ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides information about how education policies address issues relating to national languages, indigenous languages, and other languages, of which English forms a special case. It argues that Vietnamese remains the most important language of education at all levels, the rapidly increasing number of private education institutions and universities have adopted English as a medium of instruction. The book shows that indigenous languages are cumulatively ignored and neglected in education. It also presents an example where the teaching and learning of indigenous languages is viewed with suspicion, especially in the south of the country, where Thai is the medium of instruction, even though Pattani-Malay is the mother tongue of the majority of the population. The book focuses on explicitly stated language policies; that is, policies that are enshrined in various forms of language legislation, policy documents, curricula, and other educational texts.
