The Educational Realities of Hmong Communities in Vietnam: The Voices of Teachers
Author(s):
Lavoie, Constance
Format:
Journal article
Citation:
Critical Inquiry In Language Studies, Volume 8, Issue 2 (2011). pp. 153-175.
Language:
English
Abstract:
This article presents the language policy and sociolinguistic realities of Hmong people in Lao Cai province, Vietnam. Minority children, who have their own mother tongue, are educated in Vietnamese, a language that few understand. In response to this situation, the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam in collaboration with UNICEF, implemented in 2006 a bilingual educational reform integrating minority languages at the beginning of preschool and throughout elementary to improve the quality of education for minority ethnic groups. Based on a field experience, the author brings the narratives and the visual representation (photos and drawings) of the teachers working and living in Hmong communities. This article explores the questions: What issues ethnic minority teachers faced in their daily practices? The purpose of this article is to illustrate qualitatively what the statistical data cannot reveal on the educational realities of linguistic minority learners in Vietnam. (Contains 5 figures and 2 footnotes.)