Exercises 76

16 Teachers’ Evaluationof Classroom Facilities at CFL 76

17 Teachers’ Evaluation of Classroom Facilities at CFL 77

18 Teachers’ Evaluation of 25-seat Classrooms 77

19 Deadlines for 450 TOEIC Certificates 82

20 Frequency of Training Activities at AOF 84

21 Frequency of Training Activities at AOF 85

22 Frequency of Training Activities at CFL 85

23 Strengths and Weaknesses of CFL’S Internal Resources 88

24 Gap Between CFL’S Internal Resources and Others 89

25 CFL Teachers’ Description on CFL Program Structure 90

29 Frequency of Academic Meetings at CFL 96

30 Frequency of Group Discussion at CFL 96

32 CFL in Comparison With Other Centers 102

36 Advertising and Online Activity Expenses in Other Centers

37 Relation Between Learners’ Awareness and their Choice 107

38 Relation Between Learners’ Choice and Tuition Fees 108

39 Strengths and Weaknesses of CFL Performance 109

40 Gap Between CFL Performance and Other Centers 110

FIGURE PAGE

1 Classification of Enterprises in Vietnam 21

4 Number of Applicants and Enrollments in 2010 and 2011 36

5 Annual Employability of Graduates (2004-2010) 37

6 Results of National Contests in 2004-2011 41

13 Learners’ General Evaluation on Support Staff 97

14 Learners’ Evaluation on Staff’s Responses 98

15 Teachers’ General Evaluation on Support Staff 98

16 Teachers’ Evaluation on Staff’s Responses 99

17 Learners’ Sensitivity on Tuition Fees 104

APPENDIX PAGE

B.1 Population Growth Rate in 1990 – 2010 154

B.2 Gross Domestic Product at Constant 1994 Prices by

B.3 Gross Domestic Product at Current Prices by Economic

B.4 Retail Sales of Goods and Services at Current Prices by

B.5 Structure of Employed Population at 15 years of Age and

Above as of Annual 1 July by Kinds of Economic Activity 159

`

Title of Research : PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF CENTER

FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGES (CFL): A BASIS FOR THE CFL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Researcher : NGUYEN THI THUY TRANG (JOLIE)

Degree Conferred : DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Name and Address

of Institution

: Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines and Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Adviser : Dr Walberto A Macaraan

Year Written : 2013

Academy of Finance is one of very few nationally recognized owned universities in Vietnam and has provided the economy with highly appreciated graduates in banking, finance and accounting CFL was established by the Director of Academy of Finance in 2010 with the aim of providing AOF students with English proficiency skills to meet the market’s needs CFL focuses on English, while other OST programs are topic-specific and focus on categories like the arts, sports, theatre, math or science It is a non- profit organization under the direct control of Academy of Finance and it

state-is different from other commercial language centers in the market and also from other college’s/university’s centers that are directly controlled by the Faculty of Foreign Languages of the college/university The study addressed the following: describe the internal resources of CFL in terms of facilities, students, faculty benefits, training and support staff; assess the performance

of CFL in terms of program structure, faculty performance, student’s results, administrative support, finance and marketing; to determine the performance

performance assessments The research instruments used were offline questionnaires and check-list for interviews In 2012, CFL – AOF has about

300 learners The sample size of the survey was 171 respondents/learners CFL has 14 teachers of English and AOF has 52, 7 were chosen from the former and 45 for the latter as respondents Interviews were also conducted among management, staff, teachers, and learners of AOF, CFL and of its competitors as well as representatives from the job market/employers It was shown in the results that the Center now has a lot of difficulties on resources such as incompetent administrative staff, teachers and insufficient facilities for English learning and teaching; and inappropriate academic management Enrollment and academic management play the most important role in the Center operations These factors have direct impacts on the performance of the center They are also the main factor that increase the competitiveness and prolong the operation of the Center Administration and facilities also play

an important role in the performance of the Center For 30 months, the Center had a total revenue of 592 m VND, expenses of 691 m VND for operations excluding 652 m VND for staff’s salaries (paid by AOF) In terms of English test results, 100 out of 300 learners got 450 TOEIC or higher Thus, the number of learners who failed to meet the MOET requirement for graduation

is too extensive In conclusion, the study suggests to improve the Center’s performance by applying the proposed suggestions in increasing enrollments, managing academic issues to improve teaching and learning quality and prepare learners for graduation; to improve logistics activities through increasing the efficiency of the staff to increase teaching and learning quality

more in facilities in learning and teaching English, and in in-house training.

Chapter I INTRODUCTION

Today, Vietnam is involved in the global integration, both vertically and horizontally This has led to the requirement of English proficiency from employers toward job seekers In this context, Vietnam’s public schools are putting a lot of pressure on their students under increasing pressure to improve academic performance The inexorable drive to reach continuously higher levels of student achievement was spurred by the Ministry of Education and Training – MOET’s requirements in English proficiency The current economic recession has only exacerbated the stress on educators at all levels, as they are expected to push students’ achievement scores higher than ever before (while also closing achievement gaps between different sub-groups of students), despite diminishing resources that have resulted in staffing cuts, larger class sizes, and fewer support services for many of the nation’s students

The increased emphasis on student achievement, in general and student’s English proficiency, as measured by large-scale, state-mandated summative assessments, has resulted in school leaders and education policymakers embracing the notion that teachers can no longer afford to work

in isolation if they seek to improve the performance of their students This trend is apparent in the current literature on professional development, where one can find an abundance of articles and books extolling the virtues of teacher learning teams, collaborative learning teams, communities of continuous inquiry, professional learning communities, and other

configurations of collaborative work arrangements among teachers In reality, educational researchers and advocates for educational reform have been writing about various forms of teacher collaboration as a means to improve educational outcomes since the early 1990’s (Hord, 2004; Pounder, 1998) As Saunders, Goldenberg, and Gallimore (2009) indicated, there is “an intuitively appealing logic that underlies PLC [professional learning communities] and learning team programs” (p 1009) Yet, despite the significant body of literature regarding the importance of teacher collaboration in the effort to improve schools and the “intuitive logic” of such an approach, there is a dearth of empirical research that ties collaborative processes to improved teacher practice and improved student learning (Gallimore, Ermeling, Saunders, & Goldenberg, 2009; Goddard, Goddard, &Tschannen-Moran, 2007; InPraxis Group, Inc., 2006; Pounder, 1998; Saunders et al., 2009; Vescio, Ross, & Adams, 2008) The following quote from InPraxis Group, Inc (2006) captures the current body of literature and contemporary wisdom regarding the value of teacher collaboration and PLC-like approaches:

Although there is little empirical research that links collaborative processes directly with student learning and achievement, there is a relatively consistent recommendation emerging from the literature on professional development – those who share the same concerns and challenges will learn more effectively if they work together in a professional development experience and teacher quality can be positively affected (p 33)

The relative paucity of empirical research supporting the effectiveness

of professional learning communities (PLCs) poses the following question: In

schools that have implemented PLCs, to what extent have teacher practice and student achievement improved? This is the key question driving the establishment of out-of-school time programs, while schools have to follow MOET’s rules of limited in-class time Although a number of studies have documented evidence regarding the various benefits of PLCs, for example, enhanced teacher learning (Little, 2003; Grossman, Wineberg, & Woolworth, 2001), improved school culture (Supovitz, 2002), and changes in classroom practice (Brownell, Adams, Sindelar, Waldron, &Vanhover, 2006), the most valuable aspect of PLCs lies in their potential to impact student achievement

in a positive manner As Brownell et al (2006) argued, “Ultimately, professional collaborative efforts are important only if they help teachers change in ways that promote student learning” (p 184)

Academy of Finance is one of very few nationally recognized owned universities in Vietnam and has provided the economy with highly appreciated graduates in banking, finance and accounting However, in recent years, with higher requirement of English proficiency from employers, Academy of Finance graduates have faced competition from other universities’ graduates whose majors of banking, finance or accounting are said to be less appreciated The English proficiency requirement can be seen

state-in many job advertisements found state-in various job sites such as Vietnamworks.com, vieclam.com, dulieuvieclam.com, timviecnhanh.com, etc According to Ministry of Education and Training, students can graduate from university only when they reach a certain proficiency of English Also, the ministry requires each university to set its own requirement of English

proficiency Accordingly, Academy of Finance requires 450 TOEIC for graduation This is compulsory for the 48th batch and other batches

To better meet job requirements and to graduate from any course, undergraduates prepare for it in one way or another They are free to choose

an English center as long as they can obtain certain certificates such as IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC Some universities provide their undergraduates with their own choice of language centers and learners are free to choose an exam for an international certificate or certificates issued by universities Academy

of Finance could not increase the in-class time of English lessons, so school time programs were recommended In fact, Academy of Finance set

out-of-up its own language center in 2010 to serve firstly, its own students and then, other interests It is a kind of out of school time program for students

Out of School Time (OST) is a general term that describes any structured programs outside the normal school day hours "The National Institute on Out-of-School Time defines out-of-school time programs as encompassing a wide range of program offerings for young people that take place before school, after school, on weekends, and during the summer and other school breaks " ("Making an Impact on Out-of-School Time: A Guide for Corporation for National Service Programs Engaged in After-School, Summer, and Weekend Activities for Young People," 2000, p 3) The programs are sometimes referred to as "after-school," "extended day," or "school-aged care" programs and can occur before or after school or during the vacation days These terms are often used interchangeably

CFL focuses on English while other OST programs are topic-specific and focus on categories like the arts, sports, theatre, math or science

While the definition of OST is quite broad, the OST programs reviewed for this research study are those specifically created to meet the goals of English proficiency The specific program goal for CFL is, "To provide AOF students with English proficiency." CFL has become a response to combat the factors facing newly-graduated job seekers and to meet the academic and social needs of students

This school year, Academy of Finance is welcoming the 50th batch to the campus It means, there is only 2 years left for the 48th batch to get themselves ready for graduation and the job market As far as the researcher observed, Center of Foreign Languages affiliated with Academy of Finance has not achieved any success which is shown in the enrollment As a teacher

of English in Academy of Finance as well as the Associate Dean of Faculty of Foreign Languages, who is in charge of cooperating with Center of Foreign Languages in serving Academy of Finance students, the researcher personally think that a study on Center of Foreign Languages is in need to find out a strategic plan for its development in order to implement its mission and vision

Background of the Study

Center of Foreign Languages was established by the Director of Academy of Finance in 2010 with the aim of providing AOF students with English proficiency skills to better meet the market’s needs However, CFL has served only few groups of about 300 students, far less than expected, out

of more than 10,000 currently enrolled students This is a disappointing result Therefore, motivating students to engage in this program needs to be addressed

CFL is a not for profit organization under the direct control of Academy

of Finance It is different from other commercial language centers in the market and also differs from other college’s/university’s centers that are directly controlled by Faculty of Foreign Languages of the college/university

Studies or researches on commercial language centers in Vietnam, especially in Hanoi have not been fully publicized though some researches on market needs have been cited on newspapers and magazines The information from these researches can be used as secondary data for this study However, the special situation of CFL requires further research and deeper analysis Thus, this study was conducted to find ways to increase CFL’s performance It is aimed at how to increase the performance of CFL – a provider of OST programs via a feasible strategic plan for CFL

Objectives of the Study

The study aimed to assess the performance of CFL – Center of Foreign Languages – affiliated with AOF – Academy of Finance, Hanoi, Vietnam It also wanted to examine teacher collaboration designed to influence teachers’ classroom practice and student achievement outcomes in

AOF and CFL The study is conceptually grounded on social capital theory (Leana & Pil, 2006; Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998) and the construct of development plan both of which will be presented in Chapter 2 In short, social

capital theory posits that the network of interpersonal relationships which exist

within any organization is a valuable resource that has the potential to improve organizational performance (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998) Social capital theory is essentially interrelated with research-based descriptions of collaboration practice; these organization-based groups are also viewed as powerful units of analysis with the potential to improve overall organizational and operational performance (Koliba & Gajda, 2009) This study explored the relationship between the quality of collaboration within teacher-based teams and student achievement outcomes as measured by mandated, annual assessments In addition, the study addressed the impact of administrative leadership on the success of CFL by examining the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of administrative support for discrete teacher teams (PLCs) and student achievement outcomes, again measured by mandated, annual state assessments Also, the study assessed the performance of CFL

in terms of program structure, faculty performance, student’s results, administrative support, finance and marketing and many other related issues

to come up with a feasible development plan for CFL Specifically, it sought to attain the following:

1 to describe the internal resources of CFL in terms of facilities, students, faculty benefits, training and support staff;

2 to assess the performance of CFL in terms of program structure, faculty performance, student’s results, administrative support, finance and marketing;

3 to determine the performance group of CFL; and

4 to formulate a Center of Development Program based on the performance assessment

Significance of the Study

The study is very important for the existence of CFL as well as the reputation of AOF Ten years ago, AOF’s teachers of English majored in Russian, not English Over the last 10 years, only English-majoring applicants have been recruited as teachers of English at AOF However, it is still a common knowledge that AOF graduates with low proficiency of English are mainly due to non-English majoring teachers of English at AOF It is also believed to be the reason for low enrollment of AOF students

The study of Strategic Plan for CFL would bring benefits to AOF for CFL’s success would change the society’s perception on AOF’s students and teachers of English Faculty of Foreign Languages also will be benefited from CFL’s success in this sense Each individual teacher would get more offers from external markets After all, AOF graduates would be the first and most important beneficiary because they have a good in-campus center for their English learning Personally, the researcher will be benefited too, because as

a leader, he/she needs to bring good changes to his/her students and teachers

Scope and Limitation of the Study

The study mainly focused on CFL’s current situation, target market and successful examples in the sector Besides, it is also about feasibility of some options to come up with a recommendation for CFL

The study studied AOF since 2000 to present and CFL from its establishment in August 2010 to present This was done through interviews

and surveys The results of the study can be affected by a small number of stakeholders in interviews and surveys

Definition of Terms

For clarity and better understanding of this study, the following terms were hereby defined conceptually and operationally:

Academic Curriculum or the academic program of study is the degree that

the student is working toward achieving, also referred to as "sought learner outcome" (sought degree) Curriculum rules in the system control the academic requirements defined in the approved program of study (i.e., the student curriculum), represented by the program code in Banner Curriculum rules are also used in conjunction with program codes to populate major, minor, concentrating, department, or other related discrete pieces of data, to a variety of student record tables (e.g., student level)

Academic Management means to coordinate the efforts of people to

accomplish goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling the center

Additionally, fluency and language competence are generally recognized as being related, but separate controversial subjects In predominant frameworks in the United States, proficient speakers demonstrate both accuracy and fluency, and use a variety of discourse strategies Thus, native speakers of a language can be fluent without

being considered proficient This is also true for non-native English speakers who are expected to be fluent and accurate at the same time

Administration is the process or activity of running the center The goal of

administration (more exactly administrative activities) is to ensure smooth running of the center’s process by coordinating people participating in the processes, and providing them with information needed for completing their assignments Administration deals with gathering, processing and communicating information Practically, everybody working for an organization participates in the administrative activities The administration is regulated by rules (operational instructions, or procedures) that prescribe or recommend who should

be doing what and in what order in each type of the processes

English Proficiency is the ability of an individual to speak or perform in an

acquired language, English As theories among pedagogues as to what constitutes proficiency go, there is little consistency as to how different organizations classify it

Enrollment is the act or process of enrolling students/ learners in the center

Enrollment management can include: improving yields at inquiry, application, and enrollment stages; increasing net revenue, usually by improving the proportion of entering students capable of paying most or all of unsubsidized tuition; ("full-pays"); increasing demographic diversity; improving retention rates and increasing applicant pools

HR Management is the process of hiring and developing employees so that

they become more valuable to the center Human Resources

Management includes conducting job analyses, planning personnel needs, recruiting the right people for the job, orienting and training newly recruited employees and managing wages and salaries, providing benefits and incentives evaluating performance, resolving disputes, and communicating with all employees at all levels

Physical Plant and Facility refers to the necessary infrastructure used in

support and maintenance of a given facility The operation of these facilities, or the department of an organization which does so, is called

"plant operations" or facility management It can be buildings of

classrooms, labs, stadium, swimming pool, café, canteen, dormitory

Teacher Collaboration is the act of collaborating between teachers before,

during and after their lessons It can be as simple as teachers’ working together to make connections across curriculum or as true collaborative as their checking calendars for their next week meeting scheduling Together, they would begin to construct fully structured bridges between their curriculums that would not only bring them deep professional satisfaction, more importantly; they would enrich the learning experiences of their students

Teacher Image is the general opinion of most learners about a certain

teacher Teacher image can include his/ her knowledge, qualifications, teaching style, interpersonal skills, pronunciation, handwriting or even his/ her dressing

Teaching Methodology has been characterized in a variety of ways A more

or less classical formulation suggests that methodology is that which

links theory and practice Theory statements would include theories of what language is and how language is learned or, more specifically, theories of second language acquisition (SLA) Such theories are linked to various design features of language instruction These design features might include stated objectives, syllabus specifications, types

of activities, roles of teachers, learners, materials, and so forth Design features in turn are linked to actual teaching and learning practices as observed in the environments where language teaching and learning take place This whole complex of elements defines language teaching

Chapter II REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter presents the comprehensive background for the study of CFL It discusses general conditions of the country, the education industry, the demand and supply of in-class educational institutions including AOF, as well as opportunities and threats for them The analysis for OST programs such as CFL will be shown in Chapter IV

Under the direction of MOET, many universities set their own requirement of English proficiency For instance, University of Finance and Marketing issued Decision 754 QĐ/ĐHTCM-QLĐT on a certificate of 450 TOEIC for graduation According to Decision 1184/QĐ-HVTC, dated 28/10/2009 by the Director of Academy of Finance, students are required to obtain a certificate of 450 TOEIC to be eligible to graduate from school Meanwhile, AOF in the same pool with other universities in Vietnam produce graduates with very low level of English proficiency (Vu Thi Phuong Anh & Nguyen Bich Hanh, 2004)

The requirement of English proficiency is more clearly shown in some articles on jobsites According to Le Anh Viet, Business Development Manager of Future World, the most important Asian partner of Apple – and a graduate of Information Technology 1st batch of SaigonTech, recruiters are expecting candidates with good soft skills and high English proficiency This becomes a social demand that schools have to meet He said his job requires 90% of communication in English Also, Chris Harvey, CEO of

Vietnam Works said the demand for human resources in marketing, sales, finance and accounting is still high That means job opportunities for business graduates are available as long as their English proficiency is high enough in the eyes of recruiters

Establishment of a Language Center in a Business Educational Institution

Academy of Finance was founded according to Decision 120/2001/ QD/ TTg dated August 17th 2001 Academy of Finance is a merger between Hanoi University of Finance and Accounting (established in 1963), Institute of Finance Research – IFR (established in 1963) and Improvement Center for Financial Officers However, IFR and the Improvement Center for Financial Officers are two legal entities Hanoi University of Finance and Accounting was diluted and its training activities play a key role in Academy of Finance The study focuses on Center of Foreign Language which was set up based on the requirements of Academy of Finance’s training activities

AOF belongs to Ministry of Finance but simultaneously is under the management of the Ministry of Education and Training Since its establishment, AOF has been the first and unique national, higher educational institution specializing in training financial officers AOF bachelors played a very important role in the Vietnam socio – economic development especially prior to 1975 when Vietnam was seeking for independence throughout the country Since then, together with other major colleges and universities, AOF has been one of key players in this training sector However, for more than 20 years of ‘doimoi’ (innovation) higher educational institutions including AOF have shown a tendency of expanding into new courses and new types of

training This resulted from the positive changes in recent socio - economic situation in Vietnam During its expansion, AOF is maintaining its focus while competing with key players in new areas

At present AOF have seven competitors that are all government educational institutions According to 2007’s statistics done by Ministry of Education and Training, AOF is in the 2nd rank of enrollment quality and the 4th rank of preferred schools for high school students, which goes down from the 3rd rank in two previous years This brings a question whether AOF is losing its attractiveness to high school students Moreover, the number of AOF graduates meeting the requirements at work in big economic institutions

is smaller than expected by the employers (Le, 2007)

All the competitors of AOF are located in the city center surrounded by many language centers, while AOF is based in the suburb suffering difficulties

in travel and communication The dormitory residents hardly find it easy to access a language center in the city center That’s why AOF set up CFL with the hope that its students, especially dormitory residents will be provided with high quality OTS programs

General Environment in Vietnam

Natural Environment

Located in the center of Southeast Asia, Vietnam is known as an attractive country with the shape of letter ‘S’ Vietnam borders China to the North, Laos and Cambodia to the West, the Tonkin and the Pacific Ocean to the East and the South Vietnam's territory stretches from Lung Cu (Ha Giang Province) in the North to Rach Tau (Ca Mau Province) in the South with a

total length of 1,650 km Also, it has thousands of offshore islands, the biggest are Hoang Sa (Parcel) and Truong Sa (Spratleys) Archipelagos Vietnam's continental shelf covers 392,241 sq km with its coastal line of 3,260 km long and inland borderline of 4,510 km

Despite different geographical features, each region of Vietnam has its own advantages and disadvantages for the socio-economic development, including educational development Vietnam is primarily divided into 3 major regions: North and South where national-level universities are based and Central with region-level universities However, not only students in the North but also those from the Northern Central region wish to study in higher educational institutions in the North, including AOF

Historical and Political Situation

Vietnam proclaimed its independence on September 2nd 1945; however, it was not completely united till its great victory over the American imperialist in the spring of 1975 Since then, Hanoi, where the first higher educational institution in Vietnam was based, has become the capital of the country Hanoi is not only the political center but also the mother of traditional values

One of the most important and urgent duties pointed out by the Vietnam’s Government led by President Ho Chi Minh was to implement educational development programs throughout the country Since then, thanks to these programs, all the Vietnamese people, even very young kids at the school age of 6, have been well aware of the importance of education

which is enhanced by the last wish of the Great Father – Ho Chi Minh: “The

fortune of our country is in the hand of young generations, therefore, you have

to study and study hard to be able to lift our country to the same level of powers in the world.” Educational development is always considered a key

success factor for the country, although Vietnam has been under different leaders for more than 20 years of Doimoi (renovation) with the building of the socialist-oriented market economy The political stability and consistency in policies, especially on educational issues have been playing a crucial role in educational development

Socio-cultural Factors

Vietnam is a culture full of solidarity, mutual help, patriotism and particularly industriousness Traditionally, the man was dominant over the woman That is, men worked out while women at home and sons in each Vietnamese family were trained, especially, daughters for hard farm work As

a root of this tradition, the man usually gets better and more opportunities than the woman, thus, leading some differences in education opportunities for men and women in Vietnam However, these differences are becoming smaller because of the Vietnam Communist Party and Government poverty-alleviation and job-generation programs nationwide The Vietnam government announced a new poverty line recently in 2005 Accordingly, those with an income of less than 200,000VND per month (app 12.5USD) in rural areas and 260,000VND/ month (app 16.25USD) in urban areas are regarded as poor (Data is given by the Ministry of Labor, Invalid and Social Affairs) Although this poverty line is far from international standards, this adjustment is

a new step toward international integration and shows the State’s

determination to fight poverty Based on this, the number of the poor in Vietnam has dropped to 29% from 58%

The higher living standard together with positive changes in people’s awareness of education has mainly resulted in equal education and recruitment opportunities for man and woman Vietnam has maintained population annual growth rate of 1.3% (equivalent to more than 1 million people) as shown in Appendix B.1

The population aging structure remains stable with about 25-27% for 14-year-old group, about 24-27% for 15-29-year-old group and about 26-29% for 30-49-year-old group This means that the proportion of group possible for higher education among total population is relatively stable Moreover, according to Population Forecast for Vietnam in 2004-2024, the population structure in terms of geographical regions will not change much For instance, population in the North accounts for 33-35% during 20 years’ time and these figures in the Centre and the South are 26-27% and 38%, respectively That

0-is, the population belonging to the age at higher education level in the North and Northern Centre will be larger in the future Furthermore, Vietnamese value for education is primary It is embedded in the culture The family spends on education more than they spend on clothing and personal effects

It is considered as a basic need in the family Parents consider themselves successful if their children are able to graduate with a bachelor’s degree This explains a great demand for education in general and higher education in particular

In this socio-cultural context, higher educational development is given more and more interests because the nearest generation of the country’s leaders is training there It also implies that opportunities as well as challenges should be deliberately considered by all higher educational institutions

Economic Profile

For more than 20 years of Doimoi, Vietnam has been succeeding in gradually replacing the centrally-planned economy, bureaucracy and a subsidy mechanism by a socialist-oriented market economy with growing dynamism The economy has maintained a rapid rate of growth over the last six years, supported by robust exports, rising consumption spending, and strong investment Inflation also stayed high Membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) from January 2007 has stimulated development and market-oriented reforms Further progress is made on structural reforms, and impressive economic growth is projected during the rest of 2007 and the preceding years

GDP

GDP of Vietnam saw a sustainable growth, which stood at 8.2% in 1991-1995 compared to 3.9% in 1986-1990 This rate dropped to 7.5% in 1996-2000 due to the impacts of the Asian financial crisis Since 2001, GDP growth recovered on a year-on-year basis, reaching 6.9%, 7%, 7.3%, 7.8%, 8.4% and 8.2% for 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, respectively In

2007 an 8.5% GDP growth rate was observed However, the global economic

crisis has made GDP go down to 6.3%, 5.3%, 6.8% and 5.9% for 2008, 2009,

2010 and 2011, respectively (Appendix B.2)

Contribution to GDP: Over the past few years, the industry and

services sectors have increasingly contributed more to GDP In particular,

2006 witnessed more than 90% of total GDP growth from these sectors as shown below This results from the government’s policies of shifting investments to industry and services areas As shown in Appendix B.3, thanks

to the sustainable GDP growth rate of 7 to 8% in the period of 2000 - 2007 together with stronger industrialization and expanded integration with the world and regional economy, Vietnam also has enjoyed a sharp rise in trade volume, especially exports, and an increase of foreign investment and income (Appendix B.3)

Investment: Investment contributed to GDP in 2006 at a high rate of

39.4% There has been equal treatment between state enterprises and the private sector as well as between domestic and foreign enterprises This positive change mainly resulted from further simplification of administrative procedures for businesses In reality, the domestic private sector is increasingly making more contributions to total investment such as 33.6% in

2006, which rapidly goes up from 22.6% 5 years earlier The year also saw the highest foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments rise to $10.2 billion since the country opened to investment in 1986 2007’s FDI was expected to

be higher In first 8 months of this year (prior to August 22, 2007) FDI flows reached 8.32 billion USD and the whole year 2007 was expected to break the record of 10.2 billion USD in 2006, which surpassed 2005’s FDI flows of 5.72 billion USD In the following years, these figures were expected to go up when

Vietnam has been attracting more and more foreign investors with elastic and open policies In fact, since 2007 the total investment in the economy has increased and 2010 saw a double figure of 2006 (830,278 billion dongs compared to 404,712 billion dongs of 2006) The average foreign investment for the period of 2007 - 2010 accounts for about 25% compared to about 16%

Tourism and Services: Tourism and services, motivated by good

performances of trade, transportation, communications, and finance, reached

an estimated increase of 28.68%, 31.57%, 36.96% in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively In 2009 saw a sudden drop in the growth rate to only 3.32%

However, the following year showed a very high growth rate of 56% followed

by 21.81% in 2011 (Appendix B.4)

Finance and Banking: Reforms of the Vietnam’s Government in this

sector are becoming more intensive A strategy of banking reform was outlined in May 2006 Accordingly, The State Bank of Vietnam is to be converted into a modern central bank to manage monetary policy and supervise financial institutions State-owned commercial banks are to be restructured in an effort to improve their performance, and are to be

“equitized,” or partly privatized, by 2010 (cited from ADB outlook 2007) The securities market is being regulated better and attracting more foreign investors In addition, the increasing number of listed businesses (from 41 to 193) made total market capitalization rise to 14 billion USD or 22.7% of year 2006’s GDP More state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are also encouraged to issue shares to investors In December 2006, the Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved a list of state firms to be equitized during 2007–2010, including major ones such as Vietnam Airlines The maximum foreign ownership in listed companies was lifted from 30% to 49% Under its WTO membership terms, Vietnam has also committed to allow foreign ownership of services companies and more widely open the door of domestic markets for international businesses

The above-mentioned economic reforms and commitments indicate that the economic picture of Vietnam will be changing much in the next years with belief of continuing high GDP growth rate, and creating more jobs, especially in finance and banking sector

Employment: Inflation continued to be high in the past few years Year

2006 saw a rate of around 7%, while February 2007 enjoyed a lower rate of 6.5% The Government showed its big effort related to reforms to civil servants by raising the minimum salary of civil servants by 30% in October

2006 However, this effort also acted as a lever to consumer prices Employers are directly affected by bigger payroll costs which blame the increasingly high demand for workers and professionals from a small pool of supply

Over the last decades, the most significant achievement of Vietnam’s economic reforms has been the high growth of the private sector whose contribution of more than 50% of GDP in 2006 generated almost 90% of the 7.5 million jobs created during the period of 2000 and 2005 Private and foreign-invested businesses have been luring more and more labors from state-owned enterprises There is also a transition of workforce from agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector to industry and services sectors whose higher productivity is relevant to the industrialization and modernization strategy Year 2006 witnessed the most considerable change since 1986 Structure of employed population for the period of 2006 – 2011 proved that jobs in finance, banking and insurance always accounted for 0.5% of the employed population (Appendix B.5)

Figures given by Vietnam’s National Statistics Agency in June 2006 also showed that in 2006–2015 most of annual needs for 1.6 million new jobs came from private sector However, supply of skilled labor is obviously insufficient Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, two centers of both demand for and supply of this workforce, are taking this issue seriously In Ho Chi Minh City,

the city’s vocational schools can only supply about 15% of the 1,500,000 workers that the city’s industry will likely need in 2015

The shortage of skilled workers links to productivity This has been cited in surveys done by Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in

2005 as the third most important constraint faced by manufacturers, after access to finance and land The education system is not up to the task at this time For instance, curricula in general can somewhat meet the requirements

of a rising economy, but hardly take a short-cut to the future According to a report on higher education teaching and learning quality released on 21st February 2006 by the MOET, about 80% of lecturers are using a lecture-centered method of teaching, and more than 72% of research activities are separated from teaching

Thus, it is likely to say that along with vocational schools, higher educational institutions as key suppliers of competent workforce for the economy should be prepared to deliver high-quality products to a demanding economy

With WTO membership commitments and high priority of public administration reform in 2007, Vietnam will be rising more rapidly than in the past few years Year 2007 marked a turning point in Vietnam’s economic map and is also considered a lever to the economic development in the next 10 years Especially, finance, banking and services sectors are expected to expand further, leading to higher demand for skilled and professional jobs However, the current education system is incapable of providing enough qualified graduates for these jobs They can be imported from developed

countries, if Vietnam can afford it However, high training costs in those countries make it infeasible Even if Vietnam can do it, the fact that most of skilled and professional jobs are occupied by foreigners can harm the sovereignty of the country Therefore, Vietnam needs to push up the process

of educational development, especially higher education to deliver itself

Education Industry

General Education System in Vietnam

The National Education System

In Vietnam, the educational system, like all other fields, is hierarchical, ranging from the central level to the community level At the central level, the highest authority on education is the Ministry of Education and Training - MOET It has offices at the provincial and district levels and in municipalities

At the provincial (or its equivalent, municipal) level, there is the provincial/ municipal Department of Education and training, at the district (precinct within

a municipality) level, there is a district department of education and training The educational system is managed at those levels The district department of education and training is in charge of preschools, primary schools and lower secondary schools, while the provincial department is responsible for the upper secondary schools, secondary teacher-training schools and some vocational schools MOET directly manages universities, colleges, secondary vocational schools and job training schools at the central level plus the post-graduate system involving universities and equivalent educational institutions The school system is now divided into four subsystems: