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Teachers are a vital element in education development as effective teachers are a central resource for the success of an educational organization. Effective teachers generally help to improve students’ learning behaviors and academic performance, and thus attention needs to be given to examining teacher effectiveness as a key to guaranteed education quality. As students are the first and direct stakeholders, students should have the most influential voice in what is regarded as effective teaching. This descriptive study investigated the characteristics of effective English teachers as perceived by 89 students of English as a foreign language (EFL) at a public university in the South of Vietnam with a self-report questionnaire consisting of four aspects: English proficiency, pedagogical knowledge, organization and communication skills and socio-affective skills. Overall, the students indicated positive perception towards the required characteristics of an effective English teacher. Two additional aspects of characteristics were identified including professionalism and personality traits. The results of this study can help teachers to become aware of important aspects of teaching qualities from students' points of view in order to improve themselves to meet standards for an effective EFL teacher.

Online education has significantly gained popularity due to new technology and more importantly, the growing impact of the digitalization of the economy. Despite its prominent advantages such as accessibility, affordability and flexibility, the effectiveness of online education is still a constant debate and needs extensive investigations in different research contexts. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of online learning in comparison to traditional learning in the context of English language teaching. This descriptive study was undertaken with learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in English proficiency preparation classes, employing an online questionnaire together with final scores of proficiency tests. The results revealed that the participants had relatively positive perceptions towards online learning in all four aspects: course content, teachers, learning environment and course supports. The significant finding was that when comparing the final results of the VSTEP exams, the online learners generally were able to perform better than the learners in traditional classrooms, though the difference was not largely remarkable. Online education in the new normal will continue to excel and the effectiveness of this learning mode certainly needs further investigation from different perspectives.

The online flipped classroom has been a growing trend in education, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic, and now, in the new normal, online learning has become the dominant alternative to traditional learning. In this model of learning, students can prepare new materials through reading or watching lesson videos at home, and then, in the physical or virtual classroom, they have time for active discussions. Although the flipped classroom model has been popular for several decades, the implementation of the flipped classroom in online-based teaching and learning in the context of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) has not been widely researched. In this study, an online questionnaire with both closed-ended and open-ended questions was administered to 120 EFL students at a public university in Vietnam, with the aim of understanding EFL students’ perceptions of online flipped learning. The results reveal that students have a relatively positive perception of online flipped learning, although a number of typical challenges can have a negative influence on the effectiveness of this type of instruction. Many suggestions for improving the online flipped classroom were also presented.

For the past few decades, universities in many countries have been required to adopt systematic performance appraisal systems to increase quality and effectiveness of academics’ performances. In line with much effort expended to examine aspects of effective performance appraisals and how appraisal processes likely influence academics’ performance, increasing attention has been paid to empirically study how intra-individual psychological factors and cultural orientations at the individual level are related to performance appraisal. With the aim to develop knowledge of self-efficacy in relation to academic performance appraisal from a cross-cultural perspective, this exploratory study through an online survey investigated relationships between academics’ self-efficacy for research, self-efficacy for teaching, self-efficacy for performance appraisal, trust in performance appraisal, and cultural orientation at the individual level. The study proposes a newly conceptualised construct, “self-efficacy for appraisal”, and reports the first attempt to examine this construct in universities. The main results pointed to positive association of self-efficacy for research, self-efficacy for teaching, and trust in appraisal with self-efficacy for appraisal. These relationships together appear never to have been proposed previously in the literature.

In Vietnam, the demand for enhancing speaking skills is continuously increasing. Selecting appropriate and effective teaching strategies, therefore, is essential. Scaffolding strategies are considered one of the most effective in enhancing speaking performance. This research is conducted to investigate EFL teachers’ perceptions of the impact of scaffolding strategies on learners’ speaking performance and teachers’ practices on scaffolding strategies in speaking classes. Both quantitative and qualitative data are collected from 186 EFL teachers working at language centers in southern Vietnam. The results reveal that scaffolding strategies are highly appreciated. The benefits are detailedly analyzed beside suggested solutions for existing challenges in utilizing these strategies to scaffold learners in speaking classes.

Teachers with a high level of target language proficiency are believed to be more self-efficacious and more competent to provide good models of language usage and to undertake various teaching tasks in the target language effectively. Having a good command of English is a necessary qualification for successful teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL). In the Vietnamese teaching and learning context, EFL teachers are required to have proper professional qualifications, and English proficiency is an important quality for teaching effectiveness. With the aim to examine teachers’ perceptions towards English proficiency, this descriptive study was conducted with 33 EFL teachers at a center of foreign languages through an online survey. The results showed that teachers recognized the necessity of having English qualifications and had positive perceptions towards the English proficiency requirements. The study is beneficial for both teachers and educational administrators to have an insight into the importance of language proficiency for teaching quality. Important recommendations for successful proficiency development were also discussed. Article visualizations

Gamification is a concept that is commonly used in sectors such as education, information studies, human–computer interaction, and health. Recently, gamification apps have been widely used in teaching English in order to increase learners’ interests, engagement and joyfulness. In addition, there have been plenty of prior studies about the effectiveness of gamification in English education but there seemed to be little research about the correlation between gamification and teaching speaking skills. As a result of this, the current study investigated teachers' perspectives on the benefits and challenges of using gamification in teaching speaking skills to young learners. The study enlisted the help of 69 teachers. To explore teachers’ perceptions of gamifying apps, a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were administered. The findings indicated that gamifying applications benefited teaching speaking to young learners in 4 stages: raising awareness, appropriation, autonomy and giving feedback. Still, there were some challenges involving external factors and teacher- related factors that must be considered and overcome when using gamification applications.

Educational institutions have placed increasing importance on internationalizing their curricula over the past few decades as a determining strategy to prepare their learners for employment in the global economy. Internationalization of curriculum, particularly at the level of course development, provides an opportunity for teachers to infuse an international dimension into their courses to increase learners’ interest and motivation, and more importantly, to engage learners in authentic and critical regional and global issues that help them understand and analyze their place in this complex interconnected world. At the Center of Foreign Languages of Can Tho University in Vietnam, the program of teaching Vietnamese is designed to offer Vietnamese language courses to foreigners and overseas Vietnamese. This descriptive study was conducted with a group of 7 teachers at the Center who are teaching Vietnamese to international learners from various nationalities with the aim to understand the teachers’ perceptions of an effective internationalized course and to identify successful strategies to internationalize the courses. The results from the survey and a semi-structured interview revealed that localization and standardization are two significant factors affecting the success of internationalizing Vietnamese learning courses.

In recent years, the implementation of outcome-based approach has been much emphasized as an increasing effort to improve educational quality and institutional accountability. Relatively contrary to the traditional education, outcome-based approach has put much emphasis on learners and their learning process. Understanding teachers’ beliefs about learning outcomes and outcome-based approach can help reinforce teaching practices. This small-scaled study investigated a group of 32 teachers of young learners about their perceptions of implementing outcome-based education at the Center for Foreign Languages in Can Tho City in Vietnam. Overall, the teachers indicated positive perceptions towards practices of using learning outcomes and presented typical challenges of implementing learning outcomes for teaching young learners. There were several major recommendations for teachers for effective implementation of outcome-based approach. Article visualizations

Online learning has experienced rapid growth recently, particularly due to many schools’ closures because of the Covid-19 pandemic. As online learning is growing, institutions have become more interested in knowing what factors influence learners’ satisfaction in online learning environments. This becomes more important for them when the results of studies show lower retention in online courses than in face-to-face traditional courses. Although there is surprisingly little research empirically linking student satisfaction to retention, it is generally believed that there is indeed a positive relationship between the two. The current study was undertaken with 164 online learners at a center of foreign languages in Vietnam. An online survey was administered to assess the participants’ level of satisfaction with their online learning through the four main areas or groups of factors such as course content, teachers, online learning facilities and online learning support. The results revealed that the four groups are significantly associated with learners’ overall satisfaction with online learning, and there is positive retention rate during the program. Article visualizations

Getting learners engaged in the classroom is the desirable goal of most teachers yet it is usually the most challenging task, especially with young learners after the pandemic period as these learners responded differently to changes in course delivery and other stresses posed by the crisis. To keep young learners engaged in their learning, teachers need to implement various engaging strategies to increase learner engagement. This study aims to explore EFL teachers’ evaluation of young learner engagement in the new normal compared with that before the Covid-19 pandemic. The descriptive method was employed with a group of 23 EFL teachers of young learners at a center for foreign languages in the South of Vietnam. The results revealed that the learning environment in post pandemic times is much safe and positive, and learning engagement of young learners is still much emphasized in the behavioral, affective and cognitive development. However, it is important to note that the Covid-19 pandemic has created a new opportunity for appropriate adaptations of engagement practices in classrooms. These adaptations can redefine engagement in the new normal in which teachers and learners can have more flexibility in learning modes, in interactions and in learning materials. The study can provide important information for both educators and teachers to identify and implement more engaging and interactive methods to enhance the level of learner engagement.

Teacher is one of the most important elements in education. The quality of education is largely determined by the teacher’s quality. Few would argue against the view that motivated staff are a central resource for the success and quality of an organization, and thus attention needs to be given to examining teachers’ motivation as a key to guaranteed quality education. At the Center of Foreign Languages, Can Tho University, teachers are always recognized as key factors for the success of the institution. This small-scale study was conducted with 42 teachers of English of the Center for Foreign Languages with the aim to examine common factors affecting teachers’ motivation and their perceptions towards quality education. The results of the survey revealed the most common factors for teachers’ motivation and the findings from focus group discussions indicated the positive relationship of teachers’ level of motivation with quality education.

The recent IELTS statistics show that more than three million International English LanguageTesting System (IELTS) tests were taken in 2017 – a dramatic increase from the 43,000 IELTStests taken in 1995. In Vietnam for the past decades, IELTS has gained increasing popularity andit is widely accepted as a reliable evaluation of English language proficiency in the Vietnamese Education sector. Another trend in Vietnam is a growing number of young learners have preparedfor IELTS and taken the tests. Teaching IELTS reading to young learners can be challengingbecause guiding the learners toward achieving a high IELTS band score can be a long processinvolving the introduction, development and mastery of various techniques including skimming and scanning, recognizing paraphrases, text analysis, techniques for dealing with the variousquestion types and time management. Teaching IELTS reading lessons to young learners can becommunicative and rewarding with some suggested teaching ideas and practical activities,currently applied in a center for foreign languages &nbsp

Online education is a revolutionary trend of educational technology today, particularly, since the Covid-19 pandemic, online classes have become the cornerstone of modern education. The rapid growth of online learning is challenging the relevance of traditional higher education systems. Although many efforts from educational institutions to promote online teaching and learning have rapidly increased, progress is far from sufficient, especially when a model of an online learning system needs further examination in practice after the pandemic. This chapter reports a case study at the center of foreign languages in Vietnam, addressing the need to develop an online learning ecosystem during the pandemic crisis and beyond. Characteristics of an online learning ecosystem are presented and basic steps of developing an online ecosystem for English teaching and learning are discussed in detail. The suggested ecosystem should cover the five key components including teaching environment, relationships between teachers and learners and between learners and learners, teaching methods, teaching content and resources, and teaching evaluation. Several recommendations for strengthening an online learning ecosystem are also presented.