Perceptions of Vietnamese EFL High School Teachers and Students towards English as a Lingua Franca

Thien Bao Nguyen,Yi Hsuan Gloria Lo

doi:10.54855/ijte.222120

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the perceptions of Vietnamese EFL in-service teachers and students from gifted versus non-gifted high schools towards English as a lingua franca (ELF). In this quantitative study, a questionnaire was utilized to collect data that was then analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results show that both Vietnamese high school EFL teachers and students had positive perceptions towards ELF in general and towards each of the dimensions of ELF in particular. Additionally, there were some statistically significant differences between the perceptions of sub-groups of Vietnamese EFL teachers and students from gifted versus non-gifted high schools. The study contributes to the literature of the field and assists policymakers when it comes to formulating policy to enhance English communication skills at the high school level, particularly in the Vietnamese context. In addition, the current study is beneficial for teachers and learners to have an insight into how they should teach and learn English to communicate effectively.

Highlights

Globalization has given rise to changes in a myriad of life’s facets
A closer look at Table 3 illustrates that these teachers believed the utmost importance of an English program was to prepare students for social interactions (Item 4: M = 4.59, SD = .61), they seemed to have a negative perception towards whether their students should be mainly prepared to communicate with non-native English speakers (Item 5: M = 2.75, SD = 1.24)
Another notable figure is Item 3 (M = 3.16, SD = 1.15), which presents a rather neutral perceptions of Vietnamese high school English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers towards models of English used in teaching materials by both L1 and L2 speakers

Summary

Introduction

The phenomenon popularizes English as a medium of communication worldwide. This means that the number of non-native English speakers outweighs that of native English speakers. The conventional notion of teaching standard English pronunciation (American English or British English) as well as the idea of using only English in the classroom has no longer been considered dominant. English, in this case, is used as a medium of communication between people who come from different first language backgrounds, which is so-called English as a lingua franca (ELF) (Jenkins, 2012)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion