Challenges of teaching and learning English for specific purposes in several universities in Vietnam

The current research besides aims to provide an effective overview and add our understanding to teaching and learning ESP in several universities in Vietnam. Synchronous and comprehensive recommendations will hopefully be valuable to improve the situation of teaching and learning of ESP in Vietnam universities.
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Challenges of teaching and learning English for specific purposes in several universities in VietnamKỷ yếu Hội thảo khoa học Quốc tế năm 2023: HƯỚNG NGHIỆP, KHỞI NGHIỆP TRONG THỜI ĐẠI SỐ - GIẢI PHÁP CHO GIÁO DỤC VIỆT NAMNguyen Thi Minh Hieu - Bui Van Hong - Tran Tuyen CHALLENGES OF TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES IN SEVERAL UNIVERSITIES IN VIETNAM Nguyen Thi Minh Hieu(*) - Bui Van Hong(**) - Tran Tuyen(***) Abstract: Due to the growing of globalization, English is one of the most powerful languages and even more influential to the students who are preparing for working purposes after graduation. The demands of students’ field of study and necessity for labor market has prioritized the significant role of English for Specific Purposes (“ESP”). However, as a matter of fact, inadequate training has made the teaching and learning of ESP not as effective as expected and leads to the inability to meet current social needs. Therefore, teaching and learning ESP has developed rapidly in many years and receive great attention from educational institutions such as universities and researchers. By applying qualitative research method forming of collection, analyzation, and literature review of non- numerical data on definition, ideas, and the teaching and learning ESP, the current study evaluates challenges in teaching and learning ESP. The current research besides aims to provide an effective overview and add our understanding to teaching and learning ESP in several universities in Vietnam. Synchronous and comprehensive recommendations will hopefully be valuable to improve the situation of teaching and learning of ESP in Vietnam universities. Key words: English for Specific Purposes, needs analysis, challenges in teaching and learning ESP.1. INTRODUCTION1.1. Background of study and statement of problems In the general trend of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), manystudies refer to English for Specific Purposes (ESP) as an important part. In Vietnam,English is considered a Foreign Language (“EFL”) and it is a compulsory subject in(*)Postgraduate, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education.(**) Ph. Dr., Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education.(***) Dr., Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education. 178 NGUYEN THI MINH HIEU - BUI VAN HONG - TRAN TUYENeducational program from primary schools to universities. If General English (“GE”) isspecifically designed to teaching and learning the English language skills for basic andgeneral communication and it is mainly taught from primary school to high schools,ESP is taught in universities, and it has been an important tool for those who useEnglish for specific purposes or academic learning (LinkedIn, 2023). ESP focuses onthe specific needs of the learners, concentrating more on language in context and onthe students need to acquire a set of professional skills and particular job-relatedfunctions. For using in specific purposes, there is an emergence of a community ofpeople learning English in order to serve a specific job-related. Besides, there has beengrowing concern over the past years about the importance of the internationalizationfor working purposes, which is connected to the use of English for Specific Purposes.Thus, English for Specific Purposes is presently taught in universities all over theworld and in Vietnam with the express purpose of preparing future specialists invarious fields of activity, and it is also promoted by international corporations whichorganize specializing courses meant to enhance their employees’ level of English andcompetence in various professional areas. Under the labor requirement, students should have good ESP after graduatingfrom universities to have a good opportunity in looking for a job. However, there is afact in Vietnam that educational institutions, especially universities so far have tries toachieve large-scale educational goals in terms of quantity and quality to meet theneeds of students and the labor market requirements. Besides, the reality of teachingand learning ESP in recent times has revealed limitations and many universities do notachieve the desired educational goals. There are definite challenges involved inteaching and learning English for Specific Purposes in universities in Vietnam. Thesimple mastering of the four skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) and theacquisition of general grammar and vocabulary may not be enough in several workingcircumstances. Given above, the challenges of teaching and learning English for SpecificPurposes in some universities in Vietnam merit further research, specifically about thetheory on students’ needs and difficulty from teachers, students, educationalmanagement, and other aspects in teaching and learning English for Specific Purposes.Consequently, the current paper focuses on finding the current challenges that teachersand students may face in the process of teaching and learning English for SpecificPurposes. The researcher hopes the current research paper will be a potentialtheoretical contribution in relevant research areas. 179Kỷ yếu Hội thảo khoa học Quốc tế năm 2023: HƯỚNG NGHIỆP, KHỞI NGHIỆP TRONG THỜI ĐẠI SỐ - GIẢI PHÁP CHO GIÁO DỤC VIỆT NAM1.2. Aims and objective of the study The current study aims to discover the belo ...