Policy and practices in English as a Medium of Instruction in Vietnamese tertiary EFL contexts

English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) has become a global phenomenon in higher education in non-native English-speaking countries. However, the successful implementation of EMI often depends on the degree of alignment between this approach to language instruction, the educational expectations and the infrastructure of local contexts: EMI may be welcomed, or it may be rejected or adapted to local socio-political and cultural contexts. Although EMI has been deployed in some selected Vietnamese universities since the 1990s, there is little research on its implementation. This study was conducted to seek an understanding of policy and practices in EMI in Vietnam through explanatory sequential mixed methods research, including policy document analysis, surveys and interviews. Nine current national policy documents were analysed to find out the extent to which issues regarding the implementation of EMI have been addressed in policy documents. Surveys of 360 students and 30 content lecturers, interviews with 12 content lecturers, and focus groups with 30 students at 6 selected Vietnamese universities helped to investigate local practices and perceptions. The findings of the policy analysis indicated that foreign language teaching (FLT) is a major focus of the Vietnamese government’s educational reform, and that EMI is considered as a way to achieve both its educational and non-educational goals in the global age. EMI is encouraged, but not compulsory, in some selected Higher Education Institutions who meet the government requirements for EMI programs. However, explicit discussions of issues regarding the implementation of EMI in the context of Vietnamese higher education are notably absent from policy documents. The present investigation of student and lecturer perceptions revealed mostly positive attitudes towards EMI. Both lecturers and students suggested that EMI would bring students great opportunities for both accessing current scientific knowledge and future employment, with positive impacts on students’ language proficiency, especially students’ reading skills, listening skills and knowledge of technical terms. Lecturers and students reported that EMI provided varied challenges for Vietnamese higher education. Lecturers were apparently most challenged by students’ lack of English language proficiency, whereas students indicated that they felt most pressured by final exams in which they had to perform their content-area knowledge in English. Students acknowledged their own lack of English language ability, recognising difficulties arising from the unavailability of textbooks, dense curriculum, time allocation and lecturers’ teaching methods. Lecturers identified the extra workload created by EMI as a chief obstacle in EMI courses. The findings of my study provide insight into the range of learning and teaching strategies that lecturers and students apply within their EMI courses and practical suggestions for improving EMI instruction. Overall, lecturers and students were positive about the adoption of EMI in Vietnamese tertiary EFL contexts, notwithstanding the challenges they faced. However, the strategic implementation of EMI in Vietnam seems to require adjustments at all levels of institutional and government policy to ensure that the voices of practitioners and students are heard. The findings of this study provide relevant insights for policymakers, higher education institutions, lecturers, and students of EMI programs in Vietnam and other countries.