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This study explored teachers' perceptions of synchronous online peer interaction (SOPI) among young learners (YLs), aged 7 to 15. Thirty-eight teachers of diverse L1 backgrounds and teaching experience completed a survey and attended an in-depth interview that explored multiple aspects of SOPI (e.g. benefits, issues, frequency of use, strategies to promote SOPI's effectiveness, and mediating factors). Survey data were analysed using exploratory factor analyses to identify themes/constructs related to areas of SOPI under investigation, and inferential statistics were reported to examine teachers' self-ratings of different aspects of SOPI. Interviews were analysed following a content-based approach to supplement the quantitative data. The results show that teachers believed SOPI promoted YLs' attention to language aspects and created a peer-support learning environment. SOPI's effectiveness was affected by multiple factors (e.g. learners' individual differences, teachers' guidance, grouping, and learners' financial and family backgrounds). Teachers expressed the importance of using SOPI for YLs in online classes and suggested instruction/guidance to maximize its' benefits. However, the frequency of use of SOPI was reported to be dependent on schools' regulations and resources, learners' affective aspects, and parental support. The results also indicate the impact of teachers' online teaching experience on their differential perceptions of online SOPI.

Many studies have pointed out a proportionate relation between metacognition and reading strategies. This study advances such an understanding by arguing that this relation is comprised of several sub-relations. Metacognitive Awareness Inventory and Reading Strategies Inventory were conducted among 92 English as Foreign Language students at a Vietnamese university. This study highlights 3 major findings. First, metacognition processes do not merely mean "cognition about cognition". Second, while previous studies tended to portray metacognition as a whole, it is argued in this study that it is constituted by two main clusters (knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition) which can be further specified into eight sub-components. Third, there seem to be some sub-linearities that underpin students' metacognition and that influence their uses of reading strategies. These findings are hoped to shed light on preserving spaces and autonomy in curriculum/syllabus development for students to exercise their own metacognition.

The purpose of this paper is presenting 2 examples of using English to teach history and economic subjects in universities and colleges. Another goal of this study is that we aim to enhance teaching quality in schools, colleges and universities through case teaching methods which can help students to expand discussion via open mind method. Al-Issa (2006) stated that for five decades there is an important international activity, that is English language teaching (ELT), which became a big business. And dominated by USA, it shows that English roles has been increasing on the world arena in the postcolonial/neocolonial age. For using English to teach History subjects we have to not only catch the historical terms and topics very well but we also combine language teaching with images, ICT tools, LCDs with effective history languages. For using English to teach economic subjects, we have to note there are key economic terms for each economic subjects as well as practice speaking and listening very often in order to deliver effective messages to students and facilitate effective communication inside classrooms. Huy, D.T.N., Hanh, N.T.T, Thao, N.T.P et al (2021) mention there is psychological and pedagogy issues when teaching at schools. We present a typical case teaching in economic subject: analyze stock price and beta CAPM determinants in a single case study of Vietinbank -- CTG in Vietnam financial market during operation period 2011-2020. Next, we will present a case teaching in Indonesian revolution for history subject. Authors also present a process of applying English in teaching history and economic via 2 specific case examples.

English learners in EFL contexts where grammar-based instruction is still dominant often lack opportunities to use the target language both within and outside the classroom. In 2010, we initiated a club-based approach to facilitate students' learning beyond the classroom. It focused on meaningful communication, authentic tasks, student agency, community service, and learner leadership to help students develop their English ability while sharpening their twenty-first century skills for both personal and professional development. In this innovative practice paper, we will present the context, rationales and implementation of this student-led model so that other educators can learn from and adapt our innovation for their own contexts to solve the teaching and learning problems in their communities.

Addressing gender equality in education has always been one of the crucial Sustainable Development Goals advocated by the United Nations. To achieve this goal, many countries are tackling gender inequality in mathematics and STEM subjects where the achievement gaps historically favoured male students. Vietnam has one of the highest maths performance gaps worldwide, demonstrated by international maths competitions (e.g., PISA) with males often outperforming females. Research on gender gap in maths in Vietnam is, however, still in its infancy, which challenges policy makers and relevant authorities to create positive changes to the current education system. This study analysed test scores of 23,932 Vietnamese students participating in the American Mathematics Competitions 8 (AMC8) from 2016 to 2020 to investigate the issue of gender (in)equality in secondary maths education in Vietnam. Evidence of gender gap was found, especially among the top 500 highest achievers. The research demonstrated that boys showed a higher rate of participation and achieved higher average scores compared to their female peers. Among top achievers, gender gap was in favour of boys, especially in the strand of algebraic content. This study is amongst the first to conduct statistical analyses of maths scores data by gender in Vietnam. It aims to provide guidelines for future research and contribute to policymaking in an attempt to address gender equality in Vietnam's education.

Purpose: This study aims to provide evidence on the importance of parental financial heads in the family in promoting students' financial literacy levels and budgeting habits. Design/methodology/approach: Using survey data on 730 college students in Vietnam, this study investigated the relationship between parental financial heads, students' financial literacy and budgeting habits. Multiple regression and logit function are the primary approaches in the study. Findings: This study found a positive association between parental head roles and students' financial literacy and budgeting habits after controlling for demographics. Students whose parents are primarily responsible for financial decisions in the family perform higher in financial literacy and make a budget more frequently. The results are robust to alternative approaches. Practical implications: This study's results help parents, especially mothers who are often more vulnerable in the family, better understand the important role of being the financial deciders in the family and how this can increase their children's financial literacy and help their children manage money more effectively. Originality/value: This is the first study to address the importance of parents' head roles in enhancing students' financial literacy and budgeting behaviour.

With the increasing significance of technology use in both daily life and education, the digital native assessment scale (DNAS) [developed by Teo, T. (2013). An initial development and validation of a Digital Natives Assessment Scale (DNAS). Computers & Education, 67, 51-57.] has been widely used as a tool to investigate the digital nativeness of different subjects/participants and in different languages worldwide. The current study aimed to continue exploring the cross-cultural invariance of DNAS in the Vietnamese version (V-DNAS) and examine the digital nativeness of Vietnamese pre-service teachers. Using two sources of validity evidence from cognitive response processes and the internal structure of validity of DNAS, the study findings showed that the DNAS, in general, had an adequate model fit in the Vietnamese version, which contributed to confirm the invariance of the scale in different languages. The study also showed that Vietnamese pre-service teachers endorsed all elements of digital nativeness in general, with a significant difference by students' geographic locations. The study provided contributions for scale validation research and teacher education, alongside suggestions for future research to avoid its limitations.

This study investigated the effects of synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) mode and interlocutor familiarity on frequency and characteristics of peer feedback in L2 interaction. Fifty dyads of EFL learners were equally assigned into familiar (+/--) groups and performed an interactive task in two SCMC modes (text/video-chats). After their interactions, they were interviewed individually about the impact of SCMC mode and interlocutor familiarity on the provision of feedback. Learners' text/video-chats were coded for feedback frequency and characteristics (e.g. type, linguistic focus, accuracy, and modified output). Results show that more instances of feedback were observed in the video- than text-chats; however, interlocutor familiarity did not affect the amount of feedback. Despite differences in types, feedback's linguistic focus and accuracy, frequency and characteristics of modified output were relatively similar between two SCMC modes. Content-based analyses of the interviews revealed that learners attributed the differences in feedback occurrence to various characteristics of the SCMC modes rather than interlocutor unfamiliarity. The results suggest greater benefits of the video-chat over the text-chat in promoting peer feedback and emphasise the importance of establishing a positive relationship among learners during L2 SCMC interaction.

This study determined the degree to which students used peer feedback from Facebook to revise their writing papers and explored the students' perspectives on a framework of using a social network for peer commentaries. The study enrolled two intact groups, 40 students in the control group and 32 students in the experimental group, at a university in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The student's initial and final drafts, peer reviews, and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The results indicated that 45% of changes were made in response to peer reviews, while 55% were made solely on the basis of the student's own judgments. Additionally, the overall number of revisions made by students was greater than the number of revisions caused by comments at higher levels such as "Clause,""Sentence," and "Paragraph." Numerous previous studies refuted the current study's results, raising questions for researchers/instructors considering using Facebook as a forum for their writing classes because the students become more responsible for developing their writing skills.

Many studies in literature have compared peer e-feedback/comments to traditional peer feedback/comments to see whether one medium of providing feedback should replace the other. However, few studies investigated to see whether two modes of commentary activities positively affected the students' writing quality, instead of just comparing one to another. The literature failed to investigate the extent to which each had effects on students' writing skills. The purpose of this study was to fill this gap. The current study employed quasi-experimental research with control and experimental groups to study the issues. Seventy-two native Vietnamese students from two intact classes at Ho Chi Minh City University of Science who had ever obtained this kind of training activities participated in the study. The training procedures for both groups were similar except one conducted face-to-face peer comments on papers and the other on Facebook social network. Data collection was from pre- vs. post-tests rated by inter-raters and analyzed by the ttests of SPSS software. The findings of the study revealed that peer commentary activities of both groups had significant impacts on students' writing quality; however, the peer e-comments outperformed the traditional peer comments.

This is a case study of the College of Foreign Economic Relations (COFER) (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) with six Business English teachers as participants. The study was done to explore the teachers' perceptions of teaching Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) to the Business English students through their understanding of ICC and ICC teaching practices. The data were collected via classroom observations, in-depth interviews, and analyses of syllabi, lesson plans and two Business English textbooks in current use. Inductive analysis was used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that the teachers did not perceive ICC adequately and neither did they teach ICC sufficiently in spite of acknowledging the importance of ICC in Business communication. The study not only enabled Business English teachers to gain a deeper insight into all the aspects of ICC but also provided educators with a good source of data for more efficient policies to develop ICC teaching in Business English education.

Public investment in education and training occupies an important proportion in Vietnam public budget, approximately 20%, equivalent to 5% GDP. Public investment in education and training has many positive benefits and impact on the economy and society by contributing to economic growth, by improving the national productivity, people's qualification and intellectual level well as reducing unemployment, poverty in a country. On the basis of an empirical analysis in Vietnam, this paper proposes several relevant recommendation for Vietnam government to improve the performance of public investment in education and training by making contribution to ensure suitable investment structure as well as uphold important role of education and training to the development of the economy and society.

This study investigated the nature of learners' positive emotional engagement during a task-based interaction and its relationship with their interactional behaviours. Vietnamese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL; n = 74) performed a communicative task in dyads in 15 minutes. Their positive emotional engagement was gauged using an Experience Sampling Method via a questionnaire that the participants completed after every five-minute interval of the interaction, capturing three timepoints of learners' emotional engagement. Learners' cognitive and social interactional behaviours were examined in light of the amount of second language production (words and turns), language-related episodes (LREs), and the degree of collaboration. Results showed that learners' positive emotional engagement fluctuated over the course of a 15-minute interaction. Also, learners' levels of positive emotional engagement were positively correlated with the amount of second language production and the degree of collaboration, but these relationships varied across the three intervals. No relationship was observed between learners' emotional engagement and LREs. The results indicate that although learners' positive emotional engagement may not be linked with their attention to form, relationships exist between learners' positive emotional engagement and their language production, as well as their social relationships. These relationships can be, however, subject to change over the course of a short interaction.

This study investigated the impact of synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) mode and familiarity with partners on learner engagement in second-language task-based interaction, and whether learner engagement is linked to subsequent joint-written-text quality. Ninety-eight Vietnamese learners of English were assigned into (±) familiar groups and performed a picture-sequencing tasks in 2 SCMC modes (i.e., video and text chat). Scores of 3 types of learner engagement (cognitive, social, and emotional) were compared across the conditions. Results showed that scores of all engagement types in the video chat were significantly higher than in the text chat. Familiar dyads also showed higher engagement than unfamiliar peers during the interaction. Learners reported different reasons for their preferences of video chat over text chat. Language-related episodes, semantically engaged talk, and mutual help as measures of learner engagement were predictive of the subsequent text quality. The results contribute to the general understanding of the characteristics of video and text chat and their impact on learner engagement and text quality.

To address learners' low attention to form in peer interaction, the current study investigated the impact of reflective learning practice intervention that aims to promote learners' attention to form. Sixty-eight adolescent EFL learners (M[subscript age] = 15.6, SD = 7.05) formed reflective learning practice and control groups. The reflective practice group received a treatment that was designed following the reflective learning model with the goal of increasing learners' attention to form. Pre/post-tests results showed that learners' attention to form in the type of self-correction and metalinguistic talk increased over time. Self-reports revealed that learners perceived the reflective learning practice as beneficial, particularly encouraging them to attend to language form and establish collaborative mindset. However, factors such as learners' approach to tasks, social relationship, perceptions of feedback provision, and proficiency appeared to mediate the effectiveness of the treatment. The results suggest reflective learning practice as a pedagogical tool to promote effective peer interaction.

Assessing university resource allocation or misallocation is necessary to understand its impact on research and teaching productivity. To achieve this insight, this study conducts a two-stage data envelopment analysis to judge the "teaching and research efficiency" and "revenue efficiency" of 61 universities in Vietnam. We analyze what variables have the most effect on the efficiencies of the universities through improving results. Moreover, this research applies scale elasticity to distinguish the benchmark performance leader among Vietnam universities. Results indicate that universities are more efficient in terms of "revenue efficiency" than "teaching and research efficiency." The scale elasticity decomposition findings show that multidisciplinary universities perform better than those specializing in science and technology and social science and economics. Finally, the competitive map to performance advancement strategies is exhibited. This map helps the university management to enhance their efficiencies.

Purpose: Mekong Delta's shrimp farming contributes to socio-economic development but tends to reduce the mangrove area. On the one hand, NGOs advocate balancing ecology and economy, while on the other hand, the Vietnamese government supports intensifying shrimp production. The latter strategy increases shrimp diseases and marginalises smallholders. To influence the opinions, knowledge and behaviour of shrimp farmers, we developed and tested a serious board game. Approach: Through several iterations, we designed a realistic board game mimicking local shrimp farming. Then, after conducting three sessions of gameplay with farmers in three sites, we assessed how this gameplay influenced players. We used a semi-experimental set-up by collecting data on the day of the gameplay, and on two further time-points. Findings: After the gameplays, farmers reported to have learned about the risks of monoculture-intensive-shrimp system and the advantages of hybrid systems. Likert ratings showed that players adopted innovations faster and, in case of shrimp diseases, consulted commercial service-providers less, but with other farmers more. They confirmed to have learned that the best strategy for them would be to adopt hybrid systems, i.e. intensify part of the area of mixed-mangrove or improved-extensive shrimp farms. Theoretical implications: Realistic board games can create opportunities for social learning and training of groups which are not always easy to reach. Practical implications: Board games can support transfer of knowledge and skills to farmers, and can develop their critical thinking. Creation: The findings that board games are effective in the context of a top-down extension systems offer value opportunities.

Education reforms worldwide, in both developed and developing countries, address the content of education programmes and/or changes education systems. There are different paths, and different socioeconomic contexts, for those nations which pursue education reform, and Vietnam makes for an instructive example. The country's socioeconomic renovation, known as "Doi Moi" since the late 1980s, has put forward the discourse of socialisation, which generally advocates greater public participation in all areas of society. Although socialisation has been the central ideology of the "Doi Moi" process, there is still a dispute about its meaning and implications. This paper contributes to debates about reforms by examining the discourse of socialisation in Vietnam through analysis of government documents and public opinion in various media. These secondary documents on education socialisation in Vietnam, highlight the institutionalisation of education socialisation in an apparent movement from general public participation to a form of privatisation. This institutionalisation has dramatically transformed the conditions of people's access to education in Vietnam.

BackgroundVietnam has successfully reduced malaria incidence by more than 90% over the past 10 years, and is now preparing for malaria elimination. However, the remaining malaria burden resides in individuals that are hardest to reach, in highly remote areas, where many malaria cases are treated through the informal private sector and are not reported to public health systems. This qualitative study aimed to contextualize and characterize the role of private providers, care-seeking behaviour of individuals at high risk of malaria, as well as risk factors that should be addressed through malaria elimination programmes in Vietnam.MethodsSemi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 11 key informants in Hanoi, 30 providers, 9 potential patients, and 11 individuals at risk of malaria in Binh Phuoc and Kon Tum provinces. Audio recorded interviews were transcribed and uploaded to Atlas TI™, themes were identified, from which programmatic implications and recommendations were synthesized.ResultsQualitative interviews revealed that efforts for malaria elimination in Vietnam should concentrate on reaching highest-risk populations in remote areas as well their care providers, in particular private pharmacies, private clinics, and grocery stores. Among these private providers, diagnosis is currently based on symptoms, leaving unconfirmed cases that are not reported to public health surveillance systems. Among at-risk individuals, knowledge of malaria was limited, and individuals reported not taking full courses of treatment, a practice that threatens selection for drug resistance. Access to insecticide-treated hammock nets, a potentially important preventive measure for settings with outdoor biting Anopheles vectors, was also limited.ConclusionsMalaria elimination efforts in Vietnam can be accelerated by targeting improved treatment, diagnosis, and reporting practices to private pharmacies, private clinics, and grocery stores. Programmes should also seek to increase awareness and understanding of malaria among at-risk populations, in particular the importance of using preventive measures and adhering to complete courses of anti-malarial medicines.

BackgroundChildren/adolescents display suboptimal antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence and outcomes versus adults. Hair ART concentrations are objective adherence measures that predict viremia in adults but longitudinal data on hair levels in pediatric populations is limited. We assessed the predictive utility of hair lopinavir (LPV) levels on viremia among youth on second-line ART.MethodsWe examined predictors of viremia (HIV-1 RNA >400 and >1000 copies/mL) at least 24 weeks after switch to LPV-based second-line ART in a cohort of HIV-infected Asian children followed between 2011 and 2014. Small hair samples, HIV-1 RNA, and self-reported adherence were collected biannually. Hair concentrations of LPV were measured through liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry using validated methods. Time-to-first viremia was examined using discrete-time Cox models.ResultsOverall, 244 children met the inclusion criteria for the present analysis. Approximately half (55%) were boys and the median age 10 years [interquartile range (IQR) 7-13]; 40% were older than 11 years. At switch to second-line ART, median CD4 count was 300 (IQR 146-547) cells/mm and median HIV-RNA level was 5.0 (IQR 4.3-5.6) log10/mL. Median time of study follow-up was 48 weeks and a median of 3 (range 1-5) hair samples were collected from each participant. Adjusting for age, sex, country, self-reported adherence, CD4, and HIV-RNA, higher LPV hair concentrations were the strongest predictor of lower odds of viremia (HIV-RNA >400 copies/mL adjusted odds ratio = 0.41 per doubling in hair concentration, 95% confidence interval: 0.29 to 0.58, P < 0.001; HIV-RNA >1000 copies/mL, adjusted odds ratio = 0.54, 95% confidence interval: 0.45 to 0.65, P < 0.001).ConclusionsHair concentrations predict viremia among children with HIV on second-line ART and could guide clinical decisions for this population.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to measure TFP growth and job reallocation in the Vietnamese manufacturing industry after the Doimoi period. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses firm-level panel data from Vietnam’s annual enterprise survey data for 2000–2016 period in the Vietnamese manufacturing industry using Olley–Pakes static and dynamic productivity decomposition methods. Findings – The aggregate productivity estimated from the WRDG method increased 2.323 percent, of which over 40 percent is due to the reallocation toward more productive firms. Olley–Pakes dynamic decomposition according to ownership, scale and industry shows that the contribution of private and state-owned firms and the contribution of small and medium firms and large firms to the TFP growth are 133, −33 percent, 58.56 and 41.44 percent, respectively. The within-firm productivity and net entry components are the main reasons for TFP growth rather than reallocation. The results show that the composition of the aggregate TFPs, estimated from WRDG, OP, LP and ACF, is correlated very high (over 80 percent) except for net entry components. Research limitations/implications – The major limitation of this study is that the authors compute an aggregate productivity index using actual employment-based shares (still misallocation in labor), rather than optimal employment-based shares (no misallocation in labor). Originality/value – Job reallocation between industries is attracting attention in developing countries, especially transition economies. However, knowledge about job reallocation among industries is limited. This paper assesses the level of job reallocation among private and state-owned firms, small and medium firms and large firms in Vietnam.

Article retractedThe difficulty in accessing loans is one of the major barriers to the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Low accessibility to capital forces SMEs to spend both official and unofficial costs in order to obtain loans, and/or to access the unofficial market at higher interest rates, thereby increasing cost of production of enterprises. Studies suggest that the determinants of bank loan processing through which small and medium enterprises can access official loans include: characteristics of enterprises; indicators, reflecting the performance of enterprises; characteristics of loans; characteristics of enterprises, enterprise owners; geographical position of enterprises; the creditworthiness of enterprises and the role of the network.Purpose of the study. The aim of this paper is the quantitative analysis of the factors, affecting accessibility to credit capital of small and medium enterprises in Vietnam.Materials and methods. This study was conducted on the basis of a survey in December 2017. The survey includes 301 enterprises in Hanoi city. Selected enterprises are also enterprises, surveyed in the annual enterprise survey by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam. This paper uses the Probit and Logit regression approach to estimate the impact of factors, affecting the disbursement probability of a loan of an enterprise. The number of SMEs accounts for 56.69% of the samples. The number of enterprises, applying for a bank loan accounts for 58.4% of the total samples, of which the percentage of disbursed loans for SMEs accounts for only 47.3%. For enterprises without a bank loan, eliminating the reasons for the lack of demand and unwish to be in debt, the main reasons not to access bank loans are high interest rates, complicated loan procedures and insufficient collateral.Results. The results obtained from the Logistic and Probit models show that the estimated coefficients are statistically significant, affecting the probability of taking a business loan, accepted by financial institutions. Although the coefficients, estimated from Logistics model are larger than those estimated from the Probit model, the estimated results show that the direction of impact of the variables in two estimation techniques gives quite similar results.Conclusion. Based on the results of this study, the Government of Vietnam should implement policies to support SMEs in the direction of improving their access to capital. The credit institutions should design products and services suitable to the characteristics of SMEs in Vietnam.

Cryptosporidium and Giardia are two water- and foodborne protozoan parasites that can cause diarrheal diseases. Poor microbial quality, sanitation conditions, and hygiene practices at exposure to biogas wastewater are important risk factors for human and animal infection. This study highlights the presence and level of both parasites in the environment in relation to biogas waste reuse in Vietnam. A total of 239 samples were collected from different types of samples in the studied districts in Bac Giang province in 2020 via direct immunofluorescent detection to study the occurrence of Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia spp. (oo)cysts. Among the samples, Cryptosporidium was found in 19 (7.9%) with concentration from 1.104 to 3.105 oocysts/100 mL, while Giardia in 40 (16.7%) with concentration from 1.104 to 2.106 cysts/100 mL, respectively. In detail, the results show that the percentages of positive detection of Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia spp. in influent, effluent, sewage canal, and vegetables were 13.1% (11/84), 6.0% (5/83), 15.4% (2/13) and 5.9% (1/17) and 26.2% (22/84), 7.2% (6/83), 7.7% (1/13) and 5.9% (1/17), respectively. The results show a trend of decreasing Cryptosporidium and Giardia densities, without statistical significance. Although these parasites decreased after biogas treatment, the remaining loads observed in biogas effluent can reach the watercourses and soil receiving it. Further investigations are needed to contribute to a general understanding of the risk of protozoan parasites, as well as strategies to control and reduce the contamination of environmental water sources and plants and reduce the burden of the pathogens in biogas wastewater in Vietnam.

This study examines the income effect on health spending and health behaviors in Vietnam. We measure income shock by lottery prizes, controlling for spending on the lottery. Lottery prizes have no significant effect on the healthcare utilization of individuals. However, we find that lottery winnings result in a significant increase in spending on healthcare. A 1% increase in lottery winnings results in a 0.08% increase in expenditure on medicine and a 0.09% increase in the total amount individuals spend on healthcare. The effect on expenditure on healthcare tends to be larger for older people. A concern with increased income is the unexpected effect on risky health behaviors, such as smoking and drinking. In this study, we do not find that lottery prizes lead to greater spending on tobacco and alcohol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]