Tạp chí Khoa học Xã hội và Nhân văn

Land tenure in Vietnam is becoming increasingly contested in the context of rapid economic development and growing inequality. Agricultural land in and around cities is targeted by developers for conversion to commercial uses. In rural areas, farmers’ access to productive land is restricted by the prevalence of state-owned farms and forest enterprises. As a result, the number of complaints filed over land issues has increased dramatically in the last decade, and the revision of the Land Law in 2013 led to an unprecedented level of public participation in land policy formation.  This article applies a political economy approach to processes of agricultural land conversion through analysis of the interests and incentives of key actors within and outside the Vietnamese state; the gap between legal documents and policy implementation; and processes of interaction among multiple stakeholders over time. Data sources include monitoring of official media and blogs, interviews with officials and experts, and direct experience in coalition building. The authors present case studies of successful and less successful local advocacy around land issues. In the discussion and conclusion sections, the article explores the extent to which emerging narratives of farmers’ rights may challenge the model of economic growth through resource extraction.

Technology plays a crucial role in the self-guided learning of a second language in general and English in particular. Nevertheless, many students in different contexts still ignore the application of technology-enhanced language learning (TELL) tools in enhancing their foreign language proficiency. Therefore, this study is conducted to investigate the attitudes towards the use of TELL tools in English-language learning (ELL) among English majors at one university in Vietnam. To collect data, 197 English majors participated in finishing the questionnaire, and 20 students were invited to join the interviews. The findings are that the majority of students have positive attitudes towards the use of TELL tools and the frequency of using these tools is very high. In addition, the results also reveal that there is no significant difference in attitudes towards and frequency of using TELL tools in learning English in terms of the year of study. However, students of different levels of academic achievements have different attitudes towards using TELL tools and use TELL tools to learn English differently. Received 2 nd May 2019; Revised 16 th July 2019, Accepted 20 th October 2019

This article addresses the concept “face” in the practices of Vietnamese deference rituals.  It explores how Vietnamese people conceptualize the term “face” regarding the manner of showing respect to the other people in everyday life encounters. Drawing upon the qualitative dataset of my Master’s thesis, in the current article  the author puts to use the concepts “face” and “deference rituals” picked up from Goffman’s theory of social interaction to analyze Vietnamese day-to-day social interaction. The author finds out that the face in the context of social interaction is often classified into two categories: the face of the subordinate and the face of the superordinate. Due to the high status of the latter in Vietnam hierarchy, the loss of their face can cause a great seriousness, whereas, the face of the former is of less importance and often belittled. There is a similarity between Vietnamese “face” and “deference ritual” with that of other countries such as Japan, China, and at the same time, a crucial difference in those terms between Vietnamese culture and Western culture.    ----------- “Thể diện linh thiêng”: Cái gì định hướng người Việt Nam trong tương tác xã hội thường nhật Nguyễn Trung Kiên Tóm tắt: Bài báo này tập trung làm rõ khái niệm “thể diện” trong việc thực hành nghi thức biểu hiện tôn trọng của người Việt Nam. Bài viết phân tích cách thức các đặctrưng nhận thức của khái niệm “thể diện” trong việc thể hiện sự tôn trọng đối với người khác trong các tương tác của đời sống thường ngày. Đây là sản phẩm dựa trên dựán nghiên cứu Thạc sỹ tiến hành bằng phương pháp định tính năm 2014, trong đó tác giả sử dụng hai khái niệm chủ đạo là “thể diện” và “nghi thức biểu hiện sự tôn trọng” từ lý thuyết phân tích tương tác xã hội của nhà Xã hội học Erving Goffman. Bài báo này phân tích rằng người Việt Nam thường ngầm định phân chia “thể diện” thành thể diện của người bậc trên - người có địa vị cao và thể diện của người bậc dưới - người có địa vị thấp hơn. Với vị trí của nó trong cấu trúc thứ bậc của xã hội, thể diện của người bậc trên có tầm quan trọng đến mức việc mất thể diện của họ tạo ra vấn đề to lớn trong quan hệ xã hội, trong khi thể diện của người bậc dưới thường bị bỏ qua hoặc xem nhẹ. Bài viết cũng thảo luận sự tương đồng trong việc thực hiện các nghi thức tôn trọng đối với thể diện trong văn hoá Việt Nam và các nước Châu Á như Trung Quốc hay Nhật Bản; cũng như sự khác biệt giữa Việt Nam và văn hoá Phương Tây. Từ khoá : Thể diện linh thiêng; nghi thức biểu hiện tôn trọng; cách ứng xử; tương tác đời sống thường ngày; thể diện tiêu cực

Since doi moi , Vietnam has undergone a variety of social and economic transformations. Among the most obvious are found in the realm of consumption. The new openness to international trade and foreign investments has radically increased the availability of goods. And new opportunities for income have led to increased purchasing power in most social strata, although to very different extents. High-consuming urban middle classes are emerging rapidly-Vietnam’s middle class is indeed considered the fastest growing in Southeast Asia-symbolising economic progress and modernisation on the one hand and growing inequalities and environmental unsustainability on the other. These changes are reflected in surging consumption of a wide variety of goods, from household appliances and food items to vehicles and luxury products. This paper approaches the new ‘socialist consumer classes’ partly through the particular political-economic contexts that have fostered them, but mainly through the consumption patterns and consumer culture that define them. Combining secondary statistical data with insights from ethnographic fieldwork, the paper discusses the drivers of changing consumption patterns and investigates the new roles of goods in everyday middle-class practices in Hanoi, in turn using consumption as a lens to analyse post- doi moi society. Received 2 nd April 2017; Revised 25 th April 2017; Accepted 29 th April  2017

This paper aimed to scrutinize English majors’ perceptions of autonomous learning skills and explore whether or not their writing skills improved after a 15-week writing course with the employment of an e-portfolio as a learning tool. This mixed-methods study involved thirty-five English majors at a Vietnamese university in doing the mid-term test and final test and reporting their writing progress as well as their autonomous learning in the writing logs throughout the course and during the individual semi-structured interviews. The quantitative data were statistically processed using SPSS in terms of descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon signed rank test, and the data obtained from the interviews and writing logs were analyzed through the content analysis approach. The findings indicated the significant improvement in the English majors’ writing skills. Furthermore, the participants had positive attitudes toward the autonomous learning skills (e.g., setting learning goals, choosing learning materials, creating a study plan, writing reflections, and conducting peer assessment) except for the hesitation in conducting self-assessment during the training course. Received 9 th December 2020; Revised 2 nd May 2021; Accepted 20 th June 2021

Vietnam is on urbanization and industrialization process, and it is currently witnessed the significant migration flows between rural-urban and urban-urban nationwide. The large number of migrants is the poor from rural areas who go to the urban to look for any kind of jobs, temporarily and permanently. As it happened national wide, one of the critical questions appeared during the migration is that how the poor migrants experience their life in the urban life, with those social services which are more preferred and accessed by the migrants in the urban life. Basing on the social inclusion approach, from survey findings with 1042 migrants in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City-Vietnam, this paper aims at identifying the life experiences of migrants in two big cities in Vietnam and suggests further research and solutions for migrant’s social inclusion through the social services accessibility.  ----- Tiếp cận các dịch vụ xã hội: cách người di cư nghèo trải nghiệm trong cuộc sống đô thị ở Việt Nam hiện nay Tóm tắt: Việt Nam đang trong quá trình đô thị hóa và công nghiệp hóa, và hiện đang chứng kiến những dòng di cư nông thôn-đô thị, đô thị-đô thị, diễn ra mạnh mẽ. Có một số lượng lớn người di cư là người nghèo từ các vùng nôn thôn đi ra các đô thị để tìm kiếm việc làm. Sự di cư này đang diễn ra ở nhiều địa phương khác nhau, một trong những câu hỏi đặt ra từ quá trình di cư là họ trải nghiệm cuộc sống của mình ở các khu đô thị ra sao, những dịch vụ xã hội nào mà họ có thể tiếp cận được và hướng đến tiếp cận. Dựa trên cách tiếp cận hòa nhập xã hội, và các dữ liệu có được từ khảo sát 1042 người di cư nghèo ở Hà Nội và Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, bài viết này hướng đến xác định sự trải nghiệm sống của người di cư ở hai địa bàn này, và đề xuất những định hướng nghiên cứu và những giải pháp thúc đẩy hòa nhập xã hội thông qua các dịch vụ xã hội sẵn có. Từ khóa: Người di cư; người di cư nghèo; Việt Nam; đô thị hóa, dịch vụ xã hội, hòa nhập xã hội

Although there is a growing base of literature about international schools, there is little research dedicated to studying the parents of students attending international schools. The purpose of this study was to explore English language learner (ELL) parent knowledge and preferences of language learning and use at an English-medium international school in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Within the study, the researcher compared the differences in parent knowledge and preferences of language learning and use between local parents and expatriate parents of students enrolled in an ELL program. Areas explored in the study were language learning and language use within the school, including language policy. Data acquisition for this quantitative study occurred through a survey completed by 134 parents of ELL students enrolled in an international school in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The main findings of this research study revealed there were significant differences between local ELL parents and expatriate ELL parents concerning knowledge and preferences of language learning and use at that international school. Received 26 th February 2020; Revised 12 th August 2020; Accepted 20 th September 2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.33100/jossh6.5.ClaytonLehman

Intangible cultural heritage plays an important role for people and local communities to develop a sense of identity. It is an expression of cultural diversity that can promote intellectual, emotional, and behavioral involvement on many levels, thus conveying a sense of heritage to the next generation. However, the growing influence of industrialization and personal autonomy in modern society may jeopardize some traditional practices. Local communities determine if intangible cultural heritage is worthwhile, typically basing their decisions on the benefits derived from participation (i.e., economic, environmental, social, and cultural). Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage is a two stage process: 1) intangible cultural heritage produces benefits for communities; and 2) communities develop a sense of identity from intangible cultural heritage. This case study on kite playing helps to prove the relationship between intangible cultural heritage and community development in Vietnam. Received: 13 th­ March 2016; Revised:19 th April 2017; Accepted 25 th April 2017  

Research in psychological well-being and correlates to general health have blossomed in the last 20-25 years. However, little research exists in health and psychological well-being of the Vietnamese population, partially due to a lack of valid and reliable research instruments available in the Vietnamese language. This study aimed to produce a short, valid and reliable research instrument in Vietnamese to assess the psychological well-being of university students. The 54-item Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-being (RSPWB), a widely used and validated instrument, was the instrument of choice. A research questionnaire, which included the RSPWB, was translated and completed by 253 Vietnamese undergraduate students (18-27 years of age). Analyses included the use of partial least squares, structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) - a second generation statistical technique for testing complex path models, to evaluate the validity and reliability of the 54 items. As a result of the research, the PLS-SEM analyses produced a multidimensional model with six factors (autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, personal growth, positive relations with others, and self-acceptance) and 28 items that demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity and reliability. Moreover, the 28-item Vietnamese version of the RSPWB supported the same multidimensional six-factor structure as proposed in the original RSPWB. In conclusion, the adapted 28-item Vietnamese version of the RSPWB is shorter in length, has good psychometric properties, and helps to fill a current gap of available research instruments for advancing the current understanding of psychological well-being and relationships to health in Vietnamese university students.  Received !6 th January 2019 ; Revised 15 th April 2019; Accepted 23 rd April 2019

Vietnam’s high economic growth and rapid urbanization has increased the number of people moving within the country, largely from rural areas to major cities in search of economic opportunities and a better life. The country’s constitutional framework provides people with a basic freedom to relocate internally and to earn a living of their choice. However the current migration institutions (such as the Ho Khau registration system) give limited access to public services to those without permanent household registration.  The system continues to increase the costs of migration and deepens social inequalities. The present paper examines the key patterns of rural-to-urban migration, and provides a better understanding of the system of Ho Khau and its consequences for migrants in their places of destination. The paper suggests basic measures that aim at reducing, relaxing and restructuring the institutional constraints on migration. Such reforms are essential to enhance the economic efficiency of major cities and treat migration as a positive factor for social inclusion and national development.    Received 10 th April 2017; Revised 27 th April 2017; Accepted 31 st April 2017