Abstract
This study examines the integration of community-based English education, heritage tourism, and digital technology in Con Dao, Vietnam, a site shaped by colonial trauma, ecological richness, and spiritual traditions. Drawing on posthumanist perspectives, the research explores how human and non-human actors, including tour guides, learners, digital platforms, heritage artifacts, and natural environments, co-create educational and visitor experiences. The study employs a qualitative design combining two Delphi rounds with semi-structured interviews involving 22 experts from academia, heritage management, and the tourism sector. Findings identify five core clusters of English competencies essential for heritage tourism: heritage interpretation, hospitality English, intercultural communication, digital communication literacy, and problem-solving communication. Experts emphasized the ethical responsibility of representing Con Dao’s painful past with dignity while avoiding the commodification of suffering, particularly at prison and memorial sites. The proposed framework conceptualizes technologies such as mobile applications, AR/VR simulations, and QR-based signage not merely as instructional tools but as active mediators shaping learning, memory, and interaction. By foregrounding narrative justice, multivocality, and ecological interconnectedness, the study advances a reflexive, technology-enhanced approach to community English education. The findings contribute to scholarship in English for Specific Purposes, CLIL, heritage ethics, and posthuman pedagogy, while offering guidance for heritage tourism.