Keywords

1.1 What is This Book About?

This book is a unique volume that investigates English language education and graduate employability. They are two hot yet independent research areas. As far as we are concerned, there is virtually no book in the market that holistically puts them side by side and examines the relationship between them, especially in the context of non-English speaking developing countries. Therefore, this book can be considered the first to examine the intersection between English language education and graduate employability.

Specifically, this book reports the nature, characteristics, and the context underpinning the nexus of English language education and graduate employability in Vietnam. It tackles specific aspects of how English language education contributes to employability and career development for students and graduates. English proficiency has been reported in the literature as a crucial factor influencing graduates’ employment outcomes and career advancement in our increasingly interconnected and globalized world. However, in many non-English speaking countries, English language education at universities has predominantly concentrated on developing linguistic knowledge for students (e.g., Cha, 2015; Ploywattanawong & Trakulkasemsuk, 2014; Tran, 2007). This approach does not appear to motivate students to invest in their English language learning or capitalize from that learning for their future life and work. It can be because the link between English language learning and graduate employability is often not explicitly articulated to students. In addition, there seems to be a lack of support mechanisms at the classroom and institutional levels to help students develop and translate their English (or foreign) learning and language capability into employability. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the nexus between English language education and employability as well as enabling and disabling factors for students’ development of employability in English courses.

Despite the focus on Vietnam, the book embraces an international and comparative perspective in understanding English language education and employability. This was possible through the provision of a broad theoretical background and framework about English language education, employability models, and English language policies in Asian countries, and through critiques on the limitations of the approach that these countries adopted to deliver English programs. The book draws on empirical evidence from a range of qualitative and quantitative studies. It also compares the findings reported in these studies with relevant research in other non-English speaking countries. It reports different stakeholders’ perceptions of and experiences with the contribution of English language education to the development of students’ employability capital. The book also reports the effectiveness of current practices in English language education with a focus on its preparation of students for work, using a variety of stakeholders’ experiences. Despite recent achievements, stakeholders generally believe that English language programs in Vietnamese higher education have failed to prepare students for employability and employment purposes.

Based on the empirical evidence reported in the chapters and a critical review of policies across Asian countries, the book proposes that English language education in higher education needs a new approach that links to graduate employability frameworks. It argues that English language programs should not limit itself within the notion of transmitting a foreign language under the umbrella of developing cultural or linguistic competence. Rather, English education should be framed from a socio-economic perspective because in many non-English speaking countries, English has been a critical employability capital required by employers. Yet, a shift in the delivery approach and curriculum content will need time to deploy and evaluate the outcomes. Through providing both conceptual knowledge and practical implications, the authors of the book believe that such deep-rooted changes in approach would help English language education reforms in Vietnamese higher education and elsewhere more effectively develop English language skills for students and accordingly enhance their work-readiness in an increasingly globalized world.

1.2 Overview of Graduate Employability

Graduate employability has become a priority in the higher education agenda of many countries across the world over the past two decades. It is not only the concern of individual students and institutions for their students, but it is often tied to the broader social responsibility of higher education regarding the need to equip the future workforce with adequate skills, knowledge, and attributes to perform and engage in the changing world. Students and graduates are considered as (potential) key actors in the economy given their positioning in the labour market (Tomlinson, 2016) and in the long-term social and economic development of nation states. Graduate employability is situated at the intersection of universities’ education, individual graduates’ capabilities, and the broader economic, social, cultural, and political context which shapes the nature of the labour market. It is heavily affected by local and global financial, health and climate crises, which determine the demand, structure, and operation of the labour market. Currently, the financial and labour markets have been severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rising unemployment, heightened job competition, shifting characteristics of the labour market, and changing demands for employability have been reported as the major impacts of the spread of the present global pandemic on the labour market (CBC News, 2020; Jackson et al., 2020; Miller, 2020; The Guardian, 2020). Such a challenging context has not only made graduate employability become a pressing issue for universities, graduates, and the society but also required an agile approach to understanding the new demands of the labour market in order to support the development of graduate employability and career prospects or graduates’ upskilling or reskilling in response to the changing context. The constantly shifting, complex, and increasingly constrained labour market, exacerbated by the insecurities because of COVID-19, have created a stronger demand for graduates to build up an employability portfolio or an entire package of knowledge, skills, attributes, and experiences to complement their degrees (Brunner et al., 2018; McMurray et al., 2016; Tran & Bui, 2021; Tran et al., 2014, 2022a, 2022b). English language competency has been identified as a key component in graduates’ whole employability portfolio (Bui et al., 2017; Roshid & Chowdhury, 2013).

There have been various debates and perspectives about how to define graduate employability and what the key components of graduate employability are. Employability is generally constructed as a relational and multidimensional notion across a range of definitions (Nilsson, 2016). The most common conceptualization of graduate employability is often tied to discipline-specific knowledge and skills, generic skills, and attributes. In this regard, employability is defined as a combination of technical knowledge, skills, and attitudes (Hillage & Pollard, 1998). However, some scholars argue that employability should be conceptualized as an individual ability “to find, create, and sustain meaningful work across the career lifespan” (Bennett, 2018, p. 5). Others are critical of employability being viewed as fixed skills employability or as simply a “possession of the generic skills listed by graduate employers” (Bridgstock, 2009, p. 31) given the rapidly changing and dynamic labour market as well as the economic, social, cultural, and political context that influences the labour market.

In response to the identified limitations of aligning graduate employability largely to pre-prescribed skills and knowledge, some scholars point out the need to view employability from the angles of psychology and human behaviors, and conceive it as a mix of career identity, social capital, cultural capital, and human capital (Clarke, 2018; Fugate et al., 2004; Tomlinson, 2017). Authors, such as Tomlinson (2017) and Clarke (2018), argue that to enhance employability and career prospects, it is critical for graduates to possess and continuously develop a combination of capitals, including:

  • human capital: technical knowledge and skills, soft skills, accrual work experiences,

  • social capital: social network within and beyond a work sector,

  • cultural capital: knowledge about how an industry works,

  • psychological capital: attributes that make graduates more agile in their career development,

  • identity capital: a sense of belonging to an industry, occupational sector, or work role.

English language proficiency, necessary for students and graduates to effectively communicate, engage, and perform in a globalized and multilingual world, has intersected with the kinds of capital listed above (e.g., see Dudzik & Nguyen, 2015; Fang & Baker, 2018). English language or foreign language proficiency is critical to individual students’ study–work–life, future workforce and thus nation states’ long-term development.

1.3 Graduate Employability and English Language Proficiency

English has become an international language for education, cultural exchange, business, and political affairs for many decades (Fenton-Smith et al., 2017; Pennycook, 2017; Simpson, 2017). This happens as a result of internationalization and globalization processes which require a common international language for information exchange in different aspects involved in the processes. Due to the increased importance of English in our modern society, graduates with English proficiency have an advantage for securing employment, career development, and international mobility, especially for those from non-English speaking countries and for international graduates (Arkoudis et al., 2009; Grasmane, 2011; Stroupe & Kimura, 2015; Yoke et al., 2018). Consequently, in many non-English speaking countries, English has become central in the national language policy, an instruction medium in some HE programs, and taught as a core component of the curricula, from primary to higher education (see for example, Chung & Choi, 2016; Kirkpatrick, 2016; Tsui & Tollefson, 2017; Tran & Nguyen,2018).

Apart from the role of English language proficiency in students’ and graduates’ employability and employment prospects, English language education can value-add how students relate themselves with the world around, and facilitate their studies of other subjects within the curriculum, as a range of updated disciplinary and general knowledge is published in materials written in English (see a case of using English as a medium of instruction in Tran et al., 2019). Students with a good command of English will have better access to learning resources and enrich their knowledge as English is the most common medium of writing for articles from 65 countries and territories around the world (Han & Ho, 2011). van Weijen (2012) also reinforced that approximately 80% of the papers indexed in Scopus were written in English. In addition, successfully acquiring English skills requires a high level of determination, creativity, and collaboration. These attributes would in turn help students and graduates develop useful psychological attributes that can be translated to their employability development and career advancement.

Over the past three decades, non-English speaking countries in Asia have committed significant resources to develop English language competency for its citizens, especially young people. English language education is often prioritized in the government agenda and English delivered as a subject within the curriculum. Nation states like Singapore, South Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam have regarded English education as an important vehicle to enhance its workforce competitiveness in the region and the world as well as its position in the international economic and political arena (Dekker & Yong, 2005; Nguyen, 2011; Nguyen & Nguyen, 2019). In China, English language education was seen to be integral to the country’s economic, political, and social developments in accordance with the Open door policy (1899) and English was considered to be beneficial for fostering social equality in the nation. The use of English was positioned as a tool to support cultural and political developments of the nation (Adamson, 2004). In Vietnam, the 2005 Education Law explicitly and officially recognized foreign language learning, including English, in schools, which was a recognition of the role of English in the nation’s economic competitiveness and regional and international integration (Vu, 2019). Existing literature also suggests that the growing popularity of English language education in Asia has resulted from the sociolinguistic and sociocultural landscapes which have shaped the accelerating demand for English proficiency (Hamid & Nguyen, 2016; Kirkpatrick, 2008; Matsuda, 2012). The increasingly interconnected world also poses a greater demand for people to master foreign language skills, cultural diversity, and intercultural understandings to facilitate their interactions with speakers of other language and cultural backgrounds.

1.4 Approaches to Teaching English to Higher Education Students

Although there has been a concerted effort by the governments across many Asian countries to invest in enhancing the English proficiency of its citizens, a range of problems exist. First, one of the common approaches to teaching and learning English in higher education in Asia has been based on the native-speaker model that aims to train learners to use English as English native speakers (Chomsky, 1965) whilst giving insufficient attention to building on learners’ own cultures, values, and identities as a foreign or second language learner. This model is considered as “not appropriate in all circumstances and unattainable by the vast majority of students” (Cook, 2016, p. 6). Second, in countries like South Korea, China, Thailand, and Vietnam, English language education for decades was grammar-based and predominantly centred around developing learners’ linguistic knowledge whilst placing less emphasis on their communicative skills (Cha, 2015; Ploywattanawong & Trakulkasemsuk, 2014; Tran, 2007). Third, the examination-driven culture where learners were expected to face excessive focus in tests (Tran et al., 2014) in English language classrooms was also amongst the inhibiting factors to their development of English language proficiency for life and for employability. In short, following the native-speaker model, grammar-based method and examination-oriented approach to teaching and learning English might preclude learners’ development of the capability to use language skills practically in real work and life situations (Feng, 2005; Yu et al., 2009).

As far as English language teaching and learning in higher education in Asian countries is concerned, existing literature has also identified a range of other issues impacting its effectiveness, including a lack of learner-centredness, insufficient professional development to support teachers in applying updated pedagogies, and best practices into classroom teaching and most seriously, a shortage of competent English language teachers and teacher trainers (Le, 2019; Ngo, 2019; Nguyen & Nguyen, 2019; Nhung, 2019). In Oman, for example, limited educational resources, including large class sizes and unavailability of competent teachers have been identified in The National Language Policy as amongst the factors depriving learners from opportunities to practice and improve their interpersonal communication in situations beyond the classroom settings (see Chapter 2 of this book).

Despite the increasing importance of English in graduate employability and in their future life, like their Asian counterpart, it appears that the aim of English language education in Vietnam is focusing more on developing linguistic understandings, intercultural competence, and relations. English education has not paid enough attention to equipping students with practical language skills for their future education and work (Tsui & Tollefson, 2017; Vu, 2019). In higher education, on top of teacher qualities and other practicality issues, English is often treated secondary compared to discipline-specific subjects, and there is a disconnect between English and other subjects (Hien & Loan, 2018; Hoa, 2016). Consequently, many graduates are not confident to apply for jobs that require English skills (Bui et al., 2018) or cannot use English skills effectively for completing their professional duties (Tran, 2018b). It is common to see that many students and employees enrol in extra English classes offered by private English language centres to improve their English competence so as to enhance their learning, work, and future prospects (Tran, 2015, 2018a).

The literature also indicates that there is a mismatch between the current delivery approach (content and structure of the curriculum, learning materials, teaching–learning methods, and assessment purpose) and students’ learning approach to English language education in Vietnam, and other Asian countries. This requires a change in approaches to English language education to better accommodate the demands of the society and economy for students’ English competency and better position English language education to match its importance in this globalized world. Despite the rhetoric about the importance of English to students’ employability and nation states’ workforce competitiveness, the teaching and learning of English in many Asian countries, including Vietnam, is often approached from the angle of linguistic knowledge, intercultural understandings, and cultural exchange rather than to explicitly prepare students for future work. Even though these sorts of knowledge help to enhance students’ employability, there is a lack of support and guidance to link these to employability earlier in their university program and to articulate these into employability capital.

The literature suggests that English classes can potentially provide great opportunities to develop employability for students (Dudzik & Nguyen, 2015; Fang & Baker, 2018), if strategic policies and appropriate approaches to the delivery of English curricula are designed and implemented. It is critical that new approaches to teaching and learning English take into account the role of English skills in enhancing graduates’ employability. The importance of English language education in assisting with the development of life and employability skills will need to be articulated more explicitly in policies, which are then followed by concrete guidelines, strategies, and resources in order to realize these policies in supporting the development of English proficiency for employability. These steps will help bridge the gaps between policy rhetoric and the reality of teaching and learning English in higher education. It is equally important to place English as a core subject rather than at the periphery of higher education. This will be linked to a greater recognition of the role of English in university discourses framing graduate attributes, employability, and soft skills development. The implementation of innovative pedagogies to English language teaching and learning, especially through real-life language experiences, task-based and project-based approaches, and digital or hybrid language teaching approaches, need to accord greater awareness and place the goal of developing English for employability at the centre.

1.5 English Language Education for Employability in Vietnamese Higher Education

Addressing the mentioned research gaps, this edited book will examine teaching and learning English for employability in Vietnamese higher education. Vietnam is chosen as a case to investigate the nexus between English language education and employability because it is a booming economy with a high demand for English skills and because there are vigorous English language education reforms in the last 20 years. The book is framed within one country to better examine the research issue in-depth within the influence of contextual factors.

In Vietnam, a middle-income country in Southeast Asia, there has been a pressing need for English language proficiency due to rapid socio-economic development and internationalization (Bodewig & Badiani-Magnusson, 2014), the nation’s commitment to regional and global integration, and the growing demand for overseas study and labour migration (Tran et al., 2014).Vietnam’s open door policy since 1986 has accelerated the demands for English and foreign languages which are regarded by the government as being crucial to support its regional and international integration agenda through boosting its economic and diplomatic relations with the Asian region and the world (Pham, 2014; Truong & Tran, 2014). Despite its long-lasting interaction with Vietnam through the American involvement in the country between 1954 and 1975, English was not positioned as a major foreign language in Vietnam, like Chinese, French, and Russian, until Đổi Mới in 1986 (Pham, 2014). Vietnam’s becoming a member of in World Trade Organization in 2007 and its participation in regional and international organizations such as Association of Southeast Asian Nations (1995), the Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (1998), and Free Trade Area (AFTA), were crucial milestones in Vietnam’s internationalization of the national economy and geopolitical relations. Đổi Mới and these progresses have created a dynamic and fast-moving economy, coupled with the availability of a diligent and low-wage labour force, and the nation’s political stability, appear to be critical in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam. The country has witnessed a rapid growth of private, joint venture and FDI companies, exports, imports, and international trade since Đổi Mới. These developments have generated a pressing demand for English and other foreign languages. In addition, the growth of middle-class families which has resulted in accelerating demands for overseas study and the rise of labour migration which has seen Vietnamese workers migrating to work to foreign countries through the labour dispatch programme or skilled migration programme have added to the elevating need for English language learning in Vietnam. English has been the most popular foreign language for school education in Vietnam and therefore become central in the national language policy (Vu, 2019).

A good English language command demonstrated through possessing international English language certificates such as IELTS, TOEIC, TOEFL has been a prerequisite for an increasing number of job applications in Vietnam (Hoang, 2010; Lien et al., 2015). In addition, English language proficiency is becoming an increasingly important factor in career advancement, job promotion, and access to high-paid employment opportunities. In particular, English or foreign language proficiency is required to work in joint venture companies and foreign direct investment enterprises or in international trade sector in general. Many employers, not only international enterprises but also local businesses and government organizations, increasingly expect their employees to read materials, keep pace with updated knowledge and new developments in their field, liaise with foreign partners and carry our tasks in which English is an important vehicle. However, despite the growing important role of English, the teaching and learning English is still an add-on component of the mainstream curriculum and the focus of English courses seems to gear towards equipping students with linguistic knowledge to help them pass English tests, instead of a holistic approach to English education that supports them to become competent English language users for their future work, education, and life.

As a response to the need to improve the foreign language capacity of Vietnam’s workforce, the Prime Minister issued in 2008 the Decision 1400 QĐ-TTg titled Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Project in the National Education System during the Period of 2008–2020 (Prime Minister, 2008). This important Decision often known as the National Foreign Language Project 2020 (the NFLP 2020) is one of the most significant innovations in foreign language (primarily English) education in Vietnam. The Government of Vietnam considers the NFLP 2020 a breakthrough to improve the quality of English language education across all education levels in Vietnam, with the approved budget of VND 9,378 billion (or nearly US$500 million). The ultimate goal of NFLP 2020 was that most Vietnamese students graduating from secondary and vocational schools, colleges, and universities would be able to independently and confidently use a foreign language (primarily English) in their daily communication, study, and work in an integrated multilingual multicultural environment, turning foreign languages into a strength of Vietnamese graduates to serve national industrialization and modernization (Prime Minister, 2008). This acknowledges foreign languages as essential soft skills needed for Vietnamese people’s communication, further study and very importantly, for employability.

The English language education reforms so far have introduced some key changes to teaching and learning of English. A new curriculum of English and textbooks was introduced, promoting communicative language teaching (CLT) and learner-centred approaches in all levels of education (MOET, 2006). The reforms have also paid much attention to increasing English language teachers’ teaching effectiveness. In response to the need for the increase of both quantity and quality of English language teachers nation-wide, the Project 2020 invested 80% of its budget (US$446.43 million) on teacher training (Van Canh, 2020). English language skills assessment and learning outcomes have also been specified by policy documents (The Government of Vietnam, 2014a). University graduates are expected to attain an English proficiency of Level 3 in the 6-level Foreign Language Competency Framework for Vietnam or get an overall score of 4.5 in the IELTS (The Government of Vietnam, 2014b).

After years of implementation, the reform has achieved significant outcomes: CLT-focused curriculum, textbooks and student-centred pedagogical practices (Doan & Hamid, 2019); an increase in teachers’ English language proficiency level competencies and teaching expertise (Ngo, 2019). The reforms have also raised public’s awareness of the importance of English skills resulting in the promotion of teaching and learning English country-wide. Last but not least, adopting the benchmarks for English language learning outcomes, as mentioned above, has greatly contributed to the improvement of graduates’ English skills, compared to the past (Nguyen & Nguyen, 2019).

However, despite efforts and investment in English language education reforms, it appears that in reality, graduates still face difficulties in using their English skills for work purposes, and employers still complain about their employees’ English skills (Luong, 2016; Tran et al., 2017). A couple of studies have attempted to identify causes of failure in equipping graduates with English language skills for their work. Impractical curriculum at schools and their passivity in promoting a life-long career was identified as the root cause (Nhung et al., 2020; Tran, 2018a). Traditional teaching practices were also found to prevent students to develop sufficient English skills for work purposes (Hoang, 2010). Students’ attitudes to English language learning are critical. Ton and Pham (2010) revealed that most Vietnamese university students did not set a specific goal of learning English; they learned from the English textbook to pass exams instead of using English for real-life purposes such as communication.

In short, English has become central in the national foreign language policy of Vietnam and numerous initiatives have been launched, aiming to improve the quality of English language teaching and learning and to enhance graduates’ employment and career prospects. Unfortunately, it appears that such a goal has not been reached, and there have been several obstacles along the way. Such a context of English language education presents Vietnam as a suitable case to investigate the nexus between English language education and employability. From there, more discussion about how to improve the approach to English language education will be provided so that it can help graduates optimize their employability using English language learning as a springboard.

1.6 Outline of the Book

This book comprises 15 chapters, with each chapter designed to be able to stand alone as an independent academic paper and simultaneously work together to construct the book. After this Introductory Chapter, the book will be divided into four parts:

  • Part I (Chapters 2 to 4) sets an introductory foundation to the book by reviewing the relevant international literature on the importance of English language education in several countries, its contribution to graduate employability, and its disconnect to the current employability agenda. It also provides the context of English language education in Vietnam as the background for the subsequent chapters.

  • Part II (Chapters 5 to 9) describes how English language education contributes to students’ development of employability capitals and employment outcomes from students’ perspectives. Each chapter will discuss and link the findings to the existing literature in other countries as well as explain the differences where relevant.

  • On the premise set by the second part, Part III (Chapters 10 to 15) examines how English language education policy is implemented in Vietnam and identifies areas for improvement so that English language education can better enhance students and graduates’ employability.

  • Part IV includes one chapter (Chapter 16) where we summarize key issues addressed in the book and discusses the way forward for English language education, using the case of Vietnam to provide practical implication for English language education in countries of similar contexts.

1.7 Part I: Background

Chapter 2 aims to provide a snap shot of the rise of English language education in non-English speaking Asian countries. It begins with the key notion that the twenty-first century is the Asian century with the rise of many big economies across this continent: China, India, Japan, the four Asian tigers (South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore), and the five recent Asian tiger cubs (Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines). The authors argue that in order to sustain their economies, these countries need a skilled workforce who are proficient in foreign languages, especially English—the international language of business. On that premise, the chapter continues to provide a brief review of English language polices and how such policies have been implemented in multiple Asian countries. The chapter points out the key drivers of the development of English language policies, with socio-economic development seem to be the key ones. The authors question the relationship between English language education and employability and the effectiveness of current English language education in preparing the future workforce. They call for further research to address such a literature gap.

Chapter 3 sketches out the socio-economic, cultural, political, and technological changes in Vietnam since the Đổi Mới policy in 1986, marking Vietnam’s readiness to embrace national economic development, internationalization, and globalization. It reviews Vietnam’s national foreign language policy and current practices of English education alongside the employability agenda in Vietnamese higher education. It also highlights both contextual and pedagogical challenges facing Vietnam’s English language education. It argues that although English skills are classified as essential soft skills necessary for graduate employability, the current situation of Vietnamese graduates’ low English language proficiency revealed a huge gap between what is intended in government policies and what is actually being implemented at the institutional, curriculum, and subject levels across education levels, including higher education. This chapter suggests that Vietnamese English education context provides an appropriate case study to investigate how English education can contribute to graduate employability.

Chapter 4 provides a theoretical framework underpinning the development of this book. It first describes the current situations of skill demands in different labour markets. It points out that English skills are in high demands and raise the concern about how we can better approach English language teaching/learning so that graduates can become more competitive when entering the labour market. Following that, it reviews graduate employability models to identify an appropriate theoretical framework to underpin the development of this book. Accordingly, Tomlinson’s (2017) employability capital model is chosen as it provides a broad perspective about employability, moving beyond the notion of skills. To enhance their employability, students and graduates need to possess a sufficient level of human capital (knowledge and skills), social capital (social networks with others), cultural capital (understanding of the work culture and practices of a particular industry), psychological capital (personal attributes that enhance their ability to move forward in building their careers such as resilience, flexibility, adaptability, etc.), and career identity (sense of attachment to a particular work role or industry; the feeling and ambition of who they want to become or what they want to do). This chapter also explains how the theoretical framework is used in the subsequent part of the book.

1.8 Part II: The Development of Graduate Employability Through English Language Education

Chapter 5 begins the second part of the book which focuses on how English language education can contribute to students’ employability capital. This chapter examines how English education assists with students’ development of general knowledge and skills necessary for their future employment in the fields of Hospitality and Tourism and Information Technology graduates. Using data collected from 16 interviews and a survey with 200 students/graduates, the authors show that English education enhances students’ access to the latest learning resources in English, contributing to advancing their professional knowledge and skills. English education also helps develop their communication, work-related and people skills. Based on such evidence, the authors conclude that English education can greatly help develop human capital for students.

Chapter 6 reports a mixed method case study to fill the missing literature on how different forms of English language education contribute to fostering social relationships and enhancing employability. The authors collected data from 15 interviews and 319 responses to a survey with undergraduates and graduates of Information Technology and Tourism Management in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam. The results showed that formal English education was perceived as the most popular form of students’ participation, but non-formal and informal English education was reported to better develop social relationships for the participants. Likewise, social relationships established from English learning activities outside the formal system were found to contribute to graduate employability more than that of the formal one. The author proposed that formal English language education should embed more work-related activities in the curriculum to help students develop social relationships for their future employment prospects.

In this globalized and multicultural world, English language and cultural understanding are acknowledged as two primary factors for desirable career outcomes. The study reported in Chapter 7, therefore, investigates the development of cultural capital through learning English language and how such cultural capital contributes to English language learners’ employability. The study was guided by Tomlinson’s (2017) framework of graduate employability and the authors employed semi-structured interviews with 11 participants from eight academic disciplines. The findings revealed that cultural capital could be developed through the diversity of formal, non-formal, and informal forms of English language learning. The findings also indicated that cultural capital crucially develops human, social, psychological, and identity capital, all of which are key components of graduate employability. The authors discuss pedagogical implications for effective development of cultural capital in different forms of English education (formal, informal, and non-formal) in the Vietnamese higher education.

Some personal attributes and soft skills such as self-efficacy, adaptability, resilience, and flexibility are considered psychological capital by Tomlinson (2017). They help graduates adapt and respond proactively to career challenges. Chapter 8 reports a qualitative study exploring how English education contributes to the development of students’ soft skills and personal attributes. The study includes interviews with 30 small groups of students, with three students in each group. The research showed that amongst the thirty-two listed soft skills and attributes, six of them, including oral communication, self-efficacy/confidence, teamwork ability, problem-solving skills, proactiveness, and information management skills, were voted as the most developed via English education. It also showed that different types of classroom tasks and a certain kind of extra-curricular activities—such as the English speaking club—contributed to undergraduates’ development of particular soft skills and personal attributes. The authors discussed how to use particular English teaching methods to improve students’ psychological capital.

In Chapter 9, the authors report a study that explored how English education experience contributes to shaping students’ career identity, arguing that in this globalized world, students are increasingly exposed to such educational experiences. Using a narrative research design, the authors interviewed two preservice teachers of English to explore the research issue. The study identified the preservice teachers’ levels of investment made towards English language learning, abilities to draw on English language learning experiences to articulate a narrative of career identity, and self-concepts relating to their future role as teachers of English. These findings show that the participants’ English language learning experiences spanning over many years essentially contribute to the development of their identity capital which they could use to develop and project themselves as employable graduate teachers. The chapter offers implications for English language teacher educators and future employers.

1.9 Part III: English Language Education in Vietnam: Current Practices and Challenges

Chapter 10 begins Part III of this book which explores the effectiveness of English language education in Vietnam and challenges that hinder the effectiveness. It reports a study that examines current employees’ feedback on their former experiences with the General English courses offered by their former universities. The data includes 159 responses to the survey from graduates currently working in different professional sectors. The analysis revealed that overall the employees found that the English courses equipped them with good English knowledge and skills that could support their communication at work. However, in their views, several aspects of the English courses could be further improved to better prepare students for the world of work: (i) theory-based curriculum, (ii) unauthenticity of teaching activities, learning materials, and assessment tasks, (iii) a lack of ongoing feedback from using formative assessment so that students can improve their weaknesses, and (iv) students’ inability to self-regulate their learning. The authors discuss measures to improve such inhibitors so that the General English courses offered by Vietnamese universities can be more effective in preparing their students’ English skills for future employment.

In Chapter 11, the authors report a case study about teachers’ perspectives on (i) the effectiveness of a General English program in a Vietnamese university with regard to enhancing students’ employability and (ii) factors influencing the effectiveness of the program. Using a thematic analysis approach to treat 14 semi-structured interviews with English teachers, the authors found that in teachers’ perspectives, the General English program helped strengthen students’ employability mainly through the development of English receptive skills, soft skills, and intercultural competence. They found that students’ motivation and shyness, teachers’ English proficiency, teaching quality and commitment, and administration and management issues inhibited the effectiveness of the program. The chapter provides implications to improve the effectiveness of the General English program, with a focus on enhancing students’ employability.

Chapter 12 moves forward to investigate the effectiveness of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) programs offered in Vietnamese higher education institutions. Drawing on the framework of graduate employability capital (Tomlinson, 2017) and the learning-for-profession principle of ESP courses (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987), the study reported in this chapter used graduates’ self-reflected experiences to examine the contribution of ESP courses to Vietnamese graduates’ employability. The analysis of 16 responses to an open-ended survey and 220 responses to an online survey showed that these ESP courses contributed to the development of specialized English language, knowledge, and generic skills that enhance graduates’ employability. The authors also identified limitations of ESP courses in the course designs and teaching practices. This chapter discusses ways to maximize the benefits of these ESP courses for Vietnamese graduates’ employability.

Chapter 13 explores the implementation of English as the medium of instruction (EMI) in Vietnamese universities. Analysing 10 interviews with teachers and 22 interviews with final-year students of two EMI programs at a well-established university, the authors found that the deployment of EMI in these programs caused various difficulties for both teachers and students. For teachers, the programs required not only high English competence but also new pedagogical skills unfamiliar to many EMI teachers, resulting in lowered teaching quality. For students, the language barriers, coupled with the long-standing question-suppressing teaching culture, and the mismatch between new academic expectations and students’ learning habits, cause comprehension uncertainty and learning tensions. These issues appeared to hinder the development of students’ employability. However, the authors found that the situation improved from the first to the final year, with students being extensively exposed to English and constantly exercising their personal agency to improve their English and enrich their learning. The main findings are discussed in light of Vietnamese sociocultural conditions as well as institutional arrangements for the EMI programs.

Chapter 14 takes on board the issue of cultural teaching and learning in English language classes. As languages and cultures are inseparable from each other, cultural content has been considered an integral part of language teaching. On that premise, the study in this chapter explores teacher perceptions and practices of culture in English language teaching at a Vietnamese university. Data for the study were collected from classroom observations and interviews with fourteen teachers of English language in a Vietnamese university. The findings indicate that although the participants were aware of the inextricable relationship between language and culture, their perceptions of culture teaching centred around topical dependence, priority of language over culture in language teaching, inadequate exposure to culture in language courses, and other constraints on culture teaching. Their teaching practices were dictated by traditional approaches to culture teaching, which focused on cultural knowledge about English speaking countries. Based on the participants’ perceptions and experiences, the study discusses implications for transforming culture teaching in English language education in Vietnam and, for developing intercultural competence in relation to employability.

In this increasingly digitalized world, it is insufficient to investigate English language education without taking into account online English language courses. Whilst much has been written about the benefits of online learning, very few studies investigate perceptions of learners learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) towards online learning and their employability. Chapter 15 reports a study that explored factors influencing foreign language learners’ decision to take English online courses, challenges associated with pursuing online learning, and the impact of such learning experiences on their employability. The authors used semi-structured interviews to collect data from 20 Vietnamese online learners of English. The authors found several key factors encouraging participants to select online English courses, including time flexibility, teacher–student interaction, cost-saving, recommendation from friends, teaching and learning materials, and teaching methods. They also identified issues encountered by learners when taking these online English courses in terms of practicality issues and professional teaching competence of online instructors. The findings also indicated positive influences of taking online English courses on various aspects of students’ employability.

1.10 Part IV: English Language Education for Graduate Employability: What’s Next?

Chapter 16 summarizes the main findings of the previous empirical chapters to tease out the key messages of the whole book project. We note down the contribution of English language education to the development of students’ employability and its influence on their career prospects. We also provide a clearer picture of how English education has been conducted in Vietnamese higher education institutions, amidst the vigorous English teaching and learning reforms in the country. Identifying the limitations of English language education in preparing students for the world of work, we argue that there is a pressing need to consider changing the approach to English language education, focusing more on the actual use of the language at the workplace and moving away from testing students’ acquisition of linguistic abilities or introducing a cultural snap-shot of English speaking countries. We present an approach to English language teaching and learning that can better foster the development of students’ employability. This framework is an extension of Kumaradivelu’s (2003) macro-strategic framework fundamentally used as classroom-based English language teaching/learning. We propose to develop metacognition for students about what, why, and how they should function within English language education so that they can develop English language competence and associated employability capital. We add institutional-level practices and support to enable the use of this framework. The framework also links classroom-based teaching/learning practices with out-of-class English learning activities (extra-curricular activities, self-study online classes, volunteer activities, and part-time jobs, etc.) to further polish English skills and other types of employability capital developed through English language education in real-life situations and at self-paced development.