“Have You Noticed any Changes upon your Return”? Vietnamese Alumni After Their Australian University Experiences

Abstract

Many individuals who study abroad return to their home country with the hope of applying new learnings. This paper reports on a videotaped group discussion with three such returnees, in-service English language educators from Vietnam. It considers ways that these educators feel that they have changed through their study abroad experiences and how these changes are accepted and contested after their return to Vietnam by their students, colleagues and the public. By exploring the themes that emerge, we open up discussion about how returnees embrace, negotiate and contest diverse aspects of multiple worlds and the complex and layered nature of post-return identity.

Keywords:

• Communicative resources
• returnees
• study abroad
• contested identity
• western
• presentation of self
• synchonicity

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the three participants in this study for their time and candour and their colleague for the use of her accommodation for the interview and La Trobe Asia for funding this project. We would also like to thank Ms Tu Tran and Ms Nhan Phan for their assistance in the transcription of the data.

Notes

1. MP1 had been promoted since his return and now occupied a more senior position than the two female participants.

2. We would like to thank Kim Anh Kieu for introducing us to the importance of this second question.

3. This does not mean that study abroad returnees are necessarily more efficient. Shin, Jung, Postiglione, and Azman (2014) compared the publication rates of study abroad and locally trained researchers and did not find a substantial difference. In fact, locally trained researchers appeared to have been more productive.

4. While the adoption of these practices are perceived by the participants in a positive light, this does not entail that the authors are prioritizing practices associated with one culture over another.

5. See also Nguyen (2008) for a discussion of respect amongst Vietnamese in-service teachers in study abroad context and also Vu and Doyle (2014) for a discussion of teaching practices and ideologies of Vietnamese in-service teachers.

6. It is also possible that the English language educators are more open to change within Vietnam as well. This may be because these educators are seen as more open to other cultures. It may also be the case that other Vietnamese often accept that English language educators can act/talk/interact a bit differently or more western even if they have no study abroad experience. We thank Tu Tran for this observation.