scholarly journals PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCES OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE LECTURERS AT A VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nga Ngo

<p><b>As a consequence of globalisation, English language teaching (ELT) has been identified as one of the key emphases of the national education reforms in Vietnam. Professional development (PD) of teachers attempts to enhance the quality of ELT. However, there is a paucity of research investigating English as a foreign language (EFL) lecturers’ perceptions towards their experiences of PD in order to understand how PD currently functions and could potentially function within the context of Vietnamese higher education. My project has sought to address this gap by contributing insights into tertiary EFL lecturers’ PD experiences. More specifically, this study has drawn on Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory and Knowles’ (1980) andragogy theory as theoretical frameworks for understanding how tertiary EFL lecturers experience PD as adult learners and the contextual factors which influence their PD experiences. A phenomenological research design as proposed by Moustakas (1994) enabled lecturers’ lived experiences of PD to be explored through phenomenological interviews with 12 EFL lecturers across the three groups of beginning, midcareer, and late-career and four academic managers at one Vietnamese university. The recruitment of the participants from the three groups aimed to examine lecturers’ experiences of PD at their different career stages. The inclusion of both lecturers and academic managers was considered essential in collecting multiple perspectives on the PD experiences. In addition, document analysis was used to collect information from national and institutional documents in order to better understand the contexts within which lecturers experienced PD. </b></p> <p>Evidence from this study highlights that lecturers’ PD is a multidimensional and dynamic activity. Influenced by the national language reforms and important projects such as Project 2020 and Project 911, EFL lecturers had been exposed to a wide range of formal PD activities (e.g., seminars, workshops, and conferences) and job-embedded PD activities (e.g., research projects, textbook and teaching material development, and professional meetings) in the three years prior to data collection. Lecturers expressed their need for further PD activities that were content-focused, on-going, collaborative, and specific to their career-stage. EFL lecturers’ involvement in PD activities was positively influenced by enablers (e.g., the status of English as a global language, national policies and projects, student outcomes, occupational prestige, and personal responsibility), but there were also barriers hampering lecturers’ career development (e.g., top-down national requirements, inappropriate institutional policies, insufficient collegial and managerial support, and time constraints). This study demonstrates that PD initiatives for Vietnamese tertiary EFL lecturers need to be reformed. At the national level, it is important for the Vietnamese government and MOET to understand lecturers’ real needs for PD when implementing any PD activities. At the institutional level, a comprehensive framework with specific requirements and guidelines regarding lecturers’ engagement in PD activities would bring greater coherence and consistency. At the individual level, a proactive role by EFL lecturers would further foster their professional growth along with fulfilling the national and institutional requirements. </p> <p>The findings of this study are represented through an integrated framework of effective PD for tertiary EFL lecturers which combines three main aspects of content, context, and process. This representation helps to shed light on what PD planners and academic managers need to focus on when planning, organising, and implementing PD activities in the setting of Vietnamese education reforms. Implications are drawn for PD planners, academic managers, and EFL lecturers as these groups need to closely collaborate in order to promote lecturers’ PD and improve the quality of ELT in Vietnam. Implications for future research are also discussed. The study makes significant contributions to current literature related to tertiary EFL lecturers’ lived experiences of PD within the Vietnamese higher education context and may be applied to other international contexts.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nga Ngo

<p><b>As a consequence of globalisation, English language teaching (ELT) has been identified as one of the key emphases of the national education reforms in Vietnam. Professional development (PD) of teachers attempts to enhance the quality of ELT. However, there is a paucity of research investigating English as a foreign language (EFL) lecturers’ perceptions towards their experiences of PD in order to understand how PD currently functions and could potentially function within the context of Vietnamese higher education. My project has sought to address this gap by contributing insights into tertiary EFL lecturers’ PD experiences. More specifically, this study has drawn on Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory and Knowles’ (1980) andragogy theory as theoretical frameworks for understanding how tertiary EFL lecturers experience PD as adult learners and the contextual factors which influence their PD experiences. A phenomenological research design as proposed by Moustakas (1994) enabled lecturers’ lived experiences of PD to be explored through phenomenological interviews with 12 EFL lecturers across the three groups of beginning, midcareer, and late-career and four academic managers at one Vietnamese university. The recruitment of the participants from the three groups aimed to examine lecturers’ experiences of PD at their different career stages. The inclusion of both lecturers and academic managers was considered essential in collecting multiple perspectives on the PD experiences. In addition, document analysis was used to collect information from national and institutional documents in order to better understand the contexts within which lecturers experienced PD. </b></p> <p>Evidence from this study highlights that lecturers’ PD is a multidimensional and dynamic activity. Influenced by the national language reforms and important projects such as Project 2020 and Project 911, EFL lecturers had been exposed to a wide range of formal PD activities (e.g., seminars, workshops, and conferences) and job-embedded PD activities (e.g., research projects, textbook and teaching material development, and professional meetings) in the three years prior to data collection. Lecturers expressed their need for further PD activities that were content-focused, on-going, collaborative, and specific to their career-stage. EFL lecturers’ involvement in PD activities was positively influenced by enablers (e.g., the status of English as a global language, national policies and projects, student outcomes, occupational prestige, and personal responsibility), but there were also barriers hampering lecturers’ career development (e.g., top-down national requirements, inappropriate institutional policies, insufficient collegial and managerial support, and time constraints). This study demonstrates that PD initiatives for Vietnamese tertiary EFL lecturers need to be reformed. At the national level, it is important for the Vietnamese government and MOET to understand lecturers’ real needs for PD when implementing any PD activities. At the institutional level, a comprehensive framework with specific requirements and guidelines regarding lecturers’ engagement in PD activities would bring greater coherence and consistency. At the individual level, a proactive role by EFL lecturers would further foster their professional growth along with fulfilling the national and institutional requirements. </p> <p>The findings of this study are represented through an integrated framework of effective PD for tertiary EFL lecturers which combines three main aspects of content, context, and process. This representation helps to shed light on what PD planners and academic managers need to focus on when planning, organising, and implementing PD activities in the setting of Vietnamese education reforms. Implications are drawn for PD planners, academic managers, and EFL lecturers as these groups need to closely collaborate in order to promote lecturers’ PD and improve the quality of ELT in Vietnam. Implications for future research are also discussed. The study makes significant contributions to current literature related to tertiary EFL lecturers’ lived experiences of PD within the Vietnamese higher education context and may be applied to other international contexts.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nga Ngo

<p><b>As a consequence of globalisation, English language teaching (ELT) has been identified as one of the key emphases of the national education reforms in Vietnam. Professional development (PD) of teachers attempts to enhance the quality of ELT. However, there is a paucity of research investigating English as a foreign language (EFL) lecturers’ perceptions towards their experiences of PD in order to understand how PD currently functions and could potentially function within the context of Vietnamese higher education. My project has sought to address this gap by contributing insights into tertiary EFL lecturers’ PD experiences. More specifically, this study has drawn on Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory and Knowles’ (1980) andragogy theory as theoretical frameworks for understanding how tertiary EFL lecturers experience PD as adult learners and the contextual factors which influence their PD experiences. A phenomenological research design as proposed by Moustakas (1994) enabled lecturers’ lived experiences of PD to be explored through phenomenological interviews with 12 EFL lecturers across the three groups of beginning, midcareer, and late-career and four academic managers at one Vietnamese university. The recruitment of the participants from the three groups aimed to examine lecturers’ experiences of PD at their different career stages. The inclusion of both lecturers and academic managers was considered essential in collecting multiple perspectives on the PD experiences. In addition, document analysis was used to collect information from national and institutional documents in order to better understand the contexts within which lecturers experienced PD. </b></p> <p>Evidence from this study highlights that lecturers’ PD is a multidimensional and dynamic activity. Influenced by the national language reforms and important projects such as Project 2020 and Project 911, EFL lecturers had been exposed to a wide range of formal PD activities (e.g., seminars, workshops, and conferences) and job-embedded PD activities (e.g., research projects, textbook and teaching material development, and professional meetings) in the three years prior to data collection. Lecturers expressed their need for further PD activities that were content-focused, on-going, collaborative, and specific to their career-stage. EFL lecturers’ involvement in PD activities was positively influenced by enablers (e.g., the status of English as a global language, national policies and projects, student outcomes, occupational prestige, and personal responsibility), but there were also barriers hampering lecturers’ career development (e.g., top-down national requirements, inappropriate institutional policies, insufficient collegial and managerial support, and time constraints). This study demonstrates that PD initiatives for Vietnamese tertiary EFL lecturers need to be reformed. At the national level, it is important for the Vietnamese government and MOET to understand lecturers’ real needs for PD when implementing any PD activities. At the institutional level, a comprehensive framework with specific requirements and guidelines regarding lecturers’ engagement in PD activities would bring greater coherence and consistency. At the individual level, a proactive role by EFL lecturers would further foster their professional growth along with fulfilling the national and institutional requirements. </p> <p>The findings of this study are represented through an integrated framework of effective PD for tertiary EFL lecturers which combines three main aspects of content, context, and process. This representation helps to shed light on what PD planners and academic managers need to focus on when planning, organising, and implementing PD activities in the setting of Vietnamese education reforms. Implications are drawn for PD planners, academic managers, and EFL lecturers as these groups need to closely collaborate in order to promote lecturers’ PD and improve the quality of ELT in Vietnam. Implications for future research are also discussed. The study makes significant contributions to current literature related to tertiary EFL lecturers’ lived experiences of PD within the Vietnamese higher education context and may be applied to other international contexts.</p>


Author(s):  
Boris Dolinsky ◽  
Stanislav Ivanenko ◽  
Natalya Lozenko

The purpose of the study is to improve the monitoring system of foreign language training of the students specialised in non-linguistic disciplines. The object of the study is foreign language training of students specialised in non-linguistic disciplines. The subject of the study is the content, forms, methods and means of monitoring foreign language training of students specialised in non-linguistic disciplines. The research methodology is based on the consolidation of theoretical methods and pedagogical observation in order to determine the concepts dealing with the features of improving the control of foreign language training of the students specialised in non-linguistic disciplines and the introduction of modern approaches. The leading provisions of the control system are proposed, where foreign language training is allocated from an array of scientific information and practical approaches in teaching a foreign language for the students specialised in non-linguistic disciplines. It has been testified that the implemented author’s system is a compulsory requirement for the further development of the scientific direction of foreign language training of students which is consistent with the fundamental data of the general theory of training specialists within higher education. The types of activities used in the process of monitoring foreign language training of the students specialised in non-linguistic disciplines which reflect the role of the object within the existing training system have been determined. The dominants which are characteristic for these students have been developed. The analysis allows us to make certain conclusions regarding the usage of testing technologies in assessing the quality of foreign language training in a modern institution of higher education, which should be adapted to the specific conditions aimed at guaranteeing the quality of control system of professional education. The technology of assessment provided the integrated conduct of control and evaluation activities based on the usage of traditional forms of control and score-rating innovative technology. The indicated activities and dominants of the system aimed at monitoring the foreign language training of the students specialised in non-linguistic disciplines are objective and structured characteristics, thanks to which it is possible to assess the quality of the acquired knowledge and acquired skills of the designated students, as well as to improve the methodology of teaching foreign language at higher education institutions, the purpose of which is student’s personal and professional growth.


2020 ◽  
pp. 141-158
Author(s):  
Onyshchenko ◽  
Lykhovyd

The article analyzes the peculiarities of training future teachers in higher education institutions of different countries in order to implement the positive ideas of this experience in the higher education system of Ukraine. Peculiarities of training students abroad at the present stage of higher education development are determined: multilevel model of pedagogical education; high quality of pedagogical training, which meets the best world standards; the education system is decentralized; considerable attention is paid to the study of foreign languages; a systematic approach to the organization of professional development of teachers of general secondary education based on the restructuring and optimization of methods, forms and models of teaching through the integration of elements of practical activities into professional development curricula and the formation of continuing pedagogical education as an organically integrated, optimal and dynamic system; strengthening the independence and responsibility of students for their studies, the possibility of individualization of the curriculum, the growth of academic mobility; multiculturalism and polylingualism; multidisciplinary (acquisition of specialization in two subjects simultaneously); systematic and systematic use of innovative technologies; high level of personal-social-state orientation of the system of monitoring the quality of higher education; free access to statistics and mandatory publication of monitoring results by independent media; a small number of subjects taught (not more than 16 disciplines in one academic year); relocation of the center of professional and pedagogical training to school; growth of pedagogical practice and expansion of places of its passing; increasing the requirements for entrants both in the case of admission to pedagogical specialties and during their employment; increasing the role and importance of various professional organizations (associations, unions, centers of pedagogical skills, schools of professional growth) in the process of professional development and certification of teachers. It is noted that taking into account the selected features of foreign experience in the domestic system of training future teachers will contribute to the effective modernization of the higher education system of Ukraine. Key words: higher education, Netherlands, Greece, Slovakia, professional training, future teachers.


Author(s):  
M. V. Grineva

Nowadays the growing professional orientation of all the aspects of foreign language teaching is widely recognized as one of the major trends in the process of enhancing foreign languages curriculum at higher education institutions which specialize in training non-linguistic students majoring in various fields of international relations. Professionally oriented foreign language teaching implies using the foreign language classroom as a source of forming a wide range of professionally meaningful competences (both linguistic and non-linguistic) of would-be specialists along with developing their sense of professional identity. Despite the fact that professional identity - usually interpreted as individuals' perception of themselves as members of a certain profession - is the culmination of a long process of professional development, its cultivation with future specialists should be seen as a priority as early as at a higher education level - a college or university. Referring to psychological research, the author states that emotional factors play a decisive role in shaping professional identity at early stages of a person's professional development. It reveals the importance of analyzing the potential of literary texts in a foreign language in terms of their ability to contribute to developing prospective specialists' professional identity, as such texts represent a valuable text material which provokes readers' powerful emotional response and thus triggers empathy. The novel "The Firm" byJ. Grisham and "The Headhunter" byj. Mead were selected by the author for the home reading classroom with would-be economists, as coupled with a competence-based learning aid they allow teachers to create a unique discourse, which facilitates the process of developing students' professional competences and their professional identity. Along with their clear professional content, they appeal to students, as the problems raised in them are relevant to those of young readers. Such emotional contact provokes empathy, or a feeling of compassion and sympathy, which contributes to tackling the above pedagogical tasks. According to the author, empathy as a means of developing professional identity is realized through students' analyzing and assessing the professional behaviour of literary characters and their identifying themselves with protagonists or distancing from antagonists guided by professional criteria. It is essential that reading the above novels enrich would-be economists with the knowledge and experience, though non-empiric, of various business situations. The author concludes that such information about the profession in question is likely to prove valuable, as it "has been digested" by students by identifying their moral and professional attitude to it.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (195) ◽  
pp. 18-22
Author(s):  
Hanna Karas ◽  

The article is devoted to the use of interdisciplinarity as an innovative approach in the educational process of art institutions of higher education on the example of studying the discipline «Evolution of artistic styles in art» included in educational master's programs. This discipline is based on the theory and practice of professional development of a teacher-musician, who provides the Master of Arts education process, shapes their professional development necessary for their future musical and pedagogical creativity, skills, and pedagogical culture. The content of the discipline consists of the introduction of artistic styles’ scientific and theoretical fundamentals to the future specialists. The objectives of the course are 1) the theoretical generalization of the historical experience of the evolution of artistic styles, 2) acquaintance with the best examples of artistic culture, representing different styles and directions, 3) mastering complex problems of stylistic analysis. The aim of the course is the establishment of a strategy for a professional growth as part of the vocational training of masters in the following educational areas «Secondary education. Musical Art» and «Musical Art»; mastering the scientific and theoretical foundations of the artistic styles’ analysis as a formative student course of the music and pedagogical education in higher education. The interdisciplinary approach can be implemented in two main formats. A. Kolot believes that with the help of the first format he builds bridges between different sciences, brings them together on an informal basis without violating their individuality and uniqueness. In this format, the discipline «Evolution of artistic styles in art» «builds bridges» with such disciplines as: philosophy, history, foreign languages, general psychology, culturology, sociology, art culture, aesthetics. In the second format, interdisciplinarity is presented as a real tool for unifying sciences, and the emergence of integrative products. In this format the course «Evolution of Artistic Styles in Art» involves an organic combination of such disciplines as history and theory of music, theater, ballet, art history, philosophy, art culture and literature, analysis of musical form, choral class, music psychology, and others. Therefore, we propose to define the student course «Evolution of artistic styles in art» as a complex, interdisciplinary field of knowledge and consider the application of an interdisciplinary approach in the practice of a teacher of artistic institutions.


Author(s):  
Simona Magdalena Hainagiu ◽  

Career counselling is an important process in the personal and professional development of young professionals. In a continuously changing labour market, the graduates in the engineering field have been rapidly become conscious that the technical abilities are only the core of their professional profile, and the need to add a wide range of soft skills become mandatory prerequisites imposed by the human resources services in the recruiting companies. Our research investigated the impact of a soft skills training programme developed in the framework of a European Union funding project. The results revealed a vivid interest of young researcher in the engineering filed for the personal and professional growth especially for the development of communication and teamwork abilities. The professional counselling activities are a largely integrated component among the activities and the general intervention directions proposed by the European funding projects revealing a real need for the sustainable development of these support activites.


Author(s):  
Hong-Van Thi Dinh

ABSTRACT In today’s competitive higher education environment in Vietnam, higher education institutions have focussed more on quality education services to improve students’ satisfaction, which is considered an important factor for attracting and retaining students and evaluating the success of these higher education institutions, as a result. This research aimed to examine Vietnamese students’ perceptions about the quality of education services offered at Hue University in Vietnam. The data were obtained from the questionnaires completed by 2933 students from four-university members of Hue University in Central Vietnam. The research results showed that the students were generally satisfied with the quality of education services provided by Hue University. In addition, students’ satisfaction at Hue University is most affected by their perceptions about access to education services and the educational environment. The study also provided several implications, for Hue University in particular and other Vietnamese higher education institutions in general, to enhance their education services to improve the level of education service quality for attracting and retaining students.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 00010
Author(s):  
Cartalyna Napitupulu

<p class="Abstract">For a long time French and English compete in international life.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Globalization has led to the internationalization of education. With the&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">desire of universities to become international universities, the position&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">of foreign languages, such as English, French, German, Japanese become&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">more important. In France as in other countries one of the most&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">important languages is English. Hagège says that to impose one&amp;#39;s&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">language is also to impose one&amp;#39;s thought. It seems that France is&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">becoming more open to English. In addition to the growth of foreign&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">languages, it is necessary to consider the consequences of&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">internationalization for cultural preservation, the prestige of the&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">national language, linguistic and cultural diversity and the quality of the&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">university. Fioraso, the former French education minister, has published&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">a law that is considered unacceptable for higher education unions. On&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">May 22, 2013 teachers-researchers and students were mobilized,&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">against the project of reform higher education examined at no charge by&nbsp;</span>the National Assembly. Teachers-researchers and students were mobilized on Wednesday, May 22, to&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">protest against the proposed reform of higher education examined at no charge by the National Assembly.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">In general, researchers who evaluate the internationalization of higher education tend to share the idea&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">that internationalization opens opportunities that are more desirable than dangerous. This article&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">discusses the influence of English, because of the internationalization of education in France and the&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">domination of the United States. These two colonial languages continue to compete and the widespread&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">use of English has been rejected by some people. Both have some prestige, English is Shakespear&amp;#39;s tongue&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">of a coast and French is the language of Molière.</span></p>


Author(s):  
Pavlo Chervonyi ◽  
Svitlana Alieksieieva ◽  
Nadiia Senchylo-Tatlilioglu ◽  
Oleksandr Chastnyk ◽  
Nataliia Diomidova

Since the early 2000s, the potential of blended learning has been recognized worldwide as a promising trend due to the active technology development and its integration into higher education. Blended learning in higher education is at the development stage, which explains the relevance of research into the problems of higher education transformation through the introduction of technology in pedagogy. This article aims to identify the peculiarities of the higher education pedagogy transformation through the blended learning model. The methodology was based on a statistical, correlational analysis by using The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) database containing the survey results of 7,823 educators in France and the Netherlands. Results. The study revealed an average level of teacher preparation for blended learning (50.5%) and preparation for ICT use in student learning (48.4%) components inclusion. A significant level of teachers' professional development of ICT skills was revealed (44% take courses). An average level of teachers' unpreparedness both for blended learning (28.9% not ready, 36.6% not prepared enough) and ICT use in practice was established (30.3% - almost not ready, 34.25 - not prepared enough). A positive correlation was established between the components of teachers' preparation for the blended learning environment and the subsequent passage of professional ICT skills development courses. It means that formal education does not guarantee the absence of the need for continuous professional development and the formation of a wide range of ICT skills. Teachers need continuous professional development and new ICT skills. The research identified a synergy of positive effects of ICT skills professional development (interaction of educators united by common problems related to blended learning, technology, etc.; borrowing new ideas, innovations, and practices during professional development; updating professional knowledge; using active shared learning; integrity of professional development structure). Teachers noted that professional development courses were specifically adjusted to their needs.


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