INTERNATIONALLY • Global Development • Early Childhood Development
Creating Learning Opportunities for Children from Ethnic Minority Communities
Improving early literacy outcomes among pre-primary children in Vietnam through a play-based, oral language intervention.
Early childhood education equips children with the foundational skills they need, laying the groundwork for a child’s lifelong learning. Literacy is a vital part of this foundation – yet many children from ethnic minority communities in Vietnam start school with little exposure to Vietnamese, the language of instruction. This language barrier hinders their literacy development and puts them at greater risk of falling behind or dropping out.
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Quantedge Advancement Initiative is supporting Room to Read to improve early literacy outcomes for pre-primary children from ethnic minority communities in Vietnam. The pre-primary years offer a short but crucial window to close early learning gaps and strengthen the foundational skills children need to transition smoothly into formal education and achieve long-term academic success.
Room to Read is piloting a four-week oral language intervention to equip children with foundational Vietnamese language skills before they enter primary school. The intervention features three play-based activities:
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Total Physical Response: linking physical actions to language to make learning interactive and fun
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Vocabulary Development: introducing and reinforcing new words
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Dialogic Reading: transforming reading time into an engaging, communicative game through interactive storytelling
Outcomes
In its first year, the pilot reached 892 children across 20 schools in five provinces. 84 teachers and school managers were also trained in child-centered pedagogy and oral language teaching methods.
Student assessments showed measurable and consistent gains in children’s Vietnamese listening and speaking skills. Teachers also reported increased engagement and confidence among students through the use of interactive, play-based approaches.
Building on this early progress, we are continuing our support for Room to Read to:
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Expand the pilot to additional provinces, generating further evidence on the effectiveness of the oral language intervention across diverse geographic and linguistic contexts
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Expand access to child-friendly school libraries, supporting literacy development beyond pre-primary years
We hope our support will help demonstrate a scalable model for crucial language support to children across Vietnam, enabling every child to start their educational journey with confidence.