Manifestations of Content Competence among Australian Diplomatic Learners in Vietnamese Language Classes: An Analysis of Legal and Policy Texts

Abstract

This study examines the manifestations of content competence among Australian diplomatic learners of Vietnamese through an analysis of two types of learner-produced texts: (1) a legal–administrative summary of Vietnam’s Law on Exit and Entry, and (2) a policy-oriented summary and discussion of a public policy text on gender equality. Drawing on the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) framework and the proficiency requirements of the DFAT Level 3 examination, the study focuses on learners’ ability to identify and reconstruct core content elements, maintain domain-specific terminology, and organize policy reasoning in Vietnamese. The findings indicate that while learners are generally able to recognize main topics and key information, they experience persistent difficulties in handling the conceptual structure of legal texts, maintaining terminological consistency, and reconstructing policy arguments in an appropriate Vietnamese official register. The study discusses pedagogical implications for developing content competence in Vietnamese-for-Diplomatic-Purposes programs.