Advice for teachers -
Vietnamese Second Language

Unit 1 – Area of Study 1: Interpersonal communication

Theme: The individual
Topic: Education and aspirations
Sub topic: School study tours

Outcome 1

Exchange meaning in a spoken interaction in Vietnamese.

Examples of learning activities

• Read a blog about a recent study tour in Vietnam; take notes and highlight the differences observed between Australia and Vietnam. Skype a student in Vietnam who has recently completed a study tour in Australia. Compare their answers to the blog.
• View a video about secondary school education in Vietnam. Reflect on how it differs from a school in Victoria.
• Listen to a conversation between an Australian student on a study tour and their host family. Answer prepared questions about the conversation.
• Write six to eight questions to ask someone who has been on a study tour. Swap questions with a classmate and answer their questions based on research material.
• Prepare a three-minute speech to give to the class about a study tour program (actual experience or researched via class materials), noting major similarities and differences between Australia and Vietnam. Create PowerPoint slides to support the speech. Respond to questions from other students about this topic.
• Interview another student in the class, using prepared questions. Discuss specific aspects of the school they attended during their study tour or one that they have researched. Concentrate on classrooms, subjects studied and school routines.
• Listen to a student from Vietnam talking about their study tour in Australia. Reflect on how this information correlates to other material on the topic by discussing it with a classmate.
• Summarise all the findings discovered on this topic in a graph or Venn diagram.
• Read source material about education from Vietnam's Bureau of Statistics. Extract information and make comparisons with information about Australian education sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
• Note vocabulary used in any material viewed, heard or read relating to education. Discuss any words or phrases that are not readily translatable into English.
• Produce an article of 250 words outlining for an Australian audience some aspects of Vietnam's education system.
• Read journal entries written by students in Australia and Vietnam to gain an insight into the personal aspects of participating in a study tour in another country and staying with another family.
• Find a blog on the internet written by someone who has been on a study tour. Annotate it to identify key points that represent individual experiences.
• Listen to a guest speaker talk about their experience of a study tour in Vietnam.
• Watch a video or film about families in Vietnam. Take notes about their lives.
• Listen to a recorded discussion or radio programs about study tours. In pairs, make a list of the insights gained by the students on the study tours. Categorise them as personal, educational, cultural, social, etc.
• In pairs or small groups, discuss the following example topics and create draft plans to produce a piece of writing.
  1. a. Imagine you have been on a tour of Vietnam. Write an email to your parents about your time on the tour.
  1. b. Imagine you have been on a tour of Vietnam. Write an article about the experience for your school's website.
  With the class divided into two groups, debate the topic ‘Language and education study tours are very worthwhile’. Both sides must use evidence and examples from the research gathered.
  

 

Detailed example

An email to parents about your experiences of a study tour

1. Create a workbook to record information, notes and bibliographic details gathered throughout the area of study. Develop a glossary of key terms and concepts.
2. View a documentary about Australian students who participated in a study tour to Vietnam. Take notes under a series of headings that could include: type of school visited, subjects studied, teaching styles, general impressions.
3. Compare the different experiences of the students in the documentary. How were they similar or different?
4. Conduct research on aspects of the education system in Vietnam. Include school subjects (elective and compulsory subjects), English language education, and senior secondary examinations. Construct a table to summarise the information found. Make comparisons to the situation in Victorian schools.
5. Listen to a speech given on the education system in Vietnam. Note the techniques used in the presentation to convey as much information as possible and how it was made engaging.
6. Listen to a podcast of two students discussing their experiences on exchange.
7. Read emails written by students who have been on study tours to Vietnam and take notes on the language used for personal writing and the conventions of the text type.
8. Draft the email.

Unit 1 – Area of Study 2: Interpretative communication

Theme: The world around us
Topic: Communication and media
Sub topic: Our connection to screens

Outcome 2

Interpret information from two texts on the same subtopic presented in Vietnamese, and respond in writing in Vietnamese and in English.

Examples of learning activities

• Read an article about ‘screen addiction’ and extract vocabulary for a class glossary on the topic.
• Listen to an interview and read an article about screen use in Vietnam. Answer questions about each one. Write a 100-word summary of all the views expressed in both texts.
• View a series of photos that depict young people using screens in their daily lives and analyse them.
• Search the internet for stories in Vietnamese on the topic of ‘When being on screen is harmful’.
• View a video/vlog/YouTube clip where young people discuss how and when they are ‘on screen’.
• View a documentary about the usefulness of screens in modern life.
• Discuss the positive aspects of screen usage with a classmate. List your combined positives on a poster for the classroom wall.
• Compare the salient points from the documentary with the class posters. Discuss any differences in small groups. Using the lists and summaries, debate the issue ‘Screens are ruling our world today’.
• 
  Prepare a two- to three-minute presentation to the class comparing your personal screen usage with that of typical teenagers in Vietnam.
• List the types of screens that could be part of the topic ‘Screens are ruling our world today’. Write a 200-word letter to a friend in which you express your concerns about being ‘on screen’ so much.
• Create a list of positives and negatives about screen use. Write a 100-word summary of the list.
• Research statistics relating to screen use in Australia and Vietnam. Tabulate the results.
• Write an imaginative short story in which you project current screen usage into a utopian future.
• Write an article of 200 words, based on two texts you have studied, for publication in a school magazine on the topic of screen use by young people.

 

Detailed example

A two- to three-minute presentation comparing personal screen use with that of typical teenagers in Vietnam,

1. Read an article about how people are using screens in Vietnam today.
   
2. Identify the key points made in the article and create a matrix to find any overlap in positive and negative points.
   
3. Conduct further research to discover any material that can be added to the matrix.
   
4. Listen to an interview about this topic. Identify key vocabulary and expressions associated with the major concepts.
   
5. With a partner, brainstorm the number of hours that you typically spend using a screen. Tally the results and compare these to teenagers in Vietnam.
   
6. Prepare a number of comparisons to include in the presentation such as the:
• kind of activities you do on screen
• number of hours spent daily on screen
• similarities and differences.
7. Draft the speech structuring it with an introduction, middle and conclusion.

Unit 1 – Area of Study 3: Presentational communication

Theme: The world around us
Topic: Communications and media
Subtopic: A film from Vietnam and the Vietnamese film industry

Outcome 3

Present information, concepts and ideas in writing in Vietnamese on the selected subtopic and for a specific audience and purpose.

Examples of learning activities

• Watch a film from Vietnam, or extracts from a film, and take notes under the headings: plot, main characters, actors, soundtrack, special effects, themes or ideas.
• Read film synopses and critiques in Vietnamese, identifying the vocabulary used.
• Identify cultural differences between film critiques in Vietnam and Australia.
• Search for statistics on Vietnam’s film industry.
• Read one or two articles on Vietnam’s films and/or film industry. Answer comprehension questions about them.
• View a video of interviews with Vietnamese actors, directors and producers in order to answer a set of questions.
• Write about a Vietnamese actor, director or the film industry in general, using 50 to 100 words.
• Identify cultural elements from your reading, viewing and listening. Consider the questions: Are there any particular elements that could only come from Vietnam? How can you tell? What identifies them? Compare these ideas to films produced in Australia.
• Research notable actors or directors in Vietnam’s film industry, or those who appear in films in other industries. Note their general filmography.
• Listen to directors speaking about their films. Identify their main concerns: artistic, economic and others.
• Write draft outlines for one of the following topics:
  
  • Journal entry about a film recently seen
  • Imagine a film that you would like to direct. Write the script of a conversation you have with a leading actor that you would like to star in the film
  • Write an informative article about an aspect of Vietnam’s film industry that interests you.
• Write a letter to a Vietnamese film director about an idea that you have for a film.
• 
  Create a three- to four -minute video with another student about your favourite films, actors or directors from Vietnam.

 

Detailed example

A three- to four-minute video about favourite films, actors or directors from Vietnam

1. View one or more films from Vietnam.
2. Take notes under headings: plot, main characters, actors, soundtrack, special effects, themes or ideas.
3. Decide which elements are to be included in the final video. Discuss the outline with the teacher.
4. Plan the structure of the video to be filmed. Write it up as a series of dot points.
5. Research the particular elements to be discussed.
6. Write a script.
7. Draw a storyboard.
8. Film.
9. Edit as necessary.
10. Show video to the class.
11. Other students and the teacher give oral and written feedback to each pair.