Python-First Feasibility for Vietnamese Learners Aged 10-14: A Literature-Substrate Design for a Direct-Text Pathway Without a Scratch Bridge

Vietnamese K-12 informatics curricula place blockbased programming in primary school and text-based programming (Python, from 2022) from grade 10 onward. Gifted cohorts aimed at competitive programming require text fluency earlier than grade 10 and benefit from an uninterrupted trajectory toward text-based algorithmic work. This paper examines the feasibility of direct Python introduction at grades 5–7 (ages 10–14) without a Scratch precursor. We draw on (i) the developmental-psychology case against age-gating programming constructs (Kuhn, Klahr, Siegler), (ii) the Weintrop-Wilensky block-versus-text comparative evidence, (iii) the MeerbaumSalant catalogue of Scratch-induced misconceptions, (iv) the Moors dual-modality and mutual-translation framework, (v) the Hermans and Sorva accounts of Python-specific learnability and notional-machine difficulty, and (vi) Vietnamese curriculum evidence from SGK Tin học 10–11 and the 2018 General Education Curriculum. We argue that Python-first is feasible at ages 10– 14 subject to three measurable entry criteria (reading fluency, mathematical maturity, keyboard comfort) and we specify a Vol 1 Chapter 1–5 pedagogical design that substitutes Vietnamese natural-language pseudocode (phi-code) plus Python as the two modalities for the Moors mutual-translation paradigm, pre-empts variable-as-box and initialisation-and-scope misconceptions, and respects Vietnamese learners' working-memory budget. We identify seven open questions that the design conditions on but does not resolve.