In this presentation, I reflect on my journey of conducting and publishing a study with my thesis supervisor in Language Learning and Technology journal (LLT) when I was a master's degree student. LLT is an SSCI journal, which has an Impact Factor of 4.313 and is currently ranked #1 in the world among Open-Access Journals in the field of Linguistics and Languages. The paper in question is titled "Exposure to L2 online text on lexical and reading growth", which aims to investigate the relationship between the amount of English reading on the Internet and Vietnamese EFL learners' L2 abilities (i.e., lexical knowledge and growth of reading ability). My discussion involves five subsections: introduction to the paper, its conception, the process of conducting the study, writing the manuscript and getting it published on LLT. Also to be discussed are the importance of being active in learning new knowledge and skills and the value of having support from an experienced scholar in addressing the reviewers' comments and revising the manuscript. Lastly, I will also provide some tips for writing an effective abstract for journal publication. Insights from the presentation are useful for graduate students and novice scholars working in the field of applied linguistics, especially when it comes to publishing in high impact journals.

Workshop is considered one staple of professional development for teachers that can be found across the globe, from local teaching communities to international conventions. Workshop serves as a platform to engage audience in activities and provide opportunities to share ideas and experiences with one another. However, in many situations, we have seen workshops that are conducted similarly to oral presentations or lectures, with participants listening passively to presenters who speak for almost the whole time. Workshops, if understood and conducted as it means to be, will be a great chance for teachers to share their interests and best teaching practices with colleagues. This workshop on how to conduct ELT workshops will walk participants through a number of activities to discover the true meaning of workshops. The attendees will work on ways to prepare and deliver a successful workshop. They will also get familiarized with strategies to engage participants and keep on pace while both presenting information and facilitating activities. By taking part in this workshop, attendees are hoped to feel more comfortable and empowered to conduct ELT workshops in their communities of practice.

TESOL Master's Degree has been a popular choice to most graduates, majoring in either English Language Teaching or English Studies. Yet, there are still wonders about this academic journey. Hence, this 50-minute panel hopes to shed light on opportunities and issues to be solved on the MA TESOL journey through the discussion of five MA holders and students from leading universities in Vietnam and overseas. From various perspectives, the panel addresses a range of topics relevant to the journey. These include available courses, an MA scholarship application, obligatory and optional subjects, thesis topic selections and supervisors. With the expected insights, this panel will benefit participants with valuable information about their future academic journey and determination to achieve their goals.

This session draws on the four pillars of the Science of Learning and using current technologies to enhance young learner classrooms. The presenter will showcase how teachers can integrate app-based learning and online teaching platforms to create a highly engaging and effective learning environment. The presenter will give you a deeper understanding of the key aspects of attention, active engagement, challenge, and feedback can be truly harnessed practically to improve learning outcomes. You will be given fast and effective methods to quickly apply these pillars of learning into your very next class. The session will also take you through practical research using new tools with large groups of learners in Asia. This will highlight how using app and online learning platforms can help develop independent learning skills in young learners worldwide.

As language teachers, we are always trying to engage our students and get them to be comfortable using the language they are learning. But, there is just not enough time in a regular school day and traditional classroom set-up to have every student practice speaking as much as they should. Using a digital curriculum that has all the activities embedded in an interactive platform offers all of that and many more benefits. You will get your students to stop wanting to write down everything before they speak. A modern language lab can also help students not to be embarrassed about making mistakes. You will see how easily you can differentiate between your advanced and lower students and empower your students to take ownership of their own learning. This presentation is intended for classroom teachers, professors, and administrators looking to incorporate an interactive language learning and teaching platform into their day-to-day lessons. Participants will receive a handout with key functionalities and benefits of the platform, as well as a free trial to try the full English curriculum with their students. In the end, the presenter will invite participants to share their struggles, concerns, and experience when integrating technology in the classroom and also allow time for participants to ask questions related to engaging ELLs in fine-tuning their productive speaking skills through technology on a daily basis.

Drawing on findings generated from a British Council-funded study on English as a subject in basic education (ESBE) in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Zein, 2022a, 2022b), I will examine ESBE in Vietnam. I will discuss the participation of Vietnamese test takers in internationally accredited tests, namely TOEFL, IELTS, and EF EPI in relation to the accomplishments of other ASEAN member states in similar tests. I will also situate the discussion in light of Vietnam's strong aspiration for high English proficiency following its transformational 1986 đổi mới. Further, I will examine the challenges which Vietnam faces in terms of multilingualism, pedagogy, teacher education, and recognition of English varieties. I will provide recommendations for research and policy by arguing for conducting research into indigenous languages and English use in the nation, evaluating the currently implemented Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages policy, and setting up policy initiatives to improve teacher education.

Technology has become inseparable from our personal and professional lives. This process has been accelerated by the pandemic, especially when it comes to technology in education. Like any fundamental shift in our lives, there are obvious advantages, but also risks that we need to be wary of. Some questions we need to consider are "Are we mindfully using technology so that it benefits our students?" and "Has our use of technology transformed ELT for the better?" This presentation aims at answering these questions by exploring the PICRAT and the 4Es frameworks. These frameworks will help teachers unlock their potential to teach effectively using technology. You will learn how to engage and foster your students' hands, hearts, and minds through interactive and creative use of technology to prepare learners for the future. The presentation will also look at practical activities where teachers can transform their use of technology and elevate ELT in online, blended, hybrid, and traditional classrooms.

The study aimed at examining the relationship between the learning environment and the students approaches to English learning in tertiary education in Vietnam. A survey with a 52-item questionnaire measuring the students' approaches to English learning and their perceptions of the learning context was distributed to 720 students at four universities. The data was analyzed using cross-tabulation and regression analyses. The results showed that the learning environment had a great influence on the students approaches to English learning through their perceptions as a mediator. Among the considered learning environment factors, Workload, Generic skills, and Co-operating with other students had the most impacts in this regard. However, there were differences in the levels of their influences on each approach to English learning. This study suggested some practical implications for the English lecturers and administrators to improve the English teaching and learning in higher education in Vietnam.

WhatsApp, Facebook, Zalo-social media is a part of modern life. In this workshop, ELL teachers will learn to utilize the convenience of social media to build community, connection, and opportunity for authentic language usage. Specifically, teachers will be given a toolbox of English language challenges created for the social media application, WhatsApp; however the assignments can be adapted to most social media platforms to engage students in written, oral, and visual communication outside of the traditional classroom. The addition of social media assignments to an ELL classroom toolbox will give teachers the advantage of engaging students on the go. ELLs are not only students, but often they are also busy professionals and parents with limited time for study. Through the use of social media, ELL teachers can encourage students to communicate with each other in English outside of class time. Students will be challenged to share how they are using English in their daily lives, thereby building community with students and teachers facilitating a strong learning community that will create a more productive classroom environment.

In 2008, the government of Vietnam announced the National Foreign Languages Project that required educators of English language to teach Vietnamese graduates to communicate confidently in English by 2020. Crowded classrooms, limitation of proper resources and lack of trained educators were some of the impediments in achieving the timely achievements of the goals of the project. In addition, due to isolation from knowledgeable people, the rural students have limited opportunities to practice reading, writing, listening and speaking in English. The isolation is exacerbated by Covid-19 pandemic. However for the better education of the students, it is important to overcome the existing impediments. In our presentation, we will demonstrate how we used a reflective framework to design Content and Language Integrated Learning lessons in English using Moodle, Facebook and Zoom digital technologies to teach undergraduate students from a small university in Vietnam, who were mainly from rural areas, and how we facilitated reflective learning among the students. We will present the aggregate profiles of 12 first-year students and evaluation of 60 pieces of their writings posted on our forums during 2021 and 2022. Our conclusions will provide recommendations for educators from English speaking countries, such as Australia, the UK and the USA, who wish to scaffold students from rural areas of Vietnam to learn to communicate in English independently and confidently, without having to travel to the areas. Our digital English Language Teaching and Reflective Learning approach will contribute to the English language development of students from rural areas.

Resilience in a general sense refers to the positive adaptation in response to difficulties. For over forty years, resilience has been asserted by scholars in psychology as pivotal to human achievement and development in the face of adversity. Research into this concept has also expanded to manifold fields including education where it is identified as one of the determinants enabling learners to deal with challenges and succeed in learning. Despite its significance in human development and education, the concept appears to be under-researched in the field of second/foreign language education (Kim, Kim, & Kim, 2018; Oxford, Meng, Yalun, Sung, & Jain, 2007). This presentation focuses on my visualisation of the concept of foreign language learner resilience (FLLR) drawing on a perspective of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) (Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008). It begins with a brief review of the concept of resilience, followed by a discussion on the need for a conceptualisation of resilience in the context of English learning at the university level in Vietnam. It continues by providing models developed over stages of conceptual clarification, in line with the processes undertaken during my doctoral research. The presentation concludes with theoretical and practical contributions the development of FLLR model makes to the field and suggestions implications for improving English teaching and learning at the university level in Vietnam.

Vocabulary knowledge is crucial in language learning, and information about the effectiveness of learning strategies on vocabulary acquisition is necessary, particularly in the Vietnamese EFL context. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the extent to which using Quizlet flashcards and Mind maps leads to Vietnamese students' vocabulary learning and retention in terms of form and meaning recall. An experimental design with pre-test, immediate post-test and delayed post-tests was employed. 45 Vietnamese university students were randomly assigned to three groups, i.e., one control group and two experimental groups. Participants in experimental groups learned 35 target words in 5 days. The first group used Quizlet flashcards while the second group used Mind maps. Results from post-tests showed that mean scores of participants in Quizlet and Mind maps groups significantly increased, suggesting that Quizlet flashcards and Mind maps had positive effects on vocabulary learning and retention of Vietnamese students. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference between the mean scores of these groups, which means that the impact of Quizlet flashcards on Vietnamese students' vocabulary learning was roughly similar to the effect of Mind maps. Participants' attitudes towards using the Quizlet flashcards and Mind maps, which were gathered by a questionnaire at the end of the research, were relatively positive. The study provides support for the use of Quizlet flashcards and Mind maps in the Vietnamese EFL context.

The rapid changes that we have seen in our societies over the last two years have necessitated responses from all sectors of society, not least in education. Many children and adult learners of English have seen their studies interrupted or simply abandoned due school closures. Attempts at providing online solutions have been patchy due to poor technological infrastructure (urban-rural / rich-poor digital divide) and variable digital literacies. 

Assessment processes (both for and of learning) are critical in online and f2f learning (upon school reopening), the training of teachers in how to best exploit existing skillsets and modalities of teaching (blended and flexible learning) and the role parents play in this process, are all key areas that we need to address if we are to meet the demands of learning today.

In this session we look at the importance of re-establishing actual levels of language proficiency after this hiatus in learning. Reliable and easily administered tests are required to give teachers and administrations an understanding of students' levels and needs. Once these are established, assessment for learning will play an increasingly critical role in the process with teachers and learners engaging in constructive feedback that informs the next steps of learning. 

In a post-COVID environment, the split between physical and digital learning is largely irrelevant. Instead, ESL educators need to develop flexible courses that find the right balance between the immediacy of synchronous communication and the convenience of asynchronous training. Furthermore, the rise of middle-class parents who are living outside of tier-1 cities will lead to a greater demand for an online or hybrid learning solution. In this workshop, the participants will learn how to design an interactive lesson that can combine the best of both traditional and online instruction to offer engaging learning experiences for young learners. The workshop will consist of three parts: • The brief introduction to YLE programs and new blended learning model • Best practices for developing curriculum for YLE classes • Best practices for blended learning

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are free online, books, videos, audio files, lesson materials, and even complete curricula, that can be used by educators to help improve teaching and learning. In this interactive workshop you will have an opportunity to: 1. Learn what OERs are and are not; 2. Compare and contrast various OER repositories and tools. 3. Locate and evaluate OERs that can support your work Teaching English as a Second Language; 4. Locate and use an OERs “Creative Commons License;” 5. Examine strategies, tools, and ideas for creating OERs as an individual or a team; 6. Draft an OER strategy for your school and/or classroom. You will need a device, such as a laptop or tablet, to access various tools during this interactive workshop. You will receive online access to all workshop materials.

Why do some second language learners achieve at very high levels by studying independently, while others make very little progress after many years of formal instruction? Why is second language acquisition often regarded as difficult and painstaking? Polyglots and other high achieving learners have discovered or invented their own methods to acquire outstanding levels of second language proficiency largely outside of conventional classroom environments. Such learners know the how and the why of great second language acquisition. Their learning is autonomous, methodical, and highly enjoyable. Their approaches are, in many cases, structured around pursuing a language within the context of exploring personal interests. Attendees of this workshop will examine the best second language acquisition methods and habits of highly successful second language learners through their own videos and written accounts. We will identify and list the common elements of the most effective and pleasant pathways toward second language acquisition. Finally, we will evaluate these learning behaviors for their potential in enriching our curriculums and instruction as well as for their usefulness in our own second language acquisition journeys. The best methods of second language acquisition are not a mystery. Under the right circumstances, they are natural and enjoyable processes that we can study, analyze, personally adopt, and share with other learners. These beliefs and values are the foundations of this workshop.

Blended Learning has been known as an effective approach in Teaching for a long time and it has become much more efficient during the Era of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the application of Blended learning in Teaching Reading Skill to EFL Freshmen. The technique was applied in an experimental class with 33 students while a controlled class of 35 students was taught without it. A pre-test and a post-test were conducted to measure all the students reading performance. A questionaire was also used to investigate students' attitude toward Blended Learning in reading class. The findings revealed that the students in experimental class performed better that those in the controlled class. The answers also showed that most of the students in the experimental class have positive attitude toward Blended Learning and more motivation to the reading topics. On the basis of the findings, some implications were also suggested for better results in applying Blended Leasrning in teaching reading in the EFL context in the future.

In the age of digital transformation, using online tools to teach different English skills has become universal. However, English teachers often find it hard to select an effective tool to teach EFL students. This study examines whether there is any significant difference in using three technology-based tools, including Google Docs, Padlet, and Classkick, in teaching a writing skill course to English-majored students at Banking Academy of Vietnam. Second-year English-majored students from three classes, each of about 40 students, participated in the study. Each writing class was taught using the same material and syllabus with the help of one software of the three online tools. At the end of the semester, the same questionnaire with a 5-Likert scale adapted based on Hubbard (2006) and Chapelle (2001) checklists was conducted to measure the learner's fit and motivation throughout a semester. The collected data were then analyzed by one-way ANOVA (SPSS). The findings show an insignificant difference between the application of Padlet and Classkick software in teaching writing and significant differences when using Google Docs with the other two online tools. Such results suggest a better fit for using Google Docs in teaching writing than Padlet or Classkick.

In recent years, mobile English learning app has become a prevalent learning tool for young learners (Truong, 2020). Both teachers and parents should delve into its linguistic principles and pedagogical implications so that they can understand the enablers and barriers of those apps to children's digital literacy (Oakley, 2020). Unfortunately, despite the number of recent studies, the dearth of research has critical scrutiny about the suitability of English learning apps for young learners and the principles underlying the design and functionality of mobile apps for children. As a result, the purpose of this study is to examine Monkey Junior, one of the twenty most downloaded English learning apps for kids in the US (Monkey Junior, n.d.), to provide a breakdown of the principles underpinning its functionalities, which include multisensory, gamification, phonics, and sight words. The research provides a more transparent overview of the academic rationales for the principles reflected in the app's design. The multisensory approach including visual stimuli, auditory techniques, tactile teaching methods, and kinesthetic learning has been maximized in Monkey Junior. Also, both multisensory phonics and sight words have been applied in the app to optimize children's literacy learning. Several types of games have been designed for Monkey Junior to diversify forms of lesson revision and keep children interested in trying a new different game after each unit. Finally, the study will discuss some limitations and what might be missing from this app.

In recent years, technology has come a long way in becoming one of the most used tools to reshape and improve education. During the pandemic, it has bridged distances in order for education to continue. As face- to- face classes are progressively returning to its full implementation, educational technology is eyed again to help in the smooth transition. This systematic literature review aims to explore the advantages and disadvantages of Flipped classroom (FC) vis-à-vis listening and reading skills and to look at guidelines needed in its implementation in language teaching. The surveyed studies underwent thematic analysis and it yielded to the themes reduced reading and listening learning anxiety and improved critical analysis of texts read and heard as the primary advantages of FC while disadvantages include possible low comprehension monitoring brought by difficulties in internet connection access and instability. To implement FC, teachers are encouraged to give interactive and collaborative activities, make available authentic materials and provide enough time for review for students to fully afford the advantages of FC. The study implies that students should be clear of their roles in a flipped class to facilitate better performance in their activities, and that it is recommended that in- depth study on the use of FC in the Philippine classrooms be implemented to look into its effects that maybe unique to Filipino learners.

Poetry written by second language (L2) learners can be used as data to explore personal history (Chamcharatsri, 2013; Hanauer, 2010; Iida & Chamcharatsri, 2022). To date poetic inquiry with L2 writers has been limited to mundane personal events such as study abroad (Hanauer, 2010; Liao, 2016). The question is what happens to L2 writers when they are asked to express love, which is uncommon to many Asian students in their lives, in the target language? Can poetry writing help L2 learners to express such a feeling? This study employs Hanauer's (2010) methodological guidelines for L2 poetry writing. Data collected came from 23 poems written by 23 Japanese EFL college students. In this study, each participant was assigned to write a poem concerning love reflecting on their own experiences. Data analysis involved the analysis of the writers' subjective positions in relation to autobiographical information by observing poetic content and linguistic and literary choices (Hanauer, 2010). The results of this study showed that poems written by Japanese EFL students were categorized into five themes: family, shape of love, romantic love, friendship and hometown. Each poem captured visual and sensory images of EFL writers' real-life experiences and represented their various emotional responses ― happiness, sorrow, gratefulness, regret, and betrayal. The presenter will discuss the implications of these findings for pedagogy in L2 composition classrooms and future research directions.

The affordances of new technology have given teachers a range of tools to use in the classroom. Nevertheless, much of the time these new tools have not really changed the way in which teachers teach. However, with the advent of the flipped classroom approach (FCA), the role of the teacher has been fundamentally altered. From being the focal point of the class, the teacher has found their traditional role partly usurped by a computer and has had to redefine themselves as a classroom facilitator whose main focus is not on imparting knowledge, but on encouraging skill development. In this talk, I will present findings from research into the impact of using the FCA in a higher education ELT setting, with views from students, teachers and course co-ordinators all taken into consideration. Some of the questions asked were 'How well does the FCA engage students and support learning?', and 'What changes, if any, in method/focus has the FCA prompted in teachers?'. The focus will be on what worked, what didn't, and how this approach can be used most effectively to support student learning.

Courses in corpus linguistics are increasingly taught in both undergraduate and graduate level first language programs taught in universities. However, there is a common view that understanding and using corpora require such a high level of language ability, that they are useful for TESOL teachers in their course preparation, but too complex to be useful in the TESOL classroom itself. The presenter disagrees, and will show how using a corpus and related resources can enrich language learning for learners at all levels from secondary school upwards, and from lower-intermediate learners (CEFR A2) upwards. This session will briefly describe a study in which learners were introduced to the freely available online corpus portal site englishcorpora.org, as well as several other corpus-related tools, and were shown how to use these tools as a regular part of their everyday language learning activities. The presenter will then provide step-by-step guides for how to integrate a variety of corpus tools into the classroom, and the audience will be able to try these out under guidance. All the tools can be accessed by smartphones as well as by computers.

Reading logs, a reading motivation strategy characterized by reflective journaling, are not only critical in the development of reading comprehension but may also be instrumental in taking readers beyond the referential into the representational realms of language (Delarriva & Basabe, 2016). This quantitative study explored the effects of reading logs to the attitudes of Grade 7 Filipino students towards reading based on Mathewson's tripartite view of cognitive (perspectives and outlook), affective (feelings and emotions), and conative (actual behavior) attitude influence. Before the intervention, data showed that the students have a high level of agreement in the scale for cognitive and affective attitude and a middle level frequency for conative attitude. While there existed no significant difference between the students' cognitive and conative attitudes, their affective attitude was seen to have improved after four weeks of being engaged with reading logs. Results further indicate the potential of this strategy in increasing students' levels of pride towards reading and decreasing their negative self-concepts.

The digital world encompasses an array of platforms that engage people to participate in virtual communities. These virtual communities promote the use of communication tools as well as the seamless birth of information. One of these platforms includes Booktube. Booktube is a subset of the Youtube Community that comprises channels discussing books and literature. It is a digital space used to encourage everyone to read books and commend particular books that are appealing to the masses by giving book reviews, ratings, and personal feedback on any literary canon or recent literary outputs. This research is a systematic review of 20 relevant studies screened through the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) model search strategy system. This provides an outline of the advantages of Booktube and its activities that facilitate language learning coded and analyzed through Archiv für Technik, Lebenswelt und Alltagssprache (Archive for Technology, Lifeworld and Everyday Language.text interpretation) software. The results of the study expressed that Booktube offers expansive opportunities in the context of pedagogy, reading, social interaction, and learning development. From the synthesis of the studies included here, Booktube is perceived as a promising and favorable online tool towards language learning.

The paper studies the ideologies embedded in President Joe Biden's inaugural speech in 2021 and the realizations of these ideologies through the vocabulary, grammar, and structure of the speech. The transcript was drawn from whitehouse.gov and the video is available on CNN on YouTube, which was later personally checked for accuracy by a comparison between the video of the speech and the transcript. The speech was systematically investigated based on the dialectical-relational approach proposed by Fairclough (2001) and systemic functional grammar by Halliday (1994) towards critical discourse analysis. There were two major ideologies present in President Biden's inaugural address through the linguistic analysis. First, the speech plainly conveyed a strong message of unity among the US citizens under the democratic administration of President Biden in the hope of addressing the current concerns that the US had been facing. This ideology was manifested through the use of antonyms, metaphors, the personal pronoun "we", the passive voice, declarative mood, auxiliary "will", relational process and through one part of the speech structure. Second, President Biden emphasized the ideology of liberalism, democracy and equality during his speech based on the analysis of linguistic features as he believed that the needs for freedom and social equality are vital. This was communicated via the use of classification schemes, metaphors, passive voices, declarative mode, relational process and the first part of the speech structure. These findings imply that when analyzing Biden's and others' political speeches, other phonological aspects like stress or intonation should also be employed.

University students are part of the digital native generation who grew up with the internet and social media. They are exposed to media content daily and understanding this media is an important and relevant part of their lives. This talk describes an Integrated Academic Writing CLIL Media Literacy course at a Japanese national university that aimed to both provide students with the critical thinking skills to analyze and interpret media messages and to demonstrate this understanding through the writing of 5-paragraph essays. Students were given pre and post course surveys that focused on their experience and confidence levels with writing an academic essay and their knowledge and understanding of media literacy. Pre-course surveys showed that students had very little experience in writing academic essays in English and that confidence levels in their academic writing ability were relatively low. In addition, they were not familiar with some of the basic principles and concepts of media literacy. After the 15-week course and through a series of scaffolded lessons that taught students academic writing through media literacy content, post-course surveys showed that the majority of students significantly improved in their confidence levels, knowledge and ability in academic writing. This was achieved via step-by-step practice of the IBC format generated from the media literacy themed content through integrated writing activities that brought benefits to the students with respect to both content learning and language learning processes.

In this session, British Council Vietnam's English Programmes team will begin by outlining the genesis of the Digital Learning Innovation Fund pilot and how the three UK-VN research projects were identified. We will then hear from the three project teams who will outline the aims, outputs and outcomes of their individual projects, each of which was conducted between May 2021 and March 2022. - Digital English Theatre Project (Can Tho University/ IH Belfast/ The Hands up Project) - ViVEXELT Vietnam's Virtual Exchange for English Language Teaching (HUST / Coventry University) - Online mentoring and course for Grade 6 teachers (HPU2 / IH London) Then, ELT Consultants, who monitored and evaluated the three projects and the Fund itself will share some of their findings and recommendations, as well as lessons learned. Finally, we will have a panel discussion where members of the audience can put questions to British Council, the three UK-VN project teams and ELT Consultants regarding the findings, recommendations and next steps.

In learning EFL, listening comprehension is the most challenging skill so it is essential to apply techniques in practicing listening. Shadowing is suggested as one of the listening techniques that have effective in enhancing learners' listening comprehension skills. This study aims to investigate the influence of doing shadowing technique as homework assignments on English-majored students' listening comprehension skills and their attitudes toward this technique. The study used the experimental and descriptive quantitative research with the listening test and the questionnaire were used to collect the data of 67 English-majored students in the Basic Consecutive Interpretation 02 Course at the School of Foreign Languages in Can Tho University. These students were assigned to practice shadowing every week as homework for 8 weeks in the second semester of 2021-22. The findings showed that (1) English-majored students' listening comprehension skills improved after following the shadowing procedure as homework assignments after 08 weeks; (2) steps and materials in the shadowing procedure were suitable for their practice, especially as homework assignments; (3) students were positive about their being active in their shadowing practice despite certain challenges; (4) students realized the improvement of their listening comprehension skills thanks to shadowing. As a result of such improvements, they had high motivation for continuing their practice shadowing in the future.

Formative assessment is an integral part of any classroom; however, the virtual classroom that teaches speaking presents its own set of unique challenges for ELL teachers and students. In this setting, teachers who wish to assess their students' speaking skills regularly must be creative in gathering accurate information and in keeping students engaged. In this workshop, the presenters will provide three types of formative assessments that can then be used immediately in their online or in-person classroom. The assessments are divided into three categories: pronunciation, conversation practice, and task-based activities. Within the three categories, we will cover two activities each. Each type of assessment will be briefly explained for participants followed by an interactive demonstration. The workshop will conclude with a discussion on the benefits and challenges of these assessments as well as ways to adapt and integrate them into participant's own contexts. Participants will walk away with a handout describing each activity and associate links.

This workshop introduces a new Vocabulary-based English Language Test (VELT). The VELT has been developed in response to some possible time inconveniences with the current paper–pencil high-stakes English communication tests (e.g., TOEIC® L&R; introduced by ETS in 1979). The TOEIC® L&R requires 180 minutes to complete and 7–10 days to process the score (ETS, 2022). The VELT contains 60 multiple-choice integrated-skills questions that should be completed in 30 minutes. The 60 questions are divided into three parts (A, B, and C), covering three word-aspects (use, form, and usage). The VELT, therefore, administratively differs from the TOEIC® L&R in that it (i) requires shorter time to complete (30 minutes) and (ii) is convenient to take and process (can be taken in a regular classroom and processed by the classroom teacher). The VELT validity has been investigated through an empirical study of 75 L1 Japanese participants, divided into three different proficiency groups (beginner, pre-intermediate, and intermediate). All participants were in their first year at university. Participants were placed in different compulsory skills-based academic English classes for twice per week, 100 minutes each. Participants completed a full VELT after one week. The VELT has shown to be valid in significantly distinguishes between the three different proficiency groups' percentage mean scores-intermediate level (76.332) > pre-intermediate level (66.667) > beginner level (62.932)-with an internal consistency of 0.653 using Cronbach's alpha (α). Implications, future studies, and limitations for the VELT in language classrooms are introduced and discussed.

Many learners of English, as they progress to the level at which they can use English for 'real' communication, find that there are often significant differences between the language they learned in school, and the language as they experience it in real life. However, it is not easy to pin down these differences, in part because speaking takes place in real time: as soon as something is said, it is gone. This is in contrast to written language which can be analyzed at leisure, since it is fixed on the page. This workshop will explore ways of raising learners' awareness of both grammatical patterns and discourse strategies used in everyday communication by, on the one hand, fluent users of the language, and on the other, the learners themselves. The workshop will consist of two parts. A brief discussion of the issues around textbook English versus everyday spoken English, and a description of a recent study in which students recorded, transcribed and analyzed a variety of conversations. An activity in which participants will be invited to record and transcribe each other's speech, and to notice features of that speech which are different from those of typical textbook dialogues.

Today new online resources and educational technology tools are introduced every day; it is hard for educators to stay current. Educational technology companies tell us their technology is a GAME CHANGER! If we use their new educational technology tool or resource, we will revolutionize our schools and classroom and our students will learn more and learn it faster! Is that true? Can a technology really revolutionize education? Can technology really help students learn better or learn more? Join Marshall Jones in this interactive Keynote address to help you make sense of the ever-changing world of technology in teaching and learning. You will learn some history and learning theory to help you better understand the promises and perils of technology in teaching and learning. You will learn to choose and use the best technologies to support your students and your colleagues as Teachers of English as a Second Language.

Teacher training and professional development (PD) are part of a teacher's life-long learning and qualification needed to respond effectively to the dynamic changes in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT). According to Cohen & Hill (2001), professional development is considered an essential mechanism for enhancing teachers' content knowledge and developing their teaching practices. In this sharing session, the speaker(s) will share some helpful information about the ELT conferences, both local and international that they have attended, including the practical tips for successfully applying for presenters at these conventions. In addition, the speaker(s) will discuss the challenges and opportunities, especially what they have learned and the best practices that they have applied to their classrooms. Participants in this session will also have a chance to explore some online platforms and available resources for the continuation of professional development, which is the demand for improved quality of teaching and learning. 

COVID-19 has altered the way we live and work. Consequently, when the disease spread in Ho Chi Minh City, resulting in the closure of education providers, online learning and remote working emerged as an essential mechanism to maintain the continuity of study. This study investigated student views on learning English online with the 2 applications Google Classroom and Skype. The respondents (n=55) completed the 45-period English for Employment course taught by the author in the mode of pure online teaching at a university in Ho Chi Minh City. The course was conducted in semester 2 of the 2019-2020 academic year, which began in March 2020 and ended in May 2020. To collect data, a questionnaire adapted from Alsubaie & Ashuraidah (2017) was delivered and one-on-one in-depth interviews were conducted at the end of the course. Both methods of data collection were conducted over the internet. The results revealed that effort expectancy, performance expectancy and perceived usefulness exhibited a strong relationship with students' online learning in this case study. Additionally, the findings suggested that it was the matter of the subject that pure online teaching should be employed or it must be a combination of traditional face-to-face teaching and online teaching. In the light of these findings, this study concluded that online teaching using Google Classroom and Skype showed its potential in the process of innovation of teaching methods and forms of teaching.

Key words: students' views, google classroom, skype, online English learning.

Group work has been well documented to be effective in enhancing the interaction and communication among EFL learners, therefore, this activity has been widely employed in online EFL classes in the context of the Covid19 pandemic. The goal of this study is to explore the benefits and challenges of group work in online EFL classes from learners' voices. A mixed-method approach was employed in this research. Participants were 246 non-English majors from a Vietnam university. They were asked to fill out questionnaires with questions about the advantages and difficulties they encountered when they worked in groups in online English lessons. To investigate in further depth, 10 students from this sample were invited to participate in online individual interviews. Regarding Data Analysis, the quantitative data from questionnaires were analyzed with Microsoft Excel Software, while the qualitative data from the interviews were analyzed with content analysis. Findings revealed that most participants believe the benefits of online group work are associated with peer learning; cooperation through the applications of online platforms like Nearpod, Padlet, or Google Docs and learners' motivation. Nevertheless, many learners perceived that their biggest challenge was group members' attitudes and behaviour, which detered them from working in a group. Some suggestions proposed by participants were clear marking criteria for member's contributions should be made to encourage the involvement of students; the number of group work activities should be limited to one or two in each lesson. 

Keywords: group work, peer learning, online learning, online platforms, cooperation

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has been gaining popularity especially in Asia in recent years, and translanguaging has been incorporated in some CLIL classrooms (e.g., Nikula & Moore, 2019). In this presentation, I share findings from a case study that explores the experience and perspectives of students and teachers in a new CLIL course for both Japanese and English learners which incorporates the translanguaging pedagogy. Particularly, in this presentation, I focus on the teachers' perspectives on translanguaging. The study took place in a private university in Japan which offers a bilingual education. The university offers English and Japanese language programs, and this course was developed by a collaborative effort by English and Japanese language teachers. The course is unique in that it is the only dual-language based class in the language programs, draws upon translingual practices for all of the students across the class, and was developed and co-taught by both Japanese and English teachers. The presentation draws on interview data of 5 teachers who were involved in the development and implementation of the course. The findings of the study are generated through thematic analysis and suggest that while some teachers see the benefits of translanguaging and CLIL in students' learning, some doubt the usefulness of translanguaging and CLIL, and prefer a more traditional style of language education. I will discuss some challenges of developing a new type of language course as well as implications for researchers and teachers who advocate a new type of language course.

Following the development of communicative, learner-centered approaches such as communicative language teaching (CLT) and task-based language teaching (TBLT), learner-learner interaction (i.e., peer interaction or PI) has become a prevalent type of interaction in L2 classrooms. However, much research has investigated PI among adult learners, with little targeting young learners (see Oliver & Adams, 2020; Philp et al, 2014 for recent reviews). Additionally, PI research has primarily focused on the issues and benefits of PI among adult learners, with no research, to the authors' knowledge, examining teachers' perceptions and practices of PI, particularly in EFL contexts. To address the gaps, this study explored how primary school teachers in Vietnam perceived and used PI in the classroom. The participants were seven experienced teachers from six primary schools across a Mekong delta province. The study used multi-methods, including classroom video recordings, field notes, semi-structured interviews, and stimulated recall interviews. Data was analysed following a theme-based approach with descriptive analyses of observational data. The findings show teachers viewed PI as manifesting itself in two forms: decontextualized form-focused PI (DFPI) and genuinely communicative PI (GCPI). Regarding GCPI, the teachers reported both benefits and drawbacks. Notably, their PI practices did not reflect their stated beliefs about PI use, with GCPI accounting for only a small portion of the time in a lesson. The study provides insights into PI as it is actually practiced in authentic classrooms and suggests some pedagogical implications for L2 classrooms of young learners.

In most academic writing programs worldwide, instruction aims to develop students' awareness of essay types, written language use, and test-taking strategies. However, teachers' instructional practice is often dictated by their knowledge base, perception, and the intuitions they have about language use (Borg, 2006). Such intuitions are not always correct (Cobb & Boulton, 2015) and may not fully reflect how language is used in a particular genre of academic writing by native speakers. Thus, the grammatical structures they teach may not correspond well to what is frequently used in that genre. On the part of students, because of their limited knowledge of writing conventions, they might end up using various grammatical forms while not considering how appropriate these are. Thus, it is imperative for writing teachers to allow for "data-driven learning" (Johns, 1991) whereby students explore language constructions through consulting a purpose-built corpus. Such a corpus exposes students to language features peculiar to a particular genre, but it can also help them identify which is frequently and appropriately used in the genre. In this presentation, we will describe how to identify frequently used complex sentence forms in a corpus of 162 IELTS essays (49,102 words) written by IELTS examiners and experts by using AntConc, a software created by Anthony (2019) for analyzing written corpora. We will then give some pedagogical suggestions for how to design and implement teaching material based on our findings as well as for how the findings can be practically applied in developing classroom activities.

Learner silence in the EFL classroom is a widespread concern among teachers. Such a phenomenon often induces teacher struggles in identifying the causes of non-participation and understanding the learning nature of quiet students. Indeed, understanding how silence functions during the learning process and how it influences learners' willingness to speak might help teachers make better informed pedagogical decisions to bring up an environment inclusive to both eloquent and introspective students. Despite scholar efforts in silence discourse, little is known about the supportive relationship between silence and speech formation in language learning. This presentation reports on an illustrative case study of Vietnamese tertiary students investigating their perspectives on silence in English verbal practice. The results, collected through open-ended questionnaires, offer insights into the way silence fosters and intimidates speaking task performance, the kinds of classroom tasks or lesson phases where silence needs to arise, and the learning strategies mostly employed during silent time. Overall, the study proposes a reconceptualization of the usefulness of silence in cognition and language regulation. With this in mind, teachers thereby should consider reflective learning needs in classroom contexts, and be more mindful in task design so that thinking products generated in learner silence can be well developed into speech.

This study investigates high school EFL teachers' perceptions of the necessity and effectiveness of online teacher professional development (PD) to their teaching practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. One hundred and fifty teachers having experienced online teacher PD workshops by the MOET participated in the study. The study employed a mixed-methods approach with a concurrent research design. Data were collected and analyzed through questionnaires and interviews. Overall, the findings have indicated that the teachers perceived online PD workshops as a beneficial format to help them improve their pedagogical skills to teach online. The findings have showed that while the teachers felt confident and motivated as a result of attending the online PD workshops, there were factors affecting their online teaching practices (e.g., poor internet speed, lack of technological skills and technology literacy of both teachers and students, and lack of proper training). On the basis of the findings, practical implications have been made so as to increase the sustainability of online PD activities for EFL teachers in similar contexts.

Key words: EFL teachers, online teacher professional development, professional development; COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam.

Among a vast array of techniques that help enhance L2 oral fluency of students is the use of speaking templates, also frequently referred to as handy language, sentence stems or starter chunks. Much as this technique has been quite commonly practiced, its relevance and effectiveness take more than experience and observation to determine. This project, as a result, aimed to investigate the impact of using templates on improving oral fluency. To fulfil this aim, a quasi-experiment was designed with a control group (N=24) and an experimental group (N=24); they both took a pre-test and a post-test but only the experimental group received training with speaking templates in a 6-week period. The data collected was processed to garner numerical statistics of Speech Rate, Mean Length of Runs and Average Length of Pauses, the three measures of oral fluency. The test scores of the two group were then compared by t-tests and one-way ANOVA tests on SPSS. A questionnaire was administered afterwards to elicit students' opinions on the use of this fluency training method. The findings revealed that not all students from the experimental group benefited from speaking templates and that generally speaking, students welcomed the use of handy language and had favorable experience experimenting with the technique.

Screencast feedback is defined as computed-mediated feedback provided by a teacher by recording the teacher giving feedback on a digital copy of student work using a screen-capture software (Ware & Warschauer, 2006. This paper is written based on a study investigating students' responses to the teacher's use of synchronous screencast feedback to correct their writing pieces during a 15-week online EFL writing course. The data were collected from 89 second-year English majors at University of Foreign Languages, Hue University via an online survey. The findings reveal that the students in the survey generally showed a positive attitude towards screencast feedback as this novel way of giving feedback is said to be necessary and helpful for their writing improvement. Students also favored screencast feedback over traditional written feedback as it is more informative, understandable, and beneficial for mutual learning among students. However, they also pointed out that time consumption, a limited amount of feedbacked writing work, and fast-paced explanations are some major drawbacks of simultaneous screencast feedback in online lessons. Therefore, students suggested the teacher change the screencast feedback delivery from synchronous to asynchronous mode, share both screencast feedback videos and corrected writing files on LMS for students' revision at their convenience, and ensure every student have an equal chance to receive feedback for their writing pieces as several ways to improve the effectiveness of using screencast feedback in online writing courses.

This paper sets out to examine the effectiveness of the two English textbooks for grade 12 students in delivering the Vietnam National Foreign Language Project (Project 2020). At the surface level, the textbooks were designed to correspond closely with the two major goals established by Project 2020, including the development of learners' communicative competences and intercultural communication (Hoang, 2016). However, a comprehensive analysis and evaluation, substantiated by existing literature, revealed that in terms of communicative competences, the implementation of the textbooks in the classroom remained quite problematic and incompatible with what they were originally set out to achieve. Meanwhile, with regard to intercultural communication, the lack of a multilingual English model and advocacy of native speakerism were found potentially to hinder students' ability to speak successfully with global English users. With this in mind, the researcher has proposed several measures to optimize the use of the given textbooks in delivering Project 2020.

Textbook adaptation is a useful skill for those in second language teaching. However, adapting receptive skill activities can be seen as difficult or time-consuming for teachers. In addition, receptive skill learning can sometimes be tedious for students. This presentation will introduce several different ways that teachers will be able to adapt a textbook for use in the classroom. The presenters will focus on quick and effective ways to adapt reading and listening texts that foster student engagement. Furthermore, these adaptation methods will offer extension into sub-skills (skim reading, scanning etc.) or communicative activities. This session will equip teachers with practical skills, as well as provide them with the rationale for textbook adaptation. As both are directly applicable to classroom practice, they will be useful to any teacher who feels bound by a textbook. Through this presentation participants will gain a clear set of methods to adapt receptive skill textbook activities while keeping classroom engagement up.

This empirical study is aimed at exploring what online resources and how students use to translate the texts from English into Vietnamese and their evaluation of those resources in the process of practicing translation. Participants were eighty third-year English major students. They were asked to complete a survey with open-closed questions. Content analysis was employed to analyze the qualitative data from the survey. The results revealed that the most popular online resource was Google Translate, followed by the online collocation dictionary and other online dictionaries. Furthermore, the majority of participants stated that they relied on Google Translate at the first step of their translation because of its convenience rather than accuracy. The findings also showed that students perceived the most important element contributing to good translation was the translator's knowledge and language competency of both source language and target language. However, all participants advocated the use of online resources which help translators save time and improve the quality and efficiency of the translation. It is hoped that the findings of this paper will shed light on academic translation training in other settings.

Keywords: online resources, translation quality, online dictionaries, Google Translate, online collocation dictionary

In the past two decades, there has been a growing number of subject areas starting to include drama in their curriculum and the field of foreign language teaching has witnessed an outstanding increase in the use of drama in different contexts. Digital drama where people act via online platforms has started to attract English teachers' attention all over the world for various reasons. The current research project entitled Digital English Theatre has been conducted with 40 English teachers and 1,215 students from different cities and provinces in Vietnam for eight months. Findings reveal that digital drama can bring numerous benefits to EFL students in Vietnam, both at high school and tertiary education, in terms of improving their linguistic competence and skills, enhacing classroom practice and others. Suggestions have been proposed by the teacher and student participants on how to overcome challenges that may take place in order to implement digital English drama successfully in Vietnam.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought both challenges and opportunities to EFL classrooms in Vietnam since there is an urgent need to transform the traditional offline to an interactive online delivery mode. EFL teachers, therefore, are required to be innovative in incorporating online technology to their courses. This study presents the design of EFL writing lessons using Pear Deck, an add-on of PowerPoint Online and Google Slides with several features allowing teachers to encourage students' real-time responses while presenting informational slides. Post-instruction surveys and interview sessions were conducted among 106 English major students at Vietnam Maritime University to investigate their perceptions of how the course design affects learners' engagement, learning and course satisfaction. Results from questionnaire responses and interviews show that Pear Deck could not only boost students' engagement and learning but also offer a positive level of course satisfaction. It is suggested that Pear Deck should be employed to assist synchronous EFL writing lessons, and this tool can also be used in asynchronous form to facilitate blended instruction.

Keywords: Peardeck, Interactive online learning, EFL writing, learners' engagement, course satisfaction

Field trips, defined as trips organized for educational purposes, are embedded in curricula from primary to tertiary level to give students a sense of connection, first-hand experience, and thereby, engagement with the subject matter. In Vietnam, field trips are increasingly of common practice among undergraduate programs, especially engineering and tourism. Interestingly, more and more undergraduate English courses, both General English (GE) and English for Specific Purposes (ESP), also employ field trips as a compulsory activity. This present paper aims to shed light on the issues concerning the objectives and design of such trips in undergraduate English courses. To be more specific, it attempts to answer two questions: (1) why field trips are adopted in English courses at tertiary level; (2) how field trips are planned, monitored and evaluated in the GE and ESP courses. The study involves interviews with GE and ESP lecturers from five universities in Hanoi to explore the practice relating field trips in the English courses in their universities. The findings reveal practical differences in the exercise of the field trips in the GE and ESP courses, provoking further discussion on the desirable outcomes of such educational trips.

Learners' engagement has been identified as a crucial factor contributing to effective teaching and learning. Yet, the discussion over learners' engagement in online learning contexts remains limited (Lazareva, 2017; Werang & Leba, 2022). In time of COVID-19 pandemic, in-depth investigations into this aspect have become increasingly urgent, especially in such contexts as Vietnam where online instruction has become "a new normal". This mixed-methods study responded to this pressing call by exploring three aspects: (1) adolescent EFL learners' engagement levels in synchronous online classes, (2) factors influencing learners' engagement, and (3) ways to enhance learners' engagement. Quantitative data were collected through questionnaires administered to 30 Vietnamese EFL teachers and 120 adolescent EFL learners at an English language school in the Mekong Delta. Additionally, qualitative data were obtained from three focus group interviews with nine adolescent learners, providing a more in-depth understanding of the participants' perceptions. Results revealed that learners were more behaviorally and emotionally engaged among four analyzed engagement dimensions. Teacher-related aspects and teaching content and activities were found to be the most influential factors on learners' engagement. These findings provide teachers, curriculum developers, and institution administrators with important practical implications for measures to effectively enhance learners' engagement in virtual classrooms.

This paper aimed to explore factors affecting the level of satisfaction among 82 students from two different classes at Vietnam National University Hanoi, International School when they participated in one hybrid learning course and one full online course with the same lecturer at the same time during the new normal period of Covid-19 pandemic in Vietnam. The factors were considered in the aspect of the interaction between teachers and students, the interaction among students, the interaction between students and content, and the interaction between students and technology. The students' satisfaction with the same subject (EAP - English for Academic Purposes) but delivered in two different learning platforms was compared and the students' barriers to the course were assessed. The answers of the studentrespondents were collected through a survey questionnaire consisting of a set of five-point Likert scale questions and one open-ended question. The results of the study revealed that the student's satisfaction with the course was at a high level, and the studied students were more satisfied with their learning experience in the full online course than in the hybrid course. The research findings also showed that the biggest challenge to these students was learner autonomy or the learning motivation. It was therefore recommended that the application of full online or hybrid courses should be guided with institutional support to improve learning opportunities for students and enhance learning outcomes and skills. 

Keywords: students' satisfaction, interaction, hybrid course, full online course, EAP

Writing for scholarly publication is considered an important activity for young scholars. However, it is a challenging task for many young scholars, who are usually novice writers in academia. Previous studies have mainly examined challenges encountered by Non-native English Speaking (NNES) novice scholars when publishing research internationally. However, there is scant research on what drives young scholars to publish. Given the importance of scholarly publishing for young academics, it is essential to understand the motivations behind their decisions to publish to encourage them to publish, as well as to provide them with appropriate support. Employing the Motivation Theory, this qualitative-oriented research aims to investigate what motivates 13 young Vietnamese scholars to publish their research papers in English-medium refereed journals. Data were mainly collected from in-depth interviews and thematic analysis was adopted for data analysis. The results show that the major drives for these authors to publish are extrinsic motivators such as passing the thesis examination or preparing for a future career. The study provides practical recommendations for academic support for novice scholars on their way to successful publication. 

This study is interested in the power matter in the virtual EFL classroom, hoping to shed light on issues emerged due to the shift to online learning during Covid-19 that previous studies conducting on physical class setting have not discussed. It examines how teachers use power in the virtual environment and how this impacts student learning. In an online setting, do the teachers use more or less certain powers, and does the use of certain power result in more positive learning? What are the students' voices and how can teachers empower students to facilitate more cooperation and responsibility in learning? The purposes are to identify problems or challenges that need immediate attention and/or action to avoid learning breakdowns. The study employs a mix-method (surveys and focus group interviews) using an adaptation of the Teacher Power Use Scale (TPUS) developed by Schrodt, Witt, & Turman (2007) as a tool to measure teacher's use of powers. The results of the study imply that the use of teacher power is necessary to encourage positive learning. The absence or ignorance of power by the teacher could cause neglecting or poor participation in the lesson. 

Key words: shift on online learning during Covid-19, power relation, teacher power use, TPUS, EFL, language classroom

The application of collaborative writing has proved its significance to create opportunities for language learners to explore the language in an active manner when they are allowed to interact with other peers. Learners are able to employ the linguistic features of their classmates to internalise the learning process. Moreover, the sense of critical thinking is also elevated when learners can argue and express their personal ideas with careful negotiation among the pair or group members. This approach is ideal to construct the learning arena when learners can take active role with higher levels of reflection for their personal performance so that they can modify learning strategies. However, when it comes to the private teaching context, more issues are confronted by both teachers and learners. This paper is a critical review of the factors that contribute to the practicality of collaborative writing in the context of Vietnam. It will address certain matters that influence the effectiveness of collaborative writing in private teaching contexts, especially for test preparation courses. It also proposes certain measures to mitigate the negative factors in applying collaborative learning in test preparation courses.

Using apps on the mobile phone to master English skills is not novel to learners. The application "Hallo" is an app allowing users making random audio calls with foreigners all around the world. The research was carried out to investigate the effectiveness of utilizing "Hallo" in fostering learners' English speaking. Ten English majored sophomores in Hong Duc university were chosen to participate in the study lasting ten weeks. These students were required to make daily conversations about assigned topics on the app "Hallo" and then video-record them to send to the lecturer for regular checking. The comparisons of pre-test and post-test results and classroom observations indicate that students made a big progress in English speaking skills and could communicate with others more fluently. The study suggests that this app should be applied under teachers' detailed guide lines to maximize its benefits and enhance learners' English speaking.

With the outbreak of coronavirus, schools and other institutions have to seek alternative effective teaching methods to transfer knowledge and interact with students. Online learning via digital platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams has been chosen as the best way to transfer knowledge to students. However, it is undeniable that students easily lose attention and interest after spending hours in front of a computer screen. Classpoint is a relatively new application that many teachers choose in order to foster students' engagement in online class. In this paper, the author conducted a survey of teachers' opinion on the effectiveness of Classpoint during their lessons. It was found out that keeping students engaged, analyzing each students' understanding of the concept, and collecting feedback are some significant benefits that this educational app contributes to the success of an online class.

Understanding why a teacher first decides to pursue the profession is critical to curriculum planning for teacher education, and a large body of research has well explored this area. However, little has been investigated regarding how those reasons change over the length of an ESOL teacher's career, particularly in the Vietnamese context. Knowledge of this kind not only contributes to teacher support programmes but also throws light on how the sociocultural factors in a school context work. This study, therefore, explores how the reasons for choosing the ESOL teaching career evolve by employing a qualitative design. The semi-structured interview was used to examine five late-career ESOL teachers' perception. The results show that reasons for choosing to teach fall into three categories: Personal, Professional and Moral. Among these, personal features such as love for children, appreciation and professional ones such as stable income and educational nature are more likely to change. Moreover, it was found that while external factors immensely create changes, internal ones act as maintainers. Recommendations for teacher training and support programmes, vocational education for high school students and the micropolitical context of public schools are made. 

Keywords: ESOL teachers, late-career, reasons for becoming teachers

Reality shock is an experience that happens due to the theory-practice gaps in teacher education. It not only causes attrition among early career teachers but also critically harms their well-being and emotions. Research has shown that reality shock primarily results from teachers' unrealistic beliefs about teaching practices and the school context. While studies that examine ESOL teachers' pedagogical beliefs are abundant, those that aim at their organizational beliefs are limited. This qualitative study, therefore, investigated newly-graduated ESOL teachers' beliefs about themselves as professionals in a school context. Particularly, it explored teachers' expectation about workload, challenges, professional support, autonomy and professional acknowledgement. It employed the semi-structured interview as the data collection tool, and six teachers were invited as participants. The results show that young teachers had very realistic beliefs about the workload and challenges that they might encounter in real teaching, probably thanks to the experience gained from their teaching practicum. However, they possessed somewhat over-pessimistic perceptions about professional support, autonomy and acknowledgement, which might lead to reality shock. Recommendations have been made for ESOL teacher education programs and newly-qualified teachers themselves.

In the era of globalisation, English is widely implemented at many kindergartens and English centers in Vietnam in the belief that preschoolers can enjoy great opportunities to be fluent in a language. Since 2020, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOETs) has officially allowed the introduction of English to pre-schoolers to help them approach the English communication ability at their developmental stage and prepare for primary-school English education. However, little research has been conducted on teacher perceptions of this policy and teacher practice to support preschoolers' English language acquisition. This research aims to reveal these two aspects via an online survey sent to 30 teachers all over Vietnam. The findings showed that regarding teachers' perceptions of the MOET's objectives in early English education, almost all the teachers (83.3%) believed that the government expected to build the motivation for the pre-schoolers in English language learning. Also, a very high percentage of participants (88.7%) thought play would be the key method that strongly supported children's motivation in acquiring English. In accordance with teacher practice in English instruction for pre-schoolers, speaking was considered the major language skill since the teachers thought it suited young children's cognitive development best. Various play activities were reported in the study, with the dominance of musical and physical ones. Plus, from the data, the pre-schoolers' pronunciation and confidence gained the most benefits from the activities. Such findings are significant for teachers, parents, administrators and policy-makers in effective boost of preschoolers' English ability.

The challenging transition from students to professional is often filled with pressure for students since most of them are familiar with neither the requirements of the current competitive labor market nor the eligibility criteria recruiters are looking for. Therefore, undergraduates at Faculty of English language teacher education – ULIS are provided with a job interview simulation activity during the course entitled "Business Communication" with hope to familiarize themselves with the procedure of an employment interview (searching for career information, analyzing job description, collecting data, writing a CV & cover letter, preparing for the interview). The present paper serves as a detailed description of how the simulation is conducted throughout the course and reports students' evaluation of the project's effectiveness in improving the mandatory skills. This is hoped to effectively bridge the gap between the knowledge students have acquired while in education and the actual required skills in the workplace and ultimately strengthen their post graduate employability.

According to Scrivener (2012), giving feedback on written works is considered to be a time-consuming but rewarding task for language teachers. Thanks to the digital teaching tools, this task has been facilitated and proved to be more effective than ever. The study was carried out at a university in Ha Noi, during the first semester when first-year English linguistics majored students were required to take a fully online writing course. Throughout this course, students were assigned to write three different theme-based academic paragraphs (also called writing entries), each of which consisted of three versions with a view to achieving the B1 level (according to CEFR framework) by the end of the course. The study aims to (a) review the strategies of giving feedback on writing entries through both Teacher-to-Students and Students-to-Students interactions and (b) identify and categorize types of students' limitations in academic writing based on features of academic style and marking rubrics of paragraph writing. Therefore, teachers are able to tailor their feedback sessions towards the expected outcome. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods, using document analysis as the main research instrument. 120 students' writing entries (from four different classes) were collected, analyzed and categorized into types of dominant and common mistakes before each feedback-giving instruction session. The findings have revealed these feedback strategies can help students realize their weaknesses in academic paragraph writing, avoid making similar mistakes and give corrective feedback to their peers.

In recent years, a growing attention has been drawn on student teachers' identity (e.g., Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009; Feng Teng, 2019; Riordan & Farr, 2015) or teachers' identity in teaching (e.g., Duong & Duong, 2020; Li, 2020). Meanwhile, there seems to be less research on teacher identity construction in the context of assessment reform. Additionally, data of many studies in this field are collected by means of stories which are believed to be powerful to learn about teachers' complex internal cognitive process and the selves they present to others in a range of events and circumstances (Barkhuizen, Benson, & Chik, 2014; Connelly & Clandinin, 2006; Freeman & Richards, 1996). In an effort to fill the research gap and spread meaningful stories, the present study adopts the Labovian perspective (Labov & Waletzky, 1967; Labov, 2001) to examine the stories narrated by a university teacher for understanding her identity construction by virtue of changes in assessment regulations and practices. The study is expected to contribute to the body of literature on teacher identity in general and teacher assessment identity in particular, as well as to provide significant inputs for teacher professional development plans in the assessment field.

At various educational levels in Vietnam, the employment of summative tests as an assessment tool for academic performances has been a common practice. At upper secondary level, standardized tests and their results have been used to decide students' graduation or university admission. The tests, therefore, can be said to be high-stakes, not only to students but teachers and administrators at Vietnamese high schools. As a result, learning and teaching are prone to changes under the effects of such high-stakes tests. This study aimed to identify the effects of the high-stakes English test in the National High school graduation exam on teaching of Vietnamese EFL teachers, which has not received much attention from researchers in the field. Using both a questionnaire and a follow-up interview with a group of 8 Vietnamese teachers, the study found that the teachers' teaching content and methodology were steered by the test. The extent of changes in those two teaching aspects, however, was not uniform among the teachers. There existed significant differences depending on how much the teachers related their own personal factors such as beliefs in effective teaching and test preparation to the contextual educational factors and the features of the test itself.

Learner engagement is the degree to which learners are engaged with their educational activities and it is positively associated to the expected outcomes. Similarly, in learning a foreign language, it will be the most effective to apply suitable English teaching methods to enhance students' engagement (Harris, 2003). The study is conducted to pilot the application of Spencer Kagan's cooperative learning model in non-English majored classrooms and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the model in increasing students' engagement. This mixed method study was implemented with the collection of quantitative data expanded upon by qualitative data collection through a questionnaire and interviews. The questionnaire was delivered to 120 non-English majored students and five interviews with five teachers who were in charge of teaching English to such informant students were carried out at the end of the piloting period. The responses from the questionnaire and interviews were transcribed, and analyzed in order to answer the research questions. In general, positive outcomes of the implementation of Kagan cooperative learning structures related to students' engagement were shown from both teacher and student participants. Students agreed that they were in favor of working in pair and group tasks while teachers realized that their students became more engaged and motivated to complete assignments in a team setting. Implications from this study support the potential for Spencer Kagan's cooperative learning model application in not only non-English majored classrooms in Vietnam but also other levels. 

Keywords: Cooperative Learning, Approach, Non-English Majors, Engagement, Spencer Kagan

Debating has been considered an efficient activity to improve essential skills for language learners. That might explain why this activity has been part of the curriculum of many teaching programs across the field. One of the most important aspects of a successful debate is the confident and persuasive delivery of the content. It is, therefore, important that teachers help students build a professional style with the activities specifically designed for this development. This experimental study suggests one such activity and aims to analyze its effects on students' improvement. The activity involves sending students videos of debaters with satisfactory manners. Each student was then required to choose one turn of speech that they found impressive and recorded themselves delivering that speech. They were to imitate exactly the speed, the tone, the volume, the gestures and expressions, and the eye contact made by the original speaker, and then submit the video to the teacher for feedback. This procedure was repeated several times during the course, with the same or different speeches each time. Data analysis revealed the evident progress in the delivery the students made in front of the whole class. Another implication was that the high levels of confidence presented by the debaters and the effective communication and persuasiveness of their arguments seemed to be attributable to the number and quality of the recordings.

Pronunciation is an essential aspect in English language teaching and learning (Martin, 2015). In EFL classrooms, however, pronunciation seems to be ignored which may cause unintelligibility in oral communication (Gilakjani & Sabouri, 2016). According to Cunningham (2009b), mastering English pronunciation has been one of the biggest challenges for Vietnamese learners. Despite the significance of determining learners' and teachers' beliefs in pronunciation learning and teaching process, research on this field has been limited so far (Baker, 2014; Buss, 2015). Therefore, this study is an attempt to investigate Binh Phuoc high school students' and teachers' beliefs about the current practices of pronunciation in EFL classrooms. To achieve this aim, this study was carried out by employing a mixed-methods approach with the participation of 249 students in three grades of 10, 11, and 12 and 33 EFL teachers of four high schools in Binh Phuoc province. Quantitative data collected from the questionnaires were processed by SPSS (24.0), whereas the qualitative data obtained from the semi-structured interviews were analyzed following six steps recommended by O'Connor and Gibson (2017). The findings revealed that traditional techniques including repetition, reading aloud, imitation… were still utilized. Additionally, the results also implied that the IPA-based phonetic transcription was seldom used to teach and practice English sounds systematically. Furthermore, the differences between students' and teachers' beliefs about this issue were also highlighted. (246 words). Keywords: beliefs, practices, pronunciation, Vietnamese EFL context.

As a consequence of tremendous technical breakthroughs over the last several decades, there has been an unparalleled growth of portable smart devices, as well as a surge in mobile applications, specifically for language acquisition. Notwithstanding the amount of research on Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL), there is a scarcity of studies on non-English major students' usage of MALL in Vietnamese colleges. Using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this study explored how the non-English major university students use MALL at three universities in Hanoi and their reflections. The information was acquired through a survey of 200 first- and second-year students, which was then followed by in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 students. The data findings showed the diverse frequency in using a wide range of mobile applications. It could be seen that online dictionaries like Google translate or Tflat were most regularly used while Lacviet dictionary was mostly ignored. Social media such as Tiktok, Facebook were much more frequently used than WhatsApp, Twitter or Skype. Meanwhile, the interviewers also reveal the convenience and flexibility of MALL, although many of them agreed that the fee as well as the security of several applications caused troubles sometimes. It draws to a close with a conclusion and suggestions for the future initiatives.

Effective use of all workplace competencies begins with good communication skills. As the global language of business and research, it is widely accepted that the ability to communicate effectively in English is now a basic employability skill. With covid-19 continuing to reshape the future of how and where we work, the latest research suggests that 21st century skills have never been more valued by employers. What does this mean for the teaching of English? In this session, we will explore the washback of a renewed focus on 21st century skills into a new wave of digital-first learning solutions. We will share some digital tools and approaches that teachers can use to embed the development, and measurement, of these skills in an ELT environment, and showcase how they can align with the ultimate goal - helping learners kickstart their dream career.

Language and culture have an inseparable and mutual relationship as language carries culture and culture's beliefs, ideas, and knowledge on customs and values are transmitted via language. Therefore, in acquiring a language, learning and teaching its culture is indispensable. The research was implemented at the Faculty of English Language Studies, Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBT) to investigate the challenges in teaching and learning British Culture and Civilization and suggest some recommendations. A questionnaire was distributed to 30 third-year students and 5 teachers, who then participated in an interview. The findings revealed that the primary barriers were time constraints, a lack of real-world experience, and out-of-date resources. Some suggestions for effective teaching and learning included allotting more time to the subject, introducing more up-to-date resources, and improving the learner-centred approach. Additionally, a comparison between Vietnamese and British cultures should also be offered to extend learners' understanding. Keywords: teaching, learning, British culture and Civilization, obstacles, suggestions.

In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and its adverse impacts, classes were moved online, facilitating the use of computerized learning assistant tools. Online dictionaries, thus, have become even more widely used even though they were already popular in this digital era. This study aims to shed light on how English majors at a public university in Hanoi used web-based dictionaries during Translation study as well as how they perceive their advantages and disadvantages. An online questionnaire survey was delivered to 182 third-year and fourth-year students who participated in Translation courses. The findings show that most students employed online dictionary with great frequency, mostly for checking lexical meanings and finding collocations, and expected a great number of examples of word use in contexts. The paper also reveals the students' perceptions of the effects of online dictionary on their Translation study. On that basis, some recommendations for using web-based dictionary in teaching and learning Translation are put forward with a hope to allow instructors and learners to make the best use of the available resources. It is also hoped that the research results can provide a foundation for integrating a training course on using computer-aided translation tools in the curriculum. Keywords: online dictionary, web-based dictionary, translation, university students, English majors.

Gamification, namely application of game mechanics, has been widely used in virtual or brick-and-mortar classrooms while introduction of intriguing and challenging riddles in classes is quite a novelty. Moreover, little research documentation regarding effectiveness of simultaneous incorporation of gamification and riddles in promoting autonomous learning has been provided. Following Caroline Cruaud's research (2018) and Shaham Hait's (2013), this study investigates applicability of the integration to developing EFL learners' autonomy in terms of such fundamental skills as learning to learn, critical thinking, collaboration and peer teaching, and digital literacy. A mixed methodological approach was employed including a survey questionnaire of 3 qualitative and 18 quantitative items completed by 289 high school students and analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics. Besides, in-depth or qualitative interviews with 5 of the students were conducted to collect additional information for further analysis. The overall findings indicate the parallel utilization of gamification and riddles in EFL classes greatly facilitates development of essential skills for autonomous learning. Specifically, the results reveal learning English through gamified learning platforms and challenging riddles motivates students to play an active role in self-study, improves their critical thinking, i.e. objectively analyzing and evaluating an issue to form a judgment, encourages them to work cooperatively, teach and learn from peers, also enhances their digital literacy, i.e. the ability to use ICT in learning. The study concludes the adoption of gamification and riddles in EFL contexts is a remarkably effective and highly recommended approach on the basis of the significant findings.

This study attempts to investigate challenges faced by EFL high school teachers and students in implementing online peer assessment for oral presentation. Online peer assessment has been increasingly used in English classrooms as a method to reduce teachers' burden and promote students' language skills. Besides the tremendous benefits of online peer assessment for both teachers and students, it is inevitable that several difficulties may arise and hinder the effectiveness of online peer assessment. The participants of this study were 6 high school teachers and 193 students experiencing online peer assessment before. Adopting a mixed-method approach, this descriptive study employed questionnaires and semi-structured interviews as research instruments. For data analysis, the quantitative data were computed by SPSS software while the qualitative data were coded according to Nguyen's (2018) new application in the unfolding matrix. The findings show that high school teachers and students encountered a number of challenges in utilizing online peer assessment in oral presentation. Specifically, students' low individual accountability and substantial time and effort in assessment organization and management are regarded as the biggest challenges of teachers. In terms of students, lack of experience, language ability, and knowledge is their major obstacle. Although online peer assessment needs the support of technology, a few of the subjects in this study had technology-related difficulties. Based on those findings, pedagogical implications are made for improving the implementation of online peer assessment in oral presentation.

Corpora and corpus-based approaches have been used to aid second language (L2) pedagogy for more than half a century (Schlitz, 2010). While this method has been acknowledged as having great potential for L2 writing instruction (Almutairi, 2016; Klimova, 2014; Yoon, 2008), it may not have received the same level of attention from English teachers in Vietnam. Given that this tool can contribute to the development of independent learners with regard to L2 writing, it is essential that teachers be informed of the approach and willing to apply it to their writing courses. The current study aims to investigate the extent to which academic English instructors at universities in Ho Chi Minh City know about corpus technology and its use in teaching writing skills. It also examines their perceptions of the (potential) benefits and obstacles to employing this technique in their classrooms. Eight EFL instructors at both public and state universities in the city were invited to join in-depth semi-structured interviews. The data was analyzed using content analysis and patterns in the responses were identified. The results show that despite its popularity in the field of L2 research, corpus technology remains unfamiliar and largely inaccessible to a majority of teachers in the area. They also expressed concerns about issues related to access fees, reliability of corpora content, lack of pedagogical knowledge, and insufficient instructional hours in the syllabus. Based on these findings, several implications have been made in terms of teacher training and support.

This paper reports on ViVEXELT (Vietnam Virtual Exchange for English Language Teaching), a project supported by the British Council and the National Foreign Language Project in Vietnam (digital learning innovation fund pilot) that aims to set up a sustainable model of continuous professional development (CPD) for English language teacher education. It addresses capacity building and digital innovation and subject-specific e-competencies enhancement with the creation of English language teaching knowledge-sharing communities of practice supported by Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL)- Virtual Exchange (VE) courses.

ViVEXELT focuses on the development of its participants' English language teaching competencies (speaking and online interactional skills in particular, see Moorhouse, Li & Walsh, 2020), critical digital literacy and intercultural awareness 'in' action, while doing the online course, 'on' action', reflecting on the course after its completion and 'for' action, thinking how their can apply their learning to their future ELT practice.Â

A novel international Vietnam/UK ELT community of practice was created through Virtual Exchange that also addressed the need to further develop a student-centred ELT approach in Vietnam (Le, 2020) and in the UK.

The paper will evaluate the positive impact that ViVEXELT had on English language teachers and students in teacher education in Viet Nam and in the UK, including the collaborative creation of a breakout room guide for online synchronous sessions.Â

(we woudl be interested in delivering a featured or plenary talk, as the project went very well and had wide reach)

Learning through peer observation has a great contribution to the process of training teachers to be as it helps both the observees and the observers improve their teaching practice, transform their educational perspectives and develop collegiality. This paper describes the peer observation model used in the preservice teacher training in Faculty of English language teacher education at the University of Languages and International Studies (FELTE - ULIS) and reports on the effectiveness as well as the drawbacks in the process of installation of this program. Data was collected from both the qualitative method using questionnaires for 132 senior students of FELTE - ULIS and the qualitative approach through interviews 9 out of 132 questionnaire responses. The research discovered that peer observation can be a good tool to support student teachers' professional development by improving their teaching strategies and generating their excitement. Recommendations for improvement have also been presented.

In this intimate talk, the author presents inspirational real-life ideas on how DST, a form of digital literacy practice, can empower EFL students to develop their skills and language areas needed to successfully communicate with other native and non-native English speakers across digital and non-digital platforms. Then, the author reviews existing voluminous literature to analyze the maximum benefits and great hindrances of DST tasks in the EFL context, and presents three examples of DST activities that EFL educators can implement to promote the development of writing, speaking, vocabulary, grammar, and reading. This one-on-one discussion will be followed by a preliminary training session and innovative practices where teachers will be given a rough guide through the reasonable steps of creating DST projects and beyond. At the end of the session, participants will walk away with a toolbox of inspirational ideas that they can start using tomorrow morning.

Teachers' professional development is believed to be crucial to improving the quality of schooling in general and higher education in particular. This quantitative research aims at investigating tertiary EFL teachers' reactions to both formal and informal professional development activities which they have most frequently participated in by means of a survey questionnaire. Particularly, the questionnaire was designed upon the first level of Guskey's (2000) evaluation model along with the consideration into the interaction between core features of professional development by Desimone (2009) (i.e., content focus, active learning, coherence, duration, collective participation). The data collected from 202 valid responses of EFL teachers in different universities around Vietnam showed that their engagement frequency and reactions were perceived at different degrees as a result of the interaction among the core features of professional development. The research findings possibly inform tertiary EFL teachers, institution managers and professional development program organizers the current professional development practice in Vietnam and suggestions to further improve the existing activities. Keywords: professional development, teachers' reactions, tertiary EFL teachers. This research has been completed under the sponsorship of the University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS, VNU) under the project number N.21.15.

Using digital technologies that have grown commonplace in recent years has become an essence during the COVID-19 epidemic; as a result, students have begun to utilize them more frequently both in class and at home. With that information technology's pervasive impact and rapid advancement, digital citizenship is now a key educational goal. Aiming at exploring experts' perceptions of how digital citizenship should be incorporated into an existing English language teaching curriculum (ELT), this research plans to employ the Delphi technique as its primary methodology. In the first round of the Delphi process, 30 experts will be invited to participate. After two rounds, experts are expected to develop a consensus on a list of indicators for digital competences which can be enhanced by ELT curricula with 21 key competences belonging to 5 areas including Information and data literacy, Communication and collaboration, Digital content creation, Safety and Problem solving. The list of indicators aims to serve as a framework for assessing the feasibility of the education of digital citizenship in ELT curricula, and their arrangement is hoped to support curriculum administrators during course implementation as well as evaluation.

Students' self-study ability always plays an important role in their learning process. When in class, teachers can easily check their students' work, but when teaching and learning are shifted to online classrooms, technological tools are needed to assist teachers in supervising their students' self-study at home. This paper aims at providing an insight into some applications that are able to help teachers to set up virtual classrooms in which they can guide and monitor their students' learning progress. Some applications that the author has used in the previous school year are Readtheory, Googleclassroom and Flipgrid. Students from three classes have been the subjects of the survey to find out whether those three apps are effective tools to improve their self-study ability or not. The results are positive: - The number of students having difficulty learning on their own has decreased. - The number of students who feel unmotivated to self-study has decreased. - The number of students who feel like learning English has increased significantly. - The number of students who feel confident in communication has also increased markedly.

This research aims at finding out the efficiency of an online tool called Gimkit.com in teaching online English lessons to non-English major students. More specifically, it deals with a number of following tasks: (1) providing theoretical insights into the concept of Gimkit.com used in this research; (2) giving more information on the implementation process of this online tool in vocabulary teaching and learning practices in online lessons, which plays as a crucial setting for the enhancement of learners' motivation (3) clarify the effectiveness of Gimkit.com to increase learners' motivation in online English lessons. In order to well address these issues, the researcher used nonequivalent control group design. The participants of the research were 105 non-English major students of four classes at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education who were divided into the experimental and the control groups. The learners' motivation was observed during the procedure of vocabulary learning by using the observation checklist. The survey questionnaires were also given to the participants. The results suggest that students did the tasks autonomously, had more enthusiasms, and showed higher interest in learning vocabulary through Gimkit.com. In addition, the poor quality of the Internet and device that are likely to obstruct the advance of learners' motivation are also clarified. Key words: motivation, learning vocabulary, Gimkit.com, online English lessons

Although social media is mainly used nowadays for entertainment or to connect people together all over the world, it has been adapted to be used for educational purposes, including learning English language. This study aimed to investigate how EFL university students at Vinh university (Nghệ An province) used social media to learn English everyday and what difficulties they encountered during their learning process in these platforms. The study involved 235 non-English majored students at Vinh university. Data were collected through a questionnaire and follow-up interviews. The results reveal that YouTube and Facebook were two social media platforms that most students opted to learn English. Social media exposes the positive influences on motivations toward learning English for those who spent more time on it, and vice versa. From this findings, the major recommendations related to learning strategies are suggested for EFL students and teachers to exploit such online resources effectively.

Critical thinking has proved its significance in language teaching as it not only enables students to evaluate and monitor their own learning style but also correlates with learners' language competency, especially in writing and oral communication skill (Shirkhani & Fahimb, 2011). Moreover, in broader view, critical thinking serves as a core 21^st century skill that students in an ever-changing world need. However, ESL teachers usually face enormous difficulties in integrating this concept into their online and offline lessons (Chau & Cunningham, 2021). One of the biggest problems is the lack of effective and appealing tools to incorporate critical thinking skill in English classes. Hence, the aim of this mini-workshop is to share the author's experience of using Kialo Edu which is specially designed for classroom use in argument mapping and debates. This tool has its advantage of a clear and visually attractive interface which facilitates students to follow a logical discussion structure, profound collaboration. With Kialo Edu, ESL teachers can host classroom debates involving interactions between teachers and their students and among students themselves under teachers' supervision. Moreover, Kialo's argument-tree structure leads students to consider counter-arguments, develop a logical outline of their argument for writing assignments which are also beneficial for standardized test preparation like IELTS, TOEFL, etc., and applications in higher education. In brief, Kialo Edu provides spaces for interactions with well-reasoned discussions, which would encourage Vietnamese ESL teachers to consider as a useful tool to improve their students' critical thinking in their classes.

Flipgrid - Empowering everyone's voice is an artificial intelligence (AI) technology in foreign language teaching. Flipgrid (https://flipgrid.com/) is a free online communication application developed by Charles Miller from University of Minnesota - USA in 2015. Since 2018, Microsoft Multinational Technology Corporation has acquired Flipgrid to attract educators and learners all around the world. This is an easy, practical and free video discussion platform that allows users to record short videos to answer questions using their own device (such as smartphones or tablets). Teachers can create "grids" (topics) and students can upload videos presented as grids. In addition, topics can be presented in the form of text, images or videos. Teachers can create an endless number of topics, and each grid can hold a large number of response videos. These topics can then be shared with groups or classes; furthermore, students can create short videos in response to their classmates' videos. In terms of Flipgrid's benefits to teachers, this platform allows them to create "grids" (topics) to monitor their students' practice in class work, give feedback, keep track of students' speaking progress at ease. This tool has grown rapidly in K-12 and higher education, with its leaders claiming that it has 20 million current users (educators and learners) and has been applied in over 50,000 schools in 180 countries. Overall, the necessity of employing new technology has opened up greater opportunities for students and educators to increase their interest in English learning and teaching in the New Normal.

It has long been accepted that teaching through creating the experiences have paved the way for mutual exchanges of knowledge and resources accomplished through service and reflection thanks to many positive effects and outcomes. Service-learning is defined as an integrative experience through which learners engage in thoughtfully organized actions in response to community identified assets and needs. In Vietnam since 2018, under the implementation of the new National Curriculum, teachers and students have once again addressed the learning outcomes of these approaches as they promote academic and civic engagement and are focused on an equal balance between holistic learner development and community well-being. Service-learning students break down isolation between the community and academics, apply their newly learned knowledge into practice and turn those practical experiences into a tool to acquire more understanding and skills. Our poster presentation will demonstrate a few steps that the teachers of Geography and English have done with the 6th graders at Nguyen Tat Thanh Schools to make the learning process more practical and meaningful.

The aptitude to learn collaboratively and work in groups is an essential capability in both offline and online classes since cooperative student activities are acknowledged as a crucial pedagogical approach in teaching foreign languages. The studied cases that were the focus of this research are three classes of 12 graders taught and observed by three teachers from three different high schools in Phu Ly City, Ha Nam Province. From October 2021 to February 2022, the teachers organized a number of one-on-one interviews as well as observed focus groups of 12th graders. The study was carried by three English teachers in Nguyen Tat Thanh High school, A Phu Ly High School and Bien Hoa Gifted High school. The investigation showed that in all cases, working in small groups leads to three different work processes, depending on the student's flexibility and personal responsibility for their own shared learning. It also revealed collaborative learning in combination with digital teaching tools was the preferred instructional approach in all schools. The poster joint presentation will describe, compare and contrast the data taken from all three cases to find out how those students' language competency can be promoted and which strategies can be used to better design and monitor students' online learning through small group assignments.

Speaking is evidently one of the most crucial skills in communication, thus, in learning any language. However, the majority of first-year students of the International Program of the University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS) have reported to consider speaking assignments the most daunting tasks. In light of this situation, this paper investigates the factors that demotivate first-year students of the International Program at ULIS in speaking activities and discusses the implications for pedagogical practices. Data gathered through questionnaires conducted on 100 participants and further interviews with these subjects indicate that students experience demotivation largely due to inadequate linguistic knowledge, lack of practical knowledge, speech processing difficulties, and nervousness. In consideration of these factors, pedagogical implications for teachers to better foster students' skill development are suggested. Notably, speaking skills can be enhanced through repeating cycles of scaffolding practice, use, and timely feedback. In addition, it is essential that students are exposed to vocabulary and grammar in meaningful contexts. Informative and authentic material accompanied by guided post-reading or post-listening discussions and debates is also recommended to widen students' knowledge. At the same time, this practice would help them in gaining more experience and confidence as they take on active speech role. Keywords: Speaking skills of first-year university students, psychology of first-year university students, methods for improving learning behavior.

In the current educational and social context, the formation and development of students' self-study capacity is one of the crucial factors to the enhancement of quality and effectiveness of the teaching and learning process. Especially, in the credit-based training at universities in Vietnam, students' self-study activities are also considered a mandatory and more frequent requirement when expressed by a certain proportion in the structure of the duration of the course. Accordingly, English teaching and learning reforms should be conducted to enhance students' self-study capacity for the purpose of obtaining expected learning outcomes. This study aims to survey and find out the practical context of self-study activities in the language skills courses of sophomore majoring in English. The study employed a survey on the perceptions of EFL sophomores of two training programs on English Language and English Teacher Education at a university in Mekong Delta. The purpose of the survey is to explore and evaluate the practical situation of self-study activities in language skills courses . Besides, the qualitative approach was also conducted through semi-structured interviews with students and lecturers to better understand the participants' views on the advantages, challenges and possible solutions of the students' self-study process in the university environment. The study also identified the limitations of students' ability and sense of self-study, thereby proposing recommendations to improve students' self-study capacity to meet the course objectives as well as better support effectiveness of innovation in English teaching pedagogy.

As is known, language learners' success largely results from their own efforts in regular and appropriate practice, and good pronunciation is no exception. However, learners may lack chances for practicing pronunciation, which seems to be a very popular problem in English classes in Vietnam. One effective approach which helps provide learners with opportunities for practicing English pronunciation is the use of home reading aloud activities (Nona Awalul Layli, 2016; Dyna Ariyani, Rismaya Marbun, Dwi Riyanti, 2013, amongst others). The objectives of this study therefore were to (i) find out how effective home reading aloud activities were in improving the local high school students' English pronunciation; (ii) uncover the ways to properly instruct, guide and accompany the local students in conducting home reading aloud activities and provide them with the constant feedback and support they need even though they practice these activities at home. Using the design of Classroom Action Research, this study was conducted among a group of 1,000 high school students at three different high schools in 3 districts of Yen Bai province. It followed the steps of reconnaissance, planning, action and observation, reflection, and data analysis. The data were obtained through interviews, observation, checklists, fieldnotes, and tests. The findings of the research demonstrate that home reading aloud activities benefit the local students' English learning in different ways, including improvement in their pronunciation. Thus, this kind of activities is hoped to be more widely used by English teachers along the country, following the procedures recommended through our study.

Covid-19 has led to an inevitable expansive switch to e-learning. Online learning raised various issues for students including technical issues, communication breakdown, lack of skills to operate online tools, lack of learning motivation, etc. For Visually Impaired students-those whose vision were lost due to gen, injury or illness the problems could be multiplied many times over. However, there is not yet any study that looks at the experiences of VI students in online classes. This paper, thus, aimed to examine the perception of teachers and VI students regarding e-learning in inclusive classrooms. To achieve these purposes, a case study qualitative research design was utilized to gain a deep understanding of the experiences of two VI students at an international university in Hanoi. Online semi-structured interviews were conducted with two VI students and their teachers and thematic analysis was applied to analyze the interview data. The findings of the study indicated that despite receiving numerous support from the teacher, peers and the university, VI students often experienced challenges in (i) interacting online, (ii) managing online platforms and apps, (iii) understanding the visual aids that teachers use in the lessons. VI students also highlighted numerous benefits of online learning such as: saving travelling as well as beauty expenses, inspiring the society and receiving various support and motivation from peers during an online class. Findings might have important implications for numerous stakeholders wanting to enhance the learning experience of visually impaired students in an inclusive online class.

Cooperative learning (CL) has been widely applied in the world and has been considered as a new trend of education in the 21st century (Trinh Van Bieu, 2011). Notably, Spencer Kagan's cooperative learning structures are believed to have the potential to encourage more interactions among students and maximize the improvement of each student's learning process, thus, having positive impact on teaching in classrooms. In Kagan's cooperative learning structures, the teambuilding model is one of seven key concepts which encourages students' interaction and promotes self-study. Therefore, teachers can use this model in their classes, especially for English majored subjects. However, in Vietnam, the application of Kagan's teambuilding model is still limited because teachers have lack of knowledge and skills on cooperative teaching. This article shows how to apply Spencer Kagan's teambuilding model in teaching specialized subjects to English majored students with the participation of 109 informant students and 15 teachers at Hanoi University of Industry. The findings from the questionnaire and interview's data depict a significant enhancement in teaching and learning English majored subjects. In addition, the study also gives teachers some useful suggestions on applying Spencer Kagan's teambuilding model to improve their English teaching. 

KEYWORDS: cooperative learning; Spencer Kagan's teambuilding model; specialized English; education; English-majored students

Learning pronunciation is of great importance for perfect oral communication. According to Gilakjani (2012), good pronunciation may make first impressions, lead to better comprehension for the speaker and listener, avoid language attitudes and prejudice, lose learner fear of speaking English and build confidence in communication. It is a truism that many language learners have a lot of trouble in this field because of mother tongue inference. This action research aims to solve pressing issues in communication faced by Vietnamese learners. This intervention conducted in this study is a shadowing technique, originally developed as a training technique for simultaneous interpreting (Yajima, 2001), which enables learners to promote their listening and speaking competence. Data was collected through the recordings of 10 students as the respondents in this study, then using Gold Sound Wave software to measure their speech compared with a native speaker's speech. The core research cycles with 5 actions, namely shadowing introduction, audio sources, the audio listening practicing, audio shadowing with a transcript and shadowing without a transcript, were implemented until learners reached their goals. Findings show recognizable improvements in the participant pronunciation, including English rhythms, stresses, and intonation. The presenter will recommend shadowing, a great technique where language learners try to speak alone in time with an audio text, much like singing along with a song, and a good web page called deepenglish.com, which is most effective with lower-proficiency students.

Creative writing has been assumed to exist as a subdiscipline of composition and become a new trend in the academic writing sector (Stephen, 2018). According to Nigel Watts (2017), a writer of literary fiction, a story arc is a perfect tool in creative writing because it keeps the story on track, which helps students map a story, or create an easy to follow narrative structure. Specifically, the eight-point story arc is especially a simple, yet effective method for planning a well-developed story. In this demonstration, the presenters will (1) explain the specific components of the eight-point story arc; (2) illustrate how to apply an 8-point story arc theory to high school students at a High School for the gifted to hone their creative writing skills; and (3) present the sample writing as well as reflections of some students participating in the creative writing practice lesson. Basically, students are provided with some stories. Then, they are asked to analyze each story in groups to identify each of the 8 points in the arc via Prezi. Finally, each group will write their own story using the eight-point story arc and present their own products to the class. It is revealed that thanks to the eight-point story arc as a beautifully articulated story technique, students gain a significant increase in confidence when writing, which helps them enhance their creative writing competence and overall fluency. The demonstration ends with recommendations for successful implementation.

It is a fact that legal English is part of "legal language", or the language of the law. Legal English has thus been considered by far a subordinate of ESP (i.e., English for Specific Purposes). At Nha Trang University, Legal English has become a compulsory subject in the curriculum for Law-major students instead of English-major students since 2021, which arose a great number of challenges for both teachers and students and had a significant impact on their schooling results. This paper applied questionnaires as the main research method with about over 100 respondents as junior and senior students who have first approached this subject to survey their challenges relevant to studying Legal English. This result was then compared to the teachers' evaluations for the purpose of providing a comprehensive view of the Legal English training at the university. The outcome of this study highly aims to give useful support to our fellow teachers, especially those who are non-English major teachers, to improve teaching approaches in order to better the current situation.

Learning Management Systems (LMSs) such as Moodle™, Canvas™ or Blackboard™ have long been considered a vital tool for many university programs in the world as well as in Vietnam. These platforms have been suggested to help students manage their learning progress, as well as promote learner autonomy. However, few studies have focused on the effects of these platforms in English language teaching. The role of these LMSs can even be questioned in today's time when recently, other online classroom platforms that offer video conferencing such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams are more and more popular. The current study sets out to address this question, using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to survey the students' perception and use of Blackboard™ in conjunction with Zoom and Microsoft Teams in an academic English course. The study was conducted with the participants of 56 first-year students at International University - Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City - a state-owned university which offers English as a medium of instruction in their Bachelor programs. The results suggest that Blackboard™ is frequently used and contributes positively to students' learning. Moreover, it offers unique features unrivaled by video conferencing tools. However, certain features on Blackboard that can promote learner's autonomy have not been taken advantage of. The study also offers some guidelines for a more effective implementation and design of Blackboard™ so that it can be used effectively together with online classroom tools and can promote students' learning autonomy.

The growth of online learning has resulted in significant changes in language learning since it offers a variety of learning possibilities across time and geography with the help of technical developments. Despite the fact that numerous research has examined this topic, there is a scarcity of knowledge on the obstacles students face and the techniques they use to overcome them. Learning analytics, which encompasses the measurement, collecting, analysis, and reporting of information about learners and their settings for the sake of understanding and optimising learning, has emerged as a promising topic of research in recent years to alleviate hindrance faced by students in the online classroom. This convergent parallel mixed-method institutional research involves: a) an environmental scan conducted to explore possible correlations between learning analytics such as students' attendance, task completion time, and homework completion rate and their retention as well as academic achievement; and b) a thematic analysis of students' interview data to identify common topic and patterns associated with students' engagement. The preliminary data reveals that there exists a strong positive correlation between students' cognitive and behavioural engagement and their academic success. Furthermore, the flexibility of online learning and appropriacy of learning content emerge as key factors contributing to students' decisions on their continuity of learning. These tentative findings suggest a paramount need to provide a learning environment characterised by student individualisation with the diversification of virtual classroom interaction patterns and differentiation of learning materials to improve student engagement and thus guarantee the success of online students.

During the last two years, the Coronavirus disease has brought about devastating effects for students all over the world. This study aims at understanding the physical and mental health of university students during the Covid-19 pandemic. The research was conducted among 21 first-year students at University of Economics and Business, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. The data were collected by means of students' written reflections and informal interviews. The result shows that 100% of the students were affected mentally and physically by the pandemic. This paper also discusses what learners did to overcome the hardship as well as what they expect the teachers to do to assist them during this troubled time.

English is the international language that we can use on the largest scale, in the most countries. For English language learners, one of the most important factors that helps you to be able to communicate well and effectively is to have a good 'vocabulary'. "Vocabulary is one of the areas of linguistic knowledge, which plays a large role for learners in language acquisition" (Cameron, 2001). However, the reality shows that EFL students still face a lot of confusion in learning vocabulary. Many students are struggling to know how to learn vocabulary correctly and effectively. With the desire to introduce to lecturers and students a number of online tools in learning vocabulary to help them expand their vocabulary, become more confident in communication, study and work, we carried out the topic " A Research on Using Digital Tools to Improve EFL Students' Vocabulary". This research is expected to be a very useful tool not only for students but also for those who are interested.

Speaking skills challenge most learners due to their lack of focus, practice and the various requirements linguistically. In fact, despite the dominance of technological devices used in the teaching and learning, careful recordings of notes contribute significantly to the success of a verbal performance of a student. Hence, a requirement for a well-written notebook is introduced to raise students' awareness of the effects of such regular controlled practice. The study is conducted in a speaking class of first year business students at the National Economics University using qualitative research method with the use of an in-depth interview with a discussion group, teacher's class observation and assessments of students' midterm oral test. The results show that students in this class recorded lessons with great care and showed high appreciation for their own work. Moreover, writing more helped them improve the contents and organization of ideas. In particular, more academic skills like mind mapping, note taking and other writing skills have been practiced and reinforced. Therefore, their confidence and creativity in conveying their thoughts and the ability to maintain control over their talk have become more accessible thanks to this activity. 

Key words: Speaking; notebooks; note-taking skills; confidence; creativity

Teacher identity developed as a trajectory of participation and interaction in communities of practice (Wenger, 1998). From this perspective, teacher identity is constructed and reconstructed when teachers participate in different communities of practice (i.e., teacher community and school community) and continuously negotiated within teachers' experiences (Kim, 2014; Tsui, 2007; Wenger, 1998). In this research, the author examined the multifaceted and dynamic characteristics of Vietnamese high school EFL teachers' identities and identified the factors affecting their identity formation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among nine Vietnamese high school EFL teachers, who had at least seven years of experience. The study's findings revealed that Vietnamese high school EFL teachers' identities were multifaceted, diverse, dynamic, contradictory, and changeable during their teaching time. Their teacher identity was constructed and transformed under a strong influence of the school and teacher communities to where they belong. They gradually established a new habitual way of life and built up new identities to fulfill the working requirements to become part of the school community. This study's findings can contribute to the teacher education programs and policies that nurture teacher identity at both macro and micro levels.

Keywords: teacher identity, community of practice, identity formation, identity transformation, identity negotiation.

The functional-systemic grammar is particularly concerned with the role of mood in performing interpersonal meta-functions. The mood is an indispensable and universal category for most languages, expressing the speaker's attitude and communication behavior towards the utterance content and the listener. In English, it is a grammatical category associated with a clause with the finite verbs and together with a tense that is considered a marker to distinguish between the invariant and unmodified types of verbs. Metaphors of mood are represented by one or more grammatically specific variations in terms of mood. This mode at the level of compatible expressions can be transformed into metaphorical expressions, making the language's ability to choose extremely rich and adaptable to speech situations. The article will (1) generalize the content of the metaphor of mood, analyze and make statistics of the metaphor of mood in four subgroups: declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory, and the transformation of mood from congruence expression to metaphorical expression; (2) relate to Vietnamese - a language that is different in terms of typology from English, but it has similarities in the way it reflects the speaker's behavior, nuances, and intentions; (3) make use of auxiliary verbs (English) with particles denoting mood (Vietnamese) when expressing mood in metaphorical expression; (4) suggest some ways of applying the grammatical metaphor of mood to increase the effectiveness of communication.

KEYWORDS: Mood; residue; subject; finite; mood particles

The last two years have witnessed a shift of offline classes to online ones due to restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Teaching culture is considered an indispensable part of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL). In the context of online learning, project-based teaching (PBT) seems to be a favorite choice for the integration of culture into English classes. This study is aimed to investigate how culture is incorporated into online English classes based on PBT and what EFL students'perspectives towards this are. Fifty second-year EFL students in Faculty of English, Thuongmai University were invited to be the participants of the study while questionnaires and project product collection were used as the main data collection tools. The findings revealed that being involved in cultural projects brought students opportunities to improve their English proficiency, learner autonomy and soft skills, including research and analytical skills, learning collaboration and presentation skills. Furthermore, this teaching approach helped them gain not only a successful learning experience but also greater awareness and understanding of cultural aspects.

Key words: culture, online English classes, PBT, second-year EFL students, Thuongmai University

Presently, according to various published scholarly documents, Vietnamese students have had the trajectory of encountering a host of issues concerning English communication skills, especially in the circumstance of online learning. Following this tendency, the question related to how this problem can be tackled has been considered. This study, hence, was conducted to evaluate the three modes of communication (Interpersonal, Interpretive and Presentational mode) of non-English major students at Nha Trang University. During the online-learning semester, students were required to participate in numerous activities, which were designed to satisfy the lecturers' purposes in improving and enhancing the three modes of communication to build the most precise orientation of the study. This study's method mostly follows the model of Action Research including four steps namely plant, act, observe, reflect. The results of the surveys revealed the whole picture of communication improvement of the students in online learning, but some limits still existed. From the researchers' perspectives, the three modes of communication of non-English majored students in online English learning can be enhanced thanks to the appropriate implementation of some relevant teaching activities, and it can also contribute to other further studies improving thoroughly language skills in online foreign language teaching.

Extensive reading has been steadily gaining support and recognition in EFL reading pedagogy. Many attempts have been made to unravel the impact of extensive reading on foreign language development. Keeping an online reading journal as a follow-up activity of extensive reading was designed to facilitate students' reading. This study was conducted in an English-majored class to investigate students' opinions on whether or not the reading journal could and how it could motivate students to read, enable them to understand the main ideas and important details of the reading materials and foster their critical thinking. The participants were 36 students of eleven grade in a school for the gifted students. The participants were asked to keep their reading journals on 24 topics developed from the current textbook within an academic year. A questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were employed for data collection. The findings reveal that reading journal is beneficial in teaching reading. Most students found reading is a useful activity, creating an enjoyable learning atmosphere, helping students in developing a wide vocabulary, improving students' reading comprehension, and increasing students' motivation in reading. However, it is suggested that some aspects of the technique should be improved; these include the improvement of the teacher's understanding of the principles and concepts of extensive reading, the insight of the importance of giving clear instructions, and the awareness of designing various activities.

Social media as a learning platform has widely been drawn much attention by pedagogists since the breakdown of Covid-19 pandemic. This study aims to investigate how students in a public university in Vietnam perceived Facebook in terms of ease of use, usefulness, and attitude toward the use of Facebook for studying English and found out whether these factors were correlated. The participants were 85 first-year non-English major students who took an English course in the first semester of 2021 - 2022 academic year. The vocabulary pre-test and post-test and the questionnaire were used for data collection. The results of this study revealed that overall mean scores of perceived eases of use and perceived usefulness were at a high level, and most of students had a positive attitude toward the use of Facebook for studying English. Results also showed positive effect of using Facebook on improving the students' vocabulary enrichment of the experimental group, compared to the control group. Utilizing Facebook as a teaching and learning tool was recommended for English teachers and students.

Keywords: Facebook, social media, vocabulary enrichment, non-English major students, public university, Vietnam.

The number of students in each English class at Nha Trang University is about 50 students. The time for all skills is only sixty periods including two periods of an introduction and two periods of a listening test. In other words, the time for practicing oral communication of each English non-majored student is limited in class. The question of how to make non-majored students practice English more outside the class has been taken into consideration. The research I have conducted will partly answer the question. Three classes of one hundred and fifty non-majored students were experimented with to practice a dubbing technique themselves under the lecturer's instructions. In 15 weeks, each student, after seeing some samples would practice shadowing and dubbing fifteen videos in which he or she plays the role of all characters and then he or she records audio at home or performs in class depending on the lecturer's requirement, does not only to develop their pronunciation but also improving their intonation and rhythm. The results were that a large number of them find themselves more self-confident in speaking in front of the class. Especially, their level of speaking has considerably improved and developed. However, the lecturer's workload is significantly increased.

In the current scenario characterised by increased online learning, Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) has drawn significant attention from both researchers and teachers of English. In this trend, the emergence of mobile apps which offer tools to make interactive videos has shown its usefulness and practicality in assisting teachers to engage with students in effective language lessons, especially in listening activities. The objective of this study was to critically investigate the impacts of the Edpuzzle app on the improvement of students' listening skills. Participants consisted of first-year non-English majored students at SaigonTech College in Ho Chi Minh City (n=52) with an elementary level of English skills. Using a quasi-experimental design, the study involved three data collection tools of tests (pre-test and post-test), questionnaire, and interview. The results collected from the post-test indicated that the experimental group had better achievement in listening skills compared to the control group. In addition, the data from the questionnaire and interview show that the students in the experimental group had a positive perception toward the use of Edpuzzle in listening activities. It can thus be concluded that the combination of MALL and interactive videos in the Edpuzzle app facilitates good learning outcomes and is therefore a successful approach. Recommendations to teachers and researchers are suggested at the end of the paper.

Writing skill in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has captured the attention of both teachers and students as writing develops not only students' language knowledge namely vocabulary and grammar but also sharpens their critical thinking on specific issues in each lesson. Learners in ESP writing classes are required to go through various stages that engage them in deep learning to create their final products. However, there is always a time constraint in every classroom meeting. This circumstance often leads to many obstacles that have hindered students from writing by themselves. This research is aimed to investigate the effectiveness of flipped learning approach in ESP classrooms. Eighty students in two different ESP classes at ULIS (VNU) received one written material and one audio or video based on the writing topic set for them each week during the past semester. These students were required to summarize the key ideas and make a glossary of new vocabulary items from these sources before their in-class writing session. During the writing session, the students were invited to partake in a number of activities prepared by the teacher so that they can revise the language knowledge and content from the provided materials and analyze the topic thoroughly. The data of the study through questionnaire and focus group discussions revealed that the flipped classroom approach received overall positive feedback from the students based on their experience and perspectives. Several pedagogical implications are also provided in order for other teachers to apply in their own context.

Rubric-referenced assessment has been widely recognized by teachers for its effectiveness in facilitating feedback for students' writing. However, the utilization of rubrics in oral production assessment, especially students' peer feedback on speaking skill, still remains to be examined. Therefore, this study seeks to investigate the effectiveness of applying rubric-referenced assessment on students' peer feedback in EFL speaking classes. Forty eight students in two ESL classes at ULIS (VNU), who had already experienced peer feedback without rubric-reference assessment, participated in the research project. These second-year students, whose language proficiency was supposed to be at B2 level (CEFR), were invited to work in pairs and provided with instructions to use a rubric adapted from CEFR. Then, each was required to produce an audio in the length of 2 minutes on a specific topic, swap their audio for peer-feedback based on the adapted rubrics at home. Data collected through students' reflective reports, and focus group discussions have shown that the implementation of rubric-referenced assessment helped students focus on their efforts, revise language aspects, produce work of higher quality, and understand teachers' expectation about an assignment. Several pedagogical implications were also included in order for other language teachers to apply in their classrooms.

The Covid-19 pandemic has prevented from normal teaching activities such as going to school, having face-to-face classes, many schools have developed strategies of teaching and learning online. Institutions comprising schools and centers have momentarily transferred their traditional courses to online courses. The instructional strategies can help teachers to design various ways for online teaching and learning effectively. This six-week research of forty grade 12 students and eighty grade 10 students in Bac Lieu high school examined the improvement of online learning through as tools that can be created and managed by teachers and their colleagues. These strategies play a significant role in motivating students' interaction during online courses. The aim was to find out Class Dojo can help to manage and enhance remote learning and teaching successfully. The result of this paper benefits the management of teachers as well as students' parents and supports long-term learning for students. In addition, a set of questionnaires was carried out on students' opinions about their learning experience. The outcome of this research gains the improvement of students' motivation in learning online due to attractive atmosphere in online courses and rewards or compliments of teachers. Moreover, teaching students healthy and positive habits early on will not only allow them to learn in a safer classroom atmosphere, but it will also build strong and lasting learning habits within the students.

Flipping is a novel technique for teachers to maximize class time for students to practice speaking in class. Our study is motivated by a relatively number of positive and promising results of Flipped Classroom Model in delivering content for the students. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we transferred to the virtual Flipped Classroom Model to adapt to the new situation. This research used an experimental case study with pre- and post-speaking tests, and a semi-structured interview to examine the effects of online Flipped Classroom Model on IELTS learners' lexical resources. The students' satisfactions to the model were also investigated further. The findings showed that the students' vocabulary have improved significantly as a result of the flipped model, and they were quite satisfied with this pedagogical approach.

Keywords: virtual Flipped Classroom Model, IELTS speaking performance, lexical resources' development, satisfactions.

After a prolonged period of synchronous online learning due to the COVID19 pandemic, students are back in the physical classroom. The emerging concern now is whether pedagogical instructions should be adjusted to work better in the new normal. In order to address the issue, for the past years, there have been publications discussing the new landscape of English education. Those papers are majorly technocentric, suggesting a new normal with a more prominent role of digital technology both in and out of the classroom setting. Even though the present paper has no intention to devalue the role of technology, it would solely discuss the inter- and intra-personal aspects of learners in the English language teaching and learning. Since primary school students are believed to have been in a more vulnerable position during the pandemic, this paper aims at examining the new normal that English education at primary level should be exercising. By reviewing studies concerning English teaching to young students in the post-COVID19, the paper highlights four implications: interaction, multimodality, personalization and authenticity. First, classroom interaction should be enhanced to make up for the disruption of in-person social communication caused by online learning. Additionally, multimodality, personalization and authenticity can serve as pedagogical guidelines in selecting classroom activities in the post-pandemic context.

High school students in Vietnam have low speaking proficiency (Ashwill, 2020) because they do not have speaking environment beyond the classroom. The literature has shown that application of voice recording enables students to improve their speaking skills (Pop et al., 2011, Yanju et al., 2017). However, these studies have compared students' speaking skills before and after doing voice recording based on the first and the last recordings but have not compared between two groups: control group and experimental group. The book chapter presents findings about the effects of online voice recordings on students' speaking skills. Participants was 78 high-school students divided into two groups: the experimental group and the control group. Students in the experimental group was required to make their recordings in pair twice a week based on the given topic during 12 weeks whereas the control group did not do any extra speaking practice outside the classroom. Pre-test and post-test were conducted with two groups. The interview was used to explore students' experience during their online speaking practice. The results show that the experimental group have outperformed the control group after the treatment in terms of syntactical complexity and fluency. However, there is no statistically significant difference in lexical complexity, accuracy. The students in the experimental group stated that voice recordings provided them an opportunity to speak English beyond the classroom and enhanced their speaking confidence significantly because their vocabulary, pronunciation, responses to the questions improved considerably.

Since 2015, the project on renovating general education curricula and textbooks was approved by the government, which aimed at creating fundamental and comprehensive changes in the quality and effectiveness of education and human development in Vietnam. New curricula and textbooks were designed to develop not only knowledge but also personal qualities and competences such as problem-solving, or language competence. Testing and assessment, as a crucial part of of teaching process should be improved accordingly. As a matter of fact, without positive changes in testing and assessment, the desired objectives in teaching practice can hardly be achieved. This research focuses only on tests, the traditional form of assessment and tries to explore how tests following competence-based approach can not only measure learners' competence but also encourage the development of important competences in learners. Competence-based assessment was described to include four key features, including criteria-based and evidence-based (Standards for Registered Training Organizations, 2015). These features ensure that tests will be based on criteria specified by competency standards and demonstrate competence. Nguyen, C.K. (2016) also argued that tests should be precise, objective and closely linked with educational targets including competences. Based on the above-mentioned features, tests of the entrance exams into some highschools in Hanoi were analysed to reveal how they can be designed for the sake of learners by measuring not only knowledge but also necessary competences.

No abstract submitted

In Covid 19 pandemic, online teaching was not strange to us. In HCM city, when the pandemic happened complexly, almost schools were active in organizing online teaching with the purpose: "PAUSE TO SCHOOL, DO NOT STOP LEARNING". Online teaching still raises questions about the quality of teaching and learning. So how to implementing online teaching be both effective and excited for students to learn? It is not easy to teach online effectively when teachers only interact with students through computer and phone screens. This depends on many factors such as facilities, information technology skills of teachers, parental support, and online teaching orientation of each school. Organizing games during online lessons and through the Zoom software will help students interact with teachers, they can also be active, not passively sitting in front of computers or phones. In addition, it also helps children to be interested in learning and participating in the activities that the teacher requires. In the online classroom, the teacher's task is to gamify the content of her lecture knowledge, that is, to organize interactive game activities through applications and software to have an interesting teaching online hour. I apply interactive games through the software Class point is integrated into PowerPoint. Using technology devices to play and watch movies for kids is an extremely attractive thing. However, forcing children to sit in front of a computer screen to listen, take notes, and follow commands is a big challenge. Learning through games helps students absorb and remember knowledge more easily.

This study explores into the translation equivalence of English passive sentences in literary discourse and sci-tech & natural science discourse. Widdowson's (1979) classification of translation equivalence at sentence level, namely structural and semantic, has been taken as the analytical framework. The research findings show similarities and differences in the translation of English passive sentences in literary discourse and sci-tech & natural science discourse into Vietnamese, which include the translation strategies, the types of translation equivalence, and the translation of the passive marker 'by'. The findings point out five common strategies for translating the English passives into Vietnamese with this order of frequency: activization, passivization, ergativization, adjectivalization, and copularization. However, passivization is more popular in the translation of sci-tech & natural science discourse than in that of literary discourse, 88.96% and 38.85%, respectively. Meanwhile, activization is much more preferred in the translation of literary discourse than in that of sci-tech & natural science discourse, 48.40% vs. 6.49%, respectively. The preference of passivization in sci-tech & natural science discourse leads to a great proportion of structural equivalence (88.96%), and a small proportion of semantic equivalence (11.04%), while in the literary discourse the structural translation accounts for only 38.85%, and semantic translation - 61.13%. The passive marker 'by' is also found to be translated into different words in Vietnamese. It is hoped that the suggested implications are useful not only for English-Vietnamese translation studies, but also for English teaching and learning.

No abstract submitted

Task-oriented language education is based on the ideation of the many communication approaches available, which is why it is primarily focused on communication. However, many teachers, in the aim of developing communication skills tend to avoid grammar teaching. This study goes much farther, arguing that grammar is as significant as lexis (although in a more abstract way), and that teaching grammar should thus, go along with teaching communication. In our proposals, we first focus on the development and advantages of task-based language teaching with the role of grammar; then, we offer an introduction to cognitive grammar and its applications and outline their potential for the foreign language classroom. In conclusion, a mixture of the two approaches of task-based language teaching and applied cognitive grammar will be illustrated to show how one may benefit from the other and to explain in detail how the grammatical role can be implemented in a task-based action through a communicative situation.

In the era where technology rules the world, the computer-integrated classroom system has been increasingly employed to promote educational progress. However, the rapid development of tools and resources presents both opportunities and challenges. In order to maximize the potential of ICT in language teaching, it is crucial that it is used in a pedagogically sound way that provides structured comprehensive learning experiences, corresponds to learners' individual needs to promote their engagement, and facilitates teachers' roles. This workshop aims to introduce Nearpod – a freely available, real-time and user-friendly application which can serve as an excellent educational trigger for suiting a variety of learning settings and environments and satisfying educational needs. Plus, with competitive and interactive tasks (Malamed, 2012) through game-like pre-made or impromptu quizzes, discussions and surveys (Byrne, 2013; Cross, 2014; Thomas, 2014; Dellos, 2015; Plump, 2017), Nearpod has gained wide acceptance globally for infusing teaching-and-learning with energy and sparking innovative thinking (Fuszard, 2001). Nearpod is recommended to be used to provide a positive environment and nurture learning process.

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is an international standard for describing language ability. It describes language ability on a six-point scale, from A1 for beginners, up to C2 for those who have mastered a language. This makes it easy for anyone involved in language teaching and testing, such as teachers or learners, to see the level of different qualifications. It also means that employers and educational institutions can easily compare our qualifications to other exams in their country. Therefore, when teaching and testing English, teachers need to be sure of the outcome level. They must adopt the language appropriately based on the learners' ability. Otherwise, students may get bored while learning things that are too simple or suffer from stress when not comprehending complicated contexts. Using different tools or websites to analyze and reword sentences or passages is a practical solution for both teachers and learners. The paper offers some ways to analyze language and rephrase the text easily and effectively by using some websites, namely: https://www.englishprofile.org/, https://rewordify.com/, https://www.ref-n-write.com/paraphrasing-tool/. It also facilitates how to do it with the help of information technology. In addition, the paper provides some sources of information based on A2- C1 scales for reference to syllabus designers, test developers, and material writers. Teachers may also utilize and adapt them for their own classrooms while learners can use them to improve their vocabulary and practice writing skills. 

Key words: analyze the CEFR, reword, websites

Fostering interaction in online classes is an urgent issue raised by many educators. Over the last eighteen months, the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically transformed and shaped the way we teach English. This workshop showcases how digital facilitation tools and mood checks can be used in virtual classrooms. This workshop will show how interactive activities arouse the students' love of learning and increase their participation, and lesson the feeling of one-way information flow in the online classes. Mood checks are essential to explore the learning psychology and emotions of learners in the lesson. Communication should be thought about both before and after the first class meeting and while preparing for the next lessons. Interactive activities and digital tools can help serve this purpose.The session will introduce four basic principles for creating virtual interaction with learners, using tools such as Miro, Jamboard, Mentimeter, Chatbox, Blooket, Quizlet, and Google Form.

Covid-19 pandemic has changed our ways of teaching and learning significantly and completely. For more than one year, teachers and students have been made to teach and study through computer with the help of communication apps such as Zoom meeting, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams instead of face-to-face classes. The fact that students find online classes with traditional methods quite boring and even some of them feel distracted or fall asleep during the periods is proved to be inevitable and has a tendency to increase. This raises an important question for teachers about how to make online lessons more appealing to students so that they volunteer to participate in classes and do the tasks assigned enthusiastically . That's why I would like to introduce to teachers who are on the way to finding new techniques some useful websites for virtual learning and teaching. They are Quizlet, Quizizz, Kahoot, Blooket, Wordwall, Padlet, Nearpod, Liveworksheet. These platforms will not only serve powerful tools in helping teachers make presentations, design task and assign homework to students but also draw students' attention to the lessons. During the session, I will give instructions on how they work, how to create new tasks as well as how to make use of other resources published by other contributors so that teachers and students may have wonderful studying and teaching experiences via virtual platforms together. Learning online will no longer be a scare for learners.

In the world of globalization, and in a technology-driven society, the Edtech market is on the rise due to the demand of 4.0 Education. An increasing number of Tech tools have appeared with the hope of minimizing the efforts of teachers and maximizing the quality of learning for students. Traditionally, testing and assessment requires substantial effort by teachers in designing, assigning, grading tests and analyzing data. Tests typically raise student anxiety, without promoting student engagement or addressing student interests. The advent of Edtech testing and assessment applications enhance the examination experience, not only for teachers, but also for students and parents. Azota, a leading Vietnamese application, is regionally recognized as a useful tool for not only testing and assessment, but also for engaging students in doing tasks and allowing parents to observe. This workshop focuses on Azota functions, usages, and practical experience. The intent is to introduce a useful tech tool for teachers to use in overcoming some of the challenges of the testing and assessment process. Keyword: Azota, English language learning, game-based learning, EdTech, Tech tool.

As university classes have been facilitated in virtual and hybrid environments, EFL instructors and content area professors have been exploring more effective methods to keep learners engaged and making progress. It has become more challenging to design curriculum and corresponding learning activities that encourage interaction, boost motivation, and promote critical thinking skills in L2, especially for students who tend to be more passive or dependent on direct support from professors. Within decision-making about pedagogical approaches and methods, it is essential to not only save time and stay updated on using online applications to deliver content and conduct assessments, but also to learn from students' experiences and perceptions in order to consider their preferences for active learning techniques and the integration of multimodal resources (Bloomberg, 2021; Nguyen, et al, 2021). The aim of this technology workshop is to support instructors in building integrated skills lessons incorporating multimodal resources within VoiceThread, an online application which allows teachers and learners to interact in synchronous as well as asynchronous formats while also helping professors save time and effort when presenting the same content across multiple groups. Simultaneously, within this hands-on learning experience, a four-part comic strip about American college campus life created for the U.S. Department of State English Language Programs will be used to develop a lesson plan that may be used in classrooms. Highlighted learning objectives will include development of reading comprehension, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar in context, and critical thinking skills (Sanchez Terrell, 2017, Mixton, 2006).

Abstract Over the past two years, the world has been under an ongoing global pandemic of Coronavirus 19 that has affected almost sectors, especially education. Schools closed and transitioned from face-to-face classrooms to some kinds of virtual education set up at home. Many versatile online teaching tools have been tested to support online teaching to create a virtual learning environment with features that would keep learners engaged, interact and help them experience closest to the real environment, one of them is the Padlet application. This technology fair aims at introducing Padlet - a "free web-based application that provides a wall that allows posting words, pictures, and even videos, which can be viewed by anyone with a link or address to the specific wall" (Rashid, Yunus, & Wahi, 2019, p. 613). It is also a platform that stimulates students to actively participate in their learning and collaborate in various activities (Dembo& Bellow, 2013; Fuchs, 2014; Ellis, 2015). Palet is recommended to be utilized as a vivid tool to improve students' engagement and performance in classroom activities. Keywords-Padlet, Virtual Learning Environment, Active Learning, Application Engagement/Interaction

Task-oriented language education is based on the ideation of the many communication approaches available, which is why it is primarily focused on communication. However, many teachers, in the aim of developing communication skills tend to avoid grammar teaching. This study goes much farther, arguing that grammar is as significant as lexis (although in a more abstract way), and that teaching grammar should thus, go along with teaching communication. In our proposals, we first focus on the development and advantages of task-based language teaching with the role of grammar; then, we offer an introduction to cognitive grammar and its applications and outline their potential for the foreign language classroom. In conclusion, a mixture of the two approaches of task-based language teaching and applied cognitive grammar will be illustrated to show how one may benefit from the other and to explain in detail how the grammatical role can be implemented in a task-based action through a communicative situation.

Technology and computers developed in Industry 4.0 era have greatly influenced both teachers and learners as they have to consistently update appropriate software in order to effectively serve their work. During the Covid 19 epidemic, Moodle is a learning management system integrated into the curriculum and first studied and applied for course assessment in Hanoi University of Civil Engineering (HUCE). The study explored Moodle system, its features in course management and especially in creating test questions, saving and storing tests as well as managing test-taking process of non-major students in our university. It also found the initial impact of the system on teachers and students of the school to find out advantages and disadvantages of the software. As a result, Moodle is completely the best application for English teachers in assessment until now. Through this study, we also propose some solutions to successfully apply the system in English assessment at HUCE in the following semesters.

Linguistics or Phonology is believed a difficult course for EFL students to understand the lexical terms and English sound patterns. This study focuses on seeking the effects of the portfolio on the learning Phonology of EFL students at Van Lang University. Two groups, including experimental and control groups, were randomly formed in this experimental study over a ten-week course. Both groups followed the same teaching plan; however, portfolio activities were added to the experimental group. At the beginning and at the end of the study, both groups were given an achievement test and a scale to measure attitudes toward learning Phonology. A pre-test with 20 multiple questions concerning phonetics was assigned at the beginning of the course. The post-test called the final exam with both multiple and constructed-response tests was at the end of the course. Students in the experimental group were given five open-ended questions to find out what they thought about the portfolio. The result of the study revealed that portfolios had positive effects on EFL students' achievement and learning attitudes – they liked portfolio activities. In addition, soft skills such as working in groups and learning autonomy were found to improve.

Many Vietnamese adult learners often have difficulty pronouncing English correctly, which hampers them from communicating effectively. Thus, there is a big concern about finding appropriate tools to help them improve their pronunciation in communicative classes among English teachers. This study investigates the learners' views on using Cap Cut, a free all-in-one video editing app, to assist their pronunciation practice. In this research, nine adult English learners were assigned and instructed to dub a three-minute movie clip per week during an eight-week course. A focused group was then conducted, and the student's reflections on their final products at the end of the course were collected. The findings indicated that using the application facilitates the students' pronunciation practice process and raises their confidence and motivation toward speaking English. This project also increases their autonomy in practicing English pronunciation. It is intended that this study would serve as a model for teachers of similar courses in other teaching contexts.

Reading aloud is one of the most important things teachers can do with students. This learning activity helps build various critical foundational skills such as presenting vocabulary, arranging models of fluency, and accuracy. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of applying the Reading Progress tool in Microsoft Teams to boost students' reading aloud. The participants were two groups of grade 10 students at a high school in a rural area. During the trial, the treatment group participated in learning activities with Reading Progress integrated into Microsoft Teams, while the control group did not. A pre-test and a post-test were used to assess learners' language competencies. After experimenting, the post-test test checked the levels of learners. The data indicated that the participants in the treatment group outperformed the control group in reading aloud. The findings show that students can improve their sub-skills in learning English. Keywords: Reading aloud, Reading Progress, Microsoft Teams

Using technologies for teaching can be so challenging these days, there are plenty of tools available online for teachers to choose from. Teachers are not so different from students, they keep learning, and seeking ways to improve the quality of teaching and engage the students in learning. As Albert Einstein once said, "once you stop learning, you start dying" In this context, I have been trying to use different online tools in order to engage my students for learning in both settings, in-class, and online class. 

During the workshop session, participants will be able to learn ways to use Padlet for teaching important skills, such as speaking, reading, listening, and writing. The session is not only for English language teachers, but it can be also useful for other teachers who wish to learn and are willing to see other possibilities in order to improve their classroom activities. Participants will be given time for discussion to share their best practices of Padlet use, and they will be led through the planned activities by the speaker. All initiated activities are based on real practical classroom activities from the IELTS course that the speaker of this session has been using. 

The structure and required environments for learning settings have drastically changed as a result of technological advancements and their rising impact in education (Melek, D. & Hatice, D., 2015). As recent surveys reveal, EFL students become increasingly sensitive, highly motivated and efficiently responsive to communication situations (Abbas Z., 2014) while naturally "digesting" the language tailored to their needs (Chau, J., 2006). In order to benefit from technological innovations, VietTESOL Virtual English Language Fellow (VELF) project instructors have provided the teachers with a variety of apps and tools to teach speaking skill in the classrooms. In the roles of project leaders and facilitators, we would like to take this opportunity to disseminate the knowledge and skills introduced in those two courses to those who did not have a chance to participate in the project. In this workshop, participants will be engaged in several activities to (1) share opinions about the merits of using technologies in teaching to enhance speaking skills of English learners; (2) discuss the relevant technological tools utilized for a speaking lesson: before (for preparation), during (for performance) and after (for self – assessment and peer - assessment); and (3) experience how to apply one of these tools in each phase of a speaking lesson in the textbook of grade 10. The workshop concludes by offering a number of recommendations which may further contribute to the improvement of teaching methods by advancing the widespread application of modern technology in teaching speaking skills in both online and offline settings.

With the launch of the new school textbooks in Vietnam, EFL teachers have access to new materials and are planning their classes for a fresh start. There are a lot of decisions to be made, what to use, what to skip, and how best to use each activity. The objectives of this workshop are to help English teachers in Vietnam develop skills in assessment and design of learning materials, and at the same time to enhance their understanding and application of communicative teaching methods in the curriculum. The workshop will focus on developing listening skills, integrating grammar teaching to support and challenge learners. Participants will be guided to use the new textbooks and apply the principles of assessment and design of learning materials to their teaching. They will have hands-on practice on designing learning materials for their classes, share them with colleagues, and raise awareness about tailoring learning materials to meet the needs of your students. Key words: Textbook, new curriculum, materials development, English, Vietnam Needed equipment: Internet connection, A1 papers, Colour pens

For adult EFL learners, rapid acquisition of vocabulary is often a necessity or personal goal. Some seek employment and need to learn specialized vocabulary in order to pass a specific test; some want to know more vocabulary for a variety of personal reasons often involving popular movies, films, or books. Can vocabulary be learned rapidly and retained if it is not gained from reading or some type of context, or as Oxford and Scarcella (1994) categorize such acquisition, ・E€・Epartially or fully contextualized?・E€・E One preferred ・E€・Edecontextual

The four language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing are all interconnected. Proficiency in each skill is necessary to become a well-rounded communicator, but the ability to speak skillfully provides speakers with several distinct advantages. However, speaking skills seem difficult to develop or ignored not only due to various routine speaking activities obstructed and technical issues in the distance learning process during the COVID-19 pandemic but also because of the MOET load-reduced curriculum respectively. Consequently, the aim of the study is to explore the benefits and features of Flipgrid, a video platform, used as students・EEE€・EEE learning support to improve their speaking skills, learning autonomy, self-evaluation as well as employed as teachers・EEE€・EEE flexible assessing app. and connect students globally, from my school to other places domestically and internationally. The study was followed by mixed methods with the participation of 35 English-majored ten-gra

The competence-based approach has been adopted to drive innovation in the Vietnamese education system. However, the approach has presented challenges to stakeholders, among which planning competence-based lessons seems to be a hurdle to teachers. To specify, the lessons stress a set of outcomes that students are expected to execute rather than merely to know upon participation in learning activities. As a result, teachers probably find it puzzling to state teaching objectives and learning outcomes in their lesson planning. The workshop is conducted to facilitate teachers of English at diverse levels to write statements of teaching objectives and learning outcomes that support effective lesson planning and lesson delivery within outcome-based syllabi. For the first 15 minutes of the workshop, with a sample lesson plan, the facilitators engage the participants in distinguishing teaching objectives and learning outcomes, followed by an analysis into SMART (Specific- Measurable- Achievable- Relevant- Time bound) qualities of a learning outcome and the A-B-C-D model of constructing a learning outcome statement. Then, the participants are divided into groups of 4, spending the rest of the workshop writing statements of teaching objectives and learning outcomes for selected lessons in common English textbooks. The theoretical ground for the workshop is "constructive alignment" (Biggs, 2014) in which the design of teaching, learning and assessment practices is aligning and complimentary to foster teaching and learning. The workshop would bring both theoretical insights and practical value to those who are syllabus designers or practitioners in English language education.

Extensive reading (ER) has been proven its positive and sustainable impacts on learners' language development. The ready availability of online websites provides fruitful authentic English resources for different EFL learners. However, few language teachers have full awareness of the nature and potential relevance of ER. An integrated ER programme was designed in tandem with the topics of the syllabus and with speaking. The study aims at defining ER, providing some reasons for using it in language teaching, and illustrating some follow-up activities. It also provides some guidelines and pedagogical suggestions for both language teachers and learners which are necessary to fully exploit ER to facilitate autonomous learning in which learners can play the roles of independent learners. Finally, some implications of using these activities in language teaching are also addressed.

Grammar, which is defined as a language's sound, structure, and meaning system, is essential for a student to acquire a language. Clear communication is impossible without competent grammar; but, in textbooks, grammar is frequently presented out of context with isolated sentences for practice, resulting in repetitive and pointless exercises. As teachers, we need to help learners see that effective communication involves achieving harmony between functional interpretation and formal appropriacy (Halliday 1985) by giving them tasks that dramatize the relationship between grammatical items and the discoursal contexts in which they occur. 

 Grammar points in textbooks should be contextualized to make grammar education entertaining and relaxing while still being effective and to provide a stress-free classroom environment for students. Jazz chants are one of the most compelling and culturally rich resources for helping your children speak more effectively, develop vocabulary, learn and reinforce grammar patterns in language learning.

 They are invaluable resources for reinforcing grammar points as well as improving learners' listening, reading, and writing abilities. They also provide a motivating and non-threatening environment for students who are hesitant to speak English in a traditional classroom setting.

Keywords: Grammar, contextualized, Jazz chants.

In-service teachers seeking for professional development (PD) opportunities are often restricted to seminars, workshops and conferences. The emergence of those sessions are even more noticeable in the post-covid era when PD webinars are conducted on a regular basis, and teachers often allocate time to join those sessions in search for innovations and new ideas in English language teaching. However, those session are being considered problematic as they fail to reflect what actually happens in the classroom (Timperley, 2011), and in certain situations, teachers participating in workshops or seminars might not even understand the importance of the knowledge imparted by the presenters who are often experts in the field (Muijs et al., 2014). Cooperative Development (CD), a form of collaborative reflection that involves collaborating with others for self-development, can be considered a good alternative, for it falls into a generally better constructivist model of LTE (Mann & Walsh 2017). 

This presentation first introduces the concept of Cooperative Development proposed by Julian Edge, after which a framework of a typical CD session is analysed, followed by hands-on, useful activities for teachers to apply CD within their institutions.

Keywords: teacher education, professional development, continuing professional development, reflective practice, cooperative development

"What salt is to food, passion is to teaching" (Kavita Bhupta Ghosh) What's at the heart of our teaching? What motivates us? How do we keep our teaching fresh, vital and effective over a lifetime? After a career in international English education and involvement with Vietnam that began nearly 30 years ago-from teaching English, to working with novice teachers, to developing teacher competencies, and designing blended teacher development-my heart still beats for the good of Vietnam's teachers and learners. In this presentation, we'll explore the professional attitudes and values that are at the heart of our teaching over the trajectory of a teacher's career. We'll examine what keeps us passionate about teaching over a lifetime through the lens of Vietnam's Foreign Language Teacher Competencies Framework (2020), a synthesis of the stages of teachers' careers synthesized from Huberman, Fessler, Sikes, and my own lived experience. Together, we'll celebrate ways to keep our hearts beating for the good of our students and colleagues.

We are often concerned about our learners' development and take pride in seeing them progress in their learning. However, how much time do we have for our own development? As we develop as teachers, it stands to reason that our learners will also benefit and develop faster as a result. So shouldn't our own professional development be at the forefront of what we do? This session will follow the career story of the presenter and allow you to reflect on your own development and career with fellow participants. By asking thought provoking questions, we hope to have you think about areas of development that are open to you regardless of the stage in your career. You will hopefully leave with ideas of how you can make changes to develop yourself and your learners.

The more that students can actively use English, the faster they will learn and improve their skills. However, teachers are often challenged with how to create and deliver lessons that motivate their students while maximizing the opportunities for them to speak in English. This becomes even more problematic with larger, multi-level classes. This dynamic and engaging presentation will address these issues by introducing participants to a variety of fun, high-energy activities that the presenter has successfully used across the globe to promote student-to-student interaction, regardless of class size or level. Through movie clips, improvisational theater techniques, language games and more, the audience will be immersed in speaking activities that make language learning enjoyable and rewarding. Strategies will also be discussed for how to adapt each activity to different levels and teaching environments. At the end of the session, participants will walk away with a toolbox of creative lesson ideas that they can begin implementing on Monday morning.

As humans have evolved over the centuries, the Internet we all use today is also constantly evolving. From Web 1.0's static text pages and Web 2.0's international interaction, the Internet has certainly come a long way. Recently, there have been talks about Web 3.0 and its potential to influence the way we learn and evolve as humans. Hi tech applications in education are blurring the line between reality and its virtual counterpart, enhancing the user experience through breakthroughs like facial recognition, blockchain technology and non fungible tokens, multidimensional connections and interaction, artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, and personalization through big data. This presentation will look into how technology in general and the Internet in particular help in deisgning English language courses so as that they better reflect new trends in English education and digital transformation in education. Presenter's bio Tuan Nguyen has over 20 years of life experience in the USA. Within several years, he attained the position of CTO for Medical Research Analytics And Informatics Alliance (MRAIA), contributing a remarkable publication to The Hepatitis C Community Alliance to Test and Treat (HepCCATT). Tuan Nguyen's mission statement is to universalize the advancement of technology to provide a better world and enhance everyone's living standards, specifically in the fields of medicine and education.

For about a decade now, educators have been challenged to promote the 21st century skills in students to prepare the youth for demands of their future workplace. This preparation includes what has become known as the "4Cs": Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking. Whereas most EFL teachers believe they are familiar with the concepts of these skills, the effect of their practice in class is still in doubt. In our session, we will explore some questioning techniques to help learners of all ages develop vital critical thinking skills and have some hands-on practice with activities that can promote and nurture critical thinking skills in real-world classroom situations.

The structure and required environments for learning settings have drastically changed as a result of technological advancements and their rising impact in education (Melek, D. & Hatice, D., 2015). As recent surveys reveal, EFL students become increasingly sensitive, highly motivated and efficiently responsive to communication situations (Abbas Z., 2014) while naturally “digesting” the language tailored to their needs (Chau, J., 2006). In order to benefit from technological innovations, VietTESOL Virtual English Language Fellow (VELF) project instructors have provided the teachers with a variety of apps and tools to teach speaking skill in the classrooms. In the roles of project leaders and facilitators, we would like to take this opportunity to disseminate the knowledge and skills introduced in those two courses to those who did not have a chance to participate in the project. In this workshop, participants will be engaged in several activities to (1) share opinions about the merits of using technologies in teaching to enhance speaking skills of English learners; (2) discuss the relevant technological tools utilized for a speaking lesson: before (for preparation), during (for performance) and after (for self â€" assessment and peer - assessment); and (3) experience how to apply one of these tools in each phase of a speaking lesson in the textbook of grade 10. The workshop concludes by offering a number of recommendations which may further contribute to the improvement of teaching methods by advancing the widespread application of modern technology in teaching speaking skills in both online and offline settings.

Do you think you are beautiful? What is a beautiful teacher? How do you enhance the beauty of your teaching? What criteria should you use to assess the beauty of your teaching? What "mirror" can you use? Parker Palmer (2017:154) writes, "Good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher." In this practice-based workshop, participants will have chances to examine their identities as teachers as they hold up the mirror of Vietnam's Foreign Language Teacher Competencies Framework (MOET, 2020). They will join in the activity of reflecting on the image of themselves as developing professionals in light of a professional profile of beautiful teaching. More specifically, they will reflect on their own teaching identities, and on the qualities of those teachers who have shaped their professional lives. Finally, participants will engage in a technology-enhanced inventory to help them identify strengths and areas for improvement and professional growth.

Games can be a very useful teaching tool in any English classroom. They are great for allowing students to get meaningful practice of language use (Wright, Betteridge & Buckley 2006). However some teachers remain hesitant when it comes to including games in their lessons. This is because they do not believe that games can be purposeful and that practice is better done in a more conventional way such as through a worksheet. This workshop will help teachers overcome this reluctance. In this session I will showcase a researched framework which has been successful in my lesson planning. The framework consists of criteria which teachers can use to assess any game to ensure that they are purposeful and will benefit students' language learning. I will demonstrate two games that I have designed previously and then the attendees will practice the games. Then we will use the framework to assess those games. Finally attendees will get a chance to share their ideas for games and use the framework to critique them. Participants will leave the presentation with a practical framework they can use to assess games in their lesson planning as well as two low preparation, versatile games they can use themselves going forward.

Over the last decade, Vietnam has put increasing effort and resources into teacher education and professional development for state school teachers of English. However, this impressive effort is often met with obstacles. This presentation will first discuss some of the problems have faced the public-sector teacher education programs in Vietnam. It will then explore the design and delivery of Cambridge CELTA courses to show how various components and approaches of this course promote effective teacher development. The presentation will conclude by discussing how some aspects of CELTA course design could be applied into the local teacher development context in Vietnam. Presenter's bio: Zach Pinson has worked as a teacher, teacher educator, and educational manager for 15 years, nearly all of it in Hanoi. As a teacher, he has taught all ages, from young learners to adults, and has extensive experience with international assessment. As a teacher educator, he has worked with both foreign and local teachers as a Cambridge CELTA trainer, a local Delta tutor, and a teacher trainer on various British Council projects. Zach currently works as director of studies for Atlantic English, where his main duties involve overseeing education quality on Atlantic's teaching and training programs.

Learners' active participation and involvement in English classes and tasks is called "learner engagement" and has been the focus of much attention in recent second language acquisition (SLA) research. Engagement is characterized by the fact that it attempts to capture the learner's motivated state from multiple perspectives, including behavioral, cognitive, emotional, social, and agentic dimensions. On the other hand, most engagement research to date has focused on one of the above aspects, and it is not clear how each aspect relates to each other and influences actual learning outcomes. Against this backdrop, our study aimed to determine what kind of relationship (i.e., combination) is found in each aspect of engagement, and how this combination is related to learners' ideal L2 self and English proficiency. Participants of the study were 360 Japanese junior high school English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students. A questionnaire-based survey was administered, and the obtained data were analyzed using cluster analysis and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that the participating students fell into three groups with different engagement profiles. Furthermore, the group with high means for all of the dimensions of engagement had the clearest ideal L2 self and the highest proficiency compared to the other two groups. Based on the results, we argue that language teachers may be able to work on one dimension of learner engagement (e.g., emotional dimension) to positively influence the other dimensions (e.g., behavioral/cognitive dimensions) and thus consequently promote the desired learning outcomes.

Note-taking is one of indispensible academic skills that undergraduate students should take into account in order to gather oral information from oral lecture in a more systematic way. This skill has been a tough-going task for students even they could have certain understanding about note-taking strategies. One of the main causes is likely to be working memory accompanying with the comprehensive process as a significant obstacle for students. This study thus examines the actual difficulties encountered by students in VNUK Institute, University of Da Nang (UDN). Applying experimental research approach by letting 50 first-year students take part in pre-test and post-test of listening to lecture-like recordings will reveal a comparative effectiveness analysis of using working memory. Furthermore, questionnaires and group interviews with both participants and their in-charge lecturers would figure out their perceptions of in-class performances and challenges of using working memory in taking notes after doing experiment and in reality. Based on the study's findings, implications for EAP teaching and learning are considered to put forward in order that students are expected to perform better during the lecture in academic setting.

The 2018 Educational Program requires English teachers to provide students with disciplinary knowledge, professional skills and soft skills, such as problem-solving and teamwork while students are learning English. In fact, these skill-related goals are not easy to be achieved as traditional learning has been playing a key role. One attractive way to achieve this goal is through project-based learning (PBL). While PBL has been applied in language teaching for several years, it is still a relatively new concept in areas where students cannot have much exposure to English. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of PBL in developing English skills, disciplinary knowledge and 21st century skills of EFL learners in remote areas. In this study, EFL learners are asked to design their schoolyard. This study is conducted in 8-session summer program at a middle school in Quang Nam province with the support of fellows of Teach for Vietnam (TFV). Data for this study includes videos, observations, students' interviews and teachers' interviews. Findings show that students can deepen their knowledge of landscaping while improving their English skills. They are also aware of 21st century skills while doing the project.

Pham Huynh Thuy Uyen, Postgraduate Student, Ho Chi Minh City Open UniversityProject-based learning (PBL) has recently been promoted at all levels of language education, particularly in high schools. Since 2015, MOET-approved textbooks have included a project part, and recent data have revealed that effectiveness at different scales. Teachers can choose formative assessment for projects' products in schools, allowing for new approaches of assessment. Following the recent widespread of COVID-19, PBL has been immensely supported by the inclusion of technology in language teaching. While this advancement has created numerous opportunities for both students and teachers in performing their projects in many ways, it also leaves a gap in how students perceive such a change. This study, therefore, aims to determine students' attitudes towards technological support for PBL in a high school in Dong Thap. Seventy 11 graders were selected as the participants. They worked on multiple three-month technology- assisted projects. Both online questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data. The findings show students' positive attitudes toward technological support in terms of content learning, problem-solving, critical thinking, communication, creativity, and production. Students were also more engaged in the learning process and were able to enhance their necessary learning abilities, which are required for success in the twenty-first century. Recommendations have been made regrading teachers' application of technology while using PBL, ideas for tech-assisted projects, and management experience.Keys: Technology, project-based learning, high school students

There is always a gap between theory and practice, so it's worth investigating what pre-service EFL teachers are provided with at university and what they experience in their practicum in the real world of schools. Specifically, the study focuses on their reported activities in their practicum, the perceived favourable conditions and difficulties that they have as well as their suggestions for additional knowledge and skills needed for better achievement and more confidence in their practicum and future profession. The data for this study include transcripts from a focus group interview with six pre-service EFL teachers who have just completed their practicum at high schools in a province in Central Vietnam. Qualitative content analysis will be applied to explore themes related to the participants' activities and difficulties during their practicum and suggestions for better preparation for pre-service teachers' practicum and future profession. Implications for teacher trainers, pre-service teachers, school teacher mentors, and school administrators will be addressed based on the findings from the study. 

Key words: EFL pre-service teacher, high school, perception, practicum, Vietnam

The blended learning is a combination of the face-to-face classroom and the high tech E-learning with virtual platform - Google Classroom in which students can watch instructional videos and do certain comprehension tasks at home prior to in-class lessons. To our knowledge, very few studies have been conducted to explore the impact of blended learning with Google Classroom application classrooms for teaching English in speaking skills in the secondary school context. Therefore, the current experimental study aims to investigate: (1) EFL learners' perceptions of Google Classroom application in speaking classes; and (2) the impacts of Google Classroom application on learners' speaking performance. Sample was 35 eighth-grade students coming from a secondary school in the Mekong Delta. Quasi-Experimental Research was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Quantitative data were collected by using Pre Test and Post Test, whereas qualitative data were collected through semi-structure interview. The findings show that students highly perceive the benefits of using Google Classroom in speaking class. However, students encounter some difficulties while using Google Classroom. It is believed that this the results of this research will form a basis for future research in terms of practicality and theory. 

Keywords: Perceptions, Google Classroom, Speaking

Nguyen Minh Hang (MSc.) Lecturer University of Languages and International Studies Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam Email: hangnguyen.jsl2@gmail.com The teaching of Academic English to students has been a matter of central concern in recent years in Vietnam, evidenced by the growing number of preparation courses, training students for academic tests. Therefore, early introduction of academic English language and skills to young learners is generally regarded as necessary since it helps form the foundation for further academic advancement. However, in the market, the availability of ready-made Academic English materials is quite limited, and the content is usually far too abstract for young learners to understand, leading to teachers' difficulties in choosing and adapting materials for their course. This research focuses on analyzing an English for Academic Purposes course book named EAP Now! by Kathy Cox and David Hill, using an evaluating framework adapted from McGrath (2013). Furthermore, a 10-week course for 20 students is designed to investigate the effectiveness of the book. Research instruments include interviews and observation to find out students' opinions towards the different aspects of the book. The results showed that the book was a suitable material for the teaching of academic English, and the content, language and skills provided can be exploited for young EFL learners. Specific suggestions were made in terms of material adaptation and input addition so that teachers can easily use the book for their targeted learners.

Abstract Thousands of students, from Primary to High School, and throughout Vietnam have come to rely on in school supplementary programs to meet their English language learnings needs. These programs typically promise to develop students' English communication competence and are run by private companies and staffed by foreign English teachers. Market demand shows that these supplementary programs clearly meet an educational need for students, schools and parents. At the same time, these programs present several issues, including quality control. In this prsentation, two experienced in school program managers–one Vietnamese and one foreign–will share their experiences of managing in school programs, their criteria for what schools and parents should look for in an effective supplementary program, and their suggestions for ways that education officials can reap the long term benefits of these programs. Presenters' bio Dang Phuong Dong has worked in the education field in Vietnam for more than 20 years, as a human resources professional and as a company director. He holds a Master's in Human Resources and is the general director of Atlantic English in Hanoi. Through his work with Atlantic and previous companies, he has worked closely with many school principals and government officials in Hanoi and elsewhere. Through this work, he has a strong understanding of the needs of students, parents, schools, and DOETs, both from a business perspective and from an educational perspective.

In response to the educational challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, students and teachers have adopted the pedagogical shift of emergency remote teaching (ERT). Vietnamese students began learning online in March 2020 and subsequently switched to offline learning in February 2022. As a result, schools have modified course materials and delivery methods as needed. Students have also shown resilience and adaptability to their learning strategies which are manifested in their learning inputs and outputs. Many ESL teachers have noted a difference in the quality of work produced online compared to in-class impromptu writing. Thus, the researchers would like to compare the students' writing outputs in online and offline classes. The written outputs of 120 students will be analyzed in order to evaluate their grammatical and discourse competence. This research will employ mixed method embedded design using thematic and discourse analysis. While grammatical complexity is measured through Co-Metrix application, the range of student's vocabulary will be assessed using type-token ratios (TTR) using VocabProfile. Meanwhile, the ability of the students to use a range of cohesive devices will be analyzed using Guy Cook's formal and contextual links. Since writing is a complex skill, it is important to understand the students' processing and attitudes towards the writing tasks in two different contexts. Thus, an interview will be conducted and the responses will be coded using NVivo10. The researchers hope that this paper will provide insights to curriculum designers and teachers in planning their writing lessons and projects.

In the context of globalization and digital era, intercultural competence (IC) has been seen an essential target (Shahed, H., 2013). As EFL settings are composed of multi-cultural aspects (McKay, L., 2003), language learners are expected to be able to communicate successfully while moving through that dynamic and complex cultural environment (Choudhury, M., 2013). Therefore, it imposes a huge challenge on EFL teachers (Tomalin, B. & Hurn, B., 2013) towards employing innovative and appropriate measures to improve the efficiency. The paper presents an inclusive research on how e-portfolios compiled with Padlet and Bookcreator websites can help promote EFL students・E€・E IC. Such e-portfolios have recently been deemed among awesome digital tools for language learning in a visual-and-audio manner (Melek, D. & Hatice, D., 2015) while offering ample media experience for intercultural communication. Following the action research model cited by Anne Burns (2010), qualitative data were collected and pedagogically analyzed to examine the employment of Padlet- and BookCreator-based portfolios among EFL students at tertiary level in Vietnam. As the results reveal, EFL students become increasingly motivated and efficiently responsive to IC-related situations. Above all, students drastically enjoy compiling and sharing their amazing

Covid19 pandemic has made significant influence on every part in society, especially in education. Online learning has been considered as the ultimate result during the school closure period which has shifted teachers' concern into technology knowledge for applying in online environment as well as developing their profession. This study was conducted to describe the technology knowledge of EFL teachers in Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model during the instruction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools application for online teaching and learning. This model introduces three phases to develop teachers' TPACK competence through ICT instruction. The phases are (i) fostering teachers' acceptance in technical proficiency; (ii) modelling pedagogy; and (iii) applying pedagogy. A quantitative research was conducted with online survey questionnaire delivered to 154 EFL teachers at five different educational institutions. The results revealed that they predominantly developed technology knowledge in TPACK for their teaching online and even offline after Covid19 pandemic. In addition, more emphasis on objective-focused pedagogical modeling, convenient using, and peer sharing may better develop their professional development in technological knowledge. Some further suggestions for future developments of the this part in TPACK model are discussed in this presentation.

Engaging learners of English through the use of authentic learning materials both inside and outside the classrooms has always been a challenge for teachers in non-native English speaking environments such as Vietnam. TED talks have been proposed as a resource that perfectly caters this need. This study investigated English-majored students' perspectives on the use of TED talks for extensive listening with a focus on three aspects: (1) students' current practices in using TED talks for extensive listening, (2) the benefits of using TED talks for extensive listening, and (3) the difficulties students encountered in using TED talks. Employing a mix-method approach, a questionnaire was designed, amining to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data and administered to 191 English-majored students at a university in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Findings revealed that students were highly aware of the value of watching TED talks for improving their listening skills, yet watching these talks has not yet become an established habit among the students. TED talks were also perceived as highly beneficial to students, especially in terms of general listening skills improvement, background knowledge of specific topics and important academic skills. Vocabulary complexity, speakers' accents, speech rate, motivation, concentration, and cultural barriers were reported to be key factors hindering their efforts and effectiveness in listening practice. The study provides important implications for students, teachers and program administrators to develop action plans and training programs that better support students in employing this resource for effective listening practice and development.