Should Vietnamese efl learners have English names

Hue University Journal of Sciences: Social Science and Humanities
ISSN 2588–1213
Vol. 128, No. 6B, 2019, Tr. 27–37, DOI: 10.26459/hueuni-jssh.v128i6B.4931
* Corresponding: chidona.ag@gmail.com 
Submitted: 07–08–2018; Revised: 27–11–2018; Accepted: 27–11–2018. 
SHOULD VIETNAMESE EFL LEARNERS 
HAVE ENGLISH NAMES? 
Chi Do Na* 
An Giang University, 18 Ung Van Khiem, Dong Xuyen, Long Xuyen, An Giang, Vietnam 
Abstract. In this paper, I investigate the practice of selecting English names for Vietnamese EFL learners at 
a language centre. Although this naming practice is required at the institution for communicative conveni-
ence, there is negotiation and exceptions where learners refuse to use English names. Naming is believed 
to reflect one’s identity, and those learners explicitly indicate numerous reasons for their acceptance or 
refusal of having English names. Observations and interviews with 15 participants in an EFL class were 
undertaken to explore the attitudes and reasons for their naming practices and their identity reflection 
through that practice. The findings reveal that most learners see English names to be more convenient for 
their native English-speaking teachers and make them feel more westernised, which is, in their belief, ne-
cessary in an EFL setting. On the contrary, some learners would show respect to their Vietnamese names, 
which they believe to be meaningful and should be maintained. Whether using an English name as an act 
of showing respect or not in EFL settings is also discussed. Also, regardless of genders, the paper reveals 
the age issue that strongly impacts the naming decision. The paper concludes with suggestions for the 
proper naming practice among EFL learners so as not to make learners feel discontent in their learning 
processes. 
Keywords: name, identity, EFL settings, attitude, reflection 
1. Introduction 
“One does not fear if he/she has a bad fate; what one fears most is to be given a bad 
name,” says Cheang [2008, p.197], a language educator with an interest in foreign names. It 
serves as an explanation for the traditional views on the values of names. It can be said that 
names are the very first impressions despite not being always sufficient to reflect a person. 
However, children’s names do hold the wishes of their parents for a bright future and personal 
development [Lawson, 1987]. 
In this period of globalisation, intercultural communication has become much more pop-
ular in which people of different languages come together in a conversation where names are 
firstly addressed among interlocutors. Cheang [2008] concludes that the use of foreign names 
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can create convenience in intercultural communication since names in some languages are far 
formal and hard to say, which can lead to mispronunciation causing negative impressions of 
disrespect when one’s name is not correctly addressed. Hence, the use of foreign names, espe-
cially English names, is preferred as an indication of integration and modernisation. 
In Vietnam, similar issues occur, particularly in multilingual settings where addressing 
names can be difficult for some, and if being mispronounced, it can lead to meaningless or in-
sulting words. Therefore, foreign names have been highly popular among Vietnamese speakers 
when they work with foreign counterparts. At English language centres where Vietnamese 
learners have chances to study with foreigners, this case of foreign names seems to be unavoid-
able with the hope that the communication will flow more smoothly when people are not 
struggling with saying each other’s names. Nonetheless, it should be noted that naming practice 
is greatly influenced by personal and cultural preferences and in some cases is not accepted by 
Vietnamese EFL learners. This paper, therefore, investigates the foreign naming practice of Vi-
etnamese EFL learners at a language centre to address attitudes and reasons behind their nam-
ing act, and how that naming practice reflects their identities in the multilingual settings. 
2. Literature review 
Names and naming practices 
The very first point to mention is the significance of a name. Studying names and their 
sociocultural aspects, Agyekum [2006] and Ainiala [2012] conclude that a name is not simply a 
label, but it contains numerous features representing the person given that name and the com-
munity that he or she belongs to. To illustrate, a name can commemorate a remarkable event or 
an important person to the name’s holder [Guma, 2001]. Because a name represents its holder, it 
also creates some first impressions about that person. Kaplan and Fisher [2009] discuss names 
in the case of résumés, stating that readers may base themselves on the name given in the 
résumé to obtain first impression and initial understanding of a person, mostly about gender 
and ethnicity. Also, a name represents some reputations. In the case of work experience, presti-
gious institutions have their names known and respected by others; therefore, candidates who 
list those names in their CVs may have already been impressive to the employers. This example 
of Kaplan and Fisher [2009] has indicated how important and valuable a name is to not only an 
individual but also an organisation. Watzlawik et al. [2016] also see a name as a symbol of a 
person in association with their identity. Those researchers further comment that the changes of 
names may cause or be caused by the changes of identity. Names, in their opinions, are distin-
guishable and unique. 
Because the significance of names is undeniable, researchers further investigate naming 
processes with an attempt to point out the reasons behind the choices of names. Most research-
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ers working on naming processes tend to relate that to cultural aspects. Gerhards [2010], cited in 
Watzlawik et al. [2016], provides examples of children being named after their parents’ wishes 
of their future prosperity or characteristics. Also, in some cultures, there is a source of common 
names for boys and girls. Watzlawik et al. [2016] study naming practices in Asian contexts and 
find out that children in Korea or China can be named with the assistance of fortune-tellers who 
are believed to know what names can bring good luck to the children. 
Names and identities 
Researchers have concluded that names are closely associated with one’s personal repre-
sentations. Particularly, adolescence is extremely interested in showing their identities as their 
uniqueness, and the choices of names are seen as one of the most obvious ways to achieve this 
goal, which leads to a variety of choices of names [Erikson, 1968; Starks et al., 2012]. For exam-
ple, people name themselves following their idols or favourite colours [Cheang, 2008]. In their 
study on adolescents’ naming practices, Starks et al. [2012] realise the use of personal traits and 
characteristics to be highly preferred for nicknames, which may not always lead to positive im-
pacts if being misused. 
Starks et al. [2012] investigate naming practices through self-evaluation and peer influ-
ences, which means a person may create his or her own nickname or be given a nickname by 
peers. However, the study indicates that not in all cases, nicknames are positively accepted by 
those who own or are given the nicknames. Numerous cultural and linguistic aspects are in-
volved in this naming process, and it is fortunate that most adolescents in the study are aware 
of how names can affect one’s emotions in order that they choose or give nicknames more 
properly. 
All of the points above refer to the traditional views of names and naming practices. 
However, in this period of globalisation, naming practice is changing in association with social 
changes. 
Globalisation and naming practices 
Cheang [2008] refers to cases in Macau where a person, besides his or her original name, 
adds another name in a language that can be easily said or remembered. In Cheang’s view, this 
is seen as an act of integration where people make their names conveniently addressed by other 
interlocutors. Another illustration is in Hong Kong where people use English names to assist 
their communication with Westerners [Fischer, 2015; Watzlawik et al., 2016]. Besides, in West-
ern settings, Asian students, despite introducing their original names, quickly introduce their 
English names so that their peers can easily address. Cheang [2008] adds that Western names 
can create harmony because they tend to be less formal than the original names, and they limit 
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the cases of mispronunciation. However, it is also reminded that not all cases are English names 
applied, names in different languages or origins can be used as long as they can serve the con-
venience of communication among interlocutors [Cheang, 2008]. 
Previous literature has shown the meaning and significance of names to an individual 
[Cheang, 2008; Guma, 2001; Lawson, 1987]. Naming practices are highly influential to one’s 
behaviours and emotions [Cheang, 2008; Starks et al., 2012]. Therefore, the choice of names 
should be carefully considered since it is one of the very important aspects of communication 
and personal presentation. The paper will further investigate how Vietnamese EFL learners 
perceive English naming practice and the reasons for their choices of names. 
3. The study 
Research context and participants 
The current study takes place at a language centre in a city in Southern Vietnam. One of 
the requirements of the centre is that learners should have their English names and be called by 
the English names as an indication of English-only policy. Therefore, on the first day of class, 
the learners were introduced to the course outline, materials, and required to select their Eng-
lish names. These English names would be used during the program and in all conversations at 
the centre. However, in their certificates of completion, both Vietnamese and English names 
would be printed. 
The study was undertaken in an English for Communication class at the intermediate 
level in accordance with learners’ successful completion of the previous pre-intermediate course 
or the placement test. In this study, 15 participants were involved including 8 high-school stu-
dents aged 16–18, 3 university students aged 22, and 4 high-school teachers aged 30–33. The 
purposes of learning English as reported by the centre include studying overseas, passing fu-
ture English language tests, and learning for pleasure. 
Research questions 
The study was to address the following issues: 
 How do the Vietnamese EFL learners feel about having English names? 
 What are the reasons for their choices or refusals of English names? 
The aim of the paper is to find out the attitudes of a group of Vietnamese learners’ to-
wards having English names in their EFL class and their naming processes. 
Research methodology 
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In this study, both classroom observations and interviews were undertaken to address 
the issues stated above. It was observed that the learners in this study adopted the English 
names by themselves, and the English names were then noted in the class diary to inform the 
centre staff. Also, each learner was given a name tag to write his or her English name because 
the teacher could not remember those names at first. 
The researcher observed how the learners used their English names in communication 
with their teachers and peers. The class took place three times per week on Tuesday, Thursday, 
and Saturday for a total of three hours, and the researcher spent two weeks for classroom ob-
servations to see how the English names were used through time. Classroom observations al-
lowed the researcher to collect data immediately and directly as well as not to influence class-
room activities since the learners and teachers had not been explicitly told about the focus of the 
observation [Gray, 2004]. Semi-structured interviews, each of which lasts no longer than 15 mi-
nutes, were also carried out with all participants after two weeks of observation to gain insights 
into the English naming practices. From the interviews and the notes, the researcher selected 
parts that focused on the reasons for choosing certain English names and attitudes towards us-
ing English names in their class through qualitative analysis [Braun & Clarke, 2006; Dörnyei, 
2007]. The use of semi-structured interviews would help the researcher in probing learners’ 
opinions towards that practice. Besides, this kind of interview would allow the researcher’s 
flexibility in raising follow-up questions based on the information given by the participants and 
help the participants to expand their answers [Gray, 2004]. The interview questions were indi-
cated in the Appendix. 
Table 1. The selected names of the participants and their meanings 
Participants Self-selected names Meanings/Reasons 
1 July 
The name July was chosen because it was the month of 
birth of the participant 
2 Kate 
Reported by the participant, the name Kate was se-
lected because it was pronounced quite similarly to 
“cake” which was the participant’s favourite snack. 
3 Robert 
Robert was chosen by the participant because it was 
one of the very common English names, which in his 
thoughts would be easy for people to remember. 
4 David 
Like Robert, David was selected because of its fami-
liarity with both native and non-native English speak-
ers. 
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From the table, it is noted that the first 8 names were from the high school students, while 
numbers 9–11 referred to university students, and the remaining 4 participants were high 
school teachers. 
4. Findings and discussions 
Classroom observations 
5 Elsa 
Elsa was the name of the main character in a cartoon 
favoured by the participant. 
6 London 
There were two reasons for the choice of this name. 
Firstly, it was the name of the participant’s dream city. 
Secondly, it was the name of a character in the series of 
Disney Channel “The suite life of Zack and Cody” in 
which the participant really adored the character Lon-
don Tipton. 
7 Justin 
The participant named himself Justin after the famous 
singers Justin Bieber and Justin Timberlake. 
8 Rose 
The name “Rose” came from the participant’s favou-
rite flowers. 
9 We 
This was a quite interesting case since the participant’s 
Vietnamese name was pronounced as “we” /wi/, so 
the name was selected. 
10 Anthony 
Anthony was chosen because the participant liked the 
name. No further information was provided. 
11 Harry 
The name Harry came from the character Harry Potter 
who was the fictional idol of the participant. 
12 Lan 
Lan was the original Vietnamese name of the partici-
pant; no English name was chosen. 
13 Phú Quý 
Similar to “Lan”, the participant did not choose an 
English name, so the Vietnamese name remained. 
14 Maria Maria came from the participant’s religious name. 
15 Trang 
This participant did not choose an English name, so 
her Vietnamese name remained. 
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All participants in the study and their teachers used the selected names mentioned in Ta-
ble 1 in their communication. Even for the staff, they also used these names when they ad-
dressed the participants. They understood that the names they had selected would be their rep-
resentatives throughout the program at the centre. Even, some of them stated that they enjoyed 
being called by these names outside their classroom settings. 
Interviews 
Theme 1: Learners’ names and representations 
In alignment with Cheang [2008], Fischer [2015], and Watzlawik et al. [2016], most partic-
ipants were happy with having English names as a convenience in communication with English 
speakers. Some of them, despite having no specific reasons for their choices, tended to choose 
common names so that their peers and teachers can call and remember easily. Notably, a con-
sensus was found between the participants’ choices of names and the ideas of self-
representation proposed by Cheang [2008], Watzlawik et al. [2016], and Starks et al. [2012]. In 
detail, the selected names reflected the participants’ identities through their personal prefe-
rences such as their idols, characters, food, birthday, places, and flowers (Participants 1, 2, 5, 6, 
7, 8, 11) and religious belief like Participant 14. The interviews with these participants also indi-
cated that the selection of names was mostly based on two issues, namely their self-
representations and the familiarity of the names. 
I choose July because I am [was] born in July. So, people can remember my name and 
my birthday. I think the name July is very easy to say and to remember. (Participant 1) 
I am Christian, so I was given, I think the holy name, as Maria. I think this is a very 
beautiful and meaningful name. It is popular, too. So, I choose this name. (Participant 14) 
Most participants admitted that they had never used English names before; hence, 
to make it easy for themselves and the people they talked to, choosing names that could 
mark their features can make people remember them better, and familiar names would 
also ensure accuracy in name calling and memorising. 
I actually do not know what name in English to choose, but I usually see the name 
David in many English books. So, I choose it. I think it is a popular and simple name. (Par-
ticipant 4) 
Although much research has been performed into naming practices, little has been 
known about cases where some adaptations or negotiations in naming are made. For example, 
Participant 2 named herself on the basis of her favourite food (cake) with a slight change to 
make her name become more usual to the interlocutors. When being interviewed, she comfort-
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ably expressed that the meaning of her English name would be so memorable to her teachers 
and peers. 
I love cake, but I cannot use it for my name because it is so funny, so I change to Kate. 
I think when we say it, it is similar to “cake”. 
Participant 9 also got his name based on the Southern Vietnamese pronunciation of his 
name, i.e., “Quy” with its homophone in English. Explained by him, “We” was a perfect choice 
because both Vietnamese and English speakers could say the name easily, and it seemed that he 
did not change his name in terms of the pronunciation of Southern Vietnam accent. He believed 
that his Vietnamese identity remained with this name. 
I like my English name because it is special. I have never thought of anyone named 
We. I did not choose this name, but I just remember there is a word in English with the 
same sound. When people call me in my English and Vietnamese names, they are similar. 
So, it is interesting. 
However, unlike what previous research concludes on being content with having English 
names [Cheang, 2008; Watzlawik et al., 2016], there were still some participants who were not 
interested in this English naming. 
I think my name is easy to say already, and I do not know what English name to 
choose. I think we do not need to have an English name. Vietnamese name is okay, too, be-
cause we need names to know that people are calling us. I am not comfortable when I use an 
English name with Vietnamese people, why not a Vietnamese name? (Participant 12) 
Interviewed about not choosing an English name, Participants 12, 13, and 15 commented 
that they thought English names would be more appropriate for teenagers, not for adults. This 
idea is similar to what Starks et al. [2012] mentioned