Subgoal Labeling for Function Teaching in Vietnamese Lower-Secondary: A Transfer Synthesis

Subgoal labelling — the worked-example modification first formalised by Catrambone (1995, 1998) and operationalised for introductory programming by Margulieux, Guzdial and Catrambone (2012, 2016, 2019) — is one of the most cleanly replicated worked-example interventions in computing-education research. Its mechanism is well-specified: explicit labels on grouped steps of a worked example reduce search over surface syntax and free working memory for schema construction, in the cognitive-load-theory vocabulary of Sweller and colleagues (1998, 2003). This paper asks whether the effect transfers when redeployed for function teaching with Vietnamese lower-secondary (THCS, ages 12–15) learners, given that the original studies were conducted with primarily English-language university-cohort populations. The paper synthesises three literature corpora: (a) the subgoal-labelling corpus itself; (b) the worked-example and cognitive-load substrate; (c) the Confucian-heritage learner literature on classroom adaptation of student-centred Western pedagogies. The transfer-synthesis verdict has three parts. First, the cognitive-load and chunking mechanisms underlying the subgoallabelling effect are language-invariant and learner-architecturebound, so the direction of the effect should transfer. Second, the magnitude should be qualified — a mid-range expectation conditioned on terminology fit, classroom-format compatibility, and pre-existing learner familiarity with worked-example study habits. Third, three Confucian-heritage-specific moderators may amplify or dampen the effect: memorising-with-understanding is compatible and should amplify; cooperative-learning mismatch suggests delivery format is the at-risk variable rather than the labelling intervention itself; teacher-authority norms may push toward instructor-given labels rather than the learner-generated variant, with a corresponding magnitude reduction. The paper specifies a deployment template — Vietnamese-language subgoal labels for the four-step function schema (nhận đầu vào / chuẩn bị trạng thái cục bộ / thực hiện xử lý / trả về kết quả) — and an audit-loop criteria set the deployment must satisfy without running a cohort. Per the elix-researches no-cohort scope, the deployment template is described and theoretically validated; empirical replication is identified as a downstream cohort node responsibility (B1.4 Python-first cohort, C2.1 PRIMM cohort, A3.1 variable mental model) and is out of scope here.