Global Englishes in Emergence: Curricular Representations and Discursive Tensions in Vietnamese Higher Education

Abstract A body of research drawing on the Global Englishes for Language Teaching (GELT) framework has focused on stakeholder perceptions and practices at classroom‐based levels. However, few studies have examined curricula as platforms of GELT representations and ideological tensions. Examining these manifestations and conflicts provides insights into enablers and barriers to GELT implementation. Moreover, in Vietnamese higher education, scholarly attention to this transition remains scarce. This study analyzed 35 English‐as‐a‐major programs across Vietnamese tertiary institutions, using thematic and critical discourse analysis to investigate GELT elements and discursive tensions in curricula. The results revealed an emergent status of GELT, reflected in four dimensions: global orientation of English language education for communicative purposes and contextualized learner needs, cultural diversity awareness and respect, English with local identity, and orientation toward multilingual and translingual practices. However, full alignment with GELT is challenged by three ideological conflicts: global–local integration vs. standard‐native entrenchment, linguistic plurality vs. monolingual prescriptivism, and inclusive interculturalism vs. exclusive ethnocentric ideology. This study provides implications for teachers, curriculum developers, and policymakers to revisit how they regulate English‐as‐a‐major curricula to better incorporate GELT while addressing these ideological contradictions. It also extends GELT scholarship by positioning curriculum discourses as critical sites of ideological negotiation.