THE CONSTRUCTION OF EXCEPTIONAL EFL LEARNER IDENTITY a NARRATIVE INQUIRY OF FORMER GIFTED LEARNERS = sự HÌNH THÀNH căn TÍNH của học SINH CHUYÊN ANH một NGHIÊN cứu tự sự về cựu học SINH CHUYÊN AN

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF LINGUISTICS AND CULTURE OF ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES

GRADUATION PAPER

THE CONSTRUCTION OF EXCEPTIONAL EFL
LEARNER IDENTITY: A NARRATIVE INQUIRY
OF FORMER GIFTED LEARNERS

Supervisor: Hoàng Thị Hạnh (Ph. D)
Student:

Trần Thuý Hằng

Class:

QH.2017.F.1.E1.SPCLC

HÀ NỘI, 2021


ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ
KHOA NGƠN NGỮ VÀ VĂN HĨA CÁC NƯỚC NĨI TIẾNG ANH

KHĨA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

SỰ HÌNH THÀNH CĂN TÍNH CỦA HỌC SINH
CHUN ANH: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU TỰ SỰ VỀ
CỰU HỌC SINH CHUYÊN ANH

Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Hoàng Thị Hạnh (Ph. D)
Sinh viên: Trần Thuý Hằng
Khóa: QH.2017.F.1.E1.SPCLC

HÀ NỘI – 2021


I hereby state that I: Trần Thúy Hằng, QH.2017.F.1.E1.SPCLC, being a
candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (English Language Teacher Education
- Honors Program), accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention
and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in
the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance
with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or
reproduction of the paper.

Signature
Trần Thúy Hằng


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This graduation paper has been a painstaking yet ultimately worthwhile
endeavor about a subject that is very dear to my heart. Although I was very
passionate about it, there were a lot of moments where the task of working on the
paper was out of my physical and mental limit. Therefore, I am forever grateful to
the many people who have helped me while I pursued this academic and personal
project.
Firstly, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor Mrs.
Hoang Thi Hanh for her incredible patience and support in every step of my

progress. It has been an honor for me to have her read and comment on my work,
and I have learnt a lot from her critical mindset and her work ethic. I could not have
finished this paper without her.
Secondly, I would like to thank the three participants of this research project
for their enthusiastic participation and thoughtful reflections.
Thirdly, I would like to thank my fellow research-mate Huong, and my close
friends Linh, Thu who have taken their time to listen to my worries and support me
through the many sleepless nights.
Finally, many thanks to my family members for being considerate and
believing in my ability.

i


ABSTRACT
The current system of gifted high schools in Vietnam aims to discover talents
through high–stake assessments and foster these gifted learners in their chosen
majors and as well-rounded learners. While gifted learners continue to contribute to
the nation’s development with their outstanding achievements, few have explored
gifted education’s meritocratic influence on their learning experience and identity
development. The study fills this gap by examining the identity construction of three
former gifted English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners in their experience at
gifted high schools. Data were collected through narratives to gain an in-depth
understanding of the experience of former gifted English learners in gifted high
schools. The study finds that learners’ access to different forms of capital (social,
cultural, and economic) plays an important part in their academic success as gifted
EFL learners, rather than their actual talents alone as assumed by gifted institutions’
supposedly meritocratic policy. While gifted EFL learners are required to invest
heavily in their English learning, the excessive focus on performance in high-stake
and merit assessments reduces the complexity of their learning experience and

restricts the identity formation process of learners. Their outstanding academic
achievements are gained through the process of climbing over others in the
academic ladder, which marks both their exceptional talents and their vulnerability
and insecurity in being in the top position. Furthermore, although gifted institutions
expose learners to unique opportunities in extracurricular activities and foreign
education for their well-rounded development, gifted learners have to exercise their
agency by navigating this competitive environment to gain outstanding academic or
social achievements even at the expense of their social well-being.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ......................................................................................... i
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................ iii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1
1.1. Background of the study ................................................................................ 1
1.2. Statement of the research problem and question ........................................... 3
1.3. Scope of the research ..................................................................................... 3
1.4. Significance of the study ................................................................................ 4
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................. 5
2.1. Gifted schools in the context of Vietnam ...................................................... 5
2.1.1. The current state of gifted education ....................................................... 5
2.1.2. The ideology of meritocracy in gifted high schools ................................ 5
2.2. Theoretical framework ................................................................................... 8
2.2.1. Bourdieu’s capital theory ......................................................................... 8
2.2.2. Second or foreign language (L2) learners’ identity ............................... 10
2.3. Review of relevant studies and research gap ............................................... 10
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .......................................................................... 12

3.1. Selection of participants ............................................................................... 12
3.2. The portraits of participants ......................................................................... 13
3.3. Data collection ............................................................................................. 14
3.3.1. Instrument .............................................................................................. 14
3.3.2. Procedure ............................................................................................... 14
3.4. Data analysis ................................................................................................ 15
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .................................................... 17
4.1. Opportunities in gifted high schools ............................................................ 17
4.2. A race of social and cultural capital in the name of talent to specialized high
schools ................................................................................................................. 19
iii


4.3. Exceptional English learner: An unstable and insecure position constructed
through assessments ............................................................................................ 25
4.3.1. Exceptional English learner: An unstable position ............................... 25
4.3.2. Insecurity of exceptional English learners............................................. 30
4.3.3. Gifted institutions’ accountability and prestige ..................................... 33
4.4. Exceptional learners with social and psychological sufferings ................... 36
4.5. Discussion of findings .................................................................................. 38
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ............................................................................... 41
5.1. Summary of major findings ......................................................................... 41
5.2. Implications .................................................................................................. 43
5.3. Limitations and suggestions for further studies ........................................... 44
REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 45
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................ 50
Appendix 1: Semi-Structured Interview ............................................................. 50
Appendix 2: Consent Form ................................................................................. 52
Appendix 3: Coding scheme ............................................................................... 55

iv


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the study
The first gifted education program in Viet Nam was launched in 1965 under
the direct pronouncement of former Prime Minister Pham Van Dong (Nguyen,
2014). Its initial mission was to recognize, foster, elevate exceptional talents in
science and diplomacy as government officers with leadership roles to serve in the
ongoing wars. However, since 1986, Doi Moi and the Open-Door policy have
transformed Vietnam’s foreign affair policies, which attracted investment from
developed countries such as the United States, European countries, and Australia
(Nguyen, 2013; Nguyen & Tran, 2014; Pham, 2014; Tran et al. 2014). The
previously centralized economy also shifted into a socialist-oriented market
economy. Because of these monumental societal changes, educational reforms were
needed to train a new leading workforce with foreign language competency and
scientific knowledge to serve the industrialization and modernization of the country.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the system of gifted education undergone significant
expansion to include specializing classes in Mathematics, Literature, Foreign
Languages, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Informatics, History, and Geography. The
establishment of gifted high schools has created a system of recognizing and
fostering “talents” to act as leading contributors to national prosperity and positive
international relations.
The education system in Vietnam is considered meritocratic because of the
emphasis on merit-based assessments from the elementary school level and above.
The meritocratic influence in education is the most prevalent in the system of gifted
education. Alongside high–stake examinations conducted to select high-achieving
students based on their results, competition for Talented students is an important
means of recognizing and fostering “talents” in their gifted subjects. Competition
for Talented students was held at the end of primary and secondary schools within

1


the scope of district and region, whereas high school students in their three years
may enter the competition at regional and most importantly, national and
international level (MOET, 1997). This process of distinguishing talents early
allows learners in fifth grade and ninth grade of all institutions in the country to be
able to compete and earn prizes marking their academic ability or merit, which
ensures equal opportunity to be given to learners.
Additionally, neoliberal influence exists in the system of gifted education as
competition for Talented students is also used as a means to assess the education
quality of each institution (MOET, 2014) and is an important aspect of ranking
consideration. Consequently, this comparison between students and institutions
increases competition, leading institutions to focus on attracting and fostering highachieving students to improve their ranking on the market (Hursh, 2005; Lubienski
& Lubienski, 2013).
As a learner who was in the gifted program since middle school and became
a student in a competitive gifted high school, I am motivated to carry out this
research to understand the unique experiences of myself and my peers of similar
backgrounds. I was only able to realize the distinctiveness of my experience as a
former gifted high school student when I was in university and socialized with a
variety of people. Some people, when they knew about my high school, would
remark on a special, energetic, ambitious, capable vibe that former gifted students
had. While I failed to understand their perception, they could not comprehend my
story of being in an environment of intense competition, where everyone was
ambitious in their way whether academically or socially. Nor could they empathize
with the strong sense of community that my high school students shared, which was
built from the very first moments we entered the school ground among our
upperclassmen loudest cheers, to the yearbook that documented our youth through
pictures of the clubs, the extracurricular activities, the classmates. Therefore, I have
always felt easier to connect with people who have been through a similar high

2


school experience while being intrigued by their perspectives. A conversation
between my friend and me about our shared time in the National competition for
Talented students, where she had additional burden from being in the top class and
reminded of the fact by the teachers, sparked my interest in studying the complexity
of the experience of being former gifted English learners.
1.2. Statement of the research problem and question
Gifted high schools identify their “talents” as students with the most
exceptional results in the increasingly competitive and supposedly meritocratic
entrance examinations. Their mission of fostering “talents” is exhibited through the
celebration of gifted learners’ exceptional academic achievements such as the prizes
in the National competition for Talented students, scholarships to foreign
universities, or other merit competitions. While gifted learners’ academic success is
impressive, it is important to study their learning experience to gain a
comprehensive understanding of the gifted institutions’ environment’s influence on
learners’ ability and identity development. This research, through narrative inquiry,
aims to explore the process of identity construction and negotiation of former gifted
English as a Foreign language (EFL) students during their time in their respective
gifted high schools. This study will be guided by the following research question:
How do former students of specialized English programs in high school
perceive, construct and negotiate their identity as gifted English learners?
1.3. Scope of the research
This research centers around three gifted English language learners in their
twenties who were former students of gifted high schools in Vietnam: a gifted high
school of a remote area in the Northern region, a gifted high school of a rural town,
and one the of most competitive gifted high schools in Hanoi. Since the study draws
on participants’ first-hand experience utilizing narrative through in-depth
interviews, the participants are restricted to those who are currently in Hanoi, and

3


the targeted number of participants is allegedly manageable in light of the time and
finance constraint of a bachelor graduation thesis.
1.4. Significance of the study
The research on the identity construction and negotiation of gifted EFL
learners aims to provide a comprehensive view of the individual EFL learners and
their larger social worlds. Specifically, the findings of the research would hopefully
give insights to educators and policy-makers about the nuanced stories of different
gifted English learners in gifted high schools of remote, rural and urban areas in the
Northern region of Vietnam. Through the narratives of the learners, readers are able
to understand the meritocratic system of gifted education and its effect on the
meaning-making process of talented English students about their learning
experience and identity development. Also, the focus on the learners’ experience in
gifted high schools of the research aims to bring awareness to neoliberal influence
that existed alongside meritocracy in gifted high schools, which has been
underrepresented in the neoliberal literature in Vietnam.

4


CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Gifted schools in the context of Vietnam
2.1.1. The current state of gifted education
There are 87 schools and divisions for gifted learners in Vietnam, including
71 schools under the management of local Departments of Education and Training
or City Councils, five schools belonging to higher education establishments, two
divisions in universities, and nine divisions in high schools (Thanh Nien News,

2020). In each of the 63 administrative areas, there is at least one high school for
gifted students while metropolitan cities such as Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City have
several schools for gifted students.
At present, the main missions of high schools for gifted students are: (1)
Identify and foster talents of gifted students in one or two particular subjects, or
specific areas on the basis that the students will experience a well-rounded
development. (2) Instruct gifted students to explore research methods and scientific
activities and to apply new knowledge and technological advances for
industrialization, modernization and globalization 3) Cooperate with educational
institutions in the national and international arenas to research to enhance the quality
of teaching and learning activities. (4) Act as spearheaded educational institutions
to model the country’s modern facilities, qualified teaching staff, and innovative
educational policies (Ministry of Education and Training, 2010).
2.1.2. The ideology of meritocracy in gifted high schools
2.1.2.1. The ideology of meritocracy
Meritocracy is a social system where individual deserves equality of
opportunities for success based on their merits, which are understood as a
combination of effort and talent (Young, 1958). The stratification between people
in the upper and lower status results from the differences in merits. This implies that
learners and institutions of lower status can engage in social mobility to advance to
the top positions in the hierarchy. Different context provides different
5


understandings of the notion of meritocracy. Japan’s educational system is
considered meritocratic due to the importance of standardized examinations
(Yamamoto & Brinton, 2010), which bears a strong resemblance to Vietnam’s
education system. In Singapore, meritocracy is considered a key principle of
governance and education, which focuses on developing a small number of talented
individuals to serve the top governmental positions and maximize contribution to

society (Lim, 2012, 2013). Therefore, Singaporean society also promotes
socioeconomic mobility as a result of a meritocratic system that rewards talented
citizens with merits regardless of ethnicities (Teo, 2019). However, Singaporean
scholars have criticized this myth of equal opportunity by pointing out the existence
of structural disadvantage masked by the meritocratic ideology.
2.1.2.2. The merit-based selection of academically gifted students in Vietnam
“Specialized”, “gifted” or “majored” students all mean “học sinh chuyên” in
Vietnamese, referring to those with “exceptional academic achievements” in gifted
high schools. (Educational law, 2005). The study uses the term gifted English as
Foreign Language (EFL) students or shortens to gifted EFL learners and gifted
English learners.
The Ministry of Education and Training (2010) limits the total number of
gifted high school students to at most two percent of the high school student
population of the province. The scope of selection for high schools for gifted under
the management of city or province authorities is within that particular city or
province, whereas high schools belonging to universities may expand their scope
nationwide, such as Foreign Language Specialised School under University of
Foreign Languages and International Studies and the High School for the Gifted
under Hanoi University of Education.
While admission policies may vary from school to school, the main
requirements are the evaluation of transcripts of secondary schools’ grades and
results in the standardized high school entrance exams. Vietnamese education is
6


considered meritocratic due to the prevalence of merit-based tests and high-stake
examinations from elementary school levels above. To enroll in high-ranking
institutions, learners have to gain higher results and sometimes take additional
exams, creating fierce competition for a spot in the top-tier schools for the gifted
(Trines, 2017). According to Sai Gon Giai Phong (2020), the stiffest admission rate

belongs to the English gifted class in Hanoi – Amsterdam Gifted high school at 1/29.
2.1.2.3. Elitism of gifted high schools through merit competition
This system of gifted education has received plenty of investments and is
considered a priority by both the local and central governments. An example is
Decision 959 “Approving the scheme on development of the system of specialized
upper secondary schools in the 2010-2020 period,” which emphasizes the role of
gifted high schools as spearheaded institutions and enforces strategies to develop its
students, teachers and facilitate ties to international institutions. Ministry of
Education and Training (2008) allows budgets for gifted high schools to be 200
percent of those for mainstream learners, which enables the most up-to-date learning
facilities. Gifted high schools also enjoy curricular autonomy as their teachers are
allowed to use external materials in the curriculum instead of mandated textbooks.
These special treatments contribute to the distinction-making process of gifted
institutions, which they utilize to reproduce prestige by encouraging learners to aim
for exceptional academic achievements.
As prioritized institutions, gifted high schools are also expected to achieve
the highest rate of prizes in the national competition for Talented students and
international Olympiads, as well as the highest rate of university entrance exam
pass. The earliest documentation of gifted high school students’ participation in
merit competitions was in 1989 (Foreign Language Specialized School, 2020).
Competition for Talented students was held at the end of primary and secondary
schools within the scope of district and region, whereas high school students in their
three years may enter the competition at regional and most importantly, national
7


level (MOET, 1997). Through a rigorous local selection process, a final National
team from 6 – 10 members were chosen who often were students of high schools
for the gifted or specialized classes (Le & Le, 2010). According to MOET (2014),
less than 50% of contestants may win a prize that is classified as first, second, third,

or consolation. Among awarded prizes, first prizes must not exceed 5% and the total
of first, second, and third prizes must be less than 60%. In addition, gifted students
in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) who have excellent
performance in the National competition, are recommended to participate in
international Olympiads. The National Competition of Talented students is a highstake test unique not only for its selective nature but also for its monumental
benefits. Awarded students are given the privilege of different levels of direct entry
into universities and colleges nationwide according to the rank of their prizes. Given
the extreme competitiveness of these merit-based competitions, the majority of
participants come from different gifted high schools (Pham, 2020) as they are
provided with the most qualified teachers who could utilize the state-of-the-art
infrastructure and advanced teaching methodology. Excellent achievements in the
National competition suggest and encourage excellent quality of teachers, learners,
and management of institutions and function as a means of discovering talents for
the nation’s development (MOET, 2014). While there are other large-scale merit
competitions such as Northern regional Competition for Talented students (“Thi học
sinh giỏi khu vực Duyên hải và đồng bằng Bắc bộ”) or Internet Olympiads of
English (IOE), these competitions are less prestigious because of the lack of benefit
of a direct entry to universities and colleges and the lower importance in considering
the quality of teachers, learners, and institutions.
2.2. Theoretical framework
2.2.1. Bourdieu’s capital theory
Bourdieu (1985) defines “capitals” as resources unequally distributed among
individuals in society, divided into Economic, Cultural, Linguistic, Social, and
8


Symbolic capital. Cultural capital exists in three states: embodied, institutionalized,
and objectified (Bourdieu, 1986; Olneck, 2000). Embodied cultural capital refers to
styles of behavior and speech, cultural preferences, and understanding of valued
cultural knowledge (Olneck, 2000), which can only be learned or adopted by

individuals. Institutionalized cultural capital refers to degrees, credentials, grades,
and test scores that serve as social markers to indicate that holders have specific
levels or types of knowledge and skills (Olneck, 2000). Objectified cultural capital
refers to artifacts and other expressions of embodied cultural capital including
literature, music, art, and film as well as the sites where these are available (e.g.,
university courses, libraries, museums, theaters, concert halls, etc.). Bourdieu
(1991) suggests that linguistic capital is an important subset of embodied cultural
capital. Linguistic capital refers to the profit of distinction attached with a language
of high-market value that can empower the language speaker in terms of social
status and recognition.
Social capital is described as “collectivity-owned” capital (Bourdieu, 1986)
related to social memberships, networks, and relationships which can bring
individuals a sense of solidarity or class-consciousness (Portes, 1998). Economic
capital refers to wealth – the access to financial or material resources that help
people to maintain or create money, property, and human resources of economic
value (Bourdieu, 1986). Any type of capital, when recognized as “legitimate” in a
particular context, is considered as valuable and respectable in others’ view and
gives its possessor higher power and status in a given field or community. This, in
turn, enables the individual to project their desired identities as well as impose
identities on others. Therefore, symbolic capital can be generated (Bourdieu, 1986).
Symbolic capital is usually associated with the possession of prestige, status, and a
positive reputation (Terjesen & Elam, 2009).

9


2.2.2. Second or foreign language (L2) learners’ identity
The term “identity” is perceived through the lens of poststructuralism as
fluid, dynamic, constructed, and negotiated by personal agency and external forces
(Aneja, 2016; Norton, 2013). According to Norton (2013), identity is the way a

person understands his or her relationship to the world, how that relationship is
structured across time and space, and how the person understands possibilities for
the future.
Meanwhile, subjectivity is produced by and produces the meaning-making
practices of social sites which are structured by power relations (Norton, 2013). The
subject is both subject of and subject to power relations, meaning that they hold the
agency to their position in discourse. As a result, identity is conceptualized as a site
of struggle because identity is multiple, dynamic, and ambivalent (Gao et al, 2015).
The current study also adopts this conceptualization of identity to understand their
individual experiences better.
2.3. Review of relevant studies and research gap
In the context of Vietnam, there have been numerous studies conducted on
students in English specialized programs; however, they mostly focus on different
pedagogic aspects. One aspect concerned is their motivation and performance, such
as Do’s research in 2014 on the correlation between drive and learning achievement,
and Nguyen’s study in 2014 on American movies as means of motivation, both
targeting Lam Son Gifted High School students majoring in English. Another aspect
is learners’ attitude towards the specialized program, such as the research on Bac
Kan English gifted high school students’ view of deductive and inductive
approaches in teaching Grammar by Trinh in 2016, or Vu’s study in 2010 on gifted
students’ perception of the effectiveness of the gifted program.
On the whole, identity studies in FL contexts are relatively few compared to
those in SL contexts (Gao et al, 2015). The only research related to the identities of
gifted high school students in Vietnam has been on media stereotypes and their
10


effect on Hanoi-Amsterdam high school students, under the lens of cultural studies
(Vu, 2019). According to Vu (2019), four stereotypes of students in specialized high
schools are produced and reproduced through mainstream and social media are

Leader, Academic Excellence, Global Citizen, and Artist. While the positive media
stereotypes of gifted learners portray an image of the idealized learners that
Vietnamese education aims for and celebrates, they also create invisible pressure
for learners to live up to this expectation. Notably, gifted students who lack the
financial background and social status to fulfill this ascribed identity feel
marginalized from their media representation.
Therefore, this research aims to fill this research gap in the Vietnamese gifted
education system and identity studies in FL contexts by an in-depth exploration of
gifted English learners’ experience and identity through narrative inquiry.

11


CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
This research employs a qualitative narrative approach to explore the
experiences of three former English gifted students in their gifted high schools. The
narrative approach aims to give insight into the complex stories of their period of
life in gifted high schools and explore their identity formation.
3.1. Selection of participants
The three participants, Quynh, Kim, and Lan (all pseudonyms), were chosen
via the purposive sampling method in which the researcher deliberately chose
participants who matched the study needs. Most importantly, the participants were
expected to have graduated from English gifted programs of gifted high schools in
different geographic locations in Vietnam. This choice of criteria was to gain insight
into the complexities of the specialized high school system across remote, rural and
urban areas of the country. Another criterion was that the participants had acquired
outstanding academic achievements before, during, and after their periods in their
respective specialized high schools. This is an indicator that the participants
invested in their language learning.
The participants were recruited through the researcher’s connections to set a

trusted environment for their sharing of possibly sensitive topics. Specifically,
Quynh was a friendly acquaintance who was recommended by a mutual friend. Kim
was a university’s club member of the same department as the researcher, whereas
Lan was a former high school classmate. Although the participants had a prior
connection to the researcher, the relationship was in a specific context or lacked
close engagement. Therefore, the researcher was able to establish a friendly rapport
quickly while maintaining a critical distance from the participants. The participants
had diverse experiences and stories, and they were intrinsically motivated to
contribute to the study.
12


3.2. The portraits of participants
3.2.1. Quynh
The first participant, Quynh, is a 22-year-old full-time Vietnamese – English
translator who recently graduated from a top university in Hanoi as valedictorian of
an economic-related major. She is the first child of two educators in a distant rural
area of provincial Hanoi, with one brother in the first year of high school. During
her elementary and secondary school years, she studied in the rural area of her town.
Due to financial reasons, she turned down the opportunity to enroll in a competitive
specialized high school in Hanoi and chose to study in her town’s gifted high school.
Quynh lived in her school’s dormitory instead of her family’s house due to distance
and special treatment as a member of the National team for English. In her
sophomore year, she received second prize in the national English competition for
Talented students. Quynh was also one of the founders of her school’s English club.
3.2.2. Kim
The second participant, Kim, is a third-year student in the Fast-track program
of a top university in the foreign language in Hanoi. She is the second child of an
underprivileged family in a remote part of Northern Vietnam and a member of the
Thai ethnic minority group. In her elementary and secondary school, she studied in

the gifted Math class according to the wish of her teacher and father, who worked
in the economy-related field. Against their expectations, she became the highest
scorer in the entrance exam of her gifted high school’s English class. In her senior
year, she was in the final National team for English and won the Participant prize.
Kim was also one of the founding members of her school’s English club. At the time
of her graduation, her high school was involved in a grading scandal when
investigated students’ results in their university entrance exam, and Kim’s name
was on the list of students whose scores changed after the investigation.
3.2.3. Lan

13


The third participant, Lan, is a 22-year-old recent graduate of a famous
university in Korea. Due to COVID-19, she returned to Hanoi after her graduation
in June and work as a full-time writer and part-time researcher. Lan was born into a
middle-class family in the center area of Hanoi, with one brother who currently
studies in her high school alma mater. Her chosen high school was a competitive
gifted one in Hanoi, especially in English. In her freshman year, Lan was a part of
the preliminary National team in English and an active member of the English club.
Then, she participated and achieved top places in English public speaking
competitions that were acclaimed regionally and nationally.
3.3. Data collection
3.3.1. Instrument
The main instruments were interviews, both face-to-face and online
regarding geographical distance and personal schedules between interviewees and
me. Semi-structured interviews in Vietnamese were used to attain more thorough
insight into participants’ experience and identity as English gifted high school
students, as it allows an opportunity for further probing. Interview questions were
constructed in chronological order of the participants’ experience as English gifted

high school students, in light of the research question of the learner’s identity
construction and negotiation. The interview questions (see Appendix 1) served as
initial questions because several follow-up questions were developed during the
interviews to clarify and illuminate noteworthy points.
3.3.2. Procedure
Initially, the researcher sent messages to participants to make sure that they
met the criteria to participate in the research. Once they had confirmed their
eligibility, the researcher briefly explained the research purpose, design, and
procedure, offered to answer any questions related to the thesis and their
responsibilities, and asked for acceptance of participation. Once they had accepted,
the researcher gave them an overview of the interview questions. The time and
14


venue of the interviews were discussed to maximize participants’ readiness and
comfort for sharing.
The interviews were conducted in November and December 2020. The
researcher interviewed Quynh at her solo apartment for 2 hours 30 minutes, and the
private space made the experience comfortable. The second participant, Kim, was
interviewed at a coffee shop on her university’s campus in two separate sessions for
4 hours. The third participant, Lan, was interviewed for 3 hours at a coffee shop in
the surrounding area of her house.
Participants received the consent form in their email (see Appendix 2), with
contact information about the researcher, the name and purpose of the research, the
risks, benefits, and rights of the participants. The researcher planned the interviews
as conversations and let the participants reflect on their experiences, not interrupting
until they had finished their turn-takings. At certain points in the exchange, the
researcher summarized and paraphrased the information to double-check and elicit
participants’ confirmation and additions. After the interviews, the researcher
thanked the interviewees for their contribution and asked them if they have any

feedback for the interviewers or further thoughts after reflecting on the experience.
Note-taking and audio recording were employed with participants’ permission.
After conducting interviews with the participants, the researcher listened to
the recordings to transcribe data. While transcribing, the researcher made note of
interesting points or ambiguous details.
3.4. Data analysis
To answer the research question, I used narrative analysis to understand
coherent narratives of the participants’ identity formation and negotiation as English
gifted learners. Polkinghorne (1988) referred to the term narrative as “the process
of making a story, to the cognitive scheme of the story, or the result of the process”
(p. 13). The narrative analysis enabled the researcher to have participants “construct
past events and actions in personal narratives to claim identities and construct lives”
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(Riessman, 1993, p. 2). These narratives allow the participants to tell their own story
and how they “impose order on the flow of experience to make sense of events and
actions in their lives” (Riessman, 1993, p. 2), and it is from these narratives that the
individuals can make sense of their lived experience (Van Manen, 1990). Therefore,
the narrative analysis helps to illustrate the distinct feature of each participant’s
experience through their coherent stories (Polkinghorne, 1995). Using narrative
analysis to familiarize with the original data, the researcher was able to
conceptualize the emerging themes.
Thematic analysis was also employed as means to structure and interpret the
data to assist the coherence of narratives because of its flexibility in allowing
researchers to analyze data inductively (content-driven) or deductively (theorydriven) (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Its ability to formulate a more insightful
conceptualization of data compared to other qualitative techniques (Braun & Clarke,
2006) was also taken into consideration. After establishing the first set of themes, a
comparison to precursive literature was made, which led to the development and
finalization of analytical themes. This process was conducted by the axial and

selective coding method (see Appendix 3). Each piece of data was categorized into
different labels and treated accordingly. Then, the processed data were compared
and contrasted with each other. Data translation was employed because the original
transcript was in Vietnamese. Therefore, the finalized themes were data-driven and
informed by theory.

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CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
In this chapter, the researcher will attempt to answer the research question
on how former specialized high school students of English perceive, construct and
negotiate their identity as gifted English learners.
4.1. Opportunities in gifted high schools
As spearheaded institutions with the mission to develop “talents,” gifted high
schools received a lot of funding and policy priority from the government to provide
diverse opportunities for their students. In terms of extracurricular activities, Quynh
and Kim shared a similar experience of being one of the founding members of their
at-the-time newly established English clubs. Quynh briefly mentioned the benefit
of extracurricular activity as a means of career discovery for her friends. While
Quynh did not explicitly accept this sentiment when applied to herself, her pride in
her contribution to the magazine and future involvement as a content writer in her
university’s newspaper club suggested that the experience was important to her
identity development and therefore worth recreating. Meanwhile, Kim pointed out
the establishment of her school’s English club coincided with the newly rising
attention to learners’ opportunity to study abroad and the need for extracurricular
activities to portray a well-rounded individual in their profile.
Out of the three schools, Lan’s competitive gifted high school in Hanoi
provided the most diverse options in extracurricular activities and clubs. Students
are able to participate in leadership, volunteer, and newspaper work and meet a

community of like-minded people in dance, art, and music. If not a member of any
club, they can still be a part of the dynamic social scene with annual extracurricular
activities in sports, the stage performance of literary work.
In grade 10, I was energetic. I joined the English club and talked to many
people because I knew no one whereas everybody else seemed to be
acquainted already. I did not want to become a loner. Sometimes one joined
a club not out of interest, but out of a fear of being different.

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Unlike Quynh and Kim, Lan’s ability to choose from a diverse selection of
extracurricular activities comes with a social pressure to actively contribute and
socialize. Her experience with extracurricular clubs in grade 10 revealed the
negative aspect of a dynamic social scene with clubs as important parts of the
school’s social fabric. Learners feel pressured to join clubs not to pursue their
interests, but in fear of being marginalized from a community of active club
members, and suffer from an unfulfilled social experience.
In terms of future opportunities, Quynh and Lan’s high schools had a lot of
connections to foreign universities. Quynh recounted the Japanese universities that
would come to her school to recruit students and offer scholarships, which was
especially suitable for students with high English ability such as herself.
I knew that I should study abroad because I was in an English specialized
class, and I had an amazing profile. But deep down, I did not understand why
I had to. At the time, I only considered going abroad as a way for people to
brag. […] So, I thought to myself, whatever, and I followed other people
studying for the University entrance exam in Vietnam. I thought it had its
perks too, and I felt satisfied.
Quynh viewed studying abroad as production of needs from her society, not
a self-motivated goal. The availability of opportunities also came with a sense of

expectation for students who have the highest possibility to earn scholarships to aim
for it. As a talented English learner with an “amazing profile” in terms of academic
and social achievement, Quynh questioned this expectation of her assigned identity
and came to her own conclusion by self-reflecting on her wants, needs, mental and
financial conditions. She was satisfied with her choice of going to university in
Vietnam and did a one-semester exchange to Japan.
While not the most dominant facet of academic focus, Lan’s school also
enjoys a long history of alumni as winners of scholarships to foreign universities
worldwide.
When I first got into the specialized high school, I did not think of studying
abroad. However, I knew that I would want to because my parents’
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