Teaching English speaking skills: An investigation into Vietnamese EFL teachers' beliefs and practices

Thi Bich Hiep Vu
FPT University, Vietnam

Rooted from the lack of studies exploring EFL teachers' beliefs around teaching English-speaking skills which might profoundly influence and drive their actual teaching practices in the context of EFL teaching in Vietnam, this paper reports the findings of research on the beliefs and practices of Vietnamese EFL teachers pertaining to English-speaking skills. The study involved 52 EFL teachers from 12 universities in different parts of Vietnam, with the primary aim of identifying teachers' beliefs about teaching EFL speaking skills in tertiary level English classes. The secondary aim was to explore the relationships between teachers' beliefs and their teaching practices. The study used a mixed methods approach and collected data via online surveys and semi-structured interviews. The data analysis showed EFL teachers believed that increased time for teaching speaking skills, adapting communicative teaching methods, and student-centred learning could enhance students' English communication skills. However, further examination revealed that a deficit in teachers' efficacy and teacher disinterest in teaching this language skill imposed limits on their teaching practices. Teachers also identified other factors, such as university assessment policies, large class sizes, textbooks and student characteristics as barriers to quality teaching that are responsible for eroding student motivation.
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Author: Dr Thi Bich Hiep Vu earned her PhD in Education at Edith Cowan University, Australia. Her major is EFL teaching and language testing. She has been an EFL lecturer for FPT University, Hanoi, Vietnam for over 10 years. Her interests are EFL learning and teaching, EFL spoken language testing, and English language assessment using modern technologies. Email: hiepvuthibich@gmail.com or hiepvtb@fpt.edu.vn or hiepvtb@fe.edu.vn Please cite as: Vu, T. B. H. (2023). Teaching English speaking skills: An investigation into Vietnamese EFL teachers' beliefs and practices. Issues in Educational Research, 33(1), 428-450. http://www.iier.org.au/iier33/vu.pdf