Constructing pre-service teacher professional readiness in research course: Perspective from TESOL trainers

The current trend of empirical education TESOL has merged the research methodology into TESOL programs at tertiary level in the context of Vietnam. Nevertheless, pre-service teachers have to confront certain challenges in research courses to conduct a successful research study. This proposal aims to investigate the insights of pre-service teachers’ trainers towards pre-service teachers’ readiness to enter research courses. The scope of this study is on the sufficiency of professional knowledge that is equipped for pre-service teachers before they attend the research course. Moreover, TESOL trainers are invited to share their experience in the challenges of educating pre-service teachers in TESOL research courses and their recommendation for re-imaging the teacher-researcher attributes. This study will adopt the qualitative approach on 4 trainers of TESOL from different public universities via an in-depth interview. The findings of this study will be of significance as it will provide insights from TESOL educators for the teacher researcher educational program at the tertiary level. More recommendations can be proposed for the policymakers and curriculum designers to enhance the alignment of pre-service teachers’ professional training and research courses to optimise their capacity in agentive practice in proof-based teaching(Depaepe & König, 2018). In addition, the comparison of different educational contexts can empower the consistency of university programs for teacher education to fulfil the labour demand.