The Illuminate Series: The Future of English Language Education in Vietnam

HOST

Michael Alpaugh

Vice Chair, AmCham Education & Training Committee

Michael Alpaugh is an English language educator with over 17 years of international experience and an M.A. in TEFL/TESOL from the University of Birmingham, UK. He has held leadership and teaching roles with the British Council, INTO University Partnerships, Broward College Vietnam, and Keiser University Vietnam. As a U.S. Department of State English Language Fellow, he has worked with universities, the U.S. Consulate’s American Center, the Vietnamese People’s Security Academy, the University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS), and the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi. He is currently a Specialist with the U.S. Department of State English Language Programs and serves as Vice Chair of the Education Committee for AmCham Vietnam – HCMC.

KEYNOTE

Dr. Mai Huu Nguyen

Director, Ministry of Education & Training (MOET) National Foreign Languages Project

Dr. Nguyen Thi Mai Huu has served as Director of the National Foreign Languages Project under Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training since January 2017. She has been actively involved in a wide range of national projects, professional conferences, and educational initiatives, contributing to the development of Vietnam’s national foreign language education. Prior to this role, she lectured at Vietnam National University, where she strengthened her expertise in teaching and research, and later became Deputy Director of the Language Testing and Assessment Center at the University of Languages and International Studies (Vietnam National University, Hanoi). In this capacity, she helped develop the Vietnam Standardized Test of English Proficiency (VSTEP), which is now a national test. Her research interests include educational management, language test development and validation, test specifications, formative assessment, ESP, CLIL, and EMI.

Jessica Maley

High School English, Saigon South International School

Jessica Maley is a high school English teacher at Saigon South International School and an Ed.D. candidate in Literacy, Culture, and Language Education at Indiana University. She has 18 years of experience in Vietnam, Taiwan, and the United States, leading EAL programs, training teachers, and designing curricula that build multilingual, culturally responsive classrooms. Her current research examines teacher language ideologies, and her dissertation investigates host-country students’ experiences in international schools. She advocates for preserving Vietnamese language and culture alongside students’ development of English, and is interested in how AI can serve as a classroom tool to support learning and widen access.

Dr. Tin Dang

Dean, Faculty of Foreign Languages, HCMC University of Technology & Education

Dr. Tin T. Dang is Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, where he teaches EFL and TESOL at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He earned his M.A. in TESOL from the University of Queensland and his Ph.D. from La Trobe University, and he supervises research students across several institutions. His research interests include learner autonomy, teaching methodology, curriculum development, and technology in education, and his work has been published in leading journals such as TESOL in Context and The Journal of Asia TEFL. He has also chaired the Language Teaching and Learning Today Conference (LTLT) in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2023.