GUAVA is thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2025 GUAVA Innovation Awards – a celebration of creativity, dedication, and community-building in Vietnamese language education. This year, we are proud to honor three outstanding projects that showcase diverse and impactful approaches to teaching and learning Vietnamese:
🌟 Interactive Vietnamese Learning with H5P
Hoan Nguyen – University of California San Diego
This project showcases the power of educational technology to support independent learning and increase student motivation. Through H5P-based interactive activities and open-access design, this project is a valuable resource for learners and instructors alike.
🌟 Connected Vietnamese: A Collaborative Cross-Institutional Project
An Sakach – Arizona State University
Fostering authentic communication across campuses, this project connects Vietnamese learners from different institutions through project-based learning. It encourages students to build community, share perspectives, and practice Vietnamese in meaningful contexts.
🌟 Vietnamese Vocabulary Video Contest: Enhancing Language Learning Through Creative Engagement
Trang Tran – Brown University
Small in scale but rich in impact, this student-driven project invites learners to create short videos about Vietnamese vocabulary. The result is an engaging, accessible model of performance-based learning that highlights student voice and creativity.
🌟 Honorable Mentions
📌 Vietnamese Vibes Textbook Project
Drs. Trang Phan & Lan Chu – Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
Although the scale and published nature of this work exceed the intended scope of the GUAVA Innovation Awards, this three-volume textbook series is a monumental professional contribution to Vietnamese language education. We are deeply grateful to the authors for this much-needed and inspiring resource.
🔔 GUAVA will feature this project in a GUAVA Member Highlights Workshop.
📌 Silver Table – Vietnamese Podcast
ThuýAnh Nguyen – University of Michigan
This podcast offers a space for advanced learners and the broader Vietnamese language community to engage in meaningful dialogues on socially relevant topics in Vietnamese, making a valuable contribution to the growing body of student-generated audio resources. The concept is strong, and the project has potential to enrich Vietnamese language learning.
🔔 GUAVA will feature this project in a GUAVA Member Highlights Workshop.
Although these projects vary in scale and scope, they share a common spirit: innovation rooted in creativity, inclusion, and real-world relevance. GUAVA is proud to spotlight not just excellence, but also the dedication and innovation of educators – many working with limited institutional support.
We proudly reaffirm that GUAVA is building a community, not a hierarchy. By celebrating diverse approaches and voices, we hope to encourage even more educators to share their ideas, grow together, and contribute to a vibrant and collaborative network. We also would like to express our thanks to Quang Van, Yale University, Thuy Tranviet, Cornell University, and Chung Nguyen, Columbia University for their service on this GUAVA Innovation Awards Selection Committee.
All award recipients and honorable mentions will be featured on GUAVA’s website and blog and invited to present at upcoming GUAVA-sponsored events.
Please join us in congratulating Hoan Nguyen, An Sakach, Trang Tran, Trang Phan & Lan Chu, and ThuýAnh Nguyen for their outstanding contributions to Vietnamese language education!
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