This book analyzes the basic ideas and premises underlying the English textbooks used at the higher secondary school level in Vietnam from the 1980s to the present, from a sociological perspective. The dataset, upon which this book builds, consists of a collection of 18 textbooks, which belong to five sets of locally developed English textbooks for grade 10 to grade 12 students. These series were used in all public schools from the mid-1980s to the present. During this period, schooling expanded rapidly in Vietnam, while English also gained increasing prominence within the school system.

This book examines the curricular content of these textbooks and presents a long-term analysis of the ‘hidden’ curricular content in light of Vietnam’s recent history and its government’s concerns about national identity.