At the recent seminar "Application of AI in English teaching in Vietnam in the current context", Associate Professor Dr. Le Van Canh, an independent researcher and consultant on English teaching and applied linguistics, said that AI will radically change and redefine the entire concept of learning. The classroom is no longer the only place where students can acquire knowledge.

Instead, students can learn anytime, anywhere with just an internet-connected device. Therefore, teachers and administrators also need to think about changing teaching methods.

In education, no one can replace teachers. Direct teaching brings emotions and creativity, but it must be affirmed that the role of teachers is different, requiring change and coordination with AI for teaching.

Associate Professor, Dr. Le Van Canh, independent researcher and consultant on English teaching and applied linguistics, discussed at the seminar.

Looking at the reality of teaching English in schools today, Associate Professor Canh said that it is very difficult to make English a second language in schools. Because then, not only foreign language teachers but also other teachers must be able to teach that subject in a foreign language. And whether students can absorb other subjects by using English to teach them as well as teaching that subject in Vietnamese has not been specifically researched or evaluated.

The Associate Professor said that we are correct in defining "step by step" to make English the second language in schools. However, it is necessary to clarify what is meant by "step by step". Recently, a locality calculated that the place with favorable conditions to implement first would create inequality in society.

"Step by step" here can start a roadmap that requires careful calculation from how elementary school students will learn, to middle school - high school and university to create a unified roadmap. In which, we must focus on changing the program and training teachers. I think, if done well, it will take about 30 years" - Associate Professor Canh said.

The speakers all agreed that AI has become one of the important tools in innovating and optimizing the effectiveness of educational activities globally. Thanks to its ability to process huge amounts of information, AI can provide instant feedback, automatically grade papers, improve pronunciation and track student progress without direct intervention from teachers.

In addition, using AI can also help students access new knowledge very quickly without spending too much time.

Parents need to redefine their goals

Associate Professor Dr. Canh also said that many parents invest money in their children learning foreign languages ​​but do not determine the purpose. Parents want too much, so in addition to the main study, they let their children study in many places. In reality, when teaching foreign languages, we are focusing too much on grammar.

Another problem is that in recent years, parents and students have entered the race to practice for the IELTS certificate and mistakenly thought that achieving a high score was a sign of talent. That is not true. Foreign languages ​​are tools for us to step out into the world, but without knowledge and value to "bring with us", we are just wandering around.

Or parents also expect that only a high IELTS score is needed to study abroad, while not everyone who studies abroad will definitely be successful.

According to Mr. Canh, the reason for the recent race to obtain foreign language certificates is partly due to universities using them as admission criteria, which is unfair to students from disadvantaged areas who do not have the conditions to study foreign languages. In reality, there is no assessment or research showing that students with high IELTS scores will study better than others.

"This issue needs to raise the question of why IELTS scores must be used as admission criteria and if it is unreasonable, there must be adjustments from the education sector," he said.

Ha Linh