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Lexical Bundles (LBs) have been considered an effective tool for not only academic writing but also spoken discourse. The use of these clusters has attracted a lot of researchers in different registers because of their characteristics and functions in constructing the texts. However, research into LBs seems to be quite rare in English Applied Linguistics (AL) Research Articles (RAs) written by non-native English researchers, especially Vietnamese researchers. This study, therefore, aims to scrutinise Vietnamese researchers’ use of LBs in English AL RAs. A corpus of 77 AL RAs selected from three Journals was built. This study adapted the theoretical frameworks by Biber, Johansson, Leech, Conrad, and Finegan (1999), Biber, Conrad, and Cortes (2004) and Biber (2006) for data analysis. The findings revealed that Vietnamese researchers tended to deploy noun-based LBs more than verb-based and preposition-based ones in their AL RAs. It was further found LBs showing research-oriented functions were prevalent in AL RAs over text-oriented and participant-oriented ones. This research has pedagogical implications in terms of LB use for Vietnamese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and learners in the teaching and learning of academic writing.

The lexicon is one of the most core elements in a language system, so acquiring/learning it is a must-do job for ESL/EFL learners. Nevertheless, whether ESL/EFL learners can employ English lexical learning strategies (LLS) autonomously or not has concerned researchers and educators in different contexts. This study, therefore, endeavors to explore the use of autonomous English LLS by non-English majors at a technical Ho Chi Minh City-based university in Vietnam. It involved 200 students in answering a closed-ended questionnaire and ten students in semi-structured interviews. The results revealed that research participants sometimes utilized LLS autonomously in English language learning. Among five groups of autonomous English LLS, participants sometimes tended to use more determination strategies than other groups of social, cognitive, and metacognitive strategies and memory strategies. Additionally, the results showed that females utilized English LLS more autonomously than males. The findings imply that technical students, especially male students, seemed not to focus much on English LLS.

Being able to speak English well is one of the outcomes for English training programs in different teaching and learning contexts. Nevertheless, there are many factors affecting the achievement of a high level of English speaking skills. One of these factors is derived from English speaking difficulties that ESL/EFL learners have to endure. This study, therefore, attempts to investigate the four aspects of speaking difficulties, namely affective, social, instructional and linguistic difficulties encountered by English-majored students at one university in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. One hundred and fifty participants were involved in answering the questionnaire. The results showed that English-majored students’ speaking abilities were often affected by speaking difficulties. The aspect they experienced most was affective difficulties while the least was instructional difficulties. The findings also revealed that the number of years spent learning English also affected English-majored students’ speaking skills.

Implicature is a means of conveying what speakers mean linguistically, and it is most commonly used in spoken language. Identifying the possible interpretations and discovering the implied meanings of the information, nevertheless, are really challenging for non-native English speakers, especially for ESL/EFL test-takers who are under testing pressure. This descriptive study, therefore, aimed to quantitatively and qualitatively explore the language units and their implicatures used in the listening section of TOEFL iBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language versioned Internet-based test). A corpus consisting of 87 lectures, 97 long conversations, and 31 short conversations/adjacency pairs that were sourced from TOEFL iBT materials was developed. The framework employed to analyze data was based on the initial lists of triggers proposed by Gazdar (1979), Grice (1978), Levinson (1993), and Yule (1996). The findings reveal that linking words are the most common linguistic units while set phrases are the least common ones that are used to trigger implicatures in the listening section of TOEFL iBT materials. Additionally, diverse implicatures of linguistic units used in the listening section of TOEFL iBT are uncovered.

Teaching materials hold a vital position in English language learning and teaching, and have gained a great deal of attention from many EFL teachers and material designers. It has been recognised that authentic materials (AMs) can be used as a potential source of material for language learning and teaching. However, there has been ongoing controversy when it comes to choosing them for reading comprehension. This study aims at investigating L2 learners' perceptions of the benefits of AM use for reading comprehension in IELTS preparation courses at a Ho Chi Minh City-based language centre in Vietnam. Data were collected from 150 learners who completed a questionnaire. Ten of them participated in semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that L2 learners believed that the use of AMs was beneficial as it could enhance their English language, cultural awareness, learning motivation, and reading strategies. The finding-based implications are presented to teachers, learners, and material designers in an attempt to enhance the quality of English language teaching in general and the use of AMs specifically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-efficacy (SE) in language learning in general and English language learning (ELL) in particular has been considered one of the vital psychological factors in the learning process, and it has a certain correlation with anxiety. Nevertheless, it is observed that different types of learners may have different characteristics of SE and anxiety. This quantitative study aims to scrutinize non-English majors' SE beliefs and their anxiety in ELL. A group of 100 non-English majors were conveniently sampled from a Ho Chi Minh City-based institution in Vietnam to answer the questionnaires from which the gained data were processed by the SPSS software in terms of descriptive statistics and Pearson's Correlation. The findings indicated that the participants felt anxious, and their level of SE beliefs in ELL was low. Moreover, non-English majors' level of SE beliefs was negatively correlated with their anxiety in ELL. This study also discusses the pedagogical implications of the findings, which are hoped to increase non-English majors' SE beliefs and reduce their anxiety in ELL, as well as shed light on future similar studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Listening is deemed one of the most crucial skills for EFL learners. Besides, with the emergence of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) tools in the digital era, there is a growing tendency for EFL learners to employ mobile devices as learning tools so as to practice their listening skills anytime and anywhere. This paper presents the findings of a study into ELF learners' notions of the factors influence their employment of MALL tools for their listening practice. This mix-methods study was conducted at a university in Ho Chi Minh City. The study involved 155 EFL students in answering closed-ended questionnaires and 12 of them in participating in semi-structured interviews. The quantitative data were processed by SPSS version 20 in terms of descriptive statistics, whilst the qualitative data were analyzed by the content analysis approach. The findings revealed that participants believed teacher-related factors were the most significant factors in their deployment of MALL tools to practice their listening skills. On the contrary, it was found out that learning environment-related factors and learner-related factors performed a subordinate role in affecting ELF students' use of MALL tools to improve their listening skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metadiscourse (MD) markers are of great importance in expressing the writers' stance, and the use of MD markers can be diverse in different genres of writing. This study endeavors to scrutinize the use of MD markers (major groups: interactive markers and interactional markers) in research proposals by Vietnamese postgraduate students in English Applied Linguistics (EAL). A cohort of 20 EAL research proposals was analyzed using AntConc software and descriptive statistics. The results unravel that regarding interactive markers, transition markers are the most used in EAL research proposals while endophoric markers are the least commonly used. Concerning interactional markers, selfmentions markers are the most popular MD markers while attitude markers are the least popular ones used in EAL research proposals. It is further found out that the most common functions of MD markers used in EAL research proposals are to link ideas in texts and texts to readers and show the writer's presence in the text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate pronunciation has a vital role in English language learning as it can help learners to avoid misunderstanding in communication. However, EFL learners in many contexts, especially at the University of Phan Thiet, still encounter many difficulties in pronouncing English correctly. Therefore, this study endeavors to explore Englishmajored students' perceptions towards the role of pronunciation in English language learning and examine their pronunciation practicing strategies (PPS). It involved 155 English-majored students at the University of Phan Thiet who answered closed-ended questionnaires and 18 English-majored students who participated in semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that students strongly believed in the important role of pronunciation in English language learning; however, they sometimes employed PPS for their pronunciation improvement. Furthermore, the results showed that participants tended to use naturalistic practicing strategies and formal practicing strategies with sounds, but they overlooked strategies such as asking for help and cooperating with peers. Such findings could contribute further to the understanding of how students perceive the role of pronunciation and their PPS use in the research's context and other similar ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology plays a crucial role in the self-guided learning of a second language in general and English in particular. Nevertheless, many students in different contexts still ignore the application of technology-enhanced language learning (TELL) tools in enhancing their foreign language proficiency. Therefore, this study is conducted to investigate the attitudes towards the use of TELL tools in English-language learning (ELL) among English majors at one university in Vietnam. To collect data, 197 English majors participated in finishing the questionnaire, and 20 students were invited to join the interviews. The findings are that the majority of students have positive attitudes towards the use of TELL tools and the frequency of using these tools is very high. In addition, the results also reveal that there is no significant difference in attitudes towards and frequency of using TELL tools in learning English in terms of the year of study. However, students of different levels of academic achievements have different attitudes towards using TELL tools and use TELL tools to learn English differently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing a framework for the assessment of teaching competency of student teachers is one of the important missions for ensuring the quality of student teachers in general and student teachers of English in specific. This paper presents how a framework for the assessment of teaching competency of student teachers (FATCST) was developed. Three steps (analyze, design and develop) of the ADDIE model were applied for the development of FATCST. Ninety-three student teachers majoring in TESOL methodology from a Ho Chi Minh-based higher institution joined the study by answering a questionnaire and three experts took part in evaluating the FATCST. The study finally came up with a complete FATCST which may be useful and appropriate for the assessment of teaching competency of student teachers at the institution.

This study aims to investigate non-English majors’ English learning needs and the factors affecting their English learning needs. This study was conducted with responses from 102 second-year non-English majors at one Ho Chi Minh City college. The data collected from the questionnaires were analyzed by SPSS. The findings indicated that there were fairly high needs for non-English majors. It was also seen that the factors including lecturers, learning autonomy, learning environment and learning materials, and future careers were positively correlated with non-English majors’ needs.

Purposes: The purpose of this study was to present and analyze the etiologic factors, clinical manifestations, bacteriology, and treatment outcomes of nasal septal abscess in a large cohort of adult patients., Material and Methods: Retrospective analysis., Results: 36 adult patients, age from 19 to 85 (mean age, 51.83), with nasal septal abscesses were treated at Ear Nose Throat Hospital of Ho Chi Minh City from January 2020 to August 2022. The most common symptoms were nasal obstruction (75 %), headache/facial pain (58.33 %). Etiologic factors were found in 83.33 % of cases with the most common were diabetes mellitus (47.22 %), nose-picking (44.44 %). 75 % of cases had positive bacterial culture, of which 70.37 % were Staphylococcus aureus. Septal abscess was successfully treated in all cases using our treatment protocol, which involved an extended modified Killian's incision, irrigation with 1 % poviodine, placement of gauze in the abscess pocket, and nasal packing with Merocels., Conclusions: Diabetes and nose-picking were the most common etiologic factors; Staphylococcus aureus was the most common organism of nasal septal abscess in our study. Our treatment protocol is safe and effective., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)