Developing linguistic competence for 6th grade students in Vietnam

Developing linguistic competence for junior level students in Vietnam is an emerging issue that needs attention. This paper applies interdisciplinary research methods which are a combination of linguistics and educational sciences. The combination of the questionnaire survey method and class observation is used to evaluate students' language competencies, especially, speaking and listening. The analytical method is used to analyze linguistic skills that are necessary to be created for students during this stage. Developing linguistic competence is considered the most effective means to grow thinking capacity.  The scope of this paper is aimed at sixth grade students specifically surveying their linguistic competence thereby providing an overview of the language development stage for juniors at the secondary school level in Vietnam in general and in Ha Dong district, Hanoi in particular. We conducted a case study by collecting data at two secondary schools in Hanoi city (implementation period of two months: December 2021 and February 2022). According to these factual survey results, we can primarily suggest concrete measures to develop linguistic competence for 6th-grade students in Vietnam. This will also be an information source for reference in completing the Literature textbook series edited according to the new “General Education Program in Literature (2018)” in Vietnam which is in the early stages of being put into use.