Second Language Courses at Hornby High School

Business Studies Market Research Report

Introduction

Language courses form a fundamental aspect of any secondary school’s curriculum. At Hornby High School, two second language courses are offered, these being te reo Māori and Japanese. In desiring that the best possible opportunities be sought for students of our school, such that they may be empowered to choose a second language which will be most engaging for them, market research has been conducted amongst the student population of years 9 through to 12, in order to ascertain the preferences for potential language courses in our school. Furthermore, in addition to the importance of engagement with learning, we would also like to acknowledge the learning itself, and the vast benefits for the learner of a second language. By our conducting market research on this matter, we will come to better understand the language preferences of students in the aforenoted years, and thereby recommend to the school leadership team the course of action which will best fit the preferences of the students.

Aim

The aim of this research is to investigate the possibility of new language courses being introduced within the curriculum of Hornby High School, the preferences indicated for these potential language courses, whether there be any correlation between year level and language preferences, or between first language spoken and language preferences, and how the popularity of these potential language courses compares with the popularity of those language courses already offered at Hornby High School as of 2021.

Secondary Research

In order to be able to ascertain the preferences amongst the potential language courses, it was necessary that we know how many students are in each of our target years (9-12), as well as the total number of students within the target years. We were able to obtain this year-group data from the school office. There were 463 students enrolled from years 9 to 12 at the time of our requesting the information (24 June). Within year 9, there were 138; year 10, 130; year 11, 90; and year 12, 105. With this data, we were also able to determine the percentages of these year-groups in relation to each other within the overall data set of year 9 to 12, such that year 9 should make up about 30% of our primary results; year 10, 28%; year 11, 19%; and year 12, 23%.

Thus, with the knowledge of these percentages, we were also able to adjust our data such that it was consistent with the actual percentages, wherever such an adjustment was necessary. One example of adjusting the data pertains to the “Adjusted total” results, in which we had to adjust the data for the actual numbers, as opposed to the numbers we obtained through our primary data alone. In our data set, we recorded 37 responses from year 9; 15 from year 10; 16 from year 11; and 22 from year 12. However, sometimes it was necessary that these numbers be adjusted to better reflect the real proportions of students. In our “Adjusted total” results, we thus adjusted the numbers to 27 in year 9; 25 in year 10; 18 in year 11; and 20 in year 12, for a total of 90 students.

Furthermore, by knowing the number of students in both each year-group as well as in total, we were also able to know if we had surveyed a suitable number of students. Considering that we surveyed 90 students in total, that means we surveyed 19.4% of the students in years 9 to 12, with year-group percentages of 26.8% of year 9; 11.5% of year 10; 17.8% of year 11; and 21% of year 12. These percentages help us better understand the accuracy of our data, by being able to consider if it is representative of the target population.

Market Research Plan (Primary Research)

We will aim to survey at least 48 students, with a minimum of 12 students from each year. At 48 students, out of the 463 students from years 9-12, we will have surveyed about 10.4% of the student population, and is the lowest number which will allow for a division by the four year groups with a resultant integer. 44 students would mean a response rate of only 9.5%, and any other number in between would result in a non- integer result.

Our strategy for surveying our sample is using random sampling. Random sampling will mean that we yield a high number of responses, and with relative ease. We can use random sampling because, for most of our data, we are not concerned with all of the years taken as a whole, but with regard to specific year groups taken separately. The only data where we are concerned with all four year groups taken collectively is with regard to the “Unadjusted total” and “Adjusted total” results, where we have, in the latter, adjusted the results to practically match the actual percentages as noted above.

We will send out a Google Form to all students from years 9 to 12, as opposed to undertaking an in-person survey, as a Google Form will allow us to have far greater outreach to all students, given the fact that practically all students at our school have a Chromebook, allowing them to take the survey in their own time, which also means that we can save a great deal of time which we may have had to otherwise spend on doing an in-person survey.

Summary

We have broken down our data into several elements and various aspects, including year group results, language preference results, first language results, and the total results (both unadjusted and adjusted), as well as the variation between languages in how popularity of languages evolves with each year group. In the following section, each of these parts of our research will be summarised.

By year group

Across all years, Spanish was the most popular language, with exception to year 10, where it was tied for first with Russian. In year 9, German was second in popularity, albeit trailing by a considerable margin. As for year 11, French is almost on par with Spanish’s popularity (4.88 vs 4.56). Somewhat similar to year 10, Russian was the second most popular language, but, like with German in year 9, trailed by quite some distance. These results may be observed in the below four graphs (Graph 1, 2, 3, 4).

Graph 1. Year 9 relative value language preference results.

Graph 2. Year 10 relative value language preference results.

Graph 3. Year 11 relative value language preference results.

Graph 4. Year 12 relative value language preference results.

By language preference

A further aspect of our research includes surveying the popularity of each of the language preferences. Interestingly, all of the languages except Spanish follow what may be approximately considered a parabolic trendline. The fact that Spanish bucks the parabolic trend is testament to its enduring popularity amongst all year groups. The following graphs (5, 6, 7, 8, 9) will show the trendline below, and the peculiarity of Spanish not following that trendline will also be made apparent in Graph 6 [note: the trendline of Spanish has been removed in order to emphasise the difference]

Graph 5. French relative value language preferences result.

 

Graph 6. Spanish relative value language preferences result.

Graph 7. German relative value language preferences result.

Graph 8. Russian relative value language preferences result.

Graph 9. Chinese relative value language preferences result.

By first language

We asked our survey respondents what their first language is, in order to determine if there is any correlation between first language spoken and language preference results, in keeping with our Aim. Indeed, certain notable differences were found in this regard. Respondents whose first language is English did not express nearly so much interest in learning a second language as those whose first language is not English. Among those whose first language is not English, a group which constitutes around 32% of our survey respondents, they reported significantly greater interest in taking a language course, to thereby become trilingual. Interest in learning another language was even greater amongst ESL students whose first language is either East Asian or South-East Asian, where Tagalog makes up around 69% of those language speakers within that sub-group. Interestingly, amongst those whose first language is English, the most popular language is Spanish, with the second most popular being German; whereas, amongst those whose first language is not English, Chinese is the second most popular language; and, furthermore, when you break that down even more to the East Asian and South-East Asian language first speakers, Chinese is the most popular language, with Spanish following behind. This difference reflects the cultural variation within the student population, and signifies how that cultural variation can impact upon the language preferences that the students indicate on the survey. In the graphs below, (10, 11, 12) we will be able to observe the impact that first language spoken has on language preferences.

Graph 10. English as Native Language (ENL) relative value results.

Graph 11. English as Second Language (ESL) relative value results.

Graph 12. East/South-East Asian Native Language relative value results.

By total results

A large part of our research, of course, is to compare the popularity of one language with another, as part of the broader aim of a tenable and sustainable course program. In the below two graphs (13, 14), we have compiled all of the data from each of the year groups and added it together. The first is the unadjusted results, which relies purely upon the primary data from the survey results; the second is the adjusted results, which makes use of the secondary data we obtained through the office. As may be observed in the two graphs below, all of the language courses see an increase in popularity when the proportions of year groups are adjusted. This is because of the fact that year 9’s, being over-represented in the primary data, but also less enthusiastic about taking a second language than either year 10’s or year 11’s, when their numbers were reduced to the actual, real-life percentages that we obtained from the school office, it resulted in all languages becoming more popular. The same goes for the year 10’s and 11’s where, being under-represented in the primary data but also the two groups most enthusiastic about taking a language course, when the proportions were adjusted in line with the secondary data, such also contributed to each language becoming more popular. Also contributing to the increase in popularity of each language was the fact that the year 12’s, who were also slightly over-represented as well as generally unenthusiastic about taking a language course, when their numbers were reduced, it also resulted in the popularity of each language course increasing.

Graph 13. Relative value total results (unadjusted)

Graph 14. Relative value total results (adjusted)

Variation

It is also of importance that any potential language course introduced will enjoy longevity, such that any possible language course appeals to all year groups. To this extent, we have determined the variation within languages by the numbers in each year group who have selected “Strongly Agree” to them taking a given language. In this way, we are able to determine the stability of the popularity of each language. As can be seen below in the following table, French has the greatest variation and Spanish has the least, which indicates that French’s popularity varies significantly amongst year groups, which is a negative factor if we are attempting to introduce a language which will be tenable and sustainable over the long-term, whereas Spanish is generally popular amongst all year groups, which can be observed by the reduced variation in the number choosing “Strongly Agree” to taking Spanish in each year.

Table 1. Variation by year in popularity of language preferences

Reasons for taking a second language

In our survey, we included one qualitative question: “What are your reasons for selecting your chosen languages?” Upon reviewing the responses to the question, some common responses include a desire to learn more about other cultures, for which learning another language helps immensely; travel reasons; family reasons, i.e. to speak the language which their ethnicity speaks back home (which in turn relates to learning about culture and where one comes from); career opportunities; as well as to expand upon some basic pre-existing familiarity with their chosen language.

Evaluation

Our market research on possible language courses at Hornby High School has had several strengths and several weaknesses. In the following section, these strengths and weaknesses will be discussed in relation to our Aim.

The strengths we enjoyed include the high response rate, the good representation in terms of first languages spoken, and the quality of the qualitative data. The response rate was almost double our expectations as put forth in the plan, at 90 responses compared with the 46 we were aiming for at minimum. Having such a high response rate allowed us to more accurately determine, and with more confidence say, which language preferences were most popular amongst the students. It also helped us when it came to segmenting some of the data, as without a high response rate, we may not have been able to look at the data by first language spoken and reasonably determine with accuracy as to whether there is indeed any correlation. As for the second strength, that representation which is predicated at least partially on the high response rate, we were able to get a broad range of first languages spoken. That was of particular necessity for segmenting the data by ESL respondents, as if we got too many responses from E/S.E.A native speakers, and too few responses from Pasifika native speakers, it would result in an unrepresentative and an inaccurate data set, and would therefore not allow us to fulfill our Aim. Our third strength, the quality of the qualitative data, helped us to determine why respondents are choosing their preferences, which also helped us to fulfill our Aim, regarding the popularity of the possible courses with those already offered, where a large number of respondents echoed the sentiment that the current language courses offered do not interest them so much as those we have offered, which indicates that there is an opening in the market for new language courses at Hornby High School.

The weaknesses we experienced in our survey include the fact that we surveyed students on only some of the language courses available through NCEA, the lack of year 10 respondents, and a lack in the quantity of qualitative data. The fact that we surveyed students on only some of the available courses was due to a lack of comprehensive secondary research on that matter; our flawed technique was such that we thought of some language courses which NCEA might have offered, then searched those courses up to confirm that they are offered, and then included them in the survey. In hindsight, this was a completely illogical method of conducting secondary research on the languages offered by NCEA, and we thus in turn did not include several languages offered by NCEA. Perhaps foremost of these languages would have been Korean. If we had conducted proper secondary research on the languages offered by NCEA, we would have included Korean (among others), which would have likely been quite a popular language, especially amongst E/S.E.A native speakers. We noted our error first when some respondents began to complain in the last question regarding why they selected their chosen languages, of the fact that we did not offer Korean. If we had included Korean, its popularity would likely have been comparable to that of either Spanish or Chinese, the latter of which may have been chosen by some as a substitute, being the only Asian language we included. Thus, because we did not conduct proper secondary research, we have partially compromised the validity of our survey.

The lack of year 10 respondents was also a weakness. In our survey, we received responses from only 15 responses from year 10, making up only 16.7% of our data, when they should have made up around 28% according to our secondary research on the proportions of students in each year. That the year 10’s were under-represented in the data set relative to other years is not of great importance, for we can adjust the numbers to fit the actual proportions as obtained through the office. The problem here rests with the fact that 15 respondents from year 10 makes up only 11.5% of that year group; although that is higher than the minimum for which we were aiming, it is nonetheless borderline-inadequate, especially considering that we were able to survey 26.8% of year 9’s, 17.8% of year 11’s, and 21% of year 12’s. As a result, our year 10 data is substantially more at risk of being inaccurate than other year groups, which may in turn impact upon our ability to fulfill our Aim, especially with regard to the part of our aim pertaining to determining whether there be any correlation between year level and language preference, as by having a smaller sample size from year 10, we are more likely to get a skewed picture of their preferences, which therefore results in less accurate data for that year group.

The third weakness is the lack of qualitative data in our survey. The questions in our survey were mostly limited to quantitative data, with only one question in the survey being qualitative; that is, the final question on why the respondent selected their chosen languages. As a result of the lack of qualitative data, we do not have as full a picture as we would have liked regarding why certain languages were selected over others. Due to the heavy emphasis placed on quantitative data in our survey, we were able to know what the students wanted, but not why they wanted a certain language or languages. However, so far as the one qualitative question we asked, we received satisfactory responses from most, albeit often simple. And so, although the quality was adequate (as noted above as a strength), the quantity was inadequate. As a result of the fact that we did not have a great quantity of qualitative data, we were less able to fulfill our Aim in the sense that we largely cannot know why respondents chose one language over another, even if we may infer, we cannot know with reasonable certainty.

In order to capitalise on the strengths of our data, in future we could contact the teachers to ask if their students could take the survey, as this would likely improve our already-strong response rate, especially amongst the year 10s, where we did not receive as many responses as we would have liked. We could further improve the good representation by improving the response rate, as by improving the response rate, we will also be improving the representation in turn, by reaching out to those students who may have otherwise not have responded to our survey. Thus, by improving the response rate, we will also be improving the representation in the survey, and thereby capitalising on those two strengths. As for the qualitative data, we may also potentially improve our qualitative data by improving the response rate. As such, we may thus observe the principal, overarching significance of having a high response rate. If we can achieve a high response rate, we will be able to fulfill our Aim more effectively, as we will be able to have more confidence in our data set, and with greater confidence in the data set comes a heightened ability to determine which possible language courses would be most popular if introduced within the curriculum of our school.

In order to cover our weaknesses, including the lack of year 10 respondents, of course, again, improving the response rate would directly remove the issue of the lack of year 10 respondents altogether. As for the fact that we only surveyed students on some of the language courses that NCEA offers, that was merely an oversight on our part, owing to the lack of secondary research that we conducted, and thus in future to remove this issue, we would conduct further, more extensive and comprehensive secondary research. The lack of qualitative data is due to the fact that we asked only one question which was qualitative, as all the rest of our questions were quantitative. In order to remove this issue, we would in the future, include not one but several qualitative questions in our survey. By asking more qualitative questions, we would be able to ascertain why students are choosing their chosen languages, as opposed to just what language preferences they are choosing. This conforms to our Aim because we will be able to more accurately determine the language preferences, the correlation between year group and language preference and between first language spoken and language preference, as well as the general popularity of these languages and their long-term sustainability within the school curriculum.

Conclusion

Thus, to conclude this report, we may summarise our findings as such: Spanish is by far the most popular language preference, with its popularity already comparable to Japanese, and well exceeding te reo Māori; Chinese is the most popular language amongst E/S.E.A NL speakers; and the popularity of second language courses generally follows a parabolic trendline (with exception to Spanish). In the following section, these three key findings will be described.

Spanish is, as noted, by far the most popular language preference of those offered in the survey. Indeed, 21.1% said that they strongly agreed that, were it offered, they would take Spanish; that figure eclipses all other languages, with the second closest being Chinese at 14.4%. Considering the unrivalled popularity of Spanish, we thus recommend that Spanish be introduced as part of the curriculum at Hornby High School. We foresee an opening in the market, as the only possible competition is Japanese and te reo Māori; but yet, there would not be significant competition between either of the courses already offered and Spanish. Both of the pre-existing courses already enjoy a strong base of interest, especially te reo Māori. It is important to acknowledge that Spanish would not be in direct competition with either of these languages already offered, so as to ensure the mana of those teaching these courses is upheld, as our aim is certainly not to swap out one of these languages for the other but rather to introduce a new language which will complement those already taught, and which will not unduly shorten the rolls of the two pre-existing language courses. Introducing Spanish to the curriculum would not only uphold the mana of those teaching these pre-existing courses, but also uphold the pūtake of our school, which is to educate and culturally enrich, as noted in the Introduction. If we can introduce another language course with broad popularity, students will be empowered to learn that which most interests them, and many students have an unfulfilled want to take a second language course at our school, but yet cannot because neither of the two on offer currently interest them. Spanish is a language with vast appeal. By introducing Spanish we will be able to more effectively foster a “centre of creative excellence,” for students learn at their best when the content of their learning interests them, and therefore, considering the popularity of Spanish, it would make sense to introduce it so as to uphold the pūtake of our school and thus in turn strive closer to the school’s aspiration of being a centre of creative excellence.

Our second key finding is that Chinese is the most popular language preference amongst E/S.E.A NL speakers. The significance of this is that a subset of the students within our school are more enthusiastic for Chinese than for Spanish, which is the prevailing preference amongst the data set in general. Despite the fact that Chinese is more popular than Spanish amongst E/S.E.A NL speakers, it is not recommended that Chinese be introduced as a language course in place of Spanish. There are a number of factors opposing its introduction, including the fact that they are both Sinitic languages, and therefore would be in direct competition with each other, the fact that there is a relatively easy transference of skills and knowledge between Japanese and Chinese, as well as the fact that Spanish would be better suited to upholding the pūtake of our school than Chinese. To expand upon these negative factors opposing the introduction of Chinese, we must note that because of the direct competition between Chinese and Japanese, to introduce Chinese as a course would be to injure the mana of the Japanese teacher, as its introduction would likely reduce the size of the Japanese class. If the mana of the Japanese teacher were to be injured in such a way, it may result in a feeling of discontent amongst the employed staff at Hornby High School, which would hurt workplace relations and potentially result in decreased motivation or productivity amongst some staff. In such a way, we may understand the significance of upholding mana in the workplace. In addition to not upholding mana, the introduction of Chinese would not adhere as well to the pūtake of the school:—that is, to educate and culturally enrich. The introduction of Chinese would not adhere to the pūtake because only some of the students actually want to see Chinese introduced; this may be noted so far as the fact that Chinese is the only language in the survey where a majority disagreed to taking it, with only 46.6% indicating some sort of agreeance, whereas an overwhelming 73.3% indicated some sort of agreeance to taking Spanish. Even to focus on those who responded with “strongly agree” to Chinese made up only 14.4%, with 21.1% strongly agreeing that they would take Spanish. Therefore, we must recommend against the introduction of Chinese over Spanish, considering the limited and lukewarm appeal to most students in our school. Considering our pūtake is educate and culturally enrich, if students do not want to take Chinese, then there is no point in offering it, as it will neither educate nor culturally enrich the vast majority of students in our school.

Our third key finding is that Spanish does not follow the same parabolic trend as the other languages offered in the survey, as may be observed in Graph 6. There is a great deal of significance here, as it clearly demonstrates the temporal continuity of the appeal of Spanish relative to the other language choices we offered in the survey. The broad-based support for the introduction of Spanish is evident, given the fact that, unlike the other four language courses offered, Spanish does not see substantial differences year-by-year in its popularity. As can be observed with the other four languages in Graph 5, 7, 8, 9, they follow a parabolic trendline, which indicates that their popularity is rather unstable, with a less solid base of support than Spanish. The fact that Spanish has a more solid base of support than the other four languages also reinforces our recommendation that any language course which is introduced will adhere to the pūtake of the school, for if some language were introduced, it needs to enjoy strong support from all years and thus be sustainable, such that the pūtake of the school may be upheld. For the pūtake of the school cannot be upheld through an unpopular subject course, as it will not engage students, and engagement being necessary to learning, if students are not engaged they will not be learning, and thus the pūtake of the school will be compromised. Furthermore, it would be a waste of the school’s resources, both human and monetary, if a language course were to be introduced, only to prove unpopular amongst the students, with the class numbers too small to continue, such as would more than likely be the case with Chinese, especially because of the direct competition with the pre-existing Japanese course offered at our school.

Our recommendation, therefore, is to introduce a Spanish language course within the curriculum of Hornby High School. Given the popularity of Spanish, and taking into consideration the Māori business concepts of mana and pūtake, we consider that its introduction within the school curriculum would bring great benefit to the students, and would be a very popular subject course were it introduced. Therefore, in light of these deliberations, we must recommend Spanish before all other possible language courses included in our survey to be introduced to Hornby High School, owing to its vast popularity and broad-based support amongst the student populace.

Appendix

Market Research Final Results survey

NZQA website

Scholarship English Day

In English today, we were presented four lectures on a range of different topics relating to English. These lectures included subjects as broad as narratology theory, rhetorical theory, philosophy, and Shakespeare.

I especially liked thinking about how to apply each of these lectures to texts I had read, and in particular how Todorov's equilibrium theory could apply to the work of Faulkner. To focus in on Todorov, he had the theory that a narrative can be segmented into five stages. These stages include the initial state of equilibrium, the disruption of that equilibrium, the recognition of that disruption, the attempt to repair that disruption, and the reinstatement of equilibrium. In Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, we may consider the equilibrium to be the antebellum Southern United States, the disruption to that is the Civil War and resulting decay of the utterly destroyed and humiliated postbellum South. These first two stages are also mirrored with the corresponding initial prestige and then disgrace of the Compson family before and after the Civil War. And so thus, there are parallel narratives here, whereby the Compson family stands in as allegory for the Old South. One way in which the third and fourth stages are manifested is through Jason Compson chasing after Miss Quentin who has run away with a northerner. However, the fifth stage does not return to the first stage, but rather to the second stage, thereby implying that the past is irreversible, but yet nonetheless dictates our present and future. Other theorists that could be connected to The Sound and the Fury include Strauss, especially with his idea of binary opposites, which in the novel could extend to white versus black (the Compsons and their servant family, within the broader context of the South); young versus old as well as female versus male (Miss Quentin and Jason); as well as the overarching notion of the antebellum South and the postbellum South. Barthes' theory about code also comes into play here with regard to the fact that Miss Quentin ran away with a northerner - which reinforces the sense of humiliation the South felt following the Civil War through mirroring it with Jason's humiliation at his niece's promiscuity with northern gentlemen (although I'm not entirely sure which code this subtle fact relates to - I definitely need to research Barthes' theories more!).

All in all, I gained a lot from this day - the new ideas about narratological theories being just one aspect which I enjoyed learning about, in addition to rhetorical theory with regard to Baudrillard's hyperreality and Burke's Pentad, as well as discussing some ethical philosophy about the trolley problem and its different variations, to the Great Chain of Being (which I had never heard about before - and which was very interesting to learn about). Each of the lectures revealed many new fascinating ways of looking at literary texts and I would like to thank each of the teachers who presented today for their very enjoyable and useful presentations.

The Battle of Dien Bien Phu: Historical Perspectives

In History class, we have recently completed an assessment on the historical perspectives regarding the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. The battle, fought in early 1954, lasted just under two months and was a decisive victory for the pro-communist Viet Minh over the French colonialists. It was fought deep in enemy territory, with the French being outnumbered about 4:1 by the Viet Minh, who also received military support from the Soviet Union as well as China.

Despite the crushing defeat endured by the anti-communist Western powers, such did not deter further intervention in Vietnam by the West. Instead, the success enjoyed by the communist insurgents agitated the Western World (most notably the United States) into adopting an increasingly hawkish foreign policy regarding the spread of communism. That increasingly hawkish foreign policy eventually culminated in the escalation of the War in Vietnam by the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations.

For the assessment, we were tasked to write two perspectives; one from a French soldier or general, and one from a Viet Minh soldier or general. I chose to write both of my perspectives from that of a general, 40 days into the 55-day battle. We used historically accurate details to create a compelling and accurate account of each perspective. I hope you'll enjoy reading each of the perspectives. If you have any feedback at all, I would be highly interested in hearing your thoughts.

Battle of Dien Bien Phu Perspectives

General Henri Navarre (France): a letter from the 22nd of April, 1954 to the President of France.

To His Excellency,

It is with the utmost distress and profound lamentation that I write to you, Sir, of the circumstances at Dien Bien Phu. Our current situation is irreparable without external intervention, without which our defeat will be certain. My men have fought forty days and nights against an enemy which can be neither subdued nor defeated. My men are now few among what was formerly many. We began this battle 16,000 strong. Now only 7,000 remain capable of fighting. All the remainder have been either killed by the Viet Minh or have been injured, unable to fight on.

Sir, let me remind you why we are here, fighting, so far from home. We are here because we fear God’s judgement lest we did not spread the gospel. As it states in Matthew 28:19, it is our obligation to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”—how, Sir, may we thus contravene this sacred commandment? That commandment to go forth and evangelise all nations, proclaiming the gospel to them, how may we do so if we depart the land? To depart the land would undo much good work we have done in the Lord’s name. There is no doubt in my mind that the converted Catholics among the native population will be persecuted by a Communist administration, as occurred in the Soviet Union. Dechristianisation is a fundamental tenet of the Communist ideology; Marx himself claimed that religion is the opium of the masses. If we withdraw from Vietnam, it will surely bring judgement upon France, upon us all; it will stain our soul, blemish our blood, and disgrace us eternally before the Lord. We cannot lose this battle, nor this war, for if we do, the Christian converts among the native Vietnamese population will thus in turn lose their faith by force to the Communists, as we saw in Russia. We cannot allow that to occur.

In addition to undoing all the good works we have done in God’s service, may I remind you of the disgrace and shame which would perfuse not only our own bloodlines, but of the entire nation of France herself, if we were to suffer defeat by these ignoble rice paddy vermin! Could we, the glorious French nation, have gone from overthrowing two thousand years of Rome in the wake of Austerlitz, to being vanquished within a matter of weeks by rice farmers? Next year, Sir, marks 150 years since that epochal victory; shall our defeat here be our way of commemorating the men of the Napoleonic generation, of honouring them, of honouring France herself? Our descendants will be forced to live with the legacy of our inaction. They will read of our inaction, of our apathy and of our impotence, and they shall not mourn but will mock us for our inaction. It is imperative for us that we fight on against the Viet Minh for all the glory of France.

As you will be aware, Sir, our strategy at Dien Bien Phu was to initiate a set-piece battle deep in enemy territory (in the vicinity of coordinates 21.39 N, 103.02 E), whereby we would thus provoke the poorly-trained and weak Viet Minh troops from the surrounding area into fighting our troops, far superior to theirs, where we would be able to withstand their numerical advantage with our own technological and materiel advantage. This strategy has been compromised by the highly unorthodox tactics of the Viet Minh, which is very unlike the Western style of warfare, manifested in its gallantry, its determination, and a steadfast sense of honour. The modus operandi of the Viet Minh is that of deceit, dissemblance, and lâcheté! They have no sense of honour, no sense of how to fight with even a modicum of manliness:—their way of fighting is predicated whole and entire upon the archetype of the flea!

Thus far, 40 days into the battle, we have already lost four of our strongpoints: Beatrice, Dominique, Elaine, and Huguette. Now they are advancing towards the southernmost strongpoint of Isabella which, being isolated from the other strongpoints, and being low on water and other essential resources, is sure to fall to the Viet Minh forces. The loss of Isabella is all but inevitable, but we may yet save some of our central strongpoints. As you may have already surmised, Sir, the rapid loss of these four strongpoints has resulted in the morale of my men degenerating. We began this battle confident of victory—but yet, our intelligence pertaining to the armaments of the Viet Minh was completely lacking. Now, in the midst of battle, we are now thoroughly acquainted with the Viet Minh’s weaponry, much of which is unlike anything we expected them to have, and which has ostensibly been supplied to them by the Soviet Union as well as China. The Soviet Union has sent the Viet Minh considerable quantities of heavy artillery, including their very own Katyusha rocket launchers. We thought we would have unlimited access to the air, considering that the Viet Minh is a ground-based force. But yet, with the anti-air artillery they have in their possession, we have been consequently unable to fly our planes at altitudes low enough to enable reconnaissance or air-to-ground combat.

In light of the quickly deteriorating conditions at Dien Bien Phu, it is with urgency that I request of you, Sir, your prompt contact with the U.S. Administration, and urge of them immediate military intervention. In order to best hold our current position here at Dien Bien Phu, and hold it with minimal losses, the use of tactical nuclear weapons must be an option, and an option the U.S. must exercise if the situation calls for it. If the Eisenhower Administration is as concerned about combatting the threat of World-Wide Communism as they claim themselves to be, it is imperative that they contribute their fair share. That contribution does not merely mean money, of which they have allocated plenty—more than $3 billion for the war effort in Indochina, 80% of the total funds for the war have been contributed by the Americans. And yet, all the money they have thrown will not be enough to fight this battle, win this war, or prevent the rise of World-Wide Communism. We cannot kill the Viet Minh shooting them with dollar bills. Sir, I plead: Eisenhower must either send men or send nukes. If he does neither, we will surely lose. As for the latter proposition, that of the nuclear recourse, we have the tentative support of the U.S. Secretary of State, who outlined a new foreign policy strategy of “massive retaliation”—opening up the possibility for nuclear-based retaliation in Vietnam.

That nuclear recourse, or at least the entry of U.S. troops, is of the utmost necessity. The mere allocation of funding from the U.S. will not be sufficient to fight this battle, win this war, or prevent the spread of Communism. We are only bloating our budgets with the exorbitant funding that the U.S. has sent us; if the $3 billion they have sent our way thus far has proven insufficient in our endeavours to vanquish the Viet Minh, what induces in the U.S. Administration the belief that sending us $3 billion more will do anything to assist the situation? Notwithstanding, I fully understand President Eisenhower’s reluctance to entangle his men in the affairs of France; but yet, that does not explain his obstinance regarding the nuclear option. The use of tactical nuclear weapons on the part of the U.S. bears no tangible risk to their men, and will result in a positive resolution to this battle for both our nations, ensuring a victory for the freedom of mankind, in religious, social, and economic terms. Furthermore, it will ensure the safety of my men, who have already endured heavy casualties, now numbering around 9,000 injured or dead out of the 16,000 men with which we began this battle. Sir, if we can persuade the U.S. of the viability of the nuclear option, and if it may be authorised and enacted, it will result in tremendous damage to the Viet Minh, both in terms of casualties sustained as well as the psychological shock they would endure. That psychological shock would itself likely precipitate, furthermore, the desertion of swathes of Viet Minh troops.

If the nuclear option is enacted, the position of the Viet Minh as we enter the upcoming Geneva Conference will be significantly weakened, and ours hugely strengthened. If we lose this battle, our position will be highly compromised at the conference, where the Viet Minh will surely strong-arm us into accepting very objectionable terms—potentially even the cession of Vietnam to the Communists. With the cession of Vietnam to the Communists, Communist agitation will thus inevitably erupt in our other colonial possessions.

To round off this letter, Sir, I would like to describe why the strategy we employed here at Dien Bien Phu has not resulted in our victory. I believed, in the lead-up to this battle, that if we can provoke the Viet Minh into facing us in a set-piece battle, where they would come out of the surrounding hillside into the valley where our strongpoints are positioned, that we would be able to effectively decimate them as they move upon our positions with our vastly superior armaments and insurmountable defences. This has not occurred. Instead, the Viet Minh has engaged us using unorthodox guerilla tactics, with which neither me nor my men are familiar. What has occurred is quite the opposite of what I was expecting; rather than we bombarding them as they advance upon our positions, they have bombarded us as we have remained within the strongpoints.

Yours Sincerely,
Gen. Henri Navarre

General Vo Nguyen Giap (Viet Minh): a letter from the 22nd of April, 1954 to Ho Chi Minh

Dear Ho,

Forty days long we have fought the colonialists, fought the imperialists, and fought the capitalists, and with overwhelming success. We have endured more than five weeks of bloodshed, for I know, as you know, and as our men know, that it will be worth it in the end. For the love of Vietnam we have a duty to fight, for her complete independence and freedom from the gauntlet of oppression which has exploited our people for centuries.

Long and harsh years ago came the mandarins from the north. So our descent to serfdom began. We resisted their chains with all the strength we had, but yet they overpowered us with the unvanquishable numerosity of their forces. For it is so that the Chinese have always proven weak fighters, such that they are unable to defeat the opponent unless they outnumber them ten to one. But so, after centuries of mandarin tyrants, the French came, hearing of our plenteous resources, and were thus overcome with envy for that which is rightfully ours. They cast out the mandarins, installing themselves as rulers in the former’s place. Then, very briefly, the Japanese came, but so it was brief, it transpiring that they were nothing but a paper tiger. Now the French are determined to return. We will not allow them. We have suffered too long. When we come to power, the totality of the oppressors’ legacy will be reduced to a mere mote of dust upon the chronicles of our glory. We will fight and we will all gladly die for Vietnam today, Vietnam tomorrow, Vietnam forever!

All the foreign influence will be extirpated upon the foreigners’ defeat and consequent departure from our land, Vietnam. For the past several centuries, they have sought to impose their culture, their customs, their language, and their religion upon our people. They have sought to poison the souls of our men, our women, and our children. The French, as a prime example, have dumped Catholicism upon our shores like the toxic waste it is, despite their insistence it be gold. It is our traditional folk religion which has been suppressed by the imperial authorities over the past several centuries; the French have destroyed our shrines and our temples, and have built in their place cathedrals obtrusive to its surroundings. The cathedrals, such as Notre Dame in Saigon, are a symbol of the foreigner, come to uproot our culture with their unwelcome ways which they have forced upon us. Why can we not be left alone? Why must invaders come from both near and far to take that which is not theirs? Whether they be Sinitic or European, to the north or from the west, they come all the same, as foreigners and as invaders. Let us then take the military aid granted us by the Chinese; we must take that which is offered, for we cannot isolate ourselves. We will accept their palm but not their fist.

Furthermore, Ho, as you know, the French have been forcing their foreign curriculum on our children. Many children today in Vietnam, especially the city-dwellers, know nothing of the traditional Vietnamese way of life, only a bastardised quasi-Parisianism which they have learnt at school. Such may be seen most evidently in cities such as Saigon, where the French hegemony has approached leviathanic proportions. The schoolchildren no longer learn of Vietnam, but of France instead. They no longer learn of Vietnamese history nor of Vietnamese culture. Even our very own language is discouraged from being spoken, at best, and at worst, schoolchildren caught speaking Vietnamese are dealt severe punishment, as is often the case in the South. It is surely a tragedy for us all that our people have had to endure the foreigners for so long. But yet, that will soon change, with our imminent victory here at Dien Bien Phu. Then, we will rid our country of their influence, and put our own people first, before all else, for the glory of a socialist Vietnam.

And so, it is with great honour that I report to you, Ho, of our overwhelming victory we have experienced here at Dien Bien Phu thus far. We have thoroughly outmanoeuvred the French. They did not expect us to have the weaponry we have, including that contributed by China and the Soviet Union. We have used that artillery to bombard their strongpoints, as well as, furthermore, prevent them from controlling the air above Dien Bien Phu. As a result, the French have not been able to fly reconnaissance missions nor conduct air-to-ground combat with our forces, due to the anti-air capabilities of our artillery. Their airstrip, upon which they were completely dependent for the resupplying of their facilities and their men, we have destroyed. As a result, they have to fly their cargo planes at high altitudes and drop their resupply packages, which, as you can no doubt imagine, is not terribly accurate; I would estimate that we are able to intercept about a quarter of the resupply packages, which has an adverse effect upon their ability to continue their operations, and brings only benefits for my men, with medicine, water, non-perishable foods, and ammunition all being contained within the packages. With our artillery, our four-to-one numerical advantage, and stable supply lines, we have been able to also take the strongpoints of Dominique, Elaine, and Huguette with great ease, in addition to Beatrice, as aforenoted. They stand no chance against us. Ho, we are simply butchering them, as though they were cows come to the abbatoir. It is nothing but reparation for all they have done to our people, all they have done to Vietnam. We have killed and injured around 5,000 to 8,000 French troops, in my estimation, out of an initial French force of about 15,000 men. Of course, we too are suffering great casualties of about 12,000 men lost, yet that is nothing for what we will gain with victory, principally our freedom. And so it is also natural considering we have a much larger force than theirs, with my men outnumbering the French about four-to-one.

It is not only the result of our artillery capabilities that we are winning the battle here at Dien Bien Phu. It is also an example from the field of the superiority of the guerilla in resisting the colonialist and his more traditional forms of warfare. My thoughts on guerilla warfare are summed up in the words of Mao Zedong, who stated in his 1937 treatise On Guerilla Warfare that “The guerilla must move amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea.” We have certainly abided by such a principle, given the fact of our immense support throughout the surrounding town of Dien Bien Phu, where we have been able to gain the covert support of many townspeople, who have been of great logistical assistance, ensuring our supply lines remain strong, so that my men shall not have cause to cease battle for hunger, thirst, or lack of ammunition. The French are completely unaware that we have Viet Minh supply lines running straight through the town of Dien Bien Phu, for the townspeople we have enlisted there are, as Zedong described, like fish in the sea, keeping themselves inconspicuous, but also highly mobile. It is not only in logistical terms that we engage in guerilla warfare; it is even through the fighting itself. For when the French advance, we retreat, and when the French retreat, we advance. We attack them from all sides. We attack them when they do not expect us, and when they do expect us, we sit amongst ourselves. The Viet Minh style of warfare is precisely that of the guerilla, and it is as guerillas that we will win this battle and this war, and thereby win the independence of a socialist Vietnam.

Ho, if we are able to win this battle, we will achieve a great victory for the advancement of all mankind. We are progressing through the predicted Hegelian-Marxist dialectic of which you speak so keenly. Now we are in the midst of a global transition from capitalism to socialism, and from socialism will inevitably come communism. It is certain that we, comprising a dictatorship of the proletariat, will be victorious over the capitalists, who are few in number not only here at Dien Bien Phu, but increasingly on a global scale, too, with the victory of Mao Zedong in 1949 adding another 540 million socialists to the world’s population. And so too, it goes without statement that, with the addition of 540 million more socialists comes the simultaneous addition of 540 million more anti-imperialists and anti-colonialists. For capitalism is but colonialism paraphrased. It is so that capitalism relies upon the exploitation of the proletarian majority, just as colonialism relies upon the exploitation of the autochthonous majority. We are that majority synthesised, for we are both the ethnic and economic majority in our land. Thus must our struggle be directed in a twofold convergence striking with unrelenting fury at the intersection between colonialism and capitalism. We will thereby vanquish the two evils with one united struggle.

Vive la révolution!
Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap