International Journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN: 2313-626X

Frequency: 12

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 Volume 13, Issue 2 (February 2026), Pages: 70-80

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 Original Research Paper

Bilingual education for primary students in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta: Roles of contextual, community, and family factors

 Author(s): 

 Minh-Quang Duong *, Vu-Thanh-Tam Nguyen, Van-Tuong Nguyen, Thi-Ngoc-Dung Bach

 Affiliation(s):

 Faculty of Education, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

 Full text

    Full Text - PDF

 * Corresponding Author. 

   Corresponding author's ORCID profile:  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9229-8526

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2026.02.008

 Abstract

Bilingual education is an important approach for improving academic achievement, promoting language equity, and preserving cultural identity in multilingual settings. In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, Khmer–Vietnamese Bilingual Education (KhVBE) supports the use of Vietnamese as the national language while maintaining the Khmer language and culture. This study investigates the factors influencing the effectiveness of KhVBE, with a focus on three key constructs: Contexts for the Application of Bilingual Education (CABE), Community Factors (CF), and Family Factors (FF). Survey data were collected from 269 school administrators and teachers and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that CABE and CF have strong and significant effects on KhVBE effectiveness, emphasizing the roles of institutional support, program structure, and community involvement. In contrast, FF does not show a significant effect, suggesting that family influence is more indirect. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of strong school and community environments in sustaining bilingual education and provide policy implications for improving teacher training, enhancing educational resources, and strengthening community partnerships. Recommendations for university administrators and other stakeholders are also discussed.

 © 2026 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

 Bilingual education, Khmer–Vietnamese education, Community engagement, Educational context, Program effectiveness

 Article history

 Received 20 September 2025, Received in revised form 22 January 2026, Accepted 2 February 2026

 Acknowledgment

This research is funded by Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City under grant number B2024-18b-03. 

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Ethical considerations

This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Review Board (ERB) of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City (USSH, VNU-HCM) (ERB application number: 10-2025; approval date: 29 April 2025). All procedures were conducted in accordance with institutional ethical guidelines for research involving human participants. Participation was voluntary, informed consent was obtained from all respondents prior to data collection, and anonymity and confidentiality were strictly maintained. No personally identifiable information was collected, and all data were used solely for academic research purposes.

 Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 Citation:

 Duong MQ, Nguyen VTT, Nguyen VT, and Bach TND (2026). Bilingual education for primary students in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta: Roles of contextual, community, and family factors. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 13(2): 70-80

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 Tables

  Table 1  Table 2  Table 3  Table 4  Table 5  Table 6 

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