Vietnamese EFL Teachers Research Articles

Communicative pronunciation teaching: Insights from the Vietnamese tertiary EFL classroom

As part of a larger study on teacher professional learning in pronunciation pedagogy, this qualitative study investigates how Vietnamese EFL teachers implement communicative pronunciation teaching in their English classes and how the teachers and students perceive the value of this teaching approach to student learning. Data were collected through classroom observations, individual semi-structured interviews with six EFL teachers and focus group interviews with 24 students (four students per group) at a Vietnamese university. The study adopted a content-based approach to qualitative data analysis. The findings show that the teachers constructed their pronunciation lessons with a variety of classroom tasks ranging from form-focused to meaning-focused practice closely following the teaching sequence as instructed in Celce-Murcia, Brinton, and Goodwin’s (2010) communicative framework. The findings further show that both the teachers and students considered communicative pronunciation teaching an effective approach that has the potential to promote learners' pronunciation knowledge, foster their phonological ability and develop their listening and speaking skills. The study concludes with a discussion about implications for second language pronunciation teaching and learning.

Who Should Teach English Pronunciation? : Voices of Vietnamese EFL Learners and Teachers

Who Should Teach English Pronunciation? : Voices of Vietnamese EFL Learners and Teachers

VIETNAMESE EFL TEACHERS’ USE OF THE SET OF NEW ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS TIENG ANH 11 AS RESOURCES FOR ACHIEVEMENT TESTS

The paper reported on part of a study investigating Vietnamese upper secondary school EFL teachers’ use of the set of new English textbooks Tieng Anh 11 as resources for achievement tests. To carry out this research, both qualitative and quantitative approaches including questionnaires and interviews were used to collect the data from research participants at some upper secondary schools in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. The findings of the study showed the teachers’ practices in using the set of new English textbooks Tieng Anh 11 for achievement tests. They reported adapting the exercises and activities, following the teaching procedures, and referring to the book maps in the set of new English textbooks Tieng Anh 11 to organize revision, design one-period tests and semester exams. Especially, using the accompanying workbooks to revise what students learned accounted for the highest rate. Besides, major challenges of the upper-secondary school teachers in using this set are also uncovered through the results. The teachers mostly have difficulties in finding the relevant materials matching the prescribed test formats as well as the required language competence in the set of new English textbooks Tieng Anh 11, lacking the test formats and scoring criteria associated with achievement tests. From the research findings, some implications were suggested for teachers’ flexibility in teaching and test preparation processes, and for improving the set of new English textbooks Tieng Anh 11.
 
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Corrective feedback: Beliefs and practices of Vietnamese primary EFL teachers

This study investigates Vietnamese EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding oral corrective feedback, exploring and seeking to explain some of the relationships between beliefs and classroom practices. Data were collected in primary schools in Vietnam, and consist of 24 classroom observations and interviews with six teachers. Overall, the teachers showed high levels of awareness of the benefits of oral corrective feedback. They nominated pronunciation errors as the most important target for correction in the primary context. In practice, although pronunciation and grammar accounted for the majority of the total errors, leading to the majority of total feedback moves, the frequency of feedback per error was much higher for vocabulary errors. Prompts were reported by teachers to be more effective and more favourable than reformulations, but this preference was not reflected in the classroom observations, in which a large number of didactic recasts were used. The observed discrepancies are interpreted in relation to contextual factors and the influence of different sets of beliefs on practices. It was also noted that the linguistic realizations of these teachers’ feedback moves contained some inaccuracies. Implications for educational practice are discussed.

A Case Study of Vietnamese EFL Teachers’ Conception of Language Output and Interaction

There exists a gap between what second language acquisition research has to say and what teachers do in the classroom. As part of an attempt to bridge this gap, this study is driven by the motive to understand how pedagogical innovations such as task-based language instruction can be influenced by teacher beliefs. Drawing on the perspective of research on teachers’ thinking which aims to inform language teaching pedagogy and teacher education, the study employed multiple data sources (focus group, lesson plan, and stimulated recall interview) to tap into the conception of six Vietnamese EFL instructors regarding language output and interaction. Cross-case analysis showed that most of the teachers geared language output and interaction activities towards achieving a targeted linguistic aim. Further analysis revealed that this view reflects a synthetic, product-oriented conception of teaching and learning by skill-building, and is in line with traditional approaches which emphasise transmission style and form instruction. This finding implies that constructivist perspectives on teaching such as task-based language instruction may run counter to teachers’ existing conception of teaching. The implementation of task-based instruction thus needs to consider negotiating between supporting teachers to focus on meaning and the need for form-focused instruction.

Vietnamese EFL Teachers’ Classroom Assessment Practice at the Implementation of the Pilot Primary Curriculum

With the launch of the National Foreign Language 2020 Project, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has introduced a pilot English curriculum for the primary educational level, which aims to help primary school pupils achieve level A1 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The implementation of the new curriculum requires major change in teaching methodology, teaching materials and classroom assessment. A new textbook series has also been developed in alignment with the pilot curriculum. Methodology training workshops have been provided so as to facilitate the process of implementing the new curriculum and textbooks. Classroom assessment training curriculum developed in accordance with the pilot curriculum has been delivered to key primary English language teachers. This study reports our investigation into changes teachers have made in their assessment practice on the implementation of the pilot primary English language curriculum. The research involves 67 teachers of primary schools implementing the new curriculum. Data are collected by means of teachers’ in-depth interview and assessment samples. The findings have shown that the investigated teachers have made effort to change their assessment practice so as to facilitate the new curriculum. However, there are still a number of contextual and perceptual factors interfering with the process of changing the assessment practice.

What teachers say about addressing culture in their EFL teaching practices: the Vietnamese context

This paper examines Vietnamese EFL teachers’ beliefs about the role of culture in language teaching. It also considers how they address culture in their teaching practices in a Vietnamese university. Ethnographic data collected from semi-structured interviews indicated that opportunities for culture to find its way into EFL classroom activities were still limited. Priority was given to teaching language knowledge and skills, while culture played a minor role only.

Sources of self-efficacy of Vietnamese EFL teachers: A qualitative study

This article reports on a qualitative study investigating Vietnamese EFL teachers' perceptions of sources of self-efficacy information. Findings suggested that four sources of efficacy information appeared to influence teachers' sense of self-efficacy. Contrary to widespread belief, mastery experiences were not the most influential source of efficacy information. Rather, social persuasion was. Study teachers reported various vicarious experiences and physiological/affective states as supplementary self-efficacy sources, including cognitive mastery experiences, which were deemed more powerful than enactive mastery experiences. The study highlights a range of Vietnamese cultural and contextual factors that influenced the way the teachers selected, weighed and interpreted efficacy information.

Integrating pedagogy into intercultural teaching in a Vietnamese setting: From policy to the classroom

AbstractLanguage education policy needs to be realised in the language classroom. For example, when a specific policy advocates the development of learners’ competence in interacting with people from other cultures, classroom teaching practices and assessment have to address learners’ intercultural competence. Teachers need to fully understand the relevant policy and to be supported in translating it into their classes. This paper examines the current foreign language education policy and the addressing of culture in EFL teaching practices in a Vietnamese context. The study involved 15 Vietnamese EFL teachers from a university in Northern Vietnam as participants. I collected data from semi-structured interviews with each of these teachers, observed each of them twice in their classroom teaching, collected copies of their teaching materials they used in these classes, as well as government documents concerning the current policy. The study found that though the current Vietnamese policy advocates the teach...

Conceptions of Language Input in Second Language Acquisition: A Case of Vietnamese EFL Teachers

Conceptions of Language Input in Second Language Acquisition: A Case of Vietnamese EFL Teachers

Infusing Cooperative Learning into An EFL Classroom

This study sought to investigate student diversities in terms of learning styles and linguistic competence, and the extent to which students change as regards participation, interaction and achievement through Cooperative Learning activities embracing their diversities. 77 first-year EFL students from from the two reading classes, one treated as the experimental group (EG) and the other as the control group (CG), at the Faculty of English Linguistics of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City (USSH-HCMC) were invited to participate in the study. The findings substantiated that Vietnamese learners are open to change and Vietnamese EFL teachers should create effective activities for learners to immerse themselves in talking cooperatively instead of talking individualistically in the classrooms.

Critical Friends Group for EFL teacher professional development

For the best student outcomes, teachers need to engage in continuous professional development. As a result, models of teacher professional development have been developed, among which is the Critical Friends Group (CFG) technique. However, whether it works well with EFL teachers in an Asian context like Vietnam, where EFL teachers in particular do not seem to have the habit of working together, is as yet undiscovered. This study aimed to explore the experiences of a small group of Vietnamese EFL teachers during their participation in a CFG over one semester in a specific context in Vietnam. Through observations and interviews, this study offers insights into the participants’ experiences as well as the application of CFG as a model of EFL teacher professional development in Vietnam.