AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ RESEARCH COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT AT UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, HUE UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM

Abstract

This study aimed at exploring EFL students’ attitudes towards doing research at the undergraduate level, the perceived practice of research competence and the factors facilitating the development of research competence. The population of the study was EFL undergraduate students studying at University of Foreign Languages and International Studies, Hue University. The sample of the study comprised 120 second-year, third-year and fourth-year students majoring in English Language Teaching and English Language Studies. The data was collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The results show that EFL students thought that doing research is important to their future career path, but they were not confident to do their own research. In terms of EFL students’ perceived practice of research competence, thinking of a research topic and writing theoretical background posed challenges for EFL students, while using PowerPoint to present their research was the activity, they felt most confident to do. The participants did not show entire support for the role of the library and the faculty in facilitating the research competence development at a high level. These findings imply that the library and the faculty should provide more various databases for students as well as opportunities to be familiar with doing research.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0222/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>