The Lana team in Vietnam improves the English comprehension ability of the Vietnamese military with an intensive English language curriculum.
As Vietnam prepares to welcome the Lunar New Year, also known as Tết, our English Language Training (ELT) program participants are still hard at work before a well-deserved break. This is the third cohort the US Air Force-funded ELT program that aims to improve the English proficiency of the Vietnam People’s Armed Forces. This “steady state” ELT program consists of 24 weeks of instruction using the American Language Course (ALC) curriculum set forth by the Defense Language Institute (DLI). The intensive English language curriculum is comprised of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills.
The students are currently gearing up for their mid-term ALC Placement Test (ALCPT), a standardized test that measures English proficiency. ELT instructors administered an initial ALCPT for these students back in November to gauge their entry English proficiency level and place them in the appropriate classes. This exam is crucial for our students, as it will show improvement and skill application. The mid-term ALCPT is also a good opportunity for the students to review the content they have covered so far and prepare for the final ALCPT, which will determine their graduation and certification status. Throughout the course, instructors administer Book Quizzes every two weeks upon completion of a book. These are achievement assessments to track student understanding of the curriculum content. The instructors record data for both ALCPTs and book quizzes to determine student language acquisition.
ELT student achievements
Class Alpha currently consists of 14 students. Their average initial ALCPT score was 60.2 when they arrived to the program in November. Nine of the students already qualify to write the English Comprehension Level (ECL) exam that allows them to move on to follow-on training programs in the US. Class Alpha students did well on the last four book quizzes with a class average of 93.5%.
Class Bravo consists of 15 students. Their average initial ALCPT score was 39.3. Class Bravo scored an average of 87.3% over the past four book quizzes.
Class Charlie consists of 15 students. The average initial ALCPT score was 28.5, and the class average was 86.5% over the last four book quizzes.
It’s clear that, although this initial test data is great, we still have a lengthy task ahead of us. Students will take one more Book Quiz and their mid-term ALCPT before setting off on the mid-term break.
