Intensive Program for Vietnamese Language Educators

This 10-week joint curriculum development/teacher training program with the Business Alliance for Vietnamese Education (BAVE) was hosted by the UCLA Language Resource Center on behalf of the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training, Hanoi, Vietnam. (Summer, 1995)

It consisted of two primary components: the week-long pedagogical seminars in Applied Linguistics and the 10-week focus group working sessions on teacher training and materials development. Additional components included organized social and cultural activities and a guest lecture series.

The pedagogical seminars

Each one-week seminar meets from 8:30-10:00 and from 10:30-12:00 daily.

  • 6/22 - 6/28: Overview of Approaches to ESL/EFL Instruction (Peter Coughlan)
  • 6/29 - 7/7: Classroom Practices in ESL/EFL Instruction (Christine Holten)
  • 7/10 - 7/14: Issues in Classroom Assessment and Feedback (Antony Kunnan)
  • 7/17 - 7/21: Theory and Practice of Reading and Literacy Instruction (Linda Jensen)
  • 7/24 - 7/28: Theory and Practice of Speaking and Listening Instruction (Janet Goodwin)
  • 7/31 - 8/4: Theory and Practice of Pronunciation Instruction (Jan Frodesen)
  • 8/7 - 8/11: Issues in Second/Foreign Language Writing Instruction (Barbara Kroll)
  • 8/14 - 8/18: ESL/EFL Curriculum and Materials Design (Peter Snow)
  • 8/21 - 8/25: Issues in ESL/EFL Pedagogical Grammar (Wendy Smith)

The focus groups

The two focus group teams (one dedicated to curriculum development for Vietnamese secondary schools and another devoted to teacher training in Vietnamese universities and teacher training colleges) meet from 1:00-4:30 Monday-Friday for the duration of the program (with the exception of July 3 and 4). In the course of their working sessions, participants from both focus group teams will analyze a wide variety of relevant published and unpublished instructional materials (books, audio and video tapes, tests, etc.) for possible adaptation for Vietnamese schools and define the characteristics of teaching materials that need to be developed for the unique conditions in the Vietnamese educational setting. The work of both focus groups while at UCLA is intended to better prepare these teams of language educators to actively participate in the on-site preparation of instructional material and teacher training in Vietnam. The focus group teams will be led by Donna Brinton and Elite Olshtain, with the assistance of Valerie Haugen, and James Hicks.

Schedule: 6/22-8/25
  • M-F 8:30-12:00: Pedagogical Seminars
  • M-F 1:00-4:30: Curriculum development & teacher training focus groups
  • M-F Evenings: Personal time for study, relaxation
  • Weekends: Scheduled cultural and recreational events; personal time

    Published: Tuesday, October 11, 2005